Setting up shop or growing a company in Saudi Arabia is a big move. With Vision 2030 reshaping the whole economic landscape, the market here is moving at breakneck speed. But ask any operations manager or business owner in KSA what gives them headaches, and they’ll almost certainly point to hiring. Finding qualified people, getting them onboarded legally, and keeping up with changing labor rules can slow your business down fast if you try to manage it all internally.

The growth behind that pressure is increasingly driven by private business. According to the Vision 2030 annual report for 2025, the private sector’s contribution to GDP crossed 51%, above the 47% target for the year. Every point of that growth needs people, and finding and onboarding them quickly and compliantly is where many employers struggle.

That’s usually where a reliable recruitment agency in Saudi Arabia comes into play. Instead of burning out your internal HR team or waiting months to fill key seats, working with a local staffing partner lets you hand off the heavy lifting. Here is a close look at six of the most common hiring roadblocks businesses face across the Kingdom and how an experienced agency actually fixes them.

1. Staying on top of Saudization and Nitaqat quotas

If you operate in KSA, you already know about Nitaqat. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development requires private businesses to hire a specific percentage of Saudi nationals, depending on your sector and company size. Falling behind on these numbers isn’t just a minor administrative issue. It can block your company from getting new work visas, lock you out of government portals like Qiwa, and result in steep fines.

A well-connected staffing agency takes that weight off your shoulders. They don’t start searching from scratch when you need local talent; they already maintain active networks of pre-vetted Saudi professionals across IT, engineering, management, and administrative roles. That means you can bring in qualified local talent quickly, keep your Nitaqat color status in a safe tier, and avoid any disruptions to your day-to-day business.

2. Sourcing hard-to-find technical skills without waiting months

Major sectors such as construction, technology, logistics, and healthcare have experienced unprecedented growth in Saudi Arabia today, making high-quality technical skills quite scarce. When relying solely on general online job portals or internal recruiting without specialized staffing services, you are typically bound to one of two things: a massive number of under-qualified CVs piling up for several weeks, or nothing at all for those hard-to-fill positions.

Recruitment firms solve this problem by targeting potential candidates directly via headhunting and regional directories. They carefully vet candidates, assess their technical capabilities, and conduct preliminary interviews before selecting a few candidates to present to your side. This ensures that you do not leave some of the key positions for your project vacant for three or four months.

3. Cutting down high HR overheads and unpredictable costs

Operating an entire internal recruiting function quickly gets costly. With wages for HR personnel, fees for posting vacancies, costs associated with conducting background checks on candidates and assessments, the cost of maintaining such a recruiting function becomes significant. Moreover, if your recruiting requirements vary throughout the year, then at times when you do not recruit, you are still paying for maintaining an entire internal recruiting function.

The process of outsourcing your recruiting needs helps you convert your cost structure from one that is highly uncertain to one that is predictable. All your sourcing, initial telephone screening, and scheduling are handled by the agency. A thin candidate pool is a big part of why in-house recruiting costs so much. GASTAT’s Q1 2026 Labour Force Survey put overall unemployment in the Kingdom at 3.1%, and 6.4% among Saudi nationals. With so few qualified people actively job-hunting, filling a role takes more outreach, more screening time, and more of your HR team’s budget.

Also Read: How a Recruitment Agency in Dubai Helps Businesses Find the Right Talent Faster

4. Handling visas, Iqamas, and complex government portals

It is not easy to hire international employees or move them into Saudi Arabia without the help of a specialized recruitment agency in Saudi Arabia. You will have to manage employment visa quotas, obtain Iqama (residence visa), and record all contracts correctly through portal platforms such as Qiwa and Muqeem. Even small mistakes in the process and failure to stay updated on any new immigration rules can delay the onboarding process for several weeks and hence postpone the whole project.

Professional staffing agencies take care of all these processes effortlessly. They have Government Relations Officers (GROs) who work with ministry portals every day. No matter whether you hire permanent employees or temporary contractors, the agency will ensure that all visas, work permits, and employment contracts comply with Saudi labor regulations.

5. Avoiding costly bad hires and early turnover

Making rushed decisions on hiring due to your urgent need to fill an open position will always end up being a failed decision. Hiring someone who is impressive on paper but lacks any technical knowledge or is not able to fit into the corporate culture will create conflicts, produce low-quality work, and cause early resignation. This means that you’ll start from scratch with wasted resources.

Professional recruiting agencies avoid such problems by conducting comprehensive assessment procedures for candidates that involve more than analyzing their CVs. In addition, they are concerned about skills and the fit with corporate culture to ensure sustainability. Also, most of the recruiting companies provide replacement guarantees during the trial period to the candidate.

6. Managing short-term project teams without long-term liabilities

A lot of business in KSA happens on a project basis, whether that’s a six-month construction contract, a seasonal event, or a temporary software rollout. Hiring full-time, permanent staff for temporary workloads creates long-term financial liabilities, including end-of-service benefits, visa transfer costs, and complicated offboarding procedures once the work finishes.

Flexible staffing services solve this through contract staffing and PEO (Employer of Record) models. Under this setup, the recruitment agency legally employs the staff, handles monthly salary transfers through the Wage Protection System (WPS), and oversees official employee benefits. You get the exact project team you need for as long as you need them, without taking on permanent payroll risks or long-term administrative duties.

Hire Faster and Stay Compliant in the Kingdom

Creating a powerful team in the rapidly evolving Saudi Arabian market entails making good decisions with regard to the use of your business budget. Cooperation with an established recruitment agency in Saudi Arabia will allow you to achieve the necessary efficiency, local market knowledge, and compliance.

Localisation is not slowing down either. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development reports that 2.47 million Saudis now work in the private sector, with the Human Resources Development Fund supporting the employment of 190,000 Saudis in Q2 2025 alone. Employers that plan Saudi hiring early, with a partner who already knows the talent pool, are better placed to stay compliant as those numbers grow.

If you want to scale your business without the recruitment headaches, the right partner makes the difference. A strong recruitment agency offers custom staff management, permanent recruitment, contract hiring, and wider workforce solutions built around your business requirements.

The post 6 Common Hiring Problems Solved by Recruitment Agencies in Saudi Arabia appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Actor Ranbir Kapoor has launched Flux Theory, a body wash brand he founded with Advay Jhunjhunwala and venture-building platform Think9, marking his entry into India’s FMCG sector. The brand debuted on September 28 with five shower gels named Lover, Rebel, Dreamer, Sport, and Sage.

Kapoor is listed as founder and Jhunjhunwala as co-founder. The company says the actor shaped the brand’s proposition, product experience, creative direction, and visual identity from the development stage, which puts his role a step beyond a standard endorsement deal.

Each variant pairs a fragrance with a specific skin benefit. According to the company, Lover is a moisturising gel with gold leaf and argan oil, Rebel an exfoliating gel with charcoal, Dreamer a hydrating foaming body wash, Sport a detan gel and Sage a deep-cleansing gel. The range’s fragrance notes include bergamot, mint, santal, leather and oud.

The launch film reunites five of Kapoor’s screen characters: Barfi from Barfi! (2012), Bunny from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), Jordan from Rockstar (2011), Ayan from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016), and Shiva from Brahmastra Part One: Shiva (2022). Each character is matched to one variant, and the campaign hangs on a single question: who do you want to be today?

“I’m excited to see Flux Theory start a new conversation in an everyday category and become a brand people return to as part of their routine.”

Ranbir Kapoor, Founder, Flux Theory

Every launch channel is digital. Flux Theory is sold on its own website, fluxtheory.in, and through Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Zepto, Tira, and Instamart. The company describes the brand as omnichannel and says it plans to build a presence in physical retail, but has not given a timeline.

Also Read: Hyphen’s “Kriti Sanon quits” post was a stunt. She’s now Chief SPF Officer

The market it is entering is large and, by one measure, under-penetrated. Euromonitor International estimates India’s bath and shower retail sales grew 4% in 2025 to ₹35,370 crore. Mintel research found that 65% of Indians were not using body wash in 2024. Flux Theory says it wants to draw in that first-time user while also giving existing buyers a reason to switch.

“Our ambition is to grow the category, bring more first-time users into it and give existing consumers a reason to switch. Ultimately, a daily-use brand earns its place through the product and the repeat purchase and that is what we are building towards.”

Advay Jhunjhunwala, Co-founder, Flux Theory

Think9 was founded by Ashni Biyani and Avni Biyani, daughters of Future Group founder Kishore Biyani, along with brand strategist Santosh Desai. Flux Theory is Kapoor’s second consumer business. In September 2025, he launched ARKS, a direct-to-consumer lifestyle label selling apparel, accessories, and sneakers.

The launch material does not disclose pricing, the size of the investment behind the brand, or how ownership is split between Kapoor, Jhunjhunwala, and Think9. Body wash is also a crowded shelf, online and off, with established FMCG players already in it. The company says it aims to expand across the shower and personal-care categories but has not named the next product.

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The time it takes to fill a role has little to do with how quickly a vacancy is advertised. Sourcing candidates, sifting applications, testing skills, arranging interviews, checking team fit, and completing legal hiring steps all add days, and sometimes weeks, before a business can bring a new employee on board.

In Dubai, that delay costs more than it once did. According to the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, the UAE workforce grew 12.4% in 2025, up from 10.9% in 2024, while the number of private-sector companies rose 7.8%. More employers are competing for the same candidates, and a slow, fragmented process is often how a strong candidate is lost.

A specialist recruitment partner in the city takes on many of those steps in one streamlined process. It cuts waiting time and gives the business a wider, better-matched pool to choose from. The sections below show where that speed comes from.

Why Faster Hiring Requires More Than More Applications

A high volume of applications does not always facilitate recruitment. If the HR teams must screen unconnected CVs, call candidates, set up interviews, and evaluate the technical skills simultaneously, good profiles can be lost. A recruitment agency in Dubai will deeply understand the details of the role, skills/experience needed, reporting relationships, and work environment expectations before sourcing candidates. The aim is not just to fill a vacancy. It is to refine the search and sift out those who fully match the real requirements of the post.

Wider Access to Relevant Candidates

Recruitment firms have access to candidate networks and sourcing channels that businesses may not use in an internal search. This helps employers contact active job seekers as well as other professionals open to suitable opportunities.

The process is even more useful where candidates are matched against specified job needs rather than generic titles. A technical position may require a mix of industry knowledge, practical skills, and experience with specific systems.

Focusing the search reduces the time spent reviewing profiles that fail to meet the job’s criteria.

Structured Screening Saves Hiring Time

The recruitment process’s most time-consuming task is often screening. Instead, a recruitment partner would do all of the initial screening for an employer. They would look over all the CVs, check if the candidate has all the required experience, speak to them, and then shortlist them. This filters the pool down to a smaller and more useful one for the hiring team. A business may also use temporary staffing agencies for short-term hiring if hiring a permanent member takes too long. Temporary staffing companies can be used for extra staff for a project, a temporary increase in workload or a job that needs an immediate start.

Better Matching Beyond the CV

Your qualifications and experience are on the CV, but that does not always reflect the right fit for the role. Recruitment teams will assess candidates against the skills and behaviour required for the role and talk through expectations around responsibilities, work conditions, goals, organisational culture and so on. This is an extra layer of the recruitment process. Before sending every available candidate over to the employer, the agency can present only those profiles that are right for the position.

Faster Coordination Between Employers and Candidates

The hiring process can get bogged down when communication gets fragmented between various emails, phone calls, calendars, and people involved; using a recruitment agency means acting as a primary point of contact between a candidate and an employer. This process takes care of arranging interviews, communicating with candidates, gathering documents, and providing feedback. Speedy communication keeps the best candidates interested while employers make up their minds. It is even more important for businesses that are looking to hire a number of employees, as more than one position may be in different stages at the same time.

Also Read: How AI Consulting Helps Businesses Move from Strategy to Enterprise Implementation

Local Knowledge Supports Better Hiring Decisions

Hiring in Dubai isn’t just about finding the right person with the job title. You also have to deal with regulations and requirements such as hiring documentation, eligibility to work, local practices, and other matters attached to it. Having a recruitment partner with extensive experience of the regional market can help in navigating these requirements. A good agency covers everything from candidate sourcing and screening to recruitment assistance and an understanding of local laws. This helps avoid delays during the recruitment and onboarding processes.

Compliance scrutiny in the UAE is also rising. Emirates News Agency reported that MoHRE’s 2025 inspection results showed recorded violations down 13% from 2024, even as inspection visits grew 4% to more than 695,000. For employers, that makes correct hiring documentation and work-eligibility checks a practical risk to manage rather than a formality.

Where Temporary Hiring Can Fit

Not every workforce need calls for a permanent appointment. A company may need staff while a permanent vacancy is being filled or during a defined project period.

In such cases, temporary staffing companies can provide a practical route to workforce coverage. Contract staffing allows businesses to respond to immediate needs without treating every requirement as a long-term position.

The key is to define the role, duration, skills, and expected output before hiring. This makes temporary staffing more closely linked to the actual business need.

Technology Can Shorten the Recruitment Process

Recruitment software automates manual tasks such as sourcing candidates, screening resumes, tracking applications, and reporting on the hiring process. Modern recruitment processes typically combine AI-powered sourcing and screening tools, an applicant tracking system, and analytics and reporting.

Technology is at its most beneficial when used as an aid to the human in the decision-making process, not to replace them. It can help identify promising recruits faster, but recruiters still have final control over the interviews and assessments used, and over making the final decision.

Choosing a Recruitment Partner for Faster Hiring

Choosing the right recruitment partner in Dubai is about more than just fast results. An agency needs to be able to align its efforts with your firm’s recruitment objectives, the specifics of the role, and the company’s internal approval and hiring plans. A recruitment agency in Dubai should be able to clarify its processes, from how it sources and screens to communications, legal requirements, and performance measurement. Clearly defined processes make identifying bottlenecks easier, which in turn makes them simpler to eliminate.

Conclusion

Finding top-tier talent quickly requires a recruitment process that is seamless, bridging the gap between sourcing and hiring. A good recruitment agency will take the burden off the internal team and give employers a more curated list of suitable candidates. The right partner can support everything from permanent hiring to filling contract roles, with a team that specialises in finding, screening, hiring, and onboarding top candidates. Local recruitment support, market expertise, and guidance on hiring and onboarding help employers secure the right person for the role.

Speed only helps if the candidate is right for the role. The OECD’s Society at a Glance 2019 report found that roughly 36% of workers across OECD countries are mismatched with their jobs by qualification, 19% under-qualified and 17% over-qualified. Matching candidates against real skill requirements, not job titles alone, is what keeps a faster process from becoming a costly one.

If you are interested in accelerating the recruitment process without losing sight of candidate fit, then take a look at the structured approach to recruitment. The structured approach allows for better control at every level of the recruitment process, while at the same time accelerating it and making each step easier to handle.

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Artificial intelligence is changing how businesses manage operations, analyse data, serve customers, and make decisions. Yet turning a great AI idea into a smooth, company-wide roll-out takes much more than picking shiny new software.

You need a practical plan, real problems to solve, solid data, a tech setup that can handle the load, and people who actually know how to build it. That is where an IT staffing agency alongside AI consultants makes all the difference, giving you the hands-on technical expertise to handle the heavy lifting.

The appetite for AI is already there. Stanford HAI’s 2026 AI Index found that 88% of surveyed organisations now use AI in at least one business function, yet AI agent deployment remains in the single digits across nearly all of those functions. Adoption is widespread; disciplined, scaled implementation is not.

Why Businesses Need a Clear AI Strategy

Many organisations are eager to adopt AI but lack a clear starting point. Partnering with an experienced IT staffing company helps bridge this gap, as investing in tools before defining specific operational challenges often leads to bloated budgets and overly complex systems.

A resilient AI strategy begins with concrete business outcomes.

Key drivers often include:

• Automating manual, repetitive processes
• Elevating data quality to sharpen executive decision-making
• Accelerating routine workflows with intelligent automation
• Standardising data governance across modern enterprise platforms

To keep projects on track, leadership must set measurable benchmarks and identify process bottlenecks early. This clarity ensures every AI deployment solves a real operational problem.

A comprehensive AI strategy typically evaluates the following core areas:

• Core business goals and expected return on investment
• Existing enterprise applications and data infrastructure
• High-priority AI use cases matched to immediate needs
• Data privacy, compliance, and security frameworks
• Current in-house technical capabilities
• Realistic phased implementation timelines

By analysing these factors, organisations can prioritise quick wins, prove value in pilot programs, and confidently scale successful applications across the enterprise.

Turning AI Ideas into Practical Use Cases

With clear objectives in place, the next task is determining where AI creates measurable value. Because not every process requires automation, leadership should evaluate each opportunity against its technical complexity, data dependencies, security demands, and system integration needs.

AI consultants help teams systematically evaluate these variables to select the best targets. Depending on operational requirements, high-value applications often feature:

• Intelligent process automation for routine administrative tasks
• Predictive analytics for supply chain, demand, and risk management
• Real-time decision-support tools for customer-facing teams
• Autonomous agentic workflows designed to resolve complex, multi-step queries

For example, when addressing a time-consuming manual workflow, teams should look beyond market hype. The goal is to verify whether automation genuinely optimises the process while keeping necessary human oversight in place.

Preparing Technology for AI Implementation

Deploying an AI solution involves far more than running an algorithm; the system must integrate smoothly with an organisation’s underlying technology backbone.

Before deployment begins, technical teams must audit and prepare several key components:

• Data architecture and centralised storage platforms
• Cloud infrastructure scaling and performance tuning
• API frameworks and enterprise software connections
• End-to-end cybersecurity protocols and access controls

In practice, a production-grade AI model frequently needs to exchange real-time data with core platforms like ERP and CRM software, proprietary databases, and web applications.

The gap between experimenting and operating at scale shows up in national data. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Trends and Outlook Survey, overall business AI use hovered between 17% and 20% from December 2025 to May 2026, while 37% of firms with 250 or more employees reported using it. Moving from a pilot to that level of everyday use depends on the data, cloud, and integration groundwork described above.

Building the Right AI Team

Technology alone cannot deliver a successful transformation. Organisations require skilled specialists who know how to build, deploy, manage, and continuously maintain these systems.

A cross-functional AI initiative relies on key technical roles:

• Data engineers to build clean, reliable pipelines
• AI/ML specialists to select, train, and fine-tune models
• Software engineers to construct APIs and user interfaces
• Cloud and DevOps engineers to manage automated deployments
• Cybersecurity professionals to safeguard proprietary models and data

When internal teams lack specialised expertise, partnering with an IT staffing firm offers a practical way to fill skill gaps quickly. Equally important is close coordination between technical builders and business leaders, ensuring solutions remain grounded in real-world operational needs.

Also Read: How Leadership Hiring Supports Long-Term Business Growth

Using IT Staffing Services to Scale AI Projects

Resource requirements evolve significantly as an AI project moves from early conceptualisation to active development and enterprise deployment. An initiative that starts with a heavy need for data engineers may later demand software architects, cloud engineers, or cybersecurity experts.

Flexible IT staffing services allow organisations to scale team composition up or down based on current project demands, avoiding the overhead of immediate permanent hires.

Key advantages of flexible staffing include:

• Accessing niche technical skill sets precisely when project phases demand them.
• Maintaining lean core teams while scaling up capacity for critical build phases.
• Reducing time-to-hire for high-demand, specialised technical roles.
• Managing project costs effectively across digital transformation lifecycles.

Building Long-Term AI Capability

While contract talent provides immediate capacity for discrete project phases, organisations also need to cultivate internal technical strength to support long-term innovation.

A specialized IT recruitment partner helps build permanent talent pipelines aligned with an organisation’s specific tech stack.

Key areas for permanent hiring include:

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning engineering
• Core data engineering and advanced analytics
• Full-stack software engineering
• Cloud architecture and automated DevOps practices
• Information security and compliance
• Enterprise ERP and CRM administration

Securing highly specialised talent requires a targeted recruitment approach to identify professionals with proven track records in modern enterprise environments.

Moving from AI Planning to Enterprise Implementation

Taking AI from strategy to scale isn’t a one-and-done project; it takes a continuous effort to align your business goals, technology, data, and people.

To drive real impact, AI tools can’t sit in isolation. They need to fit seamlessly into existing platforms and everyday workflows. Long-term adoption hinges on proper hands-on training, clear guidelines, and active change management. Teams must also review performance regularly to tweak accuracy as business needs shift.

While staffing agencies fill immediate skill gaps, lasting success requires strong infrastructure, solid security, strict governance, and thoughtful integration into how your business actually operates.

Conclusion

Moving from an initial AI strategy to an enterprise-wide deployment requires balancing business objectives, modern technology, secure infrastructure, and skilled talent. AIQU, a leading IT recruitment agency, helps businesses make this transition through AI Enablement, Agentic AI Consultation, custom AI solutions, and digital implementation services designed to integrate, govern, and scale AI across enterprise environments.

Talent remains the hardest piece to solve. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies skills gaps as the biggest barrier to business transformation, cited by 63% of employers, with 85% planning to prioritise upskilling their workforce. Closing that gap usually takes a mix of flexible contract specialists and permanent hires.

A well-structured strategy helps leaders identify high-value opportunities, while effective execution turns those ideas into practical solutions. With expertise across AI, data and analytics, software engineering, cybersecurity, ERP and CRM, and technology talent, AIQU, an IT talent acquisition agency, provides the capabilities businesses need to move from strategy to implementation and build AI solutions that deliver measurable outcomes.

The post How AI Consulting Helps Businesses Move from Strategy to Enterprise Implementation appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Instagram Stories are a popular way to share travel moments as they happen, from airport updates and local food discoveries to scenic views and short clips from a day trip. Stories are temporary, though. Unless they are added to Highlights, they normally disappear after 24 hours, which can make memorable travel content difficult to revisit later.

For travelers, Instagram Stories can serve two purposes. You may want to view public stories for inspiration before or during a trip, and you may also want to preserve your own Story photos and videos as personal memories.

This how-to guide walks through both processes. You will learn how to view supported public Instagram Stories through a browser, understand the limits of anonymous viewing, save your own travel stories, and organize those memories for later.

Instagram’s scale underscores why this matters for travelers: Meta’s family of apps — which includes Instagram — averaged 3.60 billion daily active people in June 2026, up 3% year-over-year, according to Meta’s official Q2 2026 earnings report. With a user base that large, popular hotels, restaurants, and destination accounts are almost always active on Instagram Stories, making them a reliable real-time source for on-the-ground travel updates.

How to View Public Instagram Stories

Instagram does not provide an official anonymous Story viewing mode. When you open someone’s Story while signed in, your account can generally appear in the account owner’s viewer information.

For travelers researching destinations, this may come up when checking stories from tourism pages, hotels, restaurants, attractions, travel creators, or other public accounts. Browser-based viewing provides another option for supported public stories.

Step 1: Find the Public Instagram Profile

Start by identifying the public Instagram account whose stories you want to view.

For example, you might want to check a hotel’s recent stories before arriving, see what a local restaurant is currently serving, or browse a tourism page for events happening during your trip.

The account must be public. Private profiles and Close Friends’ stories are intentionally restricted and should not be expected to work with public story viewing tools.

Step 2: Copy the Username or Profile Information

Once you have found the correct public account, note its Instagram username or copy the profile link required by the Story viewer you plan to use.

Double-check the username, particularly when businesses or travel creators have similar account names.

Step 3: Open the Instagram Story Viewer in Your Browser

Open the Story viewing tool using a modern browser on your phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer.

A browser-based workflow is convenient for travel because it can let you watch Instagram stories without app installation or an app download. You can use the browser already available on your phone or computer.

For publicly accessible stories, Grabfy provides a practical browser-based way to view Instagram stories without opening them through your personal Instagram account. The workflow is useful when checking supported public travel content from hotels, restaurants, tourism pages, attractions, or travel creators.

Enter the requested public Instagram username or profile information into the viewer. Login is not required for supported public stories when using the browser-based viewer.

Step 4: Select the Available Story

If active stories from the public profile are supported and currently available, you can view stories through the viewer’s interface and, where available, download stories directly there. An account login or app installation is not required for this browser-based process.

You can then browse available IG stories and watch Instagram stories without opening them through your personal Instagram profile in the normal viewing process. This also helps save Instagram stories or download Instagram stories from as many public accounts while avoiding typical usage limits.

This can be useful for checking travel inspiration, current activities, local events, destination updates, or other publicly shared information. The tool is completely free, with no daily limits on views for supported active stories.

Understand What Anonymous Viewing Can and Cannot Do

Browser-based Story viewing is different from common tricks such as half-swiping or airplane mode.

Half-swiping attempts to preview part of a Story without fully opening it, but it may reveal only part of the content. Moving too far can also open the Story normally.

Airplane mode depends on stories being preloaded and on how Instagram handles cached activity. Because app behavior can change, it should not be treated as a dependable anonymity method.

A secondary account is another option, but it is better described as pseudonymous viewing. Your primary username may remain separate, but the secondary account itself can still appear as a viewer.

Most importantly, browser-based tools should not be expected to reveal private profiles or Close Friends’ stories. Be cautious of any website claiming that it can bypass those restrictions.

How to Save Your Own Instagram Travel Stories

Viewing public stories for inspiration is only one part of the process. Your own stories can also become a valuable visual record of your travels.

Because standard stories are temporary, it helps to create a simple preservation routine during or after each trip.

Step 1: Save Important Story Photos and Videos

When you create a Story you want to keep, use Instagram’s available saving controls to retain the photo or video on your device when appropriate.

Keeping your own original travel photos and videos is even better. The original file gives you a personal copy that does not depend on the Story remaining available on Instagram.

Grabfy can also provide a useful browser-based workflow when working with supported public or permitted Instagram content you want to view or save. For your own travel memories, however, keeping the original files alongside your Instagram versions gives you greater control over your archive.

Step 2: Use Instagram Archive

Instagram’s Archive feature can help preserve your stories after their normal public availability ends.

