Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (March 9, 2026)

YourStory brings you special stories and headlines from the latest developments across sectors.

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Microsoft’s Sukhmani Lamba on how AI will change the way we work

Sukmani Lamba, a senior product manager at Microsoft Teams, holds three patents in conversational AI: focusing on agent memory, agent intelligence, and agent context. She is part of the new wave shaping the future of work—at the intersection of enterprise software and conversational AI.

Lamba shares her thoughts on how AI will change the way we work.

Read more

Latest news

Quick-service restaurant platform Pink Adrak secures ₹12.25 Cr investment

Quick-service restaurant platform Pink Adrak has secured a funding of Rs 12.25 crore from Shivam Mishra, Founder of String Ventures, following its appearance on Bharat ke Super Founders. The funding includes a mix of equity capital and revenue support to expand the brand across northern India.

Founded as a platform-led food services venture, Pink Adrak currently operates 12 outlets across Gurugram and Jaipur and claims to have delivered over 5 lakh orders. The company plans to scale to 50 outlets and is targeting ₹55 crore in revenue by 2028. It is also developing new formats including Fresh Meal Vending Cafes and expanding its subscription-based Pink Adrak Pass programme.

IISc, LTM host neuromorphic computing hackathon

The Department of Electronic Systems Engineering (ESE) at IISc, in collaboration with LTM, hosted a neuromorphic computing hackathon to promote awareness of next-generation AI architectures.

The event brought together more than 72 participants from 13 colleges, across 28 teams to develop solutions using brain-inspired computing principles. Team Endurance from MVJ College of Engineering emerged as the winner for demonstrating the practical potential of neuromorphic computing in solving complex real-world problems.

The initiative aims to foster talent in energy-efficient AI systems, which are expected to play a key role in edge computing and cyber-physical applications. The hackathon also highlighted IISc’s ongoing research in advanced areas including chip design, semiconductor technologies, and AI hardware.

Honeywell, IIT Bombay partner to launch sustainability skilling centre

Honeywell has partnered with IIT Bombay to establish the IITB-Honeywell Centre of Excellence for Future Skills & Innovation at the institute’s Powai campus. Funded by Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation, the centre aims to train more than 1 lakh students by 2030 in sustainability-related fields. The initiative will offer advanced laboratories, industry-led curriculum, and research grants covering areas such as sustainability reporting, sustainable finance, energy security, and infrastructure.

In the pilot phase, the centre will train 250 students while building core infrastructure. The programme comes as India faces a growing shortage of sustainability professionals, with the renewable energy sector alone expected to face a deficit of up to 1.7 million skilled workers by 2027.

PedalStart hosts NitiQuest startup showcase

Startup accelerator PedalStart, in collaboration with Cesim India, hosted NitiQuest 2026 in Bengaluru to connect early-stage founders with investors and ecosystem leaders. The event featured 12 student-led startups selected from more than 1,400 applications across India.

Team Tejas from GIET University in Odisha won the competition and received the ₹2 lakh Lachhwani Grant for its autonomous aerospace defence system project.

The event also included startup pitches, investor discussions, and ecosystem networking, with investors making soft funding commitments exceeding ₹2 crore. PedalStart said the initiative is part of its Build Startup India programme aimed at nurturing entrepreneurship among college students across Tier II and III cities.

Apexon launches AI centre of excellence in Hyderabad

Technology services firm Apexon has launched a new Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence (AI CoE) in Hyderabad to expand its enterprise AI engineering capabilities. The facility will focus on developing solutions across generative AI, agentic AI, data engineering, and intelligent automation. The centre will also advance Apexon’s proprietary platforms including AgentRise and AlphaSuite, designed to help enterprises deploy scalable AI systems.

The company said the hub will support AI training programmes, collaborative labs, and innovation initiatives with clients and ecosystem partners. Apexon aims to help organisations move from AI experimentation to large-scale deployment of production-grade AI systems.

Dassault Aviation strikes Rafale manufacturing deal with Hical

Dassault Aviation has signed a long-term contract with Bengaluru-based Hical Technologies to manufacture high-precision control system assemblies for the Rafale fighter aircraft. Under the agreement, Hical will supply mission-critical electromechanical components that meet the French aerospace manufacturer’s engineering and reliability standards.

The deal is expected to strengthen India’s role in global aerospace supply chains and support the country’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative in defence manufacturing.

Dassault executives said the partnership reflects confidence in India’s precision engineering capabilities, while Hical described the contract as recognition of the country’s growing aerospace manufacturing ecosystem.

Wakefit deploys Snowflake AI Data Cloud

Direct-to-consumer home and furnishings brand Wakefit has adopted Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud platform to accelerate data-driven decision-making across its operations. By integrating Snowflake Cortex AI and Snowflake Intelligence, the company has automated workflows including invoice processing, customer support and voice-of-customer analytics.

