India’s startup and business ecosystem on 16th September 2025 was abuzz with significant developments across healthtech, fintech, consumer electronics, and enterprise IT. From PharmEasy’s INR 1,700 crore debt raise to Nothing’s $200 million Series C, and Mukesh Ambani’s plans to take Reliance Retail public, the day highlighted both large-scale corporate moves and early-stage innovations shaping the future of Indian and global markets.
Daily Indian Funding Roundup – 16th September 2025
Company
Amount
Round
Lead investor(s)
Sector
PharmEasy
INR 1,700 crore
Debt funding
360 One, with participation from Alkram Ventures, MVS Ventures, Bennett Coleman, and others
Healthtech / Pharmacies & Diagnostics
Genovation Technological Solutions
$150,000
Pre-seed
Six individual investors + one foreign institutional investor
Deeptech / AI (privacy-first)
uKnowva
$0.5 million
Pre-Series A
Co-led by Parv Network, Growth91, and Aapna Infotech
HR Tech / Human Capital Management
Pelocal
$5 million
Series A
UNLEASH Capital Partners and Unicorn India Ventures, plus angel investors
Fintech / Payments Orchestration
Amaani
$3 million
Seed
Peak XV’s Surge
Consumer / Beauty & Wellness
BeyondSquare Solutions
$4 million
Series A
Avant Global Corporation
Enterprise IT / Financial Reporting / Compliance
Nothing
$200 million
Series C
Tiger Global, with participation from GV, Highland Europe, EQT, Latitude, I2BF, Tapestry, Nikhil Kamath, Qualcomm Ventures
Consumer Electronics / Hardware & AI Devices
MarqVision
$48 million
Series B
Peak XV Partners, Salesforce Ventures, Coral Capital, HSG, Michael Seibel, YC, others
AI / Brand Protection / IP & Counterfeits Monitoring
Scalekit
$5.5 million
Seed
Together Fund, Z47; angel investors: Adam Frankl, Oliver Jay, Jagadeesh Kunda
SaaS / AI Infrastructure
PharmEasy raises fresh debt to clear Goldman Sachs loan after 90% valuation cut
Healthtech unicorn PharmEasy has raised INR 1,700 crore in debt funding led by 360 One, with participation from Alkram Ventures, MVS Ventures, Bennett Coleman, and others. The funds will be used to repay its Goldman Sachs loan. The move comes after a valuation cut of about 90%, reflecting both financial strain and efforts to restructure its obligations.
Genovation Solutions raises $150K in pre-seed round
Deeptech startup Genovation Technological Solutions, which builds privacy-first AI systems, has raised $150,000 in a pre-seed round at a $6 million valuation, with participation from six individual investors and one foreign institutional investor. The funding will go into accelerating product development, scaling R&D, and expanding market presence.
uKnowva raises $0.5 Mn in pre-Series A round
HR tech / human capital management platform uKnowva has secured $0.5 million in a pre-Series A round co-led by Parv Network, Growth91, and Aapna Infotech. The proceeds will be directed toward bolstering its sales & marketing, geographic expansion via its partner network, and enhancing its AI-led roadmap.
Fintech startup Pelocal secures $5 Mn in Series A funding
Pelocal, a fintech company offering an AI-powered payments orchestration platform (notably integrating conversational/WhatsApp-based workflows), raised US$5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by UNLEASH Capital Partners and Unicorn India Ventures, with angel investor participation. The funds will help accelerate product development, expand use cases, and boost go-to-market efforts.
Amaani raises $3 Mn from Peak XV’s Surge
Consumer company Amaani, reimagining beauty & wellness from the Middle East, raised $3 million in seed funding from Peak XV’s Surge — the fund’s first consumer-seed investment in the MENA region. The funds will be used to scale its debut brand AÏZA, launch new global consumer beauty brands built around Arab heritage infused with global innovation.
BeyondSquare raises $4 Mn in Series A led by Avant Global
Enterprise IT product company BeyondSquare Solutions raised $4 million in a Series A funding round led by Avant Global Corporation. The investment will be used to strengthen FinAlyzer (its financial reporting, consolidation & compliance product), enhance automation and compliance intelligence, and scale to serve enterprises globally.
Nothing raises $200M from Tiger Global, Nikhil Kamath, others at $1.3B valuation
UK-based smartphone / consumer electronics startup Nothing has secured US$200 million in a Series C round led by Tiger Global, with participation from existing backers (GV, Highland Europe, EQT, Latitude, I2BF, Tapestry) plus new investors including Nikhil Kamath and Qualcomm Ventures. The funding comes at a US$1.3 billion valuation. Nothing will use the capital to expand into AI-driven devices, hardware-software integrated experiences, scaling up its product lines beyond smartphones.
MarqVision gets $48M in Series B led by Peak XV
LA-based AI startup MarqVision, which offers a managed service platform to detect, monitor, and remove counterfeits, impersonations, piracy across ecommerce, marketplaces and social media, has raised $48 million in a Series B round led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Coral Capital, HSG, Michael Seibel, and others. The funds are to be used to drive global expansion, product innovation, and reinforce its AI brand protection services.
Scalekit raises $5.5M in seed round led by Together Fund and Z47
SaaS startup Scalekit, building modular, drop-in infrastructure for SaaS and AI-first teams, raised $5.5 million in a seed round led by Together Fund and Z47, with participation from angel investors Adam Frankl, Oliver Jay, and Jagadeesh Kunda. The funds will be used to accelerate product development, expand its SaaS infrastructure offerings, and scale operations globally.
