Indi Startup Talks (2025)

22/08/2025

Shark Tank India judge Anupam Mittal slammed India’s real-money gaming ban as “moral policing dressed up as policy,” warning it could cost the government billions in tax revenue while pushing users toward black markets.

In a post on Linkedin, Mittal criticized the move to outlaw real-money games, comparing it to ineffective bans on products like gutka. “We banned gutka but have people stopped chewing?” he asked, before outlining the industry's massive economic footprint.

Mittal claimed the sector generated ₹27,000 crore in GST, over ₹10,000 crore in advertising revenue, and provided “thousands a legit livelihood in games of skill.” He argued that addiction and financial harm, while real, are insufficient grounds for a full prohibition. “Do we ban alcohol because some become alcoholics? Do we ban stock trading because some blow up their savings?” he wrote.

According to Mittal, bans tend to backfire: “Govt loses revenue. Users lose protection. Black markets win.” He cited a reported ₹8.3 lakh crore illegal gaming market as evidence of the risks.

In the short term, he said, the policy “feels like we’ve shot ourselves in the foot.” While holding out hope that e-sports and skill-based platforms might benefit in the long run, Mittal questioned the intent behind the crackdown. “Let’s be honest,” he wrote, “right now it looks like moral policing dressed up as policy.”

He ended with a jab at government overreach: “Hope we’re not trying to out-ban China.”

Source - Business Today

22/08/2025

Apple will open its newest retail store, Apple Hebbal, on September 2, 2025. This will be the company’s third Apple Store in India, after Apple BKC in Mumbai and Apple Select City Walk in Saket, Delhi, which opened in 2021.

The barricade for the store was revealed this morning, featuring artwork of vibrant peacock feathers — a nod to India’s national bird and a symbol of pride. The design sets the tone for the store’s arrival in Bengaluru, where Apple is continuing to expand its physical retail presence.

Inside, Apple Hebbal will offer the full product lineup along with support from Specialists, Geniuses, Creatives, and Business teams. The store will also host Today at Apple sessions — free workshops covering everything from digital art and storytelling to productivity and coding.

Ahead of the launch, Apple has released exclusive Hebbal-themed wallpapers and a Bengaluru-inspired Apple Music playlist, both available on the company’s official website: apple.com/in/retail/hebbal.

We’ll be on the ground in Bengaluru on opening day to cover the store’s launch from the first look inside to the atmosphere outside so stay tuned for updates.

Source - The Economic Times

expansion

19/08/2025

Quick commerce platform Zepto has collaborated with The House of Abhinandan Lodha to offer land plots in 10 minutes, seemingly. The real estate player announced the collaboration in a recent ad campaign.

The advertisement, released around the festival of Janamasthami, shows sprawling land plots and ends with a delivery partner carrying a visual representation of those plots. The ad film carries the tagline: “This Janmashtami, reimagine land investments, with India’s largest branded land developer, The House of Abhinandan Lodha and Zepto.”

It could not be confirmed whether Zepto would only act as a showcase for The House of Abhinandan Lodha, or offer land plots on its behalf, similar to real estate platforms like 99acres and MagicBricks.

We have written to Zepto for more information. The story will be updated with their response once we receive it.

In February, Zepto had partnered with Czech carmaker Skoda in India to offer test drives for the latter’s compact SUV, Kylaq. The tie-up was misconstrued as Zepto offering to deliver the car within 10 minutes, which was later refuted by Zepto cofounder Aadit Palicha.

The quick commerce platform has been trying to prepare the ground for its India listing. It secured a Rs 400-crore investment from Motilal Oswal Financial Services in a bid to boost its Indian shareholding before filing for an initial public offering.

The round, part of a broader Rs 1,000 crore deal, valued Zepto at around $5.4 billion, or around Rs 47,298 crore, a person familiar with the development told ET.

Separately, Zepto is in the process of closing a primary round led by existing investors General Catalyst and Avenir Growth. This would also include a Rs 1,500 crore by Zepto's founders, for which they are raising debt from Edelweiss Alternative Asset and domestic family offices, and smaller credit funds.

Source - The Economic Times

19/08/2025

Sam Altman-led OpenAI launched ChatGPT Go on Tuesday, a low-cost subscription plan specifically designed for Indian users, featuring enhanced message limits, image generation, file uploading capabilities, and chat memory. These features, supported by the company’s latest model, GPT-5, will also offer enhanced support for local Indian languages, the company said in a press release.

