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In today’s newsletter:

• India's influencers: 45 lakh creators, only 6 lakh make money 
• Q1 IT earnings: Five things to watch out for 
• Decoding Curefoods DRHP and risk factors

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

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Scroll. Like. Struggle... because going viral isn’t a career yet and most influencers are still not making money.

• Time for reality check-- only a fraction of influencers earn enough to consider content creation a full-time job

India has around 45 lakh influencers, but only 6 lakh creators are turning content into cash.

• Everyone’s posting, few are getting paid as there are more creators than ever—but not enough brands or bucks to go around

One in three creators struggle with limited brand deals.

Fast, engaging, profitable---- short-form is where the money is, say most creators. 

• Shortform ad spending is expected to double by 2026

Mega and celebrity influencers earn over Rs 2 lakh per post for branded short-form content; smaller creators make Rs 500 to Rs 5,000.

With more creators and ROI-conscious brands, Reels earnings took a hit in FY25.

• Revenue from Reels dipped across all tiers. Nano creators (1,000–10,000 followers) now earn Rs 300–5,000, down from Rs 500–5,000 in FY24. Even celebrities saw a drop in payouts

In contrast, YouTube Shorts showed stable or rising earnings, especially for Nano and Macro creators (1–5 lakh followers).

E-commerce, FMCG, auto and BFSI  brands are spending big on influencers

• Annual spends on influencer marketing now touch Rs 800 crore, with the cost per influencer campaign amounting to Rs 12–18 lakh

India’s influencer marketing sector is one of the fastest-growing in digital AdEx (Advertising Expenditure), valued at around Rs 3,500 crore in 2025 so far.

Dig deeper

It's a new fiscal year for Indian IT, but the headwinds remain all too familiar — sluggish demand, margin pressure, and a cautious global environment.

As the IT sector prepares to report its performance for the first quarter of the new fiscal, here are a few key themes to watch:

• Revenue dip ahead: Analysts expect a tepid sequential performance for tier-I IT firms. Kotak Institutional Equities projects a 1–2% drop in constant currency terms
  
  
• Margin pressures: Operating margin headwinds are expected across large caps, with the exception of Infosys
  
  
• Demand outlook: Discretionary tech spending remains muted. However, deal wins may surprise on the upside, offering some optimism, analysts predict

In the previous quarter, TCS deferred its usual April salary increments — a move that underscored persistent macro uncertainties. 

• The commentary this quarter will be watched

In a challenging business environment, GenAI and agentic automation are emerging as strategic bets.

• Analysts at BNP Paribas and Elara Securities said that companies such as TCS, Infosys, and Wipro are seeing strong traction in GenAI-led deal discussions and pipelines

However, apart from Accenture and TCS, most Indian IT firms haven’t quantified Gen AI revenues till date.

Go deeper

Curefoods is plating up an IPO — with early backers booking returns, costs on the boil, and a business model still fine-tuning its recipe for profit.

The DRHP lays out a full-course exit for early backers, and Iron Pillar’s getting the fattest slice.

• Iron Pillar is carving out 1.91 crore shares, far more than Crimson Winter (97.6 lakh), Accel (45.7 lakh), Chiratae (36.6 lakh), and Curefit (12.8 lakh)
  
  
• Its exit value is 2.6x juicier than Accel and Chiratae’s, going by acquisition price

Founder Ankit Nagori isn’t biting — he’s skipping the OFS buffet entirely.

Whether it’s staff or sales, the Binny Bansal-backed firm is relying heavily on others to keep the kitchen running.

• Attrition stayed spicy: 111.7% in FY25, after peaking at 127.7% the year before
  
  
• Over 82% of FY25 revenue came via delivery apps — not much change in three years.

With commissions as high as 22%, aggregators are eating into the margins too.

The IPO funds are earmarked, the losses still smouldering, and the kitchens just keep multiplying.

• Rs 152.5 crore is going into new kitchens, while Rs 126.9 crore towards debt repayment
  
  
• Another Rs 92 crore will fund subsidiary Fan Hospitality, and marketing gets a modest Rs 14 crore.

FY25 revenue hit Rs 746 crore, but expenses rose to Rs 944 crore — with losses holding at Rs 170 crore.

Dig deeper

• Ruoming Pang, the top executive leading Apple’s foundation models team, is leaving the company to join Meta, marking another blow to the iPhone maker’s AI ambitions.

• Google is launching its AI-powered search, AI Mode, to all users in India, its first rollout outside the US.

India’s first AI rock band is here...and it’s divine!

Meet Trilok, India’s first AI-powered rock band that just dropped its debut track Achyutam Keshavam

The band’s name means “three worlds”...fitting for a genre-blending act that lives between tradition, tech, and rock.

Watch the video   

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