When Story archiving is enabled, your stories can remain privately accessible through your account after the 24-hour viewing period. This makes it easier to revisit older travel stories without keeping everything permanently visible on your profile.

Archive is useful, but it should not necessarily be your only backup for important travel memories.

Step 3: Create Travel Highlights

If you want selected stories to remain visible on your Instagram profile, organize them into Highlights.

You could create highlights based on individual destinations or experiences, such as “Japan 2026,” “Beach Trip,” “Food Finds,” or “Weekend in Manila.”

Highlights are particularly useful when you want friends or followers to revisit selected moments from your trip without searching through older posts.

Step 4: Keep a Local Backup

For important memories, maintain copies outside Instagram as well.

Create a folder for each trip and organize your files by destination and date. You can also create smaller folders for accommodation, transportation, food, activities, landscapes, and favorite moments.

Clear file names make memories easier to locate later. A name containing the date, destination, and a short description is more useful than an automatically generated filename.

How to View and Save Stories Responsibly

Viewing and downloading are different actions. Viewing lets you see available Story content, while downloading stories creates a local copy without changing the limits on permission or reuse.

Public visibility does not mean unrestricted reuse. A travel creator, restaurant, hotel, or another traveler still retains rights to the content they create, and all rights belong to their respective owners.

If you save someone else’s public Story for permitted personal reference, do not assume that downloading gives you permission to republish or commercially use it. Copyright, licensing, privacy, and the creator’s permission remain separate considerations.

The same care applies to your own travel stories. Before publicly sharing photos or videos featuring friends, family members, or other identifiable people, consider whether they are comfortable appearing in the content.

How to Choose a Safe Story Viewing Tool

Avoid Story viewers that unexpectedly request your Instagram password; a safe Instagram story viewer should be clear about privacy protection and should not ask for credentials. A browser tool designed for publicly accessible stories should not need to promise access to private profiles or private viewer analytics.

Be cautious about unnecessary applications, extensions, surveys, or software installations as well. For supported public stories, ‘no login required’ should mean avoiding extra app installation, and browser-based options can often handle viewing without software-heavy tools.

Also remember that viewing without your personal Instagram profile is not the same as complete online anonymity. No third-party tool can reveal who viewed your own Story, and even an anonymous story viewer or anonymous Instagram option may still keep its own analytics, logs, and privacy practices.

Final Thoughts

Viewing Instagram Stories and preserving your own travel memories can both be handled with relatively simple workflows.

Preservation matters more than most travelers realize: nearly two-thirds of smartphone users store their personal photos and videos directly on their device, making visual memories the most commonly stored data type on phones, ahead of contacts, messages, and even personal documents, according to a global Kaspersky survey. Kaspersky’s own security experts note that no photo or video should live on a single device alone, since accidental deletion, loss, or hardware failure can make recovery impossible without a backup. That’s exactly why a proper backup routine — not just Instagram’s own Archive — is worth the extra few minutes.

For public travel stories, start with a public profile, use a browser-based viewer such as Grabfy for supported content, and respect Instagram’s restrictions on private accounts. For your own travel stories, save important originals, use Archive, organize selected stories into Highlights, and maintain a local backup of memories you do not want to lose.

These steps make it easier to use Instagram for travel inspiration while also building an organized collection of your own experiences. Whatever method you use, protect your account credentials, respect private content, and remember that access to a public Story does not automatically provide permission to reuse it.

The post How to View Instagram Stories and Preserve Your Travel Memories appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Imagine you are the principal designer on a new build-to-rent block in Leeds. The stair core needs a natural smoke and heat exhaust ventilator with a certified free area, while the facilities team needs a safe personnel route to the flat roof for maintenance. There is only one suitable opening; the structural kerb is already cast, and Building Regulations Part B and BS 9999 both have to be satisfied without compromise. This is the compliance-led dilemma behind every combined smoke vent and roof access hatch specification in 2026.

Our top pick is Surespan Exi-Vent for compliance-led projects where smoke ventilation free area and personnel access must each meet their own requirement without either function weakening the other. It is CE marked to EN 12101-2, and its smoke module and access opening are sized and operated independently. For projects where a glazed, daylight-admitting combined AOV and roof access rooflight is required, VELUX Commercial X-AOV is the strongest alternative. For specifiers who need a well-documented NSHEV range with established UK availability, Bilco is a credible second option.

This guide is written for UK fire engineers, M&E consultants, principal designers and main contractors. We assessed six options against certified free area, clear access size, operational independence, thermal performance, bespoke dimensions, and actuator integration. What follows is a ranked list of the best combined smoke vent and roof access hatch options for compliance-led projects.

What to look for

Specifying a single opening for two regulated functions demands more rigour than choosing a standard roof access hatch or a standalone automatic opening vent. The six criteria below separate genuinely compliant dual-function products from catalogue compromises.

Certified free area and EN 12101-2 evidence

A natural smoke and heat exhaust ventilator must have a declared aerodynamic free area proven by testing to EN 12101-2, rather than relying on geometric opening size alone. Ask for the certificate, the declared free area and the conditions of test, including wind, snow load and opening angle. Useful background on how actuators and ventilators are assessed together is set out in this guidance on smoke and heat exhaust ventilators. If a supplier cannot tie its smoke ventilation free area claim to a specific EN 12101-2 certificate for that build, treat the figure as unverified.

Clear access dimensions for personnel

Smoke performance means little if maintenance staff cannot use the opening safely. Check the clear personnel access opening with the vent in both standby and fire modes, along with the kerb height, the ladder or stair interface, and whether handholds or upstands intrude into the climbing line. A compliant roof access hatch should provide an unobstructed climbing route that remains usable even when the smoke-control system is on standby.

Independence of smoke and access operation

This is the decisive test for any combined smoke vent and roof access hatch. The access lid should open for routine maintenance without firing the smoke actuators, degrading the seals or invalidating the certified free area. A fire signal must also drive the smoke ventilator fully open regardless of how the access door was last left. Products with independent leaves, separate actuators or clearly segregated modes score strongly here.

Thermal performance and insulated construction

Roof openings are thermal weak points. Look for thermally broken kerbs and lids, insulated construction, continuous seals and condensation management suited to a modern low-energy envelope. A combined unit should also explain how its insulation strategy withstands repeated opening for access as well as high-temperature exposure in fire mode.

Bespoke dimensions versus stock sizes

Stock sizes suit straightforward replacements, but compliance-led projects often need bespoke dimensions to reconcile a required free area with a required clear access size on a fixed kerb. Custom sizing allows both functions to be met without site adaptation. The trade-off is the need for precise early coordination and a specification that clearly fixes both the smoke and access requirements.

Actuator type, controls, and safety accessories

Review the actuator principle, fail-safe behaviour on power loss, integration with the wider smoke-control system and manual overrides. Rain and wind sensors may be relevant for comfort modes, while grilles, hold-open devices and working-at-height protection should also be considered. Safe roof access depends as much on control discipline as it does on the physical hatch.

The 6 best combined smoke vent and roof access hatches for compliance-led projects

Applying these six criteria across the UK market, the products below include dedicated combined units, NSHEV alternatives and adjacent access options that require different levels of product-specific verification. Each entry is judged on what it does well and where it may fall short for particular project types, with the top recommendation at number one for independent operation.

#1. Surespan Exi-Vent – Best for independent smoke ventilation and personnel access on compliance-led projects

Surespan Exi-Vent is a purpose-designed combined smoke vent and roof access hatch in which the smoke and access functions are treated as separate compliance tasks within one kerb.

The Exi-Vent roof hatch pairs a CE-marked smoke ventilation module tested to EN 12101-2 with a distinct personnel access opening, so each can be sized for its own duty. That matters on compliance-led projects because the certified smoke ventilation free area does not have to be sacrificed to gain a usable climbing width, while the access route does not need to be compromised to preserve aerodynamic performance. The unit uses thermally broken insulated construction to limit heat loss around a large opening, and it is offered in bespoke dimensions rather than stock sizes alone. It is also designed to integrate with the building smoke-control system while keeping fire operation and everyday access logically separate.

In practice, this independence simplifies sign-off. The fire engineer can refer to EN 12101-2 evidence for the smoke module, while the principal designer can demonstrate a clear, guarded personnel route for inspection and maintenance. The configuration still needs early coordination around kerb size, the required free area, the clear access opening, and the project’s cause-and-effect strategy.

Pros:

• Independent sizing and operation of smoke ventilation and personnel access avoids the usual dual-use compromise
• CE marked to EN 12101-2 with verifiable certification for the smoke function
• Thermally broken insulated construction suits low-energy envelopes
• Bespoke dimensions allow free area and clear access requirements to be met together
• Conceived as a combined unit rather than an access hatch with a vent actuator added later

Cons:

• Requires early coordination of the kerb, smoke module and personnel-access dimensions
• Needs detailed specification input on sizes, actuators and controls, so it is less suited to simple like-for-like work
• No glazed daylight option for schemes that need natural light through the same opening

Who it is best for: Fire engineers, M&E consultants and principal designers on new-build commercial, residential and public buildings where both EN 12101-2 performance and safe roof access must be evidenced from one opening.

#2. VELUX Commercial X-AOV – Best for glazed daylight and smoke ventilation with roof access in one rooflight

VELUX Commercial X-AOV is a glazed combined AOV and roof access rooflight that brings smoke ventilation, comfort ventilation and access together in one fully tested 3-in-1 unit.

Its main appeal is the integration of three functions. As a natural smoke and heat exhaust ventilator, it provides powered opening for fire mode. It can also modulate for everyday comfort ventilation and provide a daylight-lit route to the roof. Multiple lid options and sizes offer flexibility across flat-roof commercial and residential cores. Recent industry discussion about dual safety and ventilation certification, covered in this Glass and Glazing Products Magazine report on dual safety and ventilation certification, shows why buyers now examine how combined functions are tested rather than accepting broad catalogue claims at face value.

The trade-off is architectural and operational. Because smoke and access share the same glazed lid, operational independence is less explicit than it is with a dual-leaf product, so control logic, manual handling and working-at-height protection need careful detailing. The available size and lid options cover different applications, but specifiers still need to check them against the project’s kerb, clear access and free area requirements.

Pros:

• Combines NSHEV smoke mode, comfort ventilation and roof access in one tested rooflight
• Glazed format admits daylight, which can benefit stair cores and corridors
• Multiple lid options and sizes provide specifier flexibility

Cons:

• Shared lid for smoke and access means independence of operation needs careful control design
• Available size options may not suit every kerb or free area requirement
• Glazed rooflight loadings and roof build-ups do not suit every structure

Who it is best for: Schemes that need daylight as well as smoke ventilation and access from the same opening, particularly residential cores, schools and offices using rooflights for amenity.

#3. Bilco – Best for specifier familiar CE-marked NSHEVs with established UK supply

Bilco is best understood as a specifier-familiar source of natural smoke and heat exhaust ventilators with clear compliance paperwork for the UK market.

The range is CE marked and supplied with a Declaration of Conformity under the Construction Products Regulation, while Bilco positions its products against Building Regulations Part B, BS 9999 and BS EN 12101-2. For consultants who must evidence each element of a smoke-control system, that documentation trail reduces specification risk. Its product information also covers smoke vents and related access equipment, helping design teams coordinate the opening with the wider access arrangement.

Caution is needed around the meaning of “combined”. The verified information describes Bilco NSHEVs and complementary access products rather than a single module with independently certified smoke and access leaves in the manner of Surespan Exi-Vent. Specifiers seeking a true combined smoke vent and roof access hatch with segregated operation should compare clear access dimensions, actuator arrangements and certification scope line by line. They should also confirm whether access is through the ventilator itself or through a paired hatch and ladder arrangement.

Pros:

• CE-marked NSHEV range with a Declaration of Conformity for compliance evidence
• Explicit alignment with Building Regulations Part B, BS 9999 and EN 12101-2
• Product information helps coordinate vents with ladders and access equipment
• Familiar option for UK specifiers and contractors

Cons:

• Combined independent smoke and access operation in one leaf is not confirmed in the verified information
• No confirmed bespoke-dimensions narrative for dual-function openings
• Thermal performance data for specific combined builds was not verified, so U-values should not be assumed

Who it is best for: Specifiers who prioritise documented NSHEV compliance and familiarity, with access coordinated alongside rather than necessarily through the same leaf.

#4. LAMILUX UK – Best for high performance smoke lift skylights with access options

LAMILUX UK is the British arm of a German rooflight specialist associated with skylights and smoke lift systems.

It is best considered where a rooflight-led approach is being explored alongside smoke and heat exhaust ventilation and an access option. This may suit projects that want smoke exhaust, daylight and roof access to be considered within the same part of the roof design. Product-level detail for the UK in 2026 was limited at the time of review, so specifiers should request project-specific confirmation of EN 12101-2 scope, smoke ventilation free area, clear access size, thermal performance and controls compatibility before selecting it for dual-function duty.

That evidence check is about verifiability rather than a judgement on capability. A smoke lift skylight can be an effective answer where daylight and smoke exhaust need to coincide, but the compliance file requires the same rigour as it would for any other automatic opening vent. Any access function must also be assessed separately for clear opening size and safe use.

Pros:

• Rooflight-led option for teams considering smoke exhaust, daylight and access together
• Relevant to projects where the roof opening forms part of the architectural design

Cons:

• No verified free area figures, dimensions or certification numbers were available for this review
• Access functionality and its independence from smoke mode could not be confirmed
• Requires detailed technical review rather than assumption from general product descriptions

Who it is best for: Design teams exploring a rooflight route to smoke ventilation and access who are prepared to build the compliance file with the manufacturer.

#5. Mercor UK – Best for European fire protection systems with UK supply

Mercor UK represents a European fire protection group offering smoke-control and fire protection products in the UK.

Its best fit in this list is for programmes considering EN 12101-related AOVs alongside other fire protection equipment from the same wider group. For main contractors coordinating several smoke-control components across a project, that breadth may be relevant during technical assessment. As with LAMILUX, verified product-level facts for a distinct combined smoke vent and roof access hatch were limited, so this entry remains deliberately cautious.

Specifiers should ask Mercor UK to confirm exactly which ventilator is proposed for smoke duty, what EN 12101-2 evidence applies to that configuration and how personnel access is achieved and guarded. Actuator integration with the project control system also needs to be set out clearly. Without those answers, a combined duty cannot be signed off, regardless of the wider fire protection range.

Pros:

• Part of a European group covering smoke-control and fire protection products
• Potential option where AOVs are being considered alongside wider smoke-control equipment
• Relevant to projects assessing a coordinated fire protection package

Cons:

• No verified combined-unit specification, free area or access dimensions to assess
• Certification scope and control options could not be confirmed at product level
• Requires a project-specific technical submission before selection

Who it is best for: Procurement-led projects considering a European fire protection group and willing to develop a detailed compliance submission for the proposed configuration.

#6. Jupiter Blue – Best for value focused UK made access solutions with AOV options

Jupiter Blue is known for a broad range of access panels and loft hatches, with AOV smoke vent options also listed in its wider offering.

The strength here is access practicality. The catalogue covers plastic, economy steel, premium steel and fire-rated access panels, along with made-to-measure options for awkward openings. That breadth may suit trade and refurbishment work where a straightforward roof access hatch or internal access solution is required, but it should not be confused with evidence for a dedicated dual-function smoke and access unit.

On the verified information, Jupiter Blue is not an equivalent compliance-led combined unit. Details of a combined smoke vent and roof access hatch with independently certified smoke ventilation free area, personnel-access dimensions and integrated actuator logic were not confirmed, and EN 12101-2 status should not be assumed. Consider it where general access provision is the main requirement and any smoke function will be handled by a separately evidenced automatic opening vent or complementary product.

Pros:

• Broad access range across several materials and fire ratings
• Made-to-measure options within the access panel offering
• Practical choice where general access provision is the main requirement
• Complementary AOV options are listed within the wider range

Cons:

• Verified detail centres on access panels rather than a dedicated combined smoke and access module
• Compliance credentials for dual-function smoke duty are not confirmed
• Not positioned as a bespoke dual-module specialist for complex approvals

Who it is best for: Refurbishments, small commercial jobs and trade-led projects where a straightforward roof access hatch is the priority and smoke compliance is addressed separately.

Frequently asked questions

Should I use one hatch for both smoke ventilation and personnel access?

Yes, provided each function is independently evidenced. The smoke module needs EN 12101-2 certification with a declared smoke ventilation free area, while the personnel route needs a clear, guarded opening that remains safe to use for maintenance. The strongest specifications keep the two modes operationally separate, so daily access does not degrade seals, actuators, or free area. If a supplier cannot document both functions, use two openings or choose a product designed for independent operation.

Should I specify an AOV, an NSHEV, or a combined unit for compliance?

An automatic opening vent is a generic term for a powered vent, while an NSHEV is a natural smoke and heat exhaust ventilator tested to EN 12101-2 for use in a smoke-control system. Building Regulations Part B and BS 9999 will normally direct the design team towards certified NSHEV performance rather than any powered opening vent. Choose a combined smoke vent and roof access hatch when it preserves that NSHEV evidence and adds a genuine personnel route. Otherwise, specify a standalone NSHEV with a separate roof access hatch.

Is a combined unit worth it if opening for access affects free area?

A combined unit is worthwhile only when access use leaves certified performance intact. Some single-lid designs change geometry, seal compression or actuator readiness when used for access, potentially calling the declared free area into question. Prefer products where smoke ventilation free area is proven in fire mode irrespective of prior access use, whether through separate leaves or interlocked controls. The supplier should explain how the unit behaves if it is left open, half-latched or manually overridden.

Should I verify CE marking to EN 12101-2 and how do I do it?

You should always verify it for compliance-led projects. Ask for the certificate number, the product description it covers, the declared free area and performance classes, plus the Declaration of Performance or Conformity. Check that the size, actuator type and mounting arrangement being purchased fall within the certified scope. A CE-marked claim without a traceable certificate for that configuration is not sufficient for sign-off by a fire engineer or building control body.

Should I insist on bespoke dimensions or will stock sizes work?

Stock sizes work for many replacements and for new builds where the kerb can be designed around the unit. Bespoke dimensions or custom sizing are appropriate when a fixed structural opening must deliver both a set free area and a set clear access width. Custom sizing avoids site cutting, preserves the specified seals and keeps both compliance arguments clear. Dimensions should be agreed early with the architect and structural engineer.

Should I upgrade actuators and controls for a new build smoke-control system?

In most new builds, yes. Specify the actuator duty, fail-safe position, power supplies, control integration, cause-and-effect logic and manual overrides, along with interfaces for safe roof access such as hold-open devices and guarding. Rain, wind and comfort functions should be coordinated so that they cannot inhibit fire mode. Good actuator and control integration turns a certified ventilator into a dependable building system rather than leaving it as an isolated product.

Choosing the right option for your project

Choose Surespan Exi-Vent if both smoke compliance and access compliance must be demonstrated from one kerb without compromise, since independent sizing and operation are its defining strengths. Choose VELUX Commercial X-AOV if you need a glazed combined smoke vent and roof access hatch that also delivers daylight and comfort ventilation. Bilco is suitable where documented NSHEV evidence and familiarity matter most, with access coordinated alongside. Consider LAMILUX UK or Mercor UK if you are developing a rooflight-led or wider fire protection route and can build the detailed evidence file. Choose Jupiter Blue where straightforward access provision leads the brief and smoke compliance is addressed separately.

Have the final selection reviewed by the fire engineer and principal designer, and retain certificates, free area declarations and access risk assessments in the handover file.

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Strong leadership can determine whether a business maintains steady progress or struggles to adapt as it grows. Effective executives influence strategic decisions, strengthen teams, manage change, and create a clear direction for the organization. Their impact often extends beyond immediate performance, shaping culture, innovation, and long-term resilience. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2026 report shows how much rides on this: global manager engagement fell from 31% in 2022 to 22% in 2025, and that decline accounts for most of the recent drop in employee engagement.

Growth tends to expose leadership gaps faster than anything else. A company entering a new market or rebuilding its operations needs leaders who can decide with incomplete information and keep teams aligned while conditions shift. When a senior seat is filled poorly, the damage rarely stays within one role; it spreads into slower decisions and weaker morale. Senior hiring, in other words, deserves the same care as any major business investment.

A leadership hiring firm helps organizations identify senior professionals whose expertise, decision-making abilities, values, and vision align with future business objectives. Finding the right leadership talent can therefore become a strategic investment that supports sustainable expansion, stronger teams, and continued organizational development.

Leadership Sets the Direction for Growth

In the growth process of the firm, it is not only about generating more sales and exploring new markets. It is also about making consistent decisions regarding people, technology, customers, operations, investment, and organizational priorities. A good leader will definitely have the capacity to turn the organizational vision into organizational priorities. He will be able to figure out what organizational priorities require his attention and where he needs to allocate his efforts. It will give clarity to the organization.

Therefore, the selection of leaders is a strategic process and not simply filling a job vacancy. This is because the objective is to select individuals who can play an important role in the future of the organization.

Strong Leaders Build High-Performing Teams

The role of leadership is not limited to decision-making alone. Top management has a significant say in how people communicate, collaborate, solve problems, and deal with failures. An efficient leader tends to make expectations clear and make sure that employees feel connected to organizational objectives. That connection is easy to lose: DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2025 found that employee trust in immediate managers had fallen to 29%, a 37% decline since 2022.

An appropriate leader is capable of spotting potential in employees, making sure they are responsible, helping develop future managers, and ensuring that competent professionals work effectively. This leads to a key link between leader recruitment and workforce development. Effective management does not mean managing employees.

Better Decisions Support Sustainable Expansion

Growth comes with complexity. A business might be growing into different markets, introducing products, implementing technology, restructuring operations, and managing more people. People who have leadership experience will bring perspectives from their past business environment. Their experience could allow an organization to assess the situation, predict challenges, and implement change strategies. They might also question assumptions and push organizations to explore other options.

For any organization that plans to grow, working with a leadership recruitment agency could offer a dedicated executive search that could look at different factors such as leadership experience and future needs of the organization.

Cultural Alignment Protects Long-Term Performance

Undeniably, skill and experience matter a lot, but for a good leader to become successful, he needs to have a good fit with the organizational culture. It is possible for an individual with great experience to fall short simply because of a poor fit between his style of leadership and organizational culture.

Organizational fit helps leaders build credibility and form relationships that are productive. This happens because the senior leaders have an understanding of the organizational values and are consistent in the message. Employees, therefore, know the value of their contributions as a whole.

It is because of this, among other things, that hiring of individuals at senior levels should not be based on the traditional yardsticks like resumes and titles. Hiring at this stage should move beyond management of other aspects, including people, change, accountability, communication, and decision-making.

Leadership Hiring Strengthens Succession Planning

Sustainability is achieved through continuity. Disruption in businesses may occur when there are vacancies in key leadership positions without having the necessary succession plan in place. The preparation of successor leaders enables an organization to ensure continuity of activities in the event of any leadership change.

Hiring for senior positions may help achieve this objective by selecting candidates who have the capacity to add value right away and also grow future leaders of the organization. Succession planning minimizes the chances of making impromptu hires. This will enable an organization to have a better appreciation of the skill set needed. Boards are also looking outside more often when a change comes: The Conference Board found that external hires made up 33% of S&P 500 CEO appointments in 2025, up from 18% in 2024.

Access to Broader Leadership Talent

The experience and leadership that the organization is looking for in its executive positions can help ensure that the prospective candidate is not actively in the market looking for other opportunities. The conventional method of recruiting may not always prove effective, as many talented people can be missed who can actually help the organization.

The concept of executive search helps expand the talent pool through market research, networking, candidate engagement, and confidential discussions. This approach can particularly prove useful in case organizations are in need of leaders with unusual industry experience, transformational abilities, global experience, or certain functional expertise. The expanded search process allows an assessment of the candidate on the basis of the strategic requirements of the organization, rather than on the basis of their prominence.

AI and Human Expertise Improve Leadership Searches

Recruitment technology today could assist in making the process of executive searches more rational and efficient. SHRM’s 2025 Talent Trends research found that AI use in HR tasks reached 43% of organizations in 2025, up from 26% in 2024. Data analytics can be used for market mapping, for identifying talent, and for comparing potential candidates using a set of leader profiles. The use of intelligent technologies and experienced recruitment experts may balance each other in order to achieve the most efficient result. Technology could be helpful in terms of providing fast access to information, whereas human expertise can contribute with judgment, candidate engagement, and evaluation.

This could benefit companies by structuring the process of searching for leaders without devaluing the importance of interpersonal relations and discretion.

Leadership Hiring Is a Long-Term Growth Decision

It is important to know that the decisions made by leaders can influence the culture, capabilities, resilience, and direction of the business organization for many years. By analyzing the experiences, values, fit with culture, succession ability, and future demands of the business, one can make decisions related to hiring that will promote the sustainable development of the company. The leadership hiring firm will be helpful in making the decision more structured and oriented toward sustainable development.

For organizations seeking strategic leadership solutions, the right partner offers an innovative combination of artificial intelligence market intelligence and human executive search for the identification of CXO, board-level, and senior leadership professionals. They offer confidential search, cultural fit, global talent sourcing, leadership advisory, succession planning, and organizational design services.

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When Charles “Chuck” Feeney died in October 2023, obituaries leaned almost entirely on one story: a duty-free retail billionaire who secretly gave away his entire fortune and died with almost nothing left. Fewer mentioned that the vehicle he used to multiply that fortune before giving it away, General Atlantic, is today a $118-billion growth-equity firm with an active, decades-long footprint in Indian technology, retail, and healthcare.

From bologna sandwiches to duty-free billions

Feeney’s own money story is well documented. Born in 1931 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to an Irish-American family, he attended Cornell University on the GI Bill after serving in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, and by his own account earned his keep on campus selling sandwiches to classmates. One of those classmates was Robert Warren Miller, with whom he founded Duty Free Shoppers in 1960, selling tax-free goods to travellers first in Hong Kong and Honolulu, then to a wave of outbound Japanese tourists once Tokyo eased travel restrictions in the mid-1960s. DFS grew into the world’s largest travel-retail chain, and Feeney’s stake was worth billions by the time he sold it to LVMH in 1996.

