Latest news with #MorningDispatch
Time of India
18 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
VCs find quick fashion in vogue; India's AI edge
VCs find quick fashion in vogue; India's AI edge Also in the letter: Quick-fashion delivery startups attract fresh VC capital Who's raising: In Gurugram, Zulu Club bagged $250,000 from TDV Partners. Silkk raised $10 million to fuel its 60-minute delivery model. Snitch raised $40 million to explore quick commerce. Newme pulled in $18 million to ramp up its Gen Z push. The shopper shift: On investors' radar: Also Read: Skilling, not just scale, will define India's AI edge: Coursera CEO Current standing: What's holding it back: Economic stakes: Gen AI courses are seeing faster uptake among women, hinting at a wider cultural shift. Coursera's partnerships with state governments, such as Kerala and Odisha, and clients like Reliance and Infosys, suggest momentum is building. Hart's take: 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: Top AI talent attracted not just by paycheques: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Driving the news: He called Meta's lead in compute per researcher a 'strategic advantage.' While he acknowledged Meta's financial muscle as a key factor, he also highlighted the appeal of 'building a new lab from scratch' as a dealmaker. Also Read: Galacticos: Huge demand: India's wealthy tilt portfolios toward crypto The trigger: Bigger tickets: A hedge against volatility: Adoption at scale: Also Read: HCLTech eyes 15% of freshers for AI, specialist roles Driving the news: Hiring pulse: Financial snapshot: Net profit: fell 10% year-on-year to Rs 3,843 crore, missing estimates, Revenue: Rose 8% to Rs 30,349 crore, slightly ahead of expectations. Outlook for FY26: Revenue growth of 3–5% in constant currency, with EBIT margins in the 17–18% range. Quick-fashion delivery is drawing investor interest as a category ripe for reinvention. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5■ Zuckerberg pushes back■ The big, fat crypto bet■ HCLTech fresher plansInvestor interest is heating up in the quick-fashion delivery space , as startups promise curated, on-trend styles delivered Knot just raised $3 million in a round led by Kae Capital, with Sparrow Capital and the founders of Snitch, Souled Store, and Bonkers Corner also backing the startup. Knot plans to expand to Delhi, Bengaluru, and Pune.'Shopping is no longer about casual browsing. It's event-led, mood-driven and shaped by what people see on Instagram,' says Knot's cofounder Archit model borrows from the same playbook that transformed grocery delivery, this time with fashion in its sights – a sector long due for a shake-up. Agile delivery, trend-first merchandising, and the promise of instant gratification are fuelling this fresh capital HartIndia could become Coursera's biggest market by 2026, says CEO Greg Hart, but only if it plugs critical gaps in AI skills The country already has 30 million users, second only to the US, and is growing at 20% annually. Yet, on Coursera's AI Maturity Index, India ranks 46th, trailing countries like Japan and hurdle isn't scale, but readiness. India's deep pool of IT talent has yet to translate into strength in generative AI, a key area for future job opportunities and economic believes India could add $1.5 trillion to its GDP by 2030 through AI, a significant lift for its $4.1 trillion economy. And, there are bright spots:'India has the foundation; adding AI on top can create the workforce of tomorrow,' he Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@ to explore sponsorship an intensifying scramble for top artificial intelligence (AI) talent, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pushed back against the idea that big money alone is luring researchers to his newly launched Meta Superintelligence an interview with The Information, Zuckerberg argued that access to vast compute power gives researchers greater losing ground in the race for artificial general intelligence, Meta has gone on the offensive. It has pumped billions into AI firms like Scale AI and pulled in star talent from OpenAI, DeepMind, and urgency isn't alone. Speaking at a SoftBank event alongside SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, OpenAI chief Sam Altman pointed to the voracious global appetite for AI . Altman, also Son's business partner, stressed that as the technology becomes cheaper and more powerful, the pressure to scale infrastructure and compute will only high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) and family offices are leaning deeper into crypto , as traditional assets such as equities, gold, and bonds offer limited near-term president Donald Trump's pro-crypto pivot after last year's US election win triggered a global rally. Bitcoin shot past $120,000 , nearly doubling in value over 12 months. That momentum has shifted the mood in India too – from 'why crypto?' conversations turning into 'how much and where?' says Atul Ahluwalia of holding Rs 50 lakh–Rs 1 crore or more in digital assets make up nearly half of CoinDCX's trading volume. The platform's institutional and family office clientele has jumped 50%, according to cofounder Sumit is increasingly seen as a macro hedge. On Mudrex, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana make up nearly 70% of HNI portfolios, according to Pranjal Agarwal, the exchange's India market led the world in crypto adoption in 2024, with 119 million investors, nearly 20% of the global holders. Retail may dominate by volume, but the big money is seemingly calling the is earmarking around 15% of its fresher hiring for specialised and AI roles , in response to the rising demand for advanced tech skills.'The general assessment is that 15–20% of talent supply is AI-ready, and we're tracking close to that,' chief people officer Ram Sundararajan said during the company's post-results firm has been cultivating an 'elite cadre' of engineers, offering freshers three to four times the typical starting pay. While there's no fixed target, Sundararajan indicated this share could rise to 20% depending on availability. In Q1 FY26 , HCLTech onboarded 1,984 freshers, bringing its total workforce to 223,151, slightly lower than the March quarter. Attrition dropped to 12.8%, one of the lowest rates in recent years.
