Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (March 14, 2025)

From Satin Creditcare Network Limited securing a $100 million social-term loan to GoDigit promoters’ reinsurance arm gaining regulatory approval, YourStory brings you today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors.

Featured stories

Holi hues: Startup founders share their fondest memories of the festival of colours

Holi, which marks the onset of spring, is synonymous with vibrant colours and lively celebrations. Over the years, with changing lifestyles and priorities, the way the festival is approached has evolved.

The carefree celebrations often associated with Holi may have taken a backseat, but the spirit of the festival lives on—in one’s memories and the happy moments one manages to steal amid busy schedules.

YS Life asks six startup founders to pause and reflect on their favourite Holi memories and how they have managed to keep some family traditions alive. 

Read more here.

How San Francisco-based Arise Ventures helps Indian tech startups break into the US market

Startups aspire to have marquee clients and a meaningful presence in larger economies. However, it is easier said than done. To help early-stage Indian startups in this journey, Arise Ventures is building an India-US corridor.

Founder Ankita Vashistha, who has been associated with the venture capital and private equity space since 2008, believes a lot can be done to accelerate the growth trajectory of Indian tech startups.

In an interaction with YourStory, Vashistha says, “Our focus is how we help startups build for the global markets, especially the US, with a clear go-to-market strategy.” As the world’s largest economy, the United States presents a large opportunity for Indian tech startups, but they face challenges for a credible entry point—in terms of bagging customers or having the right personnel on the ground.

Read more here. 

Latest news

Microfinance institution Satin Creditcare raises $100M social loan

Microfinance institution Satin Creditcare Network Limited has raised its first syndicated social term loan of $100 million via external commercial borrowing under the automatic route of the Reserve Bank of India.

The loan was arranged by Standard Chartered Bank, which also participated in the funding from the SCB Gift City branch. Other participants included six Sri Lankan banks: Hatton National Bank, National Development Bank, Seylan Bank, Pan Asia Banking Corporation, Commercial Bank of Ceylon, and DFCC Bank.

The social funding will be used to expand access to financial services in India’s underbanked regions, particularly for rural women and marginalised communities.

The transaction includes a $25-million greenshoe option. Under the automatic route of the RBI, foreign direct investment (FDI) in India and certain types of overseas direct investment by Indian entities can be made without prior approval from the RBI or the government.

Read more here. 

Other news

GoDigit promoters’ reinsurance arm get regulatory nod

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has granted a certificate of registration to Valueattics Reinsurance Limited. This is the first reinsurer to be granted registration to carry out reinsurance business.

Valueattics Reinsurance is backed by the promoters of Go Digit Insurance—Kamesh Goyal and Prem Watsa—through their companies. The company will start with an initial paid-up capital of Rs 210 crore to begin operations. 

On the regulatory approval, Go Digit Founder Kamesh Goyal said, “There was a longstanding need to have private reinsurance players in India and becoming India's first private reinsurer marks a significant milestone for us. With this, Digit group of companies (general insurance, life insurance and reinsurance) will strive to become one-stop solution for all insurance needs, allowing us to provide full-spectrum risk coverage.”

Rangsons Aerospace raises Rs 300 Cr led by ValueQuest Investment Advisors

Rangsons Aerospace, a product technology firm for aerospace, defense and homeland security has raised Rs 300 crore ($36.5 million) led by ValueQuest Investment Advisors.

This capital will be used by Rangsons Aerospace to increase its operational capacity to meet the product demand for its products in commercial and military aviation markets globally. Besides, the capital will also be used for strategic acquisitions.

Rangsons Aerospace is part of NR Group, a 75-year-old diversified business group based in Mysore. Its product lines include satellite communications systems, airborne thermal management and fluid distribution solutions with three manufacturing facilities in Bengaluru and Mysore.

IRCAI and AWS unveils Climate Fellowship Programme

The International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI), an organisation under the auspices of UNESCO and Amazon Web Services (AWS), has announced that applications are now open for the 2025 Compute for Climate Fellowship, a global programme that fully funds research and development (R&D) projects from startups using advanced cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop new solutions designed to help fight climate change.

This year, the programme is expanding to select 20 startups from around the world to get their proof-of-concepts built for free—up from eight in 2024 and four in 2023—with the mentorship of AWS and IRCAI's experts.

The applications for the 2025 Compute for Climate Fellowship will be open until April 6, 2025. Climate tech startups, entrepreneurs, and researchers from around the world can submit ideas that leverage advanced computing technologies to address climate change mitigation or adaptation.

(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)