AskWiki

Swiggy Sinks 7% After Q4 Results Amid Rising Quick Commerce Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 May 2026 07:24:42 +0000

Shares of Swiggy plunged as much as 7% to hit a low of ₹261.2 during the intraday trading on the BSE today after the food delivery and quick commerce giant reported a net loss of ₹800 Cr for Q4 FY26.

The stock later pared some of the losses and was trading 4.59% lower at ₹267.90 at 10:52 IST. Its market capitalisation stood at ₹74,059.2 Cr (about $7.8 Bn) at the time.

The sharp decline came amid rising concerns over intensifying competition in the quick commerce segment, which overshadowed Swiggy’s improved quarterly performance.

On Friday, Swiggy reported 26% YoY and 24.9% QoQ decline in its Q4 loss on the back of growth in its food delivery and quick commerce businesses. Revenue from operations rose 44.7% YoY to ₹6,383 Cr, while its B2C gross order value (GOV), spanning food delivery, Instamart and DineOut, climbed 40.7% YoY to ₹18,131 Cr during the quarter.

However, investor sentiment remained cautious amid intensifying competition in quick commerce and slowing sequential growth in Instamart.

The company’s total expenses increased 32.8% to ₹7,448 Cr from ₹5,610 Cr in the year-ago period, while adjusted EBITDA loss improved nearly 11% YoY and 8.4% QoQ to ₹652 Cr.

For the full year FY26, Swiggy’s consolidated loss widened 33% to ₹4,154 Cr from ₹3,117 Cr in FY25, even as operating revenue jumped 50.8% to ₹23,053 Cr from ₹15,227 Cr.

The platform’s consolidated average monthly transacting users rose 27.2% YoY to 2.5 Cr, although platform frequency dipped nearly 5% to 4.01.

Swiggy said its food delivery business improved cost efficiency during the quarter through higher order density, which helped offset delivery fleet costs, while also shifting its strategy from discount-led offerings to utility-driven specialised services.

The decline in the stock also came amid a selloff in the broader market, with Sensex and Nifty falling over 1% each as crude oil prices surged following fading hopes of a US-Iran peace deal.

Investor sentiment was further impacted after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to cut the use of petrol, diesel and other imported goods amid rising crude oil prices and concerns around the current account deficit.

Brokerages Stay Bullish On Long-Term Growth

Brokerages remained largely positive on Swiggy after its Q4 FY26 results, although most flagged rising competition in quick commerce as a key concern.

Nomura maintained a ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of ₹473, citing strong growth in Swiggy’s food delivery business and disciplined expansion in quick commerce.

Citigroup also retained a ‘Buy’ call with a target price of ₹415, saying Instamart’s margins are improving and could turn positive soon despite competitive pressure.

Morgan Stanley remained cautious with an ‘Equal Weight’ rating and a target price of ₹322, warning that quick commerce growth may slow in FY27.

Meanwhile, Kotak Mahindra Bank maintained a ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of ₹370, highlighting strong food delivery growth but cautioning that losses in Instamart could remain elevated.

The post Swiggy Sinks 7% After Q4 Results Amid Rising Quick Commerce Competition appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/jTiQ5Wv

Krutrim In A Rut, Fashinza Cofounder Quits & More

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 May 2026 03:24:27 +0000

What Went Wrong At Krutrim?

Ola Krutrim began as one of India’s boldest AI moonshots in 2023. Three years and a unicorn leap later, the homegrown challenger to OpenAI seems to be dumping its promises of building custom chips and sovereign AI models. So, how did things go wrong at Krutrim?

The Sovereign Ambition: Krutrim quickly rose on the strength of a powerful narrative – India-first AI, multilingual models and a full-stack sovereign tech vision. Unsurprisingly, it became the country’s first AI unicorn in early 2024, almost a year after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that Indian startups would struggle to build a rival to ChatGPT on limited budgets.

Cracks Emerge: Krutrim tried to do too many things simultaneously. This stretched the startup to its breaking point. By late-2025, the company paused work on its LLM and chip initiatives, pulled the plug on its consumer chatbot Kruti and saw a wave of senior exits across AI, product and semiconductor teams.

The workforce also shrank dramatically to 160 (versus 550 in August 2025) as the company restructured, leaving Ola Krutrim far smaller than the full-stack AI empire it once promised.

The New Core: Realising its folly, Krutrim appears to have fully pivoted to AI cloud infrastructure. This shift makes financial sense as enterprise demand for compute continues to soar. However, it also marks a retreat from the original sovereign AI dream. The startup now appears to be leaning on Ola Group’s clients and a handful of early enterprise users to build traction.

Hard Road Ahead: Krutrim now faces an uphill climb ahead as it faces intense competition from entrenched global giants and domestic rivals. The Bhavish Aggarwal-led startup will also now have to prove that it can win new customers, retain talent and grow beyond the Ola ecosystem. So, can Krutrim still turn its grand vision into a durable business? Let’s find out…

From The Editor’s Desk

Swiggy’s Mixed Q4 Platter

The foodtech major’s food delivery business held its ground in Q4 FY26 even as the LPG crisis disrupted operations. The recovery was driven by the company working closely with restaurants to pivot cuisines and ensure availability in real-time.
The quarter also reinforced that Swiggy’s food delivery vertical is no longer chasing hypergrowth. It is instead focusing on retention-led spending, prioritising higher-value customers, and intentionally churning out price-sensitive users.
Meanwhile, Instamart saw slight cooling off as AOV dipped to ₹700 and GOV fell marginally to ₹7,881 Cr. This came as the quick commerce arm tempered its dark store expansion pace to focus on bottom line discipline.

Fashinza Cofounder Quits

The Accel-backed B2B fashion supply chain startup’s cofounder and CEO Pawan Gupta has quit to pursue new opportunities in the AI space. He also cited Fashinza’s pivot to a manufacturing-heavy business as the reason for his departure.
Currently on a break, Gupta claims to be exploring AI-led ideas in areas such as healthcare, ecommerce enablement, logistics and marketing. Notably, he is the second cofounder to exit the startup, after Jamil Ahmad left the company in 2024.
Meanwhile, Honasa CBO Yatish Bhargava also stepped down within a year of his appointment citing “personal circumstances”. The Mamearth parent is yet to name his successor.

Euler’s Growth Blueprint

The EV maker has had an eventful eight years. After initially testing demand and learning from real-world operations, Euler quickly moved into manufacturing. Customer validation and revenue quickly came through, but so did the losses.
To curb cash burn, the company reset operations in 2023. It laid off staff, focused on efficiency and optimised its supply chain. But the biggest shot in the arm came when it forayed into the cargo EV segment and received backing from Hero MotoCorp.
The EV maker now expects to break even in about three years on the back of better gross margins, higher asset utilisation and expansion to 100 cities. Once profitable, Euler would then move ahead with its IPO plans.

Weekly Startup Funding Tanks

Indian startups managed to raise $132.3 Mn across 18 deals last week, down 35.2% from $204 Mn bagged in the preceding week. Skyroot topped the charts with its $60 Mn fundraise, while Pronto closed its Series B round by securing $20 Mn.
Advanced hardware and technology emerged as the most funded sector last week, raising $73.4 Mn. The AI sector clocked the highest number of deals at four.
Seed stage funding shot up 21.7% week-on-week to $5.6 Mn. Meanwhile, Alkemi Growth Capital emerged as the most active investor last week, backing three startups.

New-Age Tech Stocks Rebound

Of the 56 startup stocks under Inc42’s coverage, 40 ended last week with gains in the range of 0.4% to 33%. The remaining 16 stocks declined in the range of 0.01% to 8%, amid selective profit booking and broader market volatility.
Drone tech startups ideaForge and DroneAcharya gained the most last week, while Urban Company and Wakefit emerged as biggest losers. The m-cap of the 56 new-age tech stocks rose to $138.2 Bn at the end of last week from $129.7 Bn a week ago.
Geopolitical tensions in West Asia and fluctuating crude oil prices contributed to the caution last week. Meanwhile, DIIs, better-than-expected Q4 earnings and favourable domestic political developments helped improve investor sentiment.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

Can Watt Wave Build The Future Of EV Charging?

India’s EV market is growing, but charging is still a pain point because most systems depend on cables, connectors and manual effort. Enter Watt Wave, a startup trying to remove this barrier and foster EV adoption with wireless charging.

Contact-Less EV Charging: Founded in 2024, Watt Wave began as a college project before evolving into a hardware-led deeptech company. The Ahmedabad-based startup is building wireless EV charging systems that allow vehicles to charge simply by parking, without any cables.

Ditching The Cord: Watt Wave claims that its prototype has already reached 86-88% charging efficiency at a coil-to-coil distance of 14.5 cm. Its current 1.2 kW system is aimed at segments like e-rickshaws and three-wheelers, where frequent charging and quick turnaround can make wireless convenience valuable.

Built For Scale: The Ahmedabad-based startup is working with Terra Motors for real-world testing, an important step for validating performance beyond the lab. It also plans to extend the technology to cars and electric buses as the system matures. Watt Wave is also exploring adjacent use cases such as drone charging and warehouse automation.

With an eye on India’s growing wireless EV charging market that is projected to cross $5.5 Bn by 2030, can Watt Wave disrupt electric mobility with wireless charging?

Infographic Of The Day

After years of losses, regulatory heat, and a near-death RBI crisis, Paytm just posted its maiden full-year profit of ₹552 Cr in FY26. Here is how the numbers stack up…

The post Krutrim In A Rut, Fashinza Cofounder Quits & More appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/3x78B0q

Honasa CBO Yatish Bhargava Steps Down Within A Year

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 09 May 2026 19:24:43 +0000

Yatish Bhargava has stepped down as the chief business officer (CBO) of Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer within a year of his appointment. He cited “personal circumstances” for his resignation.

In a filing with the exchanges, the listed D2C major said that Bhargava’s resignation will come into effect after the close of business hours on May 15. Post his departure, he will also cease to be a senior management personnel of the company.

The company is yet to name a successor for the post of CBO.

“I am writing to formally tender my resignation from the position of chief business officer, effective 15th May 2026. This decision stems solely from personal circumstances requiring my immediate attention…,” read Bhargava’s resignation letter.

This comes less than a year after Honasa appointed former Flipkart executive Bhargava as the CBO in June 2025. He had replaced Zairus Master, who also stepped down citing personal reasons.

An alumnus of IIM Lucknow, Bhargava counts more than 18 years of experience under his belt and has previously worked at companies like Nokia and Hindustan Unilever. Prior to joining Honasa, he was the head of home and furniture vertical at ecommerce major Flipkart.

Founded in 2016 by the husband-wife duo of Ghazal and Varun Alagh, Honasa Consumer started as a babycare brand and later pivoted to beauty and skincare. It sells a range of hair care, skincare, and makeup products under the Mamaearth brand. It also owns brands like Aqualogica, BBlunt, The Derma Co. and Staze.

On the financial front, the D2C unicorn reported a 93% jump in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) to ₹50.2 Cr in Q3 FY26 as against ₹26 Cr reported in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, operating revenue rose 16% YoY and 12% QoQ to ₹601.5 Cr.

Earlier last month, the company projected growth rate in the late-twenties in Q4 FY26 on the back of strong performance of Mamaearth and improving distribution coverage. It also claimed that younger brands like The Derma Co., Aqualogica, BBlunt, Dr. Sheth’s, Staze and Lumineve are expected to deliver growth in mid-twenties.

