30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eye In April 2026

Startup funding dipped sharply in April, with shutdowns (NeuroPixel.AI, Covrzy) and layoffs (Acko, SuperOps) reflecting a tighter capital environment

While policy changes kept startups cautious, investors continued to back ventures selectively, and IPO activity (Kissht, Zetwerk, Razorpay, others) moved ahead

Government support, steady innovation in sectors like AI and robotics, and emerging startups featured in this edition of 30 Startups To Watch list signal continued ecosystem resilience

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A lot happened in India’s startup ecosystem in April. As tensions in West Asia dragged on, funding activity at home slowed sharply. In the penultimate week of the month, startups raised just $39 Mn — the lowest weekly total so far since January 2025.

The pressure showed elsewhere, too. Ecommerce-focused AI startup NeuroPixel.AI and insurtech startup Covrzy shut down due to a cash crunch. Insurtech unicorn Acko and SaaS startup SuperOps also laid off a large number of employees.

Meanwhile, policy moves by the Centre and the RBI across gaming and fintech kept startups on edge. But, it wasn’t all gloom. Inc42’s Q1 2026 data shows that while funding declined YoY, investors are still deploying capital — just in smaller, more cautious bets.

On the IPO front, despite market volatility, Kissht moved ahead with its public issue. Companies like Zetwerk, Razorpay, PlaySimple and Garuda Aerospace also continued to prepare for their listings.

The government’s announcement of the second ₹10,000 Cr Startup Fund of Funds added some momentum, with a focus on deeptech and manufacturing startups. Innovation, too, continued at a steady pace across sectors like robotics, AI and semiconductors.

Against this backdrop, Inc42 is back with the ‘30 Startups To Watch’ series. The 69th edition of Inc42’s flagship series, powered by Peak XV Partners, features emerging ventures across foodtech, quick commerce and spacetech. 

With that said, here are the startups that caught our attention in April.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups alphabetically.

Acai Theory | Bringing Acai Bowls To India’s Everyday Diet 

India’s healthy snack market is growing fast, but there’s a clear gap. Many so-called healthy options don’t taste great. Urban consumers currently want food that is both tasty and healthy, and fits easily into their busy, fast-paced lives. They don’t want to pay a “health tax” in the form of bland flavours.

Ex-BCG executives Rishav Ranjan and Akash Kyal spotted this gap and launched Acai Theory in 2025. The startup is a QSR chain focused on acai bowls, a popular global snack that has yet to fully enter the Indian market.

An acai bowl is made using frozen, mashed acai berries, served like a smoothie in a bowl and topped with ingredients like granola and banana. The idea is to offer a snack that is both nutritious and enjoyable.

The brand has positioned its bowls as an affordable, everyday option, with prices starting at ₹199. In its first six months, Acai Theory claims to have sold 10,000 bowls from its single store in Bengaluru’s Indiranagar. 

Acai bowls have been popular globally since the 1980s, and the acai berry market continues to grow, with projections of crossing $3.5 Bn by 2034 at a CAGR of 12.2%. In India, the category is still new and largely untapped, giving early entrants a strong first-mover advantage. 

The startup now plans to scale by opening 10-12 stores in the near term, aiming to make healthy eating more accessible and standardised across the country.

Clarity Labs | Functional Soaps For Skin Issues

India’s beauty and personal care market, expected to reach $40 Bn by 2030, has long been shaped by traditional products, but is now crowded with complex routines and global formulations that don’t always suit the local climate. Many consumers are looking for simple, effective products they can use daily, without following lengthy regimens or experimenting with multiple products.

To address this, ex-GlobalBees product development head Karan Dokras founded Clarity Labs in 2025. The startup focuses on simplifying skincare for everyday use.

Instead of launching a wide range of products, Clarity Labs is taking a focused approach to personal care, building depth in a few high-intent categories before widening its product stack. 

It launched its flagship functional soap range, The BAR, in March 2026 and has since expanded distribution across its website and ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho. Priced between ₹350 and ₹450 for a pack of four, the soaps target specific use cases such as acne, tanning and muscle fatigue.

