Early-stage focussed VC firm Unicorn India Ventures has reached the final close of its third fund at INR 1,200 Cr, exceeding its initial target of INR 1,000 Cr post exercising a green shoe option of INR 200 Cr. The capital for the fund has been netted from limited partners (LPs) such as SIDBI, SBI, along with undisclosed US-based investors, Indian UHNIs and family offices. Cofounder and managing partner Bhaskar Majumdar told Inc42 that the firm has already backed 17–18 startups through the fund, with an average ticket size of INR 10–15 Cr each. As of now, the firm has about three more investments at various stages of completion in the pipeline. Of the total corpus, around 20–25% (roughly INR 250 Cr) will be deployed towards initial portfolio creation, while the remaining capital has been earmarked for follow-on rounds. The fund has already enabled it to participate in select follow-on investments, taking the overall portfolio valuation to over $1 Bn. Recent follow-on investments include Netrasemi’s INR 107 Cr Series A round, where the firm claims to have seen a 7X jump on its initial investment, and Aurassure’s INR 25 Cr funding round. Unicorn India Ventures’ third fund marks a pivot towards…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

FMCG major Marico today announced the acquisition of Bengaluru-based plant-based protein startup Cosmix Wellness, marking its second takeover deal in just two weeks. The back-to-back deals signal Marico’s intent to tap new-age, health-focussed consumer brands to unlock incremental growth.  “Marico will acquire 60% of Cosmix Wellness’ paid-up share capital from its founders,” the listed FMCG giant said in an exchange filing this evening. Cosmix Wellness Private Limited is the parent entity of Cosmix Wellness. As part of the transaction, cofounders Vibha Harish and Soorya Jagadish will continue with the company and retain operational control. For a five-year-old, bootstrapped startup with a 45-member team, being acquired at an equity valuation of INR 375 Cr raises questions about a niche, founder-led brand scaled sustainably without institutional capital. Against the backdrop of the deal, Inc42 caught up with Harish to understand the startup’s journey that led to its acquisition by one of the country’s major FMCG brands. A Personal Problem Builds A Product Vision For Harish, entrepreneurship was always a long-term aspiration, even if the exact idea was unclear in her early years. The engineering graduate started her career at Rolls-Royce, but she felt increasingly disengaged. Coming from a business-oriented family, Harish knew…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Spacetech startup Dhruva Space is set to net $4.2 Mn (INR 38.7 Cr) in its ongoing Pre-Series B funding round. The startup’s board passed a proposal on January 28 to raise the amount via private placement of 414 Pre-Series B compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) to investors like Indian Angel Network (IAN), GVFL, Blue Ashva Capital and angel investor Pradeep Sinha.  As per its filing with the MCA, the lead investor for the round would be IAN’s VC fund IAN Alpha Fund by making an investment of up to INR 26 Cr. While GVFL intends to invest INR 10 Cr,  Blue Ashva Capital will invest INR 2.4 Cr.  Each Pre-Series B CCPS has a face value of INR 100 and a premium of INR 9.34 Lakh per share.  The investment would extend Dhruva Space’s ongoing Pre-Series B round which took place in November last year. At the time, the startup raised INR 51.76 Cr ($6 Mn) from the likes of AVCF1 (Aditum Venture Capital Fund), Hyderabad Angel Fund, AR Enterprises, Ativira Technologies, and a clutch of other angel investors. The startup declined to comment on the development when contacted by Inc42.  Founded in 2012 by Sanjay Nekkanti, Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy,…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

US-based VC firm Golden Sparrow Ventures, which primarily invests in the early-stage deeptech sector in India, has marked the first close of its $20 Mn (INR 180.8 Cr) Fund II. The VC firm said in a statement that over half of the fund has already been committed, where more than 60% of its Fund I limited partners have participated in the ongoing fund.  With its second fund, the VC firm plans to invest in around 22 Indian startups at the pre-seed and seed stages, writing cheques of about $650,000 on average. The fund will split its bets evenly, with 50% of the capital earmarked for deeptech startups and the rest for enterprise AI ventures. In addition, around 12% of the corpus has been set aside for follow-on investments in portfolio companies that show strong early traction. The firm mentioned that it has already made its first investment in an enterprise data platform, without disclosing its details. This is the second fund for the firm, which was founded by Rishaad Currimjee in 2023, after its $8 Mn maiden fund. Between 2023 to 2025, the firm invested in 18 deeptech startups like Ethereal, Theranautilus and Morphing Machines, among others. Describing the broader…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Dylan Scandinaro, a member of the Anthropic technical team, has been named Head of Preparedness at ChatGPT developer OpenAI. This recent development was announced by CEO Sam Altman on 4 February. The firm will soon be dealing with very strong models, according to Altman, and they will need corresponding protections.Announcement Made Through XIn a post on X, Altman wrote, “Things are about to move quite fast and we will be working with extremely powerful models soon. This will require commensurate safeguards to ensure we can continue to deliver tremendous benefits.” Altman went on to say that OpenAI will be spearheading preparations for the mitigation of these serious dangers, with Dylan serving as its leader. Among all the candidates Altman has encountered, he is the most qualified for the position. Without a doubt, he has a lot of work ahead of him, “but I will sleep better tonight.” Altman added.In order to implement the adjustments, Altman is excited to collaborate closely with Dylan. Separately, Scandinaro announced his joining OpenAI in an update he posted on X. He wrote an article criticising the catastrophic and unfixable damage caused by AI models that are developing at an alarming rate.I’m joining OpenAI as Head…  ​Read MoreStartupTalky- Business News, Insights and Stories

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is planning to take up a huge office block in Bengaluru in order to expand its operations in India. This might result in the creation of as many as 20,000 new jobs. This decision is made in light of the fact that American businesses are finding it more difficult to recruit foreign talent. This is mainly due to tighter visa regulations, especially in relation to the H-1B programme. Thus, India is quickly becoming a major hub for tech talent from around the world.How Alphabet is Executing its Bengaluru Expansion?One Alembic City office tower is leased by Alphabet, while two more are available as possibilities. Located in Whitefield, a significant IT area in east Bengaluru, Alembic City is a massive commercial development. The total floor area of the three skyscrapers is close to 2.4 million square feet. Soon, staff will be able to move into the first tower, which has already been rented.Next year should see the completion of the final two towers. Up to 20,000 wAnthrorkers might be housed on the property if Alphabet ultimately takes up all three towers. The current headcount in India is about 14,000, so this would more than quadruple that number.…  ​Read MoreStartupTalky- Business News, Insights and Stories