Starbucks picks Chennai for first India GCC; Building a Wi-Fi software powerhouse
Starbucks Coffee Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Anand Varadarajan said the availability of skilled talent in Chennai and lower attrition rates were among the factors that influenced the company’s decision to establish the GCC in Tamil Nadu.
Dear Reader,
The National Stock Exchange of India’s (NSE) Rs 22,569-crore initial public offering, the country's second-largest to date, was subscribed 3.92 times on the final day of bidding on Monday. While the massive issue surpassed LIC's Rs 21,000-crore IPO from 2022, it trails only Hyundai Motor India's record Rs 27,870-crore offer in 2024.
Last Wednesday, the NSE raised Rs 6,746 crore from anchor investors, including state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Goldman Sachs and Fidelity.
Soach Global is selling 20% of its decade-old stake in NSE via the exchange’s IPO, in a partial exit that could fetch about Rs 280-295 crore. The fund will retain the remaining 80% of its holding, which was originally acquired in 2016 and has since risen sharply in value following corporate actions.
Meanwhile, digital lending platform Moneyview Ltd is set to launch its Rs 1,092-crore IPO on September 24.
The price band has been fixed at Rs 32-34 per equity share, valuing the company at nearly Rs 6,000 crore at the upper limit.
In other news, Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan urged Microsoft to build future data centres near power generation sources rather than coastal cable landing stations like Chennai during the launch of the company's fourth Indian cloud region in Hyderabad on Monday. He noted that locating facilities closer to power hubs would significantly reduce operational costs for both Microsoft and the country compared to building near cable landing sites.
Microsoft on Monday formally launched its fourth India cloud region, in Hyderabad, as part of its $20.5 billion investment commitment to the country's digital and AI infrastructure.
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- Starbucks plans first India GCC in Chennai
- Building a Wi-Fi software powerhouse
Here’s your trivia for today: Who was adviser to Odysseus whose name is now synonymous with a trusted counsellor? (Scroll down for answer)
News
Starbucks plans first India GCC in Chennai
Global coffee chain Starbucks has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tamil Nadu government to establish its first Global Capability Centre (GCC) in India.
Based in Chennai, the new standalone entity will operate independently from Starbucks' retail joint venture with Tata Consumer Products and is expected to create 800 new jobs.
Key takeaways:
- Starbucks Coffee Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Anand Varadarajan said the availability of skilled talent in Chennai and lower attrition rates were among the factors that influenced the company’s decision to establish the GCC in Tamil Nadu.
- GCCs in India have evolved from simple back-office support hubs into core innovation centres managing end-to-end global functions.
- Recruitment trends show GCCs outhiring traditional IT services firms, recruiting 180,000 candidates in FY26 compared to IT services firms’ 120,000.
In Depth
Building a Wi-Fi software powerhouse
For 22 years, Silicon Valley veteran Rajesh Subramaniam has quietly built embedUR Systems, a Chennai-and-US-based embedded software company whose code powers millions of Wi-Fi routers, enterprise access points, and connected devices globally. Bootstrapped from day one, embedUR has grown into an enterprise of nearly 500 employees that major global chipmakers rely on.
Power up:
- To capture the physical AI market, Subramaniam spun off ModelNova in July 2026. While embedUR uses a "build-once, sell-once" custom software model, ModelNova relies on a recurring software licensing model for lightweight, on-device AI algorithms.
- ModelNova avoids hyper-scale AI chips (like Nvidia) to focus on unglamorous microprocessors in industrial, medical, and consumer devices, offering a "model zoo" of 200+ ready-to-deploy vision and audio algorithms for chipmakers like STMicroelectronics, Infineon, and Ceva.
- The founder pledged a Rs 500 crore five-year investment commitment in Tamil Nadu (Rs 100 crore/year), using the funds to scale R&D, expand ModelNova, and build curriculum partnerships directly with local engineering colleges.
News & updates
- Fuel shortage: Global diesel shortages, triggered by wars in Iran and Ukraine, are unlikely to get better before next year, according to industry watchers. Diesel inventories have hit historic lows after the wars disrupted critical supply chains.
- Back in the game: Bitcoin rose above $85,000 on Monday as the cryptocurrency continued its sharp rally over the past few days. Investors are assessing whether the “crypto winter”, a period where digital assets struggled to gain traction, is over.
Who was adviser to Odysseus whose name is now synonymous with a trusted counsellor? (Scroll down for answer)
Answer: Mentor
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