Private equity firm Motilal Oswal’s PPE bet; Samtel Avionics, Japanese firm BULL Co sign deal for space debris

Dear Reader,

India has ordered action against 15 offshore crypto platforms for allegedly operating in the country without complying with its anti-money laundering framework. The Financial Intelligence Unit-India has issued non-compliance notices to platforms including Weex, Blofin, Bitunix, DigiFinex, Toobit, XT.com, WOO X and Pionex, and sought the takedown of their apps and websites. Offshore virtual digital asset service providers are required to register with FIU-IND and comply with reporting obligations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Primary market demand surged on Wednesday as six IPOs launched simultaneously, with Rentomojo, Karamtara Engineering, and LCC Projects all getting fully subscribed on day one.

The Rs 1,256-crore IPO of Rentomojo attracted bids for 3.08 crore shares against 2.18 crore shares on offer, translating into a subscription of 1.42 times. The online furniture and appliance rental platform has fixed a price band of Rs 384-404 per equity share, PTI reported.

Meanwhile, fintech company BharatPe is doubling down on AI. At the Global Fintech Fest 2026, the company launched two new tools: BharatPe Agentic AI, an AI assistant for merchants, and Credit Coach, which leverages AI to increase credit awareness among users.

Elsewhere, Meta has unveiled Muse, a personal AI agent built to execute multi-step tasks across websites and connected services autonomously, marking a shift from passive QA models to proactive, unsupervised AI.

While tech companies are rolling out new tools that purportedly make our lives easier, a former AI researcher has sounded an alarm bell over AI development. 

AI researcher Jacob Coxon has resigned from Anthropic, following three years of pretraining research across OpenAI and Anthropic. He has warned that leading laboratories are recklessly prioritising rapid technological progress over human safety.

“The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt. If anything, many executives and senior researchers will couch their phrasing in the press to sound sensible - but I hear the same people express fear privately,” he said.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Private equity firm Motilal Oswal’s PPE bet
• Samtel Avionics, Japanese firm BULL Co sign deal for space debris

Here’s your trivia for today: What collaborative workplace software was originally created as a corporate wiki tool called Confluence by two college friends in Australia?  (Scroll down for answer)

Funding

Private equity firm Motilal Oswal’s PPE bet

Private equity firm Motilal Oswal Alternates has invested Rs 600 crore ($63 million) in KARAM Safety, one of India's leading occupational safety solutions and personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers. The deal marks the fifth deployment from Motilal Oswal’s Rs 8,500 crore India Business Excellence Fund V (IBEF V). 

Founded in 1998, KARAM Safety will use the capital infusion to bolster product R&D, expand manufacturing capacities, and pursue strategic inorganic acquisitions across global markets.

Key Takeaways:

• The Rs 600 crore investment provides KARAM Safety with financial leverage to execute an aggressive growth and product diversification strategy.
• Funds will primarily target strategic acquisitions in complementary product categories and international markets, alongside expanding distribution across the US, Europe, LATAM, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.
• The deal underscores growing private equity interest in industrial safety and specialised manufacturing, driven by stricter global safety regulations, sustained industrial capex, and India's rising footprint as a high-quality manufacturing hub.

<Funding Alert>

Startup: QNu Labs

Amount: Rs 200 Cr

Round: Series A1

Startup: Carrum Mobility

Amount: $10M

Round: Series B

Spacetech

Samtel Avionics,  and Japan’s BULL Co team up on space debris

Indian defence and aerospace manufacturer Samtel Avionics has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese space-tech startup BULL Co., Ltd. to explore combining passive post-mission disposal (PMD) technologies with active debris removal systems. 

The partnership aims to develop practical, scalable solutions for space sustainability by addressing both prevention (ensuring operational satellites de-orbit upon retirement) and active remediation (removing legacy debris). The move highlights Samtel Avionics' broader expansion from traditional defence avionics into satellite systems and advanced spacetech.

Space race:

• The agreement is exploratory rather than a commitment to a commercial product, but it points to a broader shift in the space industry towards tackling debris both before and after satellites stop operating.
• The European Space Agency estimates that about 40,000 objects are currently tracked in Earth orbit, including roughly 11,000 active payloads.
• Under the MoU, the companies will examine technical requirements, system interfaces, customisation and possible integration.

News & updates

• New beginnings: Ajit Mohan, Snap’s Chief Business Officer, is leaving the company after nearly four years, concluding a tenure during which he helped rebuild the Snapchat parent’s global advertising business. Snap has appointed Ronan Harris, previously President of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as Chief Commercial Officer.
• Math problem: A 90-year-old maths problem that had stumped mathematicians may have finally met its match in AI. However, OpenAI’s claimed breakthrough has stirred debate over who gets the credit when AI helps make a discovery. 
• Buy European: As part of its “Buy European” plan, the EU has called for an overhaul of EU public procurement rules. Authorities in Europe will now be encouraged to buy more domestic goods and services locally when they spend public money. The EU has taken this step to counter China’s growing economic power. 

What collaborative workplace software was originally created as a corporate wiki tool called Confluence by two college friends in Australia? 

Answer: Atlassian