Key Business News for 16th September 2025
Mukesh Ambani plans Reliance Retail IPO
Mukesh Ambani is preparing to list Reliance Retail in an IPO that may value the company at around $200 billion. To aid that, Reliance has demerged its FMCG arm (Reliance Consumer Products) into a separate subsidiary and is rationalizing its store network (including closing under-performing outlets) to boost margins. The move also aims to provide exit opportunities for major investors like GIC, ADIA, Qatar Investment Authority, KKR, TPG, and Silver Lake.
CRED and IndusInd Bank launch 18-Carat Gold Credit Card for Premium Users
Fintech company CRED, in partnership with IndusInd Bank, has unveiled Sovereign — an 18-karat gold-plated, invite-only RuPay credit card with guilloché engraving, targeting premium users. The card offers rewards such as 5% on online purchases and 1% on offline/UPI spends via CRED Scan and Pay; zero joining fees; two-minute digital onboarding; and access across CRED’s ecosystem including merchants, flights, hotels, etc.
Fiverr (a popular online marketplace for freelancers worldwide) is in the news for laying off 30% of its workforce in the wake of AI (what they call restructuring to an AI-first company). The company announced the news on September 15, 2025, and about 250 of its employees were let go. The CEO of Fiverr, Micha Kaufman, calls the move “Startup Mode.” What does it mean? Is the company restructuring from its roots? Does AI-first mean more layoffs to come, and all dependency on machines and fewer people than they are now? Learn more details below.
Why Fiverr Laid off 250 Employees?
According to Fiverr’s CEO, Micha Kaufman, Fiverr is rebuilding itself as an AI-first company. It means the company is building the core of its business around Artificial Intelligence (AI). What does it do?
It’s just as other companies are restructuring themselves. More lean, faster, and more productive teams only.
Fiverr is planning to have fewer managers and layers of staff and more AI tools to drive as many functions of the company as possible.
Market Comparison
Salesforce had a similar approach. The company cut out all the automated jobs, like customer support and logistics, and invested heavily in AI systems and machine learning.
Similarly, Fiverr has already automated some of its processes, like ordering, payments, and delivery. It also clarified that the amount saved from the layoffs will be reinvested in the business (AI upgrades).
As it’s a self-service platform, it doesn’t need much staff in the first place, and the layoffs won’t affect Fiverr’s operations or users.
Micha Kaufman’s letter to shareholders
Micha Kaufman Take On AI
Back in May, in an internal email, Micha Kaufman said, “AI is coming for your jobs. Heck, it’s coming for my job too.”
He cautioned the employees, saying that, “Unless you become an exceptional talent — a master — you will face the need for a career change in a matter of months.”
During the layoff heat, he sent a letter to employees saying, “We are launching a transformation for Fiverr, to turn Fiverr into an AI-first company that’s leaner, faster, with a modern AI-focused tech infrastructure, a smaller team, each with substantially greater productivity, and far fewer management layers.”
Final Thoughts…
Micha Kaufman was clear with his standpoints and openly stated how AI is coming for his job, too. The layoffs in Fiverr’s case are not a sudden or drastic one. The cautions were all there months prior.
Revolutionizing debt collection in business firms has been brought down into new horizons by various AI tools that make it easier for business firms to lift overdue accounts. They show forthcoming behaviors in payment by machine learning with automated reminders while customizing lines for respective clients, resulting to be lower manual work and engagement with agents for more complicated cases. Natural language processing would also help the systems understand the nuances of how things are stated-the tone and intent-thus making these efforts seemingly more human and esteemed. These tools will also take care of compliance, so that every outreach will also comply with the legal standards.
Warehouse operations: dock scheduling, driver check-in, gate management, YMS/WMS workflows.
Conduit – Top AI Tools for Debt Collection
Conduit is an AI tool for debt collections in 2025, integrating conversational AI across channels-SMS, WhatsApp, email, chat, and voice- with an end-to-end automated workflow that makes everything related to collections painless. The platform offers native integration to major CRMs and loan management systems, thus providing deep customer insight and personalized engagement. It delivers a unified inbox and intelligent agentic workflows that facilitate communication, enhance regulatory compliance, and improve recovery rates by providing quick and personalized repayment solutions to customers. This approach results in highly productive and cheap operations for the businesses while fostering a respectful and caring customer experience, thus revolutionizing debt recovery in the digital age.
Pros
Deep workflow automations for complex business processes
Seamless integration with CRM and loan management
Regulatory compliance and automated reminders
Cons
The brand is still growing in recognition
May take time to onboard due to complex legacy system integration.
Pricing
Conduit offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.
TrueAccord boasts of having an AI-driven HeartBeat engine, which personalizes the timing, channel, and message for every account. This makes it stand out among digital debt collection platforms. The solution is self-learning from consumer response and makes it easy for the public to manage debts via self-serve portals, wherein 96% of payoffs occur without being initiated by a human. TrueAccord has its always-on bots designed to handle massive accounts at once while making everything compliant to the law and across channels like email, SMS, and mobile. It’s a platform that has a respectful and hassle-free way of debt collection, thus improving customer experience and business outputs without compromising all legal standards.
Pros
Unique AI is providing personalized engagement for every debtor.
24/7 robotic process automation ensures timely action.
Self-service debtor portal for fast and smooth payments.
Cons
Requires a level of digital literacy,
AI may not incorporate some complicated financial issues.
Pricing
TrueAccord offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.
Enterprises and finance teams needing AI-powered automation for order-to-cash, treasury, receivables, and record-to-report processes.
