Cybersecurity, but quantum physics style; Lendingkart’s bottom falls out as NPAs rise

Hello,

It’s official: Tata Group can help you fix your iPhone.

The conglomerate is taking over the mandate for repairs for iPhones and Macbooks from an Indian unit of Taiwan’s Wistron, and will carry them out from its Karnataka iPhone assembly campus.

This integrates the conglomerate into Apple’s global supply chain as it pivots away from China. That is, on top of Tata emerging as the company’s key supplier and manufacturer for iPhones and its components alike. 

As far as manufacturing goes, India is also attempting to wean off its dependence on China for rare earth magnets, which are used across industries, from clean energy to defence. The government is planning to establish long-term stockpiles by offering fiscal incentives for domestic production. 

China’s move to curb exports of rare earth materials has already had rippling effects: Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor suspended production of its iconic Swift subcompact car, citing a shortage of components.  

ICYMI: Here’s everything you need to know about export controls, and why they matter.

In other news, Sotheby’s is putting up a new Birkin for grabs this summer. The Birkin.

Made in 1984 for actress Jane Birkin, the bag will be displayed at galleries in Paris and Manhattan. There’s no public estimate for how much it could fetch.

Just the price of wanting to hold a piece of history.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Quantum physics for cybersecurity
• Lendingkart’s bottom falls out as NPAs rise
• Eliminating fashion waste with tech

Here’s your trivia for today: Which famous Expressionist painting was stolen twice from museums in Oslo?

Security

Quantum physics for cybersecurity

Founded in 2016 by Sunil Gupta, Srinivasa Rao Aluri, Mark Mathias, and Anil Prabhakar, Bengaluru-based deeptech startup QNu Labs is bringing quantum physics to cybersecurity. 

“We chose quantum because we wanted defenders to have an edge over hackers. No matter how much you spend on traditional security, the problem doesn’t get solved if both sides use the same tools. Our mission was to build a world-class platform, born in India but built for the world,” says Gupta.

Tunneling through:

• The startup's flagship product, QShield platform, is a cloud-based cryptographic SaaS offering that uses quantum-resistant algorithms to protect sensitive data, making it suitable for critical infrastructure and enterprises. 
• QNu Labs also designs and manufactures quantum security chips in Bengaluru. These specialised chips utilise quantum physics to generate secure encryption keys and detect any tampering, thus protecting data from cyber threats.
• The company’s revenue model combines product sales, subscription-based cloud services, and long-term service contracts with enterprise and government clients. A chunk of its business is driven by its hardware offerings.

Funding Alert

Startup: LoanTap

Amount: Rs 74 Cr

Round: Pre-Series C

Startup: Stride Green

Amount: $3.5M

Round: Seed

Startup: Naagin

Amount: Rs 18 Cr

Round: Pre-Series A

Earnings

Lendingkart’s bottom falls out as NPAs rise

Lendingkart Finance Limited, the non-banking finance company (NBFC) arm of Lendingkart Technologies, reported a net loss of Rs 288.33 crore for the year ended March 2025, compared to a profit of Rs 60.07 crore in FY24, as interest income fell and provisioning surged.

Total income from interest declined nearly 20% year-on-year to Rs 812.31 crore in FY25, down from Rs 1,013.36 crore a year earlier. Fee and commission income also dropped steeply by 57.5% to Rs 32.18 crore.

Key takeaways:

• Asset quality also deteriorated: gross non-performing assets rose to 4.33% in FY25 from 2.90% in FY24, while net NPA increased to 2.37% from 1.95% a year earlier.
• Finance costs rose 9.9% to Rs 297.79 crore, while employee benefit expenses increased 11.8% to Rs 164.72 crore. Overall expenses surged 18.5% to Rs 1,263.5 crore, further pressuring the bottom line.
• Lendingkart’s financials reflect a broader slowdown in lending in the past few quarters, mirroring trends seen across the NBFC and fintech ecosystem. Commercial credit supply by value declined 11% year-over-year in the January–March 2025 quarter, according to a SIDBI report.

Startup

Eliminating fashion waste with tech

In a world flooded with fast fashion and unsold clothes, one startup is rewriting the rules. Fashion tech startup IBA CRAFTS PVT LTD, the company behind fashion brand Moomaya, is tackling fast fashion’s biggest villain—overproduction—by not making a single garment until it’s actually ordered.  

Founded in 2012 by Nitin Kapoor, Hema Kapoor, and Amit Gupta, Noida-based IBA Crafts aims to reduce overproduction in the fashion industry. The brand, according to Nitin, reflects the startup’s core idea—the product doesn’t exist until it is needed.

Bharat ke Innovators

Pioneering India’s reusable rocket revolution

Abyom SpaceTech is pioneering reusable rocket technology to position India as a leader in affordable space launch infrastructure. It develops re-ignitable cryogenic engines, has f-day reusable rockets, and has created Asia’s first plug-and-play rocket test facility.

Revolutionising agri supply chains

E-Sandhai is a technology-driven agricultural marketplace designed to modernise India’s perishable produce supply chain. It aims to solve three persistent issues in the agri value chain: price mismatches, high spoilage rates, and fragmented procurement.

News & updates

• Layoffs: Procter & Gamble said it would cut 7,000 jobs, or roughly 15% of its nonmanufacturing workforce around the world, over the next two years. The maker of Tide detergent, Pampers diapers and Bounty paper towels had about 108,000 total employees as of June last year.
• Rate cut: The European Central Bank cut interest rates as expected on Thursday but hinted at a pause in its year-long easing cycle after inflation finally returned to its 2% target.
• Dismal outlook: Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman expects organic sales to decline this fiscal year as consumer demand softens in the face of shifting tariffs and uncertainty about the US economy.

Which famous Expressionist painting was stolen twice from museums in Oslo?

Answer: Edvard Munch’s The Scream. It was stolen from the National Gallery in 1994, and again in 2004, when two of Munch's most famous paintings, The Scream and Madonna, were stolen in a heist from Munch Museum. 

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