Breaking startup & business news from India.
Quanfluence raised $10 million and seven more startups closed rounds, as Maharashtra told bike taxi platforms to go electric and JioHotstar launched in the Middle East.
Gold and silver rates today in India, 7 October 2026. 24K gold is at ₹149,620 per 10g and silver at ₹225,160 per kg, both down on the day as silver falls more than twice as much as gold. Check city-wise rates and MCX data below.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has got the letter of award to develop the main plant of a 1,600 MW thermal power project in Chandrapura, Jharkhand. DVC CIL Power will have two 800 MW ultra-supercritical units and L&T will be responsible for essential equipment and engineering.
Meta is piloting a new video-first Facebook experience in India that opens the app right into full-screen video and highlights Reels. The new UX is aimed to increase video engagement, with some users given the option to revert to the Feed-first experience.
Paramount Skydance has finalised its $11 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, one of Hollywood’s biggest media giants. The unprecedented merger will combine key franchises including Mission: Impossible and Harry Potter, and Paramount+ and HBO Max, CBS, TNT and other networks.
With nearly two in five public chargers non-functional, Ionage’s platform is turning a fragmented charging landscape into one reliable network
Bike taxi aggregators like Rapido, Ola and Uber have been told by the Maharashtra state to switch to electric vehicles from petrol-powered motorcycles by July 2027. The state transport government has given platforms nine months to comply citing Maharashtra Bike Taxi Rules, 2025.
Uber is buying US workplace catering platform ezCater for $2.3bn in an all-cash deal to boost Uber Eats’ footprint in group catering and company meals. ezCater connects companies with more than 140,000 restaurants, and has more than $2.5 billion in revenue bookings in the last 12 months.
JioHotstar has expanded its international streaming footprint to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, outside of India, the UK, Canada and Singapore. STARZPLAY is now accessible in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Morocco and more regions.
India's connected TV audience hit 207 million people in 2026, up 3X since 2022, per a WPP Media and Trade Desk report. The ad spend chasing that audience is still a small slice of the total market.
ITC has made eight FMCG acquisitions since 2021, not seven since 2023 as first reported here, including a baby-care stake that predates every other deal on the list. Corrected and expanded after a Tracxn cross-check.
Beyond Appliances raised INR 110 crore in a Series B round and six more startups closed rounds, as the Cabinet cleared an INR 10,000 crore SME fund and Swara Baby Products got its IPO nod.
Meesho’s Content Commerce business grew by 152% year-on-year in Net Merchandise Value (NMV) from authors in non-metro Indian cities. Almost 90% of its 1.6 lakh active producers are nano creators and 81% of them are outside the big urban centers.
CurvetAI, an AI workspace that allows users to access and combine multiple AI models from one platform, has raised Rs 6 crore in a pre-seed round led by Merak Ventures. A group of angel investors also participated in the round. Founded in December 2025 by Vivek Dubey and Utkarsh
Reliance Industries has obtained interim relief from the Delhi High Court in its case against FSSAI over the usage of “energy drink” on Campa products. The court questioned the decision making process of the FSSAI and let Reliance Consumer Products to continue selling Campa as an energy drink.
Ordo and WearSynapse win ₹90,000 IDFC FIRST Bank prize pool and earn boarding passes to Draper University’s Hero Training Program in Silicon Valle
A major legal challenge has been mounted against Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee as US district judges in California and Massachusetts have declared that the administration does not have the power to levy the price. Court rulings put fee enforcement on hold affording reprieve to Indian IT firms.
Huawei and Qualcomm have entered into a multi-year patent licensing arrangement that covers 5G, artificial intelligence, computing and networking technologies. Under the transaction, Qualcomm will purchase a portfolio of US patents from Huawei.
The FBI fired an Accenture contractor after a security lapse exposed sensitive personal data of thousands of FBI workers. The hack apparently involved Oracle PeopleSoft software and a vulnerability that was thought to have been exploited by the ShinyHunters criminal gang.
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From heartfelt stories celebrating Shakti to fashion-led festive campaigns, brands are bringing Navratri 2026 to life with fresh ideas. Explore the latest Navratri ad campaigns that blend culture, creativity, emotion, and festive excitement.
India’s frozen food sector is expanding and HyFun Foods, a major supplier of potatoes to McDonald’s and KFC, is set to list through an INR 2,000 cr IPO by 2028. The company plans to launch the IPO in about mid-2027 largely through a fresh share offering.
