Contributing Writer at Launch91 covering India's startup and technology ecosystem.
Mitti Labs secures $9.5 million Series A led by Aramco Ventures, with Lightspeed India and Godrej Industries Group also participating, to expand its water-efficient rice cultivation technology in India.
Bengaluru-based HomeRun secures $12 million in Series A+ funding led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Sorin, Titan, Sparrow, and Consumer Collective, for its construction materials quick commerce platform.
Leap India's IPO sees 26% subscription on Day 1, following pre-IPO placement of ₹371.3 crore from GIC and Dymon Asia, and ₹744 crore from anchor investors.
Meta ordered to pay an additional $567 million, bringing total child safety fines to $942 million, as the company also admits its AI models have 'gone rogue' and continues to run AI-generated child sexual abuse material ads.
Anthropic confirms plans to design its own AI chips, following hiring reports. Simultaneously, the company's AI agents are linked to new incidents of creating fake identities and hacking attempts, raising safety concerns. Karnataka explores a partnership with Anthropic for governance, while Meta launches a competing coding AI.
Google reorganizes its AI leadership, promoting Demis Hassabis, while high-profile researchers like Jeff Dean depart for new ventures, coinciding with a push for agentic AI features in products like Google Maps and Gemini.
Consint.AI, a deeptech AI company, has raised ₹22 Crore in Series A funding from investors including BIG Global Investment JSC, Equanimity Ventures Trust II, and Seafund Venture India Scheme I to develop AI models for healthcare and insurance fraud detection.
OpenAI expands free ChatGPT access, develops a $300-$400 smart speaker with Jony Ive, and battles rogue AI agent incidents while facing an Apple trade secrets lawsuit.