B2B ecommerce platform ArisInfra Solutions has undertaken a pre-IPO placement to raise INR 80 Cr (INR 800.04 Mn) by issuing 36.03 Lakh equity shares for INR 222 per share. 

The shares are issued at a premium of INR 220 against the face value of INR 2. 

The decision was made following the resolutions of the board and shareholders on January 17, 2025. 

In its notice to investors as accessed by Inc42, the company informed, “A pre-IPO placement was undertaken by ArisInfra, in consultation with the BRLMs, for an amount aggregating to INR 800.04 Mn. Pursuant to the resolutions of the Board and the Shareholders, each dated January 17, 2025, the company approved the pre-IPO placement of 36,03,792 equity shares for cash at a price of INR 222 per equity share aggregating to INR 800.04 Mn.”

The top individuals or entities receiving the highest number of equity shares in the pre-IPO placement are Columbus Fin Vest’s director Vanaja Sundar Iyer, Param Capital Group’s founder Mukul Mahavir Agrawal,  Bagdia Petrochem’s Rishabh Bharatbhai Bagdia with cash considerations worth 16 Cr, 9.9 Cr and 7.2 Cr, respectively. 

Besides this, the company also announced that it entered into a share purchase agreement with certain investors regarding the pre-IPO placement on January 16. 

A pre-IPO placement is a private sale of shares conducted before a company goes public. 

The development comes two months after SEBI green lit its initial public offering (IPO) of INR 579.60 Cr. With this pre-IPO placement, the size of the fresh issue in the IPO will reduce to around INR 500 Cr. 

In November, the company already cut the size of the fresh issue in the IPO to INR 579.60 Cr from INR 600 Cr earlier.

ArisInfra’s IPO will consist solely of a fresh issue of shares, with no offer-for-sale component. The book running lead managers for the IPO are JM Financial, IIFL Capital and Nuvama. 

The proceeds from the IPO will be allocated to repay outstanding borrowings, fund working capital requirements, invest in subsidiary Buildmex-Infra Pvt Ltd, among others. 

Founded in 2021 by Ronak Morbia and Bhavik Khara, ArisInfra uses AI and machine learning to simplify construction material procurement. The startup delivers the products from the manufacturers of raw materials to businesses through its online platform.

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Agritech startup Arya.ag has secured a $30 Mn (around INR 259.4 Cr) debt facility in partnership with financial services major HSBC and GuarantCo, a financial institution under the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG).

GuarantCo provided two partial guarantees to HSBC India for the loan given to Arya.ag.

The company will use the capital for providing post-harvest liquidity to farmers, farmer producing organisations (FPOs) and small agri-enterprises.

Founded in 2013 by Prasanna Rao, Anand Chandra, and Chattanathan Devarajan, Arya.ag is a grain commerce platform that offers storage as a service to farmers and their organisations to choose when and to whom to sell their produce after harvest. 

Arya.ag has three verticals – Arya Collateral, Aryadhan, and Aryatech. The Mumbai-based startup claims to work with about a Mn of farmers who are members of 800 FPOs, and also work with more than 5,000 aggregators on the supply side, while on the demand side, it is connected with about 2,000 millers and major corporates on its platform.

Rao told Inc42 that it is operational in 60% of 21 Indian districts that it is present today. He further added that of all states, Bihar has one of its largest client base, which constitutes 26-30% of its revenue.

Prior to the current debt round, Arya.ag secured a commitment of $19.8 Mn (INR 166.4 Cr) from US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to extend a debt facility for its agri commerce subsidiary Aryatech, in October last year.

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The National Human Right Commission (NHRC) has reportedly slammed labour officials for failing to adequately investigate reports of alleged employment discrimination at Foxconn plant.

The human rights body has asked the authorities to re-examine the matter , Reuters reported.

The story goes back to last year, when Foxconn was alleged of following discriminatory hiring practices and excluding married women from jobs at its iPhone assembly facility in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur. 

After that, a five-member team from the regional labour department visited Foxconn’s factory and spoke to company directors and executives from the human resources department.

Back then, the regional labour commissioner cited Foxconn and said that the Chennai factory employs a total of 41,281 workers, including 33,360 women. Among these women, approximately 2,750, or about 8%, are married, according to the information provided by Foxconn.

In August, Foxconn chairman Young Liu said that the company hires employees regardless of gender. 

Later in November 2024, the company instructed its recruitment agents in the country to remove age, gender, marital status criteria and the company’s name from job advertisements for iPhone assembly positions.

While the controversy ignited the debate of gender discrimination at the workplace, Foxconn continued to move ahead with its developments in the country.

Last year, Foxconn’s Singapore arm bought 1.203 Bn ordinary shares from its Indian unit for around $144 Mn.

Additionally, the manufacturing giant is also in discussions with the Tamil Nadu government to expand its battery manufacturing business in India. Additionally, the company is gearing up to  start making iPhone 16 Pro Series at its Tamil Nadu.

During his visit to India last year, Liu said that the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer has invested $10 Bn in India so far and has plans to infuse more capital in the country in the coming year. 

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Kotal Alternate Asset Managers (Kotak Alt), has made the first close of its life sciences fund at INR 250 Cr (around $29 Mn).

The fund, with a target corpus of INR 1,600 Cr (around $185 Mn), has seen participation from family offices, UHNIs (ultra high net worth individuals), industry veterans and other institutions.

The fund will invest in early to growth stage startups operating in the life sciences space which includes medical devices, digital health, consumer wellness, diagnostics and delivery, Kotak Alt said in a statement.

In the past two years, the Kotak Mahindra Group’s alternative assets management entity has invested a total of INR 4,000 Cr in the healthcare sector. Along with financial backing, it also aims to lend support to selected startups in differentiating themselves from other players in the market.

“Life sciences is a core sector where the firm deploys capital across the lifecycle of the company i.e. early, growth and late stage,” said Ashish Ranjan, director private equity at Kotak Alt.

Founded in 2005, Kotak Alt claims to have raised and managed a total of over $22 Bn across various asset classes such as private equity, real estate, infrastructure, special situations, private credit and investment advisory.