It is pertinent to note that Honasa overhauled its offline distribution under ‘Project Neev’ last year to fix various bottlenecks.

Shares of Honasa closed Friday’s trading session 1.27% higher at ₹358.85 on the BSE.

The post Honasa CBO Yatish Bhargava Steps Down Within A Year appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/0F5Uexf

From Skyroot To Pronto — Indian Startups Raised $132 Mn This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 09 May 2026 04:24:30 +0000

The Indian startup ecosystem got its first spacetech unicorn this week. Despite this, the total deal count remained muted with startups raising a mere $132.3 Mn across 18 deals between May 4 to May 8. This was 35.2% lower than the $204 Mn raised by startups across 19 deals in the previous week.

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [May 4 — May 8]

Date	Name	Sector	Subsector	Business Model	Funding Round Size	Funding Round Type	Investors	Lead Investor
7 May 2026	Skyroot	Advanced Hardware & Technology	Space Tech	B2B	$60 Mn	–	Ram Shriram’s Sherpalo Ventures And Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC	Ram Shriram’s Sherpalo Ventures And Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC
7 May 2026	Pronto	Consumer Services	Hyperlocal Services	B2C	$20 Mn**	Series B	Lachy Groom	Lachy Groom
6 May 2026	Ecofy	Fintech	Lending Tech	B2B	$15 Mn	Debt	Mirova	Mirova
6 May 2026	BigEndian	Advanced Hardware & Technology	Semiconductors	B2B	$6 Mn	Pre-Series A	IAN Alpha Fund, Vertex Ventures SEA & India, IvyCap Ventures	IAN Alpha Fund
4 May 2026	CHOSEN	Ecommerce	D2C	B2C	$5 Mn	Series A	Fireside Ventures, BOLD, L’Oréal’s corporate venture capital fund, Alkemi Growth Capital	Fireside Ventures
4 May 2026	Tsavorite	AI	AI Infrastructure & Development	B2B	$5 Mn	–	Pavestone	Pavestone
4 May 2026	Aurm	Real Estate Tech	Real Estate Services	B2B	$4.4 Mn	Series A	Earth Fund, Sattva Ventures	Earth Fund, Sattva Ventures
7 May 2026	Alphadroid	Advanced Hardware & Technology	Robotics	B2B	$3.8 Mn	Pre-Series A	Alkemi Growth Capital, Shree Vasu Logistics Limited (SVLL)	Alkemi Growth Capital
6 May 2026	General Autonomy	Advanced Hardware & Technology	Robotics	B2B	$3.6 Mn	Seed	Elevation Capital, India Quotient, Blue Asva Varenya Fund, FBC Venture Partners, Spearhead Capital, Ishendra Agarwal	Elevation Capital, India Quotient
5 May 2026	Jurisphere.ai	AI	Application layer	B2B	$2.2 Mn	–	Info Edge Ventures, Flourish Ventures, Antler, 8i Ventures	–
4 May 2026	HealthFab	Ecommerce	D2C	B2C	$2.1 Mn	Series A	Atomic Capital, Mistry Ventures	Atomic Capital
6 May 2026	MedVital	Health Tech	Medical Equipments	B2C	$1.9 Mn	–	Alkemi Growth Capital, Dr. Sanjay Arora, Shubhan Ventures	Alkemi Growth Capital
7 May 2026	Blunav	Travel Tech	Travel Solutions	B2B	$1 Mn	Seed	Piper Serica	Piper Serica
4 May 2026	Banza	AI	Application Layer	B2C	$1 Mn	Pre-Seed	Campus Fund, Avalanche	Campus Fund
5 May 2026	Vobiz.ai	AI	Application Layer	B2B	$1 Mn	Seed	Piper Serica VC Fund	Piper Serica VC Fund
6 May 2026	JobsUPI	Enterprise Tech	Horizontal SaaS	B2C, B2B	$250K	Pre-Seed	IIMA Ventures, Alok Bansal, Anshoo Sharma, Amit Jain, Manoj Sinsinwar	IIMA Ventures, Alok Bansal, Anshoo Sharma, Amit Jain, Manoj Sinsinwar
6 May 2026	Figtree Pharmacy	Health Tech	–	B2C	–	Seed	AJVC Fund	AJVC Fund
6 May 2026	MochaTrade	Fintech	Investment Tech	B2C	–	Pre-Seed	Y Combinator, Pioneer Fund	–
	Source: Inc42 Mix Of Equity And Debt * Part of larger round

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

The advanced hardware & technology sector raised the highest amount of funding this week, driven by Skyroot’s $60 Mn rise at a pre-money valuation of $1.1 Bn. The spacetech startup became the third unicorn of 2026, after KreditBee and Juspay. Overall, the sector raised $73.4 Mn this week across four deals.
In terms of deal count, AI and advanced hardware & technology recorded four deals each.
Alkemi Growth Capital emerged as the most active investor this week, backing three startups
Seed stage startups saw a capital infusion of $5.6 Mn during the week, up 21.7% from $4.6 Mn raised in the previous week.

Startup IPO Updates This Week

Lending tech startup Kissht’s IPO was oversubscribed 9.5X, driven by strong demand from qualified institutional buyers. Yesterday, Kissht’s shares made a strong debut, listing at ₹191 on the BSE — a premium of 11.7% to the issue price.
InCred Financial Services’ parent InCred Holdings filed its updated draft red herring prospectus (UDRHP) for its IPO comprising a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹1,250 Cr and an OFS of up to 9.9 Cr equity shares.
Quick commerce major Zepto received SEBI’s nod to proceed with its IPO. The startup is likely to file its UDRHP for a $1 Bn IPO in six to eight weeks.

M&A Updates This Week

FMCG major Emami is acquiring a 60% stake in IncNut Digital, the parent entity of D2C beauty and personal care brands Vedix and SkinKraft, in a ₹321 Cr all-cash transaction.
Adtech unicorn InMobi acquired San Francisco-based mobile app marketing and analytics platform MobileAction for an undisclosed amount. Following the acquisition, MobileAction will continue to operate as an independent platform, with its team across the US, Europe and Turkey joining the InMobi Group.
Digital banking startup Freo acquired a 100% stake in credit marketplace IndiaLends to expand its reach. The deal will merge its financial products and regulatory licences with IndiaLends’ marketplace capabilities and distribution.
Logistics AI unicorn Netradyne acquired fleet management company Moove Connected Mobility to strengthen its presence in Europe. It didn’t disclose the financial details of the deal.

The post From Skyroot To Pronto — Indian Startups Raised $132 Mn This Week appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/G2VpAu1

After Lock-In Expiry, Investors Sell Lenskart Shares Worth At Least ₹3,861 Cr

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 08 May 2026 23:24:39 +0000

As Lenskart’s six month IPO lock-in period expired yesterday, existing backers sold the eyewear giant’s shares worth at least ₹3,861.1 Cr in multiple block deals.

As per NSE data, investors sold at least 8.15 Cr shares at 473.4 apiece to rake in the amount. While Alpha Wave Ventures sold 3.72 Cr shares, BirdsEye Holdings and TR Capital offloaded at least 1.67 Cr and 80.3 Lakh shares, respectively.

The shares that flooded the market were lapped up by Citigroup, BlackRock, BofA Securities, Canara Robeco Mutual Fund, Fidelity, ICICI Prudential, HDFC Mutual Fund, Goldman Sachs, among others.

The block deals were executed at a discount of 3.7% to the stock’s closing price of ₹492 on the BSE on Thursday. Following the expiry of the lock-in period, 104.7 Cr Lenskart shares reportedly became eligible to trade.

After yesterday’s fall, the stock price of Lenskart saw heavy movement. However, the stock finally closed the day 0.31% higher at ₹489.5 on the BSE.

This comes six months after the omnichannel eyewear retailer made a muted debut on the bourses in November 2025, listing 3% below the issue price at ₹390 apiece on the BSE. On the NSE, it listed at ₹395 per share, marking a discount of 1.74% to the issue price of ₹402.

Lenskart’s public issue comprised a fresh issue of shares worth ₹2,150 Cr and an OFS component of 12.76 Cr shares. Its ₹7,278 Cr IPO had closed with an oversubscription of 28.26X, received bids for 281.88 Cr shares against 9.97 Cr shares on offer.

Since listing, the stock has surged nearly 22% from its issue price to touch a high of ₹559.80 on the BSE.

Founded in 2010 by Peyush Bansal, Amit Chaudhury, and Sumeet Kapahi, Lenskart is an omnichannel eyewear retailer serving customers in India, the UAE, Singapore, and Japan. The company claims to have 3,144 stores and a customer base of 2 Cr.

On the financial front, the startup reported a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of ₹132.7 Cr in Q3 FY26, up over 70X surge from ₹1.9 Cr PAT reported in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, operating revenue zoomed 38% YoY and 10% QoQ to ₹2,307.7 Cr.

The post After Lock-In Expiry, Investors Sell Lenskart Shares Worth At Least ₹3,861 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/lZg5Dcy

IPO-Bound Cars24 Claims Adjusted EBITDA Profitability In Q4 FY26

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 08 May 2026 22:24:35 +0000

IPO-bound used car marketplace Cars24 has claimed adjusted EBITDA profitability in the fourth quarter (Q4) of fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26). In a statement, the startup claimed that it clocked an adjusted EBITDA of ₹20 Cr during the quarter.

The company also said that its UAE operations delivered “structurally positive” EBITDA margins, while its Australia arm also hit “operating profitability” in Q4 FY26.

“Adjusted net revenue grew 37% (YoY) to ₹760 Cr (in H2 FY26), ahead of our ₹750 Cr guidance, through a GST rate change in India and real disruption in the UAE. Inside that half sits Q4 FY26, the quarter we became a profitable company for the first time, with ₹20 Cr of adjusted EBITDA,” said cofounder and CEO Vikram Chopra.

The company attributed the adjusted EBITDA “profitability” to AI-led efficiencies, strong growth across its core businesses and lending vertical, network effects and low cost of user acquisition.

Overall, the startup claimed that its EBITDA loss narrowed 35.7% to ₹357 Cr in the full FY26 as against ₹555 Cr in the year ago fiscal.

In its half-yearly performance update, Cars24 also said that its adjusted net revenue (net of GST/VAT) rose 27.3% to ₹1,411 Cr in the fiscal under review compared to ₹1,108 Cr in FY25. Meanwhile, net loss from “continuing operations” fell 24% YoY to ₹363 Cr.

While the company is yet to file its audited financials for FY26, the aforementioned numbers do not reflect operating revenues or net losses.

On the operational front, the platform’s vehicle transaction GMV declined marginally by 0.5% YoY to ₹7,766 Cr in FY26, while its vehicle ownership services GMV rose sharply by 13X YoY to ₹280 Cr. It also disbursed loans worth ₹3,220 Cr during the fiscal under review, up 47.4% from ₹2,185 Cr in FY25.

Founded in 2015 by Chopra, Gajendra Jangid, Ruchit Agarwal and Mehul Agrawal, Cars24 operates an online marketplace for buying and selling used cars. It also offers financing, insurance support and warranty services.

It has raised over $1.3 Bn to date from investors such as SoftBank, Alpha Wave Global, and Peak XV Partners and was last valued at over $3.2 Bn.

What’s Driving Cars24?

In its half-yearly performance report, the autotech platform claimed that each of its business units in India, Australia and UAE is now operating profitably, adding that healthy user traffic helps the platform convert traffic into transacting customers at a fraction of what a paid acquisition model costs.

