Why MakeMyTrip Became A Short-Seller Target
A short-seller report sent MakeMyTrip’s stock to its lowest point in a year. Investor decks, quarterly earnings calls focus on the adjusted margins and not on the operating profit. MakeMyTrip defines Adjusted Margin in its own 20-F filing with the US SEC as revenue plus customer discounts and cashbacks after subtracting the cost of hotel or package procurement. In FY25 alone, MakeMyTrip collected $978 Mn in actual revenue and added back $302 Mn in discounts and cashbacks. In that period, MakeMyTrip reported a net loss of $5.7 Mn under International Financial Reporting Standards or IFRS, swinging from a $17.9 Mn profit in the year-ago period.
Meet The Top 10 Indian Startup Investors Of Q1 2026
After a relatively stable 2025, expectations were that the Indian startup ecosystem would carry forward the momentum into 2026. However, the trend so far has remained uneven. In Q1 2026, the ecosystem entered a recalibration phase, with total funding falling 26% YoY to $2.3 Bn across 271 deals, down from $3.1 Bn in the same period last year, as per Inc42’s “Indian Tech Startup Funding Report Q1 2026”. This is the first such quarter since 2022. Meanwhile, the median ticket size rose to $3.3 Mn, even as overall investor participation saw a marginal decline, as investors increasingly prioritised unit economics, capital efficiency, and supporting existing portfolios rather than chasing aggressive expansion. While late-stage investments dropped sharply by 56% YoY to $782 Mn while early-stage funding rose 58% to $248 Mn.
From Noon To Palmonas— Indian Startups Raised $132 Mn This Week
Indian startup funding momentum slowed down in the first week of April amid escalation in geopolitical tensions. Between March 30 and April 3, startups raised about $131.5 Mn across 18 deals. This marked a 62% decline from the $348.2 Mn raised across 25 deals last week.
Noon Raises $44 Mn To Reinvent Product Design
San Francisco-based product design startup Noon has raised $44 Mn (about ₹407.6 Cr) in a funding round led by Chemistry, First Round Capital, Scribble Ventures, Elevation Capital and Afore Capital. The round also saw participation from angel investors associated with companies like Meta, Canva, Apple, and OpenAI. Founded in 2024 by ex-Bookpad CEO Aditya Bandi and ex-Leap cofounder Kushagra Sinha, Noon is an AI-native product design platform that allows users to build functional products using real code instead of static design files. Noon is currently operating in early access and plans to open the platform to design teams in the coming weeks. Bandi previously cofounded Bookpad, a cloud-based document technology startup that was acquired by Yahoo in 2014 for over $15 Mn.
Yu Foods’ Revenue Doubles To ₹75 Cr In FY26: CEO Bharat Bhalla
D2C instant food brand Yu Foods’ revenue more than doubled in FY26. Cofounder and CEO Bharat Bhalla told Inc42 that the brand’s operating revenue zoomed 114% to ₹75 Cr from ₹35 Cr in FY25. The cofounder said that the startup registered growth in sales throughout the fiscal year, with its sales touching ₹10 Cr in March. Meanwhile, Yu Foods’ bottom line remained largely flat even as the startup continued to spend on expansion. Founded in 2021 by former investment bankers Bhalla and Varun Kapur, Yu Foods sells ready-to-eat instant meal bowls, including pasta, noodles, and more. It has raised an equity funding of about $12 Mn to date from Asian Paints promoter group, Startup India Seed Fund, and Hardik Pandya.
LPG Triggers Gig Workers Exodus, NeuroPixel Shuts Down & More
The conflict in West Asia has triggered an LPG crunch, which is hitting the country’s kitchens, factories and gig workforce. Ground Reality: The blockage of ship movement through the Strait of Hormuz has sent the prices of a 1 kg LPG cylinder, which once cost ₹100, to nearly ₹400 in the grey market. Built For Future Threats: Founded in 2025, AllSecureX operates an AI-led platform that helps enterprises identify vulnerable encryption, measure exposure and understand the financial impact of such cyber risks. It helps companies detect cryptographic weaknesses before attackers, or quantum machines, can exploit it. The Quantum Layer: Its flagship product is a hyper-automated post-quantum cryptography platform, which scans applications to discover cryptographic dependencies and flags systems exposed to quantum threats.
Elon Musk is about to be a very busy boy!
