Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (July 24, 2026)
YourStory presents the daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Friday, July 24, 2026.
From conservation biologist Pooja Bhale’s heartwarming bond with her husky to Intel’s AI-powered revenue surge, YourStory brings you today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors.
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Conservation biologist Pooja Bhale on love, loss, and life with her husky
In 2022, in a stretch of ghat road just before Shimla, where several cars were lined up, a Siberian husky named Oslo was cooped up in a car. Stubborn, irritable and determined to get out, his human, Pooja Bhale, gave up and rolled down the window. As he popped his wolfy head out, every horn in the vicinity went silent.
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Startup founders are staying active, but burnout remains widespread: Survey
Earlier this week, over 150 founders, investors, and startup leaders gathered at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru’s Yelahanka, swapping boardrooms for badminton courts. It was the eighth edition of the Bertelsmann Badminton Championship, organised by venture capital firm Bertelsmann India Investments.
Intel reports fastest revenue growth in 15 years riding AI infra wave
Intel has reported its fastest revenue growth in more than 15 years, with the semiconductor company saying the global build-out of artificial intelligence infrastructure is driving stronger demand for its processors and manufacturing services.
The results also matter beyond Intel because they suggest that the AI investment cycle is widening beyond specialist AI chips to include the central processing units, packaging technologies and semiconductor manufacturing needed to support large-scale AI systems.
Other news
Groww Foundation backs 19 student innovation projects at IIT Bombay
Groww Foundation has selected 19 projects by 35 students from IIT Bombay for the first cohort of its INV.ENT programme, chosen from nearly 400 submissions. The initiatives span sectors including agri-tech, robotics, climate technology, assistive technology, edtech, gaming and defence, with many using AI and machine learning.
Three teams have been named Grand Challenge Fellows and are eligible for milestone-based grants of up to Rs 25 lakh each, while 16 teams will receive proof-of-concept grants of Rs 30,000. Participants will also receive mentoring and access to a 15,000 sq ft innovation space at IIT Bombay.
Veranda RACE partners with DRACS for civil services coaching
Veranda RACE has signed a memorandum of understanding with Dr Rajkumar Academy for Civil Services (DRACS) to integrate the two institutions. The partnership covers academic operations, brand management, government and institutional collaborations, and the continuation of DRACS' social initiatives.
Based in Bengaluru, DRACS has provided coaching for UPSC, KAS, KPSC and other state civil services examinations for the past nine years. The collaboration combines Veranda RACE's technology-enabled learning platform with DRACS' academic expertise and institutional partnerships.
FreshTerra launches first food retail store in Gurugram
Elixiir Foods has launched FreshTerra, a food retail brand founded by Arvind Mediratta and Ambuj Narayan, with its first store opening in Gurugram. The company has also launched a mobile app offering home delivery. FreshTerra focuses on fresh produce, grocery, dairy, meat and gourmet products, alongside in-store facilities for live flour milling, spice grinding, and cold-pressed oil extraction.
Elixiir Foods secured $9 million in seed funding in February 2026, led by 3one4 Capital with participation from Incubate Fund Asia. The company plans to expand to 12-15 stores across Delhi NCR by FY28.
Campus Fund appoints Howard L. Morgan to advisory board
Campus Fund has appointed venture capitalist Howard L. Morgan to its Global Advisory Board. Morgan is chair and general partner at B Capital and co-founder of First Round Capital, which made early investments in companies including Uber, Square, Roblox and Notion.
His appointment comes as Campus Fund deploys its third fund, a $100 million corpus announced in 2025 to back up to 60 student- and dropout-led startups over four years. Founded in 2020, the SEBI-registered venture capital fund focuses on early-stage startups across sectors including deep tech, space technology and climate technology.
Wow! Momo backs Bengal startup reality show
Wow! Momo has partnered with the Rajiva Sinha Foundation as the presenting partner of Tigers' Pitch, a startup reality show aimed at supporting entrepreneurs from West Bengal. The 10-episode series, which premieres on 25 July on Zee 24 Ghanta, will feature 27 startups selected from more than 248 applications.