On the retail front, the company claimed that retail GMV grew 50%+ YoY in H2 FY26, while customer acquisition cost (CAC) declined more than 40% YoY during the period. Per-car gross margin expanded “materially” due to higher value-added services income and better financing unit economics, added the company.

In H2 FY26, the company also claims to have clocked 3.8 Cr monthly active users, sold 85,975 cars, down 11% YoY, and processed 15 Lakh vehicle ownership transactions (such as RC transfers), up 11% YoY.

Earlier this year, Cars24 also acquired two vehicle information startups, Car Info and Vehicle Info. On this, the autotech major said that the two platforms are improving monetisation and user acquisition economics for the company.

“Three consumer surfaces, one underlying platform, one customer relationship that extends well beyond a single transaction. That is the thesis these acquisitions were built to deliver, and the early evidence is consistent with it,” said Cars24.

On AI, the company said that the technology has already contributed roughly 300 bps to EBITDA. The marketplace claims to be using AI to reduce inspection time, conduct audits at its retail hubs and handle 15 Lakh+ minutes of calls per month across 7 languages. The company claims to generate almost a third of its code with AI, while automating a significant number of workflows in marketing, design and analytics.

Notably, Cars24 has seen a spree of leadership exits of late. Its India used-car business CEO Himanshu Ratnoo stepped down in March, while co-founders Mehul Agrawal and Gajendra Jangid stepped down as chief operating officer and chief marketing officer, respectively, within the span of days last month.

“Mehul and Gajendra are stepping down from their executive roles. We arrived at the decision together… Practically, very little changes. Both remain shareholders… Ruchit (Agarwal, Cars24 CFO and cofounder) and I will absorb the majority of their executive responsibilities, supported by a leadership bench that has been running large parts of this business for years… No other governance or cap table changes are contemplated,” added Chopra.

The development comes as the startup is looking to go public. At the beginning of the year, CEO Chopra said the startup would hit the bourses within the next six to twelve months.

The post IPO-Bound Cars24 Claims Adjusted EBITDA Profitability In Q4 FY26 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/1ClSFuN

upGrad Seeks CCI’s Approval For Unacademy Acquisition

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 08 May 2026 08:24:43 +0000

Edtech major upGrad has filed for regulatory approval from the Competition Commission of India to acquire Unacademy after the deal was finalised recently following months of speculation.

It was reported last week that the merger deal between higher learning-focused upGrad and test prep-focused Unacademy was nearing completion. The all-stock deal is expected to be at a significantly lower valuation of around ₹2,055 Cr (about $218 Mn), down 90% from Unacademy’s peak valuation of $3.4 Bn during its golden era in 2021.

In the regulatory filing, Ronnie Screwvala-led upGrad stated that the acquisition will allow it to enter the online test preparation segment, where it’s currently not present. It will also broaden the range of offerings to its current users along with providing shareholder value to Unacademy’s investors, it added.

Unacademy is expected to have a cash of ₹900-₹950 Cr on its books at the time of closing the transaction.

The deal finalisation comes following months of market speculation, during which the companies had also paused talks in January due to a valuation mismatch. Unacademy was reportedly seeking a valuation of around $300 Mn to $400 Mn for the acquisition at the time. Prior to that, Unacademy also held discussions with K-12 Techno Services and PhysicsWallah for an acquisition, both of which failed to materialise.

However, discussions restarted soon after, with Unacademy cofounder and CEO Gaurav Munjal announcing in March that upGrad had signed a term sheet to acquire the startup, adding that he will continue as CEO.

Screwvala noted at the time that the deal includes Unacademy’s other verticals as well. “They disrupted the sector once, and now with AI they plan to do it again. We are already seeing Airlearn gain global traction,” he said.

Founded in 2010 by Munjal, Hemesh Singh, and Roman Saini, Unacademy evolved from a YouTube channel to an online education platform by 2015, focusing on aiding students in preparing for competitive exams like NEET and CAT.

However, its fortunes began to take a hit when offline learning restarted post the pandemic. Munjal, in December last year, claimed that the startup managed to trim its burn to less than ₹175 Cr in 2025 from ₹1,400 Cr in 2022. Besides, he said its top line touched ₹600 Cr in the year, with profitability in sight for next year and a healthy balance sheet “with decades of runway”.

He told employees in January that Unacademy will be moving to a franchise-model for its offline business, which it had earlier bet on to stave off competition. He noted that this would make the business asset-light and capital efficient while increasing focus on the more lucrative online vertical.

The acquisition comes at a time when the edtech sector has failed to revive its past glory. It began to fade in 2023 in light of the BYJU’s saga which eroded investor confidence in the sector. Combined with a back-to-school mandate, a funding reset for the overall startup ecosystem, and the inability of many edtech startups to integrate with evolving technology, funding in the edtech sector has been on a downward trajectory for the past few years.

It reached an eight-year low of $249 Mn in 2025, down 56% from $572 Mn in 2024, according to Inc42’s Annual Indian Startup Trends Report, 2025.

However, amid all this, PhysicsWallah became the first major edtech company to list on the stock exchanges last year.

The post upGrad Seeks CCI’s Approval For Unacademy Acquisition appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/4y1kwtY

ED Arrests 3 Gameskraft Cofounders In Alleged Betting-Linked Fraud Probe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 08 May 2026 07:24:44 +0000

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reportedly arrested three cofounders of gaming platform Gameskraft Technologies in connection with an alleged fraud-linked money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Citing officials, PTI reported that the agency arrested Deepak Singh, Prithvi Raj Singh and Vikas Taneja.

Deepak Singh and Prithvi Raj Singh were arrested from Delhi NCR, following which the ED obtained transit remand to produce them before a Bengaluru court.

Taneja was arrested in Bengaluru and produced before the jurisdictional court there.

The arrests follow the ED registering a money laundering case against Gameskraft and associated entities based on multiple FIRs alleging cheating and fraud.

As per a CNBC TV18 report, the case pertains to an alleged ₹1,000 Cr betting-linked fraud. As part of the probe, the agency conducted searches at 17 locations across Delhi NCR and Karnataka yesterday.

Officials said the searches continued till early morning today and led to the seizure of certain documents.

(The story will be updated soon)

The post ED Arrests 3 Gameskraft Cofounders In Alleged Betting-Linked Fraud Probe appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/ma6jJvo

Kissht Makes Robust Debut, Shares List At 12% Premium

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 08 May 2026 05:24:42 +0000

Shares of lending tech startup Kissht’s parent OnEMI Technology Solutions made a strong debut on the bourses today, with the shares listing at ₹191 a piece on the BSE. This was a premium of 11.7% to the issue price of ₹171.

The stock got listed at ₹190 on the NSE, up 11.1% from the issue price.

Following the listing, the stock rose further and was trading at ₹196.20 on the BSE at 10:05 IST. This was nearly 15% above the issue price of ₹171. The company’s market capitalisation stood at around ₹3,300 Cr (about $349 Mn) at the time.

Kissht had set a price band of ₹162-₹171 for the public issue. Its IPO, which comprised a fresh issue of ₹850 Cr and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of up to 44.4 Lakh shares worth ₹75.9 Cr, was oversubscribed 9.5X.

Ammar Sdn Bhd, one of Kissh’t biggest shareholders, raked in ₹19.8 Cr by offloading 11.56 Lakh shares via the OFS at the top end of the price band. Other selling investors included Vertex Venture and Venturest, with both VCs offloading shares held across multiple funds. AION Advisory Services and Endiya Partners also sold shares through the OFS.

Ahead of the IPO, the company raised ₹277.8 Cr from anchor investors like HDFC Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential, Whiteoak Capital, Bandhan Bank, Goldman Sachs, New York State Teachers Retirement System, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, among others.

Founded in 2015 by Ranvir Singh and Krishnan Vishwanathan, Kissht is a lending tech platform that offers personal and business loans of up to ₹5 Lakh with minimal documentation digitally. It also offers health-related insurance products and secured loans through loans against property.

In the first three quarters of FY26, Kissht reported a profit after tax (PAT) of ₹199.3 Cr on an operating revenue of ₹1,569.9 Cr. Including other income of ₹24 Cr, the company’s total revenue for the nine-month period stood at ₹1,594 Cr. Its revenue streams include interest income, fees and commission, marketing, commission and rewards earned through solicitation of insurance products and policies.

In FY25, its profit declined about 18% to ₹160.6 Cr from ₹197.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

With the listing, OnEMI has become the sixth new-age tech company to go public in 2026.

The post Kissht Makes Robust Debut, Shares List At 12% Premium appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/0nE9WRa

India’s 129th Unicorn, Wint Wealth’s Bond Stack & More

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 08 May 2026 03:24:21 +0000

Skyroot Is A Unicorn

Defying the current funding trends, Skyroot vaulted into the billion-dollar valuation club after raising a big-ticket round to build India’s first privately developed orbital rocket, Vikram-1. The spacetech startup raised $60 Mn in a round, co-led by Sherpalo Ventures and Singapore’s GIC.

The funding doubled the startup’s valuation to $1.1 Bn from $550 Mn in 2023.

Skyroot’s Launch Roadmap: A bulk of the capital will be utilised to establish a steady cadence of Vikram-1 launches (starting in the coming weeks), expand manufacturing and widen its mission profile. Meanwhile, it is also accelerating development for Vikram-2, a one-tonne-class rocket featuring an advanced cryogenic stage.

By building a domestic launch ecosystem, Skyroot is positioning itself as a primary gateway to space for the Global South. By providing a predictable path to space, the startup aims to build a launch portfolio for global customers. Alongside, it aims to trim the over-reliance of Indian satellite makers on foreign giants like SpaceX.

The North Star: What has so far worked for Skyroot is its strong technical expertise and its growing in-house manufacturing capabilities. With support and guidance from ISRO, the startup first made headlines in 2022 when it became the first private Indian company to launch a rocket into space. Since then, it has opened a 2 Lakh sq ft dedicated workspace for designing and testing launch vehicles, while its focus on on-demand and cost-effective services has been driving potential demand.

As the spacetech giant prepares to launch Vikram-1 in the coming weeks, here is all about Skyroot becoming India’s 129th unicorn…

From The Editor’s Desk

Decoding Wint Wealth’s Bond Stack

When Wint Wealth started in 2019, there was no blueprint for a retail-focused bond platform in India. To solve this, the founders started with manual outreach and content-led education before shifting to a curated, co-investment model.
Focused on affluent and urban Indians, Wint has scaled to about 2 Lakh investors on the back of its asset-light model, which keeps variable costs low. On top of this, its payback period under 12 months also supports scalability.
Going forward, the company plans to raise a Series B round, burn more to acquire users and improve products, and become a broader wealth platform. It is now exploring foraying into advisory, portfolio management and alternative investment offerings.

After Nykaa, Zee Sues JioStar

The entertainment giant has dragged the Reliance-Disney joint venture to the Delhi HC, alleging unauthorised use of its copyrighted music. Zee is seeking $3 Mn in damages for alleged exploitation of its works.
In its lawsuit, Zee has claimed that JioStar used its music content at least 50 times after licensing agreements expired in 2024 and 2025. The deal has not been renewed due to disagreements over commercial terms. The case will next be heard on July 23.
This comes days after Zee sued Nykaa for allegedly using copyrighted songs in Instagram Reels to promote products without permission. Zee has demanded around ₹2 Cr in damages and submitted 12 Instagram reels as evidence in the case.

