From algorithms to unicorn ambitions: The AI scale blueprint for India's startups to be unveiled at ET Soonicorns Summit 2025
India boasts 121 unicorns, ranking third globally in startup ecosystems. The ET Soonicorns Summit 2025 in Bengaluru will explore AI's role in scaling soonicorns to unicorn status. Discussions will cover AI investments, building Indian LLMs, the future of jobs, and ethical considerations, offering a roadmap for AI-driven startups.
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India Today
7 minutes ago
- India Today
VinFast opens first dealership in India ahead of plant inauguration
Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer VinFast marked a significant milestone in its India journey with the inauguration of its first showroom in Surat, Gujarat. According to the company, the dealership, 'VinFast Surat', is located in Piplod, spanning 3,000 square feet, the outlet is designed to offer immersive experiences for prospective EV buyers, right from exploring VinFast's premium electric SUVs to after-sales the showroom will showcase the company's upcoming models, the VF 6 and VF 7, which opened for pre-booking nationwide on July 15, 2025. Customers can reserve their vehicle at dealerships or via the official website with a fully refundable booking amount of Rs 21,000. VinFast has ambitious plans for India, aiming to launch 35 dealerships across more than 27 cities by the end of the year. The vehicles will be locally assembled at the company's under-construction plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil at the inauguration, Pham Sanh Chau, CEO of VinFast Asia, stated, "The first VinFast Showroom in Surat, Gujarat is a symbol of our deep commitment to India. We are excited to bring the VinFast experience closer to Indian consumers. With this dealership in Gujarat, we aim to offer not just electric vehicles, but a complete ownership journey built on quality, trust, and service excellence. With trusted partners like Chandan Car, we are building a future-ready EV ecosystem in the country. Their proven automotive expertise, combined with VinFast's technology and vision, will help shape a premium EV experience for Indian customers."VinFast VF 6 The VF 6 will be VinFast's entry-level offering in India, positioned below the VF 7. The VF 6 measures 4,241mm long, 1,834mm wide, and 1,580mm tall, with a 2,730mm wheelbase, placing it in competition with the upcoming Hyundai Creta EV and Tata Its coupe-inspired sloping roofline highlights VinFast's distinctive design the VF 6 is a front-wheel-drive electric motor, offered in two configurations. The Eco variant delivers 174 bhp and 250 Nm of torque, while the Plus variant offers 201 bhp and 310 Nm. Both models use a 59.6 kWh battery pack, delivering up to 399 km of WLTP range in the Eco and 381 km in the Plus. The car sprints from 0–100 km/h in just 8.89 the VF 6 echoes the minimalist design of the VF 7. It comes with a 12.9-inch touchscreen infotainment display tilted toward the driver, with most functions integrated into it. Instead of a conventional instrument cluster, the vehicle features a Head-Up Display (HUD). Other highlights include a full-length panoramic glass roof, vegan leather interiors, ventilated 8-way power driver's seat, dual-zone climate control, rear AC vents, PM1.0 air filter, and wireless Android Auto and Apple and convenience features come standard, including Level 2 ADAS with Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Centring, Blind Spot Monitoring, 360 camera, Automatic Emergency Braking, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. The VF 6 is also equipped with seven airbags, remote control via mobile app, OTA updates, and multiple smart modes such as Camp, Pet, Wash, and VF 7 Positioned above the VF 6, the VinFast VF 7 is a larger and more performance-oriented SUV. With dimensions of 4,545mm in length, 1,890mm in width, and 1,635.75mm in height, and a 2,840mm wheelbase, it offers a commanding road the VF 7 is available in Eco and Plus trims. Both get a 75.3 kWh battery (usable capacity: 70.8 kWh), but differ in power and drivetrain. The Eco variant features a single front motor with 201 bhp and 310 Nm, offering a WLTP-certified range of up to 450 km. The Plus version brings in dual-motor all-wheel drive, producing a powerful 348 bhp and 500 Nm, with a range of 431 km. Acceleration is brisk, with the Eco doing 0–100 km/h in 9.5 seconds, and the Plus managing it in just 5.8 is a highlight in the VF 7. The Eco version gets a 12.9-inch touchscreen, while the Plus gets an upgraded 15-inch display. Both variants support OTA updates, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and HUD in place of traditional gauges. The cabin also includes vegan leather upholstery, a panoramic sunroof, dual-zone climate control, ionizer-equipped PM1.0 filtration, and ventilated front seats with 8-way power adjustment for the VF 7 enhances the connected experience via the VinFast app, which enables remote control of locks, windows, AC, and provides updates on vehicle health, location, and intrusion alerts. Special driving modes like Camp, Pet, Wash, and Valet further add to the the safety front, the VF 7 is packed with Level 2 ADAS, which includes Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Centring, Blind Spot Monitoring, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, and Automatic Lane Changing. It also offers a 360-degree camera system, automatic high beams, seven airbags including a knee airbag, electronic parking brake with auto-hold, and roll-over mitigation for enhanced occupant to Auto Today Magazine- Ends advertisement
Economic Times
7 minutes ago
- Economic Times
There is more scope for Indian investment in the UK than the other way around: Swaminathan Aiyar
