Startup news and updates: daily roundup (May 21, 2026)
YourStory presents the daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Thursday, May 21, 2026.
Featured stories
How FIS’ India GCC is building scalable AI for financial services
Global financial technology company Fidelity Information Services (FIS) is rolling out artificial intelligence (AI) solutions only after ensuring they meet three main criteria—scalability, trust, and value. Its Global Capability Centre (GCC) in India is playing a central role in ensuring these principles are embedded across deployments.
FIS made its India entry in 2003 and today employs around 15,000 people across its Bengaluru and Chennai centres. As AI adoption accelerates, the company has gone ahead in integrating this technology into building newer products that aim at higher efficiency, speed and accuracy.
How Karghewale is creating a new generation of artisan entrepreneurs
While working with the WomenWeave Charitable Trust in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh, Nivedita Rai and Sourodip Ghosh witnessed the same problem unfold over the course of five years. Skilled weavers, trained in techniques preserved across generations, were earning only between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 a month.
Meanwhile, the same fabric was later sold by buyers at several times the price. The math was broken right at the start.
Latest news
NVIDIA’s Huang says world will have ‘billions of agents’ as AI boom lifts fiscal results
Jensen Huang, founder and chief executive officer of NVIDIA, said “agentic AI has arrived” as the world’s most valuable company posted another quarter of strong growth, driven by soaring global demand for AI infrastructure.
“The world has a billion human users. My sense is that the world is gonna have billions of agents,” the NVIDIA chief noted.
Funding news
Scapia raises $63M led by General Catalyst
Bengaluru-headquartered travel-fintech startup Scapia has raised $63 million in a fresh round of funding led by General Catalyst and also saw participation of existing investors, Peak XV Partners and Z47.
Scapia said it will utilise this fresh funding towards strengthening its brand and artificial intelligence led initiatives. Besides, this will also be utilised for hiring AI talent across functions of engineering, product, data sciences and design.
Clouted raises $7M led by Slow Ventures
Clouted has raised $7 million in a seed funding round led by Slow Ventures, with participation from Gold House Ventures, Weekend Fund, LINE-Yahoo’s Z VC, Gondor Capital, Iterative, AppWorks, Peak XV’s Surge, and a16z Speedrun.
Alongside the raise, Clouted has also publicly launched its Distribution Intelligence platform, an AI-powered infrastructure layer designed to make viral marketing more repeatable, measurable, and effective over time.
Since October 2025, the platform claims to have generated over 1 billion views and executed 250+ campaigns across entertainment, music, gaming, and consumer brands.
Lumikai leads $400,000 pre-Seed round in Meta Fashion
Meta Fashion, a new-age digital fashion platform has raised approximately $400,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by Lumikai, an interactive media, digital platforms, and games-focused VC fund.
The round also saw participation from prominent angel investors including Big Bets (the family office of Anton Gauffin, founder of HUUUGE Games), Akshat Rathee, Founder of Nodwin Gaming, and Pratham Mittal, Founder of Masters’ Union.
The company was founded in 2022 by Arjun Goel, a 19-year-old entrepreneur who appeared on Shark Tank. Meta Fashion has already sold over 2.5 million virtual items on Roblox, generating a GMV of $300,000.
Other news
Skydo gets GIFT City and RBI approvals for cross-border payments expansion
Skydo has received in-principle approval to operate as a payment service provider at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) International Financial Services Centre .
The approval will help Skydo expand multi-currency collections, e-money accounts, merchant acquisition and global payment corridors for MSMEs, exporters and digital-first businesses.
Zendesk introduces autonomous service workforce
Zendesk has introduced its autonomous service workforce platform, featuring AI agents, agent builder, copilots and outcome-based pricing to automate customer and employee support across chat, email, voice, WhatsApp and AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini.
The company said the platform is powered by the Zendesk resolution platform, trained on nearly 20 billion ticket interactions, and is designed to improve issue resolution instead of only reducing support tickets.
redBus report shows 24% growth in India’s intercity bus travel sector
redBus has released its latest India BusTrack Report, showing that India’s intercity bus sector carried 147.19 million passengers between October 2025 and March 2026, marking a 24% rise in passenger volumes. Gross ticketing value increased 20% to Rs 142.16 billion, while the number of active private operators crossed 6,800.
The report also found growing demand for comfort-led travel, with sleeper and hybrid buses accounting for 86% of journeys and AC buses making up 72% of trips. Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka recorded the highest share of seat bookings, while smaller towns and cities contributed 62% of digital bus journeys.
Snabbit leader Ishan Kansal moves on to join Sadev Ventures
Sadev Ventures has appointed Ishan Kansal as co-founder and managing partner. Kansal is expected to join the firm in early June 2026 and will be based out of Bengaluru
An alumnus of Indian Institute of Management Indore, he brings extensive experience across consumer internet, fintech, insurtech, and investment banking, having worked across both operating and growth-stage startup environments.
He joins Sadev Ventures from Snabbit, where he served as head of product, leading product, data, and design for the brand.
IIT Mandi, Imarticus Learning bring AI minor degree
Imarticus Learning has announced an institutional partnership initiative to enable colleges across India to offer an IIT Mandi-designed minor degree in artificial intelligence to undergraduate students.
