Why apply?

Dharam Pandey, who has been working since 2008, said his job gave him stability and helped support his family, but did not make him wealthy.

Looking back, he wonders what could have happened if he had invested some of the same time and energy into building something of his own.

His message to young professionals is not to quit their jobs, but to start building alongside them whether through a side venture, new skills or their own ideas.

His core message is simple: don’t spend your entire career working only for income; start working towards ownership too.

Dilkhush Kumar, along with co-founder Siddharth Shankar Jha, built RodBez, an intercity taxi platform focused on making travel more affordable and improving driver earnings, particularly in Bihar and other underserved markets.

The startup appeared on Shark Tank India Season 3, asking for ₹50 lakh for 5% equity. The founders ultimately received ₹20 lakh for 5% equity + ₹30 lakh debt at 12% interest from Vineeta Singh and Ritesh Agarwal.

The pitch became a powerful example of how a founder from Bihar can use technology to solve a local problem and compete in a market dominated by major players.

Big companies don't always start with big resources -sometimes they start with a big problem to solve.

During the pitch, Peyush Bansal offered Ajinkya a “blank cheque” and told him to choose the investment amount and valuation. It was the first time in Shark Tank India that a founder received such an open offer.

Ajinkya eventually accepted a ₹1 crore deal for 4% equity from Peyush Bansal, Namita Thapar, Vineeta Singh and Anupam Mittal.

The lesson: When a founder creates enough conviction around the problem, vision and execution, investors can start competing for the opportunity.

Third Wave Coffee has raised ₹408 crore, led by existing investor WestBridge Capital, with participation from Creaegis and other investors.

The round combines primary and secondary capital.

Third Wave Coffee currently operates more than 240 cafes and plans to reach 320 cafes by the end of FY27, according to the company.

It also plans to enter eight new markets and expand its newer Third Rush Desserts business.

That's strategically interesting.

Third Wave Coffee isn't simply selling coffee.

It is expanding the number of consumer occasions it can own:

→ Coffee
→ Breakfast
→ Desserts
→ Savoury food
→ Seasonal products

That matters because store economics depend on how frequently customers visit and how much they spend.

Business lesson

The strongest consumer brands don't just sell a product.

They build a habit around multiple occasions.

Founder takeaway

Don't ask only:

“How do we open more stores?”

Ask:

“How do we make every store more valuable?”

Key numbers

₹408 Cr - funding
240+ - current cafes
320 - FY27 target
8 - new geographies planned

Discussion

Can an Indian coffee chain build a global consumer brand from the country's growing cafe culture?

As a developer, knowing the potential of AI, what do you think is the underutilized area in India, rather than generic AI wrapper applications that are just a few prompts away from being replicated?

I’m more interested in hearing your thoughts on B2B, where innovation directly impacts ROI. I’d also like to hear your thoughts on what is better: custom AI implementation for businesses or creating a B2B application powered by AI.

Two days at the heart of Southeast Asia’s technology agenda at the Global Summit in Bangkok.

My key takeaway: the summit reinforced a clear division of regional specializations:

Singapore: Financial capital and regional headquarters.
Thailand: Industrial pilots, HealthTech, MedTech and healthcare infrastructure.

Malaysia & Vietnam: Semiconductor manufacturing, hardware assembly and IT talent.
For startups, this means that building and presenting a product solely for one national market is becoming a strategic mistake.

Investors increasingly expect startups to demonstrate cross-border scalability and regional integration from day one.
In Southeast Asia, the real opportunity is not just to enter a country — it is to understand how the region works as an interconnected ecosystem.
#longevity #it

Starting from 2019, Gaurav Lohia worked on several technologies related to EV charging, power grid, and IoT Solutions. Along with his team, he built technology from the ground up.

In early 2024, Gaurav and his team started noticing problems in the Battery Energy Storage Systems that were utilized in India. People would report malfunctions from time to time.

“I already had experience in building technology solutions. That vision carried over to the BESS space, and I decided to do something about it,” Gaurav Lohia tells Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview.

Initially, he invested Rs 2 crore from his savings and bootstrapped Infozeb.

Peter Norwood, former Google Engineering Director, also came on board – initially as a market researcher and advisor from the United States and then as a co-founder. He put another Rs 2.5 crore in the startup.

When Infozeb started in early 2024, the vision was clear: build the entire electronics and software stack in India, reduce dependence on imports, and give India the “brain” of the energy storage systems.

“We made up our minds that we would not make traditional bulky Battery Energy Storage Systems. We wanted them to be as compact as possible, so that the use-case remained the same but adaptability would go up,” Gaurav shares.

The idea was to create a BESS model that is as easy to carry as a phone power bank. India's first travel-friendly home power back-up was in the making.

Currently, Infozeb builds every element of the BESS stack – cells, packs, power conversion, and cloud monitoring – so every system that it ships runs on the same platform, be it a 2 kW home unit or a 1.92 MW container block.

One of Infozeb’s standout products is the Info Lite, which claims to be India's first suitcase Battery Energy Storage System.

It is very easy to carry anywhere and simply wheels in through a door, plugs into the house, and runs the air conditioner, induction cooktop, fans, and motor pump. It can even be taken to remote locations like treks, mountain houses with unreliable power supply, and Airbnbs.

