Pine Labs IPO; Raphe mPhibr, ShopOS raise funds

Time of India

16 hours ago

Pine Labs IPO; Raphe mPhibr, ShopOS raise funds
Also in the letter:
Pine Labs files for IPO with Rs 2,600 crore fresh issue; Peak XV, PayPal to pare stakes
Who is selling?
According to the DHRP, investors, including Peak XV Partners, Temasek, PayPal, Mastercard, Invesco, Actis, and Madison India, plan to partially exit via the OFS.
Cofounder Lokvir Kapoor will also offload a portion of his stake.
Pine Labs is additionally eyeing a Rs 520 crore pre-IPO fundraise. If completed, Pine Labs will adjust the final IPO size accordingly.
A brief on Pine Labs:
Founded in 1998, Pine Labs is among India's top five merchant payment processors, with a strong presence in offline payments.
The company was primarily backed by Peak XV Partners (then Sequoia Capital), though the venture fund has diluted its stake to around 20%.
After founder Lokvir Kapoor stepped back, Amrish Rau took charge.
A seasoned fintech operator, Rau previously founded Citrus Payments and later led PayU India.
The firm's cap table includes global investors such as Mastercard, PayPal, Temasek and Actis.
The big plan:
Bolster cloud infrastructure, enhance tech innovation, and launch new products.
Expand into Southeast Asia and the Gulf countries.
Pursue acquisitions to accelerate inorganic growth.
Also Read:
ETtech Done Deals: Drone maker Raphe mPhibr raises $100 million in round led by General Catalyst
Round details:
The fundraise values the Indian military drone manufacturer at nearly $900 million.
With this round, the company's total funding now stands at $145 million.
Existing investors, including stock market investor Amal Parikh, Think Investments, and several family offices, also participated in the round.
FY24 financials:
About the startup:
Binny Bansal backs ShopOS to build AI-native ecommerce stack
Why it matters:
Founders:
Zoom out:
Sponsor ETtech Top 5 & Morning Dispatch!
Why it matters:
The opportunity:
Reach a highly engaged audience of decision-makers.
Boost your brand's visibility among the tech-savvy community.
Custom sponsorship options to align with your brand's goals.
What's next:
AI and copyrights: The fight for fair use
Driving the news:
Double whammy:
US District Judge William Alsup found that Anthropic's use of books for training was legal under copyright law, calling it 'exceedingly transformative.'
He also held that Anthropic had infringed copyrights by storing pirated copies in a digital library.
This marked the first US court ruling on the legality of training AI with copyrighted works.
Also Read:
What's next:
Also Read:
Bessemer sees $1 trillion digital economy opportunity in India
Key growth areas:
India footprint:
Intel begins mass layoffs; chip and auto units hit
Driving the news:
Catch up quick:
More pink slips:
Also Read:
Pine Labs has filed its draft red herring prospectus with Sebi for a Rs 2,600-crore IPO. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5.■ AI firms' early copyright wins■ Bessemer's India outlook■ Intel layoffsAmrish Rau, CEO, Pine LabsMerchant payment processor Pine Labs has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), aiming to raise Rs 2,600 crore through a fresh issue and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 147.8 million shares.With IPO proceeds, Pine Labs has the following set of targets:Vivek Mishra and Vikash Mishra, founders, Raphe mPhibrRaphe mPhibr, a drone manufacturing startup, has raised $100 million in an equity funding round led by Silicon Valley investor General Catalyst.The company posted revenue of Rs 86 crore in FY24, more than doubling the Rs 42 crore it reported the previous year. It also turned profitable, recording a net profit of Rs 9 crore during the same period.Founded in 2016 by Vivek Mishra and Vikash Mishra, Raphe mPhibr builds a range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Its portfolio includes a drone swarm platform, a high-altitude logistics drone, a surveillance drone and a compact maritime patrol system.(L-R) Sai Krishna V K, cofounder; ShopOS, Binny Bansal, cofounder, Flipkart; and Ajay P V, cofounder, ShopOSFlipkart cofounder Binny Bansal has invested $20 million in ShopOS , a startup building an AI-native operating system for global e-commerce brands. Bansal made this investment through his venture fund, Three State Ventures.ShopOS aims to automate the creation, management, and marketing of products across different markets. Its platform integrates AI agents throughout the entire process, from catalogue creation and personalised storefronts to targeted advertising campaigns.ShopOS was founded by Sai Krishna V K and Ajay P V, who earlier cofounded Scapic, acquired by Flipkart in 2020. The duo played a key role in setting up Flipkart Labs, where they led deep tech pilots. They are joined by Karan Sonawala, also a Flipkart alumnus, who built immersive, AI-led shopping experiences.The company is betting on what it calls 'ambient agents' — AI systems that not only assist but autonomously run commerce workflows. It is already working with early customers in India, the UAE, and Europe, and plans to step up hiring and product integrations over the next year.ETtech Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and employees.Interested? Reach out to us at [e-mail] to explore sponsorship opportunities.Mark Zuckerberg's Meta scored a partial win in a lawsuit filed by a group of authors who claimed the company trained its AI on their copyrighted books without permission.US District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled in Meta's favour, saying the plaintiffs had made 'the wrong arguments' and failed to present enough evidence to support their claims.Chhabria, however, noted that using copyrighted material to train AI could be unlawful in 'many circumstances,' leaving the door open for future challenges.The ruling follows a similar outcome in a separate lawsuit involving AI company Anthropic.In a fresh lawsuit filed in New York, authors including Kai Bird, Jia Tolentino and Daniel Okrent allege Microsoft used a trove of nearly 200,000 pirated digital books to train its Megatron model.Silicon Valley VC firm Bessemer Venture Partners believes India's digital economy could surpass $1 trillion in value over the next decade, according to its latest report.The firm identifies quick commerce, direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, and mobile-first content platforms as key engines of value creation. Startups like Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and D2C players such as Blissclub, Mokobara, and Minimalist are seen as early movers.The report also points to rising investor appetite in emerging sectors, including micro-transactions, pet care, mobile gaming, and AI-driven consumer interfaces.Since entering India in 2006, Bessemer has backed over 80 startups, including BigBasket, PharmEasy, and Urban Company. In March, it closed a $350 million India-focused fund, aimed at deepening its presence in AI, SaaS, fintech, and healthtech.Intel has begun laying off staff in the US , starting with 107 roles in California as part of a broader workforce reduction of up to 20% under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan.The job cuts span engineering, chip design, and automotive units. Intel is also shutting down its Munich-based auto chip business and outsourcing marketing to Accenture.The layoffs are part of a plan to reduce costs by $500 million in 2025 and $1 billion in 2026. The company is promoting a leaner culture that rewards efficiency and reduces bloated teams, amid rising competition from Nvidia, AMD, and Apple.Dating app Bumble will slash 30% of its global workforce , affecting over 240 roles. The company expects to save $40 million annually, with most of the savings allocated towards product and technology upgrades.