With over 101 million diabetics and 136 million pre-diabetics in India, and per-capita sugar consumption nearing 20 kg/year, Arboreal crafts guilt-free sweetness. Their patented stevia-based blend, 50–300× sweeter than sugar yet zero-calorie, mimics sugar’s taste and texture. Amid rising urban diabetes and a $950 million global stevia market, Arboreal drives India toward a post-sugar future.

Pulse Candy, launched at ₹1 in 2015 by DS Group, revolutionized India’s confectionery market with its tangy Kachcha Aam flavour. Capturing 19% of the ₹4,000 crore hard-candy segment, it achieved ₹750 crore in FY25, growing at 15% annually. Its unique taste, adult appeal, and wide reach have cemented its leadership and aspirations for global expansion.

Hitting a plateau doesn’t always mean pivoting the product—it could mean resetting the entire business model. Many AI startups keep iterating on features without addressing misalignment in customer segments, pricing, or delivery. A strategic reset—led by data, not desperation—often unlocks the next wave of growth.

True growth doesn’t happen by accident—it's the outcome of deeply aligned teams, tight feedback loops, and sharp GTM execution. AI startups that engineer internal speed, test consistently, and build around real user feedback scale smarter and faster. Viral dreams need a structured core.

Every great venture begins with ideation but it's more than just a "lightbulb moment". Ideation is a deep dive into market gaps, user pain points, and evolving trends. Founders must ground their idea in research, define a mission, and refine the problem-solution fit. Without this foundation, even the best tech won’t matter.

Validation separates hope from reality. This stage involves prototyping, market analysis, and stress-testing your assumptions with real users. Founders assess feasibility, pricing, and value delivery early so they don’t burn through funds solving the wrong problem. It’s the difference between a 'cool idea' and a 'viable venture'.

Scaling involves process optimisation, geographic expansion, building revenue streams, and forming strategic partnerships. It is the part of the process where chaos gives way to systems. Great startups don’t just grow fast, they grow smart, and they scale with purpose, not pressure.

Users don’t need another pretty graph. They need products that simplify their workflow and amplify their outcomes. The best AI products don’t overwhelm—they filter out noise, highlight what matters, and sometimes take action on behalf of the user. If your AI demands more effort than it saves, it’s not helping—it’s hurting.

It’s not enough for AI to explain what happened—it needs to guide users on what to do next. Analytical tools are reactive, while actionable AI is proactive. The real breakthrough occurs when your AI becomes a trusted advisor, not just a data source. If your product doesn’t close the gap between insight and execution, it’s not solving the user’s problems.

You've got an amazing AI product—but are you selling it right? Many startups over-engineer features while under-thinking revenue models. Whether it’s pricing tiers, value-based plans, or bundling, monetisation should evolve with product maturity. Innovation in pricing can deliver faster wins than another model tweak.

Traditional analytics pipelines run on data loops: input, output, done. But cutting-edge AI relies on feedback loops—systems that constantly learn, improve, and refine themselves based on new data and real-world outcomes. Embedding feedback into your product architecture is how you turn a one-time insight engine into a continuously evolving intelligence layer.

Startups often stick to their original Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) long after it’s stopped driving revenue. But the market evolves. Smart AI companies reassess who truly finds value, who converts quickly, and who stays longer—then realign messaging, features, and pricing to that new ICP. That’s how plateaus turn into peaks.

Dashboards are everywhere—and they’re starting to feel like digital clutter. Startups default to building them because they’re easy to ship and look impressive. But truly innovative AI products do more: they identify patterns, make suggestions, and drive change. Instead of flooding users with charts and KPIs, smart AI products help users act, automate, and grow.

There’s a massive difference between AI that merely shows you what’s going wrong and AI that actively solves it. While many startups focus on building monitoring tools or dashboards, the real disruption lies in intelligent systems that can make decisions, adapt on their own, and take initiative. When designing AI, the question isn't just "What data should I surface?".

Scaling isn’t a solo mission as you need a mix of generalists and specialists across product, tech, design, growth, and finance. But it’s not just about skills, it’s about alignment. Early-stage teams must rally around a common vision and adapt quickly. The right crew makes or breaks your venture’s momentum.

The MVP (Minimum Viable Product) isn’t about launching a perfect product, it’s about building just enough to test core assumptions. Agile methods, fast iterations, and user feedback loops help shape what truly matters. You’re not just coding, you’re learning in public. It’s about speed, clarity, and solving one real problem really well.

The smartest AI startups use data not just to optimise, but to lead. Metrics like user activation, churn patterns, and LTV should shape your roadmap and GTM plans. Gut instinct is a good start—but only data can scale strategy. If you’re not measuring what matters, you’re flying blind.

InPrime Finserv raised ₹50 crore in Series A1 funding led by Pravega Ventures, with support from Z47, InfoEdge Ventures, and Kettleborough VC. The NBFC aims to expand credit access for India’s emerging middle class across smaller towns. It plans to grow to 50 locations, strengthen its digital lending tools, and enter secured lending to serve over 7,500 households.

On 7 July 2025, Khetika raised $18 million in Series B funding led by Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office and Anicut Capital. Divine Hindu secured ₹1.56 crore in a seed round, while AMAMA raised $1 million from Mistry Ventures. These investments signal growing interest in India's D2C and lifestyle sectors, boosting brand expansion and product innovation.

A Delhi-based man claimed a Blinkit delivery agent threatened him, saying, "I know where you live," India Today reported. Taking to LinkedIn, the man said, "Once he handed the order, he called me 15 times, harassed me...and threatened me." "This delivery guy...was nothing less than a sadist, abused his access to my information and called again and again," he added.

Bigbasket, a TATA enterprise, has named Manish Bajoria as its new CFO. With over 20 years of experience at firms like Amazon, HUL, and Vini Cosmetics, Bajoria brings expertise in strategic finance and digital transformation. He began his career at Tata Steel and is a Chartered Accountant.

Deloitte senior consultant Adarsh Samalopanan questioned why CRED Founder Kunal Shah is celebrated when CRED recorded ₹5,215-crore net loss in seven years. Samalopanan also cited Freecharge's example, which Shah co-founded in 2010, saying Snapdeal bought it for ₹2,800 crore and sold it two years later for ₹370 crore. Freecharge saw ₹269-crore cashback-fuelled losses in just five years, he noted.

Yoga brand WiseLife has secured ₹8 crore in Seed/Pre-Series A funding from Rukam Capital. The company plans to scale operations, enhance product innovation, and strengthen distribution. Known for its eco-friendly yoga mats and fitness gear, WiseLife first gained traction on Shark Tank India Season 3 and now aims to tap into India's growing wellness and sustainable lifestyle market.

A job offer for a full-stack lead by IIT Guwahati-graduate Sudarshan Kamath, Founder of AI startup Smallest.ai, has gone viral online. Kamath is offering ₹1-crore annual package for immediate joining in Bengaluru, asking candidates to send 100-word text introducing themselves instead of resumes. He further said the candidates' college degree doesn't matter and they need to be "hands-on developer".

Tata Group-backed BigBasket will appoint Tata Consumer Products' packaged foods President Deepika Khattar Bhan to its board. The firm is replacing TCS Executive Director and COO Aarthi Subramanian, who is reportedly stepping down to take more responsibilities at TCS. Before Tata Consumer, Bhan spent over a decade at Hindustan Unilever and Unilever, holding leadership roles across multiple units.