What set Feeney apart wasn’t the fortune; it was what he did with it 13 years before anyone found out. In 1984, he transferred his entire DFS stake into a foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies, virtually, and kept it secret until a 1997 lawsuit from Miller forced disclosure. The foundation went on to give away more than $8 billion across health, education, human rights and peace-building work, including a role in the Northern Ireland peace process, before deliberately spending itself down and closing in 2020. Feeney called the approach “Giving While Living”, and it became the direct template for the Giving Pledge that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett launched years later.

The firm nobody remembers is a philanthropist’s family office

Less discussed is what Feeney built to fund all that giving. In 1980, four years before he moved his DFS stake into Atlantic Philanthropies, Feeney set up a small investment team as his personal family office, with a simple brief: find growing companies, back them, and use the returns to magnify his philanthropy. That team is General Atlantic, and Feeney remained its sole investor for more than a decade before the firm began raising capital from outside institutions, families, and endowments. Today, the firm manages roughly $118 billion in assets and employs more than 900 people across 29 offices, operating as a private partnership owned by its own active partners rather than any outside parent company.

General Atlantic’s long, quiet bet on India

For a firm with such an unusual origin story, General Atlantic’s footprint in India has been anything but quiet. Its first major India technology bet came in 2018, when it invested $100 million in Byju’s for a 5% stake at a $2 billion valuation, marking the firm’s first entry into education technology anywhere in the world. Two years later, in the middle of the pandemic, General Atlantic put ₹6,598.38 crore into Jio Platforms, part of a broader wave of global capital, including Facebook and Silver Lake, that valued Reliance Industries’ digital arm at nearly ₹5 lakh crore. The firm also holds a stake in Reliance Retail, India’s largest retailer.

By early 2023, with Indian startup valuations resetting hard after the 2021 funding peak, General Atlantic signalled it was ready to lean back in. Sandeep Naik, the firm’s head of India and Southeast Asia business, said the firm was in early-stage talks with roughly 15 companies across technology, financial services and consumer sectors, part of a plan to commit close to $2 billion to the region.

“The realism is setting in. We were waiting for the value creation to happen,” Naik said, on the shift underway in India’s startup valuations.

The firm backed that intent with people on the ground: in 2024, it appointed Anand Agarwal, formerly the CFO of Amazon’s India consumer business, as an Operating Partner focused on India and Southeast Asia, based in Mumbai.

The current deal on the table

General Atlantic has teamed up with Hyderabad-based Renova Hospitals to bid for American Oncology Institute, the Indian oncology hospital network that Siemens Healthineers is selling as it exits non-core hospital operations to focus on diagnostics and therapeutics. The consortium is competing against Cancer Centers of America, led by Indian-American entrepreneur Raj Mantena, with the deal expected to value AOI at around ₹1,500 crore and close by mid-August 2026. For Renova, the tie-up is a fast route into markets it doesn’t currently serve, with General Atlantic providing the financial backing behind the expansion.

Why this matters beyond the deal sheet

None of this makes General Atlantic unusual among global growth-equity firms operating in India, several of which trace back to a single wealthy founder or family office. What makes it worth noting is the specific lineage: capital that Chuck Feeney built explicitly to be recycled into philanthropy has, over four decades, become one of the more durable sources of growth capital for Indian founders navigating a slower, more selective funding market than the one they raised in during 2021.

The firm’s own framing of itself, as a “growth equity” pioneer backing entrepreneurs with patient capital rather than leverage-driven buyouts, is easy to read as standard private-equity marketing. But it does line up with a four-decade pattern: an edtech startup taking its first institutional cheque in 2018, a telecom-and-retail conglomerate’s digital arm raising pandemic-era capital in 2020, and an oncology hospital chain changing hands in 2026 have little in common except that the same firm, and indirectly the same original idea about what money is for, keeps showing up on the cap table.

FAQs

Did Chuck Feeney personally invest in Indian startups?

Not directly. Feeney stepped back from day-to-day involvement in General Atlantic’s investment decisions as the firm grew beyond his personal capital; its India investments, including Byju’s and Jio Platforms, were made by the firm’s professional investment team long after Feeney’s active role had faded.

Is General Atlantic still connected to Atlantic Philanthropies?

The two entities share a founder and history but have been operationally separate for decades. Atlantic Philanthropies formally closed in 2020 after spending down its endowment, while General Atlantic continues to operate as an independent growth-equity firm.

What is General Atlantic’s current India strategy?

The firm has said it aims to commit close to $2 billion across India and Southeast Asia, spanning technology, financial services, retail, and consumer sectors, alongside opportunistic bets in adjacent areas like healthcare, as seen in its current bid for American Oncology Institute.

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Within seconds of Apple unveiling its first folding iPhone on September 9, the joke was already written. Social media users didn’t wait for a review or a teardown — they went straight for the punchline that Apple had just discovered a category that Huawei shipped in 2019. One recurring reaction template showed a cartoon figure copying an exam answer, captioned to suggest Apple had simply looked over its neighbour’s shoulder. Another joke reframed the device’s own name — the iPhone Duo — as a reference to how many household incomes it would take to buy one.

The memes were funny because they were accurate. Apple priced the iPhone Duo at ₹2,99,900 for the base 256GB configuration in India, rising to ₹4,49,900 for the 2TB variant — making it the most expensive iPhone the company has ever sold in the country, and the first to cross the ₹3 lakh mark. In the United States, the same base model starts at $1,999, which converts to roughly ₹1,90,900 at current exchange rates. That leaves a gap of about ₹1.09 lakh between what an American buyer pays and what an Indian buyer pays for an identical device.

Seven years late, and pricing to match

Huawei launched the Mate X, the first mainstream folding smartphone, in late 2019. Samsung followed within months with the Galaxy Fold and has iterated on the format every year since. Apple, by contrast, spent the better part of a decade fielding reports of an imminent foldable that kept sliding — 2020, then 2021, then 2022, then 2024, then 2025 — before finally shipping one in 2026. Engineering leaks throughout that period pointed to a specific obstacle: Apple could not solve the visible crease down the centre of a foldable display to its own satisfaction, reportedly pursuing an elimination of the crease “regardless of cost.”

Even Apple’s own rivals in the smartphone business have said the delay reflects a broader pattern rather than a one-off. Duan Yongping, founder of Oppo and Vivo, said years before the Duo shipped that Apple’s engineering strengths coexist with a stubborn streak that costs it ground elsewhere, put simply: “They’re maybe too stubborn sometimes.“

That patience shows up in the final product. The iPhone Duo opens into a 7.6-inch interior display and folds down to a 5.4-inch cover screen, built around Apple’s new A20 Pro chip and a titanium frame. Early hands-on coverage has focused on the crease being close to invisible when unfolded — the exact problem that reportedly held the device back for years. In other words, Apple didn’t skip the early, unglamorous phase of foldable engineering that Samsung and Huawei worked through in public. It just made Indian buyers absorb the cost of skipping it privately.

Popular entrepreneur Ramesh Vats, founder of Something Something, posted on X,

“I planned to resist buying the iPhone Duo. But I think I have folded.”

Why the India price is a policy, not a coincidence

The ₹1.09 lakh gap between Apple’s US and India pricing isn’t unique to the iPhone Duo — Indian buyers have paid a premium over American ones on every iPhone generation, largely a function of import duty and GST stacking on top of the dollar sticker price. What’s different this time is the scale. On a $1,999 device, a proportional markup is one thing; on a device already positioned as Apple’s most expensive iPhone ever, the same policy produces a number large enough to dominate the national conversation the day the phone launched. Coverage of the launch noted that the base Duo price alone exceeds what most first-time buyers in India put down on a car, and comfortably beats the price of several two-wheelers on Indian roads.

The EMI page tells its own story

Apple’s own India financing page does offer credit and debit card EMI, with up to six months of “No Cost EMI” through most leading banks, plus instant cashback with eligible American Express, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank cards. That six-month, no-cost window is worth noting on its own: it’s the shortest interest-free EMI term Apple offers in any major market it sells the Duo in, which means the same phone produces a proportionally larger monthly payment in India than it does elsewhere. On the base 256GB Duo, that six-month plan works out to roughly ₹48,817 a month.

What the headline offer doesn’t say is what happens once a buyer needs longer than six months. Push the tenure to nine, 12 or 24 months and standard interest of 14 to 15 percent per annum kicks in — at which point, EMI breakdowns show, the advertised “savings” quietly become a flat cashback of roughly ₹7,000 rather than a genuine interest waiver. Stretch the loan to the full 24 months and the monthly instalment drops to a comfortable-looking ₹14,000, but the total paid over two years comes to around ₹3,40,842 — close to ₹41,000 more than the phone’s own sticker price. Apple’s storewide cashback ceiling of ₹15,000 sounds as if it applies here too, but that figure is a cap across the entire Apple Store India catalogue, not an offer specific to the Duo — a distinction the checkout page doesn’t spell out for a buyer doing the math in the moment.

The internet did the analysis first

Long before any spec sheet or financing breakdown circulated, the joke had already made the point. Comedian Atul Khatri quipped that the phone earned its “Duo” name because buying one would require selling a pair of organs rather than one.

“It’s called iPhone Duo because to buy it – you will have to sell both your kidney as well as liver” — said Khatri on X

A widely shared comparison by X user Qasim Husain stacked the ₹2,99,900 starting price against the annual salary of someone earning ₹3.5 lakh a year, calculating that the phone alone would eat up 86 percent of that income.

The cultural contrast wasn’t lost on people either. X user Prayag drew a side-by-side of the two markets’ reactions, imagining an American buyer casually weighing an upgrade while an Indian buyer’s first instinct was to check the Dubai price instead — a joke that doubled as a comment on how differently the same launch lands depending on where you’re standing.

Even brands got in on it. Duolingo’s official account, seeing its mascot’s name borrowed for Apple’s foldable, posted: “They named a phone after me and made it bend over.” Samsung Mobile US joined the exchange too, needling both Apple and Duolingo in the same breath, according to Reuters. A separate joke, spotted by Sunday Guardian Live, reframed the phone’s competition entirely: “iPhone Duo is priced at 3 lacs. Samsung is out of the picture.”

None of it was subtle, and none of it needed to be. The internet’s read on Apple’s foldable debut wasn’t really about the hinge or the crease — it was that a company famous for showing up polished tends to show up late in categories it didn’t invent, then charges Indian buyers the most to catch up.

What it means for Apple’s India play

None of this is likely to dent early demand. Apple’s India business has grown steadily on the back of buyers willing to pay a premium for the ecosystem, and pre-orders for the iPhone Duo open October 16 with deliveries from October 23 — well within the festive-season window that has historically driven Apple’s strongest India sales. The more durable question is reputational rather than financial: whether a company that positions itself as defining categories can keep absorbing “you’re late and you’re charging us for it” as the dominant public reaction to a flagship launch, quarter after quarter, category after category.

The post Apple’s iPhone Duo Charges India Extra for Arriving Late appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Autonomy sounds simple in theory: give people context, trust their judgment, hold them accountable. In financial infrastructure, that principle runs into a harder reality, since a single decision can touch clients, internal systems, and multiple teams at once, well beyond the person who made the call.

According to Entrepreneur UK, Coinspaid Solutions, which builds blockchain infrastructure for businesses and financial institutions, has come to define ownership through the career paths of employees who moved across different parts of the organization rather than through any formal policy.

What ownership actually demands in this kind of business is judgment rather than blanket authority. A product change can create operational consequences. A client request can raise a compliance issue. A commercial decision can run into a technical constraint nobody flagged in advance. That means specialist roles rarely stay fully self-contained: engineers often need to understand commercial implications, commercial staff need some grasp of technical limits, and operations teams have to connect what a customer experiences with what happens internally. Communications teams working in financial technology face a version of the same problem, needing enough regulatory and product context to know when simplifying a message would make it misleading.

The regulatory environment sharpens that overlap. The Financial Action Task Force’s seventh targeted update on virtual assets, published in July 2026, notes continued progress by jurisdictions on risk assessments, licensing and Travel Rule implementation, while also pointing to significant gaps in effective supervision and enforcement. For a company working across borders, that uneven picture means an ordinary client request can carry compliance weight that isn’t obvious from the request itself, which is exactly what a client-facing or product employee has to learn to spot. Messaging carries similar weight. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority expects cryptoasset promotions to be fair, clear and not misleading, a standard its finalised guidance applies to social media, websites and mobile apps alike, and one that gives the point about oversimplified messaging a concrete regulatory footing.

Two employee career paths at the company illustrate how that plays out in practice. Yulia Vasilyeva started six years ago as a Relationship Officer, moved into account management, rose to Lead Account Manager, then shifted into operations before taking charge of Product Operations. Her own account of the change centers less on titles and more on visibility: client-facing work meant she saw a problem the moment it surfaced, while operations exposed everything that happened afterward, as a request travelled through commercial, product, and operational teams before a solution emerged. That broader view meant she had to weigh trade-offs invisible from any single vantage point.

Tanya Kozlovskaya’s trajectory took a different shape. She joined as a Brand Manager, became Brand Lead, and now holds the role of Marketing Communications Lead, staying within one discipline the entire time while her decision-making scope steadily widened. Where Vasilyeva’s growth crossed functional lines, Kozlovskaya’s deepened inside one. Both cases suggest that career advancement doesn’t have to follow a conventional ladder of promotions; it can also mean being handed larger, more consequential problems without a change in job family.

That distinction matters beyond one company’s org chart. Gallup’s workplace research found that only 20% of employees worldwide were engaged in 2025, and that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in team engagement. Read alongside the two career paths above, the finding suggests that autonomy is likely to be built through the judgment of the people leading a team and the scope they hand out, rather than declared in a policy document.

Numbers add a second angle, though an incomplete one. The company’s internal survey for the first half of 2026 put its employee Net Promoter Score at 47.8, with average tenure at 2.3 years. Benchmarking these figures is harder than it looks. Survey methodology varies, and workforces differ in size, age, and function. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics put a median employee tenure at 3.9 years in January 2024, but that is a national median across all industries, not a comparable measure of one company’s average. Still, the internal data adds something. Alongside the individual career accounts, it gives a fuller picture than either would on its own. The unresolved question, as the company scales, is whether this same balance of autonomy and context holds once responsibilities become more formally defined.

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Foloosi, a UAE-born payments technology company, has received In-Principle Approval (IPA) from the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) for a Category III licence under the Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes (RPSCS) Regulation, the company announced on 16 September 2026. The approval moves Foloosi a step closer to a final operating licence, pending remaining conditions set by the regulator.

Founded by Omar Bin Brek and Mohan K, Foloosi has processed more than AED 7 billion in payment volume and serves over 10,000 merchants across the UAE. The company began as an online payment gateway and has since expanded into a wider merchant payments stack covering online payment acceptance, payment links, invoicing, subscriptions and recurring billing, QR payments, Tap to Phone, point-of-sale, and e-commerce operations.

Speaking of the development, Omar Bin Brek, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Foloosi, said,

“Receiving In-Principle Approval from the Central Bank of the UAE is an important milestone for Foloosi and reflects the progress we have made in building a strong, secure and scalable payments business in the UAE. We started Foloosi with a simple ambition: to build payment technology in the UAE that could serve businesses of every size. Today, after processing more than AED 7 billion in payments and serving over 10,000 merchants, we are entering the next chapter of that journey. Our focus now is to complete the remaining regulatory requirements and continue building Foloosi into a trusted payments infrastructure company for the UAE.”

Alongside the regulatory milestone, Foloosi is positioning artificial intelligence as a core layer of its payments architecture rather than a bolt-on feature. The company said every transaction generates signals — behavioural, device-level, merchant-specific, risk-related and settlement data — and that its long-term roadmap is built around interpreting these signals in real time.

The planned capabilities include AI-powered transaction intelligence to flag unusual patterns, real-time fraud and risk scoring across payment and device signals, intelligent payment orchestration to route transactions more efficiently, merchant intelligence tools that convert payment data into business insights, and automated reconciliation and settlement tracking. Foloosi also flagged a longer-term push into agentic payment infrastructure, where authorised AI agents could interact with payment systems through defined permissions and controls.

Foloosi has previously been named to the UAE Future 100 list, which recognises companies contributing to the country’s emerging economic sectors. The company said it will continue working with the Central Bank to satisfy the remaining requirements for its final licence while investing further in payment infrastructure, fraud and risk technology, merchant intelligence, and security operations.

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BFT Media (BFT) and Andra Public Relations have signed a strategic partnership to launch the BFT Retail & Investment Summit (BRIS) 2027, a regional platform built to strengthen investment culture and empower retail investors across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The one-day summit is scheduled for 18 March 2027 at Exhibition World Bahrain in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the organisers said. It will bring together retail investors, financial institutions, fintech platforms, wealth managers, family offices, regulators and policymakers for a programme centred on financial knowledge, access and informed participation in capital markets.

The partnership arrives at a significant point in the evolution of retail investing, across the GCC and globally. A growing number of individuals are moving into equities, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), foreign exchange, cryptocurrency and other digital assets, broadening participation in regional and global markets.

As access to investment opportunities widens, so does the need for credible financial information and practical education, along with stronger connections between investors and the institutions shaping the market. BRIS 2027 was developed in response, giving retail investors a dedicated platform to build their knowledge, engage directly with industry experts and better understand both the opportunities and the responsibilities that come with investing.

Commenting on the development, A BFT Media representative said,

“Retail investing across the GCC is changing rapidly. People have greater access to markets, platforms and asset classes than ever before, but access alone does not create confident or informed investors. BRIS 2027 is about helping close that gap by bringing our audience into direct conversation with the institutions, experts and regulators shaping the future of investment in the region.”

Each partner brings distinct strengths to the summit. BFT offers its reach as what it describes as Bahrain’s most-followed digital business platform, along with a focus on making financial information more accessible and understandable. Andra PR contributes its experience and network across Bahrain’s fintech and financial services ecosystem.

Fatema, CEO and founder of Andra PR, said,

“Andra PR was founded after recognising a clear gap in the market for communications expertise dedicated to Bahrain’s growing fintech and financial services sector. Since then, we have grown alongside that ecosystem and seen first-hand how quickly it continues to evolve. BRIS 2027 is a natural extension of that journey, creating a platform that brings the industry and its investors closer together and supports more informed participation in the market.”

The programme will feature keynote presentations, expert panels, debates and fireside conversations. Dedicated exhibition areas will host banks, fintechs, investment platforms, family offices and digital-asset providers, and industry experts will have a space to share their expertise and showcase relevant solutions while helping investors understand the options and opportunities open to them.

Through the summit, BFT and Andra PR aim to support greater financial literacy and investor confidence, while reinforcing the Kingdom’s position as a regional hub for financial innovation and inclusion, and for the next generation of retail investment.

BFT is a Bahrain-based financial media platform registered with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Kingdom of Bahrain. It publishes financial news, market updates, interviews, and educational content, and describes its mission as making financial information more accessible and understandable so that individuals can become more financially aware and confident in their investment decisions.

Established in 2019, Andra PR has built extensive experience across Bahrain’s fintech and financial services ecosystem, working with financial institutions, fintech companies, government entities, industry platforms, and other key stakeholders. Through BRIS 2027, it brings its industry knowledge and network, along with strategic communications expertise, to the summit’s objective of connecting retail investors with financial expertise and investment opportunities, alongside practical knowledge.

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Corporate clothing has changed significantly in recent years. Companies are moving away from traditional uniforms and generic promotional products in favor of apparel that employees can actually wear in their everyday lives.

One of the most versatile options is the bomber jacket. Originally associated with military and streetwear culture, the bomber has become a popular fashion item that can easily be adapted to corporate branding. Today, companies use branded outerwear for employees, events, conferences, promotional campaigns, and travel.

Why Companies Choose Bomber Jackets

A corporate jacket needs to meet several requirements at the same time. It should look professional, provide practical protection from changing weather, and be comfortable enough for regular use.

The bomber jacket meets these requirements particularly well. Its recognizable silhouette works with both casual and smart-casual outfits, while its relatively simple construction provides plenty of opportunities for branding.

Unlike a T-shirt that may only be appropriate during warm weather, a jacket can become a more noticeable part of an employee’s wardrobe during much of the year. This makes it a practical choice for companies that want their branded apparel to have a longer useful life.

That extended lifespan carries a measurable upside beyond marketing. According to research from WRAP, a UK-based nonprofit focused on sustainable resource use, extending a garment’s active life by just nine months can cut its carbon, water, and waste footprint by 20–30%. A jacket that gets worn across most of the year, rather than sitting unused for months like a seasonal T-shirt, therefore delivers more brand exposure per garment while also aligning with the durability and lower-waste expectations many companies now build into their procurement decisions.

A Better Alternative to Traditional Promotional Clothing

Corporate merchandise has traditionally included T-shirts, caps, tote bags, and other inexpensive promotional products. These items can still be useful, but companies are increasingly paying more attention to quality and design.

A well-made jacket has a different perceived value. Employees are more likely to wear it outside the workplace if the design looks like a regular fashion item rather than an advertising product.

This is particularly important for businesses that want their corporate identity to appear naturally in public spaces. When employees wear branded outerwear while commuting, traveling, attending events, or meeting clients, the company gains additional visibility without relying on conventional advertising.

Customization Makes the Difference

The main advantage of corporate outerwear is the ability to adapt the design to a company’s visual identity.

Depending on the desired result, a brand can use embroidery, printing, patches, labels, contrasting details, or other branding techniques. The placement and size of the logo can also be adjusted to create a more subtle or more recognizable appearance.

For businesses considering personalized outerwear, custom bomber jackets offer a combination of contemporary style and space for corporate branding.

The best designs usually avoid excessive branding. A carefully positioned logo, company colors, or a distinctive graphic can be enough to connect the garment with the brand while keeping it attractive as everyday clothing.

This preference for subtlety is backed by research on visual attention. A peer-reviewed eye-tracking study on brand placement found that the length of a viewer’s visual fixation on a logo correlates directly with spontaneous brand recall, meaning a jacket does not need an oversized logo to be remembered — it needs placement that naturally draws the eye. This helps explain why smaller, well-positioned branding on a chest panel or sleeve often outperforms large, dominant prints in real-world recognition.

Corporate Jackets for Events and Conferences

Business events are one of the most practical situations for branded outerwear.

At conferences, exhibitions, festivals, and corporate gatherings, employees often need to be easily recognizable. Matching jackets can create a unified appearance without requiring a formal uniform.

They can also help visitors quickly identify representatives of a company in a crowded exhibition hall. This can make communication easier and contribute to a more organized presentation of the brand.

After the event, employees can continue wearing the jackets, extending the visibility of the company beyond the original occasion.

Travel-Friendly Corporate Apparel

Modern business often involves travel. Employees may visit clients, attend international exhibitions, participate in conferences, or work from different locations.

This creates a demand for corporate clothing that is practical outside the office.

A bomber jacket can work particularly well in this environment because it can be combined with different types of clothing. It can be worn with jeans and sneakers during a journey or paired with more formal pieces when arriving at a business meeting.

For companies with traveling teams, branded outerwear can therefore serve two purposes: it provides a consistent corporate appearance and remains useful as part of an employee’s personal wardrobe.

Corporate Fashion and Employee Comfort

Employees are more likely to use corporate clothing when it fits naturally into their lifestyle.

This is one of the reasons modern companies are paying more attention to materials, sizing, construction, and overall design. A garment should not feel like something employees are required to wear only for a company event.

Comfort is especially important for outerwear. Employees may spend several hours wearing a jacket while commuting, traveling, working outdoors, or attending events. Breathable materials, practical pockets, comfortable construction, and an appropriate fit can significantly affect how often the garment is used.

A useful piece of clothing has a much greater chance of becoming a long-term part of an employee’s wardrobe.

HR research supports this link between comfort, choice, and adoption. The Society for Human Resource Management notes that dress codes aligned with company culture, rather than imposed as rigid rules, tend to improve employee buy-in, and that even the perception of choice within a dress code can lift individual and team morale. A comfortable, fashion-forward jacket that employees genuinely want to wear works with this dynamic instead of against it.

Social Media Adds Another Layer of Visibility

Corporate clothing can also become part of a company’s social media presence.

Team photographs, behind-the-scenes content, event videos, product launches, and travel posts often feature employees naturally. Consistent branded apparel can make these images more recognizable and visually connected to the company.

This is particularly valuable for businesses that regularly create social media content. Instead of treating corporate clothing as a separate marketing activity, companies can incorporate it into their broader visual communication strategy.

A recognizable jacket may appear in dozens of photographs and videos over time, giving a branded item a much longer lifespan than a single advertising campaign.

Choosing the Right Corporate Outerwear

Before ordering branded jackets, companies should consider several factors.

The first is the intended use. Jackets for outdoor teams may require different materials and construction than apparel designed primarily for conferences or office employees.

The second is the company’s visual identity. Colors, logos, typography, and branding techniques should work together rather than compete for attention.

The third is versatility. A jacket that can be worn with different outfits and in different situations is more likely to be used regularly.

Finally, companies should pay attention to production quality. Corporate apparel represents the organization itself, so poor stitching, uncomfortable materials, or low-quality branding can have the opposite effect from what was intended.

Why Corporate Apparel Is Becoming More Fashionable

The evolution of corporate clothing reflects a broader change in the workplace. Employees increasingly expect flexibility, comfort, and opportunities to express their personal style.

As a result, successful corporate apparel is beginning to look less like a traditional uniform and more like contemporary fashion.

The shift is well documented at the national level. Gallup’s most recent workplace attire survey found that only 3% of U.S. workers now wear a suit to work most days, down from 7% in 2019, while 41% describe their typical attire as business casual. That steady move away from formal dress codes is exactly the environment in which a well-designed bomber jacket thrives, since it reads as considered and current rather than corporate.

