Over the past few years, Chennai has developed a reputation for being a centre for successful technology-based enterprises. It has also been regarded as an industrial and automotive hub. Chennai also features a list of the best startups in the deep tech, fintech, edtech, and consumer tech sectors. In the past few of years, the number of startups in Tamil Nadu’s capital has grown significantly.
The state of Tamil Nadu’s government is still actively supporting the growth of startup communities there. Thus, there is no need to explain Chennai’s unexpected growth in startup activity or its ranking as India’s fourth most active startup environment. Here are 15 best startup companies in Chennai.
Karthik Jayaraman and Sanjay Dasari established Waycool in 2015 as a B2C fruit and vegetable wholesaler before switching to a B2B plan of action. The company purchases fruits and vegetables from individual farmers and aggregators and then sells them through a variety of channels, including hotels, national grocery store chains, and neighbourhood convenience stores. Waycool employs technology to reduce waste and improve the entire supply chain. WayCool claims to serve 18,900 clients and 50K+ farms as of October 2021 after raising a $13M Series D financing.
Mithun Sacheti and Srinivasan Gopalan established the jewellery store CaratLane in 2008 with the goal of making beautiful jewellery more affordable. The company operates both offline and online. It offers a variety of jewellery products, such as rings, earrings, bracelets, and pendants in various metals, and buyers can schedule an online appointment to test the jewellery at home. In July 2016, CaratLane and Tanishq merged thanks to a strategic decision made in CaratLane by Titan Company. More than 40 Indian cities are home to CaratLane’s 123 retail locations.
Pradeep Dadha created the online pharmacy Netmeds in 2010. It offers a broad selection of OTC and prescription medications, including vitamins, supplements, cosmetics, and surgical supplies. Through their website or app, customers can upload prescriptions, which are then verified by licenced medical specialists before the medications are sent out. Reliance Industries expanded its presence in online shopping in August 2020 by purchasing a 60% share in Netmeds.
In 2016, Ashwin Ramasamy, Shrikanth Jagannathan, and Murali Vivekanandan founded PipeCandy. It is an analytic tool that offers sales and marketing teams in-depth knowledge of eCommerce and direct-to-consumer brands. It assists businesses in compiling an accurate lead list of online shoppers and provides reports that adhere to industry standards for estimating the size of the global eCommerce market across various markets and product categories. The startup has developed machine learning algorithms that assist businesses in segmenting leads based on characteristics particular to each industry.
Vinodh Venkatesan and Sekar Udayamurthy created Jidoka Technologies in 2018. Through the use of deep learning, AI, and machine learning, it specialises in automating the fast detection of visual flaws. Its expertise includes analytics, automation, integration, deep learning, and machine vision. Jidoka Technologies provides services to the automotive, general manufacturing, pharmaceutical, textile, and publishing industries. In May 2021, Jidoka Technologies raised $340K in a seed round.
In order to provide flying taxis for in-city door-to-door transportation, Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy and Pranjal Mehta established the ePlane firm in 2019. The business is constructing the e200 electric flying taxi, a 2-seater electric plane with a 4*4 footprint that can carry up to 200kg and take off vertically like a drone before flying like a plane. The startup, which wants to make short-distance flying an affordable commute, raised $1M in a seed round of funding from venture capitalists Speciale Invest, Naval Ravikant, JavaCapital, FirstCheque, and CIIE in December 2020. The innovation makes it one of the best startup companies in Chennai.
Dhinesh Kanagaraj and Abhijeet Rathore started Fabheads in 2015 with the goal of developing automated processes for producing premium carbon fibre components. It has created a line of 3D printers called FibrBots to make it possible to print carbon fibre. Additionally, it offers services including design, prototype, and production as a full-range development partner. After receiving Rs. 8 crores from Inflection Point Ventures in a pre-Series A round, Fabheads raised an unknown sum from Rockstud Capital, FirstPort Capital, and Bliss Flow Investments Pvt Ltd in August 2021.
In order to create the AI of the future, Ashwini Asokan and Anand Chandrasekaran launched Mad Street Den in 2013. Mad Street Den introduced Vue.ai, an AI platform for the retail sector, in 2016. The technology enables marketing and cataloguing teams improve customer service, increase conversions, and lower expenses by using picture recognition to analyse user behaviours. Mad Street Den introduced Blox.ai, AI in a box, in June 2021 to broaden its AI product line. Businesses may employ Blox.ai for putting their data to tackle challenges in categorization, recognition, prediction, forecasting, and other areas of business.