Economic Times
a day ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Zepto Cafe cools; Ecommerce sales pick up
Happy Wednesday! Zepto's 10-minute food delivery arm has scaled down operations due to multiple hurdles. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch. Also in the letter: ■ Indian AI startups take US flight ■ ETtech Done Deals■ Shubhanshu Shukla returns to Earth Zepto Cafe scales down amid sourcing, staffing hurdles Zepto Cafe, the 10-minute food delivery arm of quick commerce firm Zepto, is scaling down operations as it battles supply chain issues and a shortage of trained kitchen staff. The slowdown comes just as rivals Blinkit's Bistro and Swiggy's Snacc push deeper into key urban markets. By the numbers: Daily order volumes fell to 65,000–67,000 in May and June, down from 120,000–130,000 at their peak. Back in February, founder and CEO Aadit Palicha had claimed on LinkedIn that the service had crossed 100,000 daily orders. Zepto pulled the plug on Cafe operations at 44 of roughly 1,000 dark stores in May. Behind the scenes: The company has hit pause on several fried items as it retools its kitchen workflows. Suppliers say Zepto Cafe has cut back on order volumes and delayed pickups, with some reporting a fall in monthly order value from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 40–50 lakh. Also Read: Govt may increase scrutiny on quick commerce firms following hygiene, food safety issues What's next: As Zepto trims its cash burn and recalibrates, the company is in talks with investors, including General Catalyst and Avenir Growth, to raise $500 million ahead of a planned IPO in 2026. Also Read: Quick commerce fires up record discounts with rivals getting quicker Mid-year ecomm sales spike sets the stage for cracking festive season Ecommerce order volumes during the recent sale window rose 19% over the same time last year, well ahead of the sector's annual growth rate of 10–12% in 2024. Deep discounts helped fuel demand across various categories, including smart TVs, headphones, air conditioners, kids' essentials, and luggage. Bright ecommerce outlook: The July 11-14 sale window saw overlapping campaigns from marketplaces like Amazon India, Flipkart, and a clutch of D2C brands. Analysts say this burst of activity could boost performance in the ongoing quarter, offering a breather amid what has otherwise been a sluggish period for ecommerce. Uptick in sales: Brands such as boAt, Eume, Uppercase, Atomberg, Solara and Zouk reported a strong jump in gains. Pradeep Krishnakumar, founder of fashion brand Zouk, said, 'Typically, Prime Day is seen as a play for legacy brands and for discounts. We saw something slightly different…that Zouk as a brand actually grew more than the category.' Festive sale preparations: Several executives said this sale window effectively kicked off festive season preparations, with brands ramping up supply chains, launching new products, and pushing fresh categories. Many are now revising their Diwali forecasts upwards, looking to stock up in line with the current surge in demand. Also Read: Ecommerce platforms target tier-2 and tier-3 cities for festive sales growth in India Sponsor ETtech Top 5 & Morning Dispatch! Why it matters: 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. 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: Interested? Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@ to explore sponsorship opportunities. Scoring with AI not enough to crack US enterprise code Indian artificial intelligence (AI) startups heading to the US in search of growth are running into new roadblocks, founders and investors told ET. Fierce competition and slower decision-making are making it harder to close deals and run pilots. Moving timelines: Sales cycles that once lasted 6–9 months are now dragging on to 12–18, as enterprises test multiple solutions and delay fresh engagements, said Pradeep Ayyagari, cofounder of agentic platform SnowMountain AI, told ET. Venk Krishnan, founder of IT firm NuWare, added that big companies in the US now face pitches from 20 firms offering nearly identical products. Too little time: Firms don't have enough time to demo with every firm that approaches them. The market is 'equally miserable' for buyers, another founder, Vivek Khandelwal said. The field has become too noisy, confusing the buyers as well. Strategic partnerships: To cut through the clutter, startups are relying on investor networks and domain experts for warm introductions, while many founders are spending extended time in the US to stay close to customers and iterate more quickly. Keeping Count Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Shivali Goyal and Pritish Gupta, founders, Trupeer AI Trupeer AI bags $3 million: Trupeer AI, an AI video platform, has raised $3 million in seed funding from early-stage investor RTP Global, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and angel investors. Voice AI startup Navana AI raises Rs 7 crore: