Startup news and updates: daily roundup (August 24, 2026)
YourStory presents the daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Monday, August 24, 2026.
Indian consumer brands continue to attract investor attention, with YourStory reporting on the latest developments across sectors. Jaismine Lamboria, a boxer, overcame a setback at the 2024 Paris Olympics to win gold at the World Boxing Cup, World Boxing Championships, and Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. UPI, a payment platform, completed its 10-year milestone, processing nearly 13,000 times more transactions, rising to Rs 24,162 crore in FY26 from Rs 1.78 crore in FY17.
Third Wave Coffee raised Rs 408 crore in a funding round led by WestBridge Capital, with participation from Creagis and other angel investors. Skincare brand Asaya secured Rs 88 crore in a Series A round led by RPSG Capital, with involvement from OTP Ventures, Huddle Ventures, Hyperscale Ventures, and 72 Ventures. WATER, a physical AI company, raised $2.5 million in a funding round led by Endiya Partners, with participation from Pullela Gopichand, Rohit Chennamaneni, Nandan Reddy, and others.
The funds will support the technical validation and expansion of WATER's AI technology to automotive, aviation, and other sectors. Be Clinical, a skincare brand, received Rs 21 crore in seed funding led by Sauce, with V3 Ventures and angel investors participating. The funds will be allocated to product innovation, expansion, research and development, and manufacturing capacity.
Yantra Packs raised Rs 12 crore to expand its reusable packaging services across India's manufacturing sectors, with plans to develop its proprietary network intelligence platform, Trakkia. IIT Madras developed an AI platform called Alloy Tattvasar, which uses large language models to accelerate the discovery of sustainable, high-performance materials for industries such as electric vehicles, aerospace, renewable energy, and marine infrastructure.
IDFC FIRST Bank partnered with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park to launch a sustainability program supporting startups in green manufacturing, recycling, water management, and other sectors.
Written by urgent.news from YourStory's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
