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The stories our editors are featuring right now — the most important moves across India’s startup and business landscape.

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5This Week
Zoho Founder
Lite Updates · SaaS & Tech · 13 May 2026 · 2 min

Zoho Corporation Invests ₹70 Crore in ONDC to Expand Technology Rails for Indian MSMEs

The global SaaS giant's capital injection aims to strengthen the foundational technology layer of India's open network, directly supporting local enterprises against established e-commerce monopolies
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EleFant Shark Tank India
Funding · 13 May 2026 · 2 min

Toy Subscription Startup The EleFant Raises $1M in Pre-Series Round Led by Growth Sense Venture Fund to Expand Operations

The Shark Tank India-featured D2C brand is capitalizing on the growing demand for sustainable, cost-effective parenting solutions through its circular toy rental model
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PwC Narendra Modi
Lite Updates · Policy · 13 May 2026 · 2 min

PwC India Restricts Employee Travel to 'Clear Business Need' Following Prime Minister's WFH Advisory

The global consulting major is tightening its operational expenses by restricting domestic and international movement, signaling a broader industry shift toward optimized remote engagements.
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Udayan Adhye
Lite Updates · 12 May 2026 · 2 min

Finance Creator Estimates Cost of Raising a Child in Indian Metros at ₹6.75 Crore

An Oxford-trained finance creator has quantified the severe financial anxiety gripping young urban Indians, breaking down the massive capital required from childbirth to college in a top-tier city.
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PM Modi Work From Home
Lite Updates · 12 May 2026 · 2 min

Viral Email Shows Indian Tech Worker Demanding 1-Year WFH Citing PM Modi's National Appeal

As corporate India aggressively enforces return-to-office mandates, a viral email leveraging a political energy-saving appeal highlights the escalating friction between legacy management styles and a highly resistant workforce.
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Dil Foods Team
Funding · 12 May 2026 · 2 min

Dil Foods Raises ₹72 Cr in Series B Round Led by Bikaji Foods Family Office to Expand Supply Chain

The virtual restaurant enabler plans to double its national footprint to 600 locations by FY28, utilizing the fresh capital to optimize production and introduce broader regional food portfolios.
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NORI Founder
Funding · D2C · 11 May 2026 · 3 min

Bengaluru-Based D2C Travel Gear Brand NORI Raises $350K in Pre-Seed Round Led by Rebalance

The Bengaluru-based D2C startup will deploy the fresh capital to broaden its specialized product portfolio and aggressively scale its online and offline distribution channels.
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Bobakat Founders
Funding · D2C · 11 May 2026 · 2 min

Mumbai-based Bubble Tea Brand Bobakat Raises ₹6 Crore in Pre-Series A

The Mumbai-based startup plans to deploy the fresh capital to expand its compact-format store footprint, targeting 35 new outlets in FY27 and ₹100 crore in net sales over the next 36 months.
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Varun Alagh Ghazal Alagh
Lite Updates · Founders · 9 May 2026 · 3 min

Mamaearth Founders Join Deepinder Goyal's Temple Pilot, Wearing the Experimental Brain Tracker

Varun and Ghazal Alagh are among the earliest adopters of Deepinder Goyal's controversial new health-tech wearable, Temple, a device aiming to track cerebral blood flow.
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Kimbal
Funding · 9 May 2026 · 3 min

Kimbal Raises $22 Mn in Series B Led by GEF Capital to Scale Smart Grid Solutions

The fresh capital injection will power the advanced metering infrastructure company’s expansion into energy management, battery storage, and international markets.
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Flipkart Minutes
Lite Updates · 9 May 2026 · 2 min

Flipkart Minutes to Double Dark Store Network to 1,500 by End of 2026

With the quick commerce wars intensifying, the Walmart-backed giant is scaling its local fulfillment infrastructure to protect its core market share from being eaten by instant delivery platforms.
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Anjali Sardana Pronto
Funding · D2C · 7 May 2026 · 3 min

Pronto Raises $45 Million in Series B Extension Led by Lachy Groom to Scale Instant Home Services

The instant home services startup has nearly doubled its valuation to $200 million within a month as daily bookings cross 26,000, signaling a massive structural shift in how urban India hires and manages domestic help.
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Armory Founder
Lite Updates · Policy · 6 May 2026 · 3 min

Armory Secures ₹100 Crore Contract From Ministry of Defence to Deploy SURGE Counter-Drone System

By bringing a field-ready, AI-driven counter-drone system to market in just 14 months, Gurugram-based Armory has bypassed legacy contractors to set a new benchmark for sovereign defence procurement.
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Kisah Founders
Funding · D2C · 5 May 2026 · 3 min

Kisah Raises ₹35.9 Crore in Series A Led by Fireside Ventures to Accelerate Omnichannel Expansion