Bomber jackets fit particularly well into this transition. They are recognizable, adaptable, practical, and suitable for a wide range of industries. With thoughtful customization, the same basic garment can become part of the visual identity of a technology company, media organization, sports team, travel business, or creative agency.

For companies investing in branded clothing, the goal is ultimately simple: create apparel that represents the brand while giving employees something they genuinely want to wear.

That is what turns corporate clothing from a promotional expense into a practical part of a company’s identity.

The post How Corporate Bomber Jackets Became a Modern Business Essential appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Blockchain investing has become more complicated than comparing token charts. Major networks now compete for developers, users, liquidity, applications, and institutional attention, while technological differences between them can influence everything from transaction costs to the types of products developers are able to build.

This makes network-level analysis increasingly useful for investors. A token can perform well during a favorable market cycle even when activity on its underlying network remains weak. The opposite can also happen: developers and users may continue building through a period of poor market sentiment. Looking at both sides helps create a more complete picture.

Solana is a useful example. Anyone checking the Solana price today is seeing only one variable in a much larger system. Price reflects what buyers and sellers are willing to pay at a particular moment, while network activity, developer participation, liquidity, and reliability provide additional information about what is happening underneath.

Transaction Activity Needs Context

Transaction numbers are among the most frequently cited blockchain metrics, but raw totals can be misleading.

Networks are designed differently. Some support large numbers of inexpensive transactions, while others prioritize different technical trade-offs. Automated trading systems, decentralized applications, and other software can also generate substantial transaction activity without representing the same type of demand as individual users.

Solana shows how large the gap can be. Validators record their votes on blocks through transactions of their own, so the headline count mixes consensus messages with genuine user activity. A recent research paper that separated Solana’s monthly transactions into vote and non-vote categories, covering January 2024 through March 2026, found that vote transactions averaged 71.5% of the total. Read at face value, a raw figure can overstate how much of the traffic comes from people and applications, so non-vote transactions are the fairer basis for comparing networks.

A more useful approach is to combine several indicators. Investors can examine active addresses, decentralized exchange activity, stablecoin transfers, fees generated by users, and the number of applications attracting repeat activity.

Trends matter as well. A short burst of activity can come from a single popular app and disappear just as quickly. What is usually more telling is whether people keep using the network when market conditions change.

This is particularly relevant for high-throughput networks. Their technical advantage has greater economic significance when people are actually using that capacity.

Transaction Costs Affect What Developers Can Build

Fees are not just a technical detail. They influence which applications are practical.

Solana’s official documentation currently describes a base transaction fee of 5,000 lamports per signature, with an optional prioritization fee that users can add when competing for transaction processing. This structure matters because applications involving frequent interactions become much harder to operate when each action carries a substantial cost.

Consider a consumer application in which users make dozens of small transactions. A network may function perfectly well for large-value transfers while being economically unsuitable for that type of product if transaction costs are too high.

Lower fees do not automatically make a blockchain superior. Security, decentralization, reliability, and developer tooling all matter. But cost helps determine which business models can realistically exist on the network.

How fees are distributed matters too. The same documentation states that half of each base fee is burned, with the other half going to the validator that processed the transaction, while any prioritization fee goes entirely to the validator. Fees are charged whether a transaction succeeds or fails. Usage therefore feeds into validator revenue and token supply at once, and because failed transactions still pay fees, a busy network is not always a healthy one.

For investors, that means the fee structure should be considered alongside usage rather than treated as an isolated technical specification.

Developer Activity Offers Another Perspective

Developers are important because they create the products that eventually give users reasons to interact with a blockchain.

Electric Capital’s 2024 Developer Report analyzed hundreds of millions of code commits across the crypto ecosystem. The report found that 39,148 new developers explored crypto during 2024 and that roughly one in three crypto developers was working across multiple chains.

Solana was particularly notable in that report. Electric Capital identified it as the leading ecosystem for new developers in 2024, with new-developer activity growing 83% year over year.

Those figures should not be interpreted as a prediction of token performance. Developer numbers can change, and software activity does not translate automatically into investment returns.

They do, however, provide useful evidence about where builders were spending their time during that period.

Investors can supplement developer counts by looking at what is actually being built. A network with many experimental projects but few durable applications presents a different investment case from one supporting products that continue attracting users after incentives disappear.

Reliability Deserves More Attention

Performance claims are easy to compare on paper. Reliability is harder to evaluate.

A network designed for high throughput needs to remain functional when demand increases sharply. Outages, congestion, software bugs, and infrastructure dependencies can quickly affect confidence, particularly when applications handle financial transactions.

Investors should therefore examine a network’s operational history rather than relying only on advertised transaction capacity.

Past incidents can reveal a lot about a network. Investors can look at whether recurring problems have actually been fixed, how quickly developers reacted when something went wrong, and whether recent upgrades have made the system more resilient. It is also worth checking whether the network is becoming less dependent on a small group of infrastructure providers.

These questions become increasingly important as blockchain networks move beyond experimentation.

Solana’s own record shows why that history deserves a close read. Helius counted seven separate outage incidents in the network’s first five years, five of them caused by client bugs and two by an inability to cope with floods of spam transactions. Its analysis adds that early versions of the network lacked congestion controls such as priority fees and local fee markets, which later proved essential. The distinction is useful for investors, because some failures trace back to gaps that were later closed while others point to structural dependencies, such as reliance on a single validator client. That is why work on independent validator clients is often framed as a resilience measure as much as a speed upgrade.

User Experience Can Become a Competitive Advantage

Blockchain networks ultimately compete for people, not just technical benchmarks.

Most mainstream users do not want to think about validators, block production or network architecture every time they use an application. They expect an experience closer to conventional digital products: clear interfaces, predictable costs and transactions that complete without requiring specialist knowledge.

That puts pressure on developers to hide unnecessary complexity.

Wallet design, transaction confirmation, account recovery and application onboarding can therefore affect adoption just as much as theoretical network performance.

A chain can be technically impressive and still lose mainstream users if everyday tasks, like sending funds or recovering an account, are hard to figure out. Conversely, improvements in user experience can make existing infrastructure considerably more useful without requiring a dramatic technical breakthrough.

For investors, this means that evaluating the application layer can be just as important as studying the underlying protocol.

Network Effects Matter More as the Market Matures

Blockchain ecosystems do not develop in isolation.

Developers choose between several networks. Users can move capital between them. Applications can increasingly deploy across multiple chains. The market is also becoming less divided into isolated ecosystems. Electric Capital reported that roughly one-third of crypto developers were active on more than one blockchain in 2024, so their attention is no longer tied to a single network the way it used to be.

That leaves less room for any one network to coast on its lead.

A network may have a technical advantage today, but that advantage becomes less valuable if developers and users can easily access similar functionality elsewhere. Strong ecosystems therefore need more than raw performance. They need liquidity, developer tools, applications, users, and enough trust to keep those groups participating.

At the same time, multi-chain development means investors should be cautious about treating ecosystem growth as a winner-takes-all competition. Different networks may become important for different types of applications.

Access for institutional capital is another variable. In September 2025, the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved generic listing standards for commodity-based trust shares, which let exchanges list products that hold spot digital assets without filing a separate rule change for each one. Bitwise’s spot Solana ETF debuted in the US in late October 2025. A regulated wrapper widens the pool of capital that can reach a network and may support liquidity, but it does nothing about the technical and competitive risks covered above. Fund flows are best treated as one more input, not a verdict on network quality.

Conclusion

High-performance blockchains are better understood as evolving technology ecosystems than as ticker symbols alone. Price matters to investors, but so do developer activity, transaction economics, liquidity, reliability, user experience, and the quality of applications built on the network.

Solana illustrates why this broader framework is useful. Its performance characteristics and developer ecosystem have attracted considerable attention, but those strengths still need to be evaluated alongside technical risks, competition, and valuation.

Price will keep moving with sentiment. The networks worth studying are the ones where developers, users, and liquidity are still there when the mood turns.

The post What Investors Should Look for in High-Performance Blockchain Networks appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Ever stood in a massive crowd, totally clueless about what’s going on, and then you spot someone wearing the same T-shirt as you? It’s funny how that changes things. Suddenly, you aren’t just a random face standing next to other random faces anymore. You feel like you are part of a team.

That is exactly what goes down at fundraisers. People turn up as complete strangers, but end up leaving feeling totally connected, and that’s mostly because of a simple shirt. There’s real psychology behind this — researchers studying Social Identity Theory have found that shared clothing helps people define themselves through group membership, shifting focus away from individual differences and toward a collective sense of “we.” Choosing the best charity T-shirts can do more for your event than you may realize.

Choose the Right Cotton T-Shirt

Soft fabric makes a huge difference when you host a long walk or run. You want your supporters to feel happy and comfortable all day, especially if they’re on their feet for hours under the sun or moving through a crowded route. Many organizers rely on The Charity Clothing Company to find soft, high-quality tops that last a long time and hold their shape wash after wash.

Selecting the best charity T-shirts gives your hardworking volunteers a reward they love. Furthermore, good clothing keeps your helpers smiling from start to finish, which is something every organizer wants. Comfortable apparel also means fewer complaints and more energy left over for the cause itself — happy volunteers tend to stay longer and come back for the next event too.

Build a Strong Charity Message

Clear printing catches attention quickly, even on a busy street. You should pick a bold phrase that explains your goal in just a few words. People need to read your mission while walking past your group, often from a distance and only for a second or two.

Buying the best charity T-shirts helps you print bright letters that everyone notices easily. A short, powerful slogan helps your group turn curious passersby into active, helpful supporters. According to the 2026 ASI Global Advertising Impressions Study, a typical branded item generates thousands of brand views over its lifetime, and 85% of people remember who gave it to them — proof that a well-printed shirt keeps working for your cause long after it leaves the event.

Create a United Event Look

There’s something about a crowd in matching shirts. It appears neater in photographs, and more importantly, does something less obvious. It makes people feel like part of a group, not just a bystander at someone else’s event.

When everyone’s wearing the best charity T-shirts in the same color and design, volunteers are easy to spot, and guests feel more connected. Pick one main colour tied to your cause, then let small touches, for example, a sleeve trim or a well-placed logo, tie the whole look together without overdoing it. This visual unity also gives your event a professional, organized feel that reassures first-time attendees that they’ve come to the right place.

Use T-Shirts to Boost Event Spirit

A T-shirt isn’t just fabric covering a body. It carries energy, whether people notice it or not. So, here’s a quick look at what actually makes the best charity T-shirts work once the event is underway.

• Keep the design simple: People need to read it fast, sometimes from across a busy room, or through a crowd outdoors, where they can’t study it up close. That is what makes the best charity T-shirts easy to notice and remember.
• Match the charity colors: It’s a small detail, but it instantly ties your shirts to your cause and makes for better photos.
• Add a clear message: Say why the event matters, and skip the extra words nobody’s going to read anyway.
• Make the shirt comfortable: If it feels good, people will wear it again, and your cause stays visible well past the event itself.

Turn Event T-Shirts Into Lasting Keepsakes

When your event ends, it doesn’t mean your message should end there, too. Your message should live on for many years. People love keeping the best charity T-shirts and wearing them in the future, which will always remind them of your cause. That same ASI research found that a large share of people hold onto branded apparel for well over a year simply because it’s useful and comfortable — which means a good T-shirt keeps your cause visible on grocery runs, at the gym, and everywhere in between.

This kind of lasting visibility matters more than ever. Data from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, run by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, shows that overall donor retention across the nonprofit sector sits at roughly 43%, meaning more than half of donors don’t return the following year. A memorable keepsake that keeps your cause in someone’s closet — and on their mind — is a small, low-cost way to nudge that number in your favor.

Each outing brings free attention to your cause. High-quality shirts keep your special day alive in your community’s mind.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, picking the best charity T-shirts isn’t just about merchandise. It’s about giving people something to hold onto after the event ends, and, as the research shows, something that keeps working for your cause quietly for months or years afterward. Get the design, color, and message right, and the shirt keeps speaking for your cause long after everyone has gone home.

The post From Cotton T-Shirts to Community Statements: Charity Event Wear Ideas appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Ever wanted to hang onto a video you posted, just in case? A TikTok downloader lets you do exactly that — pull a copy of your own published clip straight onto your device. Say you’re building out a travel series, or just want your old posts backed up somewhere safer than the app itself. Most browser-based tools handle this with nothing more than the post’s link. No app to install, no account to sign up for — you paste the link, and that’s basically it.

Start by choosing the posts you want to keep. You might organize a travel series, collect progress videos from a personal project, or save older clips before changing how you manage your account. Check that each post is still accessible before attempting to download it. Accounts get renamed, privacy settings change, and posts are occasionally taken down, so it helps to work through your list while everything is still live rather than after the fact.

It is also worth thinking about why you are keeping the copy in the first place. A backup for personal memory keeping has different requirements than a backup meant to support a portfolio or a client review. If the video documents work you plan to reuse, note that separately, since a downloaded file on its own will not carry that context forward.

How to use a TikTok downloader for your posts

Open your published video on TikTok, then paste the link into a browser-based TikTok download tool to save an available file. The general process follows three steps:

• Copy the video link from the post’s sharing options.
• Paste the link into the tool’s input field and submit it for processing.
• Select an available download option, then open the saved file to check its contents.

You can follow this browser workflow on a computer, phone, or tablet, although file-saving behavior varies by device and browser. Some mobile browsers route downloads into a temporary folder before you confirm where the file should live, and some desktop browsers ask each time. If you cannot locate the video afterward, check your browser’s downloads list and the destination folder shown there. It is a good habit to move the file into its permanent folder immediately after downloading, rather than leaving it in a default downloads directory where it can get buried under unrelated files.

What the downloaded copy contains

A downloaded video is useful for watching the published clip locally. It will not, however, carry over everything that made the post meaningful in context. Keep separate notes for anything outside the video that matters to your collection, such as the caption, publication date, engagement figures at the time, or the story behind the recording. TikTok’s own captions and on-screen text are baked into the video file, but metadata like the original post date and account handle typically are not, so writing those down as you go saves guesswork later.

For example, if you documented a room renovation over several weeks, label each clip with its stage and date. Those details make the collection easier to understand later, especially when several videos show similar scenes, and you are trying to tell which week is which month after the fact. This kind of light annotation is a basic principle in personal digital preservation more broadly: archivists who study how individuals manage their own digital collections consistently point out that files without context lose most of their value over time, even when the files themselves remain intact, as the Library of Congress’s personal archiving program explains in its guidance for non-specialists.

Available formats and watermark-free versions

Most browser-based TikTok tools provide MP4 video downloads when available from the source. HD quality is also conditional on the source video; if the original upload was compressed or recorded at a lower resolution, the download will reflect that. A download does not increase the resolution or restore detail missing from the published recording, no matter what quality option you select.

For watermark-free downloads, these tools generally provide a direct link to an available watermark-free version of the file from TikTok’s own servers. They do not edit or erase a watermark from an existing file after the fact — the watermark-free version either exists on TikTok’s side or it does not. Check the options offered for each post rather than assuming every video will have the same version available, since availability can vary by post, account type, and how the video was originally uploaded.

Keeping your TikTok Stories

Many of these tools also support TikTok Story downloads. If you use Stories to share updates from a trip or an ongoing project, check that the Story is still accessible and use its link where available. Stories are designed to expire, which is precisely why they are easy to lose track of if you are not deliberate about saving the ones that matter.

Do not wait until content disappears to check whether you have a copy. A deleted post or a change in account access can leave its link unusable, and there is no way to retrieve a link once the underlying post is gone. Downloading should not be treated as a recovery method for content that is already unavailable — it only works while the source post is still live. This distinction between backup and recovery comes up often in research on personal archiving: a 2007 study on evaluating personal archiving strategies for internet-based information found that people routinely underestimate how quickly access to their own online content can disappear, often assuming platforms will preserve it indefinitely when that is rarely guaranteed.

Organizing a personal video collection

Use descriptive filenames and group related clips into folders. A name such as “garden-progress-june” makes a file easier to recognize than a generic download name like a string of numbers. Add sequence numbers when the videos belong in a particular order, so the folder sorts correctly without you having to check dates on each file individually.

After saving, check the beginning and end of each video, listen to the audio, and confirm that the file plays locally before you consider the download finished. Keep your original recordings and editing projects too: they may contain footage or editable elements — extra takes, alternate cuts, raw audio — that a published copy does not preserve. Penn State University Libraries’ guide to personal digital archiving recommends focusing preservation efforts on the files that would genuinely be missed, rather than trying to save everything at once, which is a useful filter when you are deciding which raw project files are worth the storage space.

Once the collection is organized, keep a second copy in another storage location. This gives you another place to retrieve your videos if a device is lost or a file is accidentally deleted. George Washington University’s guidance on personal digital preservation makes the same point from the other direction: most personal data loss comes down to ordinary human error — an accidental deletion, a failed drive, a forgotten password to an old account — rather than anything dramatic, which is exactly the kind of risk a second copy in a separate location protects against.

The post How to Keep a Local Copy of Your TikTok Videos Before They’re Gone appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Nobody is pitching Web3 at dinner parties anymore. The term itself has aged out of the vocabulary that founders reach for when they want to sound current, replaced almost entirely by whatever the latest AI agent framework happens to be called that week. And yet, away from the panels and the headline cycle, a narrower and less flashy version of the Web3 thesis is finding real money again — not tokens, not NFTs, but the unglamorous plumbing underneath them.

That is the argument Varun Datta, CEO of the London-based global Web3 venture capital firm Truth Ventures, laid out recently in an op-ed for London Loves Business. Datta’s case is deliberately unfashionable: Web3 was never really about speculation, he argues; it was about infrastructure that took a decade to mature enough for anyone outside crypto Twitter to take seriously. The businesses he backs — Bittensor, StarkNet, peaq, Ternoa, 1inch — do not chase narratives. They solve scaling, coordination, and liquidity problems that decentralised systems have carried since the Ethereum ICO era.

What makes the timing interesting is that Datta is not alone, and he is not describing a niche. Galaxy Research data cited by Waveup puts 2025 crypto and blockchain venture investment above $20 billion across roughly 1,660 deals — more than double 2023’s total, and the strongest year since the 2022 peak. The composition of that money has changed just as much as its size. The bulk of it went to later-stage rounds, the largest late-stage share the sector has recorded, while pre-seed held at roughly a quarter of the deal count. Investors are not funding whitepapers. They are funding companies with usage numbers to defend.

The institutions showed up quietly, then all at once

Datta’s stronger point is not about crypto-native funds at all — it is about who else has started paying attention. He traces a shift among traditional finance players from merely holding digital assets to actually engaging with the infrastructure beneath them. The Economist has written publicly about the efficiencies tokenisation could unlock in settlement systems. BNP Paribas has explored public blockchain rails for money market fund tokenisation. And Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, has confirmed talks with Hyperliquid — with ICE’s own CEO reportedly describing the decentralised trading platform as bigger than Nasdaq.

“I genuinely feel there has been a real change in sentiment, interest and imminent investment,” Datta writes, describing the shift among institutions once confined to volatility warnings and regulatory caution.

That framing matters for how this story gets told next. For years, Web3 coverage defaulted to a binary — either the technology was a bubble, or it was inevitable. Datta’s argument, and the capital flows behind it, suggest something less dramatic and more durable: infrastructure businesses building unglamorous, necessary layers — coordination, execution, privacy, liquidity — while speculative attention moved elsewhere. It is the same pattern the early internet went through, when the companies that mattered most in hindsight were rarely the ones consumers interacted with directly. PayPal and Stripe built payment rails. AWS built cloud infrastructure. Nobody was writing hot takes about either at the time.

India’s problem isn’t talent. It’s the tax code

Set this global re-rating against India, and the contrast gets uncomfortable fast. The country has one of the largest developer populations working on blockchain tooling anywhere, and by industry estimates cited by MEXC’s 2026 market guide, more than 150 million Indians hold or have held crypto assets — reportedly the largest user base of any country. None of that has translated into India becoming a serious base for Web3 infrastructure capital, and the policy explains why.

The Union Budget for 2026–27 confirmed, once again, that the 30% flat tax on crypto gains and the 1% TDS on transactions will remain untouched, alongside tighter penalties for reporting failures. Industry bodies like the Bharat Web3 Association have argued the framework pushes trading activity and, increasingly, company registration offshore. The government’s counter-argument is fiscal discipline and consumer protection, and it is not wrong on either count — but the effect on infrastructure founders, who need liquid token markets and predictable compliance far more than retail traders do, has been to make India a place to build from rather than a place to base a company.

There is a second, quieter track running alongside the punitive one. MeitY’s Blockchain India Challenge, launched this year, is actively funding startups building blockchain tooling for governance and public-sector use — tamper-proof land records, supply chain verification, that kind of infrastructure. It is a genuine signal that the state distinguishes between “crypto as speculation” and “blockchain as infrastructure,” which is precisely the distinction Datta’s op-ed is trying to draw for a global VC audience. India has simply drawn that line inside government procurement rather than private capital markets, which limits how much of the current infrastructure investment cycle the country can actually capture.

The Gulf built the opposite trade

MENA, and the UAE specifically, has spent the same three years doing the reverse: trading regulatory ambiguity for regulatory density, on the bet that clarity itself is the product institutional infrastructure capital is shopping for. Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority has spent 2026 tightening rather than loosening its rulebook, fully implementing Travel Rule requirements for licensed virtual asset service providers as of February. Abu Dhabi Global Market, running under the common-law framework familiar to institutional lawyers in London and New York, has become the preferred venue for custody and tokenisation businesses that need a jurisdiction with case law rather than experimental policy.

The volume of activity is no longer boutique. The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre alone has crossed 2,500 registered blockchain and crypto entities, and custody bank BNY has partnered with Finstreet and the ADI Foundation to bring bitcoin and ether custody infrastructure into ADGM — the kind of institutional plumbing that only gets built where the regulator has already answered the questions a compliance officer would ask first. None of this reads as speculative enthusiasm. It reads as a jurisdiction methodically building exactly the infrastructure layer Datta’s thesis says the next cycle of Web3 value will accrue to.

The gap that matters is regulatory, not technological

Strip away the geography and Datta’s underlying question is a useful filter for any infrastructure bet, Web3 or otherwise: does the technology solve a problem that persists regardless of market conditions, and would users keep relying on it if speculative interest disappeared tomorrow? Bittensor’s wager on decentralised compute coordination, StarkNet’s bet on execution speed, peaq’s push into machine-owned digital identity — none of these depend on a bull market to matter. They depend on enough builders choosing to build there.

Where those builders choose to base themselves is now visibly a function of policy, not proximity to talent. India has the engineers. It does not yet have the tax and compliance environment that lets an infrastructure company incorporate, raise, and pay contributors in tokens without a 30% penalty attached to nearly every step. The Gulf has built that environment deliberately and is now absorbing capital and company formation that could just as easily have gone to Bengaluru or Gurugram. If Web3 infrastructure really is entering the phase Datta describes — quieter, more institutional, less dependent on headlines — then the jurisdictions that win this decade will be the ones that decided early which side of the “speculation versus infrastructure” line they wanted to regulate for. India has made that distinction inside government contracts. The Gulf has made it inside its entire regulatory architecture. That difference, more than any single funding round, is what will decide where the next Bittensor gets built.

The post Web3 Infrastructure Is Quietly Rebuilding While India Hesitates appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Cradlewise has raised $12 million in a Series A led by 3one4 Capital and Prudent Investment Management, bringing total funding to $26 million alongside earlier backers Sean O’Sullivan Ventures, Footwork VC, and Charles River Ventures. The company’s previous round, a $7 million raise, closed in November 2021 — nearly five years before this one.

Radhika Patil and Bharath Patil, a husband-and-wife team with master’s degrees in electronics from the Indian Institute of Science, founded the company in 2019. Radhika, chief executive, previously worked on power management systems for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors; both have engineering backgrounds spanning Qualcomm and Texas Instruments. Their product is a convertible smart crib: sensors track a baby’s movement, sound, and sleep state, and the system predicts an impending wake-up and begins rocking pre-emptively to resettle the child before they fully wake. A contactless, night-vision monitor is built in, removing the need for a separate camera. The crib converts from a bassinet to a full crib and is designed to last until a child is about two, retails at roughly $1,799, and won a TIME Best Inventions award in 2020. Cradlewise says its prediction models are trained on more than 75 million hours of sleep data and that the product saves parents up to two hours of effort a day.

Where most smart sleep hardware simply responds to crying, Cradlewise is trying to intervene before a baby is fully awake — a harder sensing problem, and the reason the company’s training-data claim matters more than it might elsewhere. The convertibility is the sharper commercial argument, though. Rival Happiest Baby’s SNOO is a bassinet covering roughly the first six months, after which families buy a separate crib. Cradlewise, at a comparable $1,799 against SNOO’s $1,695, covers around two years on a single purchase — a useful life four times longer for a near-identical price, in a category where the standing objection is that this is a lot of money for nursery furniture.

Also read: Mokobara Raises ₹170 Crore, but Filings Show Just ₹91 Crore of New Shares

Manufacturing runs out of an integrated facility in Pune capable of producing, testing and packing thousands of cribs a month, with the company operating from California and Bengaluru and selling almost entirely into the United States since 2021. Owning that line, rather than contracting to China as most consumer hardware companies do at this scale, gives Cradlewise the ability to iterate on the product without renegotiating with a factory — a capability that takes years to build and that a Series A alone could not buy.

It also leaves the company exposed on two fronts the funding announcement does not address. SNOO holds FDA authorisation as a medical device for keeping infants safely positioned during sleep; Cradlewise has no equivalent clearance, which matters in a category where the underlying buyer anxiety is safety rather than convenience. And a Pune-manufactured, America-sold $1,799 device has limited room to absorb import duty before either margin or price has to move — an arrangement that made sense when Indian goods entered the US cheaply, and carries different risk now. Neither issue is named among the round’s four stated uses: growth, channel expansion, product research and geographic expansion.

