Manmeet Singh

Everyone chased orders, Magicpin chased Unit Economics. Maybe this is the start of a smarter phase for Indian startups. magicpin turned EBITDA positive in Q1 by doing what others didn’t, aligning incentives with merchants, not just users. No burn. Just better design. Now the third-largest in food delivery. And profitable.

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Natasha Malpani Launches ₹200 Crore Fund to Power India’s AI Startups Former Kae Capital partner Natasha Malpani has launched Boundless Ventures, an early-stage venture fund with a corpus of ₹200 crore, dedicated to supporting homegrown AI-native startups across India. The fund will focus on pre-seed and seed-stage investments in companies innovating across consumer AI, infrastructure, agent tooling, healthcare, logistics, deep tech, and make-in-India hardware. Boundless has already written its first cheques to startups including Superhealth, Armatrix, PierSight, Knot, and two stealth ventures in AI infrastructure and consumer AI. Beyond capital, the fund promises to bring narrative and network support to founders. As Malpani puts it, India today has a once-in-a-generation advantage talent density, digital rails, and ambition to build global AI leaders from day one. At Startup Veda, we’re thrilled to see local capital fueling the AI frontier. This fund signals rising maturity in India’s venture ecosystem—placing conviction behind AI-first founders well before the rest of the world catches on. Join the conversation: Which early-stage AI ventures excite you the most? How powerful is the mix of capital + storytelling for building AI startups? #Startup #AI #VentureCapital #DeepTech #StartupIndia #FounderStories

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Chakki Fresh to ₹120 Cr: How Mitra Turned Stone-Grinding Pain into Growth Gain. Founded in 2023 by Abhishek kaushik, Mitra began with a simple yet bold belief: traditional Chakki (stone‑grinding) freshness matters—not just branding, but nutrition, flavor, and trust. Targeting tier II & III markets where premium quality often felt out of reach, Mitra faced early challenges—convincing small‑town consumers that fresh, high‑goodness flour at mid‑range pricing was worth it. Winning people’s trust in the beginning was the hardest part. By fixing supply issues, earning people’s trust, and getting 9 out of 10 customers to buy again, Mitra turned hesitant buyers into loyal fans. Revenue growth exploded—from ₹11 crore in FY 2024 to ₹40 crore in FY 2025, and projected to cross ₹120 crore this year. Mitra just raised ₹14 crore in a bridge round. These funds will fuel a 3,000‑ton refined flour plant set to go live in October, plus expansion into millet‑based, gluten‑free, diabetic‑friendly flours, sugar‑free options, organic spices—and venture into GCC markets. From convincing small-town shoppers that stone-ground flour truly tastes better, to delivering repeat-purchase rates north of 90%, each milestone has been earned. India’s Flour (Wheat) Market: In 2024, the Indian wheat flour market was valued at approximately USD 8.5 billion, and is expected to grow to USD 11.9 billion by 2033 The #D2C market in India was valued at USD 42.6 billion in FY2024 and is expected to grow to USD 185.2 billion by FY2032, clocking a CAGR of 20.17%

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Sreedhar Peddineni (Co-Founder, Gainsight & GTM Buddy) and Kiran Darisi (Co-Founder, Atomicwork & Ex Freshworks) joins me on Neon show. Two founders from Hyderabad who build global SaaS companies, taking one to IPO, another to a billion-dollar exit, and then choosing to begin again (and again). In this episode, we discuss: 1. Sreedhar’s journey: Host Analytics → Gainsight → GTM Buddy 2. Kiran’s path: Zoho → Freshworks → Atomicwork 3. How to find the “Goldilocks zone” for startups 4. Building companies that last for decades 5. Common mistakes founders make scaling SMB → Enterprise 6. How Atomicwork co-founders connected & chose their problem 7. Why smaller, high-quality teams are winning 8. Is AI expanding the pie while eating it? 9. How businesses can leverage custom GPTs 10. If big AI goes everywhere, what’s left for B2B SaaS? This conversation is about the two decades of building India’s most iconic SaaS companies and what the future holds for SaaS founders from India. Episode is out on youtube.com/@TheNeonShoww