By transitioning from a marketplace-first model to a physical retail operator, the Kolkata-based ethnic wear brand aims to capture a larger, highly profitable share of millennial and Gen Z festive spending.
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Rajasthan Royals Acquisition
Lite Updates · 4 May 2026 · 3 min

Lakshmi Mittal and Adar Poonawalla Acquire 93% Stake in Rajasthan Royals for ₹15,660 Crore

After a last-minute collapse of a US-backed acquisition, the steel magnate and the vaccine billionaire have stepped in to buy a combined 93% stake in the IPL franchise, valuing the asset at a staggering $1.65 billion.
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Rosier Foods Aman Gupta
Funding · D2C · 4 May 2026 · 2 min

Rosier Foods Raises Fresh Capital in Round Led by Aman Gupta to Scale D2C Nutrition Business

With ₹100 crore in annual recurring revenue and consistent 5-6% net profit margins, the clean-label FMCG brand will use the fresh capital to expand its farmer network and scale its farm-to-table supply chain.
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KK Suresh Usha International
Lite Updates · 3 May 2026 · 2 min

Usha International's KK Suresh Retires as Senior Vice President After 39-Year Career

Starting as a Sales Officer Trainee in 1987, KK Suresh's nearly four-decade climb to Senior Vice President at Usha International offers a rare look into extreme corporate loyalty and long-term internal growth.
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Citibank
Lite Updates · Banking & Finance · 2 May 2026 · 3 min

Citigroup Hires Former JPMorgan Banker Vis Raghavan for Rs 490+ Crore

A recent investigation reveals that prominent India-born investment banker Vis Raghavan secured a top position at Citigroup just 48 hours after being effectively dismissed by JPMorgan Chase, bypassing traditional executive search protocols to control his public exit.
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Zohran Mamdani India Artifacts
Lite Updates · Policy · 2 May 2026 · 2 min

US Authorities Return 657 Stolen Indian Antiquities Valued at $14 Million

The restitution of 657 artifacts, overlapping with remarks by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani on the Kohinoor diamond, highlights a broader international crackdown on cultural smuggling networks.
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Sahi Founders
Funding · 29 Apr 2026 · 3 min

Stock-Trading App Sahi Raises $33 Million in Series B Led by Accel to Expand Financial Products

Operating with a lean team of 60, the Bengaluru-based startup is leveraging entirely in-house trading infrastructure to undercut legacy incumbents and process over a million trades daily.
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Eternal Founder
Lite Updates · Markets & IPO · 28 Apr 2026 · 2 min

Eternal Reports ₹174 Crore Q4 Profit as Revenue Surges 196% Driven by Blinkit

As revenue climbs 196% to ₹17,292 crore, the newly restructured Eternal entity proves that the aggressive bet on quick commerce is fundamentally rewriting the unit economics of Indian retail.
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Snabbit
Funding · 28 Apr 2026 · 2 min

Snabbit Raises $56 Million in Series D Round Led by Susquehanna and Mirae Asset to Scale Home Services

With backing from heavyweights like BII and Unicorn Growth Fund, the quick home services platform plans to deepen its current market penetration and roll out higher-frequency service categories.
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Morphing Machines Founder
Funding · 28 Apr 2026 · 3 min

Semiconductor Startup Morphing Machines Raises ₹42 Crore in Series A to Accelerate Chip Production

The IISc-incubated fabless startup will deploy the fresh capital to validate its proprietary 'REDEFINE' processor, transition early customer interest into active commercial pilots, and aggressively expand its core engineering unit.
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Dilip Shanghvi Sun Pharma
Lite Updates · Healthcare · 27 Apr 2026 · 3 min

Sun Pharma Acquires Organon for $11.75 Billion in All-Cash Deal to Expand Global Reach

India's largest drugmaker leverages a heavy debt structure to acquire the Merck spinoff, securing immediate dominance in women's health and a powerful foothold in the lucrative biosimilars market.
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Isha Ambani Ajio
Lite Updates · D2C · 26 Apr 2026 · 2 min

Reliance Retail Expands AJIO Rush 4-Hour Delivery to 600+ Cities

Following a 60X quarterly expansion of its sub-four-hour apparel delivery service, Reliance Retail is now weaponizing its vast offline store network to experiment with two-hour hyperlocal fulfillment.
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Shopflo Founders
Lite Updates · Banking & Finance · 25 Apr 2026 · 2 min

Pine Labs Acquires D2C Checkout Platform Shopflo for ₹88 Crore to Build Full-Stack Commerce Offering

The acquisition bolsters Pine Labs’ omni-channel strategy by integrating Shopflo's high-conversion checkout optimization tools into its core payment infrastructure.
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Paytm Payments Bank RBI
Lite Updates · Banking & Finance · 24 Apr 2026 · 2 min

RBI Cancels Paytm Payments Bank’s Licence, Moves High Court for Winding Up Over Detrimental Practices

