Software’s Re-Founding Moment: What Separates Transformation From Theatre
Software firms are confronting a pivotal choice: bolt AI onto existing products or undergo a full "re‑founding" to become AI‑native. The term, now used by companies like Airtable, Handshake, and Atlassian, signals an existential shift rather than a feature upgrade, amid massive layoffs that have cut over 124,000 tech jobs in 2026. Successful re‑founders, exemplified by Satya Nadella’s Microsoft, align product, culture, and revenue models simultaneously, while others risk theatrical narratives without substance. The outcome will determine whether AI reshapes software economics or merely repackages cost cuts.
Libas’ Next Big Thing After Hitting The ₹600 Cr Revenue Mark
Libas, the Indian ethnic‑wear brand founded in 2014, has surpassed the ₹1,000 Cr (~$120 M) annual revenue run‑rate after a decade of bootstrapped growth. The company began by targeting affordable workwear for women online, later pivoting to a fast‑fashion model that slashed...
What’s Driving Startup Investors’ Shift Towards Domestic LPs?
Indian venture capital firms are increasingly turning to domestic limited partners as macro volatility and geopolitical tensions make foreign capital harder to secure. A recent Inc42 survey shows 74% of institutional investors would prefer Indian‑origin LPs for the next funding...
Former OYO Executive’s Startup Nava Raises $22 Mn To Build Neocloud Platform
Former OYO executive Abhinav Sinha’s AI startup Nava, formerly Kluisz.ai, closed a $22 million Series A round led by Greenoaks, bringing total funding to $31.6 million. The company rebranded as Nava and established its regional headquarters in Singapore to tap APAC talent and...
TR Capital Appoints Umang Agarwal As India MD, To Invest $1 Bn Over 5 Years
Private equity firm TR Capital announced a $1 billion commitment to invest in Indian secondary transactions over the next five years. The firm appointed former Eight Roads principal Umang Agarwal as India Managing Director and co‑head of its Asia secondary platform....
Is Algae The Answer To Carbon Capture? Intrinsic Foundries’ Green Fix For Toxic Waste
Indian startup Intrinsic Foundries, founded in 2023, raised about $1.5 million seed funding to develop algae‑based carbon capture and utilization (CCUS) platforms that turn industrial CO₂ and waste streams into valuable biochemicals. The company’s proprietary 3‑D‑printed photobioreactors replace large ponds, achieving...
Nexus Venture Partners Sells Delhivery Shares Worth ₹530 Cr
Venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners has offloaded a total of 1.2 crore Delhivery shares through multiple block deals, raising approximately ₹530.4 crore. The transaction comprised 1.04 crore shares from its Nexus Ventures III fund at ₹442 each and 15.6 lakh shares from its...
Atlas Nets $6 Mn To Scale Its Accounting-Focused AI Platform
Singapore‑based AI startup Atlas secured $6 million seed funding from Accel and Stellaris Venture Partners to accelerate its accounting‑focused AI platform. The solution promises to triple the capacity of partner firms by automating routine tasks such as audit preparation, bookkeeping, and...
Inside Q1 2026’s Mega Deal Drought: War, LP Shift & Growth Capital Gap
India’s startup funding fell sharply in Q1 2026, with total capital inflows dropping 26% YoY to $2.3 bn and no $100 million mega deals recorded for the first time since 2022. Despite the funding dip, the number of deals rose 17% as...
RoshAi Raises ₹22 Cr To Develop Autonomous Vehicles For Industrial Use
RoshAi, a Kochi‑based deep‑tech startup, raised ₹22 crore ($2.4 million) in a round led by IAN Group, bringing its total funding to about $3.4 million. The capital will strengthen its autonomy stack, expand deployments in ports, mines and airports, and support a US...
Visa Processing Startup Atlys Buys Back ESOPs Worth ₹4 Cr
Visa‑processing platform Atlys has executed its first ESOP buyback, repurchasing employee stock options worth ₹4 crore (approximately $0.5 million). The move allows eligible staff to liquidate up to 25% of their vested shares and aligns with Atlys’s recent $36 million Series C round led...
Era Of AI Superapps: So Close, Yet So Far
OpenAI announced a $122 billion fundraising round to build an AI superapp that unifies ChatGPT, Codex, browsing, and emerging agentic capabilities into a single, intent‑driven experience. The company is shifting from a chat‑first interface to an agent‑first model that can act...
