• Startup Pulse
    altM raises $10.3 million in a Series A round led by Rainmatter by Zerodha and Mela Ventures, with Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Aureolis Ventures, Spectrum Impact and strategic angel investors participating. Venomics AI raises $2.7 million in a pre-seed round co-led by Speciale Invest and South Park Commons, with Operators Studio participating. EloElo Group raises $80 million in a Series C round led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal, with MIT Investment Co. and existing investors participating. Peppermint Robotics raises ₹100 crore (approximately $10.5 million) in a Pre-Series B round led by pi Ventures and Crane Venture Partners, with Asiana Fund participating. O-Health raises an undisclosed amount of funding from Sangita Reddy, BugleRock Capital, Perpetual Capital, Ankit Nagori and Varun Dua. Traversal raises $120 million in a Series B round at a $1 billion valuation, led by Kleiner Perkins, Redpoint and Khosla Ventures, with Sequoia Capital, Battery Ventures and Amex Ventures participating. GIVA raises over $100 million in a round led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management. The Croffle Guys raises ₹14 crore in a round led by V3 Ventures, with N.A.N Partners participating. Solgram raises over $1 million in a pre-seed round led by DSG Consumer Partners and Saama Capital, with Kapil Chopra participating. Sachin Tendulkar makes a strategic investment in Metasports Interactive, the company behind Hitwicket. The amount was not disclosed. altM raises $10.3 million in a Series A round led by Rainmatter by Zerodha and Mela Ventures, with Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Aureolis Ventures, Spectrum Impact and strategic angel investors participating. Venomics AI raises $2.7 million in a pre-seed round co-led by Speciale Invest and South Park Commons, with Operators Studio participating. EloElo Group raises $80 million in a Series C round led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal, with MIT Investment Co. and existing investors participating. Peppermint Robotics raises ₹100 crore (approximately $10.5 million) in a Pre-Series B round led by pi Ventures and Crane Venture Partners, with Asiana Fund participating. O-Health raises an undisclosed amount of funding from Sangita Reddy, BugleRock Capital, Perpetual Capital, Ankit Nagori and Varun Dua. Traversal raises $120 million in a Series B round at a $1 billion valuation, led by Kleiner Perkins, Redpoint and Khosla Ventures, with Sequoia Capital, Battery Ventures and Amex Ventures participating. GIVA raises over $100 million in a round led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management. The Croffle Guys raises ₹14 crore in a round led by V3 Ventures, with N.A.N Partners participating. Solgram raises over $1 million in a pre-seed round led by DSG Consumer Partners and Saama Capital, with Kapil Chopra participating. Sachin Tendulkar makes a strategic investment in Metasports Interactive, the company behind Hitwicket. The amount was not disclosed.
  • Sashikumar Sreedharan Quits Google Cloud for Sarvam! What India’s AI Startup Is Planning Next

    Sashikumar Sreedharan Joins Sarvam as CBO

    Bengaluru: Sashikumar Sreedharan has joined Sarvam AI as President and Chief Business Officer (CBO) and a member of its board of directors, bringing more than three decades of experience in the technology industry, including senior leadership roles at Google Cloud and Microsoft India.

    In his new role, Sashikumar Sreedharan will lead Sarvam’s business across enterprise and government segments while expanding the company’s engagement with digital-native businesses, developers and technology partners.

    He will also oversee several key functions, including Marketing, Finance, Forward Deployed Engineering, Service Delivery and Commercial Operations.

    His appointment comes as the Indian AI company looks to expand its business operations and strengthen its presence among enterprises and government institutions.

    Sreedharan joins Sarvam from Google Cloud, where he most recently served as Managing Director for India. Before Google Cloud, he spent more than five years leading Microsoft India’s enterprise business as its Managing Director.

    Across these roles, he brings over 30 years of experience in building and managing technology businesses.

    Sarvam strengthens leadership as enterprise adoption grows

    Sashikumar Sreedharan’s appointment comes at a time when Sarvam is witnessing increasing adoption of its artificial intelligence offerings across enterprise and government customers.

    According to the company, more than 100 enterprises and government institutions are currently building with Sarvam’s full-stack AI offering. With its customer engagements expanding in both scale and scope, the company is preparing for its next phase of growth.

    Sarvam said its priorities include advancing research, developing products for users across global markets and building an organisation capable of operating at a significantly larger scale.

    The company also highlighted its approach to enterprise AI, emphasising that businesses should retain ownership of their AI infrastructure, including data, models and agents.

    “Every enterprise should own its AI. The data, the models and the agents stay inside the enterprise, and so does the value they create,” the company said.

    Sarvam also sees a close relationship between frontier AI research and enterprise value creation. According to the company, industry requirements help push research forward, while research breakthroughs can create the foundations for entirely new industries.

    Sashikumar Sreedharan highlights India’s AI opportunity

    Commenting on his appointment, Sashikumar Sreedharan said joining Sarvam represents an opportunity to contribute to India’s ambitions in artificial intelligence and develop technology with global relevance.

    “India should be a maker of the intelligence the world runs on. For me, joining Sarvam is a commitment to that opportunity. I look forward to working with the team and our customers to build products that become part of how industries and governments operate,” said Sashi.

    Author

    • Salil Urunkar

      Salil Urunkar is a senior journalist and the editorial mind behind Sahyadri Startups. With years of experience covering Pune’s entrepreneurial rise, he’s passionate about telling the real stories of founders, disruptors, and game-changers.

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