ETtech Unwrapped: Weekend Roundup of Key Developments
Leading Stories This Week
Dhan Achieves Unicorn Status with $120 Million Fundraising: After extensive negotiations, Raise Financial, the parent company of Dhan, a stock-trading platform, has successfully secured $120 million (approximately ₹1,000 crores), a funding round propelled by Hornbill Capital, which values the enterprise at around $1.2 billion (approximately ₹10,000 crores).
Anthropic Expands Footprint in India: The San Francisco-based company Anthropic is significantly broadening its operations in India, now the second-largest market worldwide for its Claude AI models, aligning itself with entities like OpenAI and Perplexity to bolster their presence in this South Asian hub.
Graphcore to Infuse $1.3 Billion into India Over Next Decade: Graphcore, a UK-based chip manufacturing firm amid heavyweights such as Nvidia, is committed to investing $1.3 billion in India over the subsequent ten years, marking its inaugural establishment within the nation.
Flipkart Partakes in Major Disinvestment: The e-commerce titan Flipkart has liquidated assets worth over ₹2,408.7 crores from various startups and enterprises throughout the past year, in a strategic pivot to concentrate on its primary operations and gear up for a market debut projected for 2026.
Capillary’s Stock Market Aspirations Supported by Triad of Growth Initiatives: Capillary Technologies, recognized as a software-as-a-service entity, is actively preparing for its public listing—its second attempt—with a streamlined business model and three clearly defined growth pathways, as articulated by its founder and CEO, Aneesh Reddy.
FMCG Giants Pivot Towards D2C Strategies Amid Profitability Challenges: Direct-to-consumer (D2C) startups have experienced rapid growth following acquisitions by leading FMCG companies, yet an analysis indicates that profitability remains an elusive goal for many, a conclusion drawn from ET’s financial assessments of these enterprises.
Blinkit’s Warehouse Woes Eclipse Sellers’ Festive Revenues: Blinkit, India’s preeminent quick commerce platform, is encountering operational disruptions in its substantial warehouses across Haryana, Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, stemming from the dual pressures of heightened festive demands and a recent shift to an inventory-led framework.
Fintech Insights
GFF 2025 Recap: Initial Public Offerings, AI’s Rise, and Fraud Mitigation: The Global Fintech Fest 2025 concluded on Friday, where attendees discussed pivotal themes despite significant challenges, including uncertainties in global trade, stagnation in unsecured lending, and regulatory constraints affecting payment firms.
Increased Regulatory Scrutiny as Brokers Diversify Financial Offerings: The Indian stock broking landscape is now under closer examination as trading platforms venture into supplementary services, such as credit provision, wealth management, and insurance.
RBI’s Digital Payment Overhaul Receives Praise from Industry Experts: India’s digital payments sector is on the brink of a security transformation, as new directives from the Reserve Bank of India, effective April 2026, will mandate banks to adopt a risk-based approach for transaction authentications.
Startup Spotlight
Hunger Inc. Secures ₹215 Crore in Funding: The parent organization of Bombay Sweet Shop and other notable restaurants, Hunger Inc., has successfully raised ₹215 crores in a new funding round, as reported by co-founder Sameer Seth. The investment was led by Lighthouse and DSG Consumer Partners, who acquired a significant minority stake in the enterprise.
Ixigo Offloads 10% Stake to Prosus for ₹1,295 Crore: Online travel aggregator Ixigo is divesting a portion of its ownership to the Dutch investment company Prosus to bolster its expansion strategy. The board of Le Travenues Technology, its parent company, has authorized this stake sale.
IT Developments
TCS Reports a Minor Profit Increase, Revenue Growth in September Quarter: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced a 5.4% quarter-on-quarter drop in net profit, amounting to ₹12,075 crores for the July-September period, primarily due to a one-time severance payout of ₹1,135 crores. Year-on-year, net profit experienced a marginal increase of 1.4%.
India’s largest IT services firm has laid off 1%, equating to 6,000 employees, from its workforce of around 600,000 in a move to trim its headcount by 2% during this fiscal year.
Dassault Targets $1 Billion Revenue in India via New Pune Facility: French enterprise Dassault Systèmes is ramping up its operations in India through increased spending and an aspiring 10% workforce expansion at its new Pune facility, with a goal of achieving $1 billion in revenue within the next five years, as stated by CEO Pascal Daloz.
IT Companies Remain Cautious as Hyperscalers Eye IT Spending: The growing investments in AI by hyperscalers represent a potential threat to traditional software services outsourcing firms, with an aim to seize a significant portion of enterprise IT expenditure.
Technology Policy Updates
‘Tech Transfer and Skill Development Will Enhance Prospects for Chinese JVs in ECMS’: Applications from Chinese companies under the electronic component manufacturing scheme (ECMS) will be considered favorably if they commit to substantial technology transfers and local skill development, according to government officials.
Government’s DLI Recognition Assists Semiconductor Startups in Attracting VC Investments: Several Indian semiconductor startups are currently negotiating funding from Indian venture capital firms, spurred by a governmental initiative aimed at fostering self-reliance amidst geopolitical tensions.
Artificial Intelligence Developments
Emerging AI Startups Raise Concerns Over Antitrust Issues: Numerous Indian startups have voiced apprehensions regarding the dominance of major technological firms in data and computational resources, which could ultimately hinder fair competition in the AI landscape.
Affluent Investors in India Seek AI Gains Through Secondary Market: The wealthier segments of India’s population are enthusiastically investing in AI, with many acquiring stakes in prominent unlisted tech firms through international secondary markets, thereby capitalizing on what is currently a thriving sector.
Source link: M.economictimes.com.