To be honest, I thought Elon Musk would confidentially file for SpaceX's IPO on the 20th of this month, rather than the 1st. But maybe that just means he's moved on to other numbers, and we should all mark our calendars for June 7th as an IPO date just in case. Based on the April 1st filing, and the general length of an SEC review before the S-1 document becomes public, the earliest I am expecting a SpaceX IPO is June. (At least, assuming there is still anyone left at the SEC who wants to do their job instead of just glance at the first page of the filing, say, "Seems fine!" and then go out for a smoke break.) Of course, this process could … Read the full story at The Verge.
Flipkart-Backed NeuroPixel.AI Shuts Down
Bengaluru-based AI startup NeuroPixel.AI has wound down its operations after six years of building GennAI solutions for the fashion ecommerce sector. The startup had raised about $1.2 Mn in funding from investors including Flipkart Ventures, Inflection Point Ventures, Entrepreneur First, Huddle and Dexter Ventures. In January 2026, Alle, an AI fashion stylist startup backed by Elevation Capital, shut down after struggling to find product-market fit and a sustainable business model despite multiple pivots. Earlier in 2025, several AI-focused startups such as subtl.ai, CodeParrot and Astra also shut shop due to a mix of funding constraints, weak differentiation and lack of scale. In Inc42’s survey of over 100 Indian startup investors, 44% flagged lack of moat as the biggest risk in AI startups, while 20% pointed to unclear unit economics.
The Download: plastic’s problem with fuel prices, and SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Plastic could be next. As the war in Iran continues, one of the most visible global economic ripple effects has been fossil-fuel prices. But looking ahead, further consequences could be looming for plastics. Plastics are made from petrochemicals, and the supply chain impacts from the conflict are starting to build up. (FT $) + Other targets include Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Nvidia. (CNBC) + AWS data centers in Bahrain were also hit last month. (Reuters $) 4 OpenAI was secretly behind a child safety campaign group It pushed for age verification requirements for AI.
Dronetech Startup Garuda Aerospace Pre-Files Draft Papers ₹750 Cr+ IPO
Chennai-based dronetech startup Garuda Aerospace has pre-filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the SEBI. The board also approved a stock split as part of its pre-IPO restructuring, reducing the face value of its equity shares from ₹10 to ₹2 each. On the financial front, Garuda Aerospace reported a net profit of ₹11 Cr on an operating revenue of ₹41.2 Cr in the first six months of FY26. In FY25, its operating revenue jumped 12% YoY to ₹123.5 Cr while its net profit zoomed 41% YoY to ₹18.4 Cr. The startup claims to have trained over 1 Lakh drone pilots, serving more than 100 government agencies along with over 500 private enterprises.
Aquapulse Nets ₹25 Cr To Scale Aquaculture Network
Aquaculture-focused agritech startup Aquapulse has netted ₹25 Cr (about $2.7 Mn) in its ongoing Series A round led by NABVENTURES via its AgriSURE Fund. Additionally, a portion of the capital will be deployed to expand its farmer network to 15,000 farmers across states like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, while also strengthening its technology stack. Aquapulse is also investing in AI-led harvest systems, along with enhancing its tech-driven transparent pricing model. The startup says it looks to build India’s first integrated aquaculture ecosystem. Aquapulse primarily competes with the likes of Eruvaka, Aquaconnect, AquaExchange among others in the growing Indian agritech segment.
Mirza International Acquires D2C Footwear Brand Solethreads
Footwear maker Mirza International’s MD Tauseef Mirza has acquired D2C brand Solethreads. The D2C brand’s founder and CEO Sumant Kakaria made the announcement in a LinkedIn post, without disclosing the deal size or other details. Kakaria said the vision behind starting Solethreads was to make everyday footwear more “cool” and accessible through a tech-led approach. With the acquisition, Solethreads will now come under Mirza International, a legacy footwear company known for brands such as RedTape, Oaktrak, and more. Kakaria will step down from his role as CEO following the acquisition. Founded in 2020 by Kakaria, Gaurav Chopra, Aprajit Kathuria and Vikram Iyer, Solethreads started as a digital-first brand focused on casual footwear for young consumers.
