Ultraviolette is quietly building India’s most ambitious EV brand

Welcome “India” Bulls!

India’s startup funding landscape remained quiet. No flashy rounds, no billion-dollar headlines. Just… silence.

But here’s the thing: slow funding doesn’t mean slow building.

In uncertain markets, capital efficiency becomes a superpower. Startups that adapt, by doubling down on core users, revisiting pricing models, or exploring alternative capital, often emerge leaner, sharper, and more resilient.

The real question isn’t “Where’s the money?”

It’s “Are we building something worth betting on, even in a down cycle?”

💭 What’s one smart move a founder can make when VC money dries up?

Dive in to stay ahead!

P.S. The Sunday Special is designed to help you discover the most important Startup insights outside of Share Markets. Our regular Share Market updates will resume as usual on Monday.

Startup Menu

• Startups this Week: India’s EV Race Just Got a Bold Contender

• Funding Space

• Policy Talks

• Special: AI for MSMEs: The underdog’s secret Weapon 

• Everything else you need to know

• Life Hack in Video: How to start a business with 25K?

• Strategy: Zerodha’s No-Ad playbook: How simplicity outperformed spend

STARTUPS THIS WEEK

India’s EV Race Just Got a Bold Contender

While the EV spotlight often shines on Ola and Ather, Ultraviolette Automotive is quietly revving toward a category-defining breakout.

In its latest extended Series E1 round, the Bengaluru-based startup raised ₹32.6 Cr (~$3.85M), bringing its total funding to nearly $79M. With backing from Winever Industrial Enterprises, Dilip Anand Swadi, and Breathe Capital, this isn’t just a capital raise, it’s a signal of enduring investor conviction.

Now valued at ₹2,887 Cr (~$340M), Ultraviolette plans to invest $100M over the next few years. And they’re not just building EVs, they’re building an identity.

From the F77 Mach 2 to concept beasts like the Tesseract and Shockwave, their design language screams bold, futuristic, and unafraid.

But here’s what truly stands out: their ambition to sell 100,000 EVs annually. Not just move units, create a movement. In a market shaped by speed, style, and sustainability, Ultraviolette is betting on all three.

FUNDING SPACE

💰 Weekly Funding Spotlight: Major Startup Investments (April 26 -May 02)

The past week witnessed significant investments across various sectors:

▪️ Agri Fintech: Neobanking platform Kaleidofin raised $5.3M led by IDH Farmfit Fund to scale its credit solutions for underserved farmers. With AI-powered tools and a “click & brick” model, it's bridging rural India’s financial gap.

▪️ Voice Tech: Bengaluru-based Stimuler raised $3.75M from Lightspeed and SWC Global to grow its AI-powered English tutor. With 4M+ downloads, it's helping non-native speakers worldwide speak confidently, one voice command at a time.

POLICY TALKS

Maharashtra’s EV Policy 2025: A Bold Step Toward Green Mobility

Maharashtra is going all in on electric mobility with its ₹1,993 crore EV Policy 2025. Designed to accelerate adoption, the policy offers 10–15% purchase subsidies across two-wheelers, four-wheelers, buses, and even electric tractors, making EVs more accessible than ever.

Buyers get a full registration fee waiver and enjoy toll-free rides on key expressways, including the Mumbai–Pune Expressway and Samruddhi Mahamarg. On other highways, expect 50% off tolls.

To ease range anxiety, charging stations will be set up every 25 km on national highways, ensuring a smoother EV experience.

With incentives, infra push, and clear long-term vision, Maharashtra isn’t just pushing adoption, it’s rewriting India’s EV roadmap.

SPECIAL

AI for MSMEs: The Underdog’s Secret Weapon 

For India’s 60M+ Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), AI isn’t a luxury, it’s survival tech.

In a world where margins are razor-thin and time is always running out,

AI offers MSMEs something priceless: leverage.

🔧 Automation: From invoicing to payroll, AI tools act as tireless digital assistants, reducing manual work and costly errors. It’s like hiring help, without adding headcount.

📦 Smarter Supply Chains:
Predictive AI helps forecast demand, manage inventory, and optimize sourcing. MSMEs move from guesswork to precision.

💬 Customer Experience: Chatbots, product recommendations, and instant support bring enterprise-level service to even the smallest sellers.

📊 Decisions Backed by Data: AI translates numbers into insights, fueling better pricing, smarter promotions, and faster pivots.

💰 Cost-Efficiency: Less grunt work, fewer mistakes, and scalable workflows. The result? Real savings, reinvested into growth.

📈 Scaling on Steroids: Serve more customers, handle more orders, and manage operations with the same team size. That’s scale, reimagined.

The takeaway?
MSMEs that adopt AI early aren’t just surviving, they’re quietly outpacing the competition.

In India’s digital-first future, the question for founders isn’t “Can I afford to adopt AI?”
It’s “How fast can I get started?”

FROM THE WAR ZONE

Everything else you need to know

🧠 India’s Quantum Leap Begins: IBM and TCS will build India’s largest quantum computer in Andhra Pradesh, powered by a 156-qubit processor, marking a bold stride in India’s quantum ambitions.

🚫 Zomato Ends 10-Minute Delivery: Zomato has shut down ‘Quick’ after seeing no spike in demand, signaling the limits of ultra-fast food in a complex market.

📉 Oyo Postpones IPO Again: Oyo delays its IPO for the third time, with SoftBank pushing back and the new target now set for March 2026.

💻 Orient Tech Fuels IndiaAI Mission: Orient Technologies to supply 6,000 GPUs under a DaaS model, supercharging India’s national AI infrastructure efforts.

LIFE HACKS

How to start a business with 25K?

STRATEGY

Zerodha’s No-Ad playbook: How simplicity outperformed spend

In a world where fintech’s chase visibility with crores in ad budgets, Zerodha quietly built India’s largest brokerage, without spending a rupee on advertising.

No billboards. No brand ambassadors. No big-budget campaigns.
Instead, Zerodha bet on what most startups overlook: clarity, trust, and user obsession.

Their edge? A product-first approach.
Platforms like Kite offered intuitive trading, while Varsity became India’s go-to hub for market education. They didn’t push people to invest, they taught them how.

Add to that a referral program that turned users into advocates and a stellar support team that Nitin Kamath calls “our real marketing budget”, and you get a brand that scaled through community, not clicks.

Zerodha didn’t sell a dream.
They built a system that delivered consistently, simply, and without the noise.

📌Lesson for every founder: You don’t need a massive spend to win trust.

You need a product that respects your user’s time and intelligence.

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Until tomorrow!

Mohit & the OneZero-F team

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