Emami Acquires Vedix Parent

The FMCG major is acquiring a 60% stake in IncNut Digital, the parent entity of D2C beauty brands Vedix and SkinKraft, for up to ₹321 Cr in an all-cash transaction. Emami will acquire the remaining 40% stake over the next 4.5 years in two tranches.
The deal will enable the company to leverage the two brands’ strong consumer affinity and high repeat engagement to carve a niche in the BPC segment. On the other hand, the FMCG giant’s operational muscle will help the brands grow their top line.
This came on the same day as adtech unicorn InMobi acquired US-based mobile app marketing platform MobileAction for an undisclosed amount. Digital banking startup Freo also acquired credit marketplace IndiaLends to expand its reach.

Ola Consumer’s FY25 Loss Soars

The ride-hailing arm of the Ola Group reported a 102% YoY jump in its losses to ₹662.4 Cr in FY25, while operating revenue declined 42% YoY to ₹1,170.9 Cr. Its accumulated losses stood at ₹21,212.6 Cr at the end of FY25, along with debt obligations of ₹586 Cr.
The losses soared despite total expenses declining a mere 3% YoY to ₹2,038 Cr during the fiscal year. However, the company claims to be taking cost optimisation initiatives to reduce operating expenses and improve cash flows.
Despite being an early mover in the ride-hailing segment, Ola Consumer has fallen behind ride-hailing peers like Uber and Rapido in recent years amid declining market share. Its IPO plans seem to be in limbo.

InCred Holdings Gears Up For IPO

The parent entity of NBFC major InCred Financial Services has filed its updated DRHP with SEBI for a public issue, which will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹1,250 Cr and an OFS of up to 9.9 Cr equity shares.
The OFS will see participation from existing backers KKR, MEMG Family Office, and Moore Strategic Ventures. The proceeds from the IPO will be utilised to strengthen its capital base and support its lending operations.
InCred Finance is an NBFC that offers digital personal and secured business loans. Its AUM stood at ₹14,500 Cr at the end of December 2025. InCred Holdings’ profit grew 5% YoY to ₹290.1 Cr in 9M FY26, while operating revenue rose 38.6% YoY to ₹1,848.9 Cr.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

Can Kikobot Make Robots Affordable For Indian SMEs?

Automation remains too expensive and rigid for most Indian small businesses, leaving factories dependent on manual work. Kikobot is trying to change this with its easy-to-use collaborative robots built for real-world SME needs.

Built For Smaller Units: Founded in 2023, Kikobot is developing six-axis collaborative robots, or cobots, for automation, education and AI/ML use cases. The startup is targeting businesses that need robotic help, without the complexity of traditional industrial systems.

Modular By Design: Kikobot’s robots are built in a plug-and-play format, allowing users to swap sensors, end-effectors and other components based on the task at hand. That gives SMEs more room to use the same system for sorting, packaging or quality checks instead of buying a separate machine for each workflow.

The Software Layer: The startup’s software layer is designed to enable non-engineers to program and manage the robots. That matters in India, where many factories do not have specialised automation teams and need systems that can be deployed quickly without long integration cycles or costly downtime.

With the Indian industrial robotics and automation market projected to cross $3.5 Bn by 2030, can Kikobot make robots accessible for Indian SMEs?

Infographic Of The Day

Snabbit has raised ₹1,062 Cr in the last 15 months, but operates in just five cities. So, how is the quick services platform making 10-minute house help economically viable?

The post India’s 129th Unicorn, Wint Wealth’s Bond Stack & More appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/gUxMKwr

Paytm’s Q4 Show, Freshworks To Axe 500 Jobs & More

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 07 May 2026 04:24:26 +0000

Paytm’s Profitability Streak

Paytm turned in yet another profitable quarter in Q4. Buoyed by growing revenues, expenses under control and core payments vertical doing most of the heavy lifting, the fintech major posted its first full fiscal FY26 in the black.

Here is a quick snapshot of Paytm’s Q4 FY26 numbers:

Net profit stood at ₹183 Cr versus a loss of ₹545 Cr a fiscal ago
Operating revenue rose 18.4% YoY to ₹2,264 Cr
EBITDA profit improved to ₹132 Cr versus an EBITDA loss of ₹88 Cr in Q4 FY25
Expenses rose a meagre 5.3% YoY to ₹2,269 Cr

Profit With Discipline: The headline numbers vindicate Paytm’s thesis. The full-year profitability and positive EBITDA swing imply steadier operating leverage and tighter cost control. The lean structure was also a direct result of AI-led automation, which helped the company trim indirect expenses and increase efficiency.

Payments In Driver’s Seat: The core payments vertical continued to anchor the story. Merchant GMV rose sharply, monthly transacting users remained high, and transaction volumes continued to expand, showing that Paytm still has scale on its side. The expansion of merchant subscriptions and device-led distribution also gave the company more monetisable touchpoints.

The Wealth Tech Engine: The financial services arm continued to be the fintech’s growth engine. It continued to leverage its base of 7.7 Cr monthly transacting users to cross-sell high-yield credit and EMI products. This was reflected in the payment processing margins, which jumped to over 4 bps in Q4 as higher-margin instruments such as credit cards and EMI products gained market share.

FY27 Roadmap: Going forward, Paytm expects revenue growth to accelerate further in the ongoing fiscal, alongside continued expansion in EBITDA margins, driven by operating leverage and growth across its verticals. While it would be interesting to see if the momentum continues going forward, for now, here is how Paytm fared on the financial front in Q4…

From The Editor’s Desk

Meesho Reins In Losses In Q4

The ecommerce major managed to slash its consolidated net loss by 88% YoY to ₹166.3 Cr in Q4 FY26, while operating revenue zoomed 47% YoY to ₹3,531.2 Cr during the quarter under review.
In line with revenue, total expenses also zoomed 44.4% YoY to ₹3,807.1 Cr. However, adjusted EBITDA improved 240 bps to -1.7% of NMV, returning to Q1 FY26 levels on the back of efficient user growth spends and reduced server cost QoQ.
Meanwhile, Meesho’s board also approved an investment of up to ₹100 Cr in its lending vertical Meesho Payments Private Ltd. via a rights issue. The investment is expected to be completed on or before June 30 and will take place over multiple tranches.

Freshworks To Axe Jobs

The SaaS major will trim 11% of its total workforce, or 500 employees, amid growing AI push. Over half of its code is now written by AI, and most repetitive tasks have been automated at the company. The layoffs will cost the company $8 Mn.
The announcement came alongside Freshworks’ Q1 2026 results. The company slipped into the red with a net loss of $4.8 Mn, while revenues stood at $228.6 Mn during the quarter under review, up 16% YoY.
Meanwhile, operating expenses jumped 14.2% to $202 Mn in Q1 2026 from $177 Mn in the year ago quarter. Founded in 2010, Freshworks offers a suite of cloud-based software to help companies manage customer engagement, sales and marketing.

PB Fintech’s Q4 Profit Soars

The insurtech major’s consolidated net profit surged 54% YoY to a record ₹261.2 Cr in Q4 FY26, while operating revenue zoomed 37% YoY to ₹2,061 Cr during the quarter.
PB Fintech’s healthy performance on the back of robust traction in its core online insurance segment and improving margins. What played a spoilsport was the muted growth in the credit vertical and expenses rising 31% YoY to ₹1,888 Cr.
For the full FY26, PB Fintech reported a consolidated operating revenue of ₹6,794 Cr, up 37% YoY, while profit after tax (excluding exceptional items) rose 115% YoY to ₹670 Cr.

Reliance Scales Up Satcom Play

The conglomerate is exploring multi-billion dollar investments to bolster its presence in the satcom space. As part of this, the company is mulling launching new LEO satellites and acquiring companies that have existing orbital slots and infrastructure.
Reliance is said to have formed six teams internally to work on different aspects, including satellites, launches, payloads and user terminals. It has also begun engaging with the telecom department to acquire LEO orbital slots.
Reliance currently operates in the satcom space via its subsidiary Jio Space Technology Ltd, in partnership with Luxembourg-based SES. Besides securing key approvals, the company has already set up gateway and ground infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh.

General Autonomy Bags ₹32 Cr

The robotics startup has raised about $3.3 Mn in its seed round led by existing investors Elevation Capital and India Quotient to step up R&D and accelerate the development of its robotics stack.
The company raised the funds by issuing 1,776 Series Seed 2 CCPS at ₹1.68 Lakh each in February. Notably, the latest fundraise values the startup at around ₹280 Cr, up from about ₹200 Cr in its previous round.
Founded in 2023, General Autonomy is building advanced AI-driven humanoid robots to automate labour-intensive workflows. It is also developing multi-tasking robots capable of navigation, manipulation, and cleaning and handling tools.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

How Nia.one Is Fixing India’s Gig Economics

India’s blue-collar economy depends on migrants who move cities for better pay, but many cannot stay because urban living is too expensive and too uncertain. Nia.one is trying to fix this gap by bundling housing, meals, jobs and support into a one worker-first platform.

The Niadel Model: Founded in 2024, Nia.one operates at the intersection of livelihoods and urban infrastructure. The startup’s physical hubs, called Niadels, are set up near industrial clusters in metros. Each site offers no-deposit accommodation, meals, groceries, laundry and optional upskilling, while also helping workers move between jobs without losing income.

A typical worker earning around ₹15,000 a month can keep enough after rent, food and essentials to send about ₹8,000 home, which is the core promise behind the model.

A Layered Business: Nia monetises both workers and enterprises. While it earns on rent, food and grocery margins, the startup also charges staffing commissions from employers. The company is also building financial services and an AI assistant called Rafiki to improve job matching and spending decisions.

Scaling The Ecosystem: Backed by Elevar Equity, the startup closed FY26 with an ARR of ₹30 Cr. Going forward, Nia.one plans to add 5 Lakh members across its nearly 3,000 centres, up 50X from 10,000 currently. With a Series A fundraise on the cards, can Nia.one disrupt India’s gig economics?

Infographic Of The Day

Fino Payments Bank added 3.2 Lakh new accounts in March 2026, its highest monthly growth in three years. So, how does the payments bank face a CEO arrest, regulatory crackdowns and business shutdowns, yet see record customer acquisition?

The post Paytm’s Q4 Show, Freshworks To Axe 500 Jobs & More appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/M7bwpmK

Pronto Closes Series B Round At $45 Mn, Valuation Jumps To $200 Mn

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 07 May 2026 01:24:38 +0000

Quick services platform Pronto has closed its Series B funding round at $45 Mn (₹425.3 Cr). In its latest second tranche, the startup has secured $20 Mn (₹189 Cr) from US-based Physical Intelligence founder Lachy Groom.

Pronto raised the latest funds at a valuation of $200 Mn (₹1,890 Cr), double compared to $100 Mn at which it was reportedly last pegged during the first tranche earlier this year.

The startup plans to utilise the fresh funds to strengthen its foothold in its existing cities over the next six months.

This follows the company raising $25 Mn in the first tranche of its Series B round from Epiq Capital, Glade Brook Capital, General Catalyst and Bain Capital Ventures in early March. At the time, the platform said that the funding would be utilised to hire and train more professionals and strengthen its operations across existing markets and service categories.

Founded in 2025 by Anjali Sardana, Pronto offers 10-minute on-demand home services such as sweeping, mopping, kitchen and bathroom cleaning, laundry assistance and other routine chores. In the past few weeks, the startup claims to have introduced new services like car washing and gardening in some micromarkets and is also piloting home cooks in Bengaluru.

