Startup news and updates: daily roundup (August 19, 2026)

From private equity firm KKR picking up a minority stake in BookMyShow to Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath investing Rs 200 crore in hyperscale data centre operator Ctrls, YourStory brings you today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors.

Latest news

PE firm KKR picks up minority stake in BookMyShow

Global private equity giant KKR has picked up a minority stake in digital ticketing platform BookMyShow for an undisclosed value.

A statement from KKR said the investment will support BookMyShow's next phase of growth as it aims to scale its live entertainment business with the goal of bringing global artists to Indian audiences, and deepen its full-stack offering across India.

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Funding news

Nikhil Kamath invests Rs 200 Cr in Ctrls’ Rs 250 Cr fund raise

Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath has invested Rs 200 crore in CtrlS, the India based hyperscale data centre operator, alongside a Rs 50 crore investment by entrepreneur Sreeram Reddy Vanga.

CtrlS will use this capital to support its infrastructure expansion and capacity build-out to meet growing enterprise and hyperscaler demand across India, particularly as AI, cloud, and digital workloads accelerate.

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Butterfly Learnings raises Rs 65 Cr funding

Butterfly Learnings, an Indian paediatric behavioural healthcare platform focused on children with neurodevelopmental conditions, has raised Rs 65 crore in a pre-Series B funding round led by Inflexor Ventures, a venture capital firm that backs early-stage technology companies.

Existing investors Enzia Ventures, Insitor Impact Asia Fund and IIMA Ventures also participated in the round.

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First Coffee raises $1.3M to expand specialty coffee chain

Specialty coffee chain First Coffee has raised $1.3 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Japanese venture capital firm DG Daiwa Ventures, with participation from BEENEXT and other investors. The company said the funding will support store expansion, team building, marketing and product development. It has now raised $2.5 million in total.

Founded in 2024, First Coffee operates a grab-and-go model and currently has more than 25 outlets across Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. The company plans to expand beyond North India and enter Tier 2 markets as it targets growth in India's rapidly expanding specialty coffee sector.

AlgoFET raises Rs 15 Cr to expand autonomous drone infrastructure

Bengaluru-based drone infrastructure startup AlgoFET has raised Rs 15 crore in a pre-Series A funding round led by Piper Serica. Founded in 2023, the company develops autonomous ground infrastructure that enables drones to dock, recharge and relaunch with minimal human intervention, supporting continuous and unattended operations.

AlgoFET said the funding will be used to accelerate product development, expand manufacturing, strengthen proprietary technology and scale deployments across defence, enterprise and international markets. The company has deployed more than 2,000 units, has a pipeline of over 4,000 units and works with drone manufacturers and the Indian Army. It also operates a 12,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Bengaluru.

Neuromod Aqua raises pre-seed funding to scale modular wastewater treatment

Neuromod Aqua has raised a pre-seed funding round from Sportskeeda founder Porush Jain to develop a factory-manufactured platform for decentralised sewage and effluent treatment. The company is building modular wastewater treatment plants using established technologies such as MBBR, MBR and SBR, while standardising design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

The funding will support manufacturing, product development, commercial deployments and the expansion of engineering and service capabilities. Neuromod plans to generate recurring revenue through maintenance, operations, compliance support and remote monitoring. Over the next year, it aims to launch its manufacturing facility and complete initial deployments in the Delhi NCR region.

Other news

AWS to open Builder Loft in Hyderabad

AWS will launch a Builder Loft in Hyderabad as part of its global expansion of the community-focused initiative, alongside new locations in Berlin and São Paulo. The permanent space will offer free workshops, networking events, pitch sessions, co-working areas, content creation facilities and event hosting for developers, students and technology professionals.

The Hyderabad centre will focus on AI and cloud-native technologies, providing developers with opportunities to build technical skills, collaborate with peers and access hands-on learning. The expansion follows the launch of the first AWS Builder Loft in San Francisco and reflects the company's focus on supporting India's growing developer community.

Amazon expands rail logistics network on Western Dedicated Freight Corridor

Amazon India has expanded its operations on Indian Railways' Western Dedicated Freight Corridor in partnership with the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India. The company has become the first e-commerce platform to operate on the Joint Parcel Product-Rapid Cargo Service train on the corridor, with daily rail movements linking its northern and western logistics network.

The route will connect Delhi, Ahmedabad and Surat, with onward links to Pune, Mumbai and Goa, shifting more shipments from road to rail ahead of the festive season. Amazon began using Indian Railways for parcel movement in 2019 and now operates more than 140 trains across 130 intercity routes serving over 100 cities.

