Results (439 found)

StartupsJun 8, 2026

Deepinder Goyal & Pankaj Chaddah — A Bored Office Lunch That Became a $10 Billion Food Delivery Giant

In 2008, Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah were management consultants at Bain & Company in Delhi. Their office cafeteria served the same boring food every day. So they scanned menus from local restaurants, uploaded them on a simple website, and asked colleagues to order collectively. That side project became Zomato. Today, Zomato is India’s largest food delivery and restaurant discovery platform, recently turned profitable, and has expanded to 20+ countries. This article traces Zomato’s pivot from a menu-aggregator to a delivery giant, its acquisition of Blinkit (quick commerce), its viral IPO, and its journey to profitability. We also analyze how the company navigated the “deep discounting” war with Swiggy and the changing economics of food delivery.

FundingJun 8, 2026

India's $588 Million Week: The Second-Highest Weekly Funding in 2026 and What It Tells Us About Structural Momentum

The second week of April 2026 saw Indian startups raise $588 million — a 4X surge from the prior week and the second time in 2026 that weekly funding crossed $500 million. This is not a story about an exceptional week. It is a story about a system finding its rhythm.

StartupsJun 8, 2026

Bhavish Aggarwal — Thrown Out of a Taxi at Midnight, He Built a $7 Billion Mobility Empire

Excerpt: In 2010, Bhavish Aggarwal was returning from a work trip when his cab driver forced him to get off on a highway because the driver wanted to go home. Stranded at midnight with no other transport, Bhavish realized that India’s taxi system was broken — no reliability, no accountability, no customer power. That night, he decided to build Ola Cabs. Today, Ola is India’s largest ride-hailing platform with over 200 million users, and has expanded into electric vehicles (Ola Electric), which is now a public company valued at over $4 billion. This research article traces Ola’s battle with Uber, its controversial shutdown of hundreds of drivers’ accounts during a surge in competition, its pivot to EVs, and its IPO journey. We also analyze Bhavish’s aggressive, “take no prisoners” leadership style and his vision of making India a global EV hub.

StartupsJun 8, 2026

Ritesh Agarwal — The Teenager Who Slept on a Friend’s Bed and Built a $9 Billion Hotel Chain

At 17, Ritesh Agarwal landed in Delhi with ₹20,000 in his pocket and no place to stay. He crashed on a friend’s single bed in a cramped hostel dorm. That uncomfortable night sparked an idea: millions of young Indians needed safe, affordable, and predictable accommodation. He dropped out of college, started OYO Rooms, and turned it into India’s largest hospitality chain, valued at over $9 billion at its peak, operating in 80+ countries. This article traces Ritesh’s journey from a small-town Odisha boy to Asia’s youngest self-made billionaire. We analyze OYO’s asset-light franchise model, its aggressive expansion, the near-collapse during COVID, and its painful but necessary pivot to profitability. The story of OYO is a lesson in audacity, crisis management, and the high cost of hyper-growth.

FundingJun 8, 2026

The $385 Million Week: What April 2026's Indian Startup Funding Surge Reveals About Ecosystem Depth and Investor Conviction

Twenty-four startups, ten sectors, $385 million, seven days. The week of April 6 to 11, 2026 was not a lucky spike — it was a window into the underlying state of an ecosystem that has been quietly building toward this kind of sustained activity for a decade.

FundingJun 7, 2026

KreditBee's $280 Million Raise, the Week Indian Startups Raised $588 Million, and What It All Means for the Ecosystem

April 2026 will be remembered as the month India's startup ecosystem demonstrated, with unmistakable clarity, that it is not merely resilient — it is genuinely thriving. We trace the story of a remarkable funding period and what it reveals about the deeper forces at work.