The startup also claims to have more than 6,500 professionals under its belt, up from 1,440 in January. Including the current round, the quick home service startup has raised more than $60 Mn to date.

The latest fundraise comes six months after Pronto shifted its headquarters to Bengaluru’s HSR Layout to tap into the city’s tech talent pool, while retaining customer support operations in the erstwhile base Gurugram. It also bagged $11 Mn in its Series A round in August last year.

The infusion comes amid intensifying competition in the quick services segment. Listed Urban Company’s Insta Help and another rival Snabbit claimed to have crossed 1 Lakh single-day bookings in March. In contrast, Pronto, last heard, was clocking around 18,000 daily bookings.

Amid growing demand for such services, investors are making a beeline for the segment. Earlier last month, Snabbit raised $56 Mn in its Series D round co-led by Susquehanna Venture Capital, Mirae Asset Venture Investments and Bertelsmann India Investments. With this, the startup, founded by former Zepto executive Aayush Agarwal, closed five funding rounds, totalling $112 Mn in less than 15 months.

At the heart of all this is the broader Indian online home services market, which is reportedly projected to become a $1 Bn opportunity by FY30.

The post Pronto Closes Series B Round At $45 Mn, Valuation Jumps To $200 Mn appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/4P3e9nd

Apna Mart Moves Base To Gurugram, Lays Off 10% Workforce

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 06 May 2026 21:24:35 +0000

Peak XV-backed quick commerce startup Apna Mart has reportedly laid off around 10% of its workforce as part of a restructuring exercise linked to AI adoption and relocation of its operating base to Gurugram.

Sources told Economic Times that the maiden layoffs at the startup impacted about 35 to 40 employees across functions. As per the report, some employees were handed out pink slips as their roles became redundant due to AI, while others were impacted as relocation to Gurugram was not feasible.

This comes as the company has reportedly moved its product and technology teams from Bengaluru to Gurugram. Its operations teams will continue to be based out of the cities where it currently operates.

Inc42 has reached out to Apna Mart for a comment on the development. This story will be updated upon receiving the response.

Founded in 2022 by Abhishek Singh and Chetan Garg, Apna Mart runs a franchise-led quick commerce platform focused on non-metro cities. It delivers a range of grocery and daily essentials products, including personal care, beverages, stationery and small appliances, via its network of franchise outlets within 10 to 15 minutes.

Its approach differs from the dark store-led model used by Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto, which dominate the quick commerce segment in metro markets.

Apna Mart claims to operate in 14 cities across Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, targeting underpenetrated markets. It follows an omnichannel model similar to Reliance Retail’s JioMart.

The startup last raised about ₹214 Cr, in a mix of equity and debt, in a round led by Nandan Nilekani-backed Fundamentum Partnership Fund. Overall, Apna Mart has raised about $40 Mn to date and also counts the likes of Accel, Sparrow Capital and Alteria Capital as backers.

On the financial front, Apna Mart reported a net loss of ₹ 75.8 Cr in FY25 against a revenue of ₹190 Cr.

The development comes amid a wave of layoffs in the Indian startup ecosystem in recent months due to AI-led automation. Earlier yesterday, Nasdaq-listed SaaS major Freshworks announced that it was laying off 11% of its workforce, or 500 employees, amid AI-led automation push.

In April, enterprise tech startup SuperOps and IPO-bound insurtech unicorn Acko also fired 60 employees each, citing AI-led automation. A month prior in March, ecommerce major Flipkart also handed out pink slips to about 400-500 employees following its annual performance review process.

The post Apna Mart Moves Base To Gurugram, Lays Off 10% Workforce appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/t4CN87l

Exclusive: Robotics Startup General Autonomy Raises ₹32 Cr At ₹280 Cr Valuation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 06 May 2026 03:24:45 +0000

Robotics startup General Autonomy has raised about ₹32 Cr (around $3.3 Mn) in its seed round led by existing investors Elevation Capital and India Quotient. The round also saw participation from Blue Asva Varenya Fund, FBC Venture Partners, Spearhead Capital, and GIVA cofounder Ishendra Agarwal.

According to the startup’s MCA filings accessed by Inc42, it issued 1,776 Series Seed 2 CCPS at ₹1.68 Lakh to the aforementioned investors. Cofounders Farid Ahsan and Bhanu Pratap Singh also participated in the round, infusing ₹99.6 Lakh each.

CEO Ahsan told Inc42 that the capital will be used to step up R&D and accelerate the development of robotics stack, including robot dogs and humanoid systems.

“We are just doubling down on what we were developing earlier — the robot dogs and the humanoid robot. It’s a costly business to build robots. We continue to focus on R&D and are not generating revenue yet. It’s a long path to getting there, especially since the supply chain does not exist in India. We have to build a lot more from scratch compared to a typical software company,” Ahsan said.

Founded in 2023 by former ShareChat cofounders and IIT Kanpur alumni Ahsan and Singh, General Autonomy is building advanced, AI-driven humanoid robots and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for automating labour-intensive workflows across industries and everyday environments.

The startup is working on developing multi-tasking robots capable of navigation, manipulation, and cleaning and handling tools, with the broader goal of making robotics more affordable and scalable.

Prior to this, General Autonomy raised ₹25 Cr in its pre-seed round led by India Quotient and Elevation Capital in 2023.

Notably, the latest fundraise values the startup at around ₹280 Cr (about $29.4 Mn), up from about ₹200 Cr (around $21 Mn) in its previous round.

General Autonomy currently has a team of about 19 members. In January, it was among the 10 deeptech startups selected by ‘Startup India’ to showcase its technology at the National Startup Day 2026.

General Autonomy competes with the likes of Perceptyne, Addverb, iHub Robotics, Sirena Technologies, Invento Robotics, among others.

As ecommerce, logistics and manufacturing grow, companies are increasingly looking at automation to make operations smoother and more efficient. A number of Indian startups are working to address this rising demand.

Notably, Asia continues to lead the global robotics market, while India is gradually catching up. In 2023, the country ranked seventh in industrial robot installations with 8,510 units, marking a 59% YoY growth — the fastest globally. This momentum carried into 2024, with installations crossing 9,000 units.

Even with this growth, adoption in India is still low compared to global standards, leaving significant headroom for growth. As a result, investor interest is also increasing in the robotics segment.

For instance, Unbox Robotics raised $28 Mn (about ₹243 Cr) in its Series B round through a mix of primary and secondary capital, led by ICICI Ventures and Redstart Labs of Info Edge in January.

Overall, the Indian humanoid robotics market is expected to reach a size of $149.4 Mn by 2030, growing at around 19.5% annually.

The post Exclusive: Robotics Startup General Autonomy Raises ₹32 Cr At ₹280 Cr Valuation appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/KviHrXo

BigEndian Raises $6 Mn To Commercialise First SoC

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 06 May 2026 01:24:38 +0000

Fabless semiconductor startup BigEndian Semiconductors has raised $6 Mn (around ₹57.1 Cr) in its pre-Series A funding round led by IAN Alpha Fund. The round also saw participation from Vertex Ventures SEA & India, IvyCap Ventures, and a host of undisclosed angel investors.

The startup said it will keep the round open and may raise an additional $4 Mn if needed.

BigEndian plans to deploy the fresh capital to commercialise its first system-on-chip (SoC) for surveillance equipment. The startup will also use part of the fresh capital to scale product engineering, strengthen partnerships across foundries, and develop form factors.

For context, an SoC is an integrated circuit that has all essential computer components — processor, graphics unit, memory, connectivity, among others. It takes lower space, provides better power efficiency and faster performance.

Cofounder and CEO Sunil Kumar told Inc42 that the startup’s sample chipset will be unveiled by the end of this month. Following that, it will seek regulatory approvals for testing the SoC in different conditions.

BigEndian expects its SoC to be commercially available in the market from the third or fourth quarter of the ongoing fiscal year. The startup will focus on the Indian market for the first year after the SoC is ready. It plans to foray into the African, Southeast Asian, and LATAM markets later.

Founded in 2024 by Kumar, Renuka Prasad, Kanagaraju Ponnusamy, Dinesh Annayya, Harpreet Wadhawan, and Jansen Cheng, BigEndian builds custom integrated circuits and SoC for applications across surveillance systems. Going ahead, the startup plans to expand its offerings to build chipset for enterprise, consumer electronics, and automobiles.

Prior to this round, BigEndian raised $3 Mn in seed funding in August 2024 from Vertex Ventures.

The development comes at a time when the government is promoting the semiconductor sector in the country. In the Union Budget 2026-27, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the launch of India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 (ISM 2.0) to further strengthen the industry.

Recently, the Centre also mandated that all surveillance equipment will have to comply with the Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification regime. The move is said to be aimed at promoting domestic companies producing CCTV and chipsets over Chinese players.

As a result of the Centre’s moves, semiconductor startups are also seeing a lot of traction from investors. Last week, Morphing Machines raised about ₹42 Cr (about $4.4 Mn) to accelerate development and testing of its first production chip.

Similarly, fabless semiconductor startup Vervesemi recently raised $10 Mn in its Series A funding round to accelerate commercialisation of its ML-enhanced analog signal chain IC portfolio and production of existing silicon chips.

The post BigEndian Raises $6 Mn To Commercialise First SoC appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/rFZAELa

SEBI Forms Cybersecurity Task Force Amid Mythos Concerns

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 05 May 2026 20:24:33 +0000

Amid growing concerns over Anthropic’s Mythos, markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has constituted a new task force to assess cybersecurity risks posed by AI models.

In an advisory issued yesterday, SEBI said that the task force, called cyber-suraksha.ai, will devise a uniform mitigation strategy to curb risks posed by such models. It will also facilitate sharing of threat intelligence, best practices on vulnerability management and playbooks to respond to the threat vector.

The task force has also been tasked with reporting cybersecurity incidents and information on vulnerabilities on a priority basis. In addition, it will also review the “cybersecurity posture” of third party application service providers, including empaneled vendors.

SEBI said that the panel will comprise representatives from market infrastructure institutions (MIIs), qualified registrars and transfer agents (QRTAs), qualified regulated entities (QREs) and other stakeholders.

This comes in the backdrop of Anthropic rolling out Claude Mythos in a controlled manner in April this year. The AI model, which is designed for advanced coding and cybersecurity, can identify and exploit critical software vulnerabilities across major operating systems and browsers, including flaws that have remained hidden for decades.

Given its potential for misuse, Anthropic has restricted access to the model under Project Glasswing. The model has also put governments worldwide on edge due to its ability to uncover and exploit vulnerabilities that could expose power grids, telecom networks, banking systems, and defence infrastructure to cyberattacks.

On Mythos, SEBI yesterday said that the rise of AI-driven vulnerability identification tools like Mythos could potentially heighten risk exposure and may also introduce concerns relating to data confidentiality and reliability of outputs.