In September last year, the investment firm backed D2C nutrition startup Nutrabay which raised $5 Mn and also participated in the $5 Mn Series A funding round of Biotech startup Ahammune Biosciences.

Kotak Alt’s healthcare and life sciences fund was incorporated in 2018 and till date it has made a total of 19 investments through that fund, according to its website.

The development comes close on the heels of many venture capital firms marking close of their  funds in the recent past.

Two days back, Bharat Value Fund announced the first close of its third investment fund at INR 1,250 Cr with a target corpus of INR 2,500 Cr to back resilient and asset backed businesses in multiple sectors.

Early this week it was reported that Sify Technologies is aiming to invest $5 Bn in India over a period of five years to build smaller AI inferencing facilities in 20 tier-II cities.

Moreover, last week Cornerstone Ventures also announced the first close of its second fund, which has a target corpus of $200 Mn, at about $40 Mn to back innovative B2B technology startups.

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The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued a notice to Apple Inc after receiving complaints regarding performance issues following its iOS 18+ software update.

Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a post on X that CCPA is seeking a response from Apple after reviewing the grievances made to the National Consumer Helpline. 

“After receiving complaints on the National Consumer Helpline regarding performance issues in #iPhones following the iOS 18+ software update, the department, after examining these grievances, has issued a notice to #Apple through the CCPA, seeking a response on the matter,” Joshi shared on X. 

Apple has declined to comment on Inc42’s queries pertaining to the development.

The development comes at a time when the Competition Commission of India (CCI) reportedly agreed last month to bring Apple inside a “confidentiality ring” ahead of the final hearing related to the antitrust case. The move enables the big tech company to access confidential information pertaining to the antitrust case. 

Earlier last year, CCI found the iPhone maker guilty of abusing its dominant position in the app store market. Notably, Apple has been under CCI’s lens since 2021.

Last week, with rising sales of its flagship iPhone devices, the company rolled out the Apple Store app in India as it looks to ramp up its retail presence in the country. 

It was also reported a few days ago that Apple surpassed INR 1 lakh Cr mark in iPhone exports from India in 2024, with total shipments reaching a record $12.8 Bn. This represents a 42% increase compared to the previous year. 

Domestic production has also seen a dramatic increase, rising nearly 46% year-on-year to reach $17.5 Bn.

In another recent development, the tech giant informed its investors that Kevan Parekh assumed office as the company’s senior vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) on January 1, 2025.

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The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has reportedly granted interim relief to Meta platforms by staying the five-year ban imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on WhatsApp’s data sharing policy.

As per Reuters, the ban “may lead to a collapse” of WhatsApp’s business model, the appeals tribunal noted.

In its challenge to the ban, Meta told the appeals tribunal that WhatsApp would need to ‘roll back or pause’ some features in India and curb its ability to offer users personalised ads on Facebook and Instagram, the report said.

Under the order on Thursday, WhatsApp will have to provide an opt-out option to users from a 2021 privacy policy update in line with the November antitrust order.

In November, the CCI imposed a INR 213.14 Cr penalty on Meta for abuse of dominant position. The watchdog said the data sharing between WhatsApp and Meta would create entry barriers for competitors.

The case originated from a 2021 Delhi High Court petition where two individuals challenged WhatsApp’s policy update, citing privacy concerns.

This development comes amid Meta’s ongoing challenges in India. On January 15, the company apologised for CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s comments about Indian elections made during a Joe Rogan podcast.

The apology followed BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s announcement that the parliamentary panel on IT would summon Meta officials over the remarks. Dubey, who heads the panel, said the company would need to apologise to the Indian Parliament and people for spreading misinformation.

Meta also  faces other regulatory challenges in India, including issues with service reliability and addressing fake news on its platforms. Last month, the Delhi High Court directed the company to remove deepfake content featuring journalist Rajat Sharma from its platform.

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IPO-bound Infra.Market has raised INR 1,050 Cr ($121 Mn) in its pre-IPO round at a valuation of about $2.8 Bn (INR 24,150 Cr), a jump of over 10% from its valuation of $2.5 Bn during the previous funding round, sources told Inc42.

The fundraise, termed as its Series F round, saw participation from existing investors Tiger Global, Foundamental GmbH, Evolvence, among others. Nikhil Kamath, Ashish Kacholia, Abhijit Pai, Sumeet Kanwar, Nuvama, and Capri Global were also part of the round. 

Notably, Kamath, Capri Global, Kanwar and Kacholia acquired stakes in RDC Concrete, a subsidiary of Infra.Market which was looking to go public, last year. However, the startup changed its plans and decided to go for an initial public offering (IPO) of Infra.Market. 

Infra.Market declined to comment on Inc42’s queries on the latest funding round and its IPO plans.

In August last year, it was reported that Infra.Market was eyeing an IPO of $500 Mn to $700 Mn and had roped in Kotak Mahindra Capital, IIFL Capital, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, ICICI Securities, HSBC Securities, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, and Nuvama Wealth Management as the bankers for the public issue.

With the fresh funding, the startup is all set to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), the sources added. 

Founded in 2016 by Aaditya Sharda and Souvik Sengupta, Infra.Market manufactures construction materials under its private-label brands. It has a B2B, retail, and B2C network and leverages technology to digitise the procurement process.

On the financial front, its net profit surged 144% to INR 378 Cr in FY24 from INR 155  Cr in the previous fiscal year. Operating revenue zoomed 23% to INR 14,530 Cr from INR 11,846.5 Cr in FY23.

The increase in revenue came on the back of the increasing number of private label brands in its portfolio. 

Infra.Market primarily earns revenue by selling construction materials, including cement, paints, chemicals, and tools. Its total revenue stood at INR 14,743.4 Cr in FY24, up 25% from INR 11,890.8 Cr in the previous year. 

The startup operates more than 260 manufacturing units. Of these, more than 200 units are for concrete production, and it has a total capacity of over 20 Mn cubic metres annually. Besides, the startup has more than 16 factories in Morbi in Gujarat for manufacturing tiles, with a total annual capacity of 60 Mn square metres, and 7 facilities for walling blocks with a capacity of 2.4 Mn cubic metres.

