Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (April 22, 2026)

From Gumo’s AI co-pilot for travel planning to OpenAI’s new image model, YourStory brings you today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors.

Featured stories

How Gumo is building an AI co-pilot for travel planning

Planning a holiday should feel exciting, but it often feels exhausting to many travellers. Between Instagram reels, hotel reviews, flight options, blogs, and endless tabs, choosing where to go and where to stay can quickly turn into a chore. 

Bengaluru-based startup Gumo is trying to change that. The company believes that modern travel has a discovery problem as much as a booking problem, and it wants to solve that with AI.

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Latest news

M2P Fintech ropes in ex-Hitachi exec Vivek Seshadri as CFO

Banking infrastructure and finance platform M2P Fintech has appointed Vivek Seshadri as its Group Chief Financial Officer.

In this new role, Seshadri will lead the company’s global finance function and play a key role in steering M2P’s next phase of growth, strengthening capital discipline and preparing the company for a potential public market debut in the coming years.

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Funding news

Alaya By Stage3 raises seed funding led by LC Nueva AIF

Modern Indianwear brand Alaya By Stage3 has raised seed funding in a round led by LC Nueva AIF, with participation from a Delhi-based HNI. The round was advised by Brightbridge Advisors, who acted as the Investment Bankers for the transaction.

The capital will be used to expand operational capacity, strengthen supply chain capabilities, and deepen the integration of AI across the business, ahead of peak festive demand.

The company aims to build a Rs 50-crore ARR business over the next two years and plans to raise a larger institutional round later this year.

Affordable Innovative Techno Services bags $4M in pre-Series A funding round

Affordable Innovative Techno Services has secured $4 million in a pre-Series A funding round. 

The round was led by Big Capital, Vietnam, and Singapore-based Redbrook Fund, with participation from Sujeet Kumar, Ramakant Sharma, and Roman Saini.

The capital will be used to expand the Rysen School network into Tier II and III cities using a standardised model, while investing in tech-enabled infrastructure such as smart classrooms and digital learning tools. It will also focus on teacher training and performance tracking to improve student outcomes.

Spill Games raises $3.1M in seed funding round led by Centre Court Capital, PeerCapital

Spill Games has raised $3.1 million in a seed funding round led by Centre Court Capital and PeerCapital.

Founded in 2024 by Om Misra, Tapan Ranjan, and Harsh Garg, the company operates in the casual and puzzle gaming segment, with a portfolio of five live games, including Cozy Finds, Sticker by Number, and Zen Math Crossword.

The capital will be used to expand its game portfolio, develop technology infrastructure, and grow its team.

Other news

Magma launches SamyakEco

Magma's circular manufacturing unit, MagmaGreen, has launched SamyakEco, an AI-based platform.

The platform is aimed at digitising industrial supply chains focused on recycled materials and waste management. 

The AI platform enables tracking of material flows, supplier verification, and transaction monitoring using tools such as GPS, FASTag, and automated GST checks. It is designed for recyclers, suppliers, and manufacturers to improve traceability and compliance in fragmented supply networks.

Tata Steel expands AI deployment with Google Cloud partnership  

Tata Steel and Google Cloud have announced a major expansion of their strategic partnership to deploy AI across Tata Steel's operations, with over 300 AI agents implemented in nine months. 

Tata Steel’s early investment in a consolidated data system has allowed it to use AI more effectively across the company through two key platforms.

Zen AI is a low-code platform that allows non-technical employees to build and deploy AI tools using integrated company data. Tata Steel Digital Assistant is a central platform that combines internal and external data to support real-time decision-making and predictive insights.

Tata Steel is also using AI to handle routine tasks, internal processes, and improve efficiency and safety across operations. 

IIT Madras to organise tech summit in Delhi

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) will host a technology summit in Delhi on May 5.

The summit will convene corporate CEOs, policymakers, PSU leaders, researchers and grant funders, including CSR and philanthropic grants.

The theme of the summit is ‘From IITM. For Bharat. Building Together’. The objective is to build collaborative models that translate cutting-edge research into national impact across deeptech, semiconductor, sustainability, healthcare tech, innovation, entrepreneurship, skilling, development, and AI.

Flipkart expands circular economy ecosystem via Reset

Flipkart has expanded its re-commerce platform, Flipkart Reset, into textiles with a denim take-back programme called ‘Swap on Jeans’, allowing customers to exchange used jeans during new purchases.

The initiative has scaled from an initial pilot in Bengaluru to 260+ pin codes across Delhi/NCR and Bengaluru, and is available across a growing selection of denim bottomwear on the platform. It offers customers instant value on new purchases in exchange for returned garments.

Collected garments are routed through authorised partners for recycling or reuse.

Zo House launches Claw Hack BLR

Zo House, a hacker house network brand under Zo World, is doing Claw Hack BLR on April 25, along with Together Fund.

Claw Hack BLR will bring together 99 builders for a single-day sprint to ship AI agents, hosted at Together Fund's Bengaluru office. 

Wild Stone partners with Fynd 

Fynd, an AI platform for businesses, has announced a partnership with Wild Stone to power the brand’s offline experience centre operations through an integrated retail technology stack. 

Through this collaboration, Fynd is enabling Wild Stone, a men's grooming brand, to build and scale its offline retail presence with a unified solution spanning POS, analytics and reporting, inventory management, clienteling, and omnichannel retail operations.

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