TECHNOLOGY
This moment in AI is something that you just cannot miss: Perplexity’s Aravind Srinivas
In an interview with Chandra R. Srikanth from Moneycontrol, Srinivas delved into the fast-evolving landscape of AI innovation, India’s potential to build a strong deep-tech ecosystem, and tweaking Perplexity’s pricing for the Indian market.
BUSINESS
Deferring wage hikes prudent in current business environment: TCS CHRO Milind Lakkad
About 40 percent of freshers hired in FY25 had niche digital skills, including AI, compared to 17 percent hired in FY24, TCS CHRO has said
BUSINESS
Goldman Sachs-backed MoEngage to shift domicile to India ahead of possible IPO
The SaaS firm is evaluating a reverse flip to tap India’s favorable IPO environment, where listing thresholds are more startup-friendly.
BUSINESS
Rising Bharat 2025: I don’t plan Perplexity for more than three months, says CEO Aravind Srinivas
Srinivas also highlighted the challenge of building AI-native products and the balance between generality and user specificity.
BUSINESS
Rising Bharat Summit 2025: Tech-led trust helped us crack tier 2 & 3 India, says InsuranceDekho’s Aman Batra
InsuranceDekho is now looking to leverage technology to customise products by analysing the profile of customers.
TECHNOLOGY
GitHub COO Kyle Daigle on 'vibe coding' and why one should still learn to code in the AI era
In an interview, GitHub COO Kyle Daigle also spoke about what’s next for the Microsoft-owned developer platform and the future of AI-powered programming
BUSINESS
GitHub is adding one million developers in India every 3 months: COO Kyle Daigle
Student education will be a big focus area for GitHub in India, Daigle said. This includes helping high school and university students adopt AI-powered software development.
BUSINESS
Agentic AI startup Composio raises $24 million in Series A round from Lightspeed, Elevation and Together
The company, founded in 2023 by IIT-Bombay graduates Soham Ganatra and Karan Vaidya, focuses on simplifying complex enterprise workflows through AI-driven automation
BUSINESS
Unicorn alert! B2B startup Jumbotail nears $120 million funding round at $1 billion valuation
The larger entity’s fresh valuation of around $900 million is a significant markup from Jumbotail’s valuation of around $300 million in 2021 and Solv’s valuation of $200 million a few years ago.
BUSINESS
Fissures appear in Payments Council on letter to PM Modi on MDR without consultation
Some fintechs are miffed with Payments Council of India after it shot off a letter to PM on MDR without consultation. Such an aggressive public posturing on MDR could be counter productive, they said
BUSINESS
Paytm snaps ties with Juspay, joins Razorpay, Cashfree, PhonePe in industry-wide shift to direct processing
In a notification sent to merchants seen by Moneycontrol, Paytm announced that from April 1, 2025, it will only facilitate transactions routed directly through Paytm Payments Services Limited (PPSL), advising businesses to shift before the deadline to avoid service disruptions.
TECHNOLOGY
Lab-grown diamond jewellery startup Aukera in talks to raise $15 million in funding from Peak XV
The fresh capital will help the company scale its operations amid increasing competitive intensity in the India’s $2.6 billion LGD market. Existing backers, including Fireside Ventures, are expected to participate in the round.
BUSINESS
Meesho picks Morgan Stanley, Kotak and Citi as bankers for $1 billion IPO at valuation of $10 billion
Meesho is likely to command a valuation of $10 billion, a 2.5X increase from $3.9 billion last year. The company is expected to list on the stock exchanges around Diwali this year, outpacing Flipkart, sources told Moneycontrol.
BUSINESS
Pune-based SaaS firm Icertis to raise $50 million in fresh funding
Headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, Icertis operates additional offices across North America, India, and Europe. The firm was last valued at $5 billion.
BUSINESS
Minimalist’s ethos is transparency; it’ll stay intact under HUL ownership, says co-founder Mohit Yadav
While Yadav shed light on what typically changes for other brands after an acquisition, he is confident, from his conversations in the past several months, that HUL will not alter Minimalist’s perception and positioning which makes the acquisition deal even sweeter, he told Moneycontrol in an interview.
BUSINESS
Darwinbox set to hit $100 million ARR in 2025, expands focus on AI, US market
This comes a day after the firm announced raising $140 million in a funding round.
BUSINESS
Ola Electric receives Rs 73.7 crore incentives under PLI-Auto scheme, becoming the first 2W auto maker in India to qualify
The Bhavish Aggarwal-led firm, which offers Ola S1 range of electric scooters, is currently the market leader in the electric two-wheeler segment with a 28 percent share in February 2025.
BUSINESS
Banking infra firm M2P to acquire Chennai-based AI startup Mad Street Den
Sources say M2P has also acquired MSD’s full stack AI platform, Vue.ai to double down on its AI and Data first growth strategy.
BUSINESS
UK-India FTA important, but not essential given robust bilateral trade: UK investment minister Poppy Gustafsson
The UK Minister for Investments, Poppy Gustafsson, said she hopes to see more young professionals traveling between the UK and India.
TECHNOLOGY
Infosys layoffs: Nasscom defends tech industry, says companies follow performance-driven hiring, adhere to local laws
Nasscom said in a statement that the global tech industry, which is largely customer-focused, operates on a merit-based system, emphasising high-tech skills to meet evolving customer demands.
BUSINESS
Pune-based Sedemac Mechatronics, founded by an IIT Bombay Professor, plans Rs 800-crore IPO
Sources told Moneycontrol that the firm has clocked a revenue of Rs 650 crore and an Ebitda of Rs 120 crore in FY25.
BUSINESS
Lahori, a beverage brand, nears Rs 450 crore fundraise from Motilal Oswal, others
While the company was valued at around Rs 700-750 crore in 2022, ongoing negotiations value the company at around Rs 2,500 crore, a source told Moneycontrol.
TECHNOLOGY
Karnataka labour officials visit Infosys Bengaluru, Mysuru campuses amid layoffs; company emphasizes employee-friendly policies
Moneycontrol reported last week that Infosys was laying off over 300 trainees at its Mysuru campus after they failed evaluation tests in three consecutive attempts.
TECHNOLOGY
Infosys to issue increment letters by February-end; salary hikes to range from 5% to 8%
Moneycontrol learns that the software major has also started issuing promotion letters in batches, starting December. The salary hikes will be effective from April 2025.