Overall, Infra.Market has raised a total funding of over $800 Mn to date.

The post Exclusive: Infra.Market Bags INR 1,050 Cr In Pre-IPO Round At $2.8 Bn Valuation appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Manufacturing giant Blue Energy Motors has inked a pact with the Maharashtra government to set up an electric truck manufacturing plant with an initial investment INR 3,500 Cr (around $400 Mn)

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed yesterday (22 January) at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Under this agreement, Blue Energy is aiming to build around 30,000 EV trucks, the Pune-based manufacturing company said in a statement.

“Blue Energy Motors will invest approximately INR 3,500 Cr to establish a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility dedicated to the production of its advanced electric (EV) trucks that will house advanced R&D capabilities, battery-pack line, motor manufacturing unit and set up charging stations as well,” the statement added.

Additionally, the project is expected to generate more than 4,000 job opportunities. 

This development comes at a time when the Indian government is pushing EV manufacturing in the country.

Last year, the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) rolled out the INR 10,900 Cr PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) scheme, which aims to foster adoption of EVs by offering subsidies to manufacturers, shoring up charging infrastructure and spurring local EV manufacturing capabilities. 

The Centre is also bullish on expanding incentives to automakers building models at existing factories. Additionally, to maintain a fair chance for all the manufacturers, the government is also planning to set a minimum EV revenue target for any product line or plant to qualify for the scheme.

However, earlier this month, union commerce minister Piyush Goyal said that India’s electric vehicle industry doesn’t need more subsidies as it has matured enough. At that time, he added  that the existing subsidies will continue for some more time to help players in the EV segment strengthen their presence. 

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Shares of Go Digit surged as much as 12.28% to INR 321.35 during the intraday trading today (January 23) after the company announced its third quarter (Q3) results for the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25). 

However, the shares pared some gains to trade 11.5% lower at INR 319.15 as of 12:30 PM.

With today’s stock rally, the company’s market capitalisation stood at INR 29,433.44 Cr at the above-mentioned time, with 2.2 Cr shares traded by then.

The stock opened today’s trading session 4.85% higher at INR 300.10. Not to mention, the stock has an upper price circuit of INR 343.40. The stock’s 52-week high and low range is between INR 276.80 and INR 407.55. Earlier this month on January 13, the shares slumped to its 52-week low mark. 

The insurtech company’s net profit zoomed 176.46% to INR 118.52 Cr in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25) from INR 42.87 Cr in the year-ago period on the back of strong growth in its revenue and a controlled rise in expenses. 

On a sequential basis, the listed insurance giant’s profit surged 32.46% from INR 89.47 Cr.

Founded in 2017 by Kamesh Goyal, Go Digit General Insurance is a full-stack digital insurance company. It offers a wide range of non-life insurance policies across sectors such as motor vehicle, health, travel, and property among others.

The company reported a 10.24% increase in gross written premium (GWP) to INR 2,676.78 Cr in the quarter ended December 2024 from INR 2,427.97 Cr in Q3 FY24. Net premium written also grew 5.13% to INR 2,084.14 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 1,982.39 Cr in the year-ago quarter. 

The stock has given a negative return of 1.52% in the last month while it yielded a positive return of 5.44% over the last year. 

Go Digit General was listed on the bourses in May last year, with a modest premium of 3.3% at INR 281 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Its shares have given a mere return of 1.8% since listing.

The post Go Digit Shares Surge 12.28% After Q3 Results appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has reportedly said that the first ‘Made in India’ chip will be rolled out this year.

“Now we are looking at the next phase, where we can get equipment manufacturers, material manufacturers and designers in India,” the minister was quoted as saying in a Mint report.

He was addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Vaishnaw said that stakeholders have shown solid confidence in the Centre’s semiconductor programme, adding that the industry is working to achieve the huge transformative changes in the process of the multiple levels of materials’ purity.

The central government has been directing its focus greatly into the semiconductor industry, where one of its initiatives the Semicon India programme, launched in 2021 has provided subsidies to companies engaged in semiconductor fabs, display fabs, chip packaging, sensors and semiconductor design, among others.

Notably, Vaishnaw, in the Semicon India 2024 event in September last year, said that India aims to launch 3-4 major products in the semiconductor space in coming years.

This development also comes at a time when numerous global and domestic companies have been working to build chips in India, with the resources and the innovative tech advancements.

For instance, in September last year, Tata Group-owned Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was known to be working with group peer Tata Electronics to roll out first made-in-India chips by 2026, where the first chip from Assam will roll out by late 2025 or early 2026, as per reports.

The post First ‘Made In India’ Chip To Be Rolled Out This Year: Ashwini Vaishnaw appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Venture capital firm Eximius Ventures has launched its second fund with a target corpus of $30 Mn. 

With Fund II, the pre-seed focussed VC firm is looking to invest in 25-30 companies across fintech, artificial intelligence (AI)/software-as-a-service (SaaS), frontier tech and consumer tech. 

Eximius Ventures has kept the initial ticker size per investment worth $500K while reserving “half of the corpus for follow-on investments, to further support its high-potential portfolio companies,” the VC firm said in its statement. 

Its Fund II has invested in four companies so far across consumer tech and AI/Saas, the statement added. Eximius Ventures has either led or co-led these investments along with other investors. 

“…Eximius is doubling down on pre-seed startups, with an aim to drive momentum in India’s innovation ecosystem,” said Eximius Ventures founder Pearl Agarwal. 

The Fund II will raise capital from high net worth individuals (HNIs), founder-investors, family offices and global Japanese venture companies, as per the statement. 

With the second fund, Agarwal said, “We will be looking at companies led by seasoned operators and entrepreneurs, solving with a first principle mindset and exceptional execution capacity in a large market.” 

Eximius rolled out its $10 Mn first fund in 2021 and made investments in 23 companies. 

It claims that around 60% of these portfolio companies have secured multiple up-rounds from prominent global investors, delivering an IRR of greater than 40%. Jar, Vegapay and Stan are some of the companies Eximius backed with its Fund I.  

