Startup Stream

Some weeks, the ecosystem speaks for itself.

In just couple of days, two Ahmedabad-based startups — Optimized Electrotech and Magma — announced their latest fundraises, each reflecting the kind of focused, long-term building that’s quietly shaping the city’s startup landscape.

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Optimized Electrotech, co-founded by Sandeep Shah and Dharin Shah, secured $6 million in Series A funding, led by Blume Ventures and Mela Ventures. The round also saw participation from 9Unicorns, Venture Catalysts, and the Rajiv Dadlani Group.

The company is building electro-optic surveillance systems for defence, aerospace, and space — systems that combine advanced imaging with real-time AI analytics. With applications ranging from border security to autonomous ISR missions, they’re betting on a future where intelligence is not just collected, but interpreted on the edge, fast.

This raise will help them scale R&D, expand internationally, and build next-gen payloads designed for extreme environments.

https://x.com/BlumeVentures/status/1912059645361045808

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Magma, led by Neal Thakker, announced its own $5 million Series A round, backed by Capria Ventures with support from Avinya Ventures, General Catalyst, Accion Venture Lab, and Sanjiv Rangrass.

Magma helps factories manage raw materials, green energy, industrial waste, and logistics through a single B2B platform. With over 250 manufacturers already onboard — including players like Adani, Arvind, and Reliance — they’ve reached a ₹250 crore annual revenue run-rate and are eyeing ₹1,000 crore over the next two years.

This funding will fuel deeper tech development, backward integration, and scale their infra-layer approach for Indian manufacturing.

https://x.com/nealzyneal/status/1912539239792656461

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PS: I recently made a short video on the rise of the Ahmedabad startup ecosystem — the energy, the builders, and what’s quietly taking shape here.

https://x.com/jatin10/status/1899758803371094380

Every founder wants visibility, but not everyone understands what makes media coverage meaningful and impactful. Let’s start with five grounding principles to help you build better narratives and relationships with the media: 

2. Most Startups Can’t Afford PR — And That’s Okay. You don’t need an expensive PR agency to get coverage. In fact, in the early days, your authenticity and clarity can go further than a press release drafted by someone who doesn’t live your story.

3. Where Is Your Audience – Really? Before you shoot that email to your favourite publication, pause. Ask yourself — who are you trying to reach, and where do they consume content? Your audience may not even be reading the outlet you’re targeting.

4. Before You Pitch to the Media, Build the Relationship. Media engagement is not just transactional. If you're only reaching out when you need coverage, you're doing it wrong. Invest time in following, understanding, and connecting with journalists who cover your space.

5. Pitch Stories, Not Announcements. Reporters are not notice boards. They want stories that are relevant, timely, and human. Lead with the why, not just the what.

Do Follow Kumar Manish  for the next post in the series. Feel free to share your thoughts or feedback.

Thank you for joining us at the eChai Ventures AI Day at Urban Vault HSR!

We gathered. We discussed. We fuelled our minds with food for thought - what will the differentiator be when AI brings parity to ship out faster, how do you garner trust, do we need to worry about something here, and more.

We unpacked stories of the startups we are building and how AI can be leveraged to save time and increase efficiency among other things.

We fielded questions from curious minds on quantum computing and beyond!

Thank you for taking out the time on a Saturday evening to be with us and collectively experience the joy of gathering IRL! Signing off with Kuldeep Meel, Mehul Jain, Rabi Shanker Guha, Vijaypal Singh and an audience that believed in authentic interaction!

TAG someone who's building in the AI space and we'd love to have them for our future gatherings :)

*Ghibli version by one of our attendees, Rakesh Sahni.

** Baked eggless coconut cake and muffins to share with everyone coz baking is therapy!

https://x.com/rakeshsahni_/status/1908583072536420738

https://x.com/johurulmaz/status/1908559254161699146

We interviewed Ekta Shah, Co-Founder of Biziverse — a startup quietly transforming how Indian SMBs adopt ERP and CRM tools. They are building it from Gandhinagar.

Here’s the full story in her words:

What We Do

Biziverse, our startup, offers a single platform for Indian businesses to manage their operations and get new business opportunities. It covers ERP & CRM software tools, along with various B2B platforms, thus serving as a "Business Universe". Further, it simplifies ERP & CRM software and makes it very easily affordable, so that even the smallest business can be empowered to become a smart business.

