Udisha Srivastav

Borderline case: Cosmetics from Pakistan breach Indian mkt, raise eyebrows

Drugs regulator says beauty creams from across the border are not registered, and contain excessive, toxic heavy metals

Celebrity investors move beyond endorsements, take equity in startups

Celebrities are increasingly taking equity stakes in Indian startups and getting involved in products, creative direction and brand-building beyond advertising

Handpickd eyes Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune expansion, targets 3-5x growth

The fresh produce platform plans to scale its zero-inventory model into three more metros and is targeting three-fold to five-fold year-on-year growth

Businesses divided on UPI MDR; retailers wary, quick commerce unfazed

Distributors flag concerns over the new UPI merchant charges, while quick-commerce firms expect limited impact as most transactions remain below the Rs 2,000 threshold

CCPA fines Rapido ₹10 lakh over dark patterns; Uber, Ola under review

The consumer protection authority found Rapido's pre-ride prompts and pricing interface steered riders towards paying more while their bookings were still being processed.

AI firm Flam raises $40 million in Series B round led by QED Investors

Flam plans to use the fresh capital for research and development of its AI models, expanding its product suite and scaling enterprise sales globally

Google picks 4 Indian startups for inaugural DeepMind AI accelerator

Google selects four Indian startups for its first DeepMind climate accelerator, backing AI-led solutions in agriculture, carbon removal and biodiversity

Brics 2026: Delhi Declaration backs startup fund, incubator network

Brics members back greater startup cooperation through a proposed innovation fund, incubator network and virtual platform for youth-led startups under the New Delhi Declaration

Appointment of RDI's second level fund managers in process: Jitendra Singh

The government had invited applications from venture capital funds and other organisations to become fund managers; the application process closed on January 31

Graph AI raises $13.3 million in Series A round to fuel global expansion

Insight Partners leads funding round, with Bessemer Venture Partners participating; company plans to accelerate expansion across the United States and Europe

TDB selects 13 cos under RDI fund's second cohort: Rajesh Kumar Pathak

TDB Secretary Rajesh Kumar Pathak talks about use of the fund, emerging areas of focus, safeguards against foreign takeovers, and measures to address conflicts of interest in the investment committee

Zomato's healthy food orders rise to 7.5% as younger users drive adoption

Healthy dishes now account for 7.5% of orders on Zomato, up from 5.3% two years ago, with users below 25 recording faster growth in adoption than older customers

Swiggy launches 24x7 customer helpline to report food safety concerns

The food delivery platform has also introduced a dedicated Food Safety channel within its in-app Help section, allowing customers to flag concerns over orders

Blinkit, Instamart raise dark-store capex as qcom shifts to larger hubs

Capex guidance per dark store has risen to around ₹2.5 crore from ₹1 crore as newer facilities exceed 5,000 sq ft and carry wider product assortments

Leanwatts raises ₹18.15 crore in seed funding led by Trivest Partners

The Hyderabad-based startup is also expanding its portfolio across public charging solutions, rectifiers, power modules, hybrid inverters and broader power conversion systems for the energy ecosystem

FSSAI crackdown spooks food businesses, compliance queries up 40%

Consultants report a 40 per cent increase in compliance-related queries since July

Swiggy's concierge platform Crew enters travel segment with AI support

The offering, available to paid members and invited travellers, provides AI-supported assistance with itineraries, reservations, transport and other travel needs

Cradlewise raises $12 million in Series A round led by 3one4 Capital

The AI-first health and wellness startup plans to use the fresh capital for growth, channel expansion, product research and development, and geographic expansion

Ecom, qcom, logistics firms ramp up hiring to meet festival demand

Meesho aims to enable over 10 lakh jobs, while Amazon has created more than 160,000 seasonal work opportunities across its India operations network

82% of India's Gen Z use AI tools weekly to learn new skills: Emeritus

Emeritus report finds 60 per cent of Gen Z respondents feel burned out by upskilling pressure, while interest in traditional study-abroad pathways is declining