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1/ India's IPO market is running a familiar script: The Pre-Listing Profit Mirage. Companies are showing a one-year profit surge just long enough to secure a successful exchange listing. Lenskart’s sub-issue-price debut is the latest casualty.
November 11, 2025 at 10:35 AM
1/ India's IPO market is running a familiar script: The Pre-Listing Profit Mirage. Companies are showing a one-year profit surge just long enough to secure a successful exchange listing. Lenskart’s sub-issue-price debut is the latest casualty.
1/ India's startup market is running on two parallel tracks. One is flush with private money for fast-scaling software (Lenskart IPO success). The other is slow, built on government cheques for high-risk DeepTech (chips, rockets).
November 10, 2025 at 10:40 AM
1/ India's startup market is running on two parallel tracks. One is flush with private money for fast-scaling software (Lenskart IPO success). The other is slow, built on government cheques for high-risk DeepTech (chips, rockets).
1/ Policybazaar's latest move is an earthquake in HealthTech. It’s moving from selling insurance to managing your health. PB Health is acquiring Fitterfly (prevention) and planning hospitals (delivery) backed by a fresh $218M round.
November 7, 2025 at 11:49 AM
1/ Policybazaar's latest move is an earthquake in HealthTech. It’s moving from selling insurance to managing your health. PB Health is acquiring Fitterfly (prevention) and planning hospitals (delivery) backed by a fresh $218M round.
1/ India built a world-class startup machine on imported oxygen. The funding winter proved that model's fragility. The new strategic question is simple: Can India fund India?
November 6, 2025 at 10:46 AM
1/ India built a world-class startup machine on imported oxygen. The funding winter proved that model's fragility. The new strategic question is simple: Can India fund India?
1/ The humble browser is dead. Long live the Intelligent Assistant. The new generation of browsers (Arc, Opera Aria, Brave Leo) is transforming the web from a "search-and-click" model to a "chat-and-do" agent.
November 5, 2025 at 11:51 AM
1/ The humble browser is dead. Long live the Intelligent Assistant. The new generation of browsers (Arc, Opera Aria, Brave Leo) is transforming the web from a "search-and-click" model to a "chat-and-do" agent.
1/ India's next big e-commerce policy isn't about domestic discounts. It’s about building an Export Firewall. The government is considering allowing foreign investors to hold inventory in India exclusively for shipping abroad.
November 4, 2025 at 9:38 AM
1/ India's next big e-commerce policy isn't about domestic discounts. It’s about building an Export Firewall. The government is considering allowing foreign investors to hold inventory in India exclusively for shipping abroad.
1/ India’s startup story has reached its spreadsheet moment. A brutal 11,223 shutdowns in 2025 - a 30% jump - marks the end of the "spending ahead of truth" era. This is a system-wide reset.
November 3, 2025 at 11:14 AM
1/ India’s startup story has reached its spreadsheet moment. A brutal 11,223 shutdowns in 2025 - a 30% jump - marks the end of the "spending ahead of truth" era. This is a system-wide reset.
1/ The fizz is gone at Bira 91. Once the poster child for premiumization, the company is in a full-blown structural crisis. FY24 losses (₹749 Cr) now exceed annual revenue (₹638 Cr). The auditor flagged a going-concern warning and ₹1,900 Cr+ in accumulated losses.
October 31, 2025 at 10:30 AM
1/ The fizz is gone at Bira 91. Once the poster child for premiumization, the company is in a full-blown structural crisis. FY24 losses (₹749 Cr) now exceed annual revenue (₹638 Cr). The auditor flagged a going-concern warning and ₹1,900 Cr+ in accumulated losses.
1/ India's "funding winter" is a misnomer. It's really a dry powder paradox. Funds are stuffed with cash raised in prior years, but deployment is at its most cautious pace in a decade. Why? VCs are waiting for sane prices and clean unit economics.
October 30, 2025 at 11:07 AM
1/ India's "funding winter" is a misnomer. It's really a dry powder paradox. Funds are stuffed with cash raised in prior years, but deployment is at its most cautious pace in a decade. Why? VCs are waiting for sane prices and clean unit economics.
1/ Lenskart's IPO is a high-stakes test. It's listing at a projected ₹70,000 Cr valuation (P/E > 220x!) - testing whether Indian investors are ready to back Silicon Valley multiples again, despite the lessons from Paytm/Nykaa.
October 29, 2025 at 10:56 AM
1/ Lenskart's IPO is a high-stakes test. It's listing at a projected ₹70,000 Cr valuation (P/E > 220x!) - testing whether Indian investors are ready to back Silicon Valley multiples again, despite the lessons from Paytm/Nykaa.
1/ Stanza Living just raised $32M, but the headline is the down round. Valued at ~₹2,812 Cr, it's a stark reminder that investors are no longer betting on potential. They are asking: Show me the operational discipline.
October 28, 2025 at 9:49 AM
1/ Stanza Living just raised $32M, but the headline is the down round. Valued at ~₹2,812 Cr, it's a stark reminder that investors are no longer betting on potential. They are asking: Show me the operational discipline.
1/ For a decade, India's best founders won by selling speed (10-min delivery, instant payments). Now, Zomato's Deepinder Goyal is taking his own $25M to fund the opposite: Longevity research via Continue Research.
October 27, 2025 at 10:33 AM
1/ For a decade, India's best founders won by selling speed (10-min delivery, instant payments). Now, Zomato's Deepinder Goyal is taking his own $25M to fund the opposite: Longevity research via Continue Research.
1/ Zoho’s UPI move is not a side project; it's a strategic wedge. Payments themselves won't make money (zero MDR), but they're the cheapest on-ramp to the real prize: owning the transaction data of 7.5 lakh paying business customers.