HighRadius – Top AI Tools for Debt Collection
HighRadius has equipped over 15 AI agents for debt collection, while it minimizes past dues by 20% and empowers collectors with doubled output. Its platform fully automates the organization of calls, emails, reminders, account priority, and real-time payment data so that agents can be freed to tackle complex cases. With integrated dashboards, deep analytics, and self-service payment options, teams always have a clear view of cash flow and what it’s up against. HighRadius connects with CRM and ERP systems for a frictionless process, creating at-a-glance decision-making with instant data. It is trusted by global brands. Its system sharpens focus, automates, and engages smarter in every step of the collection journey.
Pros
Real-time dashboard and analytics to optimize the workflow.
Interoperates with key enterprise systems.
20% reduction in overdue accounts.
Cons
Complicated customization may increase onboarding time
Access to full features often requires advanced training and integration.
Pricing
HighRadius offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.
Debtrak
Website
debtrak.com
Rating
3.9
Free Trial
Yes
Best For
Organisations needing automated debt-collection workflows, compliance, dashboards & communication tools.
Debtrak – Top AI Tools for Debt Collection
In addition to providing enterprise debt collection software with more than 1,500 configurable features, Debtrak automates every aspect, including invoicing and payment, reminders, and reporting. Debtrak is designed for scalability and blends into core finance, CRM, and dialer systems for 360-degree account visibility, etc., to create dynamic dashboards for real-time decision-making. In addition, Debtrak allows multi-channel communication, access to personalized engagement, and compliance with the ISO 27001 and all global rules. With near-zero implementation time and high customization, organizations can offer rich analytical features, enhancing cash flows, increasing recoveries, and taking the load off their teams, effectively rendering debt collection processes smarter, faster, and far more transparent for staff and clients alike.
Pros
1,500+ customizable features available for complex automation.
Scalable for organizations of any size.
Directly integrates with dialers, payment, and reporting systems.
Cons
The feature-rich platform may require additional onboarding or customization.
May be excessive for a small team
Pricing
Debtrak offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.
Tesorio
Website
tesorio.com
Rating
4.9
Free Trial
No
Best For
Finance teams & CFOs who want AI-driven cash flow forecasting, AR/AP automation, and reducing Days Sales Outstanding (DSO).
Tesorio – Top AI Tools for Debt Collection
Tesorio uses AI to automate collections with foresight, allowing teams to predict cash flows, identify risks, and send targeted, across-channel reminders. The system integrates with ERPs and consolidates workflows, so late payments are turned into visibility and action. Users can configure campaigns with self-serve payment links that show real-time analytics to decrease DSO and bad debt. Thus, finance professionals may exercise greater control and focus for collections to be maximally productive while nurturing good relationships. By automating routine tasks and surfacing accounts that will cause problems before they do, Tesorio helps customers realize cash, putting working capital back into play while avoiding unpleasant financial surprises-clear and fast.
Pros
Predictive analytics highlight at-risk accounts before there’s a significant issue.
Seamless cash flow management through integrated ERP.
Self-service payment links for a positive customer experience.
Cons
Heavily enterprise-focused
Learning curve for advanced features
Pricing
Tesorio offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.
Businesses needing AI-powered accounts receivables automation, digital collections & dunning with cost-reduction and customer retention focus.
CollectAI – Top AI Tools for Debt Collection
CollectAI becomes a first-of-its-kind digital communication world that transforms debt collection by using artificial intelligence. It affects personalization of payment reminders, automates dunning flows, and provides a seamless high engagement through email, SMS, and beyond. It’s expecting the greatest strength stimulation of machine learning in its cloud-based platform, analyzing customer response patterns and, on that basis, optimizing when and how to get in contact with people. Other features include self-service payment links and interactive dashboards to improve user experience and recovery rates, as well as legal compliance in all outreach activities. CollectAI’s seamless integration with any kind of ERP or CRM reduces manual work and enables teams to have full control of their overall debt portfolio.
Pros
Dynamic and AI-powered multi-channel engagement
Dashboards and notifications on time for continual improvement
Flawless integration with any well-established financial system
Cons
Not suitable for those companies that seek on-premises
No trial offer for implementation
Pricing
CollectAI offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.
InDebted
Website
indebted.co
Rating
4
Free Trial
—
Best For
Businesses seeking tech-enabled, fair debt-collection processes with emphasis on compliance, transparency, and customer respect.
InDebted – Top AI Tools for Debt Collection
InDebted is all about changing the debt collection landscape with an AI-automated, cloud-native platform built for global reach and empathizing with debtors. It examines billions of data points to determine how best to reach out to consumers with multichannel and multilingual messaging at just the right time and in just the right tone for that individual. Their workflows allow for flexible repayment options and self-service with strict compliance controls so that the company gets paid rapidly while maintaining high customer satisfaction. That system thereby automates the mundane tasks, predicts payment probability, and presents actionable analytics, thereby empowering teams to create an efficient collection process while still engendering customer goodwill.
Pros
An empathy-first approach and flexible payment plan enhance satisfaction
User-friendly portals enable self-service for hassle-free payment
Excellent in compliance, privacy, and enterprise scale
Cons
Enterprise pricing may be higher than basic localized solutions
Full benefits are available only to large or fast-growing portfolios
Pricing
InDebted offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.
Businesses needing B2B debt recovery with legal escalation, public debt listing, and contract enforcement.
Accountgram – Top AI Tools for Debt Collection
Accountgram comes with features powered by artificial intelligence to enable the automation of financial workflows, reminders, and analytics that assist businesses in recovering accounts more quickly. Combining easy integration with finance systems, personalized follow-ups, and predictive models that forecast payment behavior allows its platform to maximize collection productivity. A digital dashboard provides productivity support through the tracking of all collection steps and results, while smart messaging adjusts to each debtor’s response for maximum engagement. The strong security and compliance tools empower businesses to scale with confidence, lower operational costs, and reach out to debtors respectfully based on solid data for enhanced relationship management.
