10 A91 Partners-Backed Startups Expanding in 2026

India's startup market is moving into a more mature phase in 2026. Investors are becoming more selective, while companies that have already found product-market fit are focusing on building stronger teams, expanding distribution, improving technology, and creating more efficient operations. This makes growth-stage startups especially interesting for professionals who want to work in companies where their work can have a visible business impact.

A91 Partners is one of India's growth-focused investment firms, with investments across consumer, technology, financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing. The firm's current portfolio includes businesses such as Atomberg, Blue Tokai, HealthKart, GIVA, Aye Finance, KaarTech, MoEngage, EatClub, SEDEMAC, Spacewood, FinBox and others.

I’m Riten, founder of Fueler, a skills-first portfolio platform building the career infrastructure for 100 million creative professionals. Fueler connects talented individuals with companies through assignments, portfolios, and projects, not just resumes or CVs. Think of it as Dribbble/Behance for work samples combined with AngelList for hiring infrastructure.

If you are searching for A91 Partners startups to work for in 2026, I would not look at the investment itself as a guarantee of hiring. Investment gives a company additional capital to pursue its growth plans, but that capital can be used for technology, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, working capital, acquisitions, or other business priorities. The better approach is to identify companies that are clearly expanding and then understand which skills they are likely to need as that expansion happens.

This article looks at 10 A91-backed companies that are particularly relevant to job seekers in 2026 and maps their business growth to potential opportunities across technology, product, operations, marketing, design, sales, finance, and other functions.

10 A91 Partners Startups to Watch for Jobs in 2026

The companies below come from A91's portfolio and recent investment activity. Some are established businesses scaling their existing operations, while others are entering new growth phases. The hiring opportunities discussed here are based on the companies' business models and publicly reported expansion plans, not a claim that every company is hiring for every role at this exact moment.

1. Deccan AI

Deccan AI is one of the most interesting recent additions to the A91 Partners portfolio. In March 2026, the AI company raised $25 million in a round led by A91 Partners, with participation from SIG and existing investor Prosus Ventures. The company said the funding would support high-accuracy AI systems for enterprises and frontier model labs, including post-training infrastructure, evaluation systems, reinforcement learning environments, and enterprise AI products.

For job seekers, this makes Deccan AI particularly relevant for AI engineers, machine learning engineers, data scientists, software developers, research professionals, product managers, and people working on AI evaluation. Candidates should focus on practical AI projects rather than simply collecting prompt engineering or machine learning certificates. A portfolio showing model evaluation, data pipelines, agentic systems, reinforcement learning, or enterprise automation can make your technical ability much easier to understand.

2. Atomberg

Atomberg is one of A91's important manufacturing and consumer technology investments. The company makes smart home appliances, including energy-efficient fans, and has been expanding its consumer technology and distribution capabilities. In August 2026, Atomberg filed draft papers with SEBI for an IPO that could include a fresh issue of up to ₹450 crore along with an offer for sale, showing that the business has reached a significant stage of maturity.

For professionals, Atomberg sits at the intersection of consumer products, electronics, manufacturing, technology, retail, and e-commerce. This creates opportunities across product management, industrial design, engineering, supply chain, growth marketing, performance marketing, sales, retail operations, and data. Candidates should show that they understand both the physical product and the digital customer journey rather than treating the company like a conventional software startup.

3. SEDEMAC

SEDEMAC develops automotive electronics and is another important A91 manufacturing investment. A91 invested around ₹300 crore in the company through primary and secondary transactions, and SEDEMAC moved toward the public markets in 2026. A91 also began selling part of its holding through the company's IPO process.

The company is particularly relevant for electrical engineers, embedded systems professionals, automotive engineers, software engineers, manufacturing specialists, supply chain professionals, and product teams. Candidates interested in industrial technology should demonstrate technical problem-solving through projects involving electronics, embedded software, automation, vehicle systems, or manufacturing processes. This is a good example of why startup opportunities are no longer limited to consumer apps and SaaS businesses.

4. KaarTech

KaarTech is an enterprise technology and digital transformation company headquartered in Chennai. A91 invested $30 million in the company in 2023, with the investment intended to support geographic expansion in markets including the US and Europe. KaarTech had already executed more than 2,500 projects across more than 15 regions at the time of the investment.

For candidates, KaarTech can be relevant for software engineering, SAP, enterprise consulting, cloud, business analysis, project management, implementation, sales, and customer success. Because the company works on complex enterprise transformation projects, candidates should demonstrate their ability to understand business processes and translate them into technology solutions. A portfolio containing system diagrams, implementation case studies, automation projects, or enterprise workflow improvements can be useful.

5. Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters

Blue Tokai is one of A91's consumer investments and has continued to expand its coffee business through retail, cafes, packaged products, and digital channels. A91 participated in Blue Tokai's 2025 bridge round, following earlier investments in the company.

