Ep 145: Mimetically Predicting 2026 ft AJVC

Brought to you by the Founders Unfiltered podcast by A Junior VC - Unscripted conversations with Indian founders about their story and the process of building a company. Hosted by Aviral and Mazin.Join us as we talk with Aviral Bhatnagar, the Founder and Managing Partner of A Junior VC, as he shares his predictions for the startup ecosystem in 2026.

Join us as we talk to Shantanu Gangal, the CEO of Prodigal about their story.Shantanu earned his B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT Bombay in 2009 and an MBA from The Wharton School in 2013. He then worked at BCG, Blackstone, and Fundbox before founding Prodigal in 2018.🏢 About Prodigal:Prodigal is a YC-backed AI company that helps lenders and debt collectors maximize recoveries using personalized, data-driven consumer engagement, trained on 400M+ finance conversations.

Brought to you by the Founders Unfiltered podcast by A Junior VC - Unscripted conversations with Indian founders about their story and the process of building a company. Hosted by Aviral and Mazin.Join us as we talk to Mayank Kumar, the co-founder of BorderPlus about their story.Mayank completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Delhi and went on to pursue an MBA from ISB Hyderabad. He began his career as an analyst with the Tata Group, later served as a Senior Principal at EY-Parthenon, and then as Vice President at Bertelsmann India.In 2015, he co-founded upGrad, and in 2024, he went on to co-found BorderPlus.🏢 About BorderPlus:BorderPlus is a global workforce mobility platform helping blue-collar professionals—especially nurses—access international opportunities. It provides AI-driven language training, visa and licensing support, job placement, and relocation services, anchored by a Finishing School that builds real-world readiness and cultural fluency.

Brought to you by the Founders Unfiltered podcast by A Junior VC - Unscripted conversations with Indian founders about their story and the process of building a company. Hosted by Aviral and Mazin.Join us as we talk to Prasanna Rao, the Co-founder and CEO of Arya.ag about their story.Prasanna holds a PGDRM in Rural Management from the Institute of Rural Management Anand and is a Chevening Financial Services Fellow from King’s College London. He led commodity-based financing at ICICI Bank for nearly eight years and has served as a Strategic Advisor at SecurEyes for over 14 years. He later co-founded Arya Collateral Warehousing Services Pvt. Ltd., where he has spent almost 13 years scaling an agri-supply chain enterprise in India.🏢 About Arya.ag:Arya is a leading agritech platform operating at the farmgate with 5 million tonnes of storage across 21 states. Through Arya.ag, it connects farmers and agri businesses with buyers, offers post-harvest credit, and reduces losses. The company has facilitated ₹4,400+ crore in loans while running a profitable, tech-enabled model.

Join us as we talk to Sameer Merchant, the MD & CEO of Laxmi Dental Limited about their story.Sameer Merchant is a Certified Dental Technician (CDT) who began his entrepreneurial journey in 2001 by co-founding Laxmi Dental Limited with Rajesh. Over the years, he has travelled extensively to countries including Japan, Italy, Germany, the USA, the UK, and Liechtenstein to gain expertise in advanced dental techniques and technologies.🏢 About Laxmi Dental:Laxmi Dental is India’s first publicly listed dental company, offering certified, high-quality dental products and equipment worldwide. With a focus on innovation, precision, and global standards, it provides reliable solutions trusted by dental professionals across the globe.

Brought to you by the Founders Unfiltered podcast by A Junior VC - Unscripted conversations with Indian founders about their story and the process of building a company. Hosted by Aviral and Mazin.Join us as we talk to Rajan Navani, the Founder of JetSynthesys about their story.Rajan Navani is the Vice Chairman & Managing Director of the JetLine Group of Companies and the Founder & CEO of JetSynthesys. A visionary entrepreneur, he has transformed a 90-year-old family business into a digital powerhouse spanning gaming, esports, music, wellness, and Web3. Rajan is also the founder of the India@75 movement and has served as National Chairman of CII’s Young Indians, shaping conversations around India’s digital and demographic future.🏢 About JetSynthesys:JetSynthesys is one of India’s leading digital entertainment companies, reaching over 100 million users through hit games, celebrity partnerships, and global acquisitions. From collaborating with Sachin Tendulkar and Google to building India’s esports and music ecosystem, JetSynthesys is redefining how India creates, consumes, and competes in the digital world.🌐 For more visit - https://ajuniorvc.com/podcast/

Brought to you by the Founders Unfiltered podcast by A Junior VC - Unscripted conversations with Indian founders about their story and the process of building a company. Hosted by Aviral and Mazin.Join us as we talk to Anish Popli, the founder of ProcMart about their story.Anish completed his MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) after earning his engineering degree from GGSIP University.Before starting ProcMart, he worked with leading companies like Hindustan Unilever and Lava International, gaining firsthand experience in supply chain and operations the very inefficiencies he would later set out to solve.He founded Procmart in 2015 with a simple idea: to bring reliability and transparency to enterprise procurement in India.🏢 About ProcMart ProcMart is a tech-enabled B2B procurement platform helping enterprises manage indirect purchases efficiently. From safety gear to office supplies, it provides a one-stop solution backed by a trusted vendor network and real-time delivery tracking.Today, ProcMart partners with hundreds of leading corporates across India, optimizing their procurement processes and supply chains.By combining technology with deep operational expertise, it’s quietly transforming one of the most complex and overlooked segments of Indian enterprise.

Brought to you by the Founders Unfiltered podcast by A Junior VC - Unscripted conversations with Indian founders about their story and the process of building a company. Hosted by Aviral and Mazin.Join us as we talk to Archit Gupta, the Founder & CEO of Clear about their story.Archit completed his B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT Guwahati, followed by a Master’s in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He gained research experience as an intern at Microsoft and CINI and as a research assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After working in the engineering domain for about two years, he went on to co-found Clear in 2011.🏢 About Clear:Clear is on a mission to simplify finances for Indians, offering software for invoices, taxes, payments, and credit.Handling 10% of India’s B2B invoices and e-invoices, it helps 400K+ businesses save ₹1,000 Cr annually and serves millions of individuals and enterprises. Backed by Y Combinator, Sequoia, and other top investors, Clear is rapidly scaling fintech solutions across India.

Join us as we talk to Krish Ramineni, the Co-founder and CEO of Fireflies about their story.Krish Ramineni is the co-founder & CEO of Fireflies.ai and one of the youngest product managers in Microsoft’s history.Before Fireflies, Krish built his career in product at Microsoft, then left to pursue the idea of turning conversations into knowledge. He’s a founder who embodies “doing things that don’t scale” even manually taking notes before building an AI to do it better.🏢 About Fireflies:Fireflies.ai is an AI meeting assistant used by 20M+ people across 500,000 organizations, including 75% of the Fortune 500. The platform has processed more than 2B minutes of meetings, automatically transcribing, summarizing, and generating action items.Profitable since 2023, Fireflies recently reached a $1B valuation without raising a new primary round in years. Its mission is simple but powerful: eliminate busywork in meetings and free teams to focus on impact.

Join us as we talk to Akshay Mehrotra, the Co-Founder & CEO of Fibe.India (Formerly EarlySalary) about their story.Akshay holds an MBA in Marketing and Finance from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies. He has led marketing and corporate communications at Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, served as Chief Marketing Officer at Policybazaar and Big Bazaar, and co-founded the Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment. In 2016, he co-founded Fibe (formerly EarlySalary), a leading fintech company in India.🏢 About Fibe.India:Fibe (formerly EarlySalary) is a Pune-based fintech startup revolutionizing lending in India with a mobile-first platform, smart risk scoring, and instant credit solutions.