Founded in 2020, Eximius counts startups like skydo, Eka.Care, DevAssure, fleek and Fego.ai among others in its portfolio. 

Recently, venture capital fund SamVed also floated a $50 Mn fund to back tech-focused early-stage startups in India.

Last year, early-stage VC firm Capital A launched its Fund II with a target corpus of INR 400 Cr. 

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Listed fintech Zomato has expanded its employee stock option plan (ESOP) by granting 4.17 Cr stock options under its ESOP plans.

In an exchange filing, the company said, “The Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Company (“NRC”) on January 22, 2025, has approved a total grant of 41,756,590 stock options under the Foodie Bay Employee Stock Option Plan 2014 (“ESOP 2014”), Zomato Employee Stock Option Plan 2021 (“ESOP 2021”), and Zomato Employee Stock Option Plan 2024 (“ESOP 2024”) to eligible employees.”

Of the total grant, the largest portion of stock options has been allocated under ESOP 2024, accounting for 3.7 Cr options. This is followed by 41.21 Lakh options under ESOP 2021 and 1,952 options under ESOP 2014.

As per the company, stock options granted under ESOP 2014 and ESOP 2021 can be exercised within ten years from the date of vesting or 12 years from the date of listing, whichever is later.

Meanwhile, stock options under ESOP 2024 can be exercised within ten years from the date of vesting.

A total of 5.48 Cr equity shares, with a face value of INR 1 each, are covered under the granted stock options. Each stock option can be converted into one fully paid-up equity share with a face value of INR 1.

Not to mention, ESOPs are allotted to retain top executives and attract talent globally.  

Based on Zomato’s stock closing price of INR 216.45 per share on Wednesday, the total value of these stock options is estimated at INR 903.82 Cr.

Zomato has witnessed several developments related to its ESOP schemes in recent months. 

Last month, Zomato allotted 47.75 Cr equity shares under various ESOPs to Foodie Bay Employees ESOP Trust. Before that in October, it expanded the pool size of its ESOP with the allotment of nearly 1.2 Cr stock options to eligible employees.

The developments comes at a time when Zomato has seen its consolidated net profit decline 57.2% to INR 59 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 138 Cr in the same quarter last year. Sequentially, profit tanked 66% from INR 176 Cr in Q2 FY25.

The post Zomato Expands ESOP Pool With 4.17 Cr Stock Options appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bengaluru-based industrial robotics startup Ati Motors has raised $20 Mn (INR 172.7 Cr) in a Series B funding round co-led by Walden Catalyst Ventures (WCV) and NGP Capital (NGP). 

The round also saw participation from existing investors, including True Ventures, Exfinity Venture Partners, Athera Venture Partners and Blume Ventures.

The company plans to use the fresh capital to boost product development and expand its market presence in North America and APAC.

Recently, the company set up operations in Mexico and has bolstered its presence across the US, India, and Southeast Asia. Additionally, it is currently expanding its North American headquarters in Detroit, MI.

Saurabh Chandra, cofounder and CEO of Ati Motors, said, “This funding will accelerate our ability to leverage our extensive real-world dataset to develop next-generation AI models and further advance our industrial autonomy platform.”

Founded in 2017 by Saurabh Chandra, Ati Motors is an autonomous mobile robot manufacturer that helps manufacturers in various sectors optimise productivity and streamline operations by deploying its robotics technology. The startup, which has focused on the automobile sector so far, counts the likes of TVS Motor, CEAT, and Hyundai among its clients. 

Ati Motors specialises in robotics, AI, and manufacturing. It has deployed a host of Sherpa robots across 40 leading manufacturers, including Forvia and Hyundai, with multiple scaled deployments in North America.

The fresh proceeds will also accelerate development and deployment of its robotic workforce, leveraging one of the largest factory datasets for autonomous movement. 

The startup raised $17 Mn in funding prior to this round. In 2023, the Bengaluru-based startup raised $10.85 Mn in its Series A funding round led by Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist (VC) True Ventures. 

In 2021, it secured $3.5 Mn in a Pre-Series A round. Before that, it raised seed funding from Village Global, a US-based early-stage VC backed by notable investors such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos.

Ati Motors competes with the likes of GreyOrange and Ottonomy, among several others.

The post Ati Motors Nets $20 Mn To Power Industrial Automation With AI appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Specialty coffee brand Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters’ operating revenue zoomed 69% to INR 215.8 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 127.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

The startup earned INR 201 Cr from the sale of coffee and food items in the fiscal, while its bakery business contributed INR 15 Cr. 

Total revenue, including other income, grew 72% to INR 221.1 Cr in FY24 from INR 128.7 Cr in FY23. Other income, including interest and mutual fund returns, amounted to INR 5.4 Cr.

However, the Delhi NCR-based coffee chain’s loss widened 46% to INR 62.9 Cr in FY24 from INR 43 Cr in FY23 due to rising operational costs and aggressive expansion.

Founded in 2012 by Matt Chitharanjan, Shivam Shahi and Namrata Asthana, Blue Tokai operates over 100 stores across India and recently expanded its presence in Japan through a joint venture. 

Where Did Blue Tokai Spend?

The startup’s expenses jumped 66% to INR 285 Cr in FY24 from INR 172 Cr in FY23. Here’s a breakdown of the expenses:

Procurement Costs: This was the largest expense for the startup. At INR 88 Cr, it accounted for 41% of the revenue. 

Employee Benefit Expenses: The startup’s expenses under the head zoomed 94% to INR 84 Cr from INR 43 Cr in FY23. 

Rent Expenses: The spending under the head surged 90.4% to INR 33.02 Cr in FY24 from INR 17.34 Cr in FY23

Besides, advertisement costs increased 33% to INR 7.74 Cr in FY24 from INR 5.81 Cr in FY23

The coffee chain’s EBITDA margin improved to -19.7% in FY24 from -23.2% in the previous year.

In August last year, Blue Tokai raised $35 Mn in a Series C round led by Verlinvest at a valuation of approximately INR 1,500 Cr ($180 Mn). This followed its $30 Mn Series B round led by A91 Partners in January 2023. 

Overall, it has raised about $78 Mn to date.

