Mirror Security raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding from Sure Valley Ventures and Atlantic Bridge to expand its AI security platform. The 2024 UCD spin-out is scaling across Ireland, the US, and India with tools like AgentIQ, DiscoveR, and VectaX, supported by partnerships with Inception AI, Intel, and others.

India has 1.97 lakh DPIIT-recognised startups, but only 4,147, a mere 2%, qualify for the government’s top profit-linked tax exemption, according to new Parliamentary data. While startups have created 21.11 lakh jobs and secured ₹47,500 crore in GeM orders, the strict eligibility norms mean the vast majority never access this flagship tax benefit, raising questions about policy reach.

Peak XV, one of India’s largest venture capital (VC) firms, is cashing out big in 2025. Its early bets on Groww, Pine Labs, Meesho, Lenskart, Ather, Wakefit, Blinkit, Tata 1mg, and ixigo have together delivered ₹70,000-90,000 crore this year. For readers, it signals a turning point where Indian startups are creating real returns, not just headline valuations.

The Sleep Company, led by co-founder Priyanka Salot, saved ₹12 crore after choosing not to follow Google and Meta’s advice on store-visit ad campaigns. A zero-budget test in two cities showed no change in walk-ins, proving the ads weren’t driving footfall. The company cut the ₹1-crore monthly spend, underscoring the value of independent testing.

AI learning startup Yoodli, co-founded by Varun Puri, has raised $40 million in a Series B round led by WestBridge Capital. The platform helps people practise real workplace conversations using AI roleplay and personalised feedback. With clients like Google and Snowflake, Yoodli plans to expand its technology, strengthen coaching tools, and scale its enterprise reach.

Unlisted shares of Wakefit and Corona Remedies were trading at a premium of up to 18% in the grey market on Wednesday, ahead of their IPOs next week. Home and furnishings startup Wakefit has set a price band of ₹185-195 per share for its ₹1,289 crore IPO. Pharma firm Corona Remedies' IPO is worth ₹655.37 crore.

Digital commerce depends on discovery systems, fulfilment efficiency, user experience design, frictionless payments, and reliable last-mile execution. Each element supports trust, conversion, and repeat behaviour. As competition deepens, brands that treat these services as strategic levers rather than support functions achieve stronger scale and customer retention across categories.

Beginners strengthen fundamentals through small but complete HTML–CSS projects such as landing pages, responsive cards, grid layouts and simple dashboards. These builds teach spacing, structure, typography and adaptability. By iterating on real interfaces, learners build muscle memory that accelerates progression towards professional-grade front-end development.

Business ventures span proprietorships, scalable startups, franchises, cooperatives and corporate entities, each with distinct risk, capital needs and growth potential. Understanding these structures helps founders choose a model aligned with ambition, control preferences and operational capacity rather than defaulting to familiar or traditional formats.

Social media remains effective when brands use consistent content, targeted segmentation and platform specific formats. India’s high engagement rates allow tailored campaigns to reach niche segments with controlled budgets. When combined with performance insights and community building, social media provides a reliable channel for demand creation and measurable return on investment.

AI startup Anthropic has hired law firm Wilson Sonsini to prepare for an IPO, Financial Times reported. The public offering could occur as early as 2026, as Anthropic prepares to beat rival OpenAI in the race to get listed in the US market. Notably, Anthropic is negotiating a private funding round that will take firm's valuation to $350 million.

Different models demand different metric stacks. SaaS relies on retention, expansion, and payback periods; e-commerce depends on contribution margins and repeat cycles; B2B focuses on pipeline quality and conversion velocity. Aligning metrics with real revenue behaviour helps teams remove vanity indicators and make decisions grounded in recurring performance.

A phygital approach merges digital ease with offline trust through unified data, real-time inventory visibility, and consistent service across touchpoints. It removes channel friction, enabling reliable fulfilment and personalised engagement. For brands scaling across India, phygital execution improves efficiency by turning fragmented interactions into a single seamless experience.