has developed three products: a voice AI contact centre, a speech recognition API, and the contact centre intelligence API. The company currently has more than 40 clients supporting voice bots in over 12 languages across the country. A Shux-cess: After 18 days in space, Group Captain and astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla felt gravity again on Tuesday. Stepping out of the Dragon capsule with a smile and the Indian flag on his shoulder, Shukla, or Shux, became the second Indian to travel to space and the first to enter the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission. WeWork India's road to IPO: WeWork India Management, the country's largest premium flexible workspace operator by revenue, has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to launch its initial public offering. Global Picks We Are Reading ■ Microsoft and OpenAI's AGI fight is bigger than a contract (Wired) ■ xAI says it has fixed Grok 4's problematic responses (TechCrunch) ■ How BYD caught up with Tesla in the global EV race (FT) Updated On Jul 16, 2025, 07:16 AM IST
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Zepto Cafe cools; Ecommerce sales pick up
Zepto Cafe cools; Ecommerce sales pick up Also in the letter: Zepto Cafe scales down amid sourcing, staffing hurdles By the numbers: Daily order volumes fell to 65,000–67,000 in May and June, down from 120,000–130,000 at their peak. Back in February, founder and CEO Aadit Palicha had claimed on LinkedIn that the service had crossed 100,000 daily orders. Zepto pulled the plug on Cafe operations at 44 of roughly 1,000 dark stores in May. Behind the scenes: Also Read: What's next: Also Read: Mid-year ecomm sales spike sets the stage for cracking festive season Bright ecommerce outlook: Uptick in sales: Festive sale preparations: 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: Scoring with AI not enough to crack US enterprise code Moving timelines: Too little time: Firms don't have enough time to demo with every firm that approaches them. The market is 'equally miserable' for buyers, another founder, Vivek Khandelwal said. The field has become too noisy, confusing the buyers as well. Strategic partnerships: Keeping Count Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Trupeer AI bags $3 million: Voice AI startup Navana AI raises Rs 7 crore: A Shux-cess: WeWork India's road to IPO: Global Picks We Are Reading Happy Wednesday! Zepto's 10-minute food delivery arm has scaled down operations due to multiple hurdles. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.■ Indian AI startups take US flight■ ETtech Done Deals■ Shubhanshu Shukla returns to EarthZepto Cafe, the 10-minute food delivery arm of quick commerce firm Zepto, is scaling down operations as it battles supply chain issues and a shortage of trained kitchen staff. The slowdown comes just as rivals Blinkit's Bistro and Swiggy's Snacc push deeper into key urban company has hit pause on several fried items as it retools its kitchen workflows. Suppliers say Zepto Cafe has cut back on order volumes and delayed pickups, with some reporting a fall in monthly order value from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 40–50 Zepto trims its cash burn and recalibrates, the company is in talks with investors, including General Catalyst and Avenir Growth, to raise $500 million ahead of a planned IPO in order volumes during the recent sale window rose 19% over the same time last year, well ahead of the sector's annual growth rate of 10–12% in 2024. Deep discounts helped fuel demand across various categories, including smart TVs, headphones, air conditioners, kids' essentials, and July 11-14 sale window saw overlapping campaigns from marketplaces like Amazon India, Flipkart, and a clutch of D2C brands. Analysts say this burst of activity could boost performance in the ongoing quarter, offering a breather amid what has otherwise been a sluggish period for such as boAt, Eume, Uppercase, Atomberg, Solara and Zouk reported a strong jump in gains. Pradeep Krishnakumar, founder of fashion brand Zouk, said, 'Typically, Prime Day is seen as a play for legacy brands and for discounts. We saw something slightly different…that Zouk as a brand actually grew more than the category.'Several executives said this sale window effectively kicked off festive season preparations, with brands ramping up supply chains, launching new products, and pushing fresh categories. Many are now revising their Diwali forecasts upwards, looking to stock up in line with the current surge in Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@ to explore sponsorship artificial intelligence (AI) startups heading to the US in search of growth are running into new roadblocks, founders and investors told ET. Fierce competition and slower decision-making are making it harder to close deals and run cycles that once lasted 6–9 months are now dragging on to 12–18, as enterprises test multiple solutions and delay fresh engagements, said