The startup competes in India’s growing specialty coffee market, alongside venture-backed players like Third Wave Coffee Roasters, which raised $35 Mn in September 2023. Other key competitors include SLAY Coffee, Rage Coffee, and Sleepy Owl Coffee. 

The post Blue Tokai’s FY24 Revenue Surges 69% To Cross INR 200 Cr Mark appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Telecommunications service provider Tata Communications is reportedly looking to launch an AI Studio platform-as-a-service by March.

As per Mint, citing A S Lakshminarayanan, the managing director and chief executive of the company, this platform will be built on top of the AI Cloud it introduced in partnership with Nvidia late last year.

Inc42 has reached out to Tata Communications for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the response.

The platform will offer services including data management, multimodal retrieval augmented generation (search using text, photo, video, etc) and machine learning operations capabilities.

The Tata Group-owned company aims to generate revenue by providing these services on a subscription basis to benefit hyperscalers (large cloud service providers), enterprises, startups as well as government bodies.

“We are in early-stage trials of AI Studio with some customers. The launch, we expect it to happen later during this quarter,” Lakshminarayanan was quoted as saying in the report.

He also said, “We believe that the first take up would be with a lot of people who are investing in model building, that are currently mostly startups.”

This development comes a day after the Centre selected ten tech giants for the final bidding process to procure 10,000 graphic processing units (GPUs) under the IndiaAI Mission, of which Tata Communications was one among the shortlisted names, as per reports.

Earlier this month, listed drone solutions provider DroneAcharya announced securing an order from Tata Communications to build a customised drone solution (static drone) for their experience centre.

Meanwhile, AI has been chased by numerous brands to strengthen their market position, as AI assisted offerings are highly desired among various industries and investors today. 

For instance, in an Inc42 survey of more than 50 VCs about GenAI adoption by non-GenAI startups in their portfolios, 43% said that AI or GenAI is now a key part of their product and service roadmap.

The post Tata Communications Eyeing Launch Of AI Studio Platform Soon: Report appeared first on Inc42 Media.

AI-based business journey observability provider VuNet Systems has raised INR 60 Cr (around $6.94 Mn)  in the first close of its Series B funding round led by Pravega Ventures.

The round also saw participation from Kotak securities, along with a host of existing investors, including Mela Ventures, Athera Venture Partners, Dallas Venture Capital and TVS Capital Funds.

The company plans to use the fresh proceeds for global expansion and accelerate its growth in India. 

Alongside it will also improve the product stack and enhance sales and marketing.

Founded in 2014 by Ashwin Ramachandran, Bharat Joshi and Jithesh Kaveetil, VuNet helps financial institutions monitor and optimise their information technology operations and customer journeys. Its platform provides real-time insights by analysing data from various systems, enabling enterprises to streamline critical processes like digital transactions and deliver end-to-end visibility across complex IT ecosystems, enhancing both operational performance and customer experience.

“This funding milestone marks an exciting step forward as we expand globally and pioneer a new category of business journey observability. By further integrating advanced AI, including GenAI, across all workflows of our platform”, said Ramachandran.

The funding comes at a time when AI has taken the world, including India, by storm. AI adoption is on the rise and this has resulted in the emergence of a number of AI-focussed platforms in the country. Not just this, these startups are also witnessing a lot of investor interest.

For instance last week, Bengaluru-based Quash raised $635K in its pre-seed funding round led by Arali Ventures.

Similarly in October 2024, Febi.ai raised $2 Mn from Lumis Partners, former JP Morgan executive Virender Rana, and Lenskart cofounder Amit Chaudhary.

In September 2024, Jhana.ai also raised $1.6 Mn in its ongoing maiden funding round. 

According to an Inc42 report, more than 100 GenAI startups call India their home. These startups have cumulatively raised more than $600 Mn since 2019. Overall, the homegrown GenAI market is expected to see a major boom in the coming years and is projected to cross the $17 Bn mark by 2030.

The post VuNet Pockets INR 60 Cr To Help Enterprises Streamline Digital Transactions appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Andhra Pradesh’s chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has reportedly urged Alphabet-owned Google to consider Visakhapatnam for its manufacturing unit and designing chips.

Naidu proposed Visakhapatnam as an ideal location for the tech giant to set up its chip design centre, while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, PTI reported.

Inc42 has reached out to Google for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the response.

“Naidu requested Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian to explore opportunities in Visakhapatnam for a chip design centre, as Google is now manufacturing its chips for server operations,” the report quoted an official statement as saying.

The report further added that Kurian was also requested to establish a chip manufacturing unit in the state, integrating it into the Google Cloud server supply chain, and Naidu expressed his desire for Andhra to become a hub for Google’s server operations.

Naidu also took the update to X saying, “Had an engaging discussion with Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, and Andre Nakazaw, manager of International Organization at Google. We explored the latest advancements in technology and the incredible opportunities in Andhra Pradesh. With our exceptionally talented youth, we’re poised to redefine the future of tech!”

This development comes at a time when Google has been expanding its base in India by working to establish its base in Tamil Nadu.

Earlier in May last year, the Sundar Pichai-led company was said to be working on manufacturing drones at a unit in Tamil Nadu, through its subsidiary Wing LLC, to capitalise on the liberalised drone policies.

Months after that, the Tamil Nadu government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with tech giant Google to set up ‘Tamil Nadu AI Labs’ in Chennai.

Furthermore, Gemini owner also inked a pact with the Tamil Nadu government to explore manufacturing of its ‘Made in India’ Pixel 8 smartphones, skill development and build an industrial ecosystem, enabling MSMEs to create scalable AI solutions, in September 2024.

The post Andhra CM Bats For Google’s Chip Centre At Vizag appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Proptech startup Landeed has raised $5 Mn (INR 43.1 Cr) in a fresh funding round led by 10x Founders Fund, along with participation from Oliver Jung, Paradigm Shift, Pioneer Fund, Jeffrey Epstein, Onboard founder and Aaron King, Snapdocs founder, among others.

The company plans to use the fresh capital to fuel launch of Landeed Labs, a division focused on enhancing the company’s AI and machine learning capabilities.

