Education services provider Veranda Learning Solutions reported a surge in third-quarter profit on Friday, as a sharp rise in student enrollments and a strategic focus on cost optimisation under its “Veranda 2.0” restructuring plan bolstered the bottom line. This strategic pivot marks a transition from the company’s “Veranda 1.0” phase, which was characterised by rapid acquisitions and expansion to build a unified technology stack across diverse learning formats.The Chennai-based company , which offers services ranging from K-12 education to professional certifications, saw its net profit jump 110% to Rs 17 crore for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2025, up from the same period a year earlier. This performance was underpinned by a 52% increase in revenue from operations, which reached Rs 117 crore, driven primarily by robust demand in the government test preparation and commerce verticals.The company’s operational efficiency initiatives, including process standardisation and resource optimisation, led to a 328% surge in EBITDA to Rs 53 crore, while gross profit margins remained strong at 65%. “All business segments delivered healthy growth during the period. With the approval of the commerce demerger and completion of the vocational divestment, we are now better positioned to sharpen focus and scale our core verticals-…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

It sounded like a joke. It turned out to be a masterclass in problem-solving.A customer once wrote to General Motors, specifically its Pontiac division, with a complaint so strange that executives initially assumed it was fake. His new car, he said, refused to start only after buying vanilla ice cream.Every other flavour worked just fine. Here’s how this complaint led to become a lesson! A complaint that made no senseThe letter explained a simple family ritual. After dinner, the family would vote on an ice cream flavour. The customer would then drive to the store, buy it, and head home. After purchasing his new Pontiac, something odd started happening.If the chosen flavour was vanilla, the car would stall on the return trip and refuse to restart. If the family picked chocolate, strawberry, or any other flavour, the car behaved normally. Same driver. Same route. Same car. Only one variable changed. To most people, this sounded absurd.Why GM took it seriously anywayInstead of dismissing the complaint, GM did something unusual. They sent an engineer to investigate.The engineer followed the customer, repeated the experiment, and confirmed the pattern. Vanilla trips did indeed fail. Other flavours did not. He began logging everything such…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

Markets regulator SEBI has greenlit the initial public offerings (IPOs) of new-age tech companies SEDEMAC and InCred. In its weekly update, the markets regulator said it issued observation letters to the fintech company yesterday and the deeptech company today.  In SEBI’s parlance, the issuance of an observation letter is a formal go-ahead to proceed with the IPO.  InCred filed its IPO papers confidentially in November. While exact details of the issue size is not clear, the company earlier sought shareholders’ approval to raise up to  ₹1,500 Cr via a fresh issue of shares from its IPO. As per reports, the total size of the IPO is expected to be in a range of ₹3,000 Cr to ₹4,000 Cr.  As per its last disclosed financial performance for the fiscal year FY25, InCred Holdings’ net profit surged 21% to ₹373.1 Cr from ₹309 Cr in the previous fiscal. Operating revenue zoomed 47% to ₹1,873.6 Cr from ₹1,272.7 Cr in FY24. Meanwhile, SEDEMAC Mechatronics, which is an IIT Bombay-incubated deeptech company, also filed its DRHP in November. Its public issue would comprise solely an offer-for-sale component, with investors and promoters cumulatively selling up to 80.43 Lakh shares. The selling investors include A91 Partners…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Fi Money, a once-celebrated star in India’s neo-banking firmament, is undertaking a significant strategic pivot, moving away from its consumer-facing financial products to focus on a B2B model centered on Artificial Intelligence. The move, announced by co-founder and CEO Sujith Narayanan in a recent LinkedIn post, comes amid mounting financial pressures, a shrinking workforce, and a challenging regulatory environment that has hampered the growth of the entire Indian neo-banking sector.In his post, titled “On Change, Gratitude, and the Next Chapter of Fi,” Narayanan acknowledged that while the company’s ambition in the B2C space was right, “not every bet paid off the way we hoped.” He stated that the leadership team’s reflection pointed towards a new direction where the company consistently excels: “deep technology, AI, and building complex systems for startups & large enterprises alike.” This shift, he explained, necessitates the sunsetting of some consumer products and will result in the elimination of several roles.𝐎𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞, 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐢 At Fi, we started with a simple belief, that digital first banking / neo banking should feel more thoughtful… | Sujith Narayanan | 16 comments𝐎𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞, 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐢 At Fi, we started with…  ​Read MoreStartupTalky- Business News, Insights and Stories