Wakefit said the unified platform replaces its earlier fragmented systems and allows AI models to run directly where data resides.

The company has also deployed AI-powered chatbots and analytics agents to support sales, marketing and planning teams with real-time insights. Snowflake said the collaboration highlights how digital-first brands are embedding AI across their operations to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency.

NatWest Group India appoints Ritu Tushir as head of HR

NatWest Group India has appointed Ritu Tushir as the head of HR for its India operations. Tushir will oversee the bank’s people strategy for its largest employee base outside the UK while supporting digital capability expansion in the country.

She brings over 25 years of HR leadership experience and has previously held senior roles at Northern Trust, American Express, Genpact and Whirlpool. Her priorities at NatWest Group include building capabilities in data, AI and cloud technologies, strengthening employee experience, and advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives. She will also be part of the India Leadership Committee guiding the bank’s local transformation strategy.

Insurtech platform Zopper targets IPO by 2028–29

Insurtech platform Zopper says it has maintained a 35% compound annual growth rate over the past two years and is targeting a public listing by 2028–29. The company expects to exit the current financial year with a run rate exceeding ₹1,000 crore in gross written premium.

Growth has been driven by device protection services, health and life insurance distribution, and its bancassurance SaaS platform.

Zopper has raised $125 million from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Blume Ventures, and Elevation Capital. The company is expanding AI integration across underwriting, fraud detection and customer service as it scales its embedded insurance distribution platform.

Andhra Pradesh partners with Calibo to build AI innovation ecosystem

The government of Andhra Pradesh has signed two MoUs with AI technology company Calibo to strengthen AI talent development and innovation across the state. The partnership will deploy Calibo AI Academy across more than 50 higher education institutions in collaboration with the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation.

A separate initiative with the Real Time Governance Society will establish an AI Innovation Sandbox to test public sector AI applications in secure environments before deployment. The programme aims to support responsible AI experimentation, strengthen employability, and position Andhra Pradesh as a global AI innovation hub.

BARC India, Nielsen launch unified ad measurement platform

BARC India and Nielsen have launched BARC | Nielsen ONE Ads, a unified measurement solution that combines television and digital advertising data. The platform provides advertisers with a deduplicated view of audiences across linear TV, connected TV, mobile and desktop screens.

JioHotstar is the first platform to adopt the solution, beginning with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.

The companies said the initiative addresses growing industry demand for integrated cross-media measurement as audiences increasingly consume content across multiple devices. The system will provide metrics such as reach, frequency and demographic performance to help advertisers optimise campaign spending.

InCred Capital closes QIP for E2E Networks

InCred Capital Financial Services Limited, the institutional arm of InCred Group, has successfully closed a qualified institutional placement (QIP) for E2E Networks, a MeitY-associated sovereign hyperscaler and NVIDIA AI Cloud partner.

The transaction brings new institutional investors into the company as demand for AI compute infrastructure rises. InCred Capital said the strong participation reflects investor confidence in AI-driven cloud infrastructure and sovereign compute capabilities.

India currently generates nearly 20% of global data but accounts for less than 2% of global compute power, highlighting the opportunity for domestic cloud infrastructure providers.

Altimetrik appoints Dhirendra Nath as chief HR officer

AI-first digital engineering firm Altimetrik has appointed Dhirendra Nath as the chief human resources officer. He will report to CEO Raj Sundaresan and lead the company’s global people strategy. The appointment follows the integration of Altimetrik and SLK and is aimed at strengthening leadership structure during the company’s next phase of growth.

Tech Mahindra, SCSK partner to expand computer-aided engineering solution

Tech Mahindra has partnered with SCSK Asia Pacific to accelerate the global expansion of ADVENTURECluster, a computer-aided engineering solution used for large-scale structural analysis.

Under the partnership, Tech Mahindra will serve as the joint go-to-market partner for the solution across India, North America and Europe. The collaboration will also integrate AI and digital twin capabilities into engineering workflows to accelerate product development cycles.

ADVENTURECluster enables high-speed simulations for complex engineering models and is widely used by manufacturing and automotive companies.

The companies said the partnership builds on longstanding collaboration between the Mahindra Group and Sumitomo Corporation Group.

Capgemini to acquire product lifecycle management specialist Piterion

Capgemini has signed an agreement to acquire Piterion, a Germany-based specialist in product lifecycle management (PLM) and manufacturing operations management.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Stuttgart, Piterion employs over 200 professionals and serves clients across automotive, aerospace, defence, life sciences and high-tech sectors.

The acquisition will strengthen Capgemini’s global PLM practice and expand its capabilities in digital manufacturing and AI-enabled engineering solutions. Piterion’s expertise in integrating complex engineering systems will help enterprises transition from on-premise infrastructure to cloud-native environments.