Apart from this, the proceeds will also be deployed to develop cutting-edge AI-driven solutions, recruit top STEM talent and advance product innovation to revolutionise property title searches and real estate transactions.

Sanjay Mandava, cofounder and CEO of Landeed, said, “With additional resources, we will be hiring some of the best STEM and technical talent in the country to augment the exceptional growth in our core business. We still have the majority of our funds from our seed round in the bank account so you’ll see us relentlessly shipping new products and firing on all cylinders. We never do what we do to be second best.”

Founded in 2022 by Sanjay Mandava, ZJ Lin and Jonathan Richards, Landeed is transforming property due diligence for all parties involved, facilitating seamless communication and efficient deal closures providing innovative solutions for property title searches.

Landeed claims to address the challenges of India’s fragmented and outdated property records by consolidating data from 24 states into a unified, AI-powered platform. It simplifies title verification by providing instant access to ownership history, transaction records, and encumbrance details, ensuring transparency and efficiency in property transactions.

The company claims to have achieved 22X growth since its inception and empower more than 1 Lakh users, including property owners, bankers, and developers. Through Landeed Labs, it aims to further AI and machine learning innovations, transforming real estate transactions across India and globally.

The Hyderabad-based firm previously raised an undisclosed amount last year as part of its seed funding round from Paradigm Shift VC. Prior to that, it raised INR 69.3 Cr ($8.3 Mn) in a seed funding round from Y Combinator, Draper Associates and Bayhouse Capital.

The post Landeed Bags $5 Mn To Boost Its AI, ML Stacks appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Centre projects India’s digital economy to grow almost twice as fast as the overall economy by the financial year 2029-30 (FY30).

In a report titled “Estimation and Measurement of India’s Digital”, the electronics and information technology ministry (MeitY) said that the country’s digital economy is expected to contribute nearly a fifth of the total national income by FY30.

The report, released on Wednesday (January 22), estimates the value addition and employment generated from the local digital economy.

Interestingly, the report also projected that the share of the digital economy in the overall economy will individually surpass that of agriculture or manufacturing in less than six years. The government sees digital intermediaries and platforms as the biggest enablers of the Indian digital economy in the short run. 

“Based on the projections in the report, India’s digital economy is expected to grow almost twice as fast as the overall economy, contributing to nearly one-fifth of national income by 2030… In the short run, the highest growth is likely to come from the growth of digital intermediaries and platforms, followed by higher digital diffusion and digitalisation of the rest of the economy,” the MeitY report said. 

Shedding light on the current size of India’s digital economy, the report estimated that the homegrown online landscape accounted for 11.74% of the national income in FY23. As per the report, this number is likely to rise to 13.42% by FY25. 

“In absolute numbers, the digital economy in 2022-23 was equivalent to INR 28.94 Lakh Cr ($368 Bn) in GVA (gross value added) and INR 31.64 Lakh Cr ($402 billion) in GDP,” added the report. 

It also noted that sectors such as information and communication services, telecom, manufacturing of electronics, computers and communication equipment led the digital economy charts in FY23 and accounted for 7.83% of the national GVA. The report also underlined that big tech giants, digital platforms and intermediaries contributed nearly 2% to the total national GVA during the fiscal. 

Another key highlight from the report is that the country’s digital economy employed 14.67 Mn workers in FY23, or 2.55% of India’s estimated workforce that fiscal.

It is pertinent to note that the then IT minister of state Rajeev Chandrasekhar last year said that the digital economy will contribute over 20% to India’s total gross domestic product (GDP) by 2026.

The post Digital Economy’s Growth To Be 2X Of National Economy By FY30: MeitY appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Perplexity AI cofounder and CEO Aravind Srinivas has said that the AI search engine has provided its premium subscription plan for free to students and faculty members of his alma mater IIT Madras. 

“We’ve given free Perplexity Pro to all students and faculty and staff of IIT Madras, where I did my undergrad. Super excited to start there as we begin our expansion for Indian campuses,” said Srinivas in a post on X. 

This aligns with Srinivas’ comments in December 2024, when he said he was open to “figuring out” an economic structure with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to offer Perplexity Pro to Indian students, faculty and researchers. 

Last month, he also met PM Modi in New Delhi and discussed the potential for AI adoption in India and across the world.

In a separate post on X on Wednesday (January 22), Srinivas said that he is ready to invest $1 Mn personally and 5 hours every week towards a “group of people” that would make India “great in the context of AI”. 

“I am ready to invest a $1mm (sic) personally and 5 hours/week of my time into the most qualified group of people that can do this right now for making India great again in the context of AI. Consider this as a commitment that cannot be backtracked. The team has to be cracked and obsessed like (the) DeepSeek team and has to open source the models with MIT license,” said Srinivas. 

The Perplexity cofounder also said that he will invest $10 Mn more in the Indian company than can beat DeepSeek R1 on all benchmarks with “rigour”. 

DeepSeek is a China-based AI company that has developed large language models (LLMs), and is being touted as a major competitor to giant OpenAI. With less than $4 Mn in funding, DeepSeek launched its latest reasoning models, DeepSeek-R1 and DeepSeek-R1-Zero, earlier this week to take on platforms like OpenAI-o1.

Reacting to the Perplexity cofounder’s post, Indic-focussed LLM maker SarvamAI cofounder Pratyush Kumar pitched his own startup. “Aravind, at @SarvamAI, we are building sovereign models that combine deep reasoning and Indic language skills. Would love to have you join this mission!” Kumar said. 

This comes a day after Srinivas stirred up a storm in the Indian AI ecosystem after he said that Indian companies should focus on training their models from scratch, rather than finetuning existing foundational models. 

While noting that “thinking models” are costly to train, Srinivas called on the Indian entrepreneurs to “show the world that it’s capable of ISRO-like feet (sic) for AI”. He was referring to the cost-effective and frugal approach of the Indian space agency. 

The post Perplexity Rolls Out Free Subscription To IIT Madras Students appeared first on Inc42 Media.

OpenAI has reportedly told the Delhi High Court (HC) that the Indian courts do not have the jurisdiction to hear a copyright infringement case against the artificial intelligence (AI) company. OpenAI cited its lack of presence in the country for the stance.