A phygital approach merges digital ease with offline trust through unified data, real-time inventory visibility, and consistent service across touchpoints. It removes channel friction, enabling reliable fulfilment and personalised engagement. For brands scaling across India, phygital execution improves efficiency by turning fragmented interactions into a single, seamless experience.

Strong websites follow a structured life cycle: requirement analysis, wireframing, visual design, development, QA, and optimisation. This sequence reduces rework and keeps usability central. Treating design as iterative rather than a one-time task ensures clearer communication, faster load times, and adaptability as business needs evolve.

US-based startup Metaview put up a banner outside IIT-Delhi, taunting Donald Trump's $100,000 fees on H-1B visas. The banner, posted at IIT Metro Station, read, "Yes, we still sponsor H-1Bs. No, AI won't build itself," and "$100,000 isn't going to stop us from hiring the best." "[H-1B fees] is possibly an opportunity for...us," IIT-Delhi Director Rangan Banerjee told Bloomberg.

Account-based marketing concentrates resources on high-value accounts through coordinated messaging, focused content and intent-driven timing. Its strength lies in reducing wastage, increasing deal relevance and improving sales–marketing alignment. When powered by accurate data, ABM raises win rates and shortens sales cycles in complex enterprise environments.

India’s VC ecosystem includes early-stage specialists, sector-focused investors and late-stage growth funds. Their decisions influence capital availability, category expansion and founder support. Knowing which funds dominate which sectors helps entrepreneurs target the right partnerships during fundraising and signal stronger market alignment.

Emil Barr, an entrepreneur from US worth $25 million (₹224.7 crore), has said he doesn't regret giving up sleep, friends and college parties while starting his first company. "I believe advocating for extreme work-life balance is a recipe for mediocrity," the 22-year-old added. Barr, currently CEO of Flashpass, stated he typically works "100-hour weeks" and has now optimised his life.

Merlin AI Founder Pratyush Rai claimed Delhi-based Wherehouse's Co-founder Vaibhav Chawla was arrested at 1:00 am after a client refused to pay her dues. "The client...used police force to arrest [Chawla] without an FIR...This is a horrific situation," Rai said. He further claimed that the client has connections with an IAS officer and used state officials to pressure Chawla.

Global nonprofit Beyond Type 1 co-founded by Nick Jonas and backed by Priyanka Chopra Jonas has expanded to India with its first campaign, #TheBeyondType. The initiative aims to raise awareness about Type 1 diabetes, fight stigma, support grassroots groups working across regions. Through real stories of people thriving with diabetes, it hopes to change how the world sees the condition.

Wipro has finalised its $375 million acquisition of Harman’s Digital Transformation Solutions (DTS) business. Over 5,600 DTS employees globally will now join Wipro. The deal expands Wipro’s capabilities in AI-powered engineering, embedded software, device engineering and digital transformation, positioning it to deliver advanced next-gen products and services at global scale.

Home and furnishings startup Wakefit has announced a price band of ₹185-195 per share for its upcoming IPO worth around ₹1,288.89 crore. The IPO, opening on December 8, will include a fresh issue worth ₹377 crore and an offer-for-sale of 4.6 crore shares. The company has reserved 75% of the IPO for qualified institutional bidders.

Eternal Founder, Deepinder Goyal's wearable device firm, Temple, is in advanced talks to raise $50 million (around ₹450 crore), reports stated. The funding round involves Steadview Capital, Vy Capital, Info Edge, and Peak XV Partners. The funding will value Temple at around $125-130 million (about ₹1,100-1,200 crore). Goyal said Temple will remain "a small, cute company", unlike Eternal.

Ola Consumer has paused its food delivery business amid an ongoing restructuring of its portfolio, Moneycontrol reported. The company's food service has reportedly started disappearing from the ride-hailing app in recent days. The cloud-kitchen business is also not accepting orders through the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), the report stated.