Swaminathan Aiyar, Consulting Editor, ET Now, says India stands as a prominent investor in the UK, with the Tata Group leading as the largest private sector employer. Enhanced by relaxed social security deductions for IT workers, increased Indian investment in the UK's IT sector appears promising. Opportunities also exist for Indian professionals in finance, media, and sports, potentially fostering a beneficial two-way exchange of skills and remittances. ADVERTISEMENT But the list is long when it comes to some labour intensive sectors, be it from auto ancillary to leather to processed food. Which can be the biggest beneficiary according to you? Swaminathan Aiyar: The government is anxious to emphasise that there will be job creation in artisanal, labour-intensive sectors like leather or textiles or auto ancillaries. I would just say that in the long run, we need to look away from the labour-intensive field. Our comparative advantage is in skills. We are very competitive in skills. We are not competitive on labour costs for there are a large number of issues on the labour side. It includes the very large number of holidays we have in India compared with anybody else, and relatively short hours of work. Because of all this, I do not think India has a great advantage in the labour-intensive sector which the government claims it wants to promote as our labour laws do not really promote that. So that is the real problem, our own labour laws, not the trade barriers in Europe, not the trade barriers in the UK. And we would have to do something about that. In auto ancillaries, we can certainly have a move up. The British car industry has disappeared in terms of British names, but the multinationals of the world are there, certainly the Japanese and Korean companies and we can export there and hopefully at some point of time, we will even be able to export to Jaguar which is very high-end in terms of the auto parts, but Tata owns it. We are not competitive in large cars, but we are definitely competitive in small cars. For countries in Europe, and in England, small cars are preferable, whereas in the USA, it is large cars. Small cars are preferable because of very high prices of petrol and because of a lack of parking spaces. Americans have huge parking spaces for their large cars. Britain and Europe are much more constrained by space. So, our small car exports should have a chance of rising significantly. It will also depend of course on what happens to the tariffs of various rivals. Malaysia, Thailand, China, all of these are competitors in small car areas. So, I am not sure what will happen out there, but if we have a good deal, if we have a very low tariff regime and they do not, that will clearly give us a benefit in the UK. Does the FTA lay groundwork for wider cooperation in technology, green energy, and mobility? Will it also help boost investments in a meaningful way according to you? Swaminathan Aiyar: There are a number of issues. As far as investment is concerned, will this help mutual investment? Will this help Indian investment in the UK? Will it help British investment in India? I am not sure to what extent it will boost British investment in India. The reason is that Britain hardly produces many goods anymore. It used to be a large exporter of goods, but it has substantially deindustrialised and become a services sector. So, it will want to do something more on the services sector which we should allow because we are competitive in services, we should allow them to come in. But again, if somebody comes into the services with a GCC, it will not involve very much investment. It will certainly generate revenue. It will help generate skills. It will be skilling of the Indian workforce. There will be exports involved, but do not expect very heavy investment. It does not take a lot of heavy investment to start an R&D centre into artificial intelligence. So that is the kind of thing the British may be investing in India. ADVERTISEMENT India is one of the biggest investors in the UK. The Tata Group is the largest single employer in the private sector in the entire United Kingdom. I mean, it has TCS, it has Jaguar, and it has its steel plant out there and those together are a massive amount of investment, a massive amount of jobs. Will that trend increase? Yes, it could increase. But as I said, that is now fundamentally a services economy. It is no longer a large-scale producer of merchandise. So, can Indian companies like TCS which are already well established increase their footprint? Yes, I should think so, especially now that there is this freedom in terms of social security deductions. Earlier, if an IT worker went there, a significant part of his salary was cut saying this is a social security contribution although he would never get it back as a pension in his old age. Now that that is being waived for three years, we will be able to send lots more people for up to three years and this should induce much more Indian investment in the IT sector there. I hope that happens. It looks promising. Of course, the other thing is that will there be more Indian writers for Financial Times and The Economist or more Indian footballers going into the Premier League, some of these areas and of course, there is the stock market. I mean, Britain is a highly financialised market with a huge stock market. It already has a significant number of Indian names that are already well known. I imagine that number could go up. How many of them would retain a close connection with India? I am not sure. But you could hope that a significant number of people go there and they improve their skills, send home remittances, and later on perhaps come back and open businesses here, so that is what we look forward to, something happening two-way and on this frankly I see more scope for Indian investment in the UK than the other way around. (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
Mint
7 minutes ago
- Mint
Coworking IPO boom: Can India's flexi-office giants turn profitable?
