From a company that is helping home chefs earn a living to fintech startup KreditBee raising $280 million, YourStory brings you today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors.

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How Tocco is helping home chefs become women entrepreneurs

After completing her engineering degree in Keralam 14 years ago, Reshma Suresh moved to Mumbai to begin her career in the healthtech sector.

Working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and radiology, she served stints at companies such as Biosense and Qure.ai.

Despite her professional success in Mumbai, Suresh was homesick for food.

In 2023, she co-founded Tocco along with her sister Annu, who is based in Singapore and works part-time for the company.

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KreditBee raises $280M at $1.5B valuation

Bengaluru based fintech startup KreditBee has raised $280 million in its Series E funding round, achieving unicorn status with a post-money valuation of $1.5 billion. Founded in 2016 by Madhusudan E, Karthikeyan Krishnaswamy, and Vivek Veda, the startup plans to expand its lending portfolio, enter new markets, and strengthen AI-driven underwriting and risk assessment as it prepares for its next growth phase.

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Latest news

Zolve claims to hit $1B in transactions

Zolve, a cross-border neobank, founded by Raghunandan Gangappa, has crossed $1 billion in cumulative credit card transaction value; marking a significant milestone in how immigrants access financial systems.

Designed for global mobility, the platform allows students and professionals from over 230 countries to access credit and US banking even before they actually reach, which bypasses the traditional “start from scratch” issue. 

Offering a wide range of services - from high limit Mastercard credit cards to FDIC-insured US bank accounts, loans, remittances and insurance; Zolve positions itself as a full-stack financial ecosystem for the modern global citizen. The company’s next move - to enable NRIs to invest in India across equities and real estate, comes at a time when crossing borders is easier than ever but moving money still needs a nudge.

ILIOS 72 Alternative capital raises Rs 2 Cr in pre-series A round

ILIOS 72 Alternative Capital has raised Rs 2 crore in Pre-Series A Round at 3X valuation, taking its valuation to about $2 million. The round saw participation from the family offices in Jaipur and Mumbai. The platform has also crossed Rs 200 crore in assets under management, signaling strong traction among HNI and UHNI investors who are seeking access to alternative investment opportunities. The platform plans expand beyond metros with plans to strengthen its presence in Jaipur and Kanpur, while actively targeting high-potential Tier II markets.

Exotel acqui-hires Ex-Dubverse Co-founders Anuja Dhawan and Varshul Gupta

Exotel has acqui-hired Dubverse’s top team, including Co-founders Anuja Dhawan and Varshul Gupta. This move aims to strengthen Exotel’s AI-powered customer experience (CX) capabilities, especially in voice and conversational intelligence.

Anuja Dhawan is set to lead Exotel’s Conversation Quality Analytics (CQA) solution, while Varshul Gupta will be heading AI. 

This acqui-hire also aligns with Exotel’s vision of building a unified, AI-first customer engagement ecosystem through its AI-powered CX platform Harmony.

8B and PayU partner to bring Indian Payment methods like UPI to Central Asia

8B, a Central Asian fintech infrastructure company, and PayU have signed a partnership to bring UPI, one of the world’s fastest-growing digital payment systems, and other Indian payment offerings to Central Asia.

Indian travellers can now pay using multiple methods like, UPI, Net banking, Indian debit and credit cards, across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and the broader region due to the integration of PayU’s APIs into 8B’s merchant network.

The move comes amid rapid growth in India–Central Asia tourism and trade, with Indian tourists emerging as a key segment and marks a significant milestone in strengthening the digital payment infrastructures between the two economies.

Revature launches its FDE Accelerator Program 

Technology talent-as-a service provider Revature has launched its FDE Accelerator Prgram. The new training programme is designed to evolve enterprise talent into AI-native Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs), a new class of engineers who bridge code, systems, and real business outcomes.

Built on the firm’s Hire-Train-Deploy (HTD) model, it focuses on creating production-ready talent from day one. This new initiative is powered by the Revature Evolv platform which is an AI-native talent transformation platform that combines modular architecture, proprietary AI technologies, and AI-native pedagogy to deliver personalized, production-aligned learning journeys.

The FDE has been designed for enterprise-scale AI transformation. It enables the engineers to bridge code, systems, and business impact.

Funding News

Atlys announces its first ESOP buyback worth Rs 4 Cr

Visa processing platform Atlys said it has held its first ESOP buyback worth Rs 4 crore. Eligible employees were offered the option to liquidate up to 25% of their vested stock options, the company said.

Recently, Atlys also raised $36 million in a Series C round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital and is currently on a 700,000+ annual visa run rate and has grown 11x since 2024. The company has also expanded across the UAE, the US, the UK, and Australia, with these markets now accounting for nearly half of its business.

Filli & Me raises 1.5 Cr Pre-Seed funding led by D2C Insider Super Angels

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) kids accessories brand, Filli & Me has raised Rs 1.5 crores in a pre-seed funding round led by D2C Insider Super Angels. The investment is a mix of equity and debt and will be directed towards product development, brand awareness, and scaling the company's direct-to-consumer presence and sales channels.

The brand was founded in 2025 by Co-founders, Shikha Pahwa and Vishal Verma.

The company aims to expand into new product categories, digital channels, and retail partnerships as their goal is too reach as many families as possible.

IAN Group leads Rs 22 Cr funding round in RoshAi

IAN Group, an early-stage investment platform, has led a Rs 22 crore funding round in RoshAi through its IAN Alpha Fund, the second in its series of venture capital funds.

RoshAi is a deep-tech autonomy startup that develops retrofit-based driverless solutions for industrial vehicles. The company plans to use the fresh capital to strengthen its product capabilities, expand deployments, and scale its presence in global industrial markets.

(The copy will be updated with the latest news)