The new subscription plan will cost Rs 399 per month, with the option for users to make payments through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

“ChatGPT Go is designed for people in India who want greater access to ChatGPT’s advanced capabilities at a more affordable price,” OpenAI said in its release.

Currently, users in India can purchase the ChatGPT Plus subscription for Rs 1,999 per month and the ChatGPT Pro subscription for Rs 19,900 per month.

“We’ve been inspired by how millions of people in India use ChatGPT daily for learning, work, creativity, and problem-solving,” Nick Turley, Vice-President and Head of ChatGPT at OpenAI, said.

The latest offering in India aligns with Altman’s comments that the company would launch more products and services designed specifically for the country.

India, currently the second-largest market for ChatGPT, may soon become the company’s largest market globally, given the rapid growth OpenAI has seen in the country, Altman said at the launch of GPT-5.

“What the citizens of India are doing with ChatGPT is really remarkable, the way it is being integrated into people’s lives and businesses, starting new companies. We are especially focused on bringing products to India, working with local partners to make artificial intelligence work great for India,” he said.

Earlier this year, in February, Altman had said during his visit to India that the number of ChatGPT users in the country had tripled during 2024. In May, OpenAI announced that the data of Indian ChatGPT Enterprise, ChatGPT Edu, and OpenAI API platform users would be stored locally in the country.

Source - Business Standard

19/08/2025

Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of investment platform Zerodha, on Monday announced his investment of ₹137.5 crore in Goldi Solar, a solar photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturing company. With this investment, Goldi Solar plans to expand its production capacity and strengthen its position as a leading global renewable energy manufacturer.

Backing India’s clean energy transition

Commenting on the investment, Kamath said, “Renewable energy in India is a massive sector, and there is an equally massive opportunity to build global-scale companies right here on our home ground. It is imperative that we back these companies to accelerate the country’s clean energy transition.”

Over the past 12 months, Goldi Solar has nearly tripled its solar PV module manufacturing capacity from 3 gigawatts (GW) to 14.7 GW. The company is also developing solar cell manufacturing facilities in Surat, Gujarat. It plans to continue introducing high-efficiency solar PV modules and cells using emerging technologies to meet India’s growing clean energy requirements.

Company background and leadership

Headquartered in Surat and founded in 2011 by Ishverbhai Dholakia, Goldi Solar is among India’s largest solar module manufacturers. It is now expanding into large-scale solar cell manufacturing to serve both domestic and export markets.

The investment comes at a time of rapid growth in domestic solar demand, backed by government targets of 280 GW of solar power by 2030. Import duties on foreign modules and incentives for local manufacture₹under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme are also driving expansion in India’s solar manufacturing sector.

Source - Business Standard

14/08/2025

Ride-hailing platform Rapido has launched its standalone mobile application, Ownly, marking its entry into the food delivery segment.

Currently, the app is servicing select areas, including Koramangala, HSR, and BTM Layout. The newly launched app will compete with the likes of Swiggy, Zomato, and Magicpin.

The launch comes just a few months after Rapido and the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI), which claims to represent over 50,000 eateries, started conversations to finalise terms and conditions (T&C) for bringing restaurant partners on the platform.

NRAI had said that, given that Swiggy and Zomato charge high commissions, the association is actively exploring a third alternative.

Source - Business Standard

14/08/2025

Premium electric motorcycle manufacturer Ultraviolette on Tuesday said it has secured USD 21-million in a funding round with strategic investment from deep tech investor TDK Ventures.

TDK Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Japanese firm TDK.

"The investment round of USD 21-million saw strategic participation from TDK Ventures and strong continued backing from existing investors Zoho Corporation and Lingotto (previously Exor Capital) among other leading institutional investors," Ultraviolette said in a statement.

Other investors in Ultraviolette include Sriharsha Majety (co-founder & CEO, Swiggy), Ankit Nagori (co-founder, Cure Foods; former Chief Business Officer, Flipkart), Aprameya Radhakrishna (Co-founder, TaxiForSure), and actor Dulquer Salmaan, the company said.

The partnership with TDK Ventures represents a pivotal step in Ultraviolette's mission to develop and scale globally competitive performance-oriented EVs, it stated.

