News in 60 Words

Healthy snacks brand Open Secret raises over Rs 50 Cr funding

Startups • Your story

Healthy snacking brand Open Secret has raised over Rs 50 crore from the Desai Brothers Group and institutional debt to fuel retail expansion and AI-driven supply chain improvements. With an annual recurring revenue exceeding Rs 200 crore and EBITDA profitability, the company aims to reach Rs 1,000 crore ARR within three years. The funding will support product innovation, particularly in savoury snacks, and expand its physical distribution network.

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Startups • Your story

"iHUB Robotics, founded in Kochi in 2022, aims to reduce India's reliance on imported humanoid robots by developing hardware and AI locally. The company offers the Tara Gen-1 service robot and Daksha industrial humanoid, utilizing "physical AI" for integrated movement and language. Recently selected for NVIDIA's Humanoid Robotics Program, iHUB has expanded into Gulf markets and raised pre-seed funding to build a large manufacturing facility.".

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Startups • Your story

Bengaluru-based Edgehax is reducing India's reliance on imported compute modules by developing domestic, industrial-grade edge-AI boards. These boards, running DvarOS, support diverse applications from drones to defense systems. With backing from NXP and MeitY, the company has reached over 100,000 students and 150 startups. After raising Rs 1.39 crore in seed funding, Edgehax aims to scale manufacturing and expand into international markets by 2029.

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Startups • Rebecca Bellan

Anthropic has launched Ode, a $1.5-billion AI implementation firm created in a joint venture with investors like Blackstone. Ode deploys elite engineers to help enterprises integrate AI models into their core business processes, primarily focusing on Anthropic's Claude. This move mirrors OpenAI's "The Deployment Company," signaling a shift toward specialized services to bridge the gap between advanced AI models and practical enterprise adoption.

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Startups • Aisha Malik

Reelful is a new iOS app that uses AI to automatically transform photos and video clips into polished short-form content for platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Founded by former Snapchat engineer Kate Deyneka, the tool automates scriptwriting, voiceovers, and editing via user prompts and voice cloning. Targeting founders and business owners, Reelful offers various subscription plans and credit bundles to simplify personal branding and social media growth.

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Startups • Ivan Mehta

Rime, a San Francisco-based voice AI startup, has raised $24 million in Series A funding led by M13 Ventures. The company distinguishes itself by using proprietary conversational data to improve pronunciation and reduce customization for enterprise clients. Rime is transitioning to speech-to-speech models to lower latency and enhance user interaction. Its client base includes Mayo Clinic and Dialpad, spanning sectors like healthcare and fintech.

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Startups • Your story

The Union Cabinet approved a Rs 1.27 lakh crore outlay for the second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission, known as Semicon 2.0. This revamped programme aims to attract Rs 4 lakh crore in investments and generate Rs 2 lakh crore in production. By covering the entire value chain, including raw materials and indigenous design, India seeks self-reliance in chip manufacturing to meet rising global AI demands.

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Startups • Your story

AI startup Emergent, founded by Mukund and Madhav Jha, raised $130 million in Series C funding, reaching a $1.5 billion valuation. Led by Creaegis, the round supports talent acquisition and product expansion in the US and India. Emergent's agentic AI platform enables small businesses to build custom software using natural language prompts. With 12 million applications created globally, the company aims to democratize affordable software development for non-programmers.

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Startups • Jagmeet Singh

Indian AI coding startup Emergent raised $130 million in Series C funding, reaching a $1.5 billion valuation. Led by Creaegis, the round brings total funding to $230 million. The company targets entrepreneurs and small businesses, reporting an annual run-rate revenue of $120 million with over 200,000 paying customers. Emergent plans to use the capital to enhance its AI agent workflows and expand its global operations.

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Startups • Tim De Chant

"Realta Fusion will build its "Forge" research and development facility at a former Oscar Meyer factory in Madison, Wisconsin, aiming for first plasma by 2029. The startup received $55 million in state and city incentives, including a significant sales tax exemption. Supported by bipartisan government backing and a local talent pool from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Realta aims to advance commercial fusion power for electricity.".

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Startups • Tim Fernholz

Internet pioneer Vint Cerf has joined Innovation Labs as an advisor following his departure from Google. The organization, a subsidiary of Identity Digital, is developing DNSid, an open standard for identifying and auditing AI agents using domain-name infrastructure. Cerf aims to help establish accountability and interoperability in an emerging agentic economy, ensuring that autonomous AI agents can securely interact across different proprietary systems and platforms.