In line with this, the markets regulator also yesterday also convened the first meeting of the cybersuraksha.ai task force, which saw participation from MIIs and QRTAs, to discuss mitigation measures related to Mythos. Based on the consultation, the said task force has now issued an advisory for all SEBI-regulated entities (REs):

Update all operating systems and applications with the latest or virtual patches on an immediate basis
Conduct vulnerability assessment using AI-based tools and undertake cybersecurity audits
Engage with third-party vendors to release and timely deploy patches
Any change in the systems, including minor changes, should have full documentation, thorough impact analysis, rigorous testing and secure deployment
Inventory of all application programming interface (APIs) and the applications using the said APIs should be regularly updated
Ensure strong authorisation mechanisms to enable secure verification of end-users
Limit and throttle API limits to prevent and detect abuse
Carry out regular day-to-day monitoring of the systems and networks.
Security operations center (SOC) alerts should be adequately examined, including low-priority alerts.
All eligible REs shall expedite onboarding on market SOC (M-SOC), centralised cybersecurity platforms established by the NSE and the BSE
Implement system hardening by adopting secure configurations, disabling unnecessary services and default accounts, and enforcing solutions like zero trust network to minimise the attack surface.
All REs will also be required to prepare a long-term plan for usage of AI in detection and agentic mitigation.

This comes weeks after finance minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman held a meeting with heads of banks and other senior officials from the RBI and the NPCI amid growing concerns over cybersecurity risks posed by advanced AI systems. At the meeting, she stressed the need for a very high degree of vigilance, preparedness, and stronger coordination across financial institutions and banks.

Last week, the Centre also reportedly held talks with the US government and Anthropic to work out a mechanism for Indian companies to gain access to Mythos.

The post SEBI Forms Cybersecurity Task Force Amid Mythos Concerns appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/u49ZUwk

CashKaro’s FY26 Revenue Jumps 72% YoY To ₹600 Cr

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 05 May 2026 07:24:12 +0000

Coupons and cashback platform CashKaro said its operating revenue zoomed 72% to ₹600 Cr in the fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26) from ₹348 Cr in the previous year.

In a statement, the platform also claimed that it trimmed its EBITDA loss by 40% to ₹17.7 Cr in the fiscal under review as against ₹29.2 Cr in FY25.

The startup attributed the financial performance to strong revenue expansion, healthy operating leverage, a tight leash on expenses, improved customer acquisition and stronger conversion rates.

Reining in its promotional expenses, the Delhi NCR-based startup also said that marketing expenditure for CashKaro and EarnKaro rose a mere 7.6% YoY in FY26. On the other hand, its employee and infrastructure costs “remained stable” due to investments in AI and automation, which enhanced productivity.

“This year, we grew our revenues by 72% while reducing losses by almost half. By design, we are unit economics positive on every transaction and a business that has significant network effects at play. Cashback is a billion-dollar business in the US, China and Europe — and CashKaro is set to surpass them all, especially with our suite of India-centric products like EarnKaro,” said CashKaro and EarnKaro cofounder Swati Bhargava.

Founded in 2013 by Swati and Rohan Bhargava, CashKaro offers coupons and discounts to its customers. It allows users to earn cashbacks and rewards for shopping on its 1,500 partner brands, including Nykaa, Amazon, Flipkart, Tata 1mg and Myntra. It claimed to have so far facilitated ₹10,000 Cr worth sales to its brand partners and more than ₹2,000 Cr in cashback to users.

Backed by notable investors including late Ratan Tata, Affle Global, Kalaari Capital and Korean Investment Partners, CashKaro has raised more than ₹250 Cr in funding to date.

CashKaro earns revenue by receiving commissions from brand partners on every sale driven via its platform. Meanwhile, EarnKaro is the company’s affiliated marketing platform that enables users to earn money by sharing product deals from brand partners.

CashKaro is eyeing profitability in the future by betting on strong consumer traction and continued investments in AI, the startup added.

The post CashKaro’s FY26 Revenue Jumps 72% YoY To ₹600 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/O8fgCB1

D2C’s Toughest Test Yet, Kissht IPO Day 2 & More

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 05 May 2026 03:24:26 +0000

D2C’s Manufacturing Dilemma

Indian D2C brands are facing a new brutal reality. Manufacturers are rewriting contracts and moving to the ‘cash and carry’ model as the fallout from the conflict in West Asia hits production. So, why are manufacturers and D2C brands suddenly at odds?

Supply Under Strain: From Morbi to Bahadurgarh, production has slowed at manufacturing hubs. Worker protests, wage hikes and migration are forcing manufacturers to raise pay or lose labour, which is adding another 15% or so to operating costs in some cases. The conflict in West Asia has only worsened matters.

Costs Keep Climbing: Due to geopolitical tensions, raw materials, packaging and freight are all getting pricier. Dollar-denominated inputs have become more expensive as the rupee weakens, while shipping costs have surged due to the West Asia conflict. In many factories, fluctuating power supply and reliance on diesel generators are making production even less predictable.

Simultaneously, tighter supply and rising cylinder prices have constrained LPG-dependent production lines.

The New Normal: The relationship between D2C brands and manufacturers seems to have gone awry. Standard 45-60 day credit lines are being replaced by a cash and carry model, which is drying up the working capital of smaller startups. In a desperate bid to protect thin margins, D2C founders are now personally stepping into procurement meetings, bypassing agents to vet vendors like high-stakes investors.

The Brand Question: For now, many D2C brands are trying to absorb the pain by trimming discounts, padding inventory, cutting marketing spend and renegotiating with suppliers. But that cushion may not last long. If commodity and fuel prices stay elevated, the industry may have little choice but to pass the higher costs on to consumers.

With stressed manufacturers grappling with their own issues, why is the math not adding up for an average D2C brand? Let’s find out…

From The Editor’s Desk

Kissht IPO Day 2

The lending tech startup’s public issue was subscribed 60% on the second day, receiving bids for 2.38 Cr shares against 3.97 Cr shares on offer. QIBs lead the pack with 1.45X oversubscription, followed by NIIs and retail investors with 0.5X and 0.16X, respectively.
Kissht’s public issue comprises a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹850 Cr and an OFS of up to 44.4 Lakh shares. It set an IPO price band of ₹162-171 for the public issue, valuing the company at about ₹2,881 Cr at the upper end of the spectrum.
Founded in 2015, Kissht is a lending tech platform that offers digital personal and business loans. It also offers health-related insurance products and secured loans through loans against property.

Ather’s Mixed Q4 Show

The EV maker company managed to trim its net loss by 57.2% YoY to ₹100.2 Cr in Q4 FY26, even as losses rose sequentially by 18.4%. However, operating revenue surged 73.7% YoY and 23% QoQ to ₹1,174.7 Cr.
Ather also claimed that it sold a record 83,418 units sold in the March 2026 quarter. The company attributed the growth to its expanding retail footprint and the strong performance of its family scooter Rizta. However, expenses also rose 42.2% YoY to ₹1,314 Cr.
In the full FY26, Ather’s loss declined 36.3% YoY to ₹517.2 Cr, while the top line rose sharply 62.8% YoY to ₹3,671.8 Cr. While it sold 2.63 Lakh units during the fiscal, its retail network doubled YoY to 700 experience centres.

Epigamia Rejigs Top Brass

The D2C brand has roped in former Mars executive Ritesh Gauba as its CEO. In addition, the company also announced the elevation of COO Ankur Goel to the role of cofounder.
Founded in 2015, Epigamia began by selling Greek yoghurt, but has since expanded to products like artisanal curd, snack packs, mishti doi, and smoothies. It claims to be present at 25,000+ retail touch points and has raised $60 Mn to date.
Epigamia operates in the broader Indian D2C segment, which is witnessing rapid growth on the back of growing disposable incomes, consumer demand for niche products and convenience. The space is projected to become a $300 Bn opportunity by 2030.

Sarvam, Pixxel Bound For Space

The AI juggernaut has partnered with the spacetech startup to launch India’s first orbital data centre satellite, called Pathfinder, by Q4 2026.
The 200-kg satellite will be designed, launched and operated by Pixxel, while Sarvam will handle its AI-based training and inference directly in orbit. The partnership will target companies that may benefit from orbital data centre deployment.
This follows NeevCloud and Agnikul signing an MoU to deploy inference infrastructure in low-earth orbit, roughly 300 km above the planet. Just a day ago, Pixxel rival GalaxEye also launched the world’s first OptoSAR satellite from California.

CHOSEN Bags $5 Mn

The D2C skin and hair care brand has raised nearly ₹48 Cr in its Series A round led by Fireside Ventures to expand its pipeline of products, scaling its centre of excellence and expanding its team.
Founded in 2020, CHOSEN offers IoT-powered products across categories like skincare, haircare, and wellness. It claims to have over 55 SKUs under its belt. With the latest round, the brand has raised more than $6 Mn to date.
The funding comes at a time when the beauty and personal care sector is seeing healthy growth, buoyed by strong demand, evolving consumer preferences and the rise of well-funded D2C brands. The BPC market is expected to cross $28 Bn+ by 2030.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

How Coratia Is Building Undersea Robots

Critical underwater infrastructure is hard to inspect, even harder to protect, and often impossible to repair quickly with human divers alone. Coratia is tackling this gap with its indigenous underwater robots built for surveillance and inspection.

Charting The Seas: Founded in 2021, Coratia Technologies is a deeptech startup focused on marine robotics. Its portfolio includes Jaladuta, Jalasimha, Oceanaus and Navya. Jaladuta is built for civilian and industrial inspection, while Jalasimha is a remotely operated vehicle with 300-metre diving capability. Oceanaus is a compact modular robot, and Navya is an autonomous surface vehicle for hydrographic survey and bathymetry.

Defending Subsea Assets: As geopolitical tensions draw attention to undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. Coratia claims that its robots can inspect bridges, dams, docks, pipelines and cables. It also claims that its robots support mine-detection and intrusion assessment missions that go beyond the limits of human divers.

Built For Scale: Backed by the defence ministry’s iDEX scheme, the startup has already received a ₹66 Cr contract from the Indian Navy. It also works with defence agencies as well as private and public-sector clients such as Indian Railways, SAIL, IOCL, Tata Steel, and Hindalco. With the Indian undersea robotics market projected to cross $310 Mn by 2032, can Coratia become India’s robotic layer for protecting the ocean floor?

Infographic Of The Day

A good chunk of Indian AI talent is moving abroad in search of greener pastures. But what if just 10% of them stayed and built in India? Homegrown Bharat1, India’s first AI Superpark, is creating the infrastructure to anchor this AI talent at home…

The post D2C’s Toughest Test Yet, Kissht IPO Day 2 & More appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/T08kGgC

CashKaro Claims 72% YoY Jump in FY26 Revenue To ₹600 Cr

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 05 May 2026 01:24:42 +0000

Coupons and cashback platform CashKaro has claimed that its operating revenue zoomed 72% to ₹600 Cr in the fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26) compared to ₹348 Cr in the year ago fiscal.

In a statement, the platform also claimed that it trimmed its EBITDA loss by 40% to ₹17.7 Cr in the fiscal under review as against ₹29.2 Cr in FY25.

The company attributed the financial performance to strong revenue expansion, healthy operating leverage, a tight leash on expenses, improved customer acquisition and stronger conversion rates.

Reining in its promotional expenses, the Delhi NCR-based startup also said that marketing expenditure for CashKaro and EarnKaro rose a mere 7.6% YoY in FY26. On the other hand, it also claimed that employee and infrastructure costs “remained stable” due to investments in AI and automation, which enhanced productivity.

Backed by notable investors including late Ratan Tata, Affle Global, Kalaari Capital and Korean Investment Partners, CashKaro has raised more than ₹250 Cr in funding to date.

CashKaro is eyeing profitability in the future by betting on strong consumer traction and continued investments in AI, the company added.

