Page 12 - Start Ups

Uber renews five-year Karnataka aggregator licence, valid till 2026

Renewal of Uber's aggregator licence under Karnataka's mobility rules provides regulatory certainty for the firm, allowing operations until December 2026 in a key Indian market

Pronto raises $25 million to expand instant-home services across cities

Epiq Capital leads the round; Pronto's daily bookings surge to over 18,000

SFO Tech raises ₹750 cr funding led by Trident Growth, Amicus Capital

The current capital-raise will be deployed to significantly expand manufacturing capacity over the next two years

Tattvam AI raises $1.7 million to speed up semiconductor chip design

Seedcamp-backed Tattvam AI is building a reasoning-driven AI system to automate complex semiconductor design tasks, aiming to compress multi-year development cycles into weeks

MeltPlan raises $10 mn in seed funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners

Seed round led by Bessemer backs MeltPlan's AI 'planning engine' to optimise preconstruction decisions across code, cost, schedule and value systems

Wootzwork raises $6.6 mn to bring predictability to offshore manufacturing

Wootzwork is scaling a new manufacturing model that gives global OEMs a single, accountable partner for complex industrial programmes across India and Southeast Asia

"Platforms that combine scale with sustainable unit economics will win"

Kapil Thirani, vice president for Shopsy and Flipkart Marketplace, shares insights about Flipkart's zero-commission push to capture India's value-conscious Gen Z and first-time rural shoppers

Xflow raises $16.6 mn in Series A at $85 million valuation led by GC

General Catalyst leads Xflow's $16.6 mn Series A at an $85 mn valuation, as the fintech backed by Stripe and PayPal Ventures plans expansion after a breakout year

TryfactaConnex to invest $7.7 bn in UP for AI infra, 1-GW data campus

TryfactaConnex has signed an MoU with the Uttar Pradesh government to launch a large-scale India AI infrastructure platform, investing $7.7 bn to build a 1-GW hyperscale data centre campus

Startups' reverse-flip plans taking a pause amid valuation reset, tax worry

Valuation reset, tax uncertainty slow their homecoming to India

How two engineers built Sarvam AI from an idea to a summit showcase

The summit spotlight was recent, but Sarvam AI's rise began years earlier, as two engineers built an India-first AI startup focused on sovereign models, local datasets and real-world applications

ePlane Company partners NVIDIA to build India's first electric air taxi

IIT Madras-incubated startup to use NVIDIA Omniverse and IGX platforms to build a digital twin of its e200x aircraft, accelerating simulation, autonomy testing and DGCA certification

Yotta Data Services plans to invest another $4 billion to buy 40,000 GPUs

Yotta plans a fresh $4 billion investment to buy 40,000 Nvidia GPUs, deepening India's AI compute push as government and global players scale up demand

ToneTag secures $5 mn from Qualcomm Ventures to scale sound-based payments

ToneTag raised $5 million from Qualcomm Ventures to expand its AI-driven, sound-based payment technology globally, building on rapid scale and billions in monthly transaction value

Truliv enters Bengaluru, targets 4,000 co-living beds over next two years

Co-living operator Truliv has launched in Bengaluru with a Whitefield property and plans to add 4,000 beds in two years as part of a wider expansion to 15,000 beds by FY29

Deep-tech, AI bets gather pace as investor appetite strengthens: VCs

Venture capitalists say stronger IPO exits have boosted LP confidence in long-gestation deep-tech and AI ventures, with family offices also stepping up bets in the sector

How Meesho's co-founder built e-commerce for price-conscious India

Sanjeev Kumar engineered AI-led systems tailored to low-end smartphones, regional languages and first-time shoppers, helping Meesho scale to 250 million annual transacting users

Peak XV Partners leads $25 million pre-Series-C round in Stable Money

The Pre-Series C round saw the participation of investors like Z47, RTP Global, and Fundamentum Partnership

Byju's parent moves SC against NCLAT nod to Aakash's ₹240 cr rights issue

Think & Learn, the parent of Byju's, has moved the Supreme Court challenging an NCLAT order permitting Aakash Educational Services to proceed with the second tranche of its Rs 240-crore rights issue

PM Modi inaugurates India AI Impact Expo, interacts with startups

Expo features over 600 high-potential startups and 13 country pavilions showcasing international collaboration in AI ecosystem