Akanksha Priyadarshini
Akanksha Priyadarshini is an Indian climate-tech entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Aurassure, a Bhubaneswar-based company specialising in AI-driven climate intelligence and environmental monitoring systems. She founded Aurassure with Vamsi Krishna, Raviteja Cherukuri, and Omprakash Patra in 2022 after several years of research and product development. The company develops IoT-enabled platforms that provide real-time environmental data related to air quality, localised weather, flash floods, urban heat islands, and industrial emissions. Its integrated hardware and software systems are used heavily by municipal governments, heavy industries, and smart-city projects to drive environmental risk assessment, climate adaptation, and public-health planning.
“There was a clear disconnect between environmental exposure and the data available to explain it”
Under Priyadarshini’s leadership, Aurassure has emerged as one of India’s notable climate-intelligence startups by combining machine learning, large-scale sensor networks, and predictive analytics. In late 2025, the company secured ₹25 crore in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Rainmatter and Unicorn India Ventures. The platform has already built a substantial domestic footprint across more than 200 Indian cities and is expanding into Latin America through a wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary.
As climate volatility increasingly reshapes urban planning, industrial regulation, and public-health policy, Aurassure represents a new generation of Indian deep-tech startups building environmental-intelligence infrastructure specifically optimised for developing economies. Priyadarshini’s work reflects a broader shift toward data-driven climate governance in the Global South, where rapidly urbanising regions face growing environmental pressures but have historically lacked the sophisticated, localised monitoring systems required to build long-term resilience.
Pulkit Ahuja
Pulkit Ahuja is an Indian entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Proxgy, a Gurugram-based deep-tech company focused on industrial IoT wearables, AI-powered safety systems, and connected workforce technologies. Founded alongside Inderjit Singh Makkar, Proxgy develops smart wearable devices and enterprise platforms designed to improve worker safety, operational efficiency, and industrial communication across hazardous sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, construction, mining, and oil and gas.
Before launching Proxgy, Ahuja worked across mobility and technology ventures, gaining experience as a product innovator in IoT and wearable systems. Under his leadership, the company has expanded rapidly within India’s industrial technology sector by integrating custom hardware, most notably its flagship “Smart Hat” ecosystem, which features real-time gas leak detection, localised video streaming, and worker health tracking. By combining these wearables with artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and SaaS-based enterprise tools, the platform monitors workplace hazards and workforce performance in real time.
Proxgy gained national visibility since appearing on the inaugural season of Shark Tank India in late 2021, where it secured ₹1 crore in funding. After shifting from its early consumer-focused model to heavy industrial B2B applications, the company has grown remarkably. Driven by high-volume commercial contracts with major Indian banks, logistics firms, and public sector undertakings, Proxgy has seen its valuation rocket from an initial ₹10 crore to nearly ₹400 crore within three years, reflecting strong investor interest for industrial automation and connected-workforce technologies.
“We started with a simple goal—to solve real problems for frontline operations with reliable, Made–in–India technology”
The company’s growth coincides with India’s broader push toward manufacturing modernisation, industrial automation, and digitally integrated infrastructure. As factories, logistics networks, and industrial facilities increasingly adopt AI-assisted safety systems, Proxgy represents one of a growing number of Indian deep-tech firms building hardware-based industrial technologies rather than purely digital consumer software.
Devan Chandrasekharan
Devan Chandrasekharan is an Indian entrepreneur and drone-technologies innovator best known as the founder and managing director of Fuselage Innovations, a Kochi-based agritech and UAV company specialising in drones, AI-enabled crop analytics, and IoT-driven infrastructure systems. Founded in 2020 alongside his sister Devika Chandrasekharan, the company develops advanced drone technologies for precision agriculture, disaster management, infrastructure monitoring, and environmental assessment.
An aeronautical engineering graduate, Chandrasekharan was inspired to enter the drone sector after devastating regional floods severely affected his family’s farmland in Alappuzha district. Seeking technological solutions for crop resilience and farm efficiency, he began experimenting with UAV-based agricultural diagnostics and remote sensing technologies, which later evolved into Fuselage Innovations.
“We help farmers increase efficiency and sustainability through advanced drone-based mapping and diagnostics”
Under his leadership, the company has developed a range of DGCA-certified drones, including the flagship FIA QD10, a heavy-duty quadcopter engineered for precision spraying and granular broadcasting, and the NIREEKSH system, a multi-rotor drone designed for multispectral imaging and real-time aerial crop-health mapping. Together, these systems deploy targeted AI analytics to reduce chemical usage and improve yields across thousands of hectares of plantations in India. Fuselage Innovations has also later expanded into surveillance, heavy infrastructure inspection, and disaster-response applications, positioning itself as an emerging player in India’s drone and aerospace sectors.
Chandrasekharan gained national recognition after being named to the prestigious Forbes India “30 Under 30” list in 2025 in the agritech category. His work reflects the increasing integration of drone technologies into India’s agricultural modernisation, climate adaptation, and remote infrastructure-management systems—sectors that are becoming increasingly important as the country confronts environmental volatility, resource pressures, and the demands of large-scale rural transformation.