"We look forward to bringing our TDK Goodness to Ultraviolette and their ambitious plan to design the next generation of energy efficient and performance EV 2W platforms," said Ravi Jain, Investment Director of TDK Ventures.

Ultraviolette said it is now scaling up manufacturing, accelerating research, expanding its distribution network, and bringing its product portfolio to global markets.

"Our partnership with TDK Ventures fast forwards our efforts, from advanced battery platforms to intelligent vehicle systems. This collaboration not only accelerates our vision of future ready mobility but also reinforces our commitment to delivering electric vehicles that are aspirational and globally relevant," said Narayan Subramaniam, Co-founder and CEO of Ultraviolette.

In late 2023, TDK Ventures launched its Bengaluru Innovation Hub to empower India's exceptional entrepreneurs to scale their technologies globally by leveraging its expertise in nurturing deep-tech startups around the world, as per the statement.

Source - The Economic Times

13/08/2025

Motilal Oswal Financial Services has invested Rs 400 crore in quick commerce startup Zepto, the Mumbai-based company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

People briefed on the matter told ET that Motilal’s investment is part of a Rs 1,000 crore funding round by Zepto.

"Motilal Oswal has invested Rs 400 crore via secondaries and another Rs 600 crore is expected to come in from domestic investors, who will buy shares from Zepto's foreign investors," one of the persons said, adding that the round will also have a small primary component.

The person added that the round valued Zepto at around $5.4 billion, or around Rs 47,298 crore.

"Acquisition (of shares) is a part of the treasury investment book, executed with the objective of generating sustainable, long-term returns," said Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Separately, Zepto is in the process of closing a primary round led by existing investors General Catalyst and Avenir Growth. This would also include a Rs 1,500 crore by Zepto's founders, for which they are raising debt from Edelweiss Alternative Asset and domestic family offices, and smaller credit funds.

The latest investments follow small stake purchases in Zepto by listed non-banking finance company Elcid Investments and homegrown mapping solutions firm MapmyIndia, both facilitated by Motilal Oswal's wealth management arm.

It comes amid Zepto’s plan to raise its domestic shareholding as the company prepares for a listing on the local exchanges.

Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha declined to comment.

ET had reported last August that Motilal Oswal Financial Services chairman Raamdeo Agrawal had backed Zepto in his personal capacity.

The four-year-old startup, which is currently working on arresting its cash burn, clocked Rs 11,109 crore in revenue in FY25, a sharp rise from Rs 4,454 crore in the year before, according to Elcid Investments’ regulatory filing in July.

Source - The Economic Times

13/08/2025

Perplexity has submitted an unsolicited $34.5 billion offer to acquire Google Chrome, according to The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. The AI search startup — valued at roughly $18 billion — confirmed the bid through spokesperson Jesse Dwyer, calling it part of its long-term strategy to expand in the browser market.

Google has shown no willingness to sell Chrome, and no court order has forced a divestment. Perplexity’s move mirrors its earlier attempt this year to acquire TikTok’s US operations, which also faced regulatory uncertainty.

Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity’s chief business officer, told Bloomberg that “multiple large investment funds” have agreed to fully finance the deal. The company pledged to invest over $3 billion in Chrome and its open-source base, Chromium, within two years of a purchase. It also promised to hire a “substantial portion” of Chrome’s existing team.

Perplexity stressed it would not make “stealth modifications” to the browser, citing a commitment to user continuity and advertiser stability. Importantly, the bid excludes any equity in Perplexity itself — a move aimed at avoiding antitrust issues.

The browser market has been heating up as AI firms eye opportunities to integrate virtual agents into everyday web use. Perplexity is already developing its own AI-powered browser, Comet, designed to handle online shopping and other automated tasks.

Whether Google engages with the proposal remains uncertain, but the sheer scale of the bid — outstripping Perplexity’s own valuation — clearly shows Perplexity's ambition to become a heavyweight in the browser space. Or it could be a move to ruffle Google's feathers as it is expected that the Sundar Pichai-led company will be one of the strongest competitors Perplexity faces in the AI browser race.

Source - MoneyControl

12/08/2025

FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd, which operates Nykaa, released its fiscal first quarter earnings report on Tuesday with a profit surge of 79.40 per cent to Rs 24.47 crore. It had posted profit at Rs 13.64 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY25. The company recorded revenue from operations at Rs 2,154.94 crore, posting a growth of 23.41 per cent as against Rs 1,746.11 crore recorded during the first quarter of previous financial year.

