- Despite tariff tensions, China's $1.19 trillion trade surplus surpasses expectations. - Internal issues such as the housing crisis, 17.2% fall in property investment, and low consumer spending remain. - Experts doubt the 5% and say the number is likely at least 1.5 percentage points lower.
India’s startup and business ecosystem continues to witness a mix of funding momentum and major corporate developments. In today’s roundup, social networking platform Culture raised INR 2 crore in a seed round led by Acuvest Infra, while premium sneaker brand Gully Labs secured INR 30 crore in Series
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the parent company of Jio, has stated that once regulatory checks and balances are in place, the public offering is anticipated to take place in the upcoming months. Anshuman Thakur, SVP of Strategy & Planning at RIL, stated on the firm's Q3 earnings call
Gully Labs, a homegrown premium sneaker brand blending Indian cultural storytelling with contemporary design and craftsmanship, has raised INR 30 crore in a Series A funding round led by Saama Capital, with participation from existing investor Zeropearl VC, which is doubling down with a follow-on investment beyond its pro-rata allocation
In a deal to be disclosed on January 20, private equity firm Everstone would sell its whole 11.26% ownership in Burger King's franchisee Restaurant Brands Asia in India and Indonesia. According to Refinitiv statistics, Everstone Capital's shareholding, through its investment vehicle QSR Asia Pte Ltd,
- Deloitte targets Tier II cities in India for their strong talent and real estate. - Mangaluru can become Deloitte's new destination. - Romal Shetty, Deloitte’s CEO for South Asia, at the TiEcon Mangaluru 2026 event, suggested “innovate for Bharat."
Global IT company Wipro has been accused in a letter to the labour and employment ministry by the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES). Wipro is accused by NITES of postponing the onboarding of roughly 250 engineering graduates despite the company's formal contact and offer letter guarantees. In
* The funding will be used to accelerate product development, expand community initiatives & strengthen safety-focused platform infrastructure * The newly raised capital will also support the rollout of creator-led ‘Spaces’, a feature that allows creators and community leaders to host live discussions, events, and hybrid online-offline experiences Culture, a human-first social
- Elon says OpenAI benefited from his reputation and wants his share of the profits. - Elon posts stating, "Can’t wait to start the trial", which will likely start in April 2026. - OpenAI publishes 2 news articles calling Elon's claims baseless and a harassment campaign.
Google has petitioned a magistrate to delay the requirement for the company to disclose data to competitors, including OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. According to court documents, Google is contesting a decision that it has an unlawful monopoly in online search. District Judge Amit Mehta of Washington declared in 2024
After an investigation revealed significant operational, planning, and regulatory flaws that contributed to the significant flight disruptions in December 2025, the civil aviation regulator DGCA fined IndiGo INR 22.20 crore and took severe enforcement action against its senior management. Between December 3 and 5, 2025, IndiGo experienced significant delays
Soult, a Mangaluru-based startup, announced its official global launch at TiECon Mangaluru 2026, unveiling the world’s first Digital Life Vault designed for comprehensive legacy management. Soult enables individuals and families across the world to securely organize financial assets, critical documents, personal memories, wishes, and life instructions within one private
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Consumer, the FMCG division of the billionaire, announced on 16 January that it has bought the global rights of multinational brands like Brylcreem, Toni & Guy, and Badedas. On the same day, Reliance Industries also announced its financial results for the quarter that concluded on
IT giant Wipro announced on 16 January that it now anticipates hiring 7,500–8,000 graduates for the current fiscal year (FY26), a decrease from its initial goal of 10,000–12,000. The change follows subdued third-quarter performance, in which the Bengaluru-based company hired just 400 new employees.
Coca-Cola anticipates that India will rank as its third-largest market by volume in the upcoming years; hence, the company is assessing acquisition options there. The Coca-Cola Company, an international beverage company with headquarters in Atlanta, is searching for acquisitions in India. Through these acquisitions, the firm aims to grow into
India’s startup ecosystem continues to see vibrant activity in January 2026, with major developments across space tech, online knowledge platforms, and auto-tech sectors. Space startup Ethereal Exploration Guild (EtherealX) raised $20.5 million in Series A funding to develop its first fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicle, Razor Crest Mk-1.
After Barrett Zoph’s exit as CEO, Mira Murati appointed an Indian-origin computer scientist as the new CTO. Here's all you need to know about Soumith Chintala.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), a consumer watchdog, fined Amazon, Meesho, Meta, and other e-commerce sites for selling walkie-talkies illegally, claiming that thousands of listings violated consumer and telecom regulations. In addition to a number of smaller merchants and websites, the CCPA reported that it discovered over 16,900
Vikram Chopra, CEO and cofounder of CARS24, stated that the company hopes to go public in the next six to twelve months amid the current startup IPO boom. In order to support its attempt to break into the $200 billion used car industry, Chopra emphasised notable improvements in the startup&
Anthropic, a prominent artificial intelligence company, has appointed Irina Ghose, former managing director of Microsoft India, as managing director to spearhead its Indian operations, reflecting its strategic expansion initiatives. According to a release, the hiring coincides with Claude's parent company preparing to launch its first office in India
- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation decides to shut down entirely by 2045. - The foundation wants to redirect (money from the job cuts) to healthcare, education, and women's welfare. - CEO Mark Suzman says the foundation wants "to improve millions more lives over the next 20 years."
* India’s FinTech sector raised a total of $2.4B in 2025, ranking 3rd globally after the US and the UK * The ecosystem witnessed 4 $100M+ funding rounds, led by Groww, Weaver, and Raise * Early-stage funding stood at $1.2B in 2025, up 78% from $667M in 2024 * The year
In an attempt to increase innovation as it integrates AI into its operations, consulting behemoth McKinsey plans to hire liberal arts candidates that it had previously deprioritised. According to Bob Sternfels, global managing partner at McKinsey & Company, the firm is beginning to identify which backgrounds tend to generate the