Pros
Predictive payment forecasting with personalized reminders
Secure integrations with major finance platforms
Intuitive dashboards for quick and informed decisions
Cons
Limited public documentation regarding advanced AI capabilities
Custom setup may be required for some verticals
Pricing
Accountgram offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.
Esker is the enterprise-grade AI-powered platform that is revolutionizing debt collection and order-to-cash processes. Its central task is consolidating customer and credit data, automating the intricacies of invoicing, reminders, and blocked order management, and adding predictive analytics to the mix to prioritize at-risk accounts and speed cash recovery. Real-time dashboards and alerts, integration with ERPs and credit bureaus, and omnichannel engagement for customized customer outreach are all facilitated by Esker Synergy AIs. By integrating credit management with collections, Esker optimizes the efficiency and satisfaction of both processes while bringing benefits like reduced DSO, fewer write-offs, and compliance to organizations—making the whole financial process very seamless and transparent.
Pros
Risk analysis and credit monitoring on a real-time basis
Centralized dashboards and full ERP integrations
Provides a unique combination of credit management and collections
Cons
Not suitable for small businesses
Depending on the enhanced AI and customization might require onboarding and training
Pricing
Esker offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.
Gaviti is pushing the boundaries of AI technology to change the way businesses conduct debt collections by creating an accounts receivable platform that automates sending reminders, forecasts delayed payments, and customizes engagement for every customer. Its real-time analytics dashboard integrates with multiple ERPs, pointing to high-risk accounts, reduced days sales outstanding (DSO), and improved cash flow. Through Gaviti’s customer portal, self-service payment options, dispute management, and instant access to invoices are offered. The automated activities alleviate manual work for finance teams, reduce labor costs, and facilitate proactive data-driven decision-making. Targeting mid-market and enterprise companies, Gaviti enhances rapid payments and reduces bad debt, enabling a rapid return on investment within a single cloud solution
Pros
Reduces days sales outstanding by 30% and decreases late invoices by 50%
Portal for customer self-service and dispute management
Business needs- adaptable and customizable workflows
Cons
Annual custom pricing goes through the Vendor only
Advanced features need to be set up and trained before seeing the optimum results.
Pricing
Gaviti offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.
Conclusion
AI has transformed every facet of recovering overdue payments: debt collection has become “smarter,” faster, and more humane. AI tools now translate complex data into straightforward actions, such as automating reminders for tailoring outreach on accounts and instant insights that help improve decision quality by teams. The result is a leap in efficiency, improved recovery rates, as well as customers obtain personalized, respectful, and dignified communication at every point of the journey. Costs decrease as manual effort gradually dwindles, and compliance becomes easier to manage through built-in legal safeguards. Companies stash enormous amounts of cash by employing these mechanisms, develop trust, and keep their focus in-house on what really matters.
How do AI debt collection tools improve recovery rates for businesses?
By analyzing payment behavior and predicting risks, AI platforms send reminders at the right time, on the right channel, and with personalized messaging.
This article has been contributed byAsma Shaikh – Co-founder & MD, Enthral.ai
For enterprises today, the real challenge with workforce capability building is not simply that skills are becoming outdated; it is that employees are often not role-ready when they are needed. On average workers can expect 39% of their skills to be transformed or outdated between 2025 and 2030. The skills that empowered employees for yesterday’s success may not ensure tomorrow’s success. This makes it critical for L&D leaders to anticipate future capability needs and pushes L&D leaders to evolve from support to strategic growth drivers in fast-scale enterprises and startups.
For example, a sales hire may complete onboarding but still take months before they can confidently close deals, or a newly promoted manager who has completed leadership training yet struggles to prepare for performance conversations. A compliance officer may pass an e-learning module yet struggle to apply regulations for daily operations. These are not just learning gaps; they are role readiness gaps.
The business consequences of these readiness gaps are significant. In a recent McKinsey Learning Trends Perspective 2025, 39% of skill sets are expected to become outdated by 2030, yet 61% of organizations only plan their workforce strategy one year out. Organizations thus face productivity loss when employees take longer than expected to ramp up. Revenue is delayed when customer-facing teams are unable to operate at full capacity, and increased compliance and operational risks arise when employees understand the policy but do not effectively apply it in practice. For L&D leaders, the mandate is shifting from delivering skills to ensuring role readiness, where learning directly translates into performance and outcomes.
Agentic AI: Powering role readiness and results
For L&D leaders the challenge is no more about just delivering skills but about ensuring employees are role-ready and able to perform effectively in their jobs. Traditional skilling models often fail to deliver real-world impact. One-size-fits-all approach lacks context and engagement, even though the 70-20-10 model shows that the majority of learning occurs through on the job experience. Modern workforces prefer blended, interactive methods, and static e-learning cannot keep up with their pace. This is where Agentic AI solves the problem by mapping role requirements to individual capabilities and skill gaps, and guiding learners through context-specific learning paths. The process enables L&D leaders to achieve their goal of moving from measuring learning progress to delivering actual business results. According to Gartner, by 2028, more than 20% of digital workplace applications will use AI-driven personalization algorithms to generate adaptive experiences for the worker. Agentic AI enables employees to reach role readiness through ongoing real-time skill assessments and personalized learning paths, which combine microlearning content with AI coaches, gamified modules, and real-time simulations.