The submissions came in response to a copyright breach case filed by news agency ANI in the HC. As per filings seen by Reuters, the AI giant said that any order to remove training data powering its chatbot ChatGPT would be inconsistent with its legal obligations in the US.

The Sam Altman-led company reportedly told the HC that it is currently defending litigation in the US pertaining to the data on which its models have been trained. It added that the laws of the North American country require the companies to preserve the data while hearings are pending.

OpenAI “is therefore under a legal obligation, under the laws of the United States to preserve, and not delete, the said training data”, the AI major reportedly added. 

This comes nearly two months after ANI filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the AI company used the news agency’s published content to train ChatGPT without permission. ANI has sought the deletion of its data already stored by ChatGPT.

In response, OpenAI has now responded with an 86-page filing at the Delhi HC. In its submission, OpenAI also said that the relief sought by ANI is not subject to the processes of Indian courts and is beyond their jurisdiction.

Making its case, the AI major argued that it has “no office or permanent establishment in India … the servers on which (ChatGPT) stores its training data are similarly situated outside of India”.

The HC will next hear the matter on January 28.

Notably, OpenAI, during a hearing in November, reportedly told the Delhi HC that it would no longer use ANI’s content anymore. In response, ANI contended that its published works were still stored in ChatGPT’s memory and should be deleted.

In its petition, ANI has also raised concerns over unfair competition arising from OpenAI’s commercial partnerships with other news organisations. Making its case, the news agency also told the HC that ChatGPT “reproduced verbatim or substantially similar extracts” of ANI’s works in response to user prompts.

Rebutting the charge, OpenAI claimed that ANI “has sought to use verbatim extracts of its own article as a prompt, in an attempt to manipulate ChatGPT”.

The lawsuit reportedly alleges that OpenAI exploited ANI’s content for its commercial gain by using the new agency’s content to train its large language models (LLMs). This is the first time that an Indian publisher has dragged an AI platform to the court for violating its intellectual property rights. The lawsuit has been filed by Delhi-based Unum Law on behalf of ANI.

Notably, this is not the first time that a GenAI platform has landed in choppy regulatory waters in the country. In February 2024, Google ran into trouble with the IT ministry over some of the responses from its AI platform Gemini on questions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The post OpenAI Vs ANI: AI Giant Says Indian Courts Can’t Hear Copyright Breach Cases appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Amid the ongoing sabre-rattling between restaurateurs and Zomato and Swiggy on “10-minute” food delivery service, Zomato cofounder and CEO Deepinder Goyal has now reached out to the foodtech giant’s restaurant partners to assuage their concerns. 

In a letter, Goyal said that Zomato will never compete with its own restaurant partners, adding that Bistro is neither a “private label” nor a “Zomato Kitchen”. 

“Bistro is not a “private label” or “Zomato kitchen”. In the past, I have expressed that Zomato as a restaurant-aggregator will never compete with its own restaurant partners, unlike players such as Amazon who sell their own private labels on Amazon. Zomato has fully backed this commitment by never opening a physical restaurant and will NOT use Zomato as a distribution channel for kitchens that we do,” read the letter.

Earlier in the day, Inc42 reported that the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI)) is mulling taking legal action against Zomato and Swiggy over their quick food delivery offerings. 

Sources said that both companies had transgressed into restaurant territory with their affordable meal delivery services Zomato Everyday and Swiggy Daily, both of which are cooked at company-owned private kitchens. 

Meanwhile, in his letter, the Zomato CEO told the restaurateurs that its 10-minute food delivery service, Bistro, is not an existential threat to the restaurant industry. Citing his rationale, he said that even with 1,000 outlets, Bistro would account for a mere 0.5% of the total “market”.

“Even at 1,000 outlets, Bistro would barely be 0.5% of the market. Also, scaling Bistro isn’t the goal of this experiment – it is to find a workable business model that the restaurant industry can replicate. India’s out-of-home food consumption has room to expand, and new service models like Bistro will help acquire new customers, benefiting the wider restaurant ecosystem,” read the letter. 

Noting that restaurateurs are the “best people” to do the job of running an eatery, Goyal said he believes that not everything will move to the 10-minute delivery segment. He also informed the industry stakeholders that Bistro would operate as a separate app, and would have no access to “data that would create an unfair playing field”.

The Rationale For Quick Deliveries

The letter also shed light on the reasoning within Zomato for launching the quick food delivery offerings. Goyal believes that bringing down delivery times increases demand for restaurant food.

While underscoring the need for further bringing down delivery times, Goyal said that the listed foodtech company’s internal data shows a 3X higher repeat rate from customers when delivery time is under 15 minutes versus when it is more than 30 minutes. 

“This means that reduction in delivery times will significantly expand the market. Most of this comes down to making sure our kitchen networks are more dense (more outlets per city) to cut down distance, and cut down kitchen preparation time (KPT) while still serving hot and fresh food that customers require. And doing this in a way where restaurants can make money is not an easy problem to solve,” added Goyal. 

The cofounder and CEO of Zomato also noted that Bistro is part of the company’s latest attempt to reduce delivery times. He reiterated that Bistro will target the demand of in-office workforce for quick access to snacks, meals, and beverages within 10 minutes. He added that the Bistro team is working with food researchers, producers, chefs, and restaurants to provide a proof of concept. 

“While we’re unsure about finding product-market fit and profitability, our hope is that this platform could be replicated by different restaurants and cuisine types where demand exists,” added Goyal. 

Talking about the roll out of Zomato’s 15-minute delivery experiment, Goyal said that the company has partnered with restaurants by curating their menu items and providing a dedicated delivery fleet to scale the offering. He added that the company is mulling reducing commissions for restaurants for short-distance orders to “encourage more outlet expansion”.

While noting that the service is currently available only in select locations, Goyal added that the quick food delivery offering will be scaled “as and when it gets to the desired outcomes”. 

Notably, he also said that the listed foodtech giant’s previous tryst with 10-minute food delivery via Zomato Instant in 2022 was cut short as it failed to find the right economic model for restaurants. Goyal, however, added that the offering then was “moderately successful” at reducing kitchen preparation time.

