BUSINESS
Audiobooks platform Kuku taps Kotak, JM Financial and others for Rs 3,000 cr IPO
Kuku will look to file its papers during the January-March quarter and look to list on the stock exchanges by the mid of calendar year 2026, a source told Moneycontrol
BUSINESS
South Korean firms Krafton, Naver, Mirae Asset launch Rs 6,000 Crore Unicorn Growth Fund to back Indian startups
The fund aims to back startups poised to become unicorns across areas such as AI, fintech, digital content, and logistics.
BUSINESS
AI-led RFP automation has boosted win rates at Cognizant, says Babak Hodjat
While AI has shortened RFP timelines, its biggest impact has been on the quality of responses rather than speed alone, the Cognizant’s chief AI officer tells Moneycontrol.
BUSINESS
India better placed to attract global AI talent amid US visa, immigration curbs: Cognizant chief AI officer Babak Hodjat
The crackdown on foreign students and tougher immigration policies have made the US less welcoming, prompting many to consider alternatives such as Canada and Europe, Hodjat tells Moneycontrol
BUSINESS
Jar in talks to raise over $100 million at $550 million valuation; WestBridge issues termsheet
As many as five investors are engaging with Jar for the new round.
BUSINESS
Customers migrating from Adobe, Salesforce to MoEngage: CEO Raviteja Dodda opens up on India flip, IPO
Valued at around $800–850 million, the customer engagement platform says AI-led migrations from legacy marketing clouds, improving profitability and a largely secondary funding round are shaping its IPO roadmap
BUSINESS
Kae Capital to raise a new fund of around $100 million
The fund will continue to back seed and Series A startups and about 80-85 percent of the corpus will be reserved for such early bets
BUSINESS
Visa startup Atlys in talks to raise around $40 million from SIG, MakeMyTrip amid travel boom
Atlys is being valued at around $200 million in the ongoing negotiations with potential investors, including Sofina, sources told Moneycontrol
BUSINESS
IPO-bound Zetwerk sees a rise in demand from AI-led data centres, to close FY26 above $2 billion in revenue
Energy-related manufacturing, including transformers, solar trackers and wind turbine components, now contributes nearly 40% of Zetwerk’s revenue and is growing at roughly 100% YoY, co-founder and chief executive Amrit Acharya told Moneycontrol.
BUSINESS
Smart fan maker Atomberg picks bankers for Rs 2,000-crore IPO
Atomberg will look to file its draft IPO papers likely under the confidential route in January and will aim to list by around March or April of 2026
BUSINESS
SoftBank is back! Sumer Juneja signals India investments in 2026, says ‘we don’t want to be out of the game’
In an interview with Moneycontrol, SoftBank's Sumer Juneja said the Japanese investment giant is confident of deploying capital in India, even through smaller, sharper bets.
BUSINESS
MC Interview: 'We’re competing with IPOs now': SoftBank’s Sumer Juneja says startup listings are rewriting India’s funding game
In an interview with Moneycontrol, Juneja said while competing with public markets may not be ideal for big funds, the rush of liquidity is phenomenal for the Indian startup ecosystem.
BUSINESS
Drone startup Airbound to raise $30 million in fresh funding led by Greenoaks
Airbound was founded in 2023 by Naman Pushp, who first began working on drones at the age of 15.
BUSINESS
Swiggy QIP: SBI MF, ICICI Prudential MF, Temasek, GIC, and others drive over 4X demand for Rs 10,000 crore QIP
Temasek, an early backer of Eternal (formerly Zomato), is now looking to bet on Swiggy, sources told Moneycontrol.
BUSINESS
Majority stake sale in IPL team Rajasthan Royals in play; The Raine Group roped in as advisor
Preliminary discussions have been held with suitors and investors and the targeted valuation for the franchise is $1bn plus, sources told Moneycontrol. Suitors for RCB may also evince interest in Rajasthan Royals, sources added.
BUSINESS
RDI Fund will be a success if Rs 1 lakh crore catalyses Rs 10 lakh crore in deep tech VC investments: DST Secretary Abhay Karandikar
Karandikar told Moneycontrol that the fund is willing to take lower returns, with an aim to produce 5-10 globally competitive deep tech companies from India in 15 years. It aims to deploy Rs 15,000 to 20,000 crore each year starting 2026.
BUSINESS
MC Interview: AI is a ‘second leg up’ for BPM; EXL’s opportunity has tripled, says CEO Rohit Kapoor
In an interview with Moneycontrol from the US, Kapoor said EXL has been posting double-digit growth, driven by a business mix that is increasingly data- and AI-led, with artificial intelligence embedded into client workflows.
BUSINESS
Deepinder Goyal’s wearable company Temple in talks to raise $50 million from Steadview, Info Edge, Peak XV Partners, others
The institutional funds backing Temple are the same ones who invested in Zomato during its early days. From Steadview to Vy Capital and Info Edge to Peak XV Partners, all the funds have been associated with Goyal during the early days of Zomato. Temple is being valued at around $125 million, sources told Moneycontrol.
BUSINESS
LTIMindtree builds 1,500 AI 'digital employees' as CEO Lambu bets on agentic future
Each agent has a human mentor responsible for training and supervising and at some point, some of them might even be 'retired' or 'fired' if they do not learn well enough, Venu Lambu tells Moneycontrol
BUSINESS
LTIMindtree will stop filing fresh H1-B visa applications: CEO Venu Lambu
Lambu said the impact on LTIMindtree's onsite delivery model will be limited because the company has already reduced its dependence on H-1B over the last few years and built a strong local hiring engine in the US.
TECHNOLOGY
How Google reclaimed the AI crown
From ‘Code Red’ to the top of the AI race, a look at how Google engineered its resurgence
BUSINESS
Danaher President Jai Shankar Krishnan joins Zetwerk board as Independent Director ahead of IPO
His appoitment comes as Zetwerk has appointed bankers and is likely to file its draft papers for an IPO confidentially in February-March 2026.
BUSINESS
Education alone is insufficient without jobs, says Infosys' Sumit Virmani
India’s next wave of social innovators must focus on turning education and training into tangible employment outcomes, Virmani has said
BUSINESS
Logistics startup Ripplr to raise Rs 400 crore in fresh round from SBI, existing investors
The Bengaluru-based firm is being valued at around Rs 2,000-2,200 crore during the ongoing negotiations, sources told Moneycontrol