StartupsJun 7, 2026

Nirmal Kumar — The Chennai Techie Who Built an AI Adtech Startup That’s Democratising Digital Advertising

Excerpt: In a world where digital advertising is dominated by Google and Facebook, a Chennai‑born engineer spotted a gap: small and medium businesses (SMBs) want to run ads but lack the time, budget, or expertise to manage complex campaigns. Nirmal Kumar founded Zocket — an AI‑powered adtech platform that automates the creation, targeting, and optimisation of social media ads. From a small office in Chennai, Zocket has grown to serve over 10,000 businesses across India, raised $5 million in funding, and is now expanding into the Middle East. This research article traces Nirmal’s journey from a software engineer at Freshworks to a deep‑tech founder solving a real‑world problem for millions of SMBs. We analyze Zocket’s proprietary AI engine, its “self‑serve” model that lowers the barrier to entry, and its partnerships with major ad platforms. The piece also explores how Nirmal kept Zocket’s engineering and product teams in Tamil Nadu, building a global adtech company from Chennai — and why he believes the next wave of AI startups will come from Tier‑2 cities.

StartupsJun 7, 2026

Prashanth Ranganathan — The Tech Entrepreneur Who Built a Global Digital Engineering Firm and Powered Chennai’s Angel Ecosystem

Excerpt: In the crowded landscape of Indian tech services, Prashanth Ranganathan chose a different path. Instead of competing on price, he built Payoda — a digital engineering and product development firm — on the promise of deep technical expertise, long‑term client partnerships, and a relentless focus on emerging technologies like AI, IoT, and cloud. From a small office in Chennai, Payoda grew into a global enterprise serving Fortune 500 clients, with delivery centres across the US and India. But Prashanth’s impact extends beyond his own company. As a founding member and active leader of Chennai Angels — one of India’s oldest and most successful angel networks — he has mentored and funded dozens of Tamil Nadu startups, channelling capital and expertise back into the local ecosystem. This research article traces his journey from a software engineer to a serial entrepreneur and ecosystem builder, analyzing his philosophy of “patient capital,” his bet on deep‑tech services over body‑shopping, and his role in transforming Chennai’s startup culture.

StartupsJun 7, 2026

Sanjay Nekkanti & Co‑founders — From a Student Satellite to India’s Most Ambitious Space Tech Venture

Excerpt: Long before the Indian government opened the space sector to private players, a young engineer from Chennai was already dreaming of building satellites. Sanjay Nekkanti, along with Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy, Abhay Egoor, and Krishna Teja Penamakuru, founded Dhruva Space in 2012 — at a time when the very idea of a private Indian space company seemed impossible. Over a decade later, the company has successfully launched multiple missions, secured a ₹450 crore order book, built one of India’s largest satellite manufacturing facilities, and is preparing to launch commercial payloads aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9. This research article traces Dhruva Space’s journey from a Chennai apartment to a global space engineering leader, analyzing its vertically integrated “full-stack” model, its landmark Thybolt mission (India’s first private satellite), its ₹123 crore Series A funding, and its ambitious Polar Access programme. The piece also explores how these Tamil Nadu‑rooted founders persevered through 162 investor rejections to build the hardware powering India’s orbital future.

StartupsJun 7, 2026

Abhishek Goyal & Neha Singh — The Husband‑Wife Duo Who Built a ₹100 Crore Data Intelligence Unicorn from Tamil Nadu

Excerpt: In an era where startup success is often measured in billion‑dollar valuations, Abhishek Goyal and Neha Singh took a different path. As former venture capitalists at Accel and Sequoia, they saw firsthand how the private markets lacked a reliable, searchable database of startups, investors, and funding rounds. So they built it themselves — from their home in Chennai. Their startup, Tracxn, began as a bootstrapped venture, grew with backing from Ratan Tata, and went public in 2022 at a valuation of over ₹100 crore. This research article traces Tracxn’s journey from a small Chennai apartment to a leading global market intelligence platform serving clients across 50+ countries. We analyze its unique “Bloomberg for private markets” business model, its asset‑light SaaS approach, and its post‑IPO transition to profitability. The piece also explores how this Tamil Nadu‑rooted couple balanced family, fundraising, and a pandemic‑era IPO — and why they remain committed to Chennai as their operational base.