The effect is impactful, and it goes beyond just completing training. Role readiness functions as an important factor that determines whether L&D leaders’ initiatives will transform into improved performance outcomes. Agentic AI makes role readiness possible at scale because learners do not just learn; they practice realistic scenarios perfectly and receive real-time data and actionable feedback that helps them develop immediate work readiness. The system produces faster employee onboarding, improved work accuracy, and better overall performance across positions, which traditional training methods fail to achieve.
Agentic AI systems generate learning progress data and employee role competencies and readiness results, which help organizations understand their workforce better. The system allows L&D leaders to track training completion status but also shows which employees have acquired the necessary skills for their job functions. It maps role capabilities and role readiness outcomes.
In simple words, with AI Agents, L&D leaders no longer need to manually design complex training journeys but can just instantly and intelligently skill. By easily defining the role, whether it is a sales advisor or marketing strategist, the system auto-generates a tailored, performance-focused learning path to drive readiness and outcomes. This learning journey is built around the show me, try me, test me approach, where learners first undergo role-specific training, then are given the opportunity to practice through AI-powered coaching and simulations, and finally are tested through assessments, ensuring employees are not just trained but truly role-ready before they face real-world situations. This cycle makes readiness measurable, repeatable, and directly tied to real-world performance.
Agentic AI’s greatest contribution lies in its ability to drive role readiness at scale. Thousands of employees across the globe can now follow personalized learning journeys that adapt dynamically as the role emerges or business priorities change. The focus is not just on completing courses but also on ensuring each employee acquires the skills and knowledge needed to perform their role effectively from the start.
Agentic AI exists to support learners in creating role readiness at an accelerated pace. The global workforce now accesses customized learning pathways, which adjust automatically when new roles appear or business goals change. The focus is not just on completing courses but also on ensuring each employee acquires the skills and knowledge that will help them succeed in future work roles.
Content is delivered in ways that fit specific job roles and includes useful information through various methods like e-learning, live classes, hands-on practice, and simulations, ensuring each learner gets ready in the way they learn best. The training approach provides customized learning experiences that not only develop employee assurance but also reduce mistakes and shorten the time it takes for employees to reach full productivity.
Despite the rise of AI features in LMS (Learning Management Systems) and LXP (Learning Experience Platforms), many L&D teams remain tied up with repetitive tasks, including course authoring, reminders, assessment tracking, and reporting. Agentic AI eliminates this bottleneck by automating end-to-end processes, from onboarding journeys and adaptive content creation to gamified nudges, real-time analytics dashboards, and offline-compatible delivery.
Instead of manually piecing together programs, HR and L&D leaders can delegate to intelligent agents that generate new materials, manage administration, and deliver just-in-time learning support across devices. This frees teams to focus on strategic enablement rather than logistics, while learners benefit from an engaging, accessible experience that is available on any device and always accessible.
Parting Thoughts
The implementation of Agentic AI establishes a learning system that goes beyond basic assistance to become a strategic tool for developing professional readiness. The system delivers personalized training through multiple learning approaches, which use data analytics to prepare employees for their work responsibilities at the exact moment they need them. Agentic AI stands out from standard AI systems because it tracks skill gaps and role readiness results and provides practical recommendations that connect learning activities directly to business goals and real-world performance expectations.
The outcome is measurable, scalable, and strategically impactful, building a workforce that is not only equipped for today but also prepared for improvements in productivity and revenue growth and compliance achievement.
According to reports, the government is eager to introduce satellite communication (satcom) services by January 2026. The Digital Communication Commission (DCC, formerly known as the telecom commission), the highest decision-making body of the telecom department (DoT), is scheduled to meet shortly to discuss the country’s satcom rollout, according to sources cited by The Hindu Businessline.
According to a senior government official, the administration hopes to roll out services (satcom) in December or January since that is when the final spectrum pricing decision will be made. According to reports, the DCC, which is chaired by the telecom secretary, was supposed to make a decision by July of this year regarding the pricing and distribution of satcom spectrum.
The conference was postponed, though, and a new date is currently being decided. In addition to establishing rules and licences for satellite earth station gateways, which link satellite networks with terrestrial ones, the DCC will lay out the pertinent policies for satcom services.
Commenting on the move, Amit Mahajan, Director, Paras Defence & Space Technologies stated, “The Government’s plan to launch Satellite Communication (Satcom) services in India by January 2026 marks a defining moment in our digital and industrial future. Reliable, secure, and high-capacity Satcom will not only transform connectivity in remote and underserved regions but also reshape how enterprises operate across sectors such as logistics, energy, financial services, and manufacturing. For industries advancing towards automation, Industry 4.0, and real-time data exchange, communication infrastructure forms the backbone. Satcom has the potential to bridge gaps where terrestrial networks cannot reach—enabling resilient supply chains, smarter mobility, and more efficient governance systems.”
New Satcom Rules Yet to be Finalised
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) suggested in May that satcom operators be given administrative spectrum assignments for a duration of five years, with the possibility of an additional two-year extension, even though satcom regulations have not yet been approved.
With a minimum yearly spectrum fee of INR 3,500 per MHz, TRAI also recommended pricing the spectrum at 4% of the operators’ adjusted gross revenue (AGR). Government dues from telecom providers are calculated using a certain revenue computation called AGR. Additionally, the regulator proposed charging NGSO-based operators an extra INR 500 annually for each urban user. However, rural areas will not be subject to this fee.
TRAI further demanded that all permitted organisations sharing spectrum coordinate in good faith. It recommended that the Centre look into user terminal subsidies in underserved areas and establish a 30-day window for spectrum assignment following an operator’s in-principle clearance.
