From battery recycling breakthroughs at Metastable Materials to the strategic appointment of former ISRO chief S Somanath to Agnikul’s board,YourStorybrings you today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors. Shubham Vishvakarma & Manikumar Uppala, Oct 2021, Bengaluru. India imports most of the critical metals used in batteries, even though spent lithium-ion batteries, whose volume is growing every year, contain many of these materials. Bengaluru-based Metastable Materials was founded on a simple idea: those spent batteries are not waste to be processed but are ore to be refined. Chennai-based spacetech startup Agnikul Cosmos has appointed former Indian Space Research Organisation chairman Dr S Somanath as an observer on its board ahead of Mission 02, a flight that aims to test two technologies that could shape the future of Indian launch services. The company said Mission 02 will attempt India’s first recovery of an orbital-class rocket booster while also demonstrating an upper stage that remains operational in orbit instead of being discarded after deploying a satellite. Bengaluru-based SwitchOn, a startup developing AI-based quality inspection systems for manufacturers, has raised $8 million (~Rs 78 crore), in a pre-Series B funding. The round was led by IvyCap Ventures, with participation from SIG Tattva and Trifecta Capital. The capital will be used to accelerate SwitchOn's international expansion and strengthen research and development in next-generation physical AI. The startup will also use the funds to expand its sales and go-to-market capabilities across key manufacturing sectors worldwide. KuhlTherm has raised $1.1 million in a seed funding round led by Arkam Ventures. The funding will support product development, research and development, testing infrastructure, team expansion, certifications and strategic partnerships as the company scales liquid cooling solutions for AI data centres and high-performance computing. Founded in 2025, Ahmedabad-based KuhlTherm develops precision liquid cooling systems including direct-to-chip cooling, immersion cooling and rear door heat exchangers. The company manufactures key components in-house and focuses on cooling technologies designed for high-density computing environments. Latent View Analytics has appointed Sonal Ramrakhiani as chief executive officer, effective July 15, 2026. She brings more than 20 years of leadership experience. She most recently led Wipro Engineering Edge in the Americas. Previously, she held senior leadership roles at Tata Technologies. Sonal is an alumna of Tata Administrative Services. Based in the US, she will lead the company's global growth strategy, with a focus on expanding in the Americas and Europe and advancing its AI-first business. Outgoing CEO Rajan Sethuraman will serve as the strategic advisor during the leadership transition. Smarten Power Systems has appointed Ranjit Singh as chief operating officer, effective August 1, 2026. Previously a c