Exclusive: Leverage Edu Taps Bankers For ₹2,000 Cr-3,000 Cr IPO
Leverage Edu, a study‑abroad platform founded in 2017, has begun talks with domestic and international investment banks for an initial public offering within the next 12‑18 months. The company plans to raise between ₹2,000 cr and ₹3,000 cr (approximately $240‑$360 million) through a...
AI Startup WorkOnGrid Nets ₹22.5 Cr To Fuel International Expansion
Indian AI startup WorkOnGrid announced a fresh funding round of ₹22.5 crore ($2.4 million), led by Transition VC with Indian Angel Network participating. The capital will be used to expand internationally, enhance its AI/ML capabilities, and build infrastructure for its utility data...
Exclusive: GoSats Bags $5 Mn To Scale Its Rewards Platform
GoSats, a Bitcoin‑backed rewards startup, secured a $5 million Series A round led by Konvoy, with participation from Y Combinator and Taisu Ventures. The funding will fuel a push to grow its user base from roughly 150,000 to 1 million and broaden its product...
Crisis At Kult: Unpaid Employees, Missing Funds, And Blurred Chain Of Command
Kult, a beauty‑tech startup, announced a $20 million Series A in April 2025 led by M3M Family Office, promising to clear past liabilities and scale to a $540 million valuation. A year later, the company is mired in a cash crisis: roughly 100 employees...
Top Anchor Investors Powering Indian New-Age Tech IPOs
Indian startups have completed 55 new‑age tech IPOs, with 18 launches since early 2025, driven by strong market liquidity. Anchor investors—large institutions that can take up to 60% of the Qualified Institutional Buyer tranche—are now central to these listings, offering...
Leap Cofounder’s New Venture Noon Raises $44 Mn To Scale AI-Native Product Design Tool
San Francisco‑based Noon, an AI‑native product design platform, announced a $44 million funding round led by Chemistry, First Round Capital and others. The startup, founded by ex‑Bookpad CEO Aditya Bandi and ex‑Leap co‑founder Kushagra Sinha, builds functional, code‑driven prototypes that eliminate...
Yu Foods’ Revenue Doubles To ₹75 Cr In FY26: Cofounder Bharat Bhalla
Yu Foods, a D2C instant‑meal brand, saw operating revenue surge 114% to ₹75 crore (≈$9 million) in FY26, up from ₹35 crore the year before. The company’s net loss widened marginally to ₹8 crore (≈$1 million), while EBITDA margin improved to –4%. About 40% of...
Flipkart-Backed NeuroPixel.AI Shuts Down
NeuroPixel.AI, a Bangalore AI startup backed by Flipkart Ventures, shut down after six years due to intense competition from Google’s NanoBanana Pro and the loss of a major client that left it unpaid for six months. Despite offering fashion‑cataloguing, synthetic...
Dronetech Startup Garuda Aerospace Pre-Files Draft Papers For ₹750 Cr+ IPO
Chennai‑based dronetech startup Garuda Aerospace has pre‑filed its draft red herring prospectus with SEBI, paving the way for an IPO that could raise up to ₹750 crore (about $90 million) through a fresh issue and an undisclosed offer‑for‑sale component. The board also...
Meghalaya Govt Signs MoU With Starlink To Pilot Satcom Services
The Meghalaya government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Elon Musk’s Starlink to pilot satellite broadband in the state’s most remote areas, focusing on schools, health centres and farms. The pilot will test high‑speed internet reliability before a broader...
Inside Dream Sports’ Fantasy To Fintech Makeover
Eight months after India’s sweeping ban on real‑money gaming, Dream Sports—owner of Dream11—has avoided layoffs and legal battles by rapidly trimming costs and repurposing its massive user base. The company is pivoting toward fintech with Dream Money and the AI‑driven...
Palmonas Raises $40 Mn From Xponentia Capital, Vertex Growth Fund
Indian jewellery startup Palmonas announced a $40 million (≈₹373 crore) Series B round led by Xponentia Capital and Vertex Growth Fund, with participation from existing backer Vertex Ventures SE Asia & India. The capital will fund an aggressive rollout of new physical stores,...
Fino Payments Bank’s Compliance Officer Aashish Pathak Quits
Fino Payments Bank’s chief compliance officer Aashish Pathak resigned on March 13, citing personal reasons, adding to a leadership crisis that began with CEO Rishi Gupta’s arrest in a ₹840 crore (≈$101 million) GST evasion probe. The bank has placed CFO Ketan...