Reliance Industries filed a writ suit on October 1 challenging an FSSAI judgement that stopped it from marketing its Campa beverages as ‘energy drinks’. Reliance Consumer Products said the move has interrupted operations and it has also hampered brand's image.
New Jersey, October 5, 2026: LogiNext, the AI-native orchestration platform for modern supply chains, will participate in DELIVER America 2026, taking place October 7–8 at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas. Attendees can meet the LogiNext team at Booth C57 to explore how AI-powered orchestration and intelligent automation
HUL has bought majority stakes in two D2C brands since 2022, OZiva and Minimalist, and walked away from two others. That mix of buying and selling, not any single deal, is the real strategy.
UPI
The government says UPI's new fee is about sustainability. Congress says US pressure. A BJP-aligned group says the same. Trade experts blame Walmart and Google. Five competing theories, each attributed to who's actually making the claim.
AI can make branding faster and cheaper. But when a brand uses it, customers may also read something else into the decision: how much the company cares about what they’re being offered.
PhysicsWallah’s arm FinZ Finance has agreed to sell a loan portfolio worth INR 95.79 cr to NBFC Auxilo Finserve, with the transfer anticipated to be completed within 60 days. The deal will partially close the lending activities of FinZ Finance.
Honda has teamed with Tata Technologies to create vehicles for the Indian market, with the aim of reducing vehicle prices by 20% and development time by 50%. The alliance comes as Honda retools its India strategy amid increased competition and pressure to bring more inexpensive vehicles.
Reliance Jio has now introduced the JE6000 AX3000 Wi-Fi extender in India for INR 3,499, offering an economical solution to enhance connectivity in the home. The dual-band Wi-Fi 6 extender offers combined speeds of up to 3,000 Mbps.
Schneider Electric has agreed to purchase US-based software business PTC in an all-cash deal worth $22.6 billion for the company’s shares and $23.7 billion including enterprise value. The offer of $205 a share is 42.3% over PTC’s most recent closing price.
Lockheed Martin is eyeing to scale up its India manufacturing operations with a potential $10.5 billion Indian military aviation deal for 60 medium transport aircraft. The company has teamed up with TASL to bid for the project under which it will build 48 aircraft in India and supply 12 directly.
According to reports, Jio Platforms is all set to issue its long awaited IPO by end of October at an enterprise valuation of $143-146 billion or around INR 12 lakh crore. The anticipated $3.8 billion IPO will be India’s biggest public offer with up to 27 crore new shares.
🗞️ Funding Roundup
Welcome to StartupTalky’s 2026 US funding updates. This article offers a clear and structured overview of the latest investment activity in the United States throughout the year. Our weekly funding tables, updated regularly, track how much funding companies have raised, the industries they operate in, key investors involved, and
🗞️ Funding Roundup
Welcome to StartupTalky’s 2026 Indian startup funding updates. This article provides a clear and easy overview of the latest startup funding news in India throughout the year. Our weekly funding tables, updated regularly, track how much funding each startup has raised, the sectors they operate in, the key investors
Scooter raised INR 1.5 crore in a pre-seed round led by AJVC, as Snapdeal parent AceVector made a weak market debut and Razorpay partnered with OpenAI on ChatGPT ads.
Gold and silver rates today in India, 2 October 2026. 24K gold is at ₹150,540 per 10g and silver at ₹226,570 per kg, flat on the day with MCX shut for Gandhi Jayanti. Check city-wise rates and MCX data below.
Six years after building a visual-learning browser for Bharat, MagTapp leverages its existing user base and 169Pi’s Alpie AI models to enter its next phase of growth, with expansion across platforms and geographies. MagTapp, the Indian technology company that has crossed 6 million downloads and was among the
Seeds Fincap raised INR 100 crore in a Series B round and five more startups closed rounds, as Moneyview made a strong market debut and traders called off their 'No UPI Day' protest.
Gold and silver rates today in India, 1 October 2026. 24K gold is at ₹150,350 per 10g and silver at ₹225,940 per kg, both up on the day but still lower than a week ago. Check city-wise rates and MCX data below.
DoorDash launches new global competence center in Hyderabad, Telangana, expects to create 3,000 jobs in India over next two years The centre’s initial focus will be on customer service, business operations and administration with 500 people planned in the first phase.
Employees are concerned about the IPO timeline and liquidity, and Flipkart is mulling a new ESOP cash-out option that might let eligible staff sell 20-25% of their vested shares in early 2027. Existing investors may fund the proposed initiative.