How It All Began

The idle time during the Covid19 lockdown inspired us to wonder why, despite there being hundreds of ERP software options, most small businesses have been unable to apply technology beyond accounting and spreadsheets. We set ₹1000 to ₹2000 per year as the target price, and designed a business model and optimized systems to deliver easy and low-cost ERP software profitably.

What Makes Us Tick

Biziverse makes business software (ERP & CRM) more than 10X lower cost for growing businesses, while offering faster and better support. Even while thousands of businesses access it every day, our team of hardly six support executives maintains a response time of under 2 minutes, even on Sundays. Our system designs for sales automation, support optimization, and scalability make this possible.

Traction So Far

Frankly, Biziverse has exceeded our own expectations so far. In the four years since our launch in late-2020, more than 44,000 businesses have purchased a Biziverse subscription. These range from small shops to large publicly listed corporations, located across India, from Ladakh to Lakshadweep. We have raised about ₹4.5 crore, and operate on a gross-profitable basis.

Meet the Team

The culture of our startup combines traditional family principles with youthful energy for creative disruption. Each of us founders (my father, brother, and I) studied and returned from the US with the passion to participate in India's growth, and Biziverse is built with this mission as well. We work with a highly empowered team of talented engineers and managers, recruited from some of the best universities here, who share this spirit that by building smart businesses, we can make a Strong India.

Tapping Into Emerging Trends

It is wonderful to see that Indian entrepreneurs, of every size and demographic, are more aspiring than ever. They have embraced mobile and Internet technology. Governmental reforms like GST, UPI, and low-cost Internet further encourage this trend. As these businesses face competition from global suppliers and funded startups, they increasingly see the usefulness of smart tools like ERP and CRM to become efficient and customer-centric. Our low-cost pricing and easy interface inspires them to choose Biziverse first.

Challenges We’ve Overcome

Our biggest challenge has been to optimize customer acquisition. While our operating costs, second year onwards, are hardly ₹10 per customer, and our support is also very optimized, our biggest cost is sales, especially as some of our competitors have more than 100X our financial muscle. We resolved this by tweaking our business model, and offering the first year at only a token price, while assuring a fairly low renewal rate next year. This encourages businesses to give Biziverse a chance first.

Where We're Headed

Biziverse stands for and aims to be the "Business Universe". Even as we started with ERP and CRM software, we channel the attention of business users to actively participate in our platforms to find business opportunities, to promote their creations, to find better vendors, and to build synergy with other businesses. We will soon launch partnerships to offer external services to businesses, ranging from travel to recruitment to advisory services. Thus, Biziverse will be the single source for business owners for operations and opportunities and more.

How the eChai Community Can Help

eChai has been a wonderful source for us to learn from peers, as we interact with other progressive startups pursuing diverse spaces. In the coming future, we count on eChai to connect for potential B2B partnerships and VC fundraising.

Demo Video

https://youtu.be/h2BT59-MthM?si=atSercXdpTnZgR-8

Wasn’t 8th March International Women’s Day? Then what made 12th April 2025 so special?

Because at eChai Ventures 's Women’s Day meetup, we celebrated women beyond just a date on the calendar.

From 18-year-old dreamers to seasoned professionals, from those just starting out to industry experts — it was a space where stories collided, inspiration flowed, and connections sparked.

It was empowering to be among women redefining what it means to lead — whether it’s teaching bike riding or safeguarding businesses through cybersecurity. The spectrum of energy, strength, and ambition was nothing short of powerful.

Key takeaways that echoed throughout the room:

1. You don’t need to find the road not taken — create one, and show the world why it wasn’t taken yet.

2. Show up — even when you're not sure where it’s leading. That’s how journeys begin.

3. A Convo we had during the meetup that how #womeninmaledominatedfields was once a trend on Instagram but now?

- It isn't just a trend, it's the reality.
- We're surrounded with women in entrepreneurship, a field assumed to be male dominated in itself.

Here’s to the women who are building, leading, and rewriting the rules — one bold step at a time.

Special thanks to Jatin Chaudhary for this initiative!

Let’s continue building this tribe of fearless women. Connect. Collaborate. Create. 

Rinky V. Shraddha Nagrani Ria Rohatgi Aarti Banerjee XACKTON

#XACKTON #eChai #WomensDayEveryday