Rather than building a broad catalogue, Clarity Labs is using customer feedback and structured product testing to refine formulations and sharpen repeatability within the category. The near-term focus is on expanding the soap portfolio through new variants and formats, while gradually moving into adjacent categories such as hair wash, body wash and face wash. 

The founding team has prior experience building and scaling profitable consumer brands, like Fresh Food Concepts, AKIVA, Global Bees, including taking brands past ₹40 Cr ARR and growing monthly revenue from ₹10 Lakh to ₹10 Cr in under two years while maintaining profitability.

CLUIX | Transforming Water Quality Management

As climate change, groundwater contamination and population growth put increasing pressure on water systems, access to safe drinking water remains a major challenge. Testing water quality is often slow or expensive, especially in remote or last-mile areas.

Founded in 2023 by Robin Singh, CLUIX is building portable, hardware-led solutions in India’s water purifier and testing market, projected to reach $7.72 Bn by 2032.

The startup has developed a portable digital water quality analyser that can instantly test drinking water across 12 key parameters, including pH, turbidity, nitrate, fluoride and residual chlorine. The device delivers lab-grade accuracy on the field, geo-tags every test and sends results to a central dashboard for real-time monitoring.

The device also works without the internet and can run for 10 to 15 days on a single charge, making it suitable for remote deployments. Its software-led system also allows testing of arsenic and microbiological contaminants.

CLUIX operates at the intersection of water infrastructure, diagnostics and environmental monitoring. The startup has already conducted pilots across multiple Indian states and is now expanding into Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia. 

 Curious Cats | AI-Driven News Discovery

In today’s digital world, people are overwhelmed with information. Staying updated often means juggling multiple apps, newsletters and social media feeds. Yet you may miss out or fall behind. This is why there is a growing need to consume relevant, high-quality information quickly and without noise.

Founded in 2025 by the former CBO of Healthify, Anjan Bhojaraj, CuriousCats.ai is building what he calls the ‘Spotify for knowledge’. The idea came to Bhojaraj when he was working with Healthify. He often struggled to track updates across markets. He started working on a tool that could remove duplicate news, verify facts, reduce bias and provide personalised content. What was once a personal project has now evolved into a full product that aggregates data from over 1 Lakh global sources.

Users can consume information in multiple formats, including short summaries, timelines, videos, opinions and personalised audio through Curious FM. The platform aims to replace multiple apps with a single, ad-free knowledge layer.

As information consumption continues to rise, platforms that can simplify and personalise content are becoming increasingly valuable. CuriousCats is already live across India, the US, UK, Canada and Singapore, and operates on a B2C subscription model. With plans to reach 100K users by 2026, the startup is tapping into the AI-powered personalised news and intelligent content aggregation market, expected to become a $7.8 Bn opportunity by 2030, growing at a CAGR of around 27.9% from $1.7 Bn in 2024.

DamGoodFish | Bringing Fresh, Traceable Seafood To Urban India

India’s seafood industry is highly fragmented. Nearly 20% of the catch is lost due to poor cold chain infrastructure. To prevent spoilage, many suppliers use chemical preservatives, which raise serious health concerns. At the same time, urban consumers often end up buying seafood with little to no visibility into where it came from or how fresh it actually is.

To address this, Shobhit Gaur and Shailesh Patel founded DamGoodFish in 2023. The Gurugram-based startup delivers naturally raised, chemical-free seafood directly from dams and controlled water bodies.

At the core of its model is a proprietary AI-led system that predicts demand at a hyper-local pincode level, ensuring that fish are harvested only when demand is clear. This significantly reduces waste and removes the need for preservatives.

By managing the supply chain end-to-end, from sourcing to last-mile delivery, the startup is able to deliver seafood within 24 hours. 

India’s seafood market, expected to reach $30 Bn by 2030, has room for tech-led, quality-focused players to stand out, as demand for clean, traceable seafood rises in tandem with growing consumer awareness of food safety and freshness. 

Epik | Quick Commerce Gets A Facelift 

Quick commerce is reshaping digital retail in India, but its impact is largely limited to small, repeat purchases. When it comes to big-ticket electronics like smartphones or other appliances, consumers are far more cautious. They prefer to see, compare and test products before buying, often choosing offline stores over online........

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