Google has announced its latest powerful AI model, Gemini 4 Argon, designed for coding, cybersecurity and complex professional jobs. It is said to give high benchmark results for banking, legal work, software engineering and cyber defence.
Unveilr AI has raised pre-seed funding from AJVC at a ₹16.7 crore valuation. The amount was undisclosed, but AJVC's standard ₹1.5 crore for 9% divides to exactly that number.
Walmart is stepping up its AI effort to change retail shopping with generative AI, agentic commerce, personalised suggestions and autonomous shopping tools. AI-enabled experiences are driving higher add-to-cart rates and repeat purchases, the business says.
Amazon has also increased its Amazon Now ultra-fast delivery service reaches 120+ cities in India doubling its presence in just 2 weeks. The rapid commerce platform has tens of thousands of products, including groceries, fresh fruit, electronics, fashion and household essentials etc.
Zaperon has raised ₹7 crore led by Inflection Point Ventures, its first institutional cheque after five years. It enters a category where Cisco just paid $400 million for a rival.
Jio Finance and Allianz Europe BV have each invested INR 320.05 crore in Jio Allianz General Insurance through a rights issue, making the total funding amount INR 640.10 cr. The funding will be used for the general insurance business in India, including health insurance, by the 50:50 joint venture.
Apple Pay has launched in India with Axis Bank as its first banking partner and qualifying Visa and Mastercard users will be able to make contactless payments through iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. The solution works for both in-store and online transactions wherever NFC payments are allowed.
Gold and silver rates today in India, 30 September 2026. 24K gold trades at ₹150,250 per 10g and silver at ₹226,750 per kg, both extending their rebound for a second straight day. Check city wise rates and MCX data below.
Simple Energy raised INR 1,750 crore in a Series C round, and five more startups closed rounds, as Apple Pay launched in India and Inox Clean Energy filed for an INR 10,000 crore IPO.
Prodoc AI has raised an undisclosed seed round led by Thyrocare founder Dr A. Velumani's family office. The Bengaluru company reached 100-plus hospitals on about ₹1.7 crore of angel money raised since 2022.
Bharat Housing Network raised $5 million in green bonds, and FIG Living got backing from Aman Gupta, as ITC completed its Yoga Bar buyout and Subway India's operator filed for an IPO.
Gold and silver rates today in India, 29 September 2026. 24K gold trades at ₹147,570 per 10g and silver at ₹226,280 per kg, with gold steadying while silver slips further after yesterday's crash. Check city-wise rates and MCX data below.
OpenAI has apparently stopped the publication of their GPT-6.1 Astra AI model after internal safety tests found issues about its ability to stay aligned with human intent. The move comes amid increasing scrutiny of powerful artificial intelligence systems.
SEBI has ended its proceedings against Gautam Adani, four Adani Group entities and 13 people for alleged violations of minimum public shareholding (MPS) requirements. The parties paid Rs 1.48 crore to resolve the proceedings without accepting or contesting the conclusions.
HCLSoftware, the software arm of HCLTech, has inked an agreement to acquire Robotiq.ai, an enterprise automation business based in Croatia, in a €9 million cash transaction. The acquisition will be made through HCL Technologies Austria GmbH and is expected to close by November 2026.
ITC has completed the acquisition of 100 per cent of Yoga Bar maker Sproutlife Foods by acquiring the remaining 52.5 per cent interest for roughly INR 645 crore. Sproutlife will be a wholly owned subsidiary of ITC as of September 28.
The Supreme Court has declined to issue an interim stay on the proposed 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) for some UPI merchant transactions exceeding INR 2,000. While reviewing the legal ramifications of the judgement, a three-judge bench requested comments from the Center, RBI and NPCI.
Anthropic’s private IPO filing underscores a high degree of client concentration and large infrastructure commitments that are anticipated in the future, the report said. The AI startup has noted significant revenue growth in tandem with heavy investment on compute and cloud/infrastructure.
Aman Gupta has backed FIG Living through SailThru Ventures. The lighting brand runs on a thirty-year-old export manufacturer that filed ₹16.2 crore revenue and a 2.5% net margin for the year to March 2025.
WEH Ventures has announced the first close of Fund III, targeting ₹250 crore for 20 to 25 seed-stage Indian startups. The fund is 12.5 times the size of the 2017 debut fund that one smallcase exit returned on its own.