Garuda Aerospace partners with Australian drone platform company TAS

IPO-bound Garuda Aerospace has signed an agreement with Australia's Timed Automation Solutions to collaborate on autonomous drone technologies. The partnership will combine Garuda's drone manufacturing and services capabilities with TAS's expertise in autonomous aerial operations, including drone-in-a-box systems, fleet management, AI-assisted image analysis and enterprise software integration.

The companies will explore opportunities in product distribution, joint technology development and domestic and international projects across sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure inspection and remote operations. The collaboration will also assess pilot deployments in Australia and New Zealand as Garuda expands its international presence.

World Economic Forum names Cropin a global innovator

The World Economic Forum has named agri-tech company Cropin a global innovator, recognising its work in applying artificial intelligence to agriculture. The recognition follows Cropin's earlier selection as a Technology Pioneer and will see the company contribute to the Forum's Centre for Nature and Climate.

Cropin operates in 103 countries and uses AI to help address challenges related to climate change, food security and agricultural productivity. The company said it has digitised more than 30 million acres of farmland, built intelligence covering over 1 billion acres and supported more than 7 million farmers.

Only 9% of Indian finance certification candidates feel prepared for an AI-driven job market

Only 9% of Indian finance certification candidates believe they have the skills needed to compete in an AI-driven job market, compared with 67% of graduates in a global CFA Institute survey, according to SSEI's Finance Talent Pulse 2026.

The survey found that 56% of Indian respondents believe AI and automation are making it harder to secure their preferred roles, while only 7% regularly use AI tools for financial analysis or modelling.

Practical experience emerged as the biggest concern, with 42% identifying it as their main skills gap and 42% reporting that they had never used AI in real financial work. The study surveyed 133 India-based CFA, FRM and CA candidates and compared the findings with a global survey of 9,000 graduates across 11 countries.

Avanade appoints Achal Kataria as India Managing Director and CEO

Avanade has appointed Achal Kataria as Managing Director and CEO for India, effective immediately. Kataria will lead the company's business strategy and operations in the country, with a focus on expanding its market presence and helping organisations scale digital and AI transformation initiatives.

He joins Avanade from Cognizant, where he led the company's India business. He has more than 30 years of experience across technology services, enterprise transformation and global operations. The appointment reflects Avanade's focus on India as a growth market, driven by increasing adoption of cloud technologies and enterprise AI.

Roamiyo launches travel app combining trip planning and collaboration tools

Roamiyo has launched a travel app that combines itinerary planning, group coordination and on-trip management in a single platform. The app offers three core features including personalised itinerary planning, Group Mode for shared trip coordination and Trip Mode for managing schedules while travelling.

Users can create customised itineraries, collaborate through shared plans and group chats, split expenses, store travel documents and access tools such as navigation, currency conversion, language translation and weather updates. Following a private beta involving more than 2,000 users, Roamiyo plans to focus on user growth and product development. 

MJ Digital Services launches Cashlo app for small retailers

MJ Digital Services has launched the Cashlo app, a digital business platform designed to help shopkeepers offer financial and utility services while creating additional income opportunities.

The platform enables merchants to provide services including UPI-based cash withdrawals, digital payments, mobile and DTH recharges, electricity, water and gas bill payments, FASTag services and other BBPS transactions.

Cashlo also offers access to personal, business and working-capital loan services through participating merchants. Additional features include Quick Khata for digital credit record management and tools covering accounting, GST and ITR requirements.

1% Club launches AI CFO

Finance creator and entrepreneur Sharan Hegde’s 1% Club has launched AI CFO, an AI-powered financial tool designed to provide personalised guidance and help users make better money decisions. The launch marks the company’s transition from a financial education platform towards a technology-led personal finance ecosystem. AI CFO is designed to understand an individual’s financial context and offer relevant guidance based on their needs.

It uses information such as cash flow, net worth, portfolio and holdings, along with 1% Club’s research, without requiring users to manually enter their financial details. The platform also offers portfolio reviews across eight parameters, including returns, fund quality, benchmark performance, allocation, concentration, overlap, cost and tax position.

Blue Machines AI launches Floe

Enterprise conversational AI platform Blue Machines AI has launched Floe, a proprietary context-aware language detection model designed for multilingual conversations. The model helps AI agents identify not only the language being used by customers but also whether they actually intend to switch languages during a conversation. Built around India’s multilingual communication patterns, Floe currently supports English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Odia and Punjabi.

The technology distinguishes between the presence of a language and a user’s actual language preference. It analyses words, parts of speech, sentence structure, short utterances and previous conversational context before deciding whether an AI agent should continue responding in the current language or initiate a switch.

Snowflake introduces dynamic AI model routing

Snowflake has announced dynamic model routing within Cortex AI Gateway and its flagship AI products, along with expanded access to leading open models. The company said the new capabilities are aimed at helping enterprises reduce unnecessary AI spending and improve “intelligence efficiency” by optimising the use of compute, models, data and context. Cortex AI Gateway provides a unified foundation for governing agent connections, routing requests and managing AI consumption.