The nearly five-year gap since Cradlewise’s last raise, and the Series A label attached to a round that follows $14 million already invested, suggests the company grew carefully through a market that stayed closed to it for a long stretch — a modest total of $26 million for a seven-year-old hardware company selling a premium product in America.

The post Cradlewise Raises $12M for a Smart Crib Made in Pune, Sold in America appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Bengaluru-based Mokobara has raised ₹170 crore, about $18 million, in a Series C round led by Sauce.vc, with Peak XV Partners, AYRA Ventures, Niveshaay Investment, and existing backers taking part. The company has issued no formal statement, and the regulatory paper trail tells a smaller story than the headline number.

The board has approved 1,300 Series C compulsorily convertible preference shares at ₹6.2 lakh apiece — ₹80 crore — plus a further 199 shares at ₹5.4 lakh each, adding ₹10.7 crore. That totals ₹90.66 crore of new issuance against a ₹170 crore round. Sauce.vc vice president Karan Kathpalia has separately said the firm alone put in ₹109 crore, a figure that on its own exceeds the entire approved allotment. The gap points to secondary activity: existing shareholders selling stock to Sauce.vc and other investors rather than the company issuing new shares against all of the headline sum. If that reading holds, Mokobara receives roughly ₹91 crore in the business, and early backers cash out close to ₹79 crore at a valuation nearly three times higher than their entry price — a good outcome for everyone involved, just a different transaction than the one being announced.

Reported figures put the post-money valuation at around ₹1,930 crore, roughly $203 million, up from ₹700 crore at the Series B in February 2024. After allotment, Sauce.vc holds 20.48 percent, Peak XV 16.76 percent, and Saama Capital 13.65 percent. Co-founders Sangeet Agrawal and Navin Parwal hold 21.46 percent and 11.25 percent, respectively, together retaining close to a third of the company at Series C — a healthy position at this stage, though the gap between the two founders’ stakes is unusual and remains unexplained.

Agrawal and Parwal met while working at the furniture brand Urban Ladder, where they watched design turn a commodity category into one buyers would pay a premium for. They spent eighteen months building a first product and were turned down by 33 investors before Sauce.vc’s Manu Chandra wrote the opening cheque. Mokobara now sells luggage, backpacks, totes, slings, wallets and travel accessories online and through roughly 50 stores across Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, plus one in Dubai opened in February 2025.

The underlying business has grown fast enough to justify scrutiny rather than dismiss it. Operating revenue nearly doubled to ₹230.15 crore in FY25 from ₹117.44 crore, itself more than double the ₹53 crore booked the year before. Net loss widened to ₹10.18 crore from ₹4.24 crore — about 4.4 percent of revenue, a lean ratio for a D2C brand mid-expansion. Against FY25 revenue, the reported ₹1,930 crore valuation works out to roughly eight times sales, defensible for a company that has doubled revenue twice, though it also assumes FY26 continues the pattern, and FY26 numbers are not yet out.

Luggage carries structural advantages few Indian D2C categories share: high average order value, a limited SKU count, no expiry, and a considered purchase customers want to physically handle before buying — the wheels, the handle, the weight. A store selling ₹10,000 suitcases can cover its lease on modest footfall, unlike categories with thin tickets and shelf-space fees. The 50-store network is the part of Mokobara’s story still untested: fifty locations is the point at which a brand stops being capital-light, and store-level unit economics have not been disclosed.

The post Mokobara Raises ₹170 Crore, but Filings Show Just ₹91 Crore of New Shares appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Growth gets a lot of attention. Bigger revenue. Bigger teams. Bigger office. Bigger customer numbers. But none of those things automatically make a business stronger. Over the last few years, plenty of companies have learned this the hard way. Demand went up, sales looked great on paper, but operations couldn’t keep up. Deliveries slowed down. Customer support became overloaded. Costs climbed faster than revenue. That’s growth. Scaling is something different. It means building a business that can handle more customers without creating twice the amount of work every time sales increase. And honestly, that’s where the real competitive advantage usually comes from.

Growth Is Exciting, Scaling Is Sustainable

Adding customers isn’t the difficult part anymore. Keeping service levels consistent while those customers keep coming in — that’s where businesses either become stronger or start falling apart.

Growing often means hiring more people, renting more warehouse space, buying more inventory and increasing expenses across the board. Revenue increases, but so do operating costs. Scaling looks at the same problem from another angle. Instead of constantly adding resources, businesses improve the way work gets done. Better systems. Clearer processes. Smarter planning. A little automation where it actually makes sense.

The goal isn’t to work harder. It’s to stop creating unnecessary work in the first place.

The stakes here are backed by hard survival numbers. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data tracking business establishments over multiple decades shows that only about half of new businesses make it past their fifth year, and the ones that do typically survive because employment and operations grew in a controlled, structured way rather than in a sudden scramble to meet demand. Scaling, in other words, isn’t just a nice-to-have efficiency exercise — it’s closely tied to whether a business is still around in five years.

Systems Usually Beat Effort

One mistake growing companies make is depending too much on people fixing problems every day. That works for a while. Eventually someone takes leave, demand suddenly spikes, or a key employee resigns. Then everything starts slowing down because too much knowledge existed inside people’s heads instead of inside documented processes.

Businesses that scale well usually have a different mind-set. They create repeatable systems. That could mean:

• Automated order processing
• Inventory that’s updated in real time
• Clear approval workflows
• Standard operating procedures
• Dashboards instead of endless spreadsheets

Together, all of these things remove a surprising amount of daily friction.

Infrastructure Matters More Than People Think

Technology usually gets all the headlines. AI. Automation. Analytics. Those are important. But physical operations still matter just as much, especially for businesses that manufacture, distribute or ship products every day.

As order volumes increase, even small inefficiencies become expensive. A warehouse layout that worked perfectly six months ago suddenly creates delays. Packaging slows everything down. Products get damaged more often. Teams spend more time moving inventory than actually fulfilling orders.

That’s why growing businesses eventually start standardising the basics. Packaging methods become consistent. Storage systems become more organised. Equipment gets upgraded. For many logistics businesses, that also includes switching to durable handling equipment like plastic pallets, alongside reusable containers and better warehouse layouts that reduce unnecessary handling throughout the supply chain. Nobody builds an entire growth strategy around pallets. But lots of businesses quietly improve efficiency by fixing these smaller operational details.

The importance of these unglamorous fixes shows up at a national level too. The World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index benchmarks countries on exactly these factors — infrastructure quality, shipment reliability, and the efficiency of moving goods — and consistently finds that companies operating in lower-scoring markets face real cost and delay penalties regardless of how strong their sales numbers look. Warehouse layout and handling equipment aren’t side issues; they’re part of the same infrastructure question governments and economists take seriously at scale.

Technology Isn’t the Answer to Everything

There’s been plenty of discussion around artificial intelligence over the last year. It can absolutely improve operations. Predict demand. Automate repetitive work. Improve forecasting. Speed up reporting. But technology doesn’t magically solve broken processes.

If an inefficient workflow gets automated, it usually just becomes an inefficient workflow running faster. The companies getting the biggest value from AI are usually the ones that already have clean data, consistent processes and clear operational goals. Because in the end, technology works best when it’s supporting a good system instead of replacing one.

This gap between adoption and impact shows up in the data too. According to Stanford University’s AI Index Report, a large majority of organizations have already adopted AI in at least one business function, yet only a small fraction have managed to scale it into full production use. The technology itself isn’t usually the obstacle — the missing piece is almost always the underlying process it’s meant to support.

Scaling Starts with Asking Better Questions

Before expanding, smart businesses usually step back and ask a few practical questions.

• Can current systems handle twice the workload?
• Will customers still receive the same level of service?
• Can new employees become productive quickly?
• Will suppliers keep up if demand suddenly increases?
• Can inventory be tracked accurately from purchase to delivery?

These questions are often the difference between sustainable growth and expensive chaos.

Efficiency Has Become a Competitive Advantage

The business environment isn’t getting simpler. Supply chains remain unpredictable. Customer expectations continue rising. Every year, the competition picks up speed. Businesses that maintain their competitiveness aren’t always the biggest and powerful ones. But because their operations aren’t under continual strain, they are frequently the companies that react more quickly.

Strong systems make decisions quicker. Clear processes reduce mistakes. Reliable infrastructure creates consistency. That combination is much harder for competitors to copy than a marketing campaign or a new product launch.

Final Thoughts

Fast growth looks impressive. Scalable operations last longer. When demand rises, companies that make investments in improved workflows, robust infrastructure, intelligent technology, and repeatable procedures typically find themselves in a much stronger and better position.

Opportunities come with growth. Scaling makes sure the business is actually ready for it.

The post Growth vs. Scaling: Why Efficient Operations Beat Fast Expansion appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Start-ups don’t usually begin with a hiring strategy. They begin with urgency. Someone leaves, a new client comes in, funding lands, and suddenly another pair of hands is needed. A founder reaches out to a former colleague. An employee recommends a friend. A LinkedIn post goes live. A few conversations later, there’s a new hire. And honestly, that’s not a bad way to start.

When there are eight or ten people in the company, everyone knows what’s going on anyway. People jump between tasks, help each other out, and nobody is too worried about job titles. The trouble starts when the business keeps growing, but the hiring process doesn’t. It happens quietly. One day there are 15 people. Then 40. Then 80. Suddenly, the same approach that once helped the company move fast starts creating problems nobody planned for.

When Everyone Does Everything

Almost every startup goes through this phase. Marketing helps with sales. Sales jumps into customer support. Operations somehow ends up handling HR because there’s nobody else to do it. It actually feels exciting. People like wearing different hats because they’re building something together. But eventually those hats become a problem.

Two employees are doing almost identical work but have different titles. A new hire negotiates a higher salary than someone who’s been there for years. Managers have different expectations for the same position because nobody ever stopped to define what the role actually involves. None of this happens because anyone made a bad decision. It happens because the company grew faster than its internal structure.

This kind of drift carries more than an internal fairness problem. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission makes clear that pay equity is assessed by what a job actually involves, not by the title attached to it — meaning inconsistent titles and undefined roles can turn into real legal exposure once a company is large enough to be scrutinised, not just an awkward internal conversation.

Hiring Gets Harder Than It Looks

Growing a team isn’t just about filling empty seats. The bigger challenge is hiring the right person for the stage the company is in. Early on, generalists are incredibly valuable. They’re comfortable figuring things out as they go and don’t mind stepping outside their job description. Later, that’s not always enough. A company that wants to scale its marketing probably needs someone who understands performance marketing inside out. The finance team needs people who can handle forecasting and compliance. Sales starts looking for specialists instead of people who simply “know how to sell.” Those are very different conversations from the ones founders were having a year earlier.

Founders Eventually Become the Bottleneck

This catches almost every growing company. The founders are still reading every CV. They’re still sitting in every final interview. They’re still approving every offer. It feels like quality control. In reality, it slows everything down.

Good candidates don’t wait forever. If another company makes a decision first, they’re gone. Meanwhile, department heads are left waiting because nobody wants to make a hiring decision without founder approval. At some point, the business has to trust its managers to hire well. That only works if everyone is hiring against the same standards instead of personal opinions.

The cost of that hesitation is measurable. The Society for Human Resource Management has found that it takes companies over a month on average to fill an open role, and every extra day a founder sits on an approval adds to that timeline. When hiring decisions bottleneck at the top, the delay isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s added directly to the cost of every open seat.

Growth Needs More Than Good Instincts

Instinct is great. It’s one of the reasons start-ups move so quickly in the first place. But instinct becomes harder to scale. A team of ten can rely on conversations. A team of one hundred can’t. People want to know what’s expected from their role. Managers want a clear way to measure performance. Employees want promotions to feel fair instead of random. That’s usually when businesses begin putting more structure around their people processes. Many introduce frameworks like job evaluation to make sure responsibilities are clearly defined, and similar roles are treated consistently as the organisation grows.

It’s not about adding unnecessary rules. It’s about removing uncertainty.

Also read: Why Choosing Global HR Services is Crucial for International Success

The Boring Stuff Starts Becoming Important

Nobody launches a start-up dreaming about payroll software or HR systems. Founders think about customers, products, investment, and growth. The operational side comes later. But later always arrives. Simple things suddenly matter a lot. Documented processes. Clear reporting lines. Performance reviews that aren’t based on memory. A system for onboarding new employees so every manager isn’t reinventing the process. They’re the reason many growing companies become easier to manage instead of more chaotic.

Structure earns its keep here in ways that are easy to underestimate. Gallup’s research has found that only about one in eight employees strongly agree their company does a great job onboarding new hires, and weak onboarding is directly linked to employees leaving within their first year and a half. A documented process doesn’t just save a manager’s time once a company scales past a handful of people — it’s often the difference between a new hire staying or quietly heading for the door.

According to the World Economic Forum, businesses across industries are placing greater emphasis on workforce planning and future skills as technology continues reshaping jobs. That’s no longer something only enterprise companies think about. Start-ups are dealing with the same reality much earlier in their journey.

LinkedIn’s Economic Graph has also reported a growing shift toward skills-first hiring, showing that companies are paying closer attention to what people can actually do rather than relying only on traditional qualifications.

Scaling Is Really About Building Better Systems

Fast-growing start-ups often think growth is about hiring more people. It isn’t. Hiring is only one piece of it. The harder part is building a company where every new employee understands their role, managers make consistent decisions, and teams don’t lose speed simply because the business became larger. That’s usually the point where founders realise the first hiring strategy did exactly what it was supposed to do. It got the company started. Getting to the next stage takes something different.

The post When Start-up Hiring Stops Scaling: Building HR Structure Before It’s Forced On You appeared first on LAFFAZ.

Sugar Cosmetics has raised ₹144.5 crore entirely from existing investor A91 Partners, which subscribed to the whole issue. The board approved allotment of 1,12,248 Series D7 compulsorily convertible preference shares at ₹12,871 each to A91 Emerging Fund III on 1 September, taking the firm’s stake to roughly 19.97 percent. No new investor took part.

Estimates of the post-money valuation range between ₹550 crore and ₹755 crore — 75 to 82 percent below the roughly ₹3,000 crore Sugar carried in 2022, when L Catterton led a $50 million Series D. The figure also sits well under the ₹1,400-1,500 crore the company was reportedly seeking as recently as mid-2026, itself already half its peak.

The business has now contracted for two straight years. Revenue fell about 20 percent to ₹404 crore in FY25 from ₹505 crore — the company’s first decline since founding — while net loss nearly doubled to ₹135 crore and EBITDA loss more than doubled to ₹116 crore. FY26 revenue has been reported at roughly ₹380 crore, lower again. Cumulative losses across five years now total close to ₹375 crore, and Sugar has not yet recorded a profitable year. A valuation report dated 30 June 2026, attached to the filing, states that the company has shown a sustained and worsening pattern of financial deterioration across the past two financial years — a formal assessment made under professional liability, not editorial characterisation, and evidently the backdrop against which A91 wrote its cheque.

The secondary market tells a consistent story. Stakes worth up to ₹150 crore are reportedly being shopped by early backers, with a consulting firm pitching Sugar shares at a fraction of peak valuation and a minimum ticket of around ₹25 crore — the kind of structured, discounted process that typically surfaces around distressed rather than healthy companies.

Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee, IIM Ahmedabad alumni and a married couple, founded the Mumbai-based company in 2015; Singh is chief executive and Mukherjee chief operating officer. Sugar sells through its own platform, marketplaces, more than 200 exclusive outlets across 50 cities and roughly 50,000 retail touchpoints — the very network that now sits at the centre of its cost problem. The 2022 round funded an aggressive push into physical retail, a defensible strategy for a colour cosmetics brand where shoppers want to swatch a shade before buying. But leases, store staff, and distributor commitments are fixed costs, locked in for years, and none of them fell when revenue did. Sugar has reportedly since closed 30 to 40 percent of the stores it opened because per-store economics stopped working, and a closed store does not release its lease immediately.

What Sugar has that a fresh cheque cannot buy is a decade of brand equity, distribution across 550 cities a new entrant cannot replicate quickly, and formulations built for Indian skin tones and climate. What ₹144.5 crore against ₹135 crore of annual losses buys is roughly a year to prove the business can be sold at a positive margin rather than simply sold at scale — a materially different task from the growth story the company was telling in 2022.

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Bengaluru-based Pixxel has closed a $100 million Series C co-led by Temasek and Seraphim Space, marking the largest single funding round any Indian spacetech company has raised. New investors 360 ONE Asset and IMM Investment joined existing backers Radical Ventures and growX Ventures in the round, which takes Pixxel’s total funding to $195 million at a reported valuation between $450 million and $500 million.

The fresh capital pushes Pixxel beyond its hyperspectral imaging roots into a wider build-out: advanced sensing satellites, high-resolution optical imaging spacecraft, an expanded Honeybee constellation, a scaled-up Aurora Earth intelligence platform, additional capacity at its Gigapixxel manufacturing facility, and sovereign space systems work.

Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal started the company in February 2019 as undergraduates at BITS Pilani, bootstrapping the earliest prototypes with money borrowed from Ahmed’s father. Seven years on, Pixxel operates six Firefly satellites launched through 2025 that image at 5-metre resolution across more than 150 spectral bands with a 40-kilometre swath — spectral depth the company says no other commercial operator has matched. Where a conventional Earth observation satellite reads roughly eight colour bands, enough to confirm a field is green, Pixxel’s sensors read a material’s spectral signature, distinguishing a nitrogen-deficient patch of crop, a methane leak along a pipeline, or the mineral composition of a mine tailings pond, from orbit.

Also Read: Pixxel and Sarvam AI Will Put a Data Centre in Orbit by End of 2026

That capability underwrites a customer list few Indian deep-tech companies can claim. Pixxel holds a slot in NASA’s $476 million Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition programme, running through November 2028, and in May signed a five-year agreement with the US National Reconnaissance Office to feed hyperspectral data into the agency’s remote sensing architecture. Domestically, it has won multiple Ministry of Defence iDEX challenges and was picked to lead India’s first public-private Earth observation constellation, a 12-satellite build under IN-SPACe.

The Indian entity’s financials sit well below the price tag. Operating revenue rose to ₹39.3 crore in FY25 from ₹30.6 crore a year earlier, while net loss widened to ₹30.8 crore from ₹20.4 crore. Pixxel has said a substantial share of group revenue is booked through overseas subsidiaries across the US, Europe, West Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia that these India filings do not capture — a claim consistent with where its largest government customers sit, though consolidated numbers remain unpublished. What is being priced, in effect, is the contracted pipeline: NASA through 2028, a five-year NRO agreement, iDEX awards and the IN-SPACe constellation, collateral that renews and expands the way commercial imagery contracts rarely do.

The structural detail investors are underwriting is the company’s dual-geography build. Pixxel’s parent is incorporated in Delaware and based in El Segundo, California, while the Bengaluru entity handles engineering and manufacturing — an architecture that lets a company founded in a college dorm hold a five-year US intelligence contract while simultaneously leading India’s sovereign Earth observation programme and winning Indian defence challenges. In-Q-Tel, the venture arm tied to the American intelligence community, sits on the cap table. It is an unusual position to occupy inside two governments’ supply chains at once, and it is a large part of what a sovereign fund like Temasek is betting on.

The optical-imaging push funded by this round is also a departure from Pixxel’s defensible niche. Planet, Maxar, BlackSky, and Satellogic already compete in that market, where pricing and revisit rate matter more than spectral depth. A company leaves a niche it built for seven years when it decides that niche cannot support the valuation it has just achieved.

The round follows Skyroot Aerospace crossing the $1 billion mark to become India’s first spacetech unicorn, adding to signs that Indian investors and sovereign funds are now willing to price space infrastructure companies years ahead of revenue that matches.

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Global appetite for physical silver has climbed sharply in recent years. The Silver Institute forecasts physical investment demand will rise 20% to 227 million ounces in 2026, a three-year high, as retail buyers return to bars and coins. As more first-time buyers enter the market, knowing what to check before paying becomes more important, not less.

Silver bars may look similar, yet their resale value depends on more than weight alone.

Before paying for silver bullion, a buyer should check the serial number, purity mark, refinery name, assay information, and storage conditions.

These details connect a specific product to its manufacturer and technical records. They also help dealers verify the bar faster when the owner decides to sell, transfer, insure, or redeem it.

Why a Serial Number Matters

Think of a serial number as a bar’s fingerprint — assigned to that one piece of metal alone, so it can never be confused with another bar of the same weight from the same refinery.

That number usually shows up in two places: stamped into the metal itself, and printed on the assay card. A match confirms the bar is exactly what its certificate claims. If the two numbers don’t line up, don’t take the seller’s word for it — get it checked before you pay.

This step is not just a formality: more than 1,000 counterfeit gold bars worth over $50 million surfaced in vaults worldwide in 2019. Silver carries the same exposure on a smaller scale, which is why matching a serial number against its certificate is so important.

Serial numbers also support ownership records in professional vaults. A provider can show which bar belongs to a client, where it is stored, and when it entered or left the facility.

Reputable platforms let buyers view their silver, vault location, and serial numbers through an online account or app. They keep silver products fully allocated and stored in DMCC-licensed vaults, with independent audits.

Why You Should Check on an Assay Record

An assay confirms the metal content and purity of a bullion product. Investment-grade silver bars commonly carry a fineness mark such as 999, which means the product contains 99.9% pure silver.

A complete assay record should match the physical bar. Buyers should compare every visible detail — weight, dimensions, refinery mark, and any assayer signature — before confirming an order or accepting delivery.

A certificate does not replace the bar itself, but it supports its identity and stated purity. Buyers who skip this comparison take on a risk that a few minutes of checking would otherwise remove.

Refinery Identification Supports Resale

Recognised refineries follow defined production and quality-control procedures. Their products are easier to identify because the weight, markings, dimensions, and packaging follow established specifications.

The refinery name should be clearly stamped on the bar and repeated on the assay card. Buyers should avoid products with unclear logos, spelling errors, altered surfaces, or incomplete manufacturer details.

Look for silver bars listed with 999 fineness, serial numbers, and assay records, sourced from accredited refineries and available in sizes from 10 grams to 1 kilogram.

Recognition affects liquidity. A well-documented bar from a known refinery usually requires fewer checks than an unbranded product with no supporting certificate.

How Professional Vault Storage Preserves Bullion Value

Silver doesn’t handle the outside world well. Left exposed, it reacts with oxygen and moisture in the air, tarnishing over time, and a scratched surface or torn assay packaging only adds to the damage — all of which chips away at what the bar is worth on resale.

A professional, climate-controlled vault sidesteps most of that damage by keeping temperature and humidity steady. There’s also a less obvious benefit: because the metal never leaves a secure, audited facility, it stays within what’s often called an unbroken chain of integrity, shielded from the wear and tear that ordinary storage can’t prevent.

When the owner decides to sell, silver held in such verified vaults can often be liquidated instantly at full market value without requiring expensive, time-consuming re-testing. That difference matters more as investment demand grows: rising retail buying of bars and coins has tightened physical liquidity in several markets over the past two years, making a documented, vault-stored bar easier to move quickly than an unverified one kept at home.

Keep Records Ready for Future Resale

A complete bullion file should include:

• serial number that matches the number stamped on the bar;
• stated weight in grams, kilograms, or troy ounces;
• silver fineness, commonly marked as 999;
• refinery or mint name and official logo;
• assayer signature or certification mark where applicable;
• product dimensions and identifying design details;
• certificate condition and absence of unauthorised changes.

The best-run platforms combine these ownership details with allocated vault storage and app-based account access. Buyers can review products from accredited sources, track their holdings, and retain records that support verification when they later sell or request physical delivery.

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Asaya, a direct-to-consumer skincare brand, has raised ₹88 crore ($9.2 million) from RPSG Capital, OTP Ventures, Huddle Ventures, Hyperscale Ventures and 72 Ventures at a post-money valuation of ₹400 crore, the company said on August 24. The round mixed primary capital with a secondary component that let some early angel investors exit part of their holdings; the split between the two was not disclosed.

The Bengaluru-based company had previously raised ₹28 crore in a pre-Series A round led by RPSG Capital in September 2025, at a reported valuation of about ₹138 crore. The step-up to ₹400 crore in under a year is close to three times that mark. Founded in 2021 by Neeraj Biyani, Eeti Sharma and Mandeep Singh Bhatia, Asaya sells serums, even-tone creams, cleansers, sunscreens and body sprays targeting hyperpigmentation, dehydration and acne, sold through its own website, quick-commerce platforms, marketplaces including Nykaa and Myntra, and a growing set of offline retail partnerships. Biyani, the chief executive, was earlier a co-founder of the beverage brand Paper Boat.

At the centre of Asaya’s pitch is MelaMe, a proprietary, patent-pending molecule the company says is formulated specifically to address pigmentation and uneven tone on Indian, melanin-rich skin — a segment the brand argues mainstream, Western-formulated skincare has long underserved.

“We’ll be directing almost a fifth of the funding towards R&D, with the rest split across product-line expansion and geographic and channel growth.” said Neeraj Biyani, Co-founder, Asaya

Asaya says its revenue has grown 16x since the September round and that it now operates at an annualised revenue run rate of ₹100 crore, with a target of ₹200 crore within 18 months. Around a fifth of the fresh capital will go towards research and development, with the rest split across product-line expansion, distribution and hiring. Co-founder Biyani struck a similarly confident note on where the company now stands financially.

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Airbound, a Bengaluru-based aerospace startup, has raised $37 million in a Series A round led by Greenoaks, with participation from DoorDash, angel investor Lachy Groom, Lightspeed and Humba Ventures, the company confirmed on August 25. The round takes Airbound’s total funding to nearly $50 million since it was founded in 2023, and follows an $8.65 million seed round led by Groom less than a year earlier. No valuation was disclosed.

Founded by Naman Pushp, who began building drones at age 15, Airbound designs vertical-take-off “tail-sitter” aircraft engineered to weigh less than the cargo they carry — a ratio the company says runs roughly three times better than the industry norm of 4:1. Its current aircraft, TRT, weighs about 1.5 kg and carries roughly 1 kg; a next-generation model is designed to weigh about 2.99 kg and carry up to 4.9 kg. The company positions itself as an aircraft manufacturer rather than a delivery operator, designing and building in a 43,000 sq ft Bengaluru facility and selling the hardware to logistics operators.

