The best and worst performing startup stocks of 2025; Taking Madhubani art to the world

Hello,

India’s economy is set to get a $32 billion booster shot. 

The RBI announced fresh measures aimed at boosting banking liquidity, under which it will buy bonds worth Rs 2 lakh crore in four tranches this month and January. It will also conduct a $10 billion foreign-exchange swap next month.

Meanwhile, precious metals are setting new milestones, with gold jumping more than 2% to a record high on Monday, powered by geopolitical tensions and ETF buying, while silver also touched an all-time peak.

In other news, OYO Hotels' parent company Prism received shareholders' approval to raise up to Rs 6,650 crore through a fresh issue of equity shares as part of its proposed IPO.

While there was no timeline announced, this now gives the company flexibility to tap public markets at an opportune time.

Lastly, with the number of satellites in place to monitor celestial bodies, like the moon, increasing by the day, where does defunct hardware go?

A spacecraft graveyard on the moon may just be the solution to the lunar atmosphere overcluttering problem. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• The best and worst performing startup stocks of 2025
• Taking Madhubani art to the world
• AI changing product discovery

Here’s your trivia for today: Which country hosts an annual wife-carrying championship event?

Insight

The best and worst performing startup stocks of 2025

If 2021 was the year Indian startups sold ambition to private markets, 2025 was when public markets demanded answers. After years of valuation excesses, capital tightened, IPO scrutiny intensified, and listed markets emerged as the ultimate judge of business quality and durability.

The performance of India’s most prominent listed internet and new-age technology companies this year reflects a decisive shift away from flashy, growth-at-all-costs narratives towards operational clarity, consistent unit economics, and category leadership.

Key takeaways:

• At the top of the leaderboard is Ather Energy—the strongest performer of 2025—with its stock gaining a massive ~132% year-to-date. Investor optimism has been driven by improving margins, a clearer EV adoption curve, and visible progress toward scale without runaway cash burn.
• Close behind is Meesho, the year’s most talked-about large IPO. The stock’s near-doubling—about 95% gains post-listing—reflected investor confidence in a sharply differentiated model built on low-cost social commerce, asset-light logistics, and disciplined customer acquisition.
• At the bottom of the rankings, sharp underperformance by Ola Electric and Brainbees Solutions (FirstCry) highlights where market patience has snapped. High capital intensity, execution missteps, and opaque profitability timelines are now punished swiftly.

Funding Alert

Startup: CoreEL Technologies

Amount: $30M

Round: Series B

Startup: Prosperr.io

Amount: $4M

Round: Seed

Arts and Crafts

Taking Madhubani art to the world

Asha Jha, a Madhubani artist, runs Madhubani Paints along with her daughters, working to preserve and promote the traditional art form. They are taking Madhubani art to audiences and collectors across India and abroad.

The art Jha learned as a child watching her grandmother and mother soon became more than just a passion. “I started making small paintings and selling them for Rs 100 or 200 under the banner of Shatakshi Creations. Some women didn’t even pay money. They just gave bangles or vermillion as tokens. At the time, it hurt, but I persevered,” Jha tells HerStory.

Painting stories:

• In 2013-2014, Jha won a national award for her Madhubani painting that depicted the Matysa avatar (first avatar of Lord Vishnu). “I used unusual colours like purple, orange, and black. People usually colour the sky blue, but I made it orange. The difference caught people’s attention,” she explains.
• Today, Madhubani Paints has empowered 250 women artisans in Darbhanga and the surrounding areas. Most work from home, balancing household duties with earning an income. 
• The brand’s silk saris begin at Rs 14,900 for pure, handmade tussar silk, while Chanderi saris are priced from Rs 7,900. Cotton saris range between Rs 7,500 and Rs 8,500.

Interview

AI changing product discovery

Shoppers are no longer relying on just text-based searches as voice and image-based searches are equally becoming important. To meet these evolving expectations, retailers are turning to AI to create an environment where shoppers get what they need. Target in India (TII), the GCC of US-headquartered retailer Target, is leveraging AI to deliver these experiences by redefining the world of search. 

In an interview with EnterpriseStory, Swapnasarit Sahu, Sr. Director, Data Sciences, TII, explains how AI is enabling them to provide highly specific recommendations based on the products that shoppers are interested in.

News & updates

• Dispute: China has launched a trade dispute with India over solar cells, solar modules, and IT goods, requesting dispute consultations on the matter, the WTO said. Less than a week ago, India had imposed anti-dumping duties on cold rolled steel imports from China for five years to protect its domestic industry.
• Wrap: ChatGPT is releasing its own version of Spotify Wrapped. That is, the OpenAI-owned chatbot is now rolling out an annual review feature called “Your Year with ChatGPT” to eligible consumers in select markets, including the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
• Go-ahead: The US FDA gave the green light to a pill version of the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, the first daily oral medication to treat obesity. Its approval handed drugmaker Novo Nordisk an edge over rival Eli Lilly in the race to market an obesity pill. Lilly's oral drug, orforglipron, is still under review.

Which country hosts an annual wife-carrying championship event?

Answer: Finland.

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