News in 60 Words

Inside Cosmos Diamonds’ Bootstrapped Push Into India’s Lab-Grown Jewellery Market

Business • Inc42 BrandLabs

Founded by Sanjana Tripuramallu, Cosmos Diamonds is a bootstrapped lab-grown jewellery brand focusing on heritage-inspired designs and a unique 100% buyback policy to build consumer trust. The company reported ₹20 Cr revenue in FY26 and targets ₹55 Cr for FY27, aiming for a ₹100 Cr ARR by late 2027. As India's lab-grown diamond market grows, the brand plans to expand its physical retail presence across several major cities.

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Business • Shrishti Bisht

AI hardware startup Aina has emerged from stealth after securing a $5.5 million seed round co-led by Redstart Labs and 360 ONE Asset. Founded by Apoorv Shankar, the company aims to develop context-aware, AI-native interfaces that move computing beyond smartphones and PCs. Aina will use the funding to launch its flagship product and expand its teams in Bengaluru and San Francisco, targeting a rapidly growing AI hardware market.

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Business • Gaurav Bagur

Aurum PropTech's board has approved the acquisition of Locon Solutions, the parent company of Housing.com, from REA India. The deal involves a share swap of 1.98 crore equity shares at ₹231.42 each, valuing the business at approximately ₹458.1 crore. This move aims to create an integrated real estate tech stack. Additionally, Aurum will issue ₹118 crore in convertible warrants to its promoter entity for capital infusion.

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Business • Anne Florentyna

Vorflux, an AI software engineering startup founded by former Rippling cofounder Prasanna Sankar, has raised $15 million in seed funding led by Y Combinator. The San Francisco-based company utilizes specialized AI agents to automate the entire software development lifecycle, including planning, coding, testing, and review. Unlike standard coding assistants, Vorflux employs a model-agnostic, cloud-based approach to handle complex engineering tasks and improve software deployment reliability.

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Business • Anjali Jain

Naturis Cosmetics, a beauty and personal care manufacturer, has raised ₹100 crore in a Series A funding round led by Sharrp Ventures. The company plans to utilize the capital to establish a new production facility in Vapi, an experience centre in Delhi-NCR, and an R&D centre in Mumbai. Naturis aims to expand into men’s grooming and fragrances while supporting the growth of India's rapidly expanding BPC market.

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Business • Palak Sharma

SwitchOn raised $8 million in pre-Series B funding, led by IvyCap Ventures, with SIG Tattva and Trifecta Capital participating. The physical AI startup develops AI-powered visual inspection systems using computer vision to detect defective products on manufacturing lines. This capital will accelerate international expansion, deepen R&D, and scale go-to-market capabilities across global manufacturing verticals. The funding reflects growing investor interest as manufacturers increasingly adopt AI for quality control and efficiency.

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Business • Anjali Jain

Institutional laundry startup Quick Clean has raised ₹133 Cr (about $14 Mn) in a Series B funding round led by.

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Business • Anjali Jain

"AI-powered sales intelligence startup Reo.Dev has raised $11.3 million in a Series A funding round led by Elevation Capital. The company provides a go-to-market platform that analyzes developer activity across various public platforms to identify buying intent for technical decision-makers. Reo.Dev plans to use the capital to accelerate AI product development and expand its sales and marketing operations in the US, its primary revenue market.".

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Business • Team Inc42

AI startup Emergent reached unicorn status with a $1.5 billion valuation after a $130 million funding round. Meanwhile, Groww reported a 94.3% profit surge, and Ather Energy seeks to raise ₹2,700 crore. In other news, BigBasket is exiting 36 cities to achieve profitability, and a ransomware group leaked files from India's Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Additionally, D2C brand Anmasa secured $3.1 million in seed funding.

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Business • Lokesh Choudhary

Ather Energy has launched a qualified institutional placement (QIP) to raise ₹1,500 crore, part of a broader ₹2,500 crore funding plan to support R&D, marketing, and debt repayment. The company also approved a ₹1,200 crore preferential issue, with Hero MotoCorp increasing its stake to 30.68%. This capital injection follows strong revenue growth and narrowed losses, as Ather expands its infrastructure to compete in the electric two-wheeler market.

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Business • Gaurav Bagur

Finova Capital reported a net profit of ₹165.3 crore for FY26, an 11% year-on-year decline, despite a 21% revenue increase to ₹921.4 crore. Loan disbursements fell 17% as the company prioritized asset quality amid rising NPAs and industry-wide delinquencies. To combat these challenges and improve operational efficiency, the NBFC is implementing AI-driven solutions for collections and fraud detection while restructuring its operational framework to separate sales and risk.

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Business • Lokesh Choudhary

India's startup ecosystem has produced 132 unicorns, collectively raising over $119 billion with a combined valuation exceeding $394 billion. Bengaluru leads as the primary hub with 55 unicorns, followed by Delhi NCR and Mumbai. While ecommerce and fintech remain dominant sectors, investor interest is shifting toward AI and sustainable business models. In 2026, six startups have already reached unicorn status, signaling a measured recovery from previous funding winters.

