How the funding game has changed; Meet the Nestman of India

Hello,

In a global trade war, it’s all about maintaining a delicate balancing act.

The Indian government is considering ways to lower tariffs on various items, including automobiles, some agricultural products, chemicals, critical pharmaceuticals, as well as certain medical devices and electronics, to evade the reciprocal tariffs threatened by the US.

While officials don’t expect that deal to be finalised by April—when the planned reciprocal levies may begin—the government is hopeful progress toward an agreement may shield India from those duties, Bloomberg reported.

The European Union is not far behind. On her upcoming visit to New Delhi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to ask India to lower tariffs on cars and alcoholic beverages and broaden its market access, as it seeks to reduce its reliance on China. 

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has threatened a 25% tariff on imports from the EU, claiming that the economic and political bloc was formed “to screw” the US. He also added that duties against Canada and Mexico would take effect on April 2 and that his trade measures would include a 25% tariff on goods, including cars, from the EU.

Sounds like there’s expensive times ahead. 

Anyway, here’s some good news for Bayern Munich fans, as their club completes 125 years! Check out the secret behind the German club’s success.  

Lastly, the Mahakumbh Mela drew to a close on Wednesday, with a total of 663 million Indians—nearly twice the population of the US—taking holy dips in the Ganges in the six-week-long festival. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• How the funding game has changed
• Meet the Nestman of India
• Whizzo weaving innovative fabrics

Here’s your trivia for today: Due to a variation in olfactory-receptor genes, what does the herb cilantro taste like to some people?

Interview

How the funding game has changed

Startup founders, located across various Indian cities and towns, have the potential to understand local challenges and leverage technology to solve these issues. Investors, on the other hand, are on the lookout for these founders, now that India has put the funding winter behind. 

In a conversation with YourStory, Sanjay Nayar, Founder of Sorin Investments, and President of ASSOCHAM, discusses the evolving founder mindset and emphasises the need for companies to strengthen their fundamentals before setting their sights on public markets.

All the details:

• He said, “From what I’m seeing in my fund, there’s no shortage of capital, but the funding game has changed. Founders have stopped taking money for granted, and they’re casting wider nets and taking longer to close rounds.”
• The days of easy fundraising, where investors lined up with checks, are over. Large early-stage fundraises have slowed, and many family offices—after burning their fingers in seed and pre-IPO deals—are pulling back or opting for direct investments over funds, Nayar said.
• Family offices are seeing lockups, illiquidity, and market crashes, according to him. Some are stepping in to actively run and manage struggling startups, while others are shifting towards more controlled deals instead of making passive bets, he added.

Funding Alert

Startup: FanTV

Amount: $3M

Round: Strategic investment

Startup: Lorien Finance

Amount: $2.25M

Round: Pre-Series A

Startup: Astrogate Labs

Amount: $1.3M

Round: Pre-Series

Inspiration

Meet the Nestman of India

The chirping of birds outside the window of your high-rise apartment may still be a reality despite rapid urbanisation and climate change. One man is spearheading the efforts to revive the lost harmony between humans and nature by bringing birds back to urban spaces, one nest at a time. 

Rakesh Khatri, fondly known as the “Nestman of India”, has spent the past 18 years dedicating his life to creating homes for birds, with over 7,80,000 handmade nests and counting.

Housing for birds:

• Khatri’s nests are crafted using five bamboo sticks, rope, and a cloth, designed to mimic the natural habitats of birds. The entry hole is small enough to keep out predators but large enough for sparrows, bulbuls, magpies, silverbills, and robins to enter. He also creates eco-friendly nests using tetra packs, jute, or even scrap wood.
• With a decreasing green cover in urban localities, Khatri’s work now extends beyond individuals and corporate organisations to urban planners. He is looking to collaborate with builders to integrate bird-friendly spaces in new constructions.
• His team of 16 includes volunteers and underprivileged women who assemble close to 100 nests every day providing them with a livelihood. Their hand-painted nests in organic colours are a big hit and have become popular as return gifts for birthdays.

Startup

Whizzo weaving innovative fabrics

As companies diversify away from China and Bangladesh, India has a unique opportunity to strengthen its foothold in textiles. This is supported by a strong MSME ecosystem and government initiatives like the PLI schemes, which encourage innovation and expansion in the sector. However, global demand is shifting toward engineered and technically advanced textiles, outpacing current supply. 

This is where Bengaluru-based Whizzo steps in. Founded in 2024 by former Zetwerk executive Shrestha Kukreja, Whizzo is a materials science manufacturing company that specialises in engineered and technical textiles. 

Engineered clothes:

• Whizzo specialises in developing and executing advanced textile blends tailored for applications across automotive, agriculture, packaging, medical textiles, and engineered fashion.
• Whizzo says that a circular economy is at the heart of its operations. A key project in this effort is its low-water denim, which uses advanced laser treatment to cut water consumption by 95% and eliminate chemical-intensive processes. 
• The startup raised its seed round of $4.2 million in January 2025 led by Lightspeed and BEENEXT Singapore.

News & updates

• New chip: AWS showed a quantum computing chip with new technology that it hopes will shave as much as five years off its effort to build a commercially useful quantum computer. The chip, named Ocelot, is a prototype that has only a tiny fraction of the computing power needed to create a useful machine. 
• New app: Instagram may spin off Reels into a separate app. The project, reportedly code-named Project Ray, aims to improve recommendations for new users and existing users in the US and feature more three-minute videos.
• Profits: Hong Kong's bourse operator reported a 10% rise in annual profit, helped by sharp increases in trading turnover and new company listings, and said it was optimistic that a pickup in Chinese economic activity would help its prospects. Recent years have seen the exchange's performance hampered by slow growth in China's economy, regulatory tightening, as well as geopolitical tensions.

Due to a variation in olfactory-receptor genes, what does the herb cilantro taste like to some people?

Answer: Soap.

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