For job seekers, Blue Tokai is interesting because it combines consumer branding with physical retail and e-commerce. Marketing professionals can work around brand, content, social media, performance marketing, and customer acquisition, while product and operations professionals can work on retail technology, supply chain, customer experience, and store operations. Creative professionals should especially focus on showing campaigns, brand systems, content strategy, and measurable outcomes in their portfolios

6. HealthKart

HealthKart is a major consumer health and nutrition company backed by A91 Partners. The company operates brands and platforms around nutrition and wellness products, giving it exposure to e-commerce, consumer brands, supply chains, digital marketing, and technology. A91 has backed HealthKart through multiple stages, including a large 2024 secondary transaction.

The company's business model creates potential opportunities across e-commerce product management, engineering, data analytics, performance marketing, SEO, content, category management, supply chain, and customer experience. If you want to apply for a marketing or growth role, show actual campaign work and explain how you improved acquisition, conversion, retention, or revenue rather than only displaying creative samples.

This is where proof of work can become a strong career signal because it gives companies evidence of how you apply your skills to real problems instead of asking them to rely entirely on your resume.

7. Aye Finance

Aye Finance focuses on lending to India's underserved micro and small businesses and is one of A91's financial services investments. A91 participated in Aye Finance's Series F round, and the company remains part of the investor's broader financial services portfolio.

Fintech businesses like Aye Finance need professionals who can work across credit, risk, technology, data, collections, product, operations, and customer acquisition. Candidates can strengthen their profiles through projects involving credit scoring, financial data analysis, lending workflows, risk assessment, or dashboards. For product roles, understanding the actual customer and operational problem is more important than simply knowing fintech terminology.

8. MoEngage

MoEngage is a customer engagement and marketing technology company that A91 backed in a large 2025 funding round. Public investment records show A91 participated in MoEngage's Series F round in November 2025, while the company continues to operate in the enterprise SaaS and customer engagement space.

This makes MoEngage relevant for software engineers, data professionals, product managers, UX designers, customer success teams, sales professionals, and growth marketers. Candidates should understand concepts such as customer journeys, engagement, retention, segmentation, experimentation, analytics, and automation. If you are applying for a growth or product position, a portfolio project that demonstrates an experiment from hypothesis to result can be more convincing than a generic marketing case study.

9. EatClub

EatClub operates food and restaurant brands and is another consumer business in A91's portfolio. A91 participated in an investment in EatClub in 2025, and the company is part of the firm's broader consumer portfolio.

The business creates potential opportunities across food technology, product, operations, marketing, supply chain, customer experience, analytics, and brand management. Candidates should understand that food businesses require strong coordination between digital products and physical operations. A product manager, for example, needs to understand ordering, delivery, customer retention, pricing, and operational constraints rather than focusing only on app features.

10. Pushp Brand

Pushp Brand is a packaged spices company backed by A91 Partners and Sixth Sense Ventures. In August 2026, Pushp received SEBI approval for its proposed IPO, while its draft prospectus showed revenue from operations of approximately ₹481.9 crore for FY2026, up from ₹404.6 crore in FY2025. Its EBITDA also increased from approximately ₹65.6 crore to ₹84.2 crore over the same period.

For job seekers, Pushp is a useful example of a traditional consumer business entering a larger growth and public-market phase. Opportunities can span sales, distribution, supply chain, finance, brand marketing, category management, manufacturing, quality, and business development. Candidates who understand FMCG distribution and combine it with modern skills such as data analysis, digital marketing, or e-commerce can find interesting career paths in this type of business.

What Does A91 Partners' Investment Activity Mean for Job Seekers?

Investment activity can be a useful signal when you are researching companies, but I would not treat it as proof that a company is hiring. A91 describes itself as a partner to founders building enduring businesses and focuses on sectors including consumer, technology, financial services, and healthcare. Its portfolio also shows a strong presence in businesses that are moving from startup stages toward larger-scale operations.

The recent examples make the pattern clear. Deccan AI raised $25 million to expand enterprise AI capabilities, KaarTech received capital to support international growth, SEDEMAC moved toward the public markets, Atomberg progressed toward an IPO, and Pushp Brand received SEBI approval for its own public-market plans. These developments do not guarantee hiring, but they can indicate that companies are entering periods where stronger technology, operations, finance, sales, product, and leadership capabilities become increasingly important.

Why It Matters: If you track growth signals before applying, you can prepare for the company's likely problems instead of sending the same application to every startup.

Can Freshers Get Jobs at A91 Partners-Backed Startups?

Yes, but opportunities vary significantly by company.

The strongest early-career opportunities are likely to appear in areas such as software engineering, analytics, sales development, operations, customer support, implementation, marketing and selected graduate programs.

KaarTech is particularly relevant for early-career candidates because its careers program explicitly describes a two-year internship program for graduate students, followed by consideration for full-time employment.