Airbound says it has completed more than 13,000 autonomous flights across Bengaluru and Guntur, including over 1,000 with the Narayana Health hospital network flying diagnostic samples between facilities. It has also signed a commercial deployment agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to build an aerial network across Amaravati, Vijayawada and Guntur, with a stated target of 10,000 daily flights across retail, e-commerce and healthcare. Production has scaled from two aircraft a month to two a day over the past year, with a near-term target of 20 a day, according to the company.

The gap between that pitch and proof remains wide. Airbound’s flagship healthcare deployment still runs largely on a single route, and the 10,000-daily-flight target in Andhra Pradesh depends on manufacturing scale, airspace management and, above all, regulatory approval for beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight that India is still building a framework for. DoorDash’s participation in a hardware-heavy Series A suggests last-mile logistics players are hedging against ground-delivery economics plateauing — but until BVLOS clearance catches up with the aircraft, Airbound’s cost-parity claim stays a claim rather than a demonstrated unit economic.

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Ringg AI, a Bengaluru-based enterprise voice AI startup, has raised $10 million in an extended Series A round led by Peak XV Partners, with existing backers Arkam Ventures and Capital 2b also participating, the company said on August 26. The extension takes the total size of Ringg’s Series A, first closed at $5.5 million in January 2026, to $15.5 million. No valuation was disclosed.

Founded in October 2023 by Siddharth Shankar Tripathi, Utkarsh Shukla and Kali Charan Vemuru, Ringg builds AI agents that automate customer conversations for enterprises across voice calls, WhatsApp and browser-based workflows. Tripathi previously worked at Groww and Flipkart; Shukla at Blinkit and Atlan; and Vemuru at Flipkart. The company is also backed by fintech entrepreneur Kunal Shah and the Groww Founder Fund.

Ringg began life as a text-to-speech company called DesiVocal, but pivoted to enterprise voice agents after finding the cost of training its own speech models difficult to sustain as a standalone product. It has since rebuilt that capability on its own terms: the company develops proprietary speech recognition and generation models in-house, and its platform routes tasks across different models depending on the workflow. It now processes roughly 20 million call attempts a month, with voice still accounting for more than 70% of the business, and counts Flipkart, Practo, Groww, PolicyBazaar and Shell among its clients. Its agents are deployed across 1,200 Practo clinics for appointment booking and post-visit follow-ups.

The new capital will fund an expansion into more complex, regulated workflows — healthcare appointment booking, ecommerce cart recovery, and fintech onboarding and KYC — that the founders see as more defensible than the high-volume outbound calling and lead qualification work Ringg started with.

“Nobody buys us because the demo sounds good,” said Siddharth Tripathi, founder and CEO of Ringg AI. “They buy us because onboarding improves, resolution times fall, or qualified leads start showing up in the CRM without someone having to make the call. Enterprises should not have to buy a voice layer and then stitch the rest together. We own the loop from conversation to action to evaluation to improvement.”

That candour about commoditisation risk is echoed by the startup’s newest investor. Peak XV principal Rishen Kapoor pointed to Ringg’s in-house model stack as the reason it can take on harder enterprise mandates rather than compete purely on price.

“Because of the technical capabilities, they can actually do these hard-won enterprise workflows end to end. They can complete these higher-value tasks like merchant onboarding, like L1 and L2 support, with quality and with consistency,” Kapoor said in a statement to TechCrunch

Bengaluru’s voice-AI field is crowded and well capitalised, with rivals including Sarvam and Gnani chasing the same enterprise demand, and the category is reported to have drawn over $250 million in the region this year. Ringg’s 40-person team has grown by more than 15 in the past three months. Its bet is that owning the model layer, rather than reselling third-party AI, buys it a durable latency and cost edge as it moves up the value chain — a wager that carries the same cost pressure that forced its pivot away from DesiVocal in the first place.

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Thane, Maharashtra-based InspeCity, a space-tech startup incubated at IIT Bombay, has raised ₹100 crore (about $10.5 million) in a pre-Series A round co-led by Speciale Invest and veteran stock-picker Ashish Kacholia, the company confirmed on August 27. Antler India, Antler Elevate, Shastra VC and angel investor Manish Gandhi also participated, and InspeCity has not disclosed a post-money valuation for the round.

The raise follows a $5.6 million seed round in May 2025, also led by Kacholia, and a $1.5 million pre-seed round led by Speciale Invest in 2023. Total funding now stands near ₹150 crore. InspeCity said the capital will go towards flight-qualifying its in-space servicing technology and executing four in-orbit missions over the next 12 to 18 months, under a roadmap it calls RIG-X, VEDA-X and SAMA-X.

Founded in 2022 by Arindrajit Chowdhury, an IIT Bombay professor, Tausif Shaikh, Sanket Dash, and Ananth Ramesh, InspeCity builds in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) technology aimed at extending satellite lifespans and cleanly deorbiting spacecraft at end of life. Its platform, VEDA (Vehicle for Life-Extension and Deorbiting Activities), is designed to rendezvous with a satellite, dock with it, and either refuel and reposition it or guide it to a controlled deorbit. The company has broken the problem into modules — GITA for propulsion, CHAKSU for sensing and navigation, RAMA for robotic manipulation, and SPARSH for docking and in-orbit refuelling — each validated separately before being assembled into a full servicing mission.

The four planned missions will test rendezvous and proximity operations, propulsion and robotics in orbit, InspeCity has said, as it works towards flight qualification for VEDA ahead of a demonstration mission previously slated for 2027. The company has also won contracts under India’s iDEX defence innovation programme and formed partnerships with space-tech players in Japan and Taiwan, giving it an early, if narrow, revenue base in government and defence R&D work while the commercial servicing market remains unproven.

Globally, InspeCity is chasing a market that companies including ClearSpace, Starfish Space and Astroscale are also pursuing, several with more capital and flight heritage already logged. In India, most well-funded space-tech names — Skyroot Aerospace, which became the country’s first spacetech unicorn earlier this year, and Agnikul among them — are concentrated in launch, leaving satellite servicing a comparatively open niche domestically. The compressed timeline is the clearest risk in the round: deep-tech hardware routinely slips, and a single failed in-orbit demonstration could reset both the roadmap and the case for InspeCity’s next fundraise.

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Battery Smart, the electric-vehicle battery-swapping startup, has raised ₹185.5 crore ($19.5 million) in a Series C round led by existing investor Rising Tide Ventures, with participation from Ecosystem Integrity Fund and Blume Ventures, according to the company’s filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). The round was structured as 34,094 Series C compulsorily convertible preference shares at an issue price of ₹54,407 each, raised across two tranches of roughly ₹97 crore and ₹88 crore. Rising Tide Ventures contributed ₹112 crore, Ecosystem Integrity Fund ₹49 crore and Blume Ventures ₹25 crore.

Entrackr estimates the round values Battery Smart at around ₹4,075 crore ($430 million) post-money; the company has not officially confirmed a valuation. That estimate sits below the roughly $450 million the company was reported to have been valued at during its extended Series B round in mid-2025, making this a flat-to-down round by that measure. The raise follows a busy financing stretch: a ₹66 crore pre-Series C round in March 2026 from Acacia Inclusion, Blume Ventures and PC-SBI Kurashi Visionary Fund, and $15 million in debt from Mirova in April. Battery Smart has now raised more than $211 million to date, with backers including Tiger Global, Blume Ventures and Ecosystem Integrity Fund.

Founded in 2019 by Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka, both IIT Kanpur alumni, Gurugram-based Battery Smart runs a battery-swapping network for electric two- and three-wheelers, letting gig-economy drivers swap a depleted battery for a charged one in minutes rather than bearing the upfront cost of ownership or the downtime of charging. The company said the fresh proceeds will support business expansion, capital expenditure, working capital and general corporate purposes, and it is reported to be preparing to file draft IPO papers around September or October.

The operating numbers behind the raise are improving even as the valuation has not kept pace: per its RoC filings, Battery Smart’s FY26 revenue rose 43.8% to ₹358 crore, while its net loss narrowed to ₹23.55 crore, with the company reported to have reached operational break-even during the year. That combination — a capital-intensive, asset-heavy swapping network approaching profitability just as it heads towards a public listing — is likely to anchor the pitch in its IPO prospectus.

The tension in the round is that an improving business and a flat-to-down price are pointing in different directions, which typically signals that the company’s earlier private mark ran ahead of what public-market investors will pay for infrastructure-heavy EV assets. Battery Smart competes with Sun Mobility, VoltUp and Mooving in swapping, and with steadily improving fast-charging as the alternative technology path. With an IPO filing expected within weeks, the company has little room for the FY26 break-even claim to slip when its draft papers are scrutinised against the June-quarter numbers.

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NeoGeo, a Gurugram-based geospatial technology startup, has raised $20 million in a Series A round co-led by Neev II Fund and Aavishkaar Capital, the investment arm of the Aavishkaar Group. No other investors were named, and valuation, dilution, and board composition have not been disclosed.

The company said it will use the funds to expand its platform and product portfolio through R&D, enter international markets across the Middle East and the Americas, and strengthen its team. It is a large step up from NeoGeo’s only prior disclosed round, a roughly $1.55 million seed in December 2024 — more than tenfold what it had raised before.

Founded in 2019 by Sreeramam GV, NeoGeo describes itself as a full-stack geospatial system integrator spanning data acquisition through satellite imagery, LiDAR, drones and ground surveys, through to AI/ML analytics and industry software under platforms including OptiFleet, GeoBalance, UrbanVista and InfraSync. The company says it has executed more than 200 projects, mapped over 5 lakh sq km, and manages more than 550 CORS stations, figures that are company-stated.

Also Read: Tenet Diagnostics Lands $30M From Tata Capital, Blue Earth

NeoGeo sits in the middle of the geospatial value chain rather than at either end: it neither owns a satellite constellation nor simply resells mapping software, instead stitching acquisition, processing and analytics into decision-ready outputs for governments and enterprises. Its revenue today is largely project-based, and its CORS network adds an infrastructure layer that can carry ongoing service revenue rather than one-off project fees — but delivery capacity and recurring software revenue are different economics, and the Series A is really a bet on turning the former into the latter.

That transition is unproven. India’s geospatial demand leans heavily on government and public-sector buyers, which is durable but slow-paying and tender-driven, and does not obviously translate to the Middle East and the Americas that NeoGeo now plans to enter. It also competes with better-funded, satellite-owning Earth-observation names such as SatSure and Pixxel. NeoGeo’s edge is breadth across the value chain; the risk is that breadth is expensive to sustain on a single large round without recurring revenue to show for it before the next one.

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Tenet Diagnostics has raised approximately $30 million from Tata Capital Healthcare Fund III and Blue Earth Capital, a Switzerland-based impact investor. The equity stake, valuation, and split between the two investors have not been disclosed, and no board changes have been stated.

The capital flows into Tenet Medcorp Private Limited, which trades as Tenet Diagnostics. Talks between the two sides were first reported in March 2026, making this a five-month process from disclosure to close, and the deal is among the first investments from Tata Capital’s third healthcare fund since its first close earlier this year. The company said the money will help it deepen its footprint across India and expand access to diagnostics.

Founded in 2016 by Hanumantha Rao Ch, Surendranath C, Vinod P Nair, and Ram Pap Rao A, Tenet now runs a network of pathology and radiology centres across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha, offering imaging, lab testing, cardiology and neurology services including MRI, CT, PET-CT and mammography. The most recent public financials are from September 2023, when the company reported 100% year-on-year turnover growth and expected to cross ₹150 crore that year across 25 locations in eight states; no revenue or centre count has been published since.

Diagnostics is a capital business dressed as a services one. Pathology labs are cheap to open, but an MRI or PET-CT machine costs several crore and needs a shielded room and a radiologist, which is why profitability in the category is a question of utilisation rather than pricing. Tenet’s expansion into states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, where advanced imaging is thin, is a bet that being early with a PET-CT in an underserved district is a durable edge, since the next operator into that market faces the same equipment bill against a smaller share of demand.

The investor pairing is worth reading closely: Blue Earth Capital is a limited partner in Tata Capital’s healthcare fund rather than an independent co-investor, and the two firms have structured a round this way before, in a $9 million investment into Apex Kidney Care in early 2025. Three years without an updated revenue figure means Tenet is being priced against a target rather than a result.

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Traditional search engines are no longer the sole gatekeepers of digital visibility. Today, consumers rely heavily on answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews to make purchasing decisions. If your brand is not appearing in these conversational answers, your digital presence is essentially invisible.

This shift has made traditional optimization techniques insufficient on their own. Businesses must now adopt specialized GEO services to ensure they remain relevant.

To fix invisible brand mentions, you need targeted strategies that align with how artificial intelligence processes data. This blog explores critical GEO services that can secure your brand’s position in the AI-first era.

Core GEO Services That Improve AI Search Visibility

Here are the core GEO services that help improve your brand’s visibility, credibility, and discoverability across AI-powered search platforms:

1. AI-crawlable Content Audits and Optimization

AI engines do not read content the way human users or traditional search crawlers do. They scan for factual integrity, structural clarity, and direct answers to complex user queries.

A foundational component of GEO services is a comprehensive content audit tailored specifically for generative models. This process reviews your existing digital assets to ensure they possess an AI-friendly structure.

Many businesses invest heavily in traditional SEO services in India to rank on the first page of search results. However, high rankings do not guarantee that an AI model will cite your content. Generative engines look for concise definitions, structured data, and authoritative data blocks. In a controlled study, researchers at Princeton University have found that adding citations, statistics, and quotations to content could lift its visibility in generative engine responses by as much as 40 percent.

Professional GEO services reformat your blogs, articles, and landing pages into highly crawlable formats. This optimization makes it easy for LLMs (Large Language Models) to extract your brand information and present it as a primary solution.

2. Entity Recognition and Knowledge Graph Alignment

Generative models rely heavily on established knowledge graphs to verify information before presenting it to users. If your brand lacks a clear semantic footprint, AI engines will treat your business as an unverified source.

Professional GEO services focus on strengthening your brand’s entity recognition across the digital ecosystem. This involves aligning your corporate data with trusted third-party databases, independent registries, and structured schema markup.

When you partner with an agency providing expert SEO services in India, they ensure your technical foundations are flawless. Advanced GEO services take this further by mapping your brand relations, products, and core expertise into a format that AI engines can validate instantly.

This alignment ensures that when an AI engine searches for industry leaders, your brand is recognized as a factual and verified entity.

3. Digital PR and Citation Authority Building

Traditional search engines use backlinks primarily as popularity votes to determine page authority. Generative engines view links through a slightly different lens, looking for credible citations that validate specific facts.

AI models favor brands that possess strong digital credibility and consistent mentions across reputable news platforms, trade publications, and academic sources. Earning these high-value citations requires a dedicated digital PR strategy. An analysis of nearly 69,000 real Google searches by the Pew Research Center found that 88 percent of AI-generated summaries cite three or more sources rather than relying on a single reference, underlining how much weight generative engines place on a broad base of credible citations.

By leveraging targeted GEO services, your business can execute PR campaigns that specifically aim for algorithmic trust. This process goes beyond standard link acquisition. It focuses on building a network of authoritative mentions that AI models naturally reference when generating summaries.

This extensive digital footprint ensures your business is actively cited as a trusted answer rather than being left out of the conversational loop.

Also Read: Adapting to AI-Powered Search: Building Growth While Preserving Your Brand

4. Visibility Tracking and Share of Voice Monitoring

You cannot optimize what you do not measure. Tracking visibility in traditional search relies on keyword rankings, but tracking visibility in AI search requires monitoring actual algorithmic citations.

Advanced GEO services utilize proprietary tools to track how often your brand appears in conversational answers. These services benchmark your brand against top competitors to analyze your true share of voice across platforms like Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. The stakes are already substantial: the same Pew Research Center study found that 58 percent of surveyed adults encountered at least one Google search with an AI-generated summary in a single month, meaning a majority of queries now bypass the traditional results list entirely.

Regular monitoring allows businesses to understand which pieces of content are successfully earning citations and which ones remain invisible. Agencies offering comprehensive SEO services in India can integrate these advanced tracking metrics into their broader digital marketing reports.

By continuously analyzing these generative search metrics, your marketing team can refine its content strategy based on real-time AI behavior data.

5. Category and Location-based AI Planning

Every industry has a unique digital footprint, meaning that a retail brand requires a different optimization approach than a B2B enterprise software company.

Customized GEO services provide tailored plans designed around your specific business category and geographic target market. AI engines synthesize vast amounts of localized data to answer user prompts that contain explicit or implicit geographical intent.

If your business relies on local or regional customers, your conversational data must match local search patterns perfectly. Integrating localized intent into your generative search plan ensures that your business displays prominently in regional AI summaries.

Leading providers of SEO services in India help brands blend local search parameters with advanced generative optimization techniques. This comprehensive approach ensures your brand remains highly visible, citable, and authoritative across both local and global AI search platforms.

Secure Your Place in the AI Search Era

To maintain digital visibility, modern enterprises must invest in specialized GEO services that align with conversational AI models. Transforming your digital presence requires deep expertise, advanced visibility tracking tools, and a performance-first approach to content authority.

Partnering with a trusted GEO agency can help businesses strengthen their presence across AI-powered search platforms while protecting long-term organic visibility. The right partner will provide the end-to-end solutions, custom strategies, and proprietary tracking tools needed to ensure your brand remains the preferred answer in AI search summaries.

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Education benefits pay for some or all of an employee’s study, and US employers increasingly treat them as a reason people stay rather than a line on a benefits summary. The category stretches across tuition assistance for degrees, funding for certifications and short courses, and contributions toward student loans an employee already carries. What ties them together is that the employee walks away with something portable and personally valuable, which is unusual among workplace benefits.

Attention tends to arrive when turnover costs start hurting. Replacing a single employee can run from one-half to two times that person’s annual salary, according to Gallup, which puts real numbers behind the intuition that losing a skilled worker often costs more than funding a year of somebody’s study. Program design decides whether any of that retention effect materializes, and most of the difference comes down to how the money reaches the employee and who can realistically make use of it.

Models that remove the upfront cost

Reimbursement is the older approach, where the employee pays tuition, passes the course and claims the money back months later, which quietly rules out anyone unable to float a few thousand dollars. Direct billing removes that barrier by sending payment to the school from the employer or the plan administrator. Large-scale programs in the US work this way, and education benefits for union members are usually negotiated at the organization level, with the school network and covered amounts agreed before any individual enrolls.

Why the benefit holds people

Retention improves when study connects to somewhere the employee can actually go, so a finished qualification maps onto a role, a pay band or an internal move rather than sitting on a resume. Programs left alone drift out of usefulness, and close to four in ten employers say their tuition assistance hasn’t been reviewed in three years, which shows up as outdated school lists and caps that no longer cover much of a course. Tracking promotion and turnover among participants against everyone else is what keeps finance funding it.

Also Read: What Skills Do Freshers Need to Land Their First AI/ML Job

Where uptake usually breaks down

Most US employers already offer something educational. Roughly 48% of organizations offer undergraduate or graduate tuition assistance, according to SHRM’s Employee Benefits Survey, so simply having the benefit isn’t a differentiator anymore. Take-up is where programs quietly fail, and the reasons are consistent enough to check against your own policy:

• Eligibility waits that push access past the point where most turnover happens
• Clawback clauses demanding repayment if someone leaves within a year or two
• Approved school lists that don’t include a relevant program
• No workload or scheduling adjustment, leaving study to compete with overtime

The gap between offering a benefit and people actually using it is well documented. Separate research from the same U.S. Chamber Foundation survey found that 44% of employers offered no additional resources — like adjusted schedules — to help employees actually pursue education while working, which is a large share of programs asking people to study on top of a full workload rather than instead of part of it.

What it costs to get wrong

The retention math only works if the program is actually reaching people who might otherwise leave. Turnover isn’t a marginal cost: Gallup estimates that voluntary turnover costs US businesses more than $1 trillion a year in recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training and lost productivity during transitions. Against that backdrop, an education benefit that sits unused because of a six-month waiting period or a clawback clause isn’t neutral — it’s a retention tool employers are already paying for but not deploying.

Making the program worth the spend

Communication does more work here than budget size, because a generous benefit nobody knows about performs identically to no benefit at all. Managers are the bottleneck in most organizations, so they need the eligibility rules well enough to raise the option in a development conversation without checking with HR. Pairing funding with protected study hours or a lighter rotation during exams costs little and removes the objection most employees actually have, which is time rather than money.

Look at who has used the benefit over the past two years and what happened to them afterward. If participants cluster in one department, or if the people finishing qualifications are the ones leaving, the problem sits in the progression routes rather than the funding. A benefit that pays for a credential nobody uses internally is functionally a resignation subsidy — the fix is rarely more money, it’s a clearer route from the finished course to the next role.

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BlissClub, the Bengaluru-based direct-to-consumer athleisure brand, has raised ₹160 crore (roughly $16.8 million) in a Series B round led by Singularity AMC, with founder Minu Margeret and Meesho founder Vidit Aatrey participating as individual investors alongside returning backers Elevation Capital and Eight Roads Ventures.

The company has not disclosed the valuation, the equity diluted, or how the ₹160 crore splits between Singularity AMC and the other participants, framing the use of funds instead around expansion into new categories, a larger offline retail footprint, product development and hiring.

It is BlissClub’s largest round to date and the first time a new institutional investor has entered its cap table since 2022, with both existing backers choosing to return rather than exit. The company’s last raise was a $15 million Series A in May 2022 led by Eight Roads Ventures with Elevation Capital participating, which followed a $2.25 million seed round in May 2021.

Also Read: Bakingo Raises ₹100 Cr Series B From Faering Capital

Founded in 2020 by Margeret, BlissClub began with technical activewear built specifically for Indian women and has since grown into an omnichannel operation spanning its own website, online marketplaces and more than 40 physical stores, adding a menswear line in recent months.

The round lands on the back of a financial year that strengthens BlissClub’s case for the retail bet it is now making. Operating revenue in FY25 grew 51 percent to ₹131.5 crore from ₹87 crore in FY24, and the company has said it more than halved its losses over the same period on lower employee costs, though it has not disclosed the absolute loss figure.

Revenue climbing while losses narrow is typically the strongest signal a D2C brand can offer that its unit economics are improving rather than being propped up by spend, and it is likely the number that persuaded Singularity AMC and the returning investors to back a larger, capital-heavier phase of the business.

That phase now shifts the brand’s biggest test from digital acquisition to physical retail economics. BlissClub built its identity online, competing in a category — activewear — where fabric and cut are easy to copy and where Nike, Adidas and Puma sit above it on distribution while a widening field of domestic labels compete below on price.

Forty stores scaling on ₹160 crore is a materially different cost structure from the e-commerce model that produced the FY25 numbers. With FY26 accounts still unfiled, whether owned retail deepens BlissClub’s margins or erodes the progress it just reported remains the open question the round is meant to answer.

Also Read: She Built the Community Before She Built the Leggings

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Gurugram-based online bakery brand Bakingo has raised ₹100 crore (~$10.5 million) in a Series B round from its existing investor, private equity firm Faering Capital, at a valuation reported to be 2.6 times higher than its previous round.

Bakingo was founded in 2016 by Suman Patra, Shrey Sehgal and Himanshu Chawla, growing out of FlowerAura, the gifting e-commerce company the same founders built first — a lineage central to how the bakery still operates. Gifting gave Bakingo a ready demand channel and an understanding of occasion-led buying, where customers order ahead and value reliability over the lowest price.

The raise lands as branded, vertically integrated bakery brands try to hold ground on two fronts at once. Theobroma, Monginis and a field of regional chains compete on brand and freshness, while Blinkit, Swiggy and Zomato have pushed hard into instant cake delivery, turning speed into the axis of competition and pressuring any model built around a scheduled order. Bakingo runs its own network of more than 100 kitchens across over 30 cities, producing over 400 cake designs sold through its website, its sister gifting platform FlowerAura, and quick-commerce channels — a dark-kitchen footprint that is an asset against the first group of rivals and a potential liability against the second if consumers shift decisively toward instant delivery.

Also Read: Discovered Materials Raises $9M Seed Led by Lightspeed India

Following the allotment, Faering holds a 26.31 percent stake in Bakingo. By Entrackr’s analysis of the RoC filing, the round values the company at ₹1,643 crore ($173 million), about 2.6 times the ₹627 crore at which it raised its previous round — a $16 million investment also from Faering in November 2023, which was Bakingo’s first external funding after seven years of bootstrapped operation and was reported then at a valuation of around ₹571 crore. Bakingo has not disclosed the equity dilution details, the primary-secondary split, or a specific use for the fresh capital beyond general business requirements and expansion. In FY25, the company reported standalone revenue of ₹300 crore against a net loss of ₹16.5 crore; revenue has climbed steadily from ₹94.6 crore in FY23, but the loss has widened from ₹0.8 crore over the same span as the kitchen network expanded, and FY26 accounts have not yet been filed.

A round funded entirely by the incumbent investor, with no new institutional name attached, can read as efficient continuity or as limited outside appetite at this valuation — the filing does not say which. Bakingo’s edge is that gifting demand from FlowerAura arrives without paid acquisition, and owning its kitchens captures margin an aggregator cannot, in a category where brand trust and reliable delivery matter more than price. What the fresh ₹100 crore has to prove is whether that structure can turn into profitability at scale, or whether it simply funds another leg of expansion that widens the loss before it narrows it.

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San Francisco-based deep-tech startup Discovered Materials has raised $9 million (₹85 crore) in a seed round led by Lightspeed India Partners, with participation from Y Combinator and Peak XV Partners, alongside angel investors including Paul Graham, Gokul Rajaram, and Thariq Shihipar. The round, announced on 10 August 2026, is Discovered Materials’ first institutional funding, and the company has not disclosed the valuation at which it was raised.

