New Delhi, Nov. 4 -- Beverage maker TABP, beauty brand Protouch, defense startup Tsalla Aerospace and supply-chain solutions provider Macron Group have secured funding in separate early-stage rounds.

Meanwhile, e-waste recycling startup Black Gold and meme marketing agency Creativefuel have signed deals to acquire entities in their respective domains.

TABP TABP Snacks and Beverages, a beverage manufacturer, has raised $3 million (around Rs 26.5 crore) in a funding round led by LC Nueva, with participation from Entrust Family Office and investors Arun Mukherjee and Soumya Malani.

The Coimbatore-based company said it will use the capital to expand distribution across southern and eastern states, introduce new beverage formats, and scale up manufacturing capacity.

Founded in 2018 by husband-and-wife duo Prabhu Gandhikumar and Brindha Vijayakumar, TABP offers hygienic, standardised and affordable packaged drinks inspired by local variants, targeting low income consumers. As of FY25, the company recorded Rs 212 crore in sales, up from Rs 4 crore in FY19. Over the next three years, the company aims to surpass Rs 800 crore-mark in sales before expanding pan India and exploring a public listing.

Protouch

Beauty-appliance brand Protouch has raised $2 million (around Rs 17.7 crore) in its pre-Series A funding round led by venture capital firm, with participation from Enrission India Capital and Anicut Capital. The round values the company at $10 million.

The funding will be used to expand the product portfolio, boost research and development and innovation, and strengthen online and offline retail expansion, it said in a statement. Additionally, the startup also plans to introduce new products in the haircare and skincare categories and establish a manufacturing unit over the next few years.

Founded in 2022 by Tanisha Lakhani, Protouch sells beauty and personal care appliance products across haircare, skincare, and grooming. Its portfolio includes automatic hair multi-styler powered by Coanda Airflow Technology, and a dual-sided trimmer with a ceramic trimming edge.

Tsalla Aerospace Tsalla Aerospace, a Bengaluru-based deep-tech startup developing autonomous systems for defence and industrial applications, has raised $1 million (around Rs 8.9 crore) in its maiden funding round, led by ASML Executive Vice President Sunny Stalnaker.

The startup has also received further support from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and equity-free grants from the Ministry of Defence's Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) programme.

Founded in 2019 and incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Tsalla Aerospace is developing a hardware-agnostic AI pilot which allows drones and other unmanned systems to operate independently even in GPS and communication denied environments with zero operator cognitive load.

It currently works with the Indian Navy and Indian Army on key defence projects, including confined-space reconnaissance systems for intelligence gathering in high-risk zones, rapid-deployment VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) platforms operable by a single user, offshore and high-altitude logistics solutions such as ship-to-ship delivery in harsh weather conditions.

Black Gold Recycling

Hyderabad-based circular-economy startup Black Gold Recycling has acquired a majority stake in Reteck Envirotech Pvt Ltd, an Indian subsidiary of Hong Kong and US-based Li Tong Group, a reverse supply chain management and electronics lifecycle solutions.

The Hyderabad-based startup said the deal strengthens Black Gold's sustainable recycling solutions for lithium-ion batteries, plastics, solar panels, and end-of-life electronics.

Pankaj Tirmanwar, CEO of Reteck Envirotech will join Black Gold as a co-founder as part of the acquisition, and play a key role in emboldening Black Gold's nationwide footprint.

Black Gold Recycling specialises on e-waste, lithium-ion battery, plastic, and solar panel recycling. It has previously raised $10 million in seed funding from Citrus Global Arbitrage Fund.

Macron Group

Poonawalla Group, led by Yohan and Michelle Poonawalla and associate partners, have invested an undisclosed amount in Macron Group, a diversified company specialising in integrated supply chain solutions, record management and logistics parks.

"We see immense potential in Macron Group's multi-vertical model and its focus on building sustainable, scalable solutions. This partnership reflects our commitment to investing in businesses that are redefining their sectors while creating tangible value for stakeholders," said Michelle Poonawalla, director of Poonawalla Group.

Creativefuel

Creativefuel has struck a deal to expand its media and entertainment portfolio with the acquisition of two platforms named Recommendation Community and Music Community.

With this acquisition, Creativefuel seeks to strengthen its presence in the media and entertainment space across multiple genres. The meme marketing agency has previously acquired several media-led companies including Sarcasm, HalseyIndia, MissMalini, ScrawledStories, Rupees and others.

Recommendation Community is a digital platform which lets users discuss films and series. The company later introduced Music Community, a platform for listeners and creators across genres for music, discovery, and creative collaboration.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.