Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (May 14, 2025)
YourStory presents daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Wednesday, May 14, 2025.
From Microsoft laying off over 6,000 employees to US tech giants striking major AI deals in the Middle East amid Trump’s tour, YourStory brings today’s headlines that highlight significant developments across industries. Here’s a roundup of key stories:
Featured news
This startup automates road surveys for repairs and upkeep
New Delhi-based RoadVision AI’s data-driven technology solution collects and processes satellite images and video footage to provide real-time insights on road defects, safety risks, repairs, improvements, and maintenance.
The platform obtains satellite imagery from UP42, a marketplace for earth observation data, to obtain a broad overview of road networks and flag sections that need attention.
It also uses a smartphone-based app mounted on vehicles to capture geotagged videos and data related to location, distance, and time, as part of road surveys. It obtains footage from dashcams, survey vehicles, and drones too.
How Flipkart charts fleet electrification within its supply chain
Walmart-backed Flipkart, in 2023, joined Climate Group’s global initiative to move to a 100% electric last-mile delivery fleet by 2030.
In an interview with YourStory, Nishant Gupta, Head of Sustainability, lays out Flipkart's blueprint for this transition. It had to set up charging stations for its vehicles, convince Wishmasters—Flipkart’s delivery partners—about the benefits of using an EV, and enable financing solutions for those partners who wished to transfer.
Latest news
US tech giants strike major AI deals in the Middle East amid Trump’s tour
Several major US technology companies have announced multi-billion-dollar artificial intelligence (AI) deals in the Middle East, with US President Donald Trump securing a whopping $600 billion in commitments from the region to American firms during his ongoing Gulf tour.
NVIDIA, AMD, and Qualcommare among the key firms forming major agreements, reports Reuters. One of the biggest deals involves chipmaker giant Nvidia, which plans to supply “hundreds of thousands” of AI chips to Saudi Arabia.
The initial batch will include 18,000 units of its latest Blackwell processors, which will be delivered to Saudi-backed AI startup, Humain.
IIFL Fintech Fund logs over 100% return from Finarkein exit
IIFL Fintech Fund, an early-stage investor in India’s financial technology sector, has exited its investment in Finarkein Analytics, recording over a 100% return within three years, according to a company statement on Tuesday.
This marks the fund’s second successful exit following the sale of TrustCheckr to Truecaller in October 2023.
Founded in 2021, IIFL Fintech Fund—backed by the IIFL Group—targets startups that can potentially integrate with IIFL’s broader financial services ecosystem. The fund’s portfolio includes names such as Leegality, FinBox, DataSutram, Finvu, Trendlyne, Riskcovry, and more.
Microsoft to lay off over 6,000 employees, affecting 3% of global workforce: Report
Tech giant Microsoftis planning to lay off over 6,800 employees, affecting about 3% of its global workforce. As of June, the company employed 228,000 people worldwide.
The latest job cuts will span all levels, functions, and geographies, reported CNBC. The company has disclosed that 1,985 roles would be affected at its Redmond headquarters, including 1,510 office-based positions.
Dream Sports to invest $50M in Cricbuzz and Willow TV to boost global cricket engagement
Dream Sports, the developer of the fantasy sports app Dream 11, will invest $50 million in cricket media and broadcasting platforms Cricbuzz and Willow TV. Dream Sports is home to brands such as Dream11 and FanCode, while Cricbuzz is a popular website for live scores and cricket commentary.
Willow TV is a cricket broadcaster in North America. The strategic minority investment aims to “super-charge" global cricket fan experiences through real-time analytics, interactive streams, commerce integrations, and artificial intelligence-powered personalisation, according to a statement.
Funding news
Smart hiring platform Third Bracket raises close to Rs 50 M in seed funding
Third Bracket, a next-gen smart hiring platform, today announced that they have raised close to Rs 50 million in seed funding from a group of HNIs at a substantial valuation.
The investment will fuel the venture’s mission to transform hiring through advanced AI capabilities, radically improve speed-to-hire and bring significant efficiencies to recruitment. Besides accelerating product innovation, expanding the AI engine that powers smarter, bias-free hiring, the funds will be used to scale operations to meet the growing demand from enterprises.
ContraVault AI Secures Rs 5.1 Cr in Seed funding from Titan Capital
ContraVault AI, an AI-powered platform, has successfully raised Rs 5.1 crore in a seed funding round led by Titan Capital, alongside notable investors including Rajiv Ahuja, Haresh Chawla, Jaswinder Ahuja, Dilipkumar Khandelwal, Abhishek Goyal and others.