30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eye In March 2026
As per Inc42, Indian startups cumulatively raised $2.3 Bn in Q1 2026, down 26% from $3.1 Bn in the year-ago quarter. With that said, let’s take a look at the 30 startups that caught our attention in March 2026. Its hybrid perovskite modules are designed for residential solar panels, commercial and industrial installations. Although the startup has already produced a 15 W panel, it is currently advancing towards commercial deployment of its tech. ABX3 PV operates in India’s perovskite solar cell market, projected to reach $580 Mn by 2030, up from $20.9 Mn in 2024. Between 2021 and mid-2025, India recorded more than 2.2 Mn cyber incidents, averaging over 3,000 attacks per day.
Fintech Unicorn Dhan In Talks To Acquire Infinyte Club
Stock broking platform Dhan is in talks to acquire Bengaluru-based Infinyte Club to enter the broader wealthtech segment, sources told Inc42. The acquisition is expected to be worth around $10 Mn, comprising equity and cash, ET reported. Inc42 has reached out to Dhan and Infinyte Club for comments on the development. Infinyte Club last raised $3.6 Mn in its seed funding from Elevation Capital in 2024. The development comes more than a year after Dhan acquired new-age media startup Filter Coffee to foray into business content space. The fintech startup, founded by Pravin Jadhav, Jay Prakash Gupta and Alok Pandey in 2021, entered the unicorn club after raising $120 Mn in its Series B funding round which valued it at over $1.2 Bn. The acquisition of Infinyte Club is part of Dhan’s inorganic expansion strategy.
Govt Exempts Pre-April 2017 Investments From Anti-Tax Avoidance Laws
After years of back and forth, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has now clarified that anti-tax avoidance laws will not be applicable to investments made before April 2017. When Walmart acquired 77% stake in the homegrown ecommerce major in 2018, the investor argued that it was not liable to pay capital gains tax on its returns from the stake sale due to the DTAA signed between India and Mauritius. However, Indian tax authorities rejected this argument, saying the Mauritius-based entities were “fronts” for investments to avoid paying taxes. Moreover, India had tweaked the DTAA treaty with Mauritius in 2016, declaring all foreign investments made through Mauritius after April 2017 as tax deductible.
Palmonas Raises $40 Mn From Xponentia Capital, Vertex Growth Fund
Jewellery startup Palmonas has secured $40 Mn (₹373 Cr) in a Series B funding round led by Xponentia Capital and Vertex Growth Fund, with participation from existing investor Vertex Ventures SE Asia & India. In a post on LinkedIn, PwC India announced that it served as exclusive financial advisors to Palmonas on their $40 Mn Series B fundraise. The startup hasn’t officially disclosed the amount of the funds netted or their intended use. In a post on LinkedIn, cofounder and actor Shraddha Kapoor said that the intended use of the fresh capital would be to expand the startup’s offline presence. Inc42 has reached out to Palmonas for comments on the development.
Licious Claims 47% YoY Jump In FY26 Revenue To ₹1,166 Cr
Meat and seafood startup Licious claims to have closed the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026 (FY26) with a 47% jump in its net revenue to ₹1,166 Cr from ₹795 Cr in the previous year. It is now eyeing to grow its FY27 revenue by 54% to ₹1,800 Cr. Its EBITDA burn increased to ₹187 Cr in FY26 from ₹168 Cr a year earlier, as the startup invested in infrastructure and offline expansion. Important to highlight that the startup didn’t disclose its top line or bottom line performance for the fiscal year. Its operating revenue for the fiscal year, as per its disclosures in November, grew 16% YoY to ₹797.2 C.
KPMG: Inside the AI agent playbook driving enterprise margin gains
Global AI investment is accelerating, yet KPMG data shows the gap between enterprise AI spend and measurable business value is widening fast. The headline figure from KPMG’s first quarterly Global AI Pulse survey is blunt: despite global organisations planning to spend a weighted average of $186 million on AI over the next 12 months, only 11 percent have reached the stage of deploying and scaling AI agents in ways that produce enterprise-wide business outcomes. Leading organisations are moving beyond enablement, deploying AI agents to reimagine processes and reshape how decisions and work flow across the enterprise.” Among AI leaders, 82 percent report that AI is already delivering meaningful business value.
Xpedize Cofounder Regan Mithani Passes Away At 45
Regan Mithani, cofounder of Clear-acquired SaaS startup Xpedize, passed away on March 29, while he was on a family vacation in Singapore. Inc42 couldn’t ascertain the cause of death as of now. “Regan had transitioned from his tenure at Clear to establish a venture uniquely situated at the intersection of his passion for cricket and his business acumen. His untimely passing is profoundly saddening; may his soul rest in peace,” Clear Mithani founded Gurugram-based supply chain financing tech startup Xpedize in 2017, along with Deepak Gugnani. Xpedize counted the likes of YourNest Venture Capital, HDFC Capital Advisors Limited and Lumis Partners as its investors. Clear acquired Xpedize in 2022 to expand into business-to-business (B2B) payments.