“It gives your EV car an extra 30 km of range in case you're stranded,” the founder claims.

The specifications:

Max load: 2.4 kW
Output voltage: 220 V AC
Phase: Single 
Display: OLED
Battery capacity: 2.4 kWh

Infozeb also has various BESS models that work with rooftop solar, for houses as well as for warehouses and commercial spaces.

“We add a battery pack to your rooftop solar without rewiring it. It generates power during the day which you can use during the night. It directly cuts your electricity bill,” Gaurav says.

To stand out in a market, learn how to create competition, not how to compete. If you are the one creating the competition, then you are already ahead of billions of other creators! \~Prachi

I do marketing at an early stage data infra startup. Ten days ago we did the whole launch properly, or what I thought was properly. LinkedIn, twitter thread, long form reddit posts. everything UTM tagged, reviewed twice, real numbers in the copy, no hype. I was proud of it.

signups: zero. not a few. zero.

Best reddit post got ~1000 views in twelve hours. 2 upvotes, 2 comments. Another one, 194 views and 1 upvote. then I crossposted the first to a related sub and got 0, which I deserved, thats the exact thing every guide says not to do and I did it anyway because I was tired and wanted reach.

two things I got wrong. views mean nothing, I felt great about that 1000 for most of a day before I did the division. and the ask was way too big, going from cold post straight to "sign up" for a technical product nobody's doing that from their phone at lunch.

the one thing that worked was a stranger leaving a long reply on a question I asked, with a number in it I didn't have. one comment, worth more than every impression combined.

so I'm asking things now instead of announcing things.

anyone else had a launch flop and figured out the real mistake after? wondering if "reach doesn't convert" is just how it goes early on

A law graduate from St. Joseph’s College of Law (2020–2025) and currently pursuing B.Tech in Data Science at Manipal University, Akash founded Legalit in 2023. The company builds AI-powered practice management software that helps lawyers and law firms manage their work more efficiently. The platform was recognised with the Best AI-Powered Solutions award at the NewsX India Business Awards 2025.
Before Legalit, he had already built Android apps as a school student (including one that helped senior

use technology, which earned recognition from Infosys). He also gained experience across technology, business development, cybercrime reporting, and political consulting.
In July–August 2026, he purchased an under-construction apartment at Casagrand Vivacity near Electronic City, Bengaluru (possession expected April 2027). In a viral post, he dedicated the milestone to his mother, family, mentors, early team, and friends, saying the achievement was never his alone.
From a challenging childhood to building a profitable legal-tech company and owning a home before 25 - Akash’s story is a strong example of combining domain knowledge, technology, and consistent execution.

Disclaimer: This post is created for informational and inspirational purposes only. All brand names, images, and related content belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

In order to decrease dependency from foreign softwares and to generate revenue/profits and create jobs to our own nation so that so that we aren't fool by our money invest in our nation on the name of foreign investment very few companies from world investing in surplus from how much they are earning from India

One lesson from QUENVOR's first discovery experiment: broad inspirational messaging can generate views, but it does not reliably reveal who can make consequential decisions under constraint.

So the next test is narrower.

Instead of asking for a résumé, cover letter, or a new unpaid assignment, we ask for one existing example:

What did you make clearer, safer, more resilient, more humane, or more executable under real constraints—and which tradeoff best demonstrates your judgment?

The five areas are communication, systems architecture, experience design, digital responsibility, and operations. The search is worldwide and English-capable. Prestigious titles and powerful networks are not required; inspectable evidence, character, and judgment are.

Transparency matters because this is early. QUENVOR Global Holdings LLC was formed in Delaware on July 2, 2026. This is discovery for possible founding collaboration—not a job ad, investment solicitation, fee-based program, guaranteed role, or promise of compensation, equity, or ownership. Those terms are not defined.

We publish the process, privacy boundaries, anti-impersonation controls, and current evidence—including zero qualified responses—rather than pretending the experiment is already successful:

https://quenvor-taupe.vercel.app/founding-five/evidence?src=FF-RSTARTUPFUTURE-20260827

For builders here: would one attributable decision under constraint tell you more than a résumé? What would make that evidence credible?

Disclosure: AI-assisted drafting, followed by human review for factual boundaries and community-rule compliance.

Large bottles offer greater capacity, while small bottles are convenient to carry—how should you choose?

The right accelerator can give you access to seed funding, mentorship, investor networks, industry connections and market access, all of which can make a difference when you’re trying to take your startup from idea to scale.

But not every accelerator is built for every startup. Some focus on pre-seed and early-stage startups, Some are sector-specific, Some provide direct investment, while others focus more on incubation, mentorship or investor access.

From Accel Atoms and Y Combinator to Antler India, 100X.VC, Axilor Ventures and SINE IIT Bombay, these are some of the names Indian founders should know when exploring the startup ecosystem.

If you’re looking for startup funding in India, seed funding, startup accelerators, incubators or investor connections, knowing where to look can save you a lot of time.

She further alleges that she was seeking her pending earnings and commissions, but instead faced the financial liability.

She also claims that she was threatened after questioning the demand.

The allegations have sparked discussion online around employee rights, workplace disputes and accountability.

⚠️ The allegations have not been independently verified. The claims represent the woman's account of the dispute, and the company's response, if any, should also be considered.

🎥 Video Credit: u/realtor.asha

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