DoT Wants Satcom Tenure to be Less Than 5 Years
According to reports, the DoT wants the satcom spectrum tenure to be kept under five years in case a new technology emerges. Such controversial topics are anticipated to be discussed at the next DCC meeting. Some of the largest corporations, both local and foreign, are rushing to obtain satcom licences in the nation in the meanwhile.
Elon Musk’s Starlink, Jio-SES, and Eutelstat OneWeb, supported by Bharti Enterprises, have been given preliminary permissions to operate in the nation, while Amazon’s Project Kuiper and Apple partner Globalstar have applied for licences.
Quick
Shots
•The Digital Communication Commission
(DCC), chaired by the telecom secretary, to finalize spectrum pricing &
policy.
•Rollout expected in Dec 2025–Jan
2026, pending spectrum pricing decisions.
•DCC to decide on rules, licences, and
earth station gateway regulations for satcom connectivity.
•Administrative spectrum assignments
for 5 years (+2-year extension).
On September 15, the fintech company CRED, based in Bengaluru, announced Sovereign, an exclusive society for India’s elite, which includes a custom 18-karat gold credit card with guilloché engraving. The CRED-IndusInd Bank RuPay Credit Card was also introduced by the corporation.
With CRED Scan and Pay, this lifestyle-focused card delivers a 5% reward on all online purchases and a 1% reward on offline and UPI purchases. Credit cards may only be issued by banks in India, which is why IndusInd Bank and the fintech have partnered. In a standard co-branded card agreement, CRED will handle the sales and marketing.
Benefits of CRED’s New Credit Card
More than 500 CRED Pay merchants, 2,000 CRED Store products, flights (facilitated by the ixigo platform), and more than 8 lakh hotel reservations (facilitated by Expedia) may all be made with the card. Earned reward points are instantly applied at checkout and are worth one rupee each. The founder of CRED, Kunal Shah, stated before the launch that the card was created to fill a basic market need: the lack of reward flexibility.
The majority of other e-commerce and payment companies also use co-branded cards from companies like Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, PhonePe, and Paytm. “Work with this merchant, work with that merchant,” Shah stated during the press conference, indicating that all the cards were moving in that way. Customers, however, desire freedom.
This card is about rewards based on preference rather than conditions. He went on to say that flexibility is now essential due to the change in consumer behaviour. Shah went on to say that 60–65% of all card spending is already going online, compared to 25–30% only a few years ago. “Credible consumers of the new generation prefer to experiment with a variety of brands rather than being confined to a small number of imposed allegiances.”
CRED Attracting Affluent and Digital-First Consumers
The card has a two-minute digital onboarding process and no membership costs. The offering is positioned to appeal to India’s rapidly expanding market of wealthy, tech-savvy consumers, claims IndusInd Bank. Shah, a well-known angel investor, expressed optimism about the new products’ prospects, particularly those of the Sovereign Gold Card.
“Look closely since it’s likely that you won’t notice it. “Most people won’t understand it,” he stated. Cred, the sixth-largest UPI app, was first introduced as a platform for paying credit card bills. The business has evolved into a diversified payments fintech with a range of financial services capabilities.
Quick
Shots
•Issued as a CRED-IndusInd Bank RuPay
Credit Card, with CRED handling sales & marketing and IndusInd Bank
issuing.
•Access to 500+ CRED Pay merchants,
2,000+ CRED Store products, flights (via ixigo), and 8 lakh+ hotels (via
Expedia).
•Focus on reward flexibility vs. other
co-branded cards with restricted merchant tie-ups.
•The card is free to join, aimed at maximizing
adoption among aspirational users.
Tata Group is going through an internal disagreement and is making headlines. It is about the leadership that will steer the company after 2027. N. Chandrasekaran, Executive Chairman of Tata Sons, is in the spotlight as to whether he will continue to be the leader after his term ends (in 2027). Noel Tata, who is the Chairman of Tata Trusts (which owns 65.9% of Tata Sons), suggests that he not to. Interestingly, N. Chandrasekaran led the company towards success and played a pivotal role. Now, did the suggestion get approved? And what did the Trustees of Tata Trusts say? Learn more.
People Involved in the Decision for Tata Sons
N. Chandrasekaran
N. Chandrasekaran has been the Executive Chairman of Tata Sons (the main holding company of the Tata Group) since January 2017. His term is going to end in 2027, and so it became a topic of discussion at the Tata Group. Since he took the role, the company has done significantly better under his leadership. He has worked to:
Reduced debt by over ₹30,000 crore.
Tata Steel and Tata Motors are profitable now.
Led TCS to become one of the world’s leading IT services providers.
Encouraged investments in digital, aviation, semiconductors, etc.
Noel Tata
Noel Tata is the Chairman of Tata Trusts and owns 65.9% of Tata Sons (meaning the decisions of Tata Sons can be widely controlled by Tata Trusts). He took over the role last year after Ratan Tata passed away.
Noel Tata developed and expanded renowned fashion retail brands like Westside and Zudio. He also took Trent from small revenue numbers to making a whopping ₹12,000 crore by 2024.
Concerning the leadership at Tata Sons, Noel Tata does want N. Chandrasekaran to continue.
He would rather split the Chairman’s job into 3 separate roles:
CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
MD (Managing Director)
Deputy CEO
Suggested that Chandra stay as a non-executive chairman (more like an advisor or a guide to the company. And finally, a managing director from one of the Tata companies can become Group CEO.
The Trustees of Tata Trusts
It is a group of powerful people who guide Tata Sons since Tata Trusts is the majority owner. Its members are:
Venu Srinivasan (TVS Motor)
Vijay Singh (former defence secretary)
Jehangir H. C. Jehangir
Jimmy Tata
Mehli Mistry
Pramit Jhaveri (ex-Citi India CEO)
Darius Khambata (lawyer)
And they rejected Noel’s proposal and suggested that Chandra continue as the Chairman for another 5 years (third term). Even if he crosses the official retirement age of 65, because:
They all believe that N. Chandrasekaran’s leadership has been very successful.