The newly raised funds will be directed towards deepening ContraVault AI’s verticalisation across key tender and RFP sectors to enhance accuracy and relevance in analysis. With an immediate focus on scaling sales efforts within India’s under-digitized tender ecosystem, ContraVault AI is set to unlock significant growth opportunities, ultimately aiming for global expansion.
Founded by Sayan Sen, Tanmay Juneja, and Isha Juneja, ContraVault AI is designed to address the critical challenges associated with tender management, which have long been plagued by manual processes and significant risk of error. By harnessing advanced artificial intelligence, ContraVault AI is transforming the traditional workflows in tender and RFP management, enabling companies to streamline their operations, reduce risks, and make faster, smarter decisions.
ReelSaga raises $2.1M to Lead India’s Entry into the Global Microdrama Boom
ReelSaga, a next-gen mobile entertainment startup founded in 2024 by serial entrepreneurs Shubh Bansal, Shanu Vivek, and Ritesh Pandey, has raised $2.1 million in a Seed round led by Picus Capital. The round also saw participation from ITI Growth Opportunities Fund, Nazara Technologies, 8i Ventures, Waveform Ventures, Warmup Ventures, Bombay54, Bharat Founders Fund, and several prominent angel investors. The ReelSaga app is now live.
The capital will fuel app development and high-quality, localized content production, as ReelSaga sets out to define a new category of mobile-native entertainment across India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East , markets collectively expected to exceed $10 billion in digital entertainment by 2025.
ReelSaga Co Founders L-R - Shubh Bansal , Shanu Vivek,Ritesh Pandey.jpg
Bharat YEF( Young Entrepreneur Fund) announces $250,000 first tranche investment in TheAlphaCode
Bharat YEF (Young Entrepreneurs Fund) today announced its first public investment of $250,000 into the official launch of TheAlphaCode.org — a next-generation, encrypted platform designed to become the world’s most secure legacy transaction system for Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNIs), family offices, and sovereign wealth entities. This first tranche, backed by leading veterans from India’s top real estate firms, signals the rise of Bharat’s capital infrastructure on the world stage, not just as a participant, but as an architect of global trust.
The Alpha Code is a precision-engineered trust protocol that combines sacred intent, white-glove execution, and a proprietary encrypted vault to consummate high-value real estate and legacy transactions. Built in stealth collaboration with Bharat YEF’s in-house innovation cell, the platform features the first-of-its-kind blockchain-powered security layer using 256-bit AES military-grade encryption, custom-built to protect ultra-sensitive data, transactions, and identity markers.
Finvolve and India Accelerator Invest $1M in Rohal Technologies
Finvolve, the multi-stage VC fund of IA, has announced a $1 million seed investment in Rohal Technologies, a developer of hybrid green energy solutions for mission-critical applications in defense, homeland security, disaster management, and telecom.
The funding marks a key milestone for Rohal Technologies as it accelerates efforts to scale production, deliver on its growing pipeline of government and defense orders, strengthen its R&D capabilities, and expand its engineering and operations teams.
Other news
EKA Mobility secures LOA for 750 Electric Buses to be deployed across Andhra Pradesh
EKA Mobility has been awarded the Letter of Award (LOA) for the supply and deployment of 750 state-of-the-art electric buses across 11 cities in Andhra Pradesh. EKA Mobility has joined forces with GreenCell Mobility, India's leading electric bus mass mobility solution provider, to execute this order.
This large-scale deployment will see the rollout of both 9-meter and 12-meter fully electric buses across eleven cities in the state, including Amravati, Anantapur, Kadapa, Kakinada, Kurnool, Rajahmundry, Nellore, Guntur, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam, and Tirupati.
The order includes 129 nine-meter (9m) and 621 twelve-meter (12m) fully electric buses, marking a significant stride in the state’s transition to sustainable public transport. This award comes after CESL’s issuance of the Letter of Confirmation of Quantity (LOCQ) and Rajasthan’s LOA for 675 electric buses announced last week, marking a major milestone in India’s e-mobility journey.
GreenCell Mobility secures order of over 1,200 e-buses from CESL under PM E-Bus Sewa Scheme
GreenCell Mobility, an electric mass mobility company, has been given the Letter of Award (LOA) for the supply and deployment of 472 Eicher electric buses in Madhya Pradesh under the PM E-Bus Sewa Scheme. GreenCell Mobility has partnered with VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) for deployment of state-of-the-art electric buses across 6 cities in Madhya Pradesh.
