LocalHost, a startup incubator, has raised $2.5 million from Red Bull India, Invideo, and others

LocalHost Raises $2.5 Million to Expand Founder Labs Globally

Bengaluru-based startup accelerator LocalHost has raised $2.5 million in funding from Invideo, Red Bull India, Orangewood Labs, and Eros International to scale its founder labs across India, the United States, and Japan.

The accelerator was founded by 18-year-olds Kei Hayashi from Tokyo and Suhas Sumukh from Bengaluru, along with Toronto-based Hardeep Gambhir, 22.

Focus on Builders Across Geographies

LocalHost brings together entrepreneurs from cities around the world through its founder labs, supporting ventures in technical and creative domains such as media, software, and hardware.

In India, the accelerator runs a 50-day fellowship in Bengaluru, selecting 15 founders per cohort. Beyond India, it operates in Tokyo and Cluj-Napoca, Romania. To date, LocalHost has invested $1.2 million across 15 startups.

“India has a massive STEM talent pool and is even larger than the EU and the US combined, with a lot of it coming from tier-2 and tier-3 cities,” said Suhas Sumukh, COO of LocalHost. “But investors and institutions tend to focus mainly on metro cities, and bureaucracy can make it tough for young people to turn their ideas into reality. LocalHost aims to provide a platform for builders from such cities.”

Portfolio and Expansion Plans

Since launching its India programme, LocalHost has conducted multiple cohorts that attracted venture partners and ecosystem participants. Startups emerging from the accelerator include Maya Research, Prava Payments, Dawn Labs, Whisperwave, and Markov.

The fresh capital will be deployed toward expanding infrastructure, strengthening hardware capabilities, growing teams across regions, and supporting more early-stage founder cohorts globally, the company said.

With its latest funding round, LocalHost aims to deepen its presence in India while scaling its international footprint in the US and Japan.