Tata Sons has become profitable under him.
The projects he started need his guidance (like semiconductors, aviation, and energy storage).
Current Tata Sons Board Members Look Like
N. Chandrasekaran (Chairman)
Noel Tata (Tata Trusts nominee)
Venu Srinivasan (Tata Trusts nominee)
Saurabh Agrawal (Group CFO)
Harish Manwani (Independent Director)
Anita Marangoly George (Independent Director)
Notably, Tata Trusts can nominate up to one-third of the Tata Sons Board. However, the decision is not yet final, and importantly, Chandra has the trustees’ faith and backing.
This article has been contributed by Rahul Bansal, Founder of Dictation Daddy, AI powered Dictation tool that understands your intent.
The Breaking Point
The pain started in my arms last year, a dull ache that grew sharper with each keystroke. After spending nearly three years building products as an indie hacker, my body was sending me a clear message: the endless typing had to stop. What began as a personal health crisis would eventually transform into a product that doctors, lawyers, and professionals around the world now rely on daily.
The Search for a Solution
I tried everything: the built-in Mac dictation tool, various Chrome extensions, even the legendary Dragon Dictation. They all shared the same fundamental flaws. The accuracy was terrible, and sophisticated tools like Dragon came with hefty price tags and demanded hours of training. As someone dealing with arm pain, the last thing I wanted was to invest weeks teaching software to understand me.
Around this time, OpenAI released Whisper. Within days, I had cobbled together a basic Chrome extension that used Whisper for transcription. The results were remarkable. The accuracy was leagues better than anything I’d tried, and it required zero training.
Early Validation
I shared my crude prototype with a few friends. To my surprise, they started using it daily, integrating it into their workflows. Their excitement validated what I had suspected: this wasn’t just solving my problem.
Creating something people would actually want to use was challenging. Most people believe typing is simply faster than speaking. Convincing them to switch required more than just good transcription accuracy. The user experience had to be flawless. Any lag between speaking and seeing text would break the flow. I obsessed over milliseconds of latency, constantly asking myself: does this feel as natural as typing?
Beyond Basic Transcription
Transcription accuracy was just the foundation. Real human speech is messy. We stumble over words, repeat ourselves, pepper our sentences with filler words. A raw transcript of natural speech is often painful to read.
I built in intelligent processing that goes far beyond basic transcription. The tool automatically removes filler words, detects and eliminates repetitions, and cleans up false starts. Grammar fixing happens in real-time. The tool intelligently corrects grammar without losing your voice or intent. It knows when you’re dictating a casual email versus a formal report and adjusts accordingly. Formatting is handled automatically too, recognizing lists, paragraph breaks, and properly capitalizing sentences.
Finding Early Product-Market Fit
My philosophy has always been to ship early and validate with real payments. I started creating YouTube videos demonstrating the tool. These weren’t polished marketing videos; they were authentic glimpses into how the product actually worked.
Emails started arriving from Dubai, from various European countries. Professionals were discovering my tool, reporting specific issues, requesting features, and asking how they could pay for it. A doctor in Germany explained how he needed to dictate patient notes. A lawyer in London described spending hours writing case briefs.
I added a payment link and started seeing transactions come through. People weren’t just trying the tool; they were committing to it, many purchasing lifetime deals. This early traction pushed me to take the product seriously.
Evolution and Growth
The product evolved beyond a simple Chrome extension. I developed desktop and mobile applications. One of the most requested features was custom vocabulary support. Doctors needed medical terms recognized correctly, lawyers had specific legal jargon. The AI gradually learns each user’s speaking style, improving accuracy the more it’s used.
Today, the tool serves a diverse professional community. Doctors use it to quickly capture patient consultations. Lawyers draft briefs at the speed of thought. Business professionals have replaced much of their typing with speaking, from composing emails to interacting with AI language models through voice.
What makes professionals stick with the tool is the polished output. They can speak naturally, with all the hesitations of normal speech, and receive clean, professional text that’s ready to send or publish.
Lessons Learned
The journey taught me a fundamental lesson: solve problems you personally experience. When you’re your own primary user, every pain point is immediately obvious. The feedback loop is instantaneous. Building for some theoretical user persona means constantly guessing what they might want. Building for yourself means knowing exactly what needs to be fixed.
The Future of Dictation
The Evolution of Dictation
The next generation of dictation tools won’t just transcribe what we say. They’ll understand intent, suggest completions, and learn our communication patterns. Imagine speaking a rough idea and watching as AI helps shape it into polished prose in real-time. We’ll shift from being creators to editors, approving and guiding rather than crafting from scratch.
Future interfaces will blend dictation with intelligent suggestion so seamlessly that the boundary between human thought and machine assistance will blur. The system will understand context and anticipate what you’re trying to communicate before you’ve fully articulated it.
My typing injury forced me to find a better way to work, but it also revealed an opportunity to help thousands of others. What started as a personal need has grown into a tool that helps professionals worldwide work more efficiently and comfortably.
The pain in my arms is gone now, but I rarely touch my keyboard for anything beyond quick edits. Speaking my thoughts feels more natural, more fluid, more human. And judging by the growing community of users who’ve made the same switch, I’m not alone in feeling that the future of productivity isn’t in typing faster, but in not typing at all.
