One quick thing: Renee Cosmetics raises $30 million, targets offline growth and tech investment    

In today’s newsletter:

• Swiggy dishes out gains for SoftBank Vision Fund
• DPDP clause may stall India's AI progress, warns IAMAI
• Inside Nandan Nilekani’s $3 trillion idea

P.S.: Introducing the Tech3 Podcast, your daily dose of tech and startup insights. Monday to Friday! Check it out on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? You can sign up for Tech3 here

After dragging down the March quarter, Swiggy returned with just enough sparkle to steady the Vision Funds.

SoftBank Group posted a net profit of $2.87 billion in the April–June quarter, a dramatic turnaround from last year’s loss. 

• This was driven by $4.94 billion in investment gains from its Vision Fund bets, buoyed in part by the rising valuation of Indian food delivery firm Swiggy and US-based warehouse automation firm Symbotic.

“The fair value of investments (Fund 2) increased by 3.5% QoQ— up 22.4% for public portfolio companies, mainly due to share price increases in Symbotic and Swiggy,” the firm noted.

Swiggy’s stock performance helped offset prior markdowns, but investors are still watching profitability metrics closely.

• After starting the quarter near Rs 330 and dipping to Rs 305 in May, the stock surged over 20% in June, ending the quarter at around Rs 400–406
  
  
• The rally extended briefly into July, peaking at around Rs 420, before seeing some correction in August

Swiggy is now among the better-performing bets, with a $357 million gain on $450 million invested, but others like Ola Electric remain in the red.

While SoftBank has been cautious in making new investments in India, it is closely watching a fresh wave of IPOs from its India portfolio.

• CFO Navneet Govil listed Meesho and Lenskart among SoftBank’s upcoming IPO pipeline
  
  
• It plans to sell 2.55 crore shares in Lenskart’s Rs 2,150 crore issue, making it the biggest institutional seller

As of June 30, SoftBank's India portfolio (Swiggy, Ola Electric, Delhivery, FirstCry) was valued at $2.46 billion with unrealised gains of $790 million.  

Find out more

A key legal ambiguity may trip up Indian AI developers.

A provision in India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, could make it legally risky for Indian companies to train AI models, IAMAI has warned in a new submission to MeitY.

• The clause in question is Section 3(c)(ii), which excludes personal data made “publicly available” from the Act

IAMAI says it’s unclear whether the provision covers all publicly posted content, especially if users later change their privacy settings.

“It can be challenging to ascertain whether a Data Principal has voluntarily made their personal data public,” the group noted.

LLM developers often rely on large-scale, publicly sourced data. 

• IAMAI said the ambiguity could lead to “undue compliance burdens” and stifle innovation 

IAMAI recommended Meity to: 

• Amend the clause to clarify that AI model training is exempt; or
  
  
• Use Section 17(5) to issue a temporary exemption for AI training and fine-tuning

“As an interim measure… exempt data fiduciaries from the Act’s provisions, provided the data processing is solely for the training or fine-tuning of AI models and is limited to publicly available personal data,” IAMAI said.

Go deeper

India’s most valuable asset might be right under our feet!

Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is proposing that India unlock its most illiquid form of household wealth: land, by turning it into a digital financial asset.

• Speaking in Bengaluru earlier this year, Nilekani called for tokenising land so it can be traded or used as collateral, much like stocks or bonds

The idea is simple: nearly half of India’s household wealth is tied up in land, but most of it remains economically inactive.

Tokenisation, the Infosys Chairman says, could be a $3 trillion unlock, helping landowners sell fractional ownership or raise loans.

• This vision builds on a paper he co-authored on the "Internet of Assets", where physical assets become digitally tradable via secure ledgers like blockchain

He also suggested that this could improve credit access, especially in rural India, and boost GDP growth to 8% by 2035.

Critics like Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu warn that financialising land could backfire.

• Making land too tradable, he argues, could lead to distress sales, land fragmentation, and even consolidation by institutional players

National Informatics Centre’s Udaya Kumar adds that most land records still need upgrades like geo-referencing and integration of surveys, ownership data, and registration systems.

“Tokenisation may be the next step,” he said, “but securing and updating land records is the first.”

Dig deeper

• US President Donald Trump has indicated that his administration is considering a 100% tariff on all imported semiconductors and chips, a significant move aimed at strengthening domestic production.
  
  
• Endex AI has raised $14 million from the OpenAI Startup Fund to launch an AI agent designed specifically for Microsoft Excel.

Australia just flipped the switch on a battery that will make your EV look like a toy.

The Waratah Super Battery, backed by BlackRock’s Akaysha Energy, has started operations in New South Wales. 

It currently delivers 350 megawatts of power and is targeting a full capacity of 850 MW and 1,680 MWh by year-end (enough to power a million homes for an hour).

• Making it the world’s most powerful battery by output

As Australia retires coal plants by 2035, this mega-battery will be the grid’s new best friend during blackouts. Find out more

Note: By subscribing to Tech3, you have already made the right choice. Top it up with a premium offering, the Moneycontrol Pro Panorama, a newsletter that gives you a sharp take on macros, markets, business and finance. Sign up for Pro from this link to get this newsletter in your inbox and also a host of content enjoyed by over a million subscribers.