Pradeep Ayyagari, cofounder of agentic platform SnowMountain AI, told Krishnan, founder of IT firm NuWare, added that big companies in the US now face pitches from 20 firms offering nearly identical cut through the clutter, startups are relying on investor networks and domain experts for warm introductions, while many founders are spending extended time in the US to stay close to customers and iterate more AI, an AI video platform, has raised $3 million in seed funding from early-stage investor RTP Global, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and angel has developed three products : a voice AI contact centre, a speech recognition API, and the contact centre intelligence API. The company currently has more than 40 clients supporting voice bots in over 12 languages across the 18 days in space, Group Captain and astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla felt gravity again on Tuesday . Stepping out of the Dragon capsule with a smile and the Indian flag on his shoulder, Shukla, or Shux, became the second Indian to travel to space and the first to enter the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) India Management, the country's largest premium flexible workspace operator by revenue, has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to launch its initial public offering.■ Microsoft and OpenAI's AGI fight is bigger than a contract ( Wired ■ xAI says it has fixed Grok 4's problematic responses ( TechCrunch ■ How BYD caught up with Tesla in the global EV race ( FT
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Google Pay's credit boost; Spiritual apps chant ‘AI'
Next Google Pay's credit boost; Spiritual apps chant 'AI' Want this newsletter delivered to your inbox? Also in the letter: Fintech majors are counting on co-branded cards in returns play Driving the news: Also Read: What does this mean? Zooming out: Also Read: AI becomes spiritual guide for customers on devotional apps Enhancing experience: Resulting in user acquisitions: Also Read: Uptick in funding: 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: Ola Electric's poor Q1 show prefaces profitability push, share rally By the numbers: Net loss: widened 23.3% YoY to Rs 428 crore (vs Rs 347 crore) widened 23.3% YoY to Rs 428 crore (vs Rs 347 crore) Vehicle sales: dropped to 68,192 units (vs 1.25 lakh last year) dropped to 68,192 units (vs 1.25 lakh last year) Gross margin: improved to 25.6% (vs 18.4% YoY) improved to 25.6% (vs 18.4% YoY) Total expenses: dropped 42.4% YoY to Rs 1,065 crore dropped 42.4% YoY to Rs 1,065 crore Sequentially: revenue increased 35%, while net loss narrowed 51% Profit focus: Also Read: Market reaction: TCS rolls out 100% Q1 variable pay for 70%+ employees Details: Hazy on hikes: Also Read: HCLTech's first quarter net drops 10% YoY to Rs 3,843 crore, revenue up 8% Numbers: Net profit : Rs 3,843 crore in Q1 FY26. : Rs 3,843 crore in Q1 FY26. Consolidated revenue: Up 8% YoY to Rs 30,349 crore. Up 8% YoY to Rs 30,349 crore. Revenue guidance: 3-5% for FY26, versus 2-5% earlier. 3-5% for FY26, versus 2-5% earlier. Deal book: $1.8 billion in TCV (total contract value). Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Insurtech startup Plum's healthcare foray: AI research startup Gibran raises funds: IPO-bound Fractal bags $170 million: Global Picks We Are Reading Happy Tuesday! Google Pay is working to launch a co-branded credit card. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.■ Ola Electric's Q1 show■ TCS rolls out Q1 variable pay■ Insurtech Plum's new forayGoogle Pay, India's second-largest payment app, is in discussions to build a co-branded credit card with Axis Bank, according to two sources familiar with the has stuck mainly to digital payments in India, making only a cautious entry into financial services. But that's beginning to shift. After piloting personal and gold loans, the tech giant is now eyeing a broader play—lending its distribution heft to banks and non-banking financial corporations (NBFCs) looking to scale. The credit card push is the next step in that marks a shift for Google, which has so far avoided regulated businesses in India and pulled back its fintech bets globally. While Paytm and PhonePe ventured into insurance, broking, and credit, Google stayed in the payments lane. That might be about to move comes as the government has made it clear that UPI will stay free for merchants. Rival PhonePe has already launched a co-branded card. Despite tight regulations on such partnerships, the branding upside is significant for both Google and Axis and devotional platforms like AppsForBharat, Utsav and Bhagva, along with astrology startup Vaya, are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to sharpen their offerings. From real-time chant translation and priest matching to astrological predictions based on planetary movements and birth charts, AI is fast becoming central to their product goal is to deepen user engagement and elevate the virtual