The curriculum covers core and advanced areas, including AI, machine learning, deep learning, generative AI, natural language processing, computer vision, AI deployment, and real-world applications.
The programme follows a structured seven-semester learning pathway that gradually builds student capability from foundational concepts to advanced AI implementation and project-based learning. It's also aligned with the multidisciplinary direction of NEP 2020.
Cashify branded ‘Cashify Select’ store launches in Bengaluru
Cashify has launched its first-ever Cashify Select branded store in Bengaluru.
The store will offer refurbished smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, wearables, and audio products, along with device exchange and upgrade services.
Cashify currently operates over 250 branded stores across 95 cities and continues to expand its offline retail footprint across India.
Snabbit marks foray into beauty services with instant salon-at-home model
Snabbit has announced its entry into the beauty services category with an instant salon-at-home offering that brings trained beauty professionals to customers’ homes within minutes.
The platform currently operates entirely through women beauty professionals with experience ranging from 3 to 14 years, who are also undergoing additional training at Snabbit’s dedicated training centres. Positioned as a “salon by women, for women,” the service is designed around convenience, comfort and trust for female consumers. Importantly, the platform has no minimum order value, with offerings starting at just Rs 49.
Curelo strengthens leadership team
Curelo has announced the expansion of its leadership team to strengthen its technology, innovation capacity, scalability, and growth potential.
The expanded leadership team now includes Dr. Amit Arora as co-founder & COO, Aniruddha Kannal as chief product & technology officer, and Abhinay Singh as director-growth & digital of Curelo.
As co-founder & COO, Arora will lead Curelo’s logistics, operations, and execution strategy. Kannal will lead Curelo’s product innovation and technology roadmap as CPTO while Singh will be Leading Curelo’s consumer growth and digital expansion as its Director of Growth & Digital.
Mphasis-ISB launch AI research hub
Mphasis and Indian School of Business have launched the ‘Mphasis AI Hub’ to accelerate AI-led research, innovation, and capacity building in India. Supported by the Mphasis F1 Foundation, with an investment of nearly ₹20 crore over four years in Phase 1, the initiative will initially focus on the healthcare and finance sectors.
The AI research hub at ISB will drive interdisciplinary research, responsible AI adoption, impact assessment, and digital literacy initiatives. The collaboration will also develop frameworks for evaluating AI deployments, generate policy insights, create AI learning resources, and strengthen partnerships across academia, industry, and government to support long-term AI innovation in India.
Sychedelic raises $3.5M seed funding
Sychedelic, a neuromodulation wearable startup operating in India and the US, has raised $3.5 million in a seed funding round led by Cultadvisors LLP, TurboStart, Ideabaaz, and Praveek Ventures. Founded by Ria Rustagi and Bhavya, the company is developing what it describes as the world’s first closed-loop neuromodulation wearable in a consumer headphone format.
The device integrates transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), binaural beats, and HRV biofeedback to provide adaptive mental wellness support. The AI-powered system continuously monitors users' mental and biometric states to personalise stimulation in real time, targeting stress reduction, focus enhancement, sleep support, and long-term mental wellness outcomes.
Finkurve reports strong FY26 growth
Finkurve Financial Services Limited has reported strong financial performance for Q4 FY26, with total income rising 71.21% year-on-year to ₹69.21 crore. Net interest income increased 36.87% to ₹47.44 crore, while profit after tax more than doubled to ₹8.04 crore.
The gold loan NBFC maintained healthy asset quality with gross NPA at 0.13% and capital adequacy ratio at 30.96%. During FY26, the company crossed ₹1,000 crore in assets under management, driven by its technology-led phygital strategy, branch expansion, and growing customer adoption. Cash and cash equivalents stood at ₹102.12 crore, representing 8.28% of total assets at the end of the financial year.
Aurionpro secures large fintech order in the US
Aurionpro Solutions, through its US subsidiary Aurionpro Fintech Inc, has secured its largest order win in the US market by signing a three-year engagement with a leading American digital insurance payments fintech platform.
The contract is expected to generate over $33 million in revenue during the engagement period. Under the expanded mandate, Aurionpro will provide payment platform enhancement, cloud and DevOps services, AI solutions and data engineering support.
The company said the engagement significantly expands its existing relationship with the client and strengthens its position in the payments and fintech ecosystem through advanced AI platforms, digital engineering capabilities and scalable technology solutions.
K Hospitality launches consumer retail fund
K Hospitality Corp has launched Kliff Ventures, a consumer retail investment fund focused on scaling emerging brands across food and beverage, retail and consumer services sectors. The platform aims to bridge gaps in India’s consumer ecosystem by combining patient capital with operational expertise.
Kliff Ventures will work closely with selected high-potential brands, offering strategic guidance, execution support, and ecosystem partnerships alongside funding. Karan Kapur, Executive Director of K Hospitality Corp and Kliff Ventures, said the initiative aims to help ambitious founders build future consumer retail leaders through long-term partnerships and operating experience. The company said the fund is designed as an operating-led investment platform to support businesses across multiple stages of growth.
(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)