INDIAN STARTUP ECOSYSTEM
'Excited about new horizons': Nexus Venture Partners’ Anup Gupta announces June 2027 exit after nearly 17 years
Anup Gupta, a partner at Nexus Venture Partners, announced his decision to step down in June 2027. He reflected on his nearly 17-year journey with the firm and the entrepreneurs he collaborated with. Gupta indicated he is ready to pass responsibilities to the next generation of leaders. He expressed gratitude for being part of India's startup ecosystem since its early days.
FICCI calls for comprehensive India-Africa trade framework
India and Africa are encouraged to develop a comprehensive trade arrangement to enhance economic cooperation. Ficci emphasizes the importance of a predictable framework to address trade barriers and promote investment. With the upcoming visit of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to Egypt, both regions aim to strengthen ties. Egypt's strategic location provides opportunities for Indian companies in various sectors.
Focus, discipline and realised returns to define India's next generation of fund managers: Report
Grant Thornton Bharat and IVCA have unveiled a significant report shedding light on the role of emerging managers within India's dynamic venture capital arena. The findings reveal that domestic venture fundraising skyrocketed to $5.4 billion in 2025, underscoring the pivotal role of these managers in identifying and nurturing innovative enterprises.
Bengaluru woman takes her 3.5-year-old son to bank to mark end of Rs 43 lakh debt; recounts journey from year without income to building her own coaching practice
Bengaluru-based Arpitha Rao has repaid her Rs 43 lakh education loan after eight years, navigating career setbacks, financial hurdles and motherhood along the way. To mark the achievement, she took her three-and-a-half-year-old son to the bank, hoping to teach him the value of financial independence and taking responsibility for one's future.
AI-led hiring slowdown is temporary; jobs demand to surge in 3-5 years: Infosys cofounder Gopalakrishnan
His comments come as widespread layoffs occur across large tech companies including Qualcomm, Oracle, Microsoft and Amazon, triggering fears of large-scale job losses also in software services, which has been India’s largest employment-creating sector over the past two decades.
Deep use cases vault India to ChatGPT’s top global market: OpenAI's India MD
During a visit to India last year, the ChatGPT maker’s cofounder Sam Altman said that India was the fastest growing market for the frontier lab and was already the second largest in terms of users globally. Market estimates had earlier put the India user base at 100 million.

India well on track to achieve $1 trillion exports target for FY27: Piyush Goyal
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said India is on track to achieve its $1 trillion goods and services export target in FY27, having already recorded nearly $480 billion in exports during April-September. He highlighted opportunities from free trade agreements, particularly the proposed India-EU pact, for the automobile and mobility sectors. Goyal urged manufacturers to expand globally, boost competitiveness and leverage international partnerships to drive exports, investment and employment.

Workout after work: India Inc flexes its fitness muscle
Employers in India are enhancing workplace fitness programs to promote well-being and active lifestyles among employees. Companies like Procter & Gamble and InMobi now offer gym facilities and wellness initiatives. The demand for fitness programs is rising among mid-sized businesses and startups, providing greater access to wellness resources.

Workout after work: India Inc flexes its fitness muscle as employers make workplace wellness harder to skip
Indian companies are expanding workplace fitness programmes, offering employees access to office gyms, group exercise classes, personal training, sports facilities and memberships across multiple locations. Procter & Gamble, InMobi and Walmart Global Tech are among the employers investing in employee wellness, while fitness providers Cult for Corporates and Fit.Zone report growing corporate demand. The focus is increasingly shifting from offering fitness as an employee perk to encouraging greater participation and making healthy routines part of the working day.

Arunoday Singh-headed O-Health secures strategic funding
O-Health has received strategic funding from several investors to advance its healthcare technology solutions. The company aims to enhance its voice-first AI-enabled clinical pre-assessment platform for better patient information management. The investment will support the expansion into additional healthcare sectors and development of indigenous AI models and clinical hardware. O-Health plans to broaden its focus to include preventive health technologies and intelligent hospital workflows.

TReDS sees a festive boost; Nykaa’s growth strategy
Happy Friday! Festive inventory demand has lifted invoice financing on TReDS platforms. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Government prepares draft sustainable aviation fuels policy; moots mandatory blending in ATF from 2027
The civil aviation ministry has circulated the draft National Policy on Sustainable Aviation Fuels which mandates use of only indigenously manufactured SAF to be blended with Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF).

Chip startup Agrani Labs looks to raise $108 million from Peak XV, Google, Samsung
Peak XV Partners is leading the round and is expected to contribute more than half of the total funding. Google, HCL Tech, Samsung Ventures and Stargazer, an investment firm set up by Groww's founders, are also expected to participate, the people cited above said.

OpenAI’s India user base doubles; Rapido GOV quadruples
Happy Tuesday! India has become ChatGPT’s largest market globally, with its user base doubling. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Pixxel's Indian ownership comes under scrutiny
Pixxel founder and chief executive Awais Ahmed in a blog post on X said the company remains “headquartered, owned, managed and controlled in India,” on Monday. Indian investors, including the founders, collectively hold the largest shareholding in the company, followed by investors from Singapore, the UK and the US, he added.

Consent managers search for viable revenue model as registration nears
Consent managers are intended to help individuals manage, review and withdraw consent for the processing of their personal data, and they're required to be registered with the Data Protection Board of India (DPBI). A consent manager is data-blind, and processes metadata, consent artifacts, and cryptographic routing instructions.

Tax-wise, $-foolish: Saving Dalal Street could come at a cost to Startup Street
India's financial landscape is experiencing pressure with foreign portfolio investors becoming net sellers in the market. There are discussions about implementing tax cuts to stabilize the situation, which could disadvantage domestic investors. A focus on only listed shares may divert investments from private markets and harm the startup ecosystem. Expert suggestions advocate for a universal tax reduction applicable to both listed and unlisted shares.

IIT and IIM graduates shun startups as AI jobs gain appeal amid rising startup activity in India
Only 79 IIT alumni and 20 IIM alumni launched new tech startups between January and August this year, compared to 307 IIT graduates and 71 IIM graduates who founded startups in the entire 2025, according to Tracxn data collated for ET. The platform tracks only the year of incorporation for tech startups, so it does not have comparable January-August 2025 data.

The next AI advantage for India's developers: Turning code into companies
In India's rapidly growing builder economy, AI is revolutionising software creation, allowing developers to generate code and build prototypes in minutes. But speed is only half the battle-code to deployment is the other half. Through tools like GoDaddy's Developer Platform, the real opportunity is achieving this next half of the challenge seamlessly and turning fast-built applications into viable, long-lasting products and thriving companies.
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