Freshers should not rely on a degree or certificate alone. Instead, create evidence that matches the role:

• Engineering: deployed project + GitHub + technical documentation
• AI: model + evaluation + dataset explanation
• Product: product teardown + experiment
• Design: complete UX case study
• Marketing: campaign + distribution plan + results
• Data: SQL analysis + dashboard
• Operations: process-improvement project

The key is to make the project resemble the work you want to be hired to do.

What Skills Should You Build for A91 Partners Startups?

The answer depends on the company, but one common pattern exists across many of these businesses: companies want people who can connect their functional skill to a business outcome. Engineers need to build reliable systems, designers need to improve user experiences, marketers need to generate demand, product managers need to solve customer problems, and operators need to make the business run more efficiently.

For that reason, I recommend building projects around the actual industries you want to enter. If you want to work in AI, build an AI system and explain how you evaluated it. If you want fintech, create a financial product analysis or lending workflow. If you want consumer marketing, build a campaign with a clear target audience and distribution plan.

For people without professional experience, proof of work without experience can include personal projects, college assignments, freelance work, internships, open-source contributions, research, or self-initiated experiments. The important part is to clearly explain what you did and what the work demonstrates.

Why It Matters: Startups often have smaller teams, so they value people who can demonstrate initiative and practical execution rather than only theoretical knowledge.

How Should You Build a Portfolio for Startup Jobs?

Your portfolio should make it easy for a hiring manager to understand what you can contribute. I would rather see five strong projects with clear explanations than twenty projects with no context. Every project should explain the problem, your role, the process, the output, and the result.

A useful career portfolio checklist can help you identify what is missing from each project. You should also avoid adding numbers simply because they make a case study look impressive. If you have real metrics, use them. If you do not, explain the outcome honestly and clearly.

If you are starting from scratch, creating a digital portfolio for jobs does not need to take weeks. Start with the work you already have, organise it around your target role, and improve it as you create stronger projects.

Why It Matters: A focused portfolio turns your skills into visible evidence and gives recruiters something concrete to evaluate during the hiring process.

How Does This Connect to Building a Strong Career?

I believe the biggest change in hiring is that companies increasingly want evidence of execution. A resume can tell a company that you know Figma, SQL, Python, SEO, product management, AI, or financial analysis, but it cannot fully demonstrate how well you use those skills.

That is why I built Fueler around portfolios, projects, assignments, and proof of work. When a company needs a designer, developer, marketer, analyst, or product professional, the strongest signal is often the ability to show relevant work and explain the thinking behind it.

You can also use this guide on building a career portfolio that gets jobs to make your portfolio more focused. Your objective should not be to create the largest collection of work. It should be to make the five or six strongest signals about your ability impossible to miss.

Final Thoughts

The A91 Partners startups ecosystem is interesting for job seekers because it covers much more than traditional software companies. Its portfolio includes AI, enterprise technology, fintech, healthcare, consumer brands, manufacturing, food, financial services, and digital businesses. That means professionals from very different backgrounds can find companies where their skills are relevant.

The bigger opportunity in 2026 is to stop thinking about startup hiring as a simple resume game. Research companies that are growing, understand what their next stage requires, and then build evidence that shows you can help them reach that stage.

If a company is expanding its AI capabilities, show AI work. If it is entering new markets, show research, growth, or international experience. If it is scaling manufacturing, show engineering or operations capability. If it is building a consumer brand, show customer understanding, creative work, distribution, and measurable business thinking.

Funding can open the door for growth, but talent turns that capital into execution. Your portfolio should make it clear that you are capable of being part of that execution.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which A91 Partners startups are expanding in 2026?

Companies such as Deccan AI, Atomberg, SEDEMAC, KaarTech, Blue Tokai, HealthKart, Aye Finance, MoEngage, EatClub, and Pushp Brand are worth watching because of recent investment, expansion, public-market activity, or continued growth. However, expansion does not automatically mean every company is hiring for every role, so candidates should verify current openings before applying.

What jobs are available at A91 Partners-backed startups?

The opportunities vary significantly across the portfolio. Common career areas include software engineering, AI and data science, product management, UI UX design, marketing, sales, business development, finance, operations, manufacturing, supply chain, customer success, and enterprise consulting.

How can I get a job at an A91 Partners startup?

Start by choosing companies that match your skills and interests, then study their products, customers, growth plans, and job descriptions. Build a targeted portfolio with projects that demonstrate the capabilities required for those roles, and explain the business impact of your work wherever you have genuine evidence.

Do A91 Partners startups hire freshers?

Some portfolio companies may have entry-level, internship, or junior positions, while others focus more heavily on experienced professionals. Freshers should therefore avoid assuming that every A91-backed company is accessible without experience and instead target roles where their education, projects, internships, and demonstrated skills match the stated requirements.

How can I stand out when applying to A91 Partners startups?

The strongest approach is to combine a targeted resume with relevant proof of work. Instead of only listing skills, show projects that demonstrate how you solve problems, make decisions, work with tools, communicate your thinking, and create useful outcomes. This gives hiring teams stronger evidence of your potential contribution than a generic application alone.

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