E2W Registrations Jump 59% In March To 1.78 Lakh Units, Ola Electric Sales More Than Double
Indian electric two‑wheel (E2W) registrations surged 59% in March, reaching 178,000 units—the highest monthly total on record. Market leader TVS posted a 47% month‑on‑month rise to 46,859 units, aided by a new battery‑subscription model and the Orbiter V1 scooter priced...
Antler-Backed Covrzy Shuts Down Due To Cash Crunch
Covrzy, an Antler‑backed insurtech founded in 2023, announced its shutdown after three years of operation due to a persistent cash crunch. The Bengaluru startup, which had raised $386,000 and secured an IRDAI direct broking licence, projected FY26 revenue of ₹1.3‑₹1.5 crore...
NODWIN Lines Up $100 Mn Pre-IPO Round For Its Next Act
NODWIN Gaming is raising a $100 million pre‑IPO round to pivot from pure esports into a broader youth‑media business. The capital will fund IP expansion and new monetisation layers rather than aggressive geographic growth, as the firm already operates in over...
Inside Khetika’s Bet To Build A ₹2,000 Cr Staples Brand
Khetika, a Mumbai‑based D2C food startup, is targeting a ₹2,000 Cr (≈ $241 million) clean‑label staples brand by rebuilding the supply chain around single‑origin sourcing, stone‑grinding, and preservative‑free packaging. The company reported FY25 revenue of ₹247 Cr (≈ $30 million) and projects ₹350 Cr (≈ $42 million) by fiscal‑end,...
MeitY Proposes To Make Advisories Legally Binding For Social Media Platforms
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has proposed amendments to the 2021 IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, making government advisories legally binding for social media platforms such as Meta, Google and X. Platforms must...
Bajaj Finserv To Invest ₹400-₹450 Cr In AI Startups, Launch Dedicated Fund
Bajaj Finserv announced a plan to invest between ₹400 cr and ₹450 cr (approximately $48‑$54 million) in AI‑focused ventures during FY27, combining a new dedicated private‑equity fund with direct balance‑sheet investments. The AI‑focused AIF, managed by its alternative‑investment arm Bajaj Alts, aims to...
The Control Layer Of AI: Why Agentic AI Stacks Are The Next Big Thing
At NVIDIA GTC 2026 the company unveiled NeMoClaw, a security‑focused extension to its OpenClaw agentic AI framework, positioning it for enterprise deployments. The move deepens NVIDIA’s push into the burgeoning AI agent stack alongside Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Salesforce, which...
Govt Revises PM E-DRIVE’s Subsidy Timelines For E2Ws, E3Ws
India’s Ministry of Heavy Industries has extended the PM E‑DRIVE subsidies for electric two‑wheelers (E2Ws) to July 31 2026 and for electric three‑wheelers (E3Ws) to March 31 2028, while imposing price ceilings of roughly $1.8 k for E2Ws and $3 k for E3Ws. The scheme now offers...
Inside S45’s Plan To Revamp Investment Banking, IPO Journeys With AI
India’s IPO market surged in FY26, raising roughly ₹1.65 Lakh Cr (about $20 bn) on the main board and over ₹5,000 Cr ($600 m) via SME listings. S45, an AI‑native investment bank founded in 2025, aims to democratize mid‑market capital raising by automating data‑intensive workflows....
RBI Slaps Penalty On Pine Labs For Violating PPI Guidelines
The Reserve Bank of India imposed a ₹3.1 lakh (≈ $3.7 k) penalty on Pine Labs for issuing full‑KYC prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) without completing required KYC checks. The RBI’s inspection covered July 2024 to May 2025 and concluded the breach warranted a fine. Pine...
Mahadev Betting App Case: ED Attaches Properties Worth ₹1,700 Cr
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached 18 luxury properties in Dubai and two in Delhi, valued at roughly $204 million (₹1,700 crore), belonging to Mahadev betting app promoter Sourabh Chandrakar. This seizure brings the total frozen assets in the case to about...
Go Digit Faces ₹384 Cr Demand Notice From Income Tax Dept
Indian insurtech Go Digit has been hit with an Income Tax demand of roughly $463 million, including $121 million in interest, for the 2023‑24 assessment year. The demand stems from the disallowance of IBNR/IBNER provisions and non‑deduction of TDS on certain expenses...