The development comes close on the heels of reports stating that restaurant bodies NRAI and FHRAI are likely to approach the Competition Commission of India (CCI) over alleged anti-competitive practices by Zomato and Swiggy and their respective 10-minute food delivery services Blinkit Bistro and SNACC. 

Earlier this month, NRAI representatives also met the managements of Zomato and Swiggy to address the issue, but the meeting is said to have ended in an impasse.

The post Zomato Will Never Compete With Restaurants: Deepinder Goyal appeared first on Inc42 Media.

VC firm Peak XV Partners will make a whopping 10X returns on its investment in Minimalist, following the D2C skincare brand’s acquisition by FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL).

The VC major, which holds a 27.5% stake in Minimalist, first invested in the startup in 2019. It is set to make INR 800 Cr on its investment of INR 80 Cr in the startup, sources said.

HUL announced the acquisition of Minimalist today in a deal that will value the D2C startup at INR 2,955 Cr (about $342 Mn) and is one of the largest acquisitions in the Indian startup ecosystem in recent times. The company is acquiring a 90.5% stake in the startup for INR 2,670 Cr (about $309 Mn). HUL will also make a primary infusion of INR 45 Cr in Minimalist. 

The transaction, which will be completed by Q1 FY26, will see Minimalist’s founders Mohit Kumar Yadav and Rahul Yadav, Peak XV and its seed investment platform Surge, and Twenty Nine Capital Partners sell off their stake in the startup. 

Minimalist’s founders are expected to cumulatively make around INR 1,500 Cr by selling their 57.35% stake in the startup. 

HUL will acquire the remaining 9.5% stake in Minimalist in about two years. The cofounders will continue to head the operations of the startup for the next two years.

HUL expects the inclusion of Minimalist in its portfolio to add “another step in the transformation journey of the company’s beauty & wellbeing portfolio towards evolving and higher growth demand spaces”.

For the conglomerate, the beauty and personal care segment constitutes about 37% of its revenues. Its portfolio of BPC brands include Lifebuoy, LUX, Sunsilk, Clinic Plus, Dove, Lakmé, Pond’s and Closeup.

However, the segment’s financial health hasn’t been that great over the past two quarters. In Q3 FY25, HUL’s beauty and wellbeing segment reported a 1% revenue growth while underlying volume growth (UVG) witnessed a “low-single digit decline”. 

In this, HUL’s skin care sales were impacted by a “delayed winter”. It is pertinent to mention that the conglomerate’s portfolio doesn’t have specific serums for skincare, healthcare that Minimalist offers.

Founded in 2020, Minimalist is a consumer focused skin and hair care brand that retails its products through its own website and online marketplaces such as Amazon, Nykaa, Flipkart, and Myntra. While its top line surged 89% to INR 347.4 Cr in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24), its annual revenue run rate for FY25 at the end of December 2024 stood at INR 500 Cr, HUL said. 

The post Peak XV Rakes In 10X Gains, Makes INR 800 Cr From Minimalist Exit appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has dismissed an insolvency plea filed by actor Akshay Kumar against edtech startup Cuemath’s parent Cue Learn Pvt. Ltd. over non-payment of endorsement fee on January 7. 

The actor, who had entered an endorsement agreement with the edtech startup on March 8, 2021, sought to recover dues worth over INR 4.83 Cr via the initiation of a corporate insolvency resolution process. 

The agreement stipulated Kumar to render his services in promoting the startup for a maximum of two days for a total of INR 8.10 Cr. While the first installment of INR 4.05 Cr was paid on March 4, 2021, Kumar was supposed to get a “second payment” of INR 4.05 Cr plus GST by April 15, 2022 or seven days prior to the utilisation of the second day of his services. The actor alleged default in the second tranche of the payment. 

In its judgement, the NCLT said that this issue doesn’t qualify as a “debt” and thus is outside of its jurisdiction. 

“The jurisdiction of the NCLT is limited to adjudicating applications strictly within the framework of the IBC. The NCLT’s role is to oversee the insolvency resolution process for qualifying debts, and it cannot be expanded to encompass disputes of a contractual nature that do not fall under the operational or financial debt categories defined by the IBC. Accordingly, the NCLT is not the appropriate forum for adjudication of such claims,” the order read.

According to Kumar’s plea, he fulfilled his obligations on the first day as required, and the deliverable television commercials (TVCs) were utilised by Cuemath on its social media platforms. However, the latter failed to make the second payment on the due date, “raising frivolous and contradictory defences, such as non-receipt of the invoice and lack of agreed dates for the second day”.

The startup’s counsel argued that the second tranche of payment was dependent on Kumar’s availability for a mutually agreed-upon second endorsement day. These dates were never proposed by the actor, which was a breach of the contract and thus negated his claim for the remaining payment. 

The startup also claimed to have sent the actor a mail on April 4, 2022 to request further discussion with the petitioner regarding the ambiguity in the contract terms. However, the actor didn’t respond directly or participate in any further discussions. Instead, he chose to issue a demand notice on June 20, 2022.

On this, the NCLT ruled that the second tranche of payment was contingent upon Kumar;s fulfilment of “certain conditions”. 

However, there is no documentary evidence on record to indicate that these conditions were fulfilled. “Consequently, the obligation to render services on the second day did not materialise as the necessary preconditions were not met. The lack of performance on the part of the OC (Operational Creditor) to provide the required services negates the assertion of an operational debt,” its order read. 

The ad over which the actor is seeking dues came at a time when the edtech space was flush with funds and startups were choosing high-profile personalities for advertisements. 

The time period in question, 2020-2022, saw the likes of Aamir Khan promote Vedantu in 2020, MS Dhoni promoting Unacademy. Not to mention, BYJU’S ad blitz involved big names like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Lionel Messi. 

However, the edtech sector has been hit hard by a funding crunch for the last couple of years. Barring IPO-bound PhysicsWallah’s $210 Mn fund raise, the sector saw a fresh capital infusion of $358 Mn in 2024. In comparison, the sector saw a capital influx of $4.8 Bn in 2021. 

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