Participants will compete for investment, mentorship and national exposure, with the initiative expected to facilitate investments worth Rs 48.98 crore during the season. Wow! Momo will also present the Best Pitch Award to the startup judged to have the strongest innovation and growth potential.
Fusion Klassroom Edutech IPO to open on July 31
Fusion Klassroom Edutech Ltd has announced the launch of its initial public offering (IPO), which will open on July 31 and close on August 4, with the anchor investor portion opening on July 30. The IPO comprises a fresh issue of up to 19.89 lakh equity shares and an offer for sale of up to 4.65 lakh shares, aggregating 24.55 lakh shares.
The company will announce the price band and issue size before the opening. Proceeds from the fresh issue will be used to repay borrowings, strengthen AI/ML technology development, expand cloud infrastructure, develop educational content, equip offline AI labs, support marketing initiatives, pursue acquisitions and meet general corporate requirements.
Microsoft, Databricks extend strategic partnership into 2030s
Microsoft and Databricks have expanded their decade-long strategic partnership, extending their collaboration into the 2030s to accelerate enterprise AI adoption. Under the agreement, Databricks will deepen its use of Azure Databricks to power business operations while leveraging Microsoft's Azure Cobalt Arm-based infrastructure for improved performance and efficiency.
Microsoft will continue integrating the Databricks Data and AI platform across its products, including Genie, Databricks' AI co-worker. The companies said the partnership aims to help enterprises build AI systems grounded in their own business data while improving governance, cost efficiency and scalability. The collaboration is designed to address enterprise challenges around trusted data, AI governance and operational control.
Wockhardt Foundation's Mobile1000 crosses 51M patient interactions
Wockhardt Foundation's flagship Mobile1000 programme has crossed 51.1 million patient interactions, marking a significant milestone in delivering primary healthcare to underserved communities across India. The initiative operates 211 Mobile Medical Units across 21 states, covering nearly 73 districts and around 2,919 villages.
Built on the Foundation's ADCR model, the programme offers free doctor consultations, diagnostics, medicines, preventive screenings and referrals supported by digital health records. Following the milestone, the Foundation plans to expand the network to 1,000 Mobile Medical Units while strengthening telemedicine, digital diagnostics and partnerships with governments and corporate CSR programmes to improve last-mile healthcare delivery across rural and urban India.
Genpact launches AI-powered banking compliance platform
Genpact has launched the Genpact Banking Analyst Suite, an enterprise platform that uses agentic AI to streamline regulated banking operations. Its first module, Genpact Transaction Monitoring Analyst, is now generally available to help banks investigate anti-money laundering (AML) alerts more efficiently while ensuring human oversight and complete auditability.
The platform coordinates AI agents to analyse customer behaviour, review transactions, validate customer profiles and recommend next steps, with final decisions remaining with human analysts. Genpact said the solution can reduce handling time for eligible AML investigations by up to 80% and lower total ownership costs by up to 40%, while delivering more consistent and well-documented compliance investigations.
Baring PE clocks 20x return through partial exit from LOHUM
Baring Private Equity Partners (India) has realised around Rs 370 crore through a partial exit from its investment in sustainable materials company LOHUM, generating more than a 20-times return on invested capital and an internal rate of return exceeding 80%. Baring, which first invested in LOHUM in 2020, continues to remain a significant shareholder through other funds.
The investment has become one of the firm's highest-multiple exits to date. LOHUM also highlighted its employee wealth creation initiatives, stating it has facilitated more than ₹100 crore in cumulative ESOP liquidity. The company focuses on sustainable critical minerals and advanced materials for global supply chains.
Progress Software to acquire Domo's AI platform assets
Progress Software has signed an agreement to acquire substantially all the assets and assume certain liabilities of Domo, including its AI and data products platform. The acquisition is aimed at strengthening Progress' AI infrastructure offerings by expanding its data platform capabilities and enhancing AI readiness solutions for enterprises.
Domo brings more than 2,400 business customers and an extensive ecosystem of cloud data warehouse partnerships. Progress said the acquisition aligns with its Total Growth Strategy, which focuses on acquiring complementary businesses with strong customer retention and recurring revenue. The company expects the deal to strengthen its portfolio of secure, scalable AI and data management solutions.
(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)