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Drivers of ride-hailing platforms like Ola, Uber, Rapido and Porter are planning to go on a nationwide strike on Saturday…

For over three decades, sports goods trader S.P. Gupta of Etawah district has run a business shaped by routine travel, steady learning, and a close understanding of local demand. His work centres on the sale and servicing of sports equipment, including rackets, bats and carrom boards, as well as supplies for institutional and government buyers. The shop also undertakes racket stringing, a specialised service that has grown steadily in recent years.Gupta says he began this work in his early years and has stayed with it ever since, without shifting to any other occupation. In the early phase, his business operated on a very small scale. Stock was sourced from outside towns, carried by bus, and sold locally. The work involved frequent travel and long days, but it allowed him to understand pricing, quality, and the needs of players in and around Etawah.Starting small and staying localWhen Gupta began, organised sports retail was limited in the district. He recalls making regular trips to Meerut to procure goods and returning by bus, with equipment packed carefully for resale. Over time, the effort helped him build trust among customers and schools, many of whom returned repeatedly for repairs and replacements.Today, the business operates…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

Material Depot, a home interiors materials platform, has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Accel and Stellaris Venture Partners. The round also saw participation from Whiteboard Capital, DeVC, Soma Capital, MyAsiaVC, and several angel investors, including Ramakant Sharma of Livspace, Ankit Nagori of Curefoods, Shashvat Nakrani of Bharatpe, Abhiroop Jayanthi of Carlyle India, Niraj Singh of Spinny, Saurabh Jain of Livspace India, Abhishek Goyal of Tracxn, and Vineet Khanna of Supertails.The company plans to deploy the capital toward strengthening its technology infrastructure, particularly across supply chain management, inventory planning, and in-store assisted selling systems. Funds will also support expansion of its product catalogue and offline footprint.Founded in 2022 by Manish Reddy and Sarthak Agrawal, Material Depot operates a curated platform designed to simplify how urban homeowners discover and purchase interior materials. The company uses a structured sourcing and logistics model to improve access to a wider range of products. Its experience centres are built to provide clearer visibility into pricing, delivery timelines, and product comparisons, helping customers make informed decisions in a single location.Also ReadVaraha raises $20M in first tranche of Series B funding led by WestBridge CapitalReddy said the home renovation process in India…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

India’s healthcare industry is entering a new phase of consolidation, this time around focused, single-specialty providers rather than sprawling hospital chains.Organised single-specialty healthcare platforms, from dialysis and fertility clinics to oncology, dental and eyecare networks, are on track to nearly triple in size to more than $12 billion by 2030, according to a new roadmap report by Bessemer Venture Partners. The segment, currently valued at about $4.4 billion, is expected to grow at a 22% compound annual rate, more than twice the pace of the broader healthcare provider market.The forecast shows a structural shift underway in India’s $54-billion healthcare services market, where capital is increasingly flowing toward narrowly focused care models built for scale, efficiency and repeatable outcomes, rather than capital-heavy, multi-specialty hospitals.A parallel system takes shapeMulti-specialty hospitals remain indispensable for complex, multidisciplinary treatments. But alongside them, a parallel ecosystem of specialised care providers has been quietly expanding, catering to high-volume procedures that follow standardised clinical pathways.These businesses are designed around narrow therapeutic areas, dialysis, fertility, cancer care, dental and chronic disease management, allowing them to standardise protocols, train staff efficiently and replicate clinics across cities with far less capital than traditional hospitals.Bessemer describes these as “specialty-native” platforms: purpose-built networks…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

From artificial intelligence reshaping retail investing and global tech giants doubling down on AI infrastructure, to founders spotting cultural trends early and startups raising fresh capital across deeptech, food, and sustainability, today’s roundup captures key shifts shaping business and innovation. Featured StoriesThis startup is bringing the benefits of AI to retail stock market investorsFor years, making money in the stock market using artificial intelligence (AI) has largely been an area dominated by the well-funded investment houses. A Mumbai-based startup wants to break that monopoly by bringing AI-driven investing to retail investors.As financial institutions increasingly look at deep computing power to identify stocks to invest in, InvestorAi believes the benefits of AI can be made available to ordinary retail investors with a clear focus on outcomes rather than just glorifying this technology.Founded in 2018 by Bruce Keith, Akshaya Bhargava, and Sarthak Behura, InvestorAi has built an AI platform that selects stocks on behalf of retail investors and offers them access to a level of market intelligence that is out of reach.Read more here.Amazon expands Amit Agarwal’s role to lead global selling partner servicesAmazon has expanded the responsibilities of long-time executive Amit Agarwal, placing him in charge of the company’s Worldwide Selling…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

India is one of the largest telecom markets in the world, with more than 1.2 billion mobile subscribers. Data prices are among the lowest globally, usage continues to rise, and 5G adoption is accelerating rapidly.Yet structurally, the market has narrowed to just two serious players. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel together control over 80% of mobile revenue, a share projected to rise to around 85% by FY28. Other operators, including Vodafone Idea, now operate at the margins.This outcome was not designed by policy. It emerged from years of capital intensity, price wars, and technology transitions that only two companies could survive!Scale Vs profitabilityOn the surface, Jio looks dominant. It has around 470 million mobile subscribers and continues to add users faster than Airtel, which has roughly 390 million. However, subscriber count is only half the story. Airtel consistently earns more per user. Its ARPU sits in the Rs 250–256 range, compared to Jio’s Rs 210–215. This difference reflects two distinct strategies. Jio optimises for reach and volume. Airtel focuses on value and profitability. Both approaches work, but they create very different economics How Jio reshaped the marketJio entered telecom late, but that late entry proved decisive. Without legacy 2G or…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

Logistics company BlackBuck maintained its profitability streak in the third quarter of FY26 (Q3 FY26), posting a consolidated net profit…

For nearly two decades, India’s startup story has centred around three cities — Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, and Mumbai — which…

Massive layoffs have taken place at the Washington Post, a news organisation with a rich history and considerable influence in the US. As part...

D2C nutrition brand Good Monk has raised ₹33 Cr (about $3.6 Mn) in its pre-Series A funding round at a…