Due to a “client” funding crisis and difficulties in attaining the proper product-market fit (PMF), EV ride-hailing startup MyPickup has ceased operations. MyPickup’s founder, Abhijeet Jagtap, announced the news on LinkedIn. He said that during “non-peak times”, the startup was having trouble achieving PMF.
Jagtap founded MyPickup in 2022 to provide daily commuters with a subscription-based electric autorickshaw service. By removing the need to arrange rides every day, removing surge fees, and offering an environmentally friendly fleet, the firm claimed to be tackling the everyday commute problem. MyPickup was limited to providing services in Bengaluru at the time of its closure.
As a founder, Jagtap understated the time to PMF and capital needed to carry out such an idea, he wrote in the piece. In May of this year, the Inflection Point Ventures-backed business reported having 19 vehicles and facilitating about 4000 journeys.
From Creating EV Commuting Solutions to Downfall-Journey of MyPickup
An EV three-wheeler fleet was made available via MyPickup for daily shared commuting. Users could enter the time, place, and number of days they wanted to commute.
The app computed a weekly subscription charge using these details. In a week, users could reserve slots for a minimum of five rides and a maximum of ten rides. The startup provided shared rides with no cancellations. Additionally, the same driver was assigned for a single subscription cycle. Last year, MyPickup secured INR 1.5 Cr from Ideaschool, an accelerator at Inflection Point, to grow its business. MyPickup stated at the time of the fundraising that it will use the money to improve its scheduling algorithm, increase the number of EVs in its fleet, and create a special app for its drivers.
At the time, MyPickup claimed to have a monthly run rate of INR 1.5 Lakh and ran a fleet of 7 electric cars, serving 45 customers. In order to give users ride-booking choices, the firm first operated over WhatsApp before launching its own website. It continued to introduce new features throughout time in an effort to increase its clientele and improve user experience. MyPickup released its iOS and Android mobile apps for users after raising money from IPV.
Adding New Features-Still Not Enough to Increase Clientele For MyPickup
Jagtap said at the app’s debut that it would make cancelling and rescheduling easier for users. In order to provide a smooth client experience, the firm at the time also updated subscription costs and algorithms.
The startup intended to create safety features, including GPS monitoring, SOS systems, and webcams for parents who wanted to use MyPickup for school pickup and drop-off. In an effort to increase its clientele, it was also considering providing on-demand services via the ONDC platform. But according to Jagtap, none of this mattered. In his post, he claimed that “our four pivots also did not give the level of customer experience we wanted to create.”
Quick
Shots
•Struggled with achieving
product-market fit (PMF) and faced a client funding crisis.
•Abhijeet Jagtap Founder admitted
underestimating the time and capital required to scale the business.
•Offered subscription-based electric
autorickshaw services for daily commuters with fixed drivers per cycle.
•Raised INR 1.5 Cr from Ideaschool
(IPV accelerator) in 2023; reported 19 EVs and 4,000 trips by May 2025.
According to various media reports, Mukesh Ambani, who announced that Reliance Industries’ telecom division, Reliance Jio, would go public next year, is also working on listing Reliance Retail, which may be valued at around $200 billion.
With the demerger of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) division, Reliance Consumer Products, which will now be a direct subsidiary of Reliance Industries, the process of shrinking and simplifying Reliance Retail, the biggest retailer in the nation, has already begun.
According to sources, the FMCG demerger and the rationalisation of Reliance Retail’s store network—which includes eliminating underperforming locations—are being carried out to increase the company’s margins with the goal of obtaining a favourable valuation so that it can enter the market.
Providing a Healthy Exit Opportunity to Investors
Although it is still early, there are signs that a public offering is imminent, with Reliance Jio’s listing coming a year later in 2027. Investors like Singapore’s GIC, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the Qatar Investment Authority, KKR, TPG, Silver Lake, and others will have exit opportunities as a result of the listing.
Reliance Smart, Freshpik, Reliance Digital, JioMart, Reliance Trends, 7-Eleven, Reliance Jewels, and other formats will remain part of Reliance Retail following the split of Reliance Consumer. After receiving all necessary regulatory permissions, the demerger of Reliance Consumer is anticipated to be finished by the end of this month.
Financial Dynamics of Reliance Retail
Reliance Retail has been streamlining its shop network over the last few quarters by shutting down underperforming locations. Reaching a double-digit operating margin is the goal. Reliance Retail reported $2.9 billion in operating profit on $38.7 billion in revenue in FY25. In FY25, its EBITDA margin was 8.6%; in the June quarter, it increased slightly to 8.7%. According to sources, although the discussions are still in their early stages, there might even be a consolidation of the models.
Dunzo Write-off & Market Strategy
All of Reliance Retail’s investments in the now-defunct hyperlocal delivery business Dunzo have been formally wiped off. The conglomerate’s 78,923 equity shares of Dunzo, which were internally valued at INR 1,645 Cr in FY24, were worth nothing during the fiscal year under review, according to Reliance Industries Ltd.’s (RIL) FY25 annual report.
According to the report, the now-defunct business generated INR 1 Cr in operating revenue in FY25. This comes more than seven months after Reliance Retail, the biggest shareholder in the hyperlocal firm, wrote off its $200 million investment in it, according to various media reports.
Kabeer Biswas, the CEO and cofounder of Dunzo, left his position that same month to join Flipkart’s Minutes, a fast commerce startup.
Quick
Shots
•Mukesh Ambani eyes $200 billion IPO
valuation for Reliance Retail.
•Reliance Jio listing expected in
2027, Reliance Retail IPO likely before that.
•FMCG arm Reliance Consumer demerged
into a direct subsidiary of Reliance Industries.
•Retail rationalisation underway –
closing underperforming stores to improve margins.
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