The company EBITDA stood at Rs 141.1 crore, up 49.6 per cent on-year. Nykaa delivered a strong Q1 performance, with consolidated GMV reaching Rs 4,182 crore, up 26 per cent YoY.

Falguni Nayar, Executive Chairperson, Founder and CEO, Nykaa said, “This quarter’s performance underscores Nykaa’s ability to consistently balance growth and profitability across both our beauty and fashion businesses. Our GMV for the quarter grew 26 per cent year-on-year to Rs 4,182 crore, supported by accelerated premiumization and deeper market penetration.”

Since the company’s IPO, Falguni Nayar added, Nykaa has consistently delivered mid-20s growth at a consolidated level. In terms of customer base, it now stands at 45 million.

Nykaa’s Beauty vertical posted GMV growth of 26 per cent YoY to Rs 3,208 crore. This was supported by strong all-round performance across e-commerce, retail stores, eB2B distribution and House of Nykaa portfolio. The cumulative beauty customer base expanded to nearly 37 million in Q1FY26, reflecting a 29 per cent YoY increase. One Nykaa’s overall cumulative customer base is now over 45 million. Falguni Nayar said, “The House of Nykaa Beauty business also continues to scale rapidly, driven by successful new launches and strong consumer demand, now contributing 18 per cent of our overall beauty GMV—a clear testament to our brand-building strength.”

Source - Financial Express

12/08/2025

Luxury vacation rental platform ELIVAAS has raised Rs 87 crore (approximately $10 million) in Series B funding led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, with participation from existing investors Peak XV Partners’ Surge and 3one4 Capital.

Entrackr had exclusively reported the development in April this year.

In April 2024, the company raised $5 million in Series A funding led by 3one4 Capital, with participation from Peak XV Partners’ Surge and angel investors.

The fresh proceeds will be used to expand its presence in India, prepare for entry into global markets, and invest in technology to scale operations.

Sources indicate the company may have crossed Rs 500 crore in valuation.

Founded in 2023 by Ritwik Khare and Karan Miglani, ELIVAAS manages luxury villas and apartments for short-term rentals. The platform serves both homeowners, by monetising and maintaining their properties, and travellers, by providing access to premium vacation accommodations.

The company currently operates in 30 destinations across India and reported five-fold year-on-year revenue growth in FY25.

While ELIVAAS has yet to disclose its FY25 numbers, the company recorded a revenue of Rs 7 crore and a loss of Rs 10.4 crore for the fiscal year ended March 2024, according to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible.

Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India is an early-stage venture capital firm that partners with startups across Southeast Asia and India. It has invested in companies including Grab, FirstCry, Nium, Licious, Kuku FM, and PatSnap, supporting their growth across multiple sectors.

Source - Entrackr

12/08/2025

Limelight Lab Grown Diamonds, a lab-grown diamond jewellery brand, has announced actor and entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty as both a strategic investor and brand ambassador. The move comes alongside the launch of the company's new campaign "Let's Get Real," aimed at transforming how luxury is defined in India.

Limelight claims to operate over 50 stores across more than 45 cities and is targeting 100 stores by 2026, a growth plan that underscores its market leadership ambitions.

"Limelight is not just participating in the lab-grown diamond category, we are building it," said Pooja Sheth Madhavan, Founder and Managing Director. "As a first mover, we have the responsibility to shift consumer perception. 'Let's Get Real' addresses myths around luxury and positions lab-grown diamonds as an ethical and innovative choice."

Shilpa Shetty said her investment decision was grounded in the brand's growth potential and values. "What drew me to Limelight was the honesty of their story. Lab-grown diamonds are a smart and responsible choice, both as a product and a business. With sustainability and consumer awareness on the rise, I believe Limelight is positioned for significant long-term growth."

The lab-grown diamond market has been gaining traction among young, independent consumers who prioritise sustainability, affordability, and transparency. Industry analysts note that brands with early entry and national presence, such as Limelight, are best placed to capture this demand shift.

Rupali Shrivastava, Chief Marketing Officer, said, "Our campaign is not just branding, it is about aligning with the values of modern consumers. This market is evolving fast, and we are leading the change."

With Shetty's backing, Limelight aims to accelerate expansion and solidify its position as the category leader in India's rapidly growing lab-grown diamond sector.

Source - Entrepreneur

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