The startup is chasing a bottleneck that has quietly become one of the AI industry’s most expensive problems. Modern AI chips shed heat at fluxes exceeding 140 watts per square centimetre, hotter than a spacecraft on re-entry, and that heat drains much of the power and water a data centre consumes. Finding thermally conductive materials that can cool 3D chip packaging has historically taken over a decade of lab work, a timeline sharply at odds with the pace of the chip build-out itself. Discovered Materials’ bet is that swarms of AI agents, built on frontier models in a custom harness, can propose thousands of candidate materials a day, with in-house physics simulations filtering them by stability and thermal performance before anything reaches a lab.

Also Read: Yulu Raises $93M Series C Led by GEF Capital

The company emerged from Y Combinator’s Spring 2026 batch, founded the same year by Akash Ramdas and Advaith Sridhar, who met more than a decade ago at IIT Madras. Ramdas holds a PhD in materials science from Stanford, where his work on nanoscale interconnects fed into roadmaps at Intel and TSMC; Sridhar, the chief executive, studied AI at Carnegie Mellon and built autonomous agents at Persona AI and Luma Labs before this. The capital raised will go toward expanding the team and laboratory and scaling the company’s research agents. Alongside the round, Discovered Materials released the Material Discovery Bench, a benchmark for how frontier AI systems perform on real semiconductor materials problems — a move that positions the young company as a party defining how the field gets measured, independent of any single model generation.

The funding does not settle the harder question. Discovered Materials is months old, pre-revenue and small, and its claim of producing thermal materials in three months that match products which took years to develop is the company’s own and remains unverified. Generating candidates fast is the part AI makes easy; validating a material in a fab and persuading a conservative chipmaker to adopt it is the multi-year, expensive part that no AI-discovered material has yet cleared commercially. The startup is also entering a field where Microsoft’s MatterGen, Google DeepMind’s GNoME and well-funded materials-AI rivals are chasing the same compression of materials discovery with considerably deeper resources, which makes its narrow focus on thermal materials for chip packaging — where one founder already carries production credibility — a sensible wedge rather than a broad bet.

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Bengaluru-based electric mobility-as-a-service platform Yulu has raised $93 million in a Series C round combining $63 million in equity, led by GEF Capital Partners, with $30 million in debt. The round, announced on 12 August 2026, is reported to value Yulu at about $170 million post-money; chief executive Amit Gupta declined to confirm the figure but did not dispute it. About $5.5 million of the equity bought out early seed investors nearing the end of their fund life, rather than flowing into the business, Gupta said, and existing strategic backers Bajaj Auto and Magna International did not participate, waiving their pre-emptive rights to let GEF acquire its target stake.

The round lands as shared electric two-wheelers have found a job well beyond urban commuting: the delivery layer under India’s ten-minute grocery boom. Yulu’s vehicles now handle more than 750,000 doorstep deliveries a day and account for over 15 percent of quick-commerce deliveries across India’s four largest metros, turning what began as a shared-bike service into logistics infrastructure for platforms like Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart. The company owns its roughly 50,000-vehicle fleet outright and rents it out by the day or trip, an asset-heavy model in which battery swapping through Yuma, its joint venture with Magna, keeps vehicles earning instead of charging — and explains why $30 million of this round arrived as debt rather than equity, since fleet financing is typically cheaper than selling shares.

Founded in 2017 by Amit Gupta, RK Misra, Naveen Dachuri and Anuj Tewari, Yulu has now raised more than $228 million since inception, including an $82 million Series B led by Magna in September 2022 and $19.25 million from Magna and Bajaj in February 2024. The fresh capital is earmarked to quadruple the active fleet to 200,000 electric vehicles over two years, expand into new urban-mobility use cases including a higher-payload scooter for e-commerce parcels, and prepare the company for a potential public listing. Operating revenue nearly doubled to ₹237.4 crore in FY25 from ₹119.9 crore in FY24, and Yulu says it has been EBITDA-positive since April 2025, even as it posted a ₹126 crore net loss for the year, down 12 percent from the prior year.

The terms complicate the growth story the fleet numbers tell. A reported post-money of about $170 million, nine years after founding and against more than $200 million raised, looks flat to down measured against valuations ascribed to Yulu in 2025, and a round partly used to buy out early investors while two strategic backers sat out is consistent with a deal structured for a new entrant and an exit for old ones, whatever the framing. What Yulu has that few mobility peers can claim is a genuine operating turn: positive EBITDA, near-doubled revenue and a captive, if concentrated, demand source in quick commerce. The risk sitting underneath is that same concentration — a handful of cash-burning delivery platforms could bring logistics in-house or squeeze rates — colliding with the capital intensity of quadrupling a fleet before the business converts EBITDA breakeven into sustained net profit.

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Traditional search engine optimization (SEO) tactics are no longer enough because of the rise of modern search systems that use AI. To remain visible in search, brands have to design their content so that it can be as easily read by both machines and humans. In this article, we discuss how AI search has shifted traditional SEO logic and what that means for both growing and preserving your brand.

How AI Search Has Shifted Traditional SEO Logic

The original goal of search engine optimization, or SEO, was to rank highly for specific keywords. Ranking first for the most important queries was essentially the finish line. As a result, traditional SEO models focused on strategies like placing the right keywords in content. Search engines would then match a user’s search terms to those placed keywords.

This keyword-based approach is not enough because almost every modern search engine now uses AI to read online content and generate direct answers. SEO success was also measured mainly through metrics like click-through rates and organic traffic. In the age of AI search, these metrics give an incomplete picture of online visibility.

Due to this shift in search technology, the new goal of modern search optimization strategies is to create content that can be easily digested and summarized by AI-powered search systems. In fact, many users now conduct zero-click searches where they never have to click on any search engine result pages (SERPs) — a June 2026 SparkToro and Similarweb study found that 68% of US Google searches ended without a click in the first four months of the year, the fastest two-year acceleration the researchers have recorded. This heavy reliance on AI-generated answers means that brand mentions are the most important metric for AI visibility success.

Optimizing Your Content for AI Visibility

Identifying the Right Prompts

The first way to optimize your content for AI visibility is by identifying the right prompts that users actually search. Think of some of the most important questions that buyers will ask before purchasing one of your products. Categorize these prompts based on how informed your customer is at each stage of the decision-making process. Prioritize prompts with the most commercial intent, and make sure that your content answers these prompts.

Mapping Query Fan-Outs

When an AI-powered search engine is asked to search the internet for information, it often conducts several adjacent related searches in addition to the target query. It then digests the answers to this query fan-out in order to generate a comprehensive answer for the user’s main question. When you are testing prompts, use in-model or third-party tools to see what additional searches an LLM is using. That info is invaluable for better focusing your content.

Extractable Passages

Instead of just ranking pages, AI-powered search systems are looking for passages that they can extract to answer the query fan-outs for a user’s main query. They are still drawing from a retrieval pool built on some traditional SEO basics, but every page your brand posts should be made of extractable passages. If you do, these systems can map individual sections cleanly onto the sub-queries that the LLM generates.

To ensure extractable passages, you should organize your content into short and easy-to-read sections. It is also helpful to use structures that AI systems find particularly easy to parse. These include FAQ sections, bulleted lists, content broken into subheadings under the main heading, etc.

Brand Authority

Search engines are also more likely to surface your content if they believe that your brand is an authoritative source. The first step to building authority is to focus your content on fact-based conclusions and analysis. At the same time, you should also provide the most accurate and comprehensive answer to potential user queries.

Brands are also seen as more authoritative if they have a consistent and specific content focus, because that demonstrates topical authority. Getting backlinks from trusted and established sources in your industry will also help convince AI systems that your site is authoritative.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is about optimizing your website’s infrastructure so that AI-powered search systems can easily crawl and index your content. Everything should load quickly, content needs to be mobile-friendly, and there should be clear headings and structures. Poor loading times, coding errors, and structure issues will make your content harder for machines to navigate.

When coding your site, a main focus should be placed on making everything easy to access and having canonical tags so that there is no chance of duplicate content. If this part of AI visibility sounds too daunting, you and your team can hire a premium AEO agency that specializes in technical SEO.

Protecting Your Brand in AI Search

Cybersecurity Software

The easiest way to protect your brand in the era of AI search is by installing the right cybersecurity software. Install a multi-pronged security program that blocks malicious AI bots from accessing your content while still allowing AI-powered search systems to access and digest content as needed. Such cybersecurity software blocks bot attacks, separates authentic users out, and audits your content to see what percentage of your content is viewable by AI. Customize which program you use based on your brand’s needs.

Internal AI Guardrails

At the same time, it is also best practice to install some basic internal guardrails around AI use. Set clear policies on when AI can be used to create or edit content, and try your best to exclude even light AI editing when creating landing pages and other crucial content. Double-check that only high-quality AI tools are being used and that your brand’s content is not being secretly used to train AI.

Copyrighting and Trademarking

Your brand can also be protected from AI theft and replication through standard copyrighting and trademarking. Start by registering your brand’s logos, domain names, products, and even certain parts of your content. After that registration is complete, you can also use certain trademark-tracking tools to help prevent your content from being scraped.

Key Takeaways

The implementation of AI has totally shifted the online search landscape, and many users rely on generated answers instead of clicking through search engine results pages. Instead of ranking high in search, the goal of modern SEO strategies is now to optimize content so that it can be easily digested and summarized by AI systems. Brands will experience better growth if they adapt to this new goal, and they can simultaneously protect their content through custom cybersecurity software, internal AI guardrails, and copyrighting.

The post Adapting to AI-Powered Search: Building Growth While Preserving Your Brand appeared first on LAFFAZ.

For most of the last decade, a D2C founder’s growth story followed a predictable arc: launch in Bengaluru or Mumbai, chase Instagram-led discovery among a young, high-income metro audience, then “expand” into smaller cities once the brand had proven itself. That sequence is starting to invert. According to Unicommerce’s FY26 analysis of over 400 million order items across more than 6,000 digitally native brands, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities accounted for nearly two-thirds of new D2C orders in the financial year, and around 60 percent of incremental gross merchandise value over the previous year. India’s overall D2C order volumes grew 33 percent year-on-year, with GMV up 32 percent, in a market currently sized between $10 billion and $12 billion and projected to reach roughly $60 billion by 2030.

The data behind the shift

The Unicommerce numbers aren’t an isolated data point. A separate industry study, SGA PR’s “Pulse 2026” report, unveiled at the Bharat Startup Summit, found that categories once considered strictly metro business — protein nutrition, premium skincare, wellness supplements — are now seeing strong adoption in smaller cities including Indore, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore and Udaipur. The report pegs India’s broader retail market at a path to $1.5 trillion by 2030, growing at a 9–10 percent CAGR through FY30, with digital-first brands still capturing only a modest share of that pie — meaning the runway for non-metro D2C growth is, on paper, still early.

Some of this is simple infrastructure catching up. Return-to-origin rates on D2C orders — long a tax on smaller-city expansion because of cash-on-delivery risk and address-verification issues — fell from nearly 39 percent in the November 2025 festive season to about 21 percent by February 2026, per logistics platform Shipway’s data. Smartphone penetration in Tier-2 cities has crossed 70 percent, and household incomes in these markets have grown by close to 40 percent since 2018 — the kind of purchasing-power shift that turns “aspirational” categories into everyday ones.

What it looks like on the ground

Data on MILLD, the high-protein atta brand founded by Sivaram Briyas and EaseMyTrip co-founder Prashant Pitti, tracks closely with the macro numbers. Nine months after its November 2025 launch, MILLD’s five largest metro markets contribute just 38 percent of total orders — the rest comes from cities such as Mohali, Nagpur, Dehradun, Bhopal, Raipur and Vadodara, several of which saw order volumes rise six to nine times between December 2025 and June 2026. Nearly half of MILLD’s transactions now come from repeat customers, suggesting the smaller-city demand isn’t a one-time discovery spike but a sustained buying pattern.

That kind of trajectory complicates an old assumption in Indian D2C: that a functional nutrition brand needs a metro, gym-going audience before it can scale. MILLD’s growth suggests the opposite — that protein-forward, health-positioned products can find their fastest adopters in cities with no legacy “fitness culture” marketing to compete against.

Founders are already rewriting the playbook

The shift is starting to reshape how brands plan distribution and marketing from day one, rather than treating non-metro markets as a later-stage expansion. Regional-language content, local logistics partnerships and community-first trust-building — as opposed to paid performance marketing calibrated for metro CACs — are increasingly built into launch plans rather than bolted on afterward. Over 70 percent of India’s internet users consume content in regional languages, a data point that’s pushing D2C marketing teams to treat English-first Instagram campaigns as a metro-only tool rather than a default.

There’s a second, quieter shift buried in the SGA PR findings: consumers in these markets are described as moving beyond celebrity-led branding toward ingredient-conscious, outcome-driven purchase decisions. That sits in some tension with brands like MILLD leaning on a celebrity ambassador (Milind Soman) to drive awareness — a reminder that a well-matched ambassador can still open a market, but retention in Tier-2/3 India increasingly depends on product substance holding up once the initial curiosity wears off.

The road ahead

None of this means metro markets are becoming irrelevant — they remain the highest-value customers by average order size for most categories. But the growth curve has clearly shifted. For founders raising their next round, or currently deciding where to spend their first performance-marketing rupee, the numbers point to a straightforward conclusion: the brand that wins Bhopal in 2026 may be building something just as durable as the one that once won Bandra.

FAQs

What share of India’s D2C growth now comes from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities?

Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets accounted for roughly 66 percent of new D2C orders and about 60 percent of incremental GMV in FY26, according to Unicommerce’s analysis of over 400 million order items.

How big is India’s D2C market expected to become?

Industry estimates put the current market at $10–12 billion, with projections of roughly $60 billion by 2030 as digital adoption and non-metro demand continue to widen.

Which categories are seeing the strongest Tier-2/3 adoption?

Protein nutrition, premium skincare and wellness supplements — categories once considered metro-only — are showing strong uptake in cities like Indore, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore and Udaipur.

Is celebrity endorsement still effective in these markets?

It still drives initial awareness, but industry data suggests Tier-2/3 consumers are increasingly ingredient-conscious and outcome-driven, meaning product substance matters more for retention than star power alone.

The post Why India’s Next D2C Winners Are Being Built In Indore, Not Indiranagar appeared first on LAFFAZ.

ⓘ Editor’s note: LAFFAZ covers Camilla Araujo’s exit from OnlyFans as a creator-economy business story — specifically what happened next, when she turned her personal brand into a paid mentorship product. This piece does not link to or describe explicit content; all facts are drawn from her own public statements and named on-record sources.

Camilla Araujo announced she was leaving OnlyFans on Instagram on December 22, 2025, then formalized the exit on New Year’s Day with a nearly 15-minute YouTube documentary titled “Becoming Her” that passed 600,000 views within 24 hours. In it, Araujo said she’d built the account into 30 million followers and over $20 million in earnings across three years, then walked away from it at the peak.

The documentary leaned hard into her immigrant-family backstory — Brazilian parents, a one-bedroom apartment shared by four people, and a childhood built around getting her into college. She’s said the earnings let her help her parents retire and buy a home. Before OnlyFans, she’d already had one moment of mainstream visibility: appearing as “Player 067” in a MrBeast Squid Game recreation video.

“Over the last three years, I’ve gained over 30 million followers and made over $20 million. And yeah, mostly through OnlyFans. But today, I quit. But the reason probably isn’t what you think,” said Araujo in the video documentary

“I didn’t leave OnlyFans out of regret. I left because I grew.” she added

The Pivot: From Creator to Course-Seller

The same week as the documentary, Araujo opened applications for Becoming Her, a paid social-media mentorship program at BecomingHer.co, which she described as teaching the “Viral Content Formula” behind her earnings. She claimed over 50,000 people applied on launch night alone.

That’s a familiar move in the creator economy — a personal brand converting audience trust into a paid education product — but the pricing structure is what triggered scrutiny. According to reporting on the application funnel, applicants are asked how much they’re willing to invest, ranging from roughly $1,000 to $4,500; choosing under $2,500 routes them to a $67 self-guided guide, while anything above that threshold triggers a follow-up sales call. Other reports put the top tier as high as $8,000.

The Backlash

Fellow creator Forrest Smith went through the application process publicly and posted her findings on TikTok, calling out the program’s “interview” framing as a pressure tactic:

“That’s just a strategy to make you feel special so you’re more willing to spend $2K to $5K on a course.” — Forrest Smith, via TikTok

Smith and other users also flagged that the application asked for sensitive financial details — including credit score and weekly income — before granting access to pricing, and that the “limited spots” scarcity messaging didn’t hold up to scrutiny. Some commenters went further, calling the structure a “pay in pyramid scheme.” Araujo and her team have not publicly responded to the scam allegations; outlets including People confirmed they’d reached out for comment without response as of publication.

Why This Matters Beyond One Creator

Araujo’s situation is a clean case study in a pattern that’s becoming common across the creator economy: platform-native income is volatile and reputationally risky, so successful creators increasingly try to convert their audience into a second, more “legitimate”-looking business — coaching, courses, agencies. The tension is that the sales mechanics of that second business (application funnels, urgency messaging, tiered pricing gated behind income disclosure) are borrowed directly from high-ticket info-product marketing, a category with its own long history of predatory-practice complaints. Whether Becoming Her holds up as a real business or fades under the scrutiny will likely say more about that broader shift than about Araujo individually.

Camilla Araujo FAQ

How much did Camilla Araujo earn on OnlyFans?

She said in her documentary that she earned over $20 million across three years, mostly through OnlyFans, while building a following of over 30 million.

What is Camilla Araujo’s Becoming Her course?

It’s a paid social-media mentorship program launched January 1, 2026, priced between roughly $1,000 and $8,000 depending on the tier, teaching content-growth strategy.

Why is Becoming Her facing scam accusations?

Critics, including fellow creator Forrest Smith, have pointed to high-pressure sales tactics, requests for applicants’ credit scores and income, and content they say is available for free elsewhere.

Has Camilla Araujo responded to the backlash?

Not publicly in detail as of this writing; multiple outlets reported reaching out for comment without a response.

Conclusion

The documentary got the attention. The course is what will decide whether this becomes a genuine second act or a cautionary tale about monetizing an audience’s trust twice.

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Smallest.ai, the Bengaluru-based voice AI company, has raised $13 million in a Series A round led by Seligman Ventures, with participation from existing backers Sierra Ventures and 3one4 Capital, alongside Better Capital, Upsparks Capital, Schema Ventures, Tiny VC, DeVC and Mission Street Capital. The round takes the company’s total funding past $21 million.

Voice AI is one of the more crowded corners of enterprise AI right now, and Smallest.ai is a minnow next to the category’s better-funded names — rival ElevenLabs raised $500 million in February alone, and Fish Audio recently pulled in $52 million for its open-source speech platform. What Smallest.ai is selling instead is architecture: a real-time speech-to-speech system built to process listening, reasoning and response in parallel rather than waiting for a full audio clip before generating a reply, aimed at cutting the latency that makes AI voice agents sound robotic on calls with financial services, healthcare and contact-centre customers.

Founded by IIT Guwahati graduates Sudarshan Kamath (CEO) and Akshat Mandloi (CTO), Smallest.ai raised an $8 million seed round in October 2025 led by Sierra Ventures to build its low-latency Lightning algorithm and 4-billion-parameter Electron v2 model. A May hardware partnership with Tenstorrent claimed the ability to run 550 simultaneous voice calls for roughly $27,000 on 27 P100 accelerators, versus close to $100,000 on 11 NVIDIA L40S GPUs for comparable throughput — a cost argument the company is leaning on hard as it courts regulated industries where call volumes are high and margins on automation are thin.

Also Read: River Mobility raises $120 Mn Series C led by Elev8, Claypond

“Voice AI has gone through three generations of innovation, but each generation has ultimately hit the same wall. The industry has focused on making models larger when the real challenge is architectural. Humans don’t wait for someone to finish speaking before they begin thinking. We listen, think, and respond simultaneously. Voice AI needs to work the same way. That’s why we built Smallest.ai around a real-time architecture that processes speech as it arrives, enabling faster, more natural conversations without sacrificing intelligence. By rethinking the stack instead of simply scaling models, we’re reducing latency to the point where voice interactions feel genuinely human.” said Sudarshan Kamath, founder and CEO of Smallest.ai

The company, which currently employs close to 60 people, plans to use the fresh capital for product development, hiring and commercial expansion across financial services, healthcare, contact centres and business process outsourcing. With less than 1% of global voice interactions currently AI-powered, against a market industry forecasts expect to grow from $2.4 billion in 2024 to $47.5 billion by 2034, Smallest.ai’s bet is that architecture and cost efficiency can carve out enterprise share even against rivals with far deeper war chests.

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Vaaree, the Bengaluru-based home décor and furnishings marketplace, has raised ₹65 crore (around $6.6 million) in a Series A round led by Hero Enterprise, the investment arm of the Hero Group, and Cap Alpha Ventures (formerly Client Associates Alternate Fund), with existing backers Peak XV’s Surge, PeerCapital, All In Capital, Better Capital, OTP Ventures and entrepreneur Kunal Shah also participating.

India’s online home décor category has long struggled with a discovery problem rather than a supply one — the products exist, but buyers rarely trust how something will actually look in their own space until it arrives. Vaaree’s answer is VibeCheck, an AI-powered discovery layer that lets shoppers build moodboards, visualise product combinations and shop curated looks rather than browsing a flat product catalogue. The fresh capital will go toward expanding VibeCheck alongside fulfilment and quality-verification centres, part of a push toward next-day delivery in major Indian cities.

Founded in 2022 by Varun Vohra, Garima Luthra and Pranav Arora, Vaaree runs a curated marketplace of more than 1.5 lakh products spanning décor, furnishings, bed and bath, kitchen and lighting, working with a selective slice of manufacturers that meet its quality and design standards rather than listing everything available. The round follows a $4.6 million pre-Series A last year and an earlier $4 million seed led by Peak XV’s Surge, giving the company a fairly conventional early-stage trajectory before this larger institutional round brought in a strategic name in Hero Enterprise.

Also Read: HomeRun raises $12 Mn Series A+ led by Nexus Venture Partners

“The problem in home category is not a lack of products. It is the lack of confidence customers feel while putting a space together. Most people know how they want their home to feel but translating that into the right products is difficult. With VibeCheck, we want to give every Indian access to a personal home stylist, one that understands their taste, helps them visualize complete spaces and makes every recommendation instantly shoppable. This funding allows us to strengthen both sides of that experience: technology that makes home styling simpler and fulfilment infrastructure that gets those products to customers faster,” said Varun Vohra, Co-founder, Vaaree.

Hero Enterprise’s involvement adds a manufacturing and consumer-brand pedigree to the cap table that pure financial investors don’t bring, and Munjal’s own framing of the deal — betting on Vaaree’s supply chain and quality-assurance discipline as much as its AI layer — suggests the round is as much about operational credibility as capital. For a category where trust in what arrives at the door has historically been the biggest drag on conversion, that combination of AI-led discovery and a strategic investor focused on supply chain rigour is a reasonably specific bet on where the next round of growth in Indian home décor e-commerce will come from.

“Vaaree is addressing a large and highly fragmented market with a differentiated, technology-led platform. The company has built a world-class supply chain and a robust quality assurance framework, while leveraging technology to curate its product assortment, personalize the customer experience, and simplify what is often an overwhelming home styling journey,” said Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Enterprise.

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Arboreal Bioinnovations, a Lucknow-based specialty food and nutraceutical ingredients company, has raised ₹230 crore (over $24 million) in a Series A round co-led by EAAA Alternatives, the alternatives investment arm of Edelweiss, and agrifood-focused Omnivore, with existing investor Rainmatter by Zerodha also participating.

The size of the round stands out in a segment that rarely sees Series A cheques this large. India’s specialty ingredients industry has quietly become one of the more capital-intensive corners of the food-tech ecosystem, as consumer packaged goods companies push suppliers to deliver science-backed alternatives — sugar-reduction systems, alternative proteins, cocoa-based ingredients — fast enough to keep pace with shifting nutrition labels and health-conscious demand. Building that kind of ingredient engineering and precision manufacturing capability upfront costs more than a typical software or D2C Series A, which is part of why investors are willing to write outsized early checks into companies that can prove out the science.

Founded in 2018 by Swati Pandey and Manish Chauhan, Arboreal runs an integrated platform spanning ingredient engineering, process R&D, formulation science and precision manufacturing, and says it has supported more than 300 product launches for over 1,100 B2B customers across food, beverage and nutraceutical categories. The Series A is also the first investment out of EAAA’s second Discovery Fund, which closed above ₹1,200 crore — meaning Arboreal effectively became the debut bet for a freshly capitalised pool of money specifically built to back category-defining businesses.

Also Read: Mitti Labs raises $9.5 Mn Series A led by Aramco Ventures

“This fundraise is a strong validation of the direction we are taking as a company. It gives us the fuel to accelerate our mission of building clean, science-led solutions that address some of the world’s most pressing nutritional and food challenges, with innovation originating in India and reaching consumers globally.” said Swati Pandey, Co-founder & CEO, Arboreal Bioinnovations

The company plans to direct the capital toward expanding manufacturing capacity, deepening R&D, and speeding up commercialisation of its next generation of functional ingredients. For a Discovery Fund built to find and back category leaders early, Arboreal’s ability to already claim 1,100 customers and 300 product launches likely mattered more than the ticket size — it suggests the science has cleared commercial validation, leaving capital as the remaining constraint on scale.

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River Mobility, the Bengaluru-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer, has raised $120 million in a Series C round comprising equity and venture debt, one of the largest private funding rounds yet in India’s electric two-wheeler segment. The equity portion was led by Elev8 Venture Partners and Claypond Capital, with participation from Singularity AMC, Anicut Capital, 360 ONE Asset, JIF Capital and HDFC AMC, while existing global backers Yamaha Motor Corporation, Al Futtaim Group and Mitsui & Co also returned. Alteria Capital, InnoVen Capital and Stride Ventures joined through venture debt.