Three funding rounds closed on 28 September 2026, spanning agricultural machinery, experience tech and AI software testing. First Bridge India Growth Fund, Powerhouse Ventures and Flipkart Ventures were among the day's lead investors. The headline raise is Balwaan Krishi's INR 100 crore Series B round to
Gold and silver rates today in India, 28 September 2026. 24K gold trades at ₹148,010 per 10g and silver at ₹227,640 per kg, both tumbling as Fed rate hike fears and high oil prices hit metals. Check city wise rates and MCX data below.
Antony Road Transport Solutions has ordered 840 electric buses from Switch Mobility for deployment in Delhi under the PM E-Drive plan. It involves 420 nine-meter and 420 12-meter electric buses for the Delhi Transport Corporation and Delhi Transport Dept.
Flipkart Ventures has also invested in AI firms Alive and Keploy, supporting them with finance, strategic mentoring and access to Flipkart’s ecosystem to help fuel their growth. Flipkart Ventures has invested in more than 20 early stage firms in AI, consumer internet, logistics-tech & more.
Airbnb and India’s Ministry of Tourism have struck a two-year MoU to enhance the country’s homestay economy and promote growing tourism destinations. The relationship will cover digital onboarding, training, hospitality best practices, listing development, pricing and platform features.
Food businesses have petitioned India’s Supreme Court to review proposed red warning labels on packaged meals, saying customers could mistake them for the mandated red mark for non-vegetarian products. The AIFPA has also challenged recommended nutrient levels for sugar, fat and salt.
HSBC is stepping up its wealth management playbook in India to target high networth clients and expand its footprint beyond the major cities. The bank wants to grow the number of branches from current 34 to 46 in next two years.
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Discover Cadbury’s marketing strategy in 2026, from emotional storytelling and iconic campaigns to digital marketing, product innovation, personalisation, cricket and festival-led campaigns.
Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha has praised the new Telecom Consumer Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026 by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that bring in a 30-day validity for voice and SMS-only prepaid Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs).
ITC is building its dairy business in Eastern India with its Aashirvaad Svasti brand focused on fresh milk and value added goods including curd, paneer, lassi and Mishti Doi. The company has emerged as the second largest dairy player of Bihar and is operating in Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand.
Zed Entertainment raises stakes in copyright fight with JioStar, moves contempt action in Delhi High Court Zed argues that JioStar continued to use its copyrighted music even after the May injunction banning the publishing, broadcasting, streaming and uploading of licensed compositions.
Private equity company TPG has sold its 2.21% interest worth INR 202 crore in FirstCry via a bulk deal. NewQuest Asia Investments sold 1.2 crore TPG shares at INR 175.15 each III. Goldman Sachs Investments Mauritius bought 68 lakh shares worth INR 119 crore.
Ayurvedic hair care brand Sesa Care’s merger with Dabur India has received nod from NCLT. Dabur bought 51% of Sesa Care in October 2024 and had authorised the merger in May 2025. The deal is intended to boost Dabur’s hair care portfolio and provide cost and revenue synergies.
Gold and silver rates today in India, 25 September 2026. 24K gold trades at ₹151,660 per 10g and silver at ₹234,190 per kg, both steadying after yesterday's sharp Fed driven fall. Check city wise rates and MCX data below.
Amazon will spend $3 billion on India’s quick-commerce company, Amazon Now, by 2030, with $1 billion of that to be spent by the end of 2027. The investment will assist neighbourhood warehouses, fulfilment centers, inventory systems, demand forecasts and product selection.
Google is constructing a prototype satellite for Project Suncatcher, its first in-space test of AI processing infrastructure in orbit. The satellite will transport Google’s Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs, into low Earth orbit to see how they cope with radiation, heat and the stresses of launch.
Starbucks is closing around 250 underperforming outlets in North America, or 1% of its store count in the region. Most of the closures are slated to take place by the end of fiscal 2026 as CEO Brian Niccol continues efforts to improve customer experience and financial performance.
Gupshup has launched an agentic AI solution for the real estate industry to assist developers in automating property discovery, lead qualifying, sales, and post-sale services. The platform links AI agents to CRM, inventory and property management systems.
Haryana has notified rummy and poker as games of skill, clearing physical card rooms in Gurugram and across the state, on conditions that include registration, KYC, CCTV and a bar on taking any rake. The Supreme Court's May ruling on GST leaves a separate question open.