On 17 July, Smartworks Coworking Spaces Ltd listed on the stock exchanges and the shares traded marginally above their issue price. The coworking space provider was following in the footsteps of its industry peer Awfis Space, which listed in May 2024 and has gained 60% from its issue price. Another leading player, IndiQube, is expected to list on 31 July, while the biggest coworking player in India by revenues, WeWork India, is expected to go public in August. Riding a post-covid surge in customer acceptance, the sector's business models are rapidly maturing. They are all in the throes of trying to turn profitable—and sustainably so—amid a rapid scale-up. Coworking spaces have undergone a dramatic transformation in the years following the pandemic. The top six Indian cities together boasted 32 million sq ft of flexible office space in March 2020, as per Icra Research. This is likely to have soared to 85 million sq ft by March 2025, growing by an average rate of 22% a year. Icra expects this growth to continue until March 2027, and vacancy levels to remain low, in the 15-17% band. Once seen as catering to individuals and small teams, coworking office spaces are increasingly on the agenda even for medium and large establishments. This wider acceptance is driving a change in customer profile. Until March 2020, nearly 70% of the occupancy in coworking spaces were with the information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITES) sectors. In four years, this dropped to 39%, and startups as well as sectors beyond engineering and financial sectors have become clients. Benefit of size Larger customers are a win-win arrangement for both coworking companies and customers (i.e., businesses taking up the spaces). For customers, it frees them up from the more expensive proposition of owning their own space, while facilitating a flexible and hybrid model of working that many employees have come to prefer. For coworking space providers, larger clients translate to relatively less effort on the sales side and more surety on the revenue side, especially if they can negotiate longer tenures in such deals. For both Smartworks and IndiQube, about 60% of the revenue is coming from clients that have taken up more than 300 seats each. Including clients that have taken up 100-300 seats as well, the share jumps to 85-88%. Such scale in how they earmark their office spaces is a big way in which coworking companies are optimising their revenue and sales efforts. Journey to profits These companies are also exploring new cost-side strategies. There is a conventional 'straight lease" operating model, in which coworking companies typically lease bare-shell properties for extended periods (often 10 years with a 3-5 year lock-in), fit them out, and then offer them to customers. This is the principal model for both WeWork India and Smartworks. Another emerging model is the 'managed aggregation" model, which Awfis is additionally adopting. Here, the space owner bears the fit-out costs, in part or in full, in return for a fixed guarantee, plus a share in revenue or profits. This reduces the capital requirement for coworking firms. At present, these companies are making healthy margins at the operational level, but are struggling to generate net profits. In their business model, capital investments (in fit-outs) are front-loaded and depreciated over time. Being a relatively new and expanding business means this burden is large right now. Exits amid expansions The four coworking companies named earlier, which have all gone public or are about to do so, are all generating strong cash flows at an operational level. That's because coworking spaces typically charge customers upfront. Those strong cash flows, boosted by periodic fundraises, have gone a significant way in enabling them to finance their expansion and also manage debt. As a result, other than IndiQube and to some extent Smartworks, the other two are not looking to use the IPO proceeds for expansion. In fact, in all four companies, promoters and investors have sold their shares in their IPO, a transaction in which no money goes to the company. While the offer for sale (shares sold by promoters and investors) is 80-100% of the issue for Awfis and WeWork India, it is smaller in case of the other two, with a greater share of the proceeds going to the company. Capital infusion or not, converting expansions into profits will take time and will be a key marker of how the market values coworking space providers. is a database and search engine for public data.