After years of regulatory scrutiny and operational curbs, the central bank has officially withdrawn Paytm Payments Bank's licence, citing severe governance lapses and non-compliance.
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Bikaji Founder Shiv Ratan Agarwal
Lite Updates · Founders · 23 Apr 2026 · 3 min

Bikaji Foods Founder Shiv Ratan Agarwal Passes Away at 74

Shiv Ratan Agarwal, the visionary who separated from the Haldiram family to create the global snack mammoth Bikaji, passed away following a heart attack, leaving behind a legacy that fundamentally structured India's traditional packaged foods market.
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Kabeer Biswas M
Funding · Founders · 23 Apr 2026 · 3 min

Kabeer Biswas’ New AI Startup M Raises ₹102 Cr Seed Round Led by Peak XV

Valued at ₹300 crore, the newly incorporated venture seeks to move beyond traditional quick commerce by using artificial intelligence to automate and execute everyday household tasks without heavy operational logistics.
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PrimeInvestor founders
Banking & Finance · Funding · 22 Apr 2026 · 2 min

PrimeInvestor Raises ₹19.5 Crore in Round Led by Zerodha's Rainmatter to Scale Portfolio Management Services

The newly infused capital will power the wealth-tech platform's push into discretionary portfolio management, challenging the traditional high-fee structure of India's asset management space.
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Curemeabroad founders
Funding · SaaS & Tech · 22 Apr 2026 · 2 min

CureMeAbroad Raises $600,000 in Pre-Seed Round from Angel Syndicate to Digitize Medical Tourism

By bringing algorithm-driven cost estimation and transparent clinical matching to an otherwise fragmented sector, CureMeAbroad is replacing legacy middlemen in the $174 billion medical tourism market.
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Tim Cook Apple CEO
Lite Updates · Founders · 21 Apr 2026 · 2 min

Apple CEO Tim Cook Steps Down After 15 Years; Hardware Chief John Ternus Named Successor

After driving a staggering $3.6 trillion in value creation over 15 years, Tim Cook transitions to Executive Chairman as Apple relies on its hardware veteran to navigate an increasingly complex AI and regulatory environment.
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Palki Sharma India Global Review IGR
Lite Updates · Founders · 20 Apr 2026 · 2 min

Veteran Journalist Palki Sharma Launches Digital-First Global News Platform 'India Global Review'

Following her exit from Network18, the veteran journalist is building an independent, digital-first newsroom designed to challenge Western media narratives with a distinctly Indian lens.
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Ultratech Cement Bag
Lite Updates · 19 Apr 2026 · 3 min

UltraTech Cement Crosses 200 MTPA Mark to Become World's Largest Cement Maker Outside China

The Aditya Birla Group flagship added 100 million tonnes of capacity in under seven years, leveraging strategic acquisitions to build a massive moat in India's booming infrastructure market.
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Hocco Founder
Funding · D2C · 18 Apr 2026 · 2 min

Hocco Raises ₹100 Crore in Series C Round Led by Sauce.vc to Scale Manufacturing

The Chona family's second ice cream venture has crossed ₹530 crore in FY26 sales, rapidly deploying fresh capital to double production capacity and scale its general trade distribution across North and South India.
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Unbound Lifestyle Founders
Funding · D2C · 17 Apr 2026 · 2 min

Unbound Lifestyle Raises ₹8 Crore in Round Led by Fireside Ventures for Product Launch

The direct-to-consumer brand, founded by former FMCG executives, will deploy the fresh capital to introduce its initial portfolio spanning skin, hair, and body care formulations tailored for the Indian male demographic.
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Flipkart CEO
Lite Updates · 16 Apr 2026 · 2 min

Flipkart Explores $2.5 Billion Pre-IPO Round as Walmart Weighs Stake Dilution

CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy is actively engaging global and domestic bankers to gauge investor appetite, though the ultimate green light hinges on parent company Walmart.
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Vas Narasimhan Anthropic CEO
Lite Updates · SaaS & Tech · 15 Apr 2026 · 3 min

Anthropic Appoints Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan to Board to Expand Healthcare AI

By bringing a seasoned pharmaceutical executive onto its board, the makers of Claude are positioning themselves to navigate the heavily regulated life sciences sector and commercialize artificial intelligence in drug development.
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Traqcheck Founder
Funding · SaaS & Tech · 14 Apr 2026 · 2 min

TraqCheck Raises $8M in Series A Led by IvyCap Ventures for European Expansion

The enterprise startup is aggressively moving beyond simple background checks into full-stack autonomous talent sourcing.
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Ananya Birla ReelSeRealStar
Lite Updates · 13 Apr 2026 · 2 min

Ananya Birla Launches 'ReelSeRealStar' via Birla Studios to Discover Acting Talent Through Smartphones

The new initiative aims to democratize the casting process, offering smartphone creators a direct pathway into mainstream film production and addressing the long-standing entry barriers for industry outsiders.
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