DeepL’s Borderless Business report reveals 83% of enterprises are still behind on language AI
That is the core finding of DeepL’s 2026 Language AI report, “Borderless Business: Transforming Translation in the Age of AI,” published on March 10. Despite broad AI investment across business functions, the report reveals that language and multilingual operations–workflows that touch sales, legal, customer support, and global expansion–remain the most underautomated part of the enterprise technology stack. The automation gap hiding in plain sight According to DeepL’s Borderless Business report, 35% of international businesses still handle translation entirely through manual processes, while a further 33% rely on traditional automation paired with systematic human review. According to DeepL’s research, global expansion is the top driver of language AI investment at 33%, followed by sales and marketing at 26%, customer support at 23%, and legal and finance at 22%.
Zaggle’s Shares Soar 19% On Strong FY27 Projections
Shares of Zaggle surged as much as 19.2% during intraday trade today to touch a fresh high of ₹223 on the BSE. The company’s shares ended today’s trading session 16% higher at ₹217.1. With the rally today, the company’s market capitalisation stood at ₹2,919.09 Cr (about $320 Mn). The rally came after the company shared strong projections for its business growth in the fiscal year FY27. On the financial front, the fintech SaaS company reported a net profit of ₹37.1 Cr in Q3 FY26, up 88% from ₹19.7 Cr from a year earlier. Sequentially, profit rose 6% from ₹35 Cr. Operating revenue zoomed 56% YoY and 22% QoQ to ₹525.6 Cr during the quarter under review.
NODWIN Brings Back Ex-CEO Sidharth Kedia Ahead Of IPO
Ahead of initiating its IPO plans, NODWIN Gaming has roped in its former CEO Sidharth Kedia as its new chief strategy and investments officer. Kedia, who exited NODWIN in 2023, will now lead strategy, fundraising, and amalgamations. During his tenure, the company claims to have scaled its revenue sharply, raised over $50 Mn, and reached a valuation of about $350 Mn after a funding round led by Sony Group Corporation. He later joined AI video startup Mythik in June 2025. “Having seen the company grow over the years, it’s clear how strong the foundation is today and how much opportunity lies ahead. After its demerger with parent Nazara, NODWIN has been in the process of raising fresh capital before initiating the IPO procedure. NODWIN Gaming is planning to raise about $100 Mn through a pre-IPO round, cofounder Akshat Rathee told Inc42.
AvenuesAI Subsidiary Rediff Pre-Files DRHP
AvenuesAI’s (formerly Infibeam Ventures) subsidiary Rediff has filed its IPO papers via the confidential route with SEBI. “Rediff.com India Limited, a subsidiary of AvenuesAI Ltd, has filed the pre-filed DRHP with the SEBI, the BSE and the NSE in relation to the proposed IPO of its equity shares …on the main board of the BSE and the NSE. The filing of the pre-filed DRHP shall not necessarily mean that Rediff will undertake the IPO,” Avenues AI said in an exchange filing today. As per media reports, the size of the IPO could be in the range of ₹600-₹800 Cr. Founded in 1995 by Ajit Balakrishnan, Rediff is a Mumbai-based internet company that began as a news media outlet but later expanded into multiple digital streams.
Xovian Aerospace Raises $2 Mn To Launch RF Satellite
Spacetech startup Xovian Aerospace has secured $2 Mn (about ₹18.7 Cr) in a fresh funding round led by ace investor Ashish Kacholia, with participation from existing backer Inflection Point Ventures (IPV). Xovian, which is preparing to launch its first AI-native RF (radio frequency) satellite, will deploy the capital for satellite development, strengthening its core engineering and AI teams and forge commercial partnerships. Founded in 2019 by Ankit Bhateja and Raghav Sharma, Xovian is building an RF intelligence infrastructure. Prior to this round, the Bengaluru-based startup raised $2.5 Mn from Piper Serica, Turbostart, IPV and Eaglewings Ventures in August last year. In February, Inc42 reported that Dhruva Space was set to net $4.2 Mn, while Bellatrix Aerospace raised $20 Mn last month.