spiritual experience. Jagriti Motwani, founder of Bhagva, said the platform now uses AI to pair devotees with pandits based on the occasion, type of puja, and specific spiritual isn't just about tech for tech's sake. While puja bookings and related ecommerce still drive core revenue, founders say AI-led content and tools are helping hook and retain users. At Utsav, cofounder Ankita De noted that nearly 50-60% of new users come in through content-led are taking notice. Earlier this month, AppsForBharat raised Rs 175 crore in a round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital. Bhagva brought in Rs 8.6 crore in April, while Utsav secured Rs 6.35 crore from Equanimity Investments back in Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@ to explore sponsorship Aggarwal, CEO, Ola ElectricElectric two-wheeler manufacturer Ola Electric's operating revenue nearly halved in the June quarter to Rs 828 crore, as vehicle sales declined amid increasing competition in the EV sector. Once the clear category leader, the company is now struggling to keep Bhavish Aggarwal said that the company is pivoting from aggressive expansion to profitability and operational stability. The industry, he added, is past its hyper-growth stage and entering a phase of Electric stock jumped 18.3% to close at Rs 47.1 on the BSE on Monday. Despite the revenue slump, investor sentiment was buoyed by operational improvements and cost a small win for TCS employees amid the broader uncertainty around pay hikes. The IT major has announced 100% variable pay for over 70% of its workforce for the April-June up to the C2 grade received their full quarterly bonus, according to chief HR officer Milind Lakkad. Those above C2 were paid based on the performance of their business internal grade ladder starts with trainees at Y level, moves up to C1 for systems engineers, followed by C2, C3 (A&B), C4, C5, and then the CXO no clarity yet on annual salary hikes. CFO Samir Seksaria said post-results that wage increases remain a ' priority ', though weak macro conditions continue to weigh on revenue slipped 3.1% year-on-year to Rs 63,437 crore in Q1, even as net profit rose 5.9% to Rs 12,760 crore.C Vijayakumar, CEO, HCLTechHCLTech, India's third-largest IT company, clocked a 9.7% year-on-year decline in quarterly net profit on the back of higher costs and the one-time impact of a client's CountAbhishek Poddar and Saurabh Arora, cofounders, PlumInsurtech company Plum has committed Rs 200 crore towards expanding its healthcare vertical, marking a push beyond group insurance into preventive and digital healthcare an AI research startup, has secured $2.6 million in seed funding from venture capital firm Together Fund, established by Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham and Eka Software founder Manav analytics firm Fractal Analytics has raised $170 million (about Rs 1,461 crore), valuing the company at $2.44 billion (Rs 20,978 crore). The public markets-bound firm made a secondary sale of 6% equity by its long-time investor Apax Partners.■ AI 'Nudify' websites are raking in millions of dollars ( Wired ■ Meta trial becomes test of board culpability over corporate scandals ( FT ■ TikTok's messy merger in Indonesia could be a preview of what's to come in the US ( Rest of World
Time of India
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
Ola Electric's reset; Copper chaos could hit home
Ola Electric's reset; Copper chaos could hit home Also in the letter: Ola Electric poor Q1 show prefaces profitability push, share rally By the numbers: Net loss: widened 23.3% YoY to Rs 428 crore (vs Rs 347 crore) widened 23.3% YoY to Rs 428 crore (vs Rs 347 crore) Vehicle sales: dropped to 68,192 units (vs 1.25 lakh last year) dropped to 68,192 units (vs 1.25 lakh last year) Gross margin: improved to 25.6% (vs 18.4% YoY) improved to 25.6% (vs 18.4% YoY) Total expenses: dropped 42.4% YoY to Rs 1,065 crore Profit focus: Supply chain strategy: Shares in focus: Market view: Also Read: US copper tariff may impact Indian electronics, chip plans Driving the news: Also Read: Indirect hit: Fallout: 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: IT recruiters head to small towns of Bharat Numberwise: Tier-II and Tier-III cities saw a surge of more than 50% increase in IT hiring from January to June, according to Teamlease. In contrast, Tier-I cities, which include Bengaluru and the National Capital Region, posted 12–15% growth. Cities like Coimbatore, Nagpur and Nasik are clocking 20–25% annual growth, Indore and Jaipur are racing ahead at 30–40%. Supporting roles are also rising faster in smaller cities, growing 24–31% in tier-II and -III cities, versus 8–15% in metros. But why? Improved digital infrastructure, friendly government policies, and the rise of remote (and hybrid) work have helped level the playing field. Add to that the fierce startup competition in big cities, and companies are now tapping straight from local colleges. The result? Operational costs are nearly 30% lower. Tesla shareholders can invest in sister concern xAI Tell me more: War chest: Synergies: Bitcoin crosses $120,000 to record high What's fuelling the rally? Tell me more: Ripple effect: Ola Electric changed strategy after its revenue halved and profit slumped by almost a quarter in Q1 FY26. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5.■ New IT hiring hubs■ Tesla eyes xAI stake■Bitcoin shines brightBhavish Aggarwal, founder, Ola ElectricElectric two-wheeler manufacturer Ola Electric's operating revenue nearly halved in the June quarter to Rs 828 crore , as vehicle sales declined amid increasing competition in the EV sector. Once the clear category leader, the company is now struggling to keep Bhavish Aggarwal said that the company is pivoting from aggressive expansion to profitability and operational stability. The industry, he added, is past its hyper-growth stage and entering a phase of Electric flagged rare earth magnet supply as a long-term concern for automakers. It's working on a two-pronged approach – sourcing from alternative suppliers and launching a rare-earth free motor, expected to reach customers next quarter. The company has also begun in-house battery cell production, with deliveries scheduled for Electric stock jumped 18.3% to close at Rs 47.1 on the BSE on FY26, the company expects to sell 3.25–3.75 lakh vehicles and clock Rs 4,200–Rs 4,700 crore in revenue. It currently trails TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto in market share, according to Vahan data A 50% tariff on US copper imports has sent shockwaves through India's electronics and chipmaking ambitions. While US President Donald Trump may be playing to a domestic gallery, the ripple effects could unsettle global supply chains, and India risks getting caught in the crossfire India relies heavily on imported high-purity copper. Industry leaders say that's a vulnerability. Their remedy: Build local capacity to produce high-grade copper alloys and materials vital to the electronics and semiconductor value present, Indian producers—Hindustan Copper, Sterlite, and Hindalco—do not manufacture semiconductor-grade copper at scale. The few global producers that do—and offer competitive prices—are based in China, which is squarely in the firing line of Trump's tariff sits at the heart of manufacturing. It's essential for printed circuit boards (PCBs), capacitors, resistors, connectors, relays, and the wiring used in semiconductor packaging and input costs and global supply snarls could derail India's cost-sensitive semiconductor projects, warned India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) head Ashok semiconductor and electronics manufacturing ecosystems are still finding their feet. Disruptions now could scare off investors and put a break on growth, just as momentum was Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@ to explore sponsorship smaller cities are fast catching up with established tech hubs as magnets for IT and software development talent. Staffing firms report a clear shift in hiring trends over the first half of Musk, CEO, TeslaIf it were solely up to him, Tesla would have invested in xAI already, said Elon Musk, who owns both companies. But in true 2025 fashion, a casual post on X has snowballed into something bigger. After a user floated the idea online, Musk said he'll now put the question to Tesla shareholders 'It's not up to me,' he wrote. 'If it was up to me, Tesla would have invested in xAI long ago.'That backing could help xAI take on the heavyweights – Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI in the AI arms race. Musk is reportedly chasing a $170-200 billion valuation for xAI, with SpaceX expected to chip in $2 billion of a planned $5 billion fundraise, per the Wall Street says xAI is burning through over a billion dollars a month as it races to develop newer models, spending far more than it insists this won't lead to a merger , but says he wants more overlap between xAI and his other ventures, especially Tesla and has smashed through the $120,000 barrier for the first time, touching a new all-time high of $122,571.19 on is building ahead of a crucial debate in the US House of Representatives, where lawmakers are set to discuss a package of bills that could finally bring some regulatory clarity to the crypto space. The industry sees this as a potential tipping is now up nearly 29% this year, helped in no small part by US President Donald Trump's vocal backing for crypto. Unlike his predecessor, the Biden administration's somewhat cautious stance, Trump has embraced digital assets, declaring in March that he'd make the US 'the Crypto Capital of the World.'The broader market is on the move as well. The total crypto market has surged to around $3.78 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, hit a five-month high of $3,059.60. XRP and Solana gained roughly 3% fresh milestone comes just days after Bitcoin's previous record of $116,781