Exclusive: D2C Brand BeastLife Raises ₹20 Cr From GVFL, Equentis
BeastLife, a direct‑to‑consumer nutrition brand founded by fitness influencer Gaurav Taneja and ex‑mCaffeine executive Raj Vikram Gupta, closed a pre‑Series A round of ₹20 Cr (≈ $2.1 million) from GVFL and Equentis, valuing the company at ₹320 Cr (≈ $34 million). The funding will fuel team expansion...
AI Wearables Are Here To Stay; Can NeoSapien Make The Most Of This Wave?
Bengaluru‑based NeoSapien launched Neo 1, a thumb‑size AI wearable that records conversations, creates transcripts and reminders, and retails for roughly $120. The startup recently closed a $2 million seed round backed by Merak Ventures and several angel investors, and claims to be...
Insurtech Startup Plum Nets ₹193 Cr To Expand Employee Health Benefits Platform
Insurtech startup Plum announced a $20.6 million Series B round, raising ₹193 crore led by Peak XV Ventures with participation from Tanglin and GMO Venture Partners. The funding will finance talent acquisition, AI‑driven claims processing, enterprise‑grade security, and deeper HR‑payroll integrations. Plum also plans...
Blume Ventures-Backed Zivy Pivots To Fintech Compliance Amid Rise Of AI Agents
AI startup Zivy, backed by Blume Ventures, announced it will cease operations on March 31, 2026 after struggling to convert users into paying customers. The Bengaluru‑based firm, which raised $1.2 million in a September 2024 pre‑seed round, saw demand evaporate as...
Food Delivery Is Expensive, And Rapido Wants It Fixed
Rapido officially launched Ownly, a standalone food‑delivery app in Bengaluru on March 3, 2026, backed by roughly $15 million (₹125 cr) from Nexus Venture Partners. The platform targets the 70,000 FSSAI‑licensed restaurants absent from Swiggy and Zomato, offering a zero‑commission model that...
Sarvam AI In Talks To Raise $250 Mn At $1.5 Bn Valuation: Report
Bengaluru‑based Sarvam AI is in talks to raise up to $250 million in a new round led by Nvidia, Accel and HCLTech, which could lift its valuation to roughly $1.5 billion—over seven times its 2023 level. The startup recently unveiled two home‑grown...
Delhi EV Policy 2.0: Govt Sets Aside ₹200 Cr For Public EV Fleet Push
The Delhi government has allocated ₹200 Cr (≈ $24 M) in its 2026‑27 budget to a revamped EV Policy that pivots from blanket purchase subsidies to scrappage‑linked incentives. Buyers who retire a BS‑IV or older petrol/diesel vehicle can receive up to ₹1 Lakh (~$12k)...
DevX To Raise ₹35 Cr From Founders, Infibeam Projects
Indian coworking operator DevX announced a ₹35 crore (~$4.2 million) capital raise within six months of its September 2025 IPO. The board approved ₹15 crore in warrants for co‑founders and a ₹20 crore equity injection from Infibeam Projects Management, giving the latter a 4.7%...
How TraceX Is Building The Data Layer For Verifiable Supply Chains
TraceX Technologies, a Bengaluru‑based startup founded in 2019, is building a unified data layer that captures every step of food supply chains using AI and blockchain. The platform addresses fragmented, manual records that hinder compliance and sustainability reporting, especially as...
Groww Promoter Group Entities Pledge 1.9 Cr Shares To Aditya Birla Capital
Groww’s promoter group entities pledged a total of 1.88 cr shares, worth roughly $36 million, to Aditya Birla Capital on March 20. The pledge represents about 27.8% of the promoter’s stake, while public investors hold the remaining 72.2%. Groww, which went public in November 2025...
Telangana HC Dismisses Fino Bank MD Rishi Gupta’s Plea
The Telangana High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by Fino Payments Bank MD and CEO Rishi Gupta, denying his request for bail after his arrest on GST evasion allegations. Authorities estimate the alleged evasion at roughly ₹840 crore (about $100 million)...
LetzRyd Nets $4 Mn To Expand Fleet Network
LetzRyd secured a $4 million (≈ ₹38 crore) funding round led by JIF Capital to accelerate its fleet‑leasing business. The startup, founded in 2023, already operates over 1,000 cars serving taxi‑hailing firms in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai, and plans to expand into Delhi...
Amid India’s GCC Boom, Uber Takes The Corporate Transport Lane
Uber India has launched an Employee Transportation Services (ETS) unit to serve corporate commuters as the country’s Global Capability Centre (GCC) ecosystem expands. The GCC workforce is projected to reach 2.8 million across 2,500 centres by 2030, driving a $13 billion corporate...