Dynamic model routing automatically selects a model based on the required balance of quality and cost. Lower-complexity or repetitive tasks can be directed to more efficient models, while tasks requiring deeper reasoning are routed to frontier models. The capability is also integrated with Snowflake CoCo and Snowflake CoWork and is available to third-party AI agents.

CRED launches Circle by CRED

Fintech platform CRED has launched Circle by CRED, a new app designed to give members access to experienced individuals for personalised conversations and decision-making support. Through Circle, members can have one-on-one interactions with “Residents” who bring expertise across careers, money, wellness and relationships. Select members can access more than 100 Residents during the beta phase.

The service builds on CRED’s 1.7-crore community and is positioned as a way to provide members with fresh perspectives and practical guidance. Residents can act as thought partners, helping members interpret situations, recognise patterns and make decisions. Members can connect through text, audio or video between 6 pm and 10 pm, seven days a week. Pricing starts at Rs 25 per minute.

Hexaware launches Zero Vulnerability cybersecurity offering

Hexaware Technologies has announced Zero Vulnerability, a cybersecurity offering combining its expertise in cybersecurity, engineering, AI and remediation operations. The offering covers different IT environments, including custom applications, SaaS and PaaS platforms, third-party software and operating systems. Its remediation operating platform supports the complete lifecycle from ingestion and validation to prioritisation, routing, fixing, verification and closure.

The platform is designed to work alongside existing security and workflow tools rather than requiring enterprises to replace them. Hexaware’s evaluation across four detection lanes on production codebases consolidated 334 findings, of which 14 were ultimately verified as genuine vulnerabilities. A developer-validated review of 262 findings also identified an authentication-bypass weakness that had been missed by pattern-based rules.

Agent B Studio launches Visual AI platform

Agent B Studio has launched a Visual AI platform designed to bring the design workflow into a single connected system. Powered by a multimodal AI orchestration engine, the platform enables architects, interior designers, furniture brands and real estate developers to design, visualise, specify and deliver projects through one workflow. Unlike conventional AI image generators, Agent B Studio generates spatially accurate, photorealistic renders using real floor plans and dimensions.

Its tools include Layout to Render, Quick Generate, Smart Project, Photo Edit and Bella, an AI assistant. The platform also allows brands to integrate product catalogues directly into design workflows, connecting visualisation with commerce. Agent B Studio said it crossed 5,000 designer signups within 10 weeks of launch, with professionals adopting it as an end-to-end workflow solution.

Hostinger expands AI Builder into agentic platform

Hostinger is expanding beyond AI-generated websites with AI Builder, an agentic platform designed to help users build, run and grow online businesses. The platform combines AI-led creation and visual controls with backend infrastructure, ecommerce, embedded AI and marketing capabilities. It is designed to allow AI to establish and operate systems behind a project rather than simply generate an initial website.

Hostinger said the shift is particularly relevant for India’s small and mid-sized businesses seeking greater operational efficiency. AI Builder can help businesses create inventory trackers, order logs, customer databases and internal portals alongside websites and online stores. The company said projects outside traditional website categories have risen from less than 4% a year ago to nearly one in five today, including SaaS products, internal tools and learning platforms.

Embark launches GCC cost calculator

Embark, a platform focused on helping companies establish and expand Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India, has launched a web-based GCC Calculator. The tool provides companies with an instant estimate of the fully loaded cost of setting up and operating a GCC in India. It can also be used by companies already running GCCs to benchmark and validate their existing cost structures.

Users enter details including team size, roles and headquarters location, after which the calculator generates a cost model covering compensation, benefits, real estate, technology, infrastructure, compliance and one-time setup expenses. It also compares the cost of the same team with expenses in the company’s home market. Features include multi-geography, sector and currency support, CapEx amortisation, multiple locations and roles, and instant self-serve calculations.

Neo4j highlights growth among AI-native startups

Graph intelligence platform Neo4j has highlighted growing adoption among AI-native startups in India across sectors including fintech, enterprise AI, legaltech, healthtech, compliance, edtech and sports technology. These companies are part of Neo4j’s global Startup Program, which provides AI-native founders with cloud credits, technical enablement and go-to-market resources to help scale AI systems. The programme was launched as part of Neo4j’s $100 million investment in graph-powered AI.

The company said the initiative addresses challenges faced by enterprises attempting to move generative AI projects into production. According to the source document, MIT research shows that 95% of enterprise GenAI pilots fail to reach production, with lack of contextual understanding cited as a key challenge. Neo4j positions graph technology as a way to provide that contextual layer.

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