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Business • Lokesh Choudhary

"A ransomware group called World Leaks published nearly 19,000 files allegedly linked to India's Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant on the dark web. The data, including facility blueprints and supplier details, reportedly stemmed from a partial breach at contractor Reliance Infrastructure via a Yotta-hosted server. While Reliance and Yotta claim the incident was contained, CERT-In is investigating the leak's authenticity and the potential risks to critical infrastructure.".

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Business • Palak Sharma

"TVS VENU Group-led NBFC Home Credit India has approved the complete all-cash acquisition of Varthana Finance, an education-focused NBFC. This strategic move aims to expand Home Credit’s presence in secured and longer-tenure lending segments. Varthana, founded in 2013, provides collateral-free loans to private schools and students across India. The deal, pending regulatory approval, will leverage TVS's resources to accelerate Varthana's growth and expand its footprint.".

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Business • Ankush Das

Bolna AI, founded by IIT Delhi alumni, is a voice AI orchestration platform that enables enterprises to deploy AI voice agents without managing complex infrastructure. Backed by a $6.3 million seed round from General Catalyst, the model-agnostic startup integrates various speech and language models. Bolna currently reports $175,000 in monthly revenue and over 2,500 paying customers, aiming to become the essential infrastructure layer for enterprise voice automation.

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Business • Ankush Das

AI software platform Emergent has become India's 131st unicorn after raising $130 million in a Series C round, valuing the company at $1.5 billion. Founded in 2024 by Mukund and Madhav Jha, the startup enables non-technical users to build production-ready applications and automate business operations via AI agents. With an annualized revenue run rate of $120 million, Emergent plans to use the funds for global expansion and research.

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Business • Lokesh Choudhary

"Bengaluru-based maternal and baby care startup Promom has raised ₹30 crore in a funding round led by Fireside Ventures. Founded in 2023, the company focuses on solving feeding challenges for new mothers. Promom intends to use the capital to expand its product portfolio and scale distribution across India. This investment reflects a growing Indian baby care market, which is projected to exceed $10 billion by 2034.".

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Business • Shrishti Bisht

"The Union Cabinet approved the ₹62,500 crore Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme and the ₹1.28 lakh crore Semicon 2.0 initiative to bolster domestic electronics and chip capabilities. The MPMS offers incentives up to 5% on sales to drive production and job creation through FY31. Meanwhile, Semicon 2.0 focuses on chip design, fabrication, and R&D, aiming to establish a robust semiconductor ecosystem with the first fab expected by 2028.".

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Business • Lokesh Choudhary

"The Union Cabinet has approved Semicon 2.0 with a ₹1.28 lakh crore outlay to strengthen India's semiconductor ecosystem. The scheme focuses on six key areas: chip design, equipment, fabrication plants, packaging units, R&D, and talent development. By attracting global chipmakers and supporting domestic startups, India aims to reduce import dependence and build a robust supply chain, with its first semiconductor fab expected to be commissioned by 2028.".

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Business • Shrishti Bisht

Ather Energy's board has approved a fundraise of up to ₹1,200 crore through equity shares and convertible warrants. Hero MotoCorp will invest approximately ₹960 crore, potentially increasing its stake to 30.68%, while NIIF's India-Japan Fund will contribute ₹200 crore. Cofounders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain will each invest ₹20 crore. The funds will support expansion, research, and manufacturing capacity, pending shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting.

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Categories

Inside Cosmos Diamonds’ Bootstrapped Push Into India’s Lab-Grown Jewellery Market

Aina Raises $5.5 Mn From Info Edge, Others To Build AI Hardware Interface

Aurum PropTech To Acquire Housing.com For ₹458 Cr

Former Rippling Cofounder Prasanna Sankar Raises $15 Mn For Vorflux After 0xPPL Shutdown

Beauty Products Manufacturer Naturis Cosmetics Nets ₹100 Cr To Expand Capacity

Physical AI Startup SwitchOn Raises $8 Mn To Scale Manufacturing Inspection

Laundry Startup Quick Clean Raises ₹133 Cr To Expand Its Footprint

Exclusive: AI Sales Intelligence Startup Reo.Dev Raises $11.3 Mn To Expand In US

India’s 132nd Unicorn, Groww’s Q1 Profit Run & More

Ather Opens QIP, Sets Floor Price Of ₹1,169.70 Per Share

Peak XV-Backed Finova Capital’s FY26 PAT Dips 11% To ₹165 Cr

Indian Unicorn Tracker: Funding, Investors, Revenue And More

Files Related To India’s Largest Nuclear Plant Surface On Dark Web

TVS’ Home Credit Acquires Varthana Finance To Expand Lending Footprint

How Bolna AI Is Helping Enterprises To Win The Voice AI Race

Emergent Joins Unicorn Club After Raising $130 Mn At $1.5 Bn Valuation

Promom Bags ₹30 Cr From Fireside Ventures To Expand Mom & Baby Care Portfolio

Centre Doubles Down On Mobile Manufacturing With ₹62,500 Cr Scheme

Cabinet Approves ₹1.28 Lakh Cr Semicon 2.0 To Boost India’s Chip Ecosystem

Ather Energy To Raise ₹1,200 Cr To Fuel Next Phase Of Growth