The post CashKaro Claims 72% YoY Jump in FY26 Revenue To ₹600 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/O8fgCB1

D2C Menstrual Hygiene Brand HealthFab Raises ₹20 Cr

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 May 2026 08:24:39 +0000

Menstrual hygiene-focused D2C brand HealthFab has raised ₹20 Cr (about $2.4 Mn) in its Series A funding round led by Atomic Capital, with participation from Mistry Ventures.

HealthFab plans to deploy the fresh funds to broaden its product portfolio to address the full spectrum of menstrual wellness, including energy, fatigue, and pain. It will also look to scale up quick commerce and general trade distribution to build an omnichannel presence and expand manufacturing capacity.

Founded in 2019 by Kiriti Acharjee, Sourav Chakrabarty, and Satyajit Chakraborty, HealthFab is a period care startup selling products like reusable period underwear GoPadFree. HealthFab also sells disposable period underwear and period pain relief creams through its website, ecommerce marketplaces like Myntra, Meesho, Amazon and Flipkart, and quick commerce platforms Swiggy and Zepto, among others.

The brand plans to scale its active user base 5 Mn over the next three years from 5 Lakh currently. It claims to have achieved a 3X revenue growth year-on-year and is now looking to shift from a product-based startup to expanding across the femtech opportunity which is centered around women’s health and wellness.

HealthFab has raised almost $3.7 Mn in funding till date, including $1 Mn in its pre-Series A round in 2025 from investors including Mistry Ventures, BeyondSeed, Thrive Ventures and angel investors Anupam Mittal, Aman Gupta, Vineeta Singh and Peyush Bansal. It also appeared on the TV show Shark Tank India.

While it started off with a sustainability objective to reduce waste generated from menstrual hygiene products by selling reusable period underwear, HealthFab has since expanded to capture the entire period lifestyle.

Several startups have emerged in this space in recent years owing to increased focus on female wellness beyond hygiene products — a space that was dominated by legacy FMCG players like Whisper and Stayfree earlier. FabHealth’s competitors include Soothe, PeeSafe, Sanfe, Nua, Sirona, Plush, among others.

The post D2C Menstrual Hygiene Brand HealthFab Raises ₹20 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/pC5HuP2

Ather Energy Q4: Loss Declines 57% YoY To ₹100 Cr

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 May 2026 07:24:35 +0000

EV company Ather Energy managed to trim its net loss by 57.2% to ₹100.2 Cr in the last quarter of FY26 (Q4 FY26) from ₹234.4 in the same quarter last year. Sequentially, loss increased 18.4% from ₹84.6 Cr.

Operating revenue surged 73.7% YoY jump to ₹1,174.7 Cr during the quarter under review from ₹676.1 Cr in Q4 FY25. On a QoQ basis, operating revenue increased 23.2% from ₹953.6 Cr.

Including other income of ₹39.1 Cr, total income for the quarter stood at ₹1,213.8 Cr.

The EV company’s total expenses for the quarter grew 42.2% to ₹1,314 Cr from ₹922.2 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

Shares of Ather were trading 2.41% lower at ₹912.15 on the BSE at 12:47 IST.

(The story will be updated soon)

The post Ather Energy Q4: Loss Declines 57% YoY To ₹100 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/RzQMWU4

GalaxEye Launches Maiden OptoSAR Satellite Under ‘Mission Drishti’

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 May 2026 06:24:29 +0000

Spacetech startup GalaxEye launched its first OptoSAR satellite under its project ‘Mission Drishti’ yesterday, which it claimed was the world’s first such satellite.

The satellite integrates electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single platform to enable all-weather, round the clock imaging capabilities. Weighing 190 kg, it is India’s largest privately developed earth observation satellite.

The satellite was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California and successfully separated over an hour after take-off, the startup said on X.

The satellite is a dual use earth observation satellite that integrates optical and radar data streams to surpass the limitations of conventional systems that only leverage either of the two to enable accurate and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions.

“With the satellite now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload,” GalaxEye cofounder and CEO Suyash Singh said.

This includes international government and commercial stakeholders interested in high-frequency earth observation data, the startup said.

Initial imagery from GalaxEye’s OptoSAR satellite will start being delivered to customers in the coming few weeks. Its use cases span sectors like defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning. Although, defence and security agencies are expected to contribute a majority of the early revenue, Singh told ET.

“Mission Drishti could mark an inflection point in the commercialisation of private space tech in India. Until now, much of the work was experimental and prototype-driven,” he said.

Prime Minister Nardenra Modi lauded the launch of the satellite, remarking on X that the mission is a major achievement in India’s space journey. “The successful launch of the world’s first OptoSAR satellite and the largest privately-built satellite in India is a testament to our youth’s passion for innovation and nation-building,” he said.

The GalaxEye satellite was under R&D for nearly five years, during which it underwent extensive environmental testing and performance benchmarking to ensure operational readiness, for which the startup received support from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) which provided access to testing infrastructure, and relevant authorisations required for the launch.

“As more Indian space companies demonstrate their capabilities through real missions and engagement with global customers, confidence in India’s space ecosystem will continue to strengthen, creating greater demand both in India and overseas,” IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Goenka said.

From Drone To Satellite Constellation

Founded in 2021 by IIT Madras alums Singh, Denil Chawda, Kishan Thakkar, Pranit Mehta, and Rakshit Bhatt, the deeptech startup has been working on building an indigenous OpSAR satellite, which it designs and manufactures in-house from its headquarters in Bengaluru. Its multi-sensor earth observation satellites are designed to provide high-resolution imaging and geospatial intelligence for a range of sectors.

GalaxEye began Mission Drishti’s journey by building the country’s first DroneSAR in 2022, which could rise to an altitude of 2 km and validated SAR technology. This was followed by the world’s first HAPS SAR, which crossed the upper atmosphere at an altitude of 20 km. Lastly, it achieved in-orbit validation when its payload was flown aboard ISRO’s POEM mission to an altitude of 500 km in 2024.

Through this journey, GalaxEye raised $20 Mn in funding from the likes of Infosys, ideaForge, Zerodha’s Rainmatter, Speciale Invest, among others. It bagged $4.8 Mn in its Series A funding round, Inc42 reported exclusively in March, from new and existing investors including Mounttech Growth Fund, Anicut Capital, Navam Venture Fund, and Faad Capital.

Mission Drishti is a constellation of at least 10 satellites that GalaxEye is planning to launch over the next two-and-a-half years, Singh told ET, adding that the total constellation size is yet to be decided.

The startup has also partnered with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO, to distribute its satellite imagery globally. GalaxEye’s constellation is a part of ISRO’s plans to launch 29 earth observation satellites that can provide advanced ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) capabilities to domestic and for international clients.

GalaxEye is one of the many Indian spacetech startups that are excelling in India’s nascent spacetech sector which was opened up to private players recently. Around 200 private space startups have since cropped up, working across satellites, launch vehicles, communications infrastructure and downstream data services.

As a result, funding in India’s spacetech sector surged 94% to $157 Mn in 2025 from $81 Mn in 2024.

The post GalaxEye Launches Maiden OptoSAR Satellite Under ‘Mission Drishti’ appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/qAuK6In

Kissht’s IPO Pitch, Weekly Funding Rebounds & More

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 May 2026 03:24:44 +0000

Kissht’s Road To IPO

Kissht’s IPO lands at an inopportune moment. Despite the raging market volatility and the conflict in West Asia, the lending tech is not waiting for markets to calm. Instead, it is banking on its financials, strong anchor interest and a sharper lending play to make a splash on the bourses.

Tactical Retreat: The biggest ace up its sleeve is its bottom line. After a tough FY25, when both its revenue and profit declined due to RBI’s clampdown on unsecured lending, the startup slowed disbursements and focused on low-risk borrowers to preserve profitability and traded volume for high-quality growth. The strategy paid off, as the company roared back with a PAT of ₹199.3 Cr in 9M FY26

AUM Showcase: Another centrepiece of Kissht’s IPO pitch is its AUM growth, which surged 2.2X to ₹5,956 Cr between March 2024 and December 2025. Powering this was its in-house NBFC, which has allowed the company to maintain control over underwriting, loan pricing, and collections. This control has helped the startup manage risk more tightly and build a more efficient credit engine.

Risk Diversification: Kissht is also hedging its bets with secured lending. The startup is scaling its loans-against-property vertical, which currently contributes 5% of revenue but offers the stability of long-term assets. By layering on cross-sell products like health insurance, Kissht is deepening its engagement with a base of 11.17 Mn registered customers.

A Calculated Offer: To woo wary institutional backers, Kissht also rejigged its IPO structure, trimming the fresh issue by 15% to ₹850 Cr (versus DRHP) and nearly halving the OFS. On top of this, the two cofounders also bought shares worth ₹40 Cr at a premium of ₹201 apiece, well above the IPO price band of ₹162-171.

By demonstrating that its promoters have their skin in the game, Kissht secured ₹278 Cr from anchor investors and saw its public issue get subscribed 24% on Day 1. While the jury is out on whether the momentum will hold, here is what Kissht is betting on for a successful IPO…

From The Editor’s Desk

What’s The Cell Broadcast Alert System?

The DoT and the NDMA are testing a new disaster warning system. As a result, millions of Indians on Saturday received alerts on their phones, not due to a real emergency, but as part of a pilot aimed at delivering alerts faster during critical situations.
The alerts are part of India’s Integrated Alert System, SACHET, which is already operational across all 36 states and UTs. So far, it has mainly used geo-targeted SMS alerts and has been used during cyclones and other emergencies.
Now, the government is adding a new layer with cell broadcast technology to make these alerts faster and more effective. Cell broadcast sends one message to all phones within the range of a mobile tower, meaning alerts can reach millions in seconds.

Weekly Funding Numbers Rebound

After weeks of continuous decline, Indian startups managed to raise $204 Mn across 19 deals last week, up nearly 5X from the $39 Mn raised in the preceding week. Snabbit and Sahi topped the funding charts, raising $56 Mn and $33 Mn, respectively.
Fintech emerged as the most funded sector last week with a cumulative funding of $57.5 Mn across three deals. The Advanced Hardware & Technology segment recorded the highest number of deals, with five startups raising a total of $13 Mn.
Seed-stage startups raked in $4.6 Mn last week, down 74% from $17.8 Mn raised in the preceding week. Meanwhile, Accel and India Accelerator emerged as the most active investors last week, backing two startups each.

Mixed Week For New-Age Stocks

Of the 56 startup stocks under Inc42’s coverage, twenty-eight gained in a range of 0.16% to over 18% last week, while the remaining fell in the range of 0.12% to 10%. ideaForge emerged as the biggest gainer, while Unicommerce emerged as the biggest loser.
As a result of FII outflows, weakening Rupee, concerns around inflation and tensions in West Asia, the cumulative market cap of the 56 new-age tech stocks declined to $129.67 Bn at the end of last week from $131.25 Bn a week ago.
Going ahead, markets are expected to continue to remain sensitive to global cues, particularly crude oil price movement and geopolitical tensions. Domestically, the ongoing Q4 earnings season will be a key trigger, alongside macroeconomic data.

Govt Notifies 100% FDI In Insurance

Weeks after the Union cabinet cleared the proposal, the Centre has allowed up to 100% foreign direct investment in insurance companies under the automatic route. With this, the cap on FDI for the sector has been raised from 74% to 100%.
As per the government, the move is expected to attract stable long-term investment, facilitate technology transfer, support greater insurance penetration and social protection.
Under the new rules, FDI in insurance companies will not require prior government approval, but will remain subject to clearance from the IRDAI. However, foreign investment in state-backed LIC remains capped at 20% under the automatic route.