Based in Chennai’s National Centre for Combustion R&D of IIT Madras, AgniKul Cosmos is an aerospace company. The business, which was established in 2017 by Srinath Ravichandran and Moin SPM, produces tiny launch vehicles to aid in the orbital placement of tiny satellites. The launch vehicle Agnibaan, one of its flagships, can carry a 100 kg payload into a 700 km low earth orbit. Agnikul raised $11M in a Series A round of fundraising in May 2021, with help from a few current investors and Mayfield India.
Shreenidhi Srirangam, Vijaybabu Gandhi, and Arunprasad Durairaj founded Flintobox in 2013. It began by providing children between the ages of 2 and 12 with a subscription-based education box that promotes activity-based learning. Flintobox introduced Flintoclass in 2017 with the goal of enabling independent preschools and unbranded daycare centres to provide children with high-quality early learning curriculum. Flintobox introduced Flintoclass@HOME, which offers a learning kit and a dashboard to monitor a child’s progress, last year.
In 2011, Arun Prakash, Sridevi Arun Prakash, and SP Balamurugan started GUVI (Grab Your Vernacular Imprint) as a youtube channel to share technical videos in regional languages. In 2014, GUVI became a legally recognised business and began providing technical training in five different languages—Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, and Bengali—for both free and a fee. It collaborates with businesses and shares applicant profiles and work for hiring. Guvi received Rs. 6 crores in pre-series A funding from the Education Catalyst Fund last year.
CreditMantri was established in 2012 by Ranjit Punja, Gowri Mukherjee, and R. Sudarshan with the goal of assisting clients in strengthening their financial standing and making smarter lending choices. Customers can obtain real-time credit scores, receive a free credit health analysis report, and choose loan products that are appropriate for their credit profile with its assistance. It allows customers to compare various loan products easily and contains data on all loan products offered by banks and NBFCs. CreditMantri claims to have 15 million customers and has raised a total of $14.2 million since its beginning.
In order to assist underbanked Indians in achieving their financial objectives, Puneet Gupta and Sucharita Mukherjee created Kaleidofin, a neo-bank, in 2017. It is best known for its flagship technologies KaleidoPay and Kiscore, which allow NBFCs and MFIs to collect recurring payments from clients and, respectively, underwrite borrowers in real-time using predictive analytics. Additional services include udaan, lakshya, and ummeed. Each of them provides a solution for goal-based saving.
In order to assist underbanked Indians in achieving their financial objectives, Puneet Gupta and Sucharita Mukherjee created Kaleidofin, a neo-bank, in 2017. It is best known for its flagship technologies KaleidoPay and Kiscore, which allow NBFCs and MFIs to collect recurring payments from clients and, respectively, underwrite borrowers in real-time using predictive analytics. Additional services include udaan, lakshya, and ummeed. Each of them provides a solution for goal-based saving. The underlying purpose makes it worthy as one of the best startup companies in Chennai.
Kissflow, formerly known as Orangescape, was started by Suresh Sambandam. It provides software for managing corporate processes and workflows on the cloud. The platform has all the applications, project management tools, and collaboration features required for employees to carry out their duties, and it is accessible from anywhere. Additionally, Kissflow provides a minimal code platform that enables businesses to create apps without knowing any code and automate laborious procedures. Over 10,000 organisations worldwide utilise the Kissflow software package, claims the business site.
This was our list of best startup companies in Chennai. The startups listed here serve as role models for many aspiring innovators and serve as an example of our nation’s innovative prowess. If you’re one of them, we hope you’ll find something useful in this post.
Also Read:
Business Talk is a digital business magazine that caters to CEOs, Entrepreneurs, VC, and Corporates. While working with entrepreneurs and business executives, we focus not only on their achievements. Our mission is to shed light on business entities, including their innovations, technological benchmarks, USPs, and milestones/accolades.
Goa has earned the moniker "Party Capital of India" with good cause. This little beach…
India is a country that boasts a rich cultural heritage and a diverse landscape. Its…
Hyderabad has always been a city of diverse cultural experiences. Its rich history spanning over…
India is a land of spirituality and religion, with numerous pilgrimage destinations scattered across the…
Taking a break from the mundane routine of life is essential for everyone. Some people…
Anniversaries provide an opportunity to honour the good memories, lessons learned, and growth of the…