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Investing in Mutual Funds, Now Even Better: Introducing Demat for MFs on Groww! At Groww, product development is driven by listening closely to customer needs. Over the past year, many users expressed interest in holding mutual funds in demat format. Groww is now excited to announce that this feature is live—bringing investors a unified way to manage all their investments.
 When Groww launched mutual fund investing in 2016, holdings were maintained in the Statement of Account (SoA) format. This served investors well, and millions began their mutual fund journey through the platform. Over time, Groww expanded its offerings to include stocks, ETFs, and bonds—all of which are managed in demat format.
 As regulatory requirements evolved, it became clear that maintaining updated bank and nominee details across multiple folios in the SoA format had become unnecessarily complex. For example, under the latest rules, redemption proceeds are credited only to the bank account linked to each specific folio, and nominee details must be added individually with each AMC. This introduced friction into what should be a seamless experience.
 In response to growing demand from customers for a more streamlined approach, Groww has been working hard over the past few months to improve this process. Mutual fund investments on Groww will now default to demat mode.
 What Does This Mean for Investors? - All investments—mutual funds, stocks, ETFs, and bonds—are now consolidated in a single demat account.  - Updating bank account details is easier. - Redemptions go straight to the bank account linked to the customer's Groww profile. - Multiple nominees can now be added in one go, across all investments. Even for those who invest exclusively in mutual funds, the demat format simplifies account management so that details like bank and nominee information are accurate and up-to-date.
 That said, for investors who prefer to stay with the SoA format, Groww remains one of the few platforms that continues to offer this choice as well.
 Regardless of the format chosen, one thing remains constant: Groww’s commitment to making investing seamless, secure, and effortless for all Indians.
 We have written a detailed blog post that explains this transition further and answers the most frequently asked questions (link is in comments). 
 Every decision at Groww begins and ends with - what do our customers want. #HappyInvesting

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Dream11's exit from their ₹358 crore BCCI sponsorship deal - with BCCI waiving penalties due to government regulations - reminded me of a costly lesson I learned during the early IPL mobile rights days. Back then, we had acquired IPL Mobile Digital rights and partnered with Nokia as our exclusive mobile partner. Everything was going well until legislation banned VAS services overnight. When we rushed to review contracts, I discovered a painful reality - Nokia had ironclad protection clauses for regulatory changes, but I had no such mirror provisions with my licensor. Nokia walked away clean. I was left holding the bag. The asymmetry in contract terms taught me that in regulated industries, you're only as protected as your weakest contractual link. Key takeaways for founders: 🔹 Mirror Your Risk Clauses - If you're giving downstream partners regulatory exit clauses, ensure you have identical protection upstream 🔹 Legislative Force Majeure - In sectors like gaming, telecom, or fintech, standard force majeure isn't enough. You need specific regulatory change provisions 🔹 Don't Bank on Goodwill - Dream11 got lucky with BCCI's understanding. Most contracts won't be this forgiving 🔹 Risk Cascade Analysis - Map how regulatory risks flow through your entire contract chain. One weak link can sink the ship The Dream11-BCCI situation shows institutional maturity in handling unforeseen regulatory challenges. But as founders, we can't rely on such understanding. Build your contracts assuming the worst-case scenario - because sometimes it happens. #Startups #Contracts #RiskManagement #IPL #Entrepreneurship #LessonsLearned Kalaari Capital Dream11

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At Yatra, we’ve built for the way Indian businesses actually work, not around it.​ Travel and expense aren’t two systems anymore. They’re one connected journey. Booking to billing, approvals to audits, everything flows through one platform.​ Our GenAI engine doesn’t just scan receipts, it understands them. That means faster reconciliations, fewer errors, and less back-and-forth. Today, 850+ enterprises use this system to manage their business travel. Not because it looks good on paper, but because it keeps solving what matters in practice.

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