UPI Momentum Slows In April

The payments infrastructure clocked 2,235 Cr transactions in April, down a marginal 1.3% from 2,264 Cr in March. As per the NPCI data, UPI processed transactions worth ₹29.03 Lakh Cr compared to ₹29.53 Lakh Cr in the previous month.
However, average daily transaction count stood at 745 Mn in April, up 2.1% MoM, while average daily transaction value stood at ₹96,766 Cr, up 1.6% from ₹95,243 Cr in March.
The numbers came as NPCI officials held a meeting with smaller players in the UPI ecosystem. The discussions likely focused on proposals aimed at boosting competition and curbing the dominance of PhonePe and Google Pay.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

How RoshAi Is Building Driver-Less Trucks For Industries

India’s freight and industrial sectors lose time and money because there are not enough skilled drivers. With younger workers increasingly avoiding trucking jobs, RoshAi is trying to solve this pain point with its autonomous systems that can help fleets run without human drivers.

Retrofitting Autonomy: Founded in 2021, RoshAi retrofits existing ICE and electric fleets with driverless hardware, AI software and cloud-based fleet management. Together, these enable Level 4 autonomous driving for large mining vehicles, boats and trucks operating in industrial environments.

RoshAi claims that its stack is cheaper than employing drivers over a five-year period, while also reducing labour risk and operational bottlenecks.

RoshAi’s In-House Edge: The startup procures hardware through select contract manufacturers in Bengaluru, while designing and testing all its systems in-house. Most components, excluding certain sensors, are sourced domestically, though some specialised parts are imported from Taiwan and the US. As for revenue, it earns through hardware sales, SaaS subscriptions and consulting.

Beyond Mobility: While transport is its primary wedge, RoshAi is also moving into precision manufacturing, especially electronics, where its AI can automate repetitive tasks trained on years of data. That broadens the company’s relevance beyond roads and ports.

The Way Forward: Backed by IAN and working, RoshAi has so far onboarded nine OEMs as clients. Going forward, it plans to expand globally, protect its patents, focus on data to further train its models and scale its AI capabilities.

With an eye on closing FY27 with an operating revenue of ₹50 Cr, can RoshAi make driverless industrial fleets the norm?

Infographic Of The Day

A new crop of D2C brands is emerging that isn’t just selling snacks, but solving health challenges one bite at a time. So, which startups are competing for a piece of the ₹10,000+ Cr silver snacking revolution reshaping the Indian F&B industry?

The post Kissht’s IPO Pitch, Weekly Funding Rebounds & More appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/qZmIW9c

Centre Notifies 100% FDI In Insurance Sector

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 May 2026 14:24:26 +0000

The Centre has allowed up to 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in insurance companies under the automatic route, weeks after clearing the proposal at the Cabinet level.

As per a government notification, the changes have been operationalised under the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025.

The amendment was cleared in December 2025, raising the FDI cap from 74% to 100% as part of a broader sector overhaul.

The government said that the measure is expected to attract stable long-term investment, facilitate technology transfer, support greater insurance penetration and social protection.

Under the new rules, foreign investment in insurance companies would not require prior government approval, but will remain subject to regulatory clearance from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDI).

However, foreign investment in the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) remains capped at 20% under the automatic route.

The government has built in conditions alongside the higher limit. Insurance companies with foreign investment must appoint at least one resident Indian citizen as chairperson, managing director or CEO. Any increase in foreign shareholding must also comply with pricing norms set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

The 100% FDI limit will also extend to insurance intermediaries, including brokers, third-party administrators and surveyors, in line with existing norms. India had already opened up intermediaries to full foreign ownership in 2020.

Alongside raising the cap, the amendment law includes broader structural changes. These include updates to the Insurance Act, 1938, lower paid-up capital requirements and the introduction of a composite licence framework. Amendments to the LIC Act, 1956 and the IRDAI Act, 1999 are also part of the package, aimed at giving insurers more operational flexibility.

The timing is significant. India’s insurance market is projected by IRDAI to become the sixth largest globally within the next decade. At the same time, the insurtech segment is emerging as a large opportunity, driven by digital distribution and underwriting.

For startups and domestic insurers, the change cuts both ways. More foreign capital and global players could speed up product innovation and digital adoption. But it also raises competition, especially if global insurers enter with stronger balance sheets and technology-led models.

The policy shift was first announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget for 2026.

The post Centre Notifies 100% FDI In Insurance Sector appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/dRVxIlM

New-Age Tech Stocks See A Mixed Week Amid Q4 Season, Unicommerce Worst Hit

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 May 2026 10:24:24 +0000

New-age tech stocks witnessed a mixed response from investors amid the ongoing Q4 earnings season and tensions in West Asia. Twenty eight out of the 56 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage gained in a range of 0.16% to over 18% this week, while an equal number of stocks fell in a range of 0.12% to close to 10%.

ideaForge emerged as the biggest gainer this week, with its shares surging 18.4% ahead of its release of Q4 FY26 numbers on April 30 (Thursday).

The holiday shortened week saw shares of six companies — Shadowfax, Ather Energy, Aequs, Groww, Aye Finance and Honasa Consumer — rally to fresh highs. The markets were closed yesterday on account of Maharashtra Day.

Meanwhile, shares of Wakefit and Zaggle tanked to all-time lows this week. Unicommerce emerged as the biggest loser this week after reporting a muted financial performance in Q4. The stock slumped 9.84% to end the week at ₹92.84.

Eternal, Paytm, Swiggy and Lenskart were among the other losers this week. While Eternal reported its Q4 numbers this week, the sell-off in Paytm was triggered after the RBI cancelled the banking licence of Paytm Payments Bank.

As a result, the cumulative market cap of the 56 new-age tech stocks declined to $129.67 Bn at the end of the week from $131.25 Bn a week ago.

Now, let’s take a look at the key developments at some of these companies:

MobiKwik secured the NBFC licence from the RBI nearly one year after foraying into the segment. This triggered a rally in the company’s shares. The fintech company’s early investor, Peak XV Partners, offloaded 62.15 Lakh shares at a price of ₹214 apiece via a block deal on April 28 (Tuesday). With this, the investor completely exited the company.
ICRA downgraded the ratings of Ola Electric’s OEM subsidiary Ola Electric Technologies Pvt Ltd on account of diminishing sales volume and revenue. It said that the “material underperformance” in the company’s volume and revenue relative to earlier expectations have extended the timeline for profitability and impacted near-term financial flexibility.
Fractal Analytics announced a revamp of its “operational model” and a plethora of leadership changes this week. Its chief growth officer Shailendra Pratap Singh is stepping away from this role. Fractal appointed Kunal Jain as head of AI workforce transformation, while Suraj Amonkar will take over the reins as company’s chief AI research officer. Senior executive Matthew Gennone has been given the additional role of chief commercial officer and CEO of Cogentiq.
TBO Tek’s COO Deepak Khanna quit citing “personal reasons” after an about 15-year stint with the company.
PB Fintech’s subsidiary Paisabazaar received a tax order from the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) confirming disallowances of ₹85.6 Cr for FY23 and ₹60.31 Cr for FY22. The company plans to challenge the decision.

With that, let’s take a look at the broader market trends this week.

Global Cues Weigh On Broader Market

Indian equity markets closed the week on a mildly positive note, but the overall week was volatile and range-bound due to mixed domestic and global cues. Benchmark indices Nifty 50 and Sensex gained around 0.5% each, ending at 23,997.55 and 76,913.50, respectively.

Global factors played a significant role in shaping investor sentiment. A sharp spike in crude oil prices, with Brent briefly touching $126 per barrel, triggered concerns around inflation and input costs. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and stalled negotiations between Iran and the US added to volatility. Additionally, OPEC dynamics shifted after the UAE said it would exit the organisation, raising fears of supply instability in global energy markets.

“Despite the volatility, early Q4FY26 corporate earnings provided encouragement, prompting investors to adopt a constructive stance to avoid missing the momentum. While the sell-off was broad-based, defensive and demand-led sectors such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, telecom, and energy outperformed,” Geojit Investments’ research head Vinod Nair said.

On the domestic front, macroeconomic indicators suggested moderation. Industrial production growth slowed to 4.1% in March from 5.2% in February, marking its weakest pace since October 2025. While India’s FY26 trade deficit widened annually, the March deficit narrowed to $20.67 Bn, offering some relief.

Persistent FII outflows, a weakening rupee, and mixed corporate earnings further weighed on sentiment. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve kept the interest rates unchanged, reinforcing a cautious stance amid global growth concerns.

Going ahead, markets are expected to continue to remain sensitive to global cues, particularly crude oil price movement and geopolitical tensions. Domestically, the ongoing Q4 earnings season will be a key trigger, alongside important macroeconomic data such as PMI readings and foreign exchange reserves.

Now, let’s take a look at the performance of this week’s top gainer ideaForge and biggest loser Unicommerce.

ideaForge Surges On Japanese Partnership

Shares of ideaForge surged after it signed a non-binding and exploratory MoU with Japan’s Digital Media Professionals.

“This collaboration is a routine business activity intended to explore the integration of DMP’s edge AI system-on-chip (SoC) technology into our unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms to enhance autonomous capabilities for defense and industrial applications,” it said.

On Thursday, the drone company reported robust financial numbers for Q4 FY26 after market hours. It returned to profitability in the quarter, reporting a net profit of ₹59.9 Cr as against a loss in the previous three quarters. Revenue surged 6X YoY and 3.5X sequentially to a record ₹141 Cr, supported by strong order execution despite supply chain disruptions. In FY26. Loss narrowed 73% to ₹17 Cr, while revenue grew 40% to ₹226.1 Cr in FY26.

The company’s growth is closely tied to rising demand and execution efficiency, backed by investments in R&D and manufacturing across India and the US. It also expanded into combat drones, aligning with evolving defence needs.

On the global front, ideaForge announced that it secured its first US order and trained NATO forces as part of a JV it earlier signed with First Breach Inc.

Unicommerce Reports Muted Q4

Ecommerce-focused SaaS company Unicommerce’s shares were under pressure throughout the week, after it released its financials on Monday.

The company reported a modest 3% YoY rise in Q4 FY26 net profit to ₹3.4 Cr, though profit fell 55% sequentially due to seasonal softness. Operating revenue grew 14% YoY to ₹51.6 Cr but declined 8.3% QoQ, with management attributing the dip to post-festive demand normalisation in India’s ecommerce cycle.

Adjusted EBITDA rose 8% YoY to ₹9.6 Cr, while total expenses increased 13%. For FY26, the company posted a strong performance, with profit rising 16.5% to ₹20.5 Cr and revenue surging 51.6% to ₹204.3 Cr. The company continues to scale its full-stack ecommerce SaaS offerings, integrating AI across platforms like Uniware and Shipway. Growth was supported by enterprise client additions and rising ecommerce complexity, with brands now operating across significantly more sales channels.

Looking ahead, Unicommerce plans to invest heavily in AI-led product development, sales, and acquisitions of profitable, AI-focused businesses. While these investments may weigh on near-term profit, the company’s management expects stronger operational performance in FY27, supported by platform expansion and deeper market integration.

Edited by Vinaykumar Rai

The post New-Age Tech Stocks See A Mixed Week Amid Q4 Season, Unicommerce Worst Hit appeared first on Inc42 Media.

https://ift.tt/PmpbwKq