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Startups • Your story

"Ather Energy has approved a preferential fund raise of up to Rs 1,200 crore from Hero MotoCorp, the India-Japan Fund, and its founders. Hero MotoCorp will invest Rs 960 crore, while the India-Japan Fund contributes Rs 200 crore. This capital is part of a larger Rs 2,500 crore plan to support manufacturing expansion, research and development, and new product development amid increasing competition in India's electric scooter market.".

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Startups • Anna Heim

Israeli startup Oak has emerged from stealth with a $60 million seed round to revolutionize identity and access management. Co-founded by Shai Morag and Tal Marom, the company offers an AI-native control plane that replaces legacy tools. Its framework maps app usage to permissions, removing unnecessary access in real time to reduce security vulnerabilities. Backed by Accel, CRV, and Greylock, Oak is now deploying its solution to enterprise clients.

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Startups • Your story

Drawing from three decades of India's startup journey, the book emphasizes that persistence, strong support systems, and the courage to face uncertainty are vital. It argues that success belongs to those who view setbacks as lessons and refuse to quit. (69 words) -.

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Startups • Tim Fernholz

"Senra, a startup founded by former SpaceX engineer Jordan Black, has raised $65 million in Series B funding to modernize wire harness production. The company uses its proprietary Amp software to standardize manual cabling processes for defense, maritime, and aerospace vehicles. By integrating automation and digital twins, Senra aims to improve reliability and scale production from 1,000 to 10,000 units per month by 2027.".

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Startups • Your story

Investment platform Groww reported a 94% increase in net profit to Rs 735 crore and a 66% revenue rise to Rs 1,501 crore for Q1 FY27. The company's total customer assets grew 38% to Rs 3.6 lakh crore, with market share increasing across all investment categories. Despite lower capital market activity, Groww added 115,000 net active NSE clients and is now integrating AI to enhance customer service.

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Startups • Your story

"Twenty-six Meta employees have filed a federal lawsuit alleging the company used AI systems to select individuals for layoffs, disproportionately targeting those on protected medical, parental, or family leave. The plaintiffs claim algorithmically assisted performance rankings penalized absences, violating several state and federal laws. Meta denied the allegations, stating that workforce decisions were made by people rather than AI, and asserted that the claims lack merit.".

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Startups • Your story

"Shunya Labs has developed a proprietary voice AI infrastructure designed for multilingual, accented, and code-switched speech, specifically targeting diverse linguistic patterns across Asia. Its CPU-based stack supports over 220 languages, including 55 Indian ones, significantly reducing deployment costs for enterprise clients in banking, healthcare, and automotive sectors. The company recently launched Vāķ, a real-time translation system, while focusing on sustainable growth and profitability.".

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Startups • Your story

"IPO-bound eB2B platform udaan has secured $160 million through a financing round involving fresh equity, debt, and the conversion of existing debt into equity. This includes a $45 million commitment from a global investment management firm. The funding aims to strengthen the company's balance sheet and simplify its capital structure, supporting long-term growth and public market readiness as the Bengaluru-based firm continues expanding its B2B trade operations.".

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Startups • Your story

"Bengaluru-based E3 Electric.Ai has raised Rs 100 crore in a Series A funding round led by BluVenture Holdings. The startup will use the capital to accelerate R&D and expand its market presence before launching the E3 TRION scooter. Utilizing a modular platform and proprietary AI, the company focuses on predictive maintenance and vehicle safety to enhance the ownership experience within India's growing electric two-wheeler market.".

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Categories

Healthy snacks brand Open Secret raises over Rs 50 Cr funding

Kerala's iHUB Robotics is teaching robots to see, act, and understand

Edgehax is building India's edge-AI boards so hardware makers stop importing them

Anthropic, Blackstone bet the next trillion-dollar AI business is implementation, not models

Reelful’s AI turns your camera roll into short-form videos for social media

Rime picks up $24M Series A to help enterprises field customer calls

India bets big on semiconductor industry

AI startup Emergent turns unicorn with $130M Series C funding

Indian AI coding startup Emergent becomes a unicorn with $130M Series C

Why Realta Fusion is building a fusion reactor at an old hot dog factory

Vint Cerf is working on a plan to unleash AI agents on the open internet

Ather Energy secures Rs 1,200 Cr from Hero MotoCorp, IJF, and founders

Backed by $60M in funding, Oak steps out of stealth to fix the identity mess that AI agents are making worse

5 Lessons from Down But Not Out for aspiring founders

A SpaceX vet raised $65M to pull wire harnesses out of the Cold War era

Groww's net profit soars 94% in first quarter of FY27

Meta faces lawsuit from 26 employees over AI-based layoffs

Shunya Labs wants voice infrastructure to work the way Indians speak

udaan secures $160M in financing

E3 Electric.Ai raises Rs 100 Cr in Series A round led by BluVenture