Additionally, GreenCell Mobility has also joined forces with Pinnacle Mobility Solutions (EKA Mobility), for the supply and deployment of 750 cutting-edge electric buses across 11 cities in Andhra Pradesh.
The company is also actively developing and deploying the necessary charging infrastructure to support these deployments, ensuring seamless operations. GreenCell Mobility’s 900 electric buses are already operational in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
These new contracts will see GreenCell Mobility expand its electric bus operations across Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, further strengthening its commitment to electrifying public transport and transforming urban mobility across India.
New Relic onboards Manivannan Govindan as Senior Director of Enterprise Sales, Asia
New Relic, the Intelligent Observability company, announced the appointment of Manivannan Govindan as Senior Director of Enterprise Sales, Asia. Govindan brings 25+ years of monitoring and observability sales experience to the role, where he has driven significant value at several organisations including Cisco, Amazon, and CA Technologies.
Based in Singapore, Govindan will join a dynamic and highly experienced regional leadership team. This includes Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific and Japan Simon Lee, Group Vice President of Customer Adoption Rob Newell, recently appointed Senior Director of Enterprise Sales for Australia and New Zealand Denis Maguire, as well as other key senior leaders driving strategic growth and customer success across the region.
MakeMyTrip delivers $9.8B gross bookings for FY25
MakeMyTrip reported record gross bookings of $9.8 billion for FY25, a 25.9% year-on-year growth, driven by strong domestic and international travel demand. Revenue grew 27.4% YoY to $978.3 million, while adjusted operating profit rose to $167.3 million, up from $124.2 million last year.
In Q4 alone, gross bookings were up 30.4% YoY, and adjusted profit grew 37.9%. Net profit for the quarter stood at $29.2 million, adjusting for last year’s one-time gains.
Commenting on the results, Rajesh Magow, Group Chief Executive Officer, MakeMyTrip, said, “We delivered record gross bookings and revenue this fiscal year with robust growth and expanding margins underscoring the strength of our platform, the popularity of our brands, and the sustained momentum in both domestic and international travel demand. Our investments in new demand segments and personalised customer experiences across our platform have helped us to grow our customer base as well as drive high repeat bookings.”
PayPal-backed Bureau appoints ex-VISA CXO as Chief Marketing Officer
Bureau, an identity and risk decisioning platform, has appointed Vanita Pandey as Chief Marketing Officer to spearhead the company’s global go-to-market (GTM) engine and power its next phase of growth. Vanita will lead the next wave of Bureau’s innovation-led marketing—from pioneering AI-driven GTM strategies and executing demand generation engines, to strengthening the company’s position as the go-to digital trust partner across both mature and high-growth markets spanning the Americas, Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
Vanita’s appointment follows Bureau’s recent Series-B round led by Sorenson Capital and PayPal Ventures, and the addition of Chief Analytics and Risk Officer Venkat Srinivasan — milestones that underscore Bureau’s momentum as it expands its global identity and risk decisioning footprint.
Vanita brings 15+ years of deep domain expertise at the intersection of digital identity, fraud prevention, and financial services. Previously, she has held senior marketing roles at US-based Arkose Labs, Simility (acquired by PayPal), ThreatMetrix (acquired by LexisNexis), Visa, Capital One, and most recently LATAM-based CAF—where she consistently built impactful marketing programs, drove international expansion, and shaped go-to-market narratives in complex, regulated industries.
Xley targets $100 million ARR by 2027
Xley, a creator marketplace under Mad Group aims to achieve an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $100 million by 2027. With this expansion, Xley aims to become the largest active influencer network across India, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Australia.
Xley is built for brands and marketers and aims to help businesses discover, manage, and optimize influencer campaigns. Xley claimed it has creator access in over 54 languages, 10,000+ cities, and 150+ countries. It also preparing to raise its next funding round, aimed at international expansion and technological innovation roadmap.
Pine Labs and J&K Bank launch RuPay Credit Card
Pine Labs and J&K Bank have introduced tech-first RuPay Credit Card for the bank’s customers. The RuPay Credit Card can also be linked to UPI for credit transactions. Developed using Pine Labs' credit issuing platform Credit+, this integration will also enable the processing of pre-sanctioned credit lines on UPI.
Credit+ is a card management platform which enables issuers in India and globally to be able to offer and provide services for credit, debit, prepaid, and other payment instruments. It enables Issuers and their partners to integrate financial services within their digital platforms. To enable credit cards on UPI, Pine Labs has built and integrated its own UPI Switch on this platform for routing transactions through networks, which is expected to bring down transaction failure rates.
(The copy will be updated)