October 24, 2025 at 12:13 PM
1/ Zoho’s UPI move is not a side project; it's a strategic wedge. Payments themselves won't make money (zero MDR), but they're the cheapest on-ramp to the real prize: owning the transaction data of 7.5 lakh paying business customers.
1/ India’s Deep-Tech dream is real, but painfully fragile. Startups like Silizium Circuits are designing first-of-its-kind 5G chips in Kochi, but have to send them abroad for fabrication. Brilliant design, no fabs. That is India's core imbalance.
October 23, 2025 at 12:35 PM
1/ India’s Deep-Tech dream is real, but painfully fragile. Startups like Silizium Circuits are designing first-of-its-kind 5G chips in Kochi, but have to send them abroad for fabrication. Brilliant design, no fabs. That is India's core imbalance.
1/ India’s startup story is hitting an accountability era. The Ola Electric FIR, following an employee's death, turns "hustle culture" from a PR debate into a grave criminal and financial risk for the leadership.
October 22, 2025 at 11:12 AM
1/ India’s startup story is hitting an accountability era. The Ola Electric FIR, following an employee's death, turns "hustle culture" from a PR debate into a grave criminal and financial risk for the leadership.
1/ While Blinkit & Zepto sprint for customer mindshare, a quieter, more critical revolution is happening behind the scenes: the rise of "Q-Com Enablers." These startups are the invisible infrastructure making 10-min delivery sustainable.
October 21, 2025 at 8:32 AM
1/ While Blinkit & Zepto sprint for customer mindshare, a quieter, more critical revolution is happening behind the scenes: the rise of "Q-Com Enablers." These startups are the invisible infrastructure making 10-min delivery sustainable.
1/ India’s decade-long ride-hailing duopoly (Ola/Uber) is finally facing an existential threat - and it's not a new rival, but a new idea: fairness. The "commission machine" is being replaced by a driver-first subscription model.
October 20, 2025 at 10:50 AM
1/ India’s decade-long ride-hailing duopoly (Ola/Uber) is finally facing an existential threat - and it's not a new rival, but a new idea: fairness. The "commission machine" is being replaced by a driver-first subscription model.
1/ India’s startup culture has shifted from adolescence to its Accountability Era. Employees petitioning boards, founders being detained, and regulators probing financial gaps - it all points to one thing: Show me the books.
October 17, 2025 at 11:31 AM
1/ India’s startup culture has shifted from adolescence to its Accountability Era. Employees petitioning boards, founders being detained, and regulators probing financial gaps - it all points to one thing: Show me the books.
1/ HouseEazy's ₹150 Cr Series B funding is déjà vu for Indian startups. The promise: make home resale easy. The reality: a high-risk model trying to digitize a maze of paperwork and emotional pricing.
October 16, 2025 at 10:46 AM
1/ HouseEazy's ₹150 Cr Series B funding is déjà vu for Indian startups. The promise: make home resale easy. The reality: a high-risk model trying to digitize a maze of paperwork and emotional pricing.
1/ India's startup engine just got a powerful new fuel that doesn't demand equity. HSBC rolled out a $1 billion “Innovation Banking” program, importing the Silicon Valley playbook of venture debt at institutional scale.
October 15, 2025 at 11:23 AM
1/ India's startup engine just got a powerful new fuel that doesn't demand equity. HSBC rolled out a $1 billion “Innovation Banking” program, importing the Silicon Valley playbook of venture debt at institutional scale.
1/ Flipkart’s IPO prep isn't window dressing. It’s a masterclass in pre-listing discipline. They just offloaded over ₹2,400 Cr in non-core stakes, setting the new rulebook for India's late-stage ecosystem.
October 14, 2025 at 10:32 AM
1/ Flipkart’s IPO prep isn't window dressing. It’s a masterclass in pre-listing discipline. They just offloaded over ₹2,400 Cr in non-core stakes, setting the new rulebook for India's late-stage ecosystem.
1/ India’s "Sovereign AI" ran into a brutal reality check. Krutrim, once pitched as the answer to OpenAI+NVIDIA, burnt through its capital with a multi-front war on chips, cloud, and LLMs.
October 13, 2025 at 11:17 AM
1/ India’s "Sovereign AI" ran into a brutal reality check. Krutrim, once pitched as the answer to OpenAI+NVIDIA, burnt through its capital with a multi-front war on chips, cloud, and LLMs.
1/ India’s digital lending boom was a story of convenience and loopholes. Fintech apps became front-ends for NBFCs, lending small-ticket loans (₹2k-₹50k) to millions with a few taps. But the growth was fueled by recklessness and shady collection tactics.
October 9, 2025 at 10:17 AM
1/ India’s digital lending boom was a story of convenience and loopholes. Fintech apps became front-ends for NBFCs, lending small-ticket loans (₹2k-₹50k) to millions with a few taps. But the growth was fueled by recklessness and shady collection tactics.
1/ India’s "Digital Gold Rush" was built, in part, on deception. Checkout fees like ₹79 "Protect Promise" and pre-ticked donation boxes became normalized. This is now over.
October 8, 2025 at 11:11 AM
1/ India’s "Digital Gold Rush" was built, in part, on deception. Checkout fees like ₹79 "Protect Promise" and pre-ticked donation boxes became normalized. This is now over.
1/ Walk into any Indian home, and you'll find the "drawer economy" - a graveyard of old phones & obsolete gadgets. For years, this was just clutter. What Cashify did was put a market value on that dust.
October 7, 2025 at 10:04 AM
1/ Walk into any Indian home, and you'll find the "drawer economy" - a graveyard of old phones & obsolete gadgets. For years, this was just clutter. What Cashify did was put a market value on that dust.