Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (May 27, 2025)

From Slikk's bet on quick commerce to deliver trendy fashion to people in Bengaluru in under an hour, to Shoffr's plan to navigate the extremely competitive ride-hailing market in India as a second mover, YourStory brings today’s headlines that highlight significant developments across industries.

Featured Stories

Swift and slick: This startup bets on quick commerce to deliver trendy clothes in Bengaluru within 60 minutes

In an age where food and groceries arrive at the doorstep in less than an hour, fashion items seem to lag behind somewhat.

Slikk aims to up the fashion segment’s quick-commerce game with a service that promises to deliver trendy clothes and accessories for men and women in under 60 minutes in Bengaluru. Currently the service is available in select parts of the city, including HSR Layout, Koramangala, Electronic City, Indiranagar, BTM Layout, Bellandur, and Sarjapur.

The gap between expectation and experience led former colleagues Akshay Gulati, Om Prakash Swami, and Bipin Singh to launch a fashion-focused quick-commerce startup that offers products via an app and its own website. Slikk, which was born from a personal pain point, aims to address customers’ need for instant gratification in the fashion segment.

Meet Drishana Kalita, who is using puppetry as a tool for social change in Assam

Growing up in Hajo, a small town northwest of Guwahati, Drishana Kalita was fascinated by the traditional puppet shows known as Putola Naas staged during religious festivals. In Assam, puppetry has traditionally been a male preserve, passed down from father to son. Yet, young Kalita was spellbound by each performance and was determined to break tradition and make the art her own.

“It was difficult to learn, but that did not stop me from observing every detail and trying to learn from the artists,” she tells HerStory.

Today, Kalita and her group PuppetPeople Assam are reviving the state’s traditional puppet art, Putola Naas, turning it into a force for social change. Their puppet performances address social issues and challenges with stories that inform, heal, and empower.

Slow and steady: How Shoffr plans to navigate the intensely competitive ride-hailing market

Amidst the flurry of tweets lamenting the fall of EV cab service BluSmart, Vikas Bardia, Co-founder and CEO of Shoffr, penned a post on X highlighting the benefits of being a second mover. 

As a second mover, Bengaluru-based electric taxi service Shoffr has the advantage of learning from the mistakes of its peers who started out earlier. Having learnt from observation and experience, it intends to do things differently. 

A big takeaway for Shoffr—which provides airport transfers, outstation rentals, and city rentals—is the need to focus on higher utilisation of assets, unit economics, and operational efficiency to ensure the business stays sustainable.

Featured News

Flipkart to hire 5,000 employees in 2025 amid push into quick commerce, AI, and fintech

Flipkart is gearing up for a major expansion across key verticals, and is set to hire 5,000 new employees in 2025. The Walmart-owned ecommerce major announced its hiring plan at Flipster Connect, an internal townhall held on May 26, as it ramps up bets on hyperlocal delivery, fintech, and artificial intelligence (AI).

A large chunk of the new roles will support Flipkart Minutes, its quick commerce arm, and Super.money, its fintech platform.

The hiring push comes as the company targets rapid scale-up across these verticals while also preparing for a potential IPO and a shift of its legal domicile from Singapore to India.

Read more here.

India Mobile Congress 2025 to showcase telecom innovation on a global scale

India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025, the country’s flagship telecom and digital technology event, is set to return for its 9th edition from October 8 to 11 at the Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in New Delhi. This year's theme will be "Innovate to Transform."

Organised jointly by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), IMC has evolved into Asia’s largest forum for digital technology and connectivity. This year’s edition is expected to surpass previous records, with over 1.5 lakh visitors from 150+ countries, more than 7,000 global delegates, and upwards of 400 exhibitors and partners.

“The success of IMC over the last 8 years is not just measured in numbers but in the impact it has created on industries, communities and the nation at large,” said Abhijit Kishore, Chairman, COAI.

Read more here.

Funding News

EUME raises Rs 25 Cr in Series A funding led by Ashish Kacholia

Travel luggage and accessories brand EUME has raised Rs 25 crore in a Series A equity funding round, led by marquee investor Ashish Kacholia, with participation from existing seed investors including Pradeep Rathod of Cello Group and Prithviraj Kothari of Arvog Financial.

The capital will be deployed to scale EUME’s retail presence across India, build a stronger team, ramp up marketing efforts, and enhance working capital.

As part of its offline expansion strategy, EUME will open three new flagship stores in Bengaluru - Mall of Asia, Mumbai - Oberoi Sky City, and Hyderabad - Sarath City, within the next 45 days, solidifying its physical retail footprint in key metro markets.

Contineu raises $1.2M in seed funding

Deeptech startup Contineu has raised $1.2 million in seed funding led by SenseAI Ventures, with participation from Piper Serica Angel Fund. The investment will be used to accelerate Contineu’s mission to build the AI-powered vertical data infrastructure stack for the construction industry, automating quality monitoring, compliance checks, and site-level visibility at scale.

Founded in 2023 by Harshil Naik (CEO) and Kanao Ramesh (CTO), Contineu eliminates the need for manual data entry on job sites through a proprietary platform that combines helmet-mounted 360° cameras with 3D computer vision models.

“This funding comes at a critical moment,” said Naik. “After solving quality control challenges we now have a clear trajectory into the broader construction data ecosystem. Our partnership with SenseAI and Piper Serica brings strategic direction, AI insight, and operational support that will shape the next phase of our journey,” he added.

Other News

Swiggy rolls out corporate rewards programme in 7,000 companies across India

Swiggy has launched its Corporate Rewards Program, a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to bring added value to working professionals across the country. In a statement, the company shared that it has rolled out the Corporate Rewards Program across 7,000 companies in India.

Through this programme, employees of the partner companies can access a range of exclusive offers by verifying their official work email address on the Swiggy app. The Corporate Rewards Program is currently live in companies across top 10 corporate hubs in the country including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Noida, Pune and Kolkata. Swiggy will be adding more benefits and perks to the programme in the coming weeks.

“With exclusive offers designed for those with busy schedules, we’re helping people save time, save money, and still eat well — no matter where work takes them," said Deepak Maloo, Vice President-Food Strategy, Customer Experience and New Initiatives.

Nat Habit appoints Kushal Gupta as CRO

Beauty and personal care brand Nat Habit has announced the appointment of Kushal Gupta as Chief Retail Officer (CRO). With over 20 years of cross-market FMCG experience and a proven record of scaling businesses across PepsiCo, Bikano and Tata Consumer, Kushal will lead Nat Habit’s retail and revenue growth strategy as the brand accelerates towards offline expansion.

In his new role, Kushal will oversee offline revenue strategy, scale distribution, build national retail infrastructure, and lead key partnerships. His focus will also include expanding into Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets after fully penetrating into Tier I markets.

“I am excited to channel the brand’s incredible momentum into a robust offline strategy. This is a ‘go and win’ moment, and we have the right team, product, and consumer love to make it happen at scale,” he said.

Rapido clocks in 4 million daily rides

Rapido announced that it completed 4 million rides in a single day on May 24. 

Operating in over 250 cities, through Rapido's Subscription-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, the platform has enabled a 30–40% income increase for its captains, the company said.

“Our journey has been remarkable, and it’s the relentless dedication and hard work of our team that has brought us here. Starting from our roots in Bangalore, it’s incredibly fulfilling to see how far we’ve come as a homegrown brand from Karnataka," said Pavan Guntupalli, Co-Founder of Rapido.

(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)