Adani Group has declared plans to invest over ₹1 trillion in West Bengal by 2035, including ports, logistics, power, highways, green cement and data centers. Chairman Gautam Adani pointed to the state’s strategic position and potential as a major hub for trade.
Here's your daily dose of Indian startup funding roundup and key business news for 24 September 2026. Ema raises $77 million, and PB Fintech crashes 36% on IRDAI's commission cap plan.
Gold and silver rates today in India, 24 September 2026. 24K gold trades at ₹151,270 per 10g and silver at ₹233,050 per kg, both falling sharply as Fed hawkishness and a strong dollar weigh on metals. Check city wise rates and MCX data below.
PhonePe said it wants to engage more than 20,000 frontline staff and roll out over 5 million payment devices across India over the next 12 months. The company will focus on rural and Tier 6 regions.
Oracle’s most recent round of layoffs in its America Cloud Infrastructure segment impacted 546 of 7,185 employees, with many of the cuts coming from middle-management positions. Affected roles included software developers, program managers, and infrastructure engineers.
Amazon is expanding its AI efforts and hiring former employees, including some who were laid off, for positions in artificial intelligence, machine learning and cloud computing. Ex-employees have been approached by recruiters about potential roles and fast-tracked interview processes.
The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) has called on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to roll back the proposed UPI MDR on high-value merchant payments. From October 15, 2026, a 0.4% MDR will be levied on eligible person-to-merchant UPI transactions above INR 2,000 with a ceiling of INR 300.
FSSAI has suggested one-time introduction of FoPL norms for packaged foods that include more added sugar, fat or salt than is allowed. The suggested framework includes red hexagonal warning labels for nutrients of concern and a front-of-pack warning for non-caloric sweeteners.
ByteAsk has raised $1 million from Y Combinator and Entrepreneur First to build AI coding agents for C and C++ in defence, trading, automotive and semiconductors. On the two programmes' published standard terms, roughly $375,000 of the round came from angels.
Awfis Space Solutions has launched a 100,000 sq ft luxury coworking center, Elite by Awfis at Prestige Trade Center in Delhi Aerocity. The new workplace is for global capability centers (GCCs), large organisations and offers built-to-suit and ready-to-move-in offices.
Indian Walker, started by a former Rapido captain who could not find a bag that survived Delhi's roads, has raised a pre-seed from Palette Wealth Management at a ₹20 crore post-money valuation. The round size has not been disclosed.
Definedge has raised ₹22 crore in a Pre-Series A, taking total funding to ₹30 crore. The Pune firm built trading tools and an education community before it took a broking licence, and says its Momentify platform has crossed ₹1,000 crore in assets under management.
betterhood has raised ₹11.5 crore led by Sauce for preventive pain care. Musculoskeletal pain affects 53.5% of Indians over 45, but 62.3% of women against 48.9% of men, and the company's 7,000-strong physiotherapist community is the channel that matters.
Instamart intends to build its battery swapping network around the micro-fulfilment centers to speed up the use of EVs in the last mile deliveries. The company is collaborating with Yuma Energy and Yulu to minimise charging downtime, travel and operating costs for delivery partners.
Amazon has launched its first fulfilment and sort centers in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, strengthening its delivery network and creating hundreds of jobs ahead of the Christmas season. The new facilities are part of Amazon’s growing logistics footprint across the state.
Anthropic has unveiled Claude Opus 5.5, the latest in its flagship AI lineup that offers increased performance, faster responses, better safeguards, and up to 40% less expensive to run. The model is priced 20% below the Claude Opus 5 and targeted knowledge work, computer use and agentic coding.
Airtel Money has applied for a potential London IPO that would value the company at a minimum of $800 million, one of the largest listings in the UK in recent years. Airtel Africa’s mobile payments operation processed $213 billion in the year to June, with over 53 million monthly active users.
Zetwerk and US-based Ayr Energy have resolved their legal dispute, agreeing to dismiss the allegations pending before the Texas Business Court and to seek termination of the related USITC Section 337 inquiry.
This investment of $100 million by Binance in Circle signifies the extension of the strategic relationship to promote USDC worldwide on its platform. The five-year deal will focus on driving the use of USDC, particularly in emerging economies.
SEBI has completed adjudication proceedings against five entities comprising four Adani Group companies and levied a total fine of INR 1.50 crore. The proceedings were preceded by the regulator’s examination of matters of corporate governance and claims in the Hindenburg report.