Author: Aman Atulya

Bengaluru, July 2025 — After building Zomato into a household name, Deepinder Goyal is now chasing a much bigger ambition developing India’s first homegrown jet engines through his new startup, LAT Aerospace. The company, founded in 2023, is building a 25+ member engineering team at its Bengaluru research lab. Its goal: to design and develop short takeoff and landing (STOL) gas turbine engines that can power 12–24 seat regional aircraft, as well as next-gen drones and defense-grade UAVs. Goyal has already invested $20 million of his own capital and raised a $50 million seed round, making it one of India’s…

Bengaluru, July 2025 — Creator-led gaming community platform STAN has raised $8.5 million (₹74 crore) in a Series A round led by a mix of global and Indian investors. The round included participation from Google’s AI-focused fund, Japan’s gaming giants Bandai Namco and Square Enix, and returning backers Nazara Technologies, General Catalyst, and Pix Capital. Founded in 2022 by Parth Chadha, Rahul Singh, and Nauman Mulla, STAN enables mobile first gamers to interact with influencers, collect digital rewards, and engage in fan led tournaments through its app. Its blend of community, commerce, and creator monetization has made it a breakout…

Bengaluru, July 2025 — India’s emerging AI infrastructure startup, Metaforms, has raised $9 million in a Series A round led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Nexus Venture Partners and Together Fund. The Bengaluru-based company is reimagining how global research agencies conduct surveys, process data, and manage operations with AI agents doing the heavy lifting. Automating a $130B Industry Founded in 2022 by Akshat Tyagi and Arjun S, Metaforms builds AI tools that replace manual research tasks survey programming, data cleanup, QA, vendor coordination using natural language commands. Think of it as a no-code ops team tailored for the…

Bengaluru, July 2025 — One of India’s largest crypto exchanges, CoinDCX, has been hit by a ₹379 crore ($44 million) heist in what investigators call a sophisticated case of insider-led cyber theft. According to Bengaluru police, the breach was initiated through the compromised laptop of a CoinDCX software engineer, Rahul Agarwal. The malware was reportedly planted via a fake freelance gig, where attackers posed as overseas employers offering high-paying remote work. What Happened On July 19, suspicious transactions began at 9:40 AM and continued for several minutes. The stolen funds were routed to six unidentified crypto wallets. Initial probes suggest…

Mumbai July 30, 2025 : MS Dhoni’s family office, Midas Deals Pvt. Ltd., has made a strategic investment in ACKO, India’s leading D2C insurtech startup. Alongside the investment, Dhoni has also come on board as the brand ambassador. Financial terms were not disclosed Problem/Solution:ACKO was born from the belief that insurance in India needed a reset. Complex policies, long paperwork, and low trust kept millions underserved.ACKO solved this with tech-led, zero-paper journeys and embedded offerings covering car, health, life, and travel insurance with a focus on urban, digital-first consumers. With 70M+ customers and over 1 billion policies issued, the platform…

Bengaluru, July 30, 2025 — Vahan.ai, India’s AI-led recruitment platform for frontline workers, has just received a strategic investment from Temasek’s LemmaTree and acquired digital learning startup L.earn to deepen its impact in gig and blue-collar hiring. The move extends Vahan’s footprint far beyond job matching it now combines hiring, skilling, and career growth into a unified system. Why It Matters India’s blue-collar workforce is projected to drive 70% of employment growth by 2030, yet remains underserved by traditional hiring platforms. Vahan.ai addresses this by embedding vernacular, mobile-first learning modules into the candidate journey making it possible for workers to…

Vietnamese EV maker VinFast has officially entered the Indian market, inaugurating its first showroom in Surat, Gujarat. This 3,000 sq. ft. facility offers immersive brand experiences, test drives, and after-sales support. The showroom showcases right-hand drive versions of VinFast’s premium electric SUVs, the VF 6 and VF 7, marking India as the first market to receive these models in this configuration. Pre-bookings for both models commenced on July 15, 2025, with a fully refundable deposit of ₹21,000. VinFast plans to establish 35 dealerships across more than 27 Indian cities by the end of 2025, reinforcing its commitment to the Indian…

Krutrim, the artificial intelligence startup founded by Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal, has conducted its second round of layoffs, letting go of over 100 employees. This move is part of a broader strategy to maintain leaner teams and reflects ongoing operational adjustments within the company. The recent layoffs have significantly impacted the linguistics team, many of whom were hired less than six months ago. This suggests a shift in Krutrim’s approach to its language-focused AI initiatives. These job cuts follow a previous round of layoffs and the resignation of Krutrim’s business head, Ravi Jain, nine months ago, indicating ongoing restructuring efforts within…

India’s biggest IT company just made its boldest cut yet and it signals a deeper industry shift. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced plans to lay off approximately 12,000 employees, marking the largest workforce reduction in its history. The move impacts nearly 2% of its global headcount, which exceeds 600,000 employees. This decision, according to internal sources and CEO K Krithivasan, is driven by a need to realign the company’s talent base around AI, automation, and next-generation tech services as traditional IT contracts face pricing pressure and slower global demand. The layoffs are expected to disproportionately affect mid-level and senior…

India’s eyewear giant is stepping into the IPO spotlight and it’s doing so with structure, clarity, and long-term vision. At its 17th Annual General Meeting, Lenskart received shareholder approval to raise ₹2,150 crore through a fresh issue of shares setting the stage for one of the most anticipated public listings in India’s consumer tech space. While the official DRHP filing is still awaited, insiders suggest the company may be eyeing a $1 billion IPO at a potential $10 billion valuation a sharp jump from its $5 billion mark last year. But capital isn’t the only story here. Lenskart also announced…