The round is notable less for its size than for whose money is in it. Since its Series A, River had raised almost entirely from global names — Yamaha, Marubeni, Mitsui, Al Futtaim, Lowercarbon Capital, Toyota Ventures, Maniv Mobility — a foreign-capital-heavy cap table that is fairly unusual for an Indian EV manufacturer at this stage. This Series C marks River’s first significant backing from Indian institutional investors, a shift that suggests domestic capital is now willing to underwrite electric two-wheeler manufacturing at scale rather than leaving that risk to strategic automotive investors and international climate funds.

Founded in March 2021 by Aravind Mani and Vipin George, River has built its business around a single flagship model, the utility-focused electric scooter Indie, launched in 2023, rather than spreading across a wide product range early. The company raised $15 million in its Series A in June 2023 and $40 million in a Series B led by Yamaha in February 2024, giving it a fairly conventional funding cadence before this considerably larger Series C. Founder and CEO Aravind Mani told TechCrunch that less than 10-12% of the round was venture debt and that the equity portion was entirely primary capital, with no secondary share sales — a detail that matters because it means existing shareholders aren’t cashing out, and all $120 million is going into the company rather than partly to early investors exiting.

“This funding marks an important milestone in River’s journey. The confidence shown by both our existing and new investors reinforces our belief that there is tremendous opportunity to build India’s first utility and design based mobility brand,” said Aravind Mani, co-founder and CEO of River Mobility

The fresh capital will fund capacity expansion at River’s existing manufacturing facility, a new greenfield plant, new products in the utility lifestyle segment, and a push toward gross margin expansion and EBITDA profitability — the last two signalling that River, like most of India’s EV two-wheeler makers, is still working toward unit-level profitability rather than having already reached it. With India’s electric two-wheeler market moving past early adoption into what investors are now calling a defining growth phase, River’s bet is that a single well-executed model and vertically integrated manufacturing can hold ground against rivals selling across far broader product lines.

“The electric two-wheeler market in India is entering a defining growth phase, driven by strong consumer adoption, improving economics, and increasing demand for differentiated products. River stands out for its sharp product thinking, exceptional execution capability, and a highly differentiated positioning in the market. Aravind, Vipin and the team have built a brand that resonates deeply with consumers looking for brilliant design, utility and durability. We believe River is well-positioned to emerge as one of the defining EV companies from India.” said Navin Honagudi, Managing Partner, Elev8 Venture Partners

“River has combined disciplined execution and thoughtful product differentiation to rapidly grow and garner customer love in a competitive market. We are excited to support the team as they scale further while contributing to the country’s energy transition and domestic manufacturing ambitions.” said Sekhar Garisa, Managing Director, Claypond Capital

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HomeRun, the Bengaluru-based quick commerce startup for construction and interior materials, has raised $12 million in a Series A+ round led by Nexus Venture Partners, with existing backers Sorin Investments, Titan Capital, Sparrow Capital and Consumer Collective by Atrium also participating. The company has not disclosed its post-money valuation or the dilution the round represents.

The pace of HomeRun’s fundraising says almost as much as the round itself. This is the company’s third priced round in roughly nine months — a ₹9 crore seed in November 2025, a ₹60 crore ($6.6 million) Series A led by Sorin Investments in February 2026, and now this Series A+ — taking its total disclosed capital to around $19.6 million against an operating footprint that, as of its last public snapshot, was still confined to five dark stores in a single city. That capital-to-footprint gap is the central bet Nexus is underwriting: that construction materials, a category still dominated by fragmented neighbourhood hardware stores and cement-brand exclusive dealers, can be pulled onto a hyperlocal delivery model the way groceries and pharmacy already have been, and that HomeRun can prove that quickly enough to justify raising this far ahead of its city count.

Founded by Pukhraj Singh Grewal, who previously ran construction-labour marketplace Project Hero before winding it down and pivoting into materials delivery in December 2024, HomeRun promises 60-90 minute delivery of cement, tiles, plywood, wires and paints across roughly 105 pincodes in Bengaluru, sourced through authorised dealers with an all-electric delivery fleet. The company has reported an average order value of around ₹7,000 and more than 100,000 fulfilled orders to date, alongside a claimed 8X growth over the past year — though it has not specified whether that growth figure refers to orders, gross merchandise value or revenue.

Unlike grocery quick commerce, where a single delivery might weigh a few kilograms, HomeRun’s per-order logistics carry cement bags, plywood boards and bulk wire spools — cargo that is structurally heavier and costlier to move, which means the reported average order value alone doesn’t confirm the unit economics are contribution-positive once dark-store rent and inventory holding are factored in. The fresh capital is earmarked for entering new cities beyond Bengaluru, deepening the supply chain, and expanding the product catalogue, with Hyderabad and Pune flagged as likely next markets. The category is filling in fast: rival Fixxly closed a $5.5 million seed from Accel, Fireside Ventures and Lightspeed India Partners in late July with a September launch planned, while established B2B platforms Infra.Market and JSW One MSME already hold considerably deeper balance sheets in adjacent segments.

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Mitti Labs, a climate-tech company headquartered in New York with operations run out of Bengaluru, has raised $9.5 million in a Series A round led by Aramco Ventures, the venture arm of Saudi Aramco, marking the fund’s first investment in India. Returning investor Lightspeed India was joined by first-time backers Godrej Industries Group, Cisco Foundation, Francis Family Fund and Volta Circle, taking Mitti Labs’ total raised to $12.5 million.

The round is a fairly specific bet on where climate-tech capital is heading next. Rice covers roughly a fifth of Asia’s cultivated land, consumes more than 30% of the world’s irrigation water, and is one of agriculture’s largest single sources of methane because of how continuously flooded paddies work — yet the vast majority of that farming happens on fragmented plots under two hectares, where reliable data on water use, yields and emissions has historically not existed at all. Mitti Labs’ pitch is that satellite radar and AI can generate that missing data at the level of an individual field rather than an entire region, turning what used to be an unmeasurable problem into one large companies can actually underwrite and pay to fix.

Founded in 2023 by Xavier Laguarta Soler, Devdut Dalal and Nate Torbick, Mitti Labs runs a GeoAI platform, developed with NASA support, that fuses high-resolution synthetic aperture radar imagery with years of field-collected ground truth to build digital twins of individual rice plots — tracking soil moisture, flooding and crop health remotely across smallholder farms that have never had this kind of monitoring before. The company says its programs have grown from around 8,000 participating farmers in their 2024 debut season to more than 100,000 across several Indian states today, and that the water-saving irrigation techniques it promotes, primarily alternate wetting and drying, can cut water consumption by roughly 40% and methane emissions by more than half without reducing yields. Clients already paying for that data include carbon marketplace Cool Effect, rice producer Ebro Foods and agrochemical company Syngenta.

“Rice covers a fifth of Asia’s cultivated land, and it is both a major source of methane and one of the most water-intensive crops grown. Changing farming practices is not easy, but the harder part has been knowing what is actually happening in the fields across millions of small farms. That is what Mitti Labs’ AI and satellite technology aims to solve.” said Zayed AlAmri, Executive Managing Director of Aramco Ventures

“Solving the world’s water crisis requires bringing together smallholder farmers, industry stakeholders, governments, and nonprofits to transform how rice is grown. With its unique technology and vast network of farmer-partners, Mitti Labs can unlock new revenue opportunities tied to this transition and help build the future of rice,” said Hemant Mohapatra, Partner at Lightspeed India.

“As an investor deeply rooted in India, we know firsthand how critical water resilience is for farming communities. Mitti Labs has built a remarkable model that leverages technology towards securing the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. This model has the potential to reshape rice farming all over Asia,” said Burjis Godrej, Chairperson of Godrej Agrovet

With the fresh capital, Mitti Labs plans to deepen its footprint across India while launching greenfield projects in the Philippines later this year, followed by Indonesia and other Southeast Asian markets in 2027 — expansion that would let it serve compliance carbon markets, where emissions cuts are legally mandated, alongside the voluntary market it currently operates in. For an oil major’s venture arm, backing a methane-measurement startup working India’s rice belt is a comparatively small cheque, but it signals that water and emissions accounting in agriculture has become a cost line serious enough for energy companies to want a stake in the tools that measure it.

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Smart buildings are transforming the way businesses operate. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global smart buildings market is expected to grow from over $120 billion in 2024 to more than $300 billion by 2032, driven by demand for automation, energy efficiency, and connected technologies. At the same time, commercial properties continue to face growing security risks. The FBI reported more than 847,000 burglary offenses in the United States in its latest crime statistics, while insider threats, unauthorized access, and after-hours incidents remain common concerns for offices, warehouses, healthcare facilities, and corporate campuses.

Modern commercial buildings are no longer just physical spaces. They are connected ecosystems filled with employees, visitors, sensitive business data, expensive equipment, and critical infrastructure. Traditional cameras that simply record footage are no longer enough because they only help after an incident has already occurred.

This is where AI-powered commercial security systems are changing the game. A 2025 security trends survey from ASIS International, the leading nonprofit association for security professionals, found that among security teams already using AI, roughly a third reported it helped automate incident response and expand perimeter-monitoring capacity, freeing frontline staff from routine patrolling. By combining intelligent video analytics, access control, and automated alerts, businesses can identify threats in real time, respond faster, and improve operational efficiency.

In this article, you’ll learn why AI-powered security is becoming essential for smart commercial buildings, the biggest benefits it offers, and how businesses are using it to create safer and more efficient workplaces.

1. Smart Buildings Need Security That Can Think in Real Time

A modern commercial building can generate thousands of security events every day. Employees badge into offices, visitors arrive throughout the day, deliveries are made, contractors access restricted areas, and cleaning staff work after hours. Monitoring all of these activities manually is nearly impossible.

AI changes this by continuously analyzing live video instead of simply recording it. Rather than waiting for someone to review footage after an incident, AI identifies unusual behaviour as it happens.

For example, AI can detect:

• Someone entering a restricted area.
• A person remaining in a sensitive location longer than expected.
• Movement inside a building after business hours.
• Unauthorized access attempts.

This allows security teams to respond within minutes instead of discovering problems hours later.

A good example is Coram’s commercial security systems, which combine AI-powered video surveillance, cloud-based access control, emergency response, and centralized management into a single platform. Instead of replacing existing infrastructure, the platform integrates cameras, access events, and alerts into one dashboard, helping organizations monitor multiple commercial sites while automatically detecting incidents such as forced entry, tailgating, or after-hours access.

2. Faster Threat Detection Reduces Business Risk

Time is one of the biggest factors during a security incident.

Whether someone forces open a door, enters a server room without authorization, or attempts to steal equipment, every minute matters.

Traditional systems usually require security staff to notice the problem first. AI continuously monitors every connected camera and instantly sends alerts when suspicious activity matches predefined conditions.

For example, instead of reviewing several hours of surveillance footage after an incident, security teams receive immediate notifications with video evidence attached.

This faster response helps businesses:

• Prevent theft before it escalates
• Reduce property damage
• Improve employee safety
• Minimize operational disruptions

For large office buildings, manufacturing facilities, and corporate campuses, these few minutes can prevent significant financial losses.

3. AI Makes Access Control Much Smarter

Controlling who enters a commercial building has become increasingly difficult.

Modern organizations manage employees, contractors, visitors, delivery personnel, maintenance workers, and temporary staff, each requiring different access permissions.

AI-powered systems add intelligence to traditional access control by connecting entry events with video verification.

Instead of simply recording that a badge was used, security teams can immediately see:

• Who entered
• When they entered
• Whether someone followed behind without authorization
• What happened immediately after access was granted

This creates a much stronger security process while reducing manual investigations.

For organizations operating across multiple buildings, centralized access management also makes it easier to update permissions, remove inactive credentials, and maintain consistent security policies.

4. AI Reduces the Workload for Security Teams

Many commercial properties continue to expand while security departments remain relatively small.

Monitoring dozens or even hundreds of cameras for an entire shift is both difficult and exhausting. Human attention naturally declines after long periods of repetitive monitoring.

AI helps by filtering out routine activity and highlighting only events that actually require attention.

Instead of watching live video continuously, security teams focus only on meaningful alerts such as:

• Forced entry attempts
• Unauthorized access
• Loitering in restricted areas
• Suspicious movement after business hours

This not only improves response times but also allows existing staff to manage much larger facilities without significantly increasing operating costs.

5. Commercial Security Is Now About Business Intelligence

Modern AI systems do more than improve physical security.

They also generate operational insights that help businesses improve efficiency.

For example, organizations can understand:

• Which entrances experience the highest traffic
• Peak visitor hours
• Areas with frequent unauthorized access attempts
• Employee movement patterns
• Facility usage across different times of the day

These insights help facility managers optimize staffing, improve visitor management, adjust building operations, and identify potential bottlenecks.

Instead of security data remaining isolated, it becomes valuable information that supports better business decisions.

6. AI Helps Commercial Buildings Scale More Easily

As organizations grow, their security requirements become much more complex.

Opening new offices traditionally meant purchasing additional hardware, configuring multiple systems, and managing each location independently.

Cloud-based AI platforms simplify expansion by allowing administrators to manage multiple sites from one dashboard.

Whether a company operates:

• Five offices
• Twenty retail locations
• Multiple warehouses
• National corporate campuses

Administrators can apply consistent security policies, manage user permissions, monitor live events, and investigate incidents from a centralized interface.

This makes scaling significantly easier while maintaining consistent protection across every location.

7. AI Improves Emergency Response

Security incidents rarely happen in isolation.

A single event may require security teams, building managers, emergency responders, and executives to coordinate quickly.

AI-powered commercial security systems help automate this process.

Instead of relying on manual communication, modern systems can immediately:

• Trigger security alerts
• Lock sensitive areas
• Share live video with authorized personnel
• Record every access event
• Provide real-time visibility during emergencies

This coordinated response reduces confusion during critical situations and allows businesses to protect employees while minimizing disruption to operations.

Key Takeaways

• Smart buildings require proactive security instead of passive surveillance.
• AI detects suspicious behaviour in real time instead of relying on manual monitoring.
• Intelligent access control improves both security and accountability.
• AI reduces investigation time while helping security teams focus on genuine threats.
• Commercial security data can also improve operational efficiency and business decision-making.
• Cloud-based platforms simplify security management across multiple buildings.
• Automated emergency response helps organizations react faster during critical incidents.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are commercial security systems?

Commercial security systems are integrated technologies that help businesses protect buildings, employees, visitors, and assets. They typically include surveillance cameras, access control, alarms, and increasingly, AI-powered analytics for real-time threat detection.

Why are AI-powered commercial security systems better than traditional CCTV?

Traditional CCTV primarily records footage for later review. AI-powered systems actively analyze live video, detect unusual behaviour, send instant alerts, and automate security responses, allowing businesses to prevent incidents rather than simply investigate them afterward.

Can AI security systems work with existing cameras?

Many modern AI security platforms are designed to integrate with existing IP camera infrastructure, reducing the need for expensive hardware replacements while adding advanced analytics and automation capabilities.

Which businesses benefit the most from AI commercial security systems?

Office buildings, healthcare facilities, warehouses, manufacturing plants, retail stores, corporate campuses, logistics centers, and mixed-use commercial properties can all benefit from AI-powered security because they manage large numbers of people, assets, and access points.

Conclusion

As commercial buildings become smarter, security must evolve alongside them. Businesses can no longer rely on systems that simply record events after they happen. AI-powered commercial security systems provide real-time visibility, intelligent automation, faster incident response, and better operational insights, making them a valuable investment for organizations of every size. Properties with sophisticated, AI-driven security and building intelligence now command rental rates 8 to 12% higher than comparable properties still relying on traditional approaches, according to recent real estate industry data.

The question is no longer whether smart buildings should adopt AI-powered security. The real question is how long businesses can afford to operate without it.

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“You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” — Warren Buffett

I was recently invited as a Keynote Speaker for the DTU E-Summit ’26 at Delhi Technological University (Formerly Delhi College of Engineering), India.

The Speaker session was well put together by the E-Cell DTU Team, and the team and the audience queried on varied topics such as, including but not limited to, what differentiates startup ideas that remain ideas from those that become real companies, balancing growth with financial discipline and runway management, when not to fundraise during your startup journey, the skills every entrepreneur should master, and more.

The recorded session is shared below, as also some of the ideas are shared right after.

Though questions were taken up on varied topics, we will address when not to fundraise during one’s startup journey in this post.

A venture should ideally not raise Venture Capital (VC) when the business is not naturally suited to the VC model; some examples of the same being that the venture has not yet proven it’s basic product-market fit, it cannot credibly scale into a very large outcome, or the capital would mainly be used to survive/figure some of the basic things out rather than accelerate a clear growth engine. In practice, VC is a good fit and works best only when speed, scale, and a venture-sized exit are probable; otherwise, the dilution, board control, and pressure to grow fast can hurt the venture more than help it.

When Not to Raise Venture Capital

I. There are no clear indicators about the road to Product-Market Fit (PMF)

If customers are not consistently using, retaining, and paying for the product, VC money often ends up just funding more experimentation, instead of scaling something that already works. Accelerating or even maintaining the growth rate, vis-à-vis managing early numbers and traction, is easier said than done.

Cases where the ventures might still be able to make a solid case for VC pre-basic PMF include deep-tech, biotech, or platform-shift companies that must raise capital before, because the product itself requires heavy R&D or long timelines. In those cases, investors are considering and betting on future trends, the current pace of technological progress, and future market behaviour and timing.

II. The cap table is broken or too messy

If founders own too little, prior investors own too much, or there is dead equity and no clear governance, institutional investors may consider the round as hard to close or structurally difficult. Having politically, judicially, or bureaucratically affiliated leaders with significant equity on your cap table might also have less desirable effects on your fundraising efforts at the earliest stages. Needless to say, there should also be no significant equity for anyone, especially co-founders or core team members, with questions on their integrity in the past (everything will come up in due diligence).

Ideally, before your very first institutional fundraise happens, the founders and the founding team working full-time for the company should still have at least 70 – 80% of the company equity with them, so that even with succeeding fundraising rounds as everyone gets diluted, there is still enough incentive to carry on and take the results to the finish line, vis-à-vis generating returns, and/or exits, to the investors.

To redeem a broken cap table, one will have to fix this through rebalancing ownership, removing dead equity, or restructuring governance. Easier said than done, but harder to fundraise till this happens.

III. The market is too small or too slow, and the margins are razor-thin in a crowded market

After securing venture capital, most businesses invest in growth while improving unit economics over time. Given how much time, capital, and energy are required to translate into a massive outcome, chances are that low-margin, highly competitive businesses in a crowded or saturated market can end up burning cash without ever creating the venture capital-sized scale returns required for the investment to be considered successful. A solid business can still be a bad VC-Business fit if it is unlikely to reach the scale VCs need for their return profile within their fund cycle.

As Don Valentine would say, “Target Big Markets: If you don’t attack a big market, it’s highly unlikely you are ever going to build a big company.”

Do note that in cases where ventures are disrupting the current business landscape and creating a platform shift altogether, even though they might have thin unit economics early on in a market that is huge enough, the ventures can still improve upon and create some dominance or moat with volume, network effects, or infrastructure advantages. In such cases, a startup can make a credible case for venture capital if it has strong retention, a clear wedge, and a credible path to a large outcome, and where venture capital might work out for the stakeholders involved, including, and especially for, the investors. Two examples would be Reliance Jio in India and WhatsApp globally.

IV. Lack of focus on, or within, a single business

If you are a first-time founder managing 5+ different businesses at the same time, chances are that you are sacrificing your focus and the potential success outcome a fair bit.

Many eons back, I was part of the founding team with a friend who is a Marquis Who’s Who serial entrepreneur & global innovator (we were at least a decade early to the market, if not more), and we were planning to get into multiple sectors with customized innovative hardware-software offerings at scale for those sectors. I remember catching up with my good friend Yinglan, for whom I have the highest regard and respect, who shared with me that “At the earliest stages, if you focus even on ‘just two’ entirely different things, you might end up focussing on none.”

It’s one of those timeless pieces of advice that still holds.

It is tough enough to build a single venture (90% of the startups fail), and if the founders do not come across as wholly committed to going all out for a single venture and the outcome, it is only fair not to expect institutional investors to commit their capital to a single venture outcome, from amongst the multiple ventures where the focus might be getting divided.

Over time, as one gains more understanding of high-quality teams, putting in place the right incentives, management systems, processes, distribution, the domino effect, etc., one might be able to manage more than one business at a time. We will always have outliers like Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, and Brad Jacobs, amongst other good business leaders; but managing multiple businesses without the right foundation and frameworks first built in works less for most people than we might assume.

At the end of the day, one needs to take into account that the leaders in venture capital firms are also operating their own businesses, with returns to be generated for their Limited Partners (LPs) within their committed fund cycles. If the investment does not look like it can generate the kind of returns within the specified time period, more often than not, the venture is just not a fit for their investment thesis.

More often than not, one’s venture might not necessarily need a huge amount of capital to be invested at the starting line itself. If a company can reach profitability or meaningful scale (and if that happens to be the goal) with modest funding, venture capital might not really be required.

Also, given there are always exceptions, if you happen to be a serial entrepreneur with an exit track-record, or if you are a first-time high-quality founding team with integrity, who has this crazy vision about the future, and the execution chops to disrupt the status quo and make things happen, for all you know, despite all the odds and all the investment theses, you might still luck out and either still raise the funding, or make it to someone’s anti-portfolio.

Keep refining, keep building!

*Delhi Technological University (DTU), formerly Delhi College of Engineering (DCE), is amongst the leading technology institutions in India.

ⓘ The above article was originally published by Monce C. Abraham on his official portal.

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Pursue what catches your heart, not what catches your eyes. – Roy T. Bennett

A few years back, I was invited to be one of the Esteemed Speakers for the NSUT E-Summit ’20 at the Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT), India.

The Speaker session was well put together by the E-Cell NSUT Team, and the audience queried on varied topics such as, including but not limited to, whether every student needs to start a startup and where one finds the motivation to do so, prepping up to be an entrepreneur, building a diverse team and trying to raise funding from investors during the college years, and common reasons why startups fail.

The recorded session is shared below, as also some of the ideas are shared right after.

Though questions were taken up on varied topics, we will address whether every student needs to start a startup, and where one finds the motivation to do so.

Startups and The Pursuit of Entrepreneurship

I. There is no One Road to Success

Everyone is built differently, has different gifts and motivations, and their own journey to go through. What works for one might not necessarily work for others.

Not everyone needs to start a startup. In addition to choosing a goal that stretches you a bit (or more) beyond your current comfort zones, seeing the bigger picture and working for the longer term, hard and smart work, a bit of speed and timing, and a bit of luck, there is actually no playbook.

There is no ‘one road’ to success.

II. Entrepreneurship is not a job, it’s a lifestyle

As much as you would like to believe that the world of entrepreneurship is full of glamour and glory, the truth is, to make it work you will have to dive in head-on and work on it unlike anything you have ever been remotely passionate about.

Entrepreneurship seldom works part-time (9 AM – 5 PM, or, 7 PM to 2 AM) – once you have tested the waters and are convinced this is something you should be doing, there is only one way to go – diving right in. This means making the venture your full-time and all other initiatives part-time.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, you are always thinking of taking your venture to the next level and creating something worthwhile and good enough to be used outside your circle of immediate influence.

If you are not passionate enough to go the whole way, do yourself a favor, save yourself some heartache and misery… and don’t start up. If you love what you are getting into just enough to consider working on this the whole day, the whole week, and then the next 3 years (at least) without much hope of early signs of reward, go for it.

Keep your eyes and ears open, take feedback on your venture where you catch anything relevant, check with your gut feeling (this comes in quite handy when taking on tough decisions)… and keep on moving with what you know you have to do next.

Be ready to embrace rejection and disappointment too: You might be working super hard to make your vision come true and pulling out all stops, but sometimes things just aren’t meant to happen. Sometimes it’s the team, other times it’s the product-market fit, sometimes you might just run out of runway, and then again, sometimes the time for the idea might not have just come yet. Be prepared to see your life’s work burn before your eyes.

Remember you have chosen this path, and that you alone are responsible for all things that come with it. Get out of your comfort zone, expand your boundaries, and make things happen, and of course… enjoy whilst you are at it, you only have so little time.

The lack of motivation usually comes when you are pursuing someone else’s dream. Work on your dream, not on anyone else’s dream. – Monce C. Abraham

*Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT) is amongst the leading technology institutions in India.

ⓘ The above article was originally published by Monce C. Abraham on his official portal.

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Former Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni has invested in residential rooftop solar startup SolarSquare through his family office, Midas Deals, as part of the company’s recently closed $53 million Series C funding round. Dhoni will also join SolarSquare as its brand ambassador.

Founded by Shreya Mishra and Nikhil Nahar, Gurugram-based SolarSquare provides end-to-end rooftop solar solutions spanning consultation, installation, financing, monitoring, and after-sales support. The company says it has installed rooftop solar systems in more than 50,000 homes across 29 cities.

The Series C itself was led by Lightspeed, with participation from Lowercarbon Capital, NGP Capital, Elevation Capital, and existing investors. Following the round, SolarSquare plans to expand into 30 to 40 new cities, strengthen its technology platform, widen financing options, and invest further in customer service infrastructure.

Dhoni’s entry follows a pattern that has become increasingly common in Indian consumer-tech investing, where celebrity backers are brought in less for capital and more for the trust and reach they carry with first-time buyers. For a category like residential solar, where adoption still depends heavily on convincing homeowners to make an unfamiliar, high-ticket purchase, a widely recognised name attached to the brand can shortcut some of that consumer hesitation in ways a venture capital signature cannot.

The fresh capital will be used to expand SolarSquare’s presence and accelerate the adoption of residential rooftop solar across India, a market that remains underpenetrated relative to the government’s renewable energy targets despite growing urban demand for lower electricity bills and cleaner power sources.

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