Kunal Arya’s electric scooter stuttered when he first tried to zip down the Hisar roads in 2019. India was yet to pave the way for a smooth ride for green mobility. Policy announcements spoke of the future, startups pitched grand visions, and global investors were beginning to zero in on the sector. But on the ground, the experience seemed messy. Batteries were not new to Arya, thanks to his family’s inverter battery business, which was deeply embedded in India’s power-backup ecosystem. What was new was the sudden surge in demand for electric two-wheelers sold through small dealerships – often with limited understanding of long-term maintenance, component durability, or after-sales obligations. “I entered the EV space as a dealer, not as a founder,” recalled Arya. “That meant I faced customers directly when something went wrong.” In 2021, Arya was one of the earliest in a market that zoomed to 12.80 Lakh units at the end of 2025. Despite his initial success as Hisar’s top dealer of Yo Bikes, one of India’s early-day electric two-wheeler brands, there was a sense of unease. Most scooters were imported directly from China with minimal localisation. Breakdowns were rampant, spare parts were slow to arrive, and…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

In 2026, cloud data integration is no longer just an IT function, it has become core enterprise infrastructure. As organisations operate across multi-cloud, hybrid, and on‑premise environments, data is increasingly fragmented across SaaS platforms, internal systems, data warehouses, and operational applications. Without a strong integration architecture, this data remains siloed, underutilised, and strategically ineffective.Modern cloud data integration tools in 2026 enable enterprises to unify structured and unstructured data, build reliable data pipelines, support real‑time analytics, and power AI‑driven decision systems. For CIOs, CTOs, data leaders, and enterprise architects, choosing the right enterprise data integration solution directly impacts business intelligence, regulatory compliance, customer experience, and digital transformation outcomes.This guide presents a structured, enterprise‑grade analysis of the best cloud data integration tools for enterprises, covering platforms designed for ETL/ELT pipelines, API‑led integration, AI‑driven automation, governance‑first architectures, and large‑scale data ecosystems.Why Cloud Data Integration MattersEnterprise data environments are now distributed by design. Business operations span multiple cloud providers, SaaS ecosystems, IoT platforms, ERP systems, and AI services. This complexity makes data integration a strategic capability rather than a technical task.Cloud data integration enables:Real‑time decision intelligence through live data pipelinesAI and machine learning readiness via clean, unified data layersRegulatory compliance through governed data flows…  ​Read MoreStartupTalky- Business News, Insights and Stories

In Naini, Prayagraj, patients often arrive at an eye clinic with watering eyes, sharp pain, and lids pressed shut after a speck of dust or grit gets trapped under the eyelid. For Dr. Ashutosh Yadav, that moment has become a familiar starting point for careful, methodical work that ends with the patient blinking normally again and walking out without fear.He works in the ophthalmology department and runs his own clinic, where he focuses on routine eye examinations, diagnosing refractive errors, prescribing lens power, and guiding patients through treatments that range from basic care to surgery planning. The clinic also handles cases linked to cataracts, an ailment that can appear at any age, including from birth or after injury, and often requires timely intervention.Learning to treat eyesHis path into eye care began with a broad desire, shaped early at home, to become a doctor. The specific direction came later, after school, when he began training in optometry and continued studying, step by step, completing a diploma, then a bachelor’s degree, followed by a master’s. He is still pursuing further study, with plans to keep building his qualifications alongside daily work.What has stayed consistent is the satisfaction of practical help. The work…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

In Natrada village, near Panwari in Mahoba district, a modest roadside workshop has become a practical stop for farmers and drivers who cannot afford long delays when a vehicle breaks down. The shop, KP Diesel Service, handles tractor repairs and routine servicing, as well as diesel pumps, nozzle-injectors, and brake work. On busy days, it also takes in water pumps and other four-wheeler jobs that come from the same stretch of road traffic.The workshop is run by Chandrashekhar, who resides in Natrada village. He describes the work in plain terms: when a tractor loses pulling power, starts giving black smoke, or stops delivering mileage, the fault has to be found quickly and fixed with the right tools, not guesswork.A workshop close to fieldsIn this part of Bundelkhand, tractors are not just machines; they are daily infrastructure. Chandrashekhar says that earlier, many farmers would travel far for repair work, sometimes close to a hundred kilometres, and the trip would cost them time they could not spare. A repair could stretch into two or three days, especially when a part had to be arranged, or the vehicle had to wait its turn.He chose his current location with that routine in mind. The…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

AI and advanced analytics firm Fractal Analytics’ net profit for the six months ended September 30, 2025 (H1 FY26) declined 2.7% to ₹70.9 Cr from ₹72.9 Cr in the corresponding period last year, on the back of higher tax outgo during the period under review. The company’s operating revenue rose 19.8% to ₹1,559 Cr in H1 FY26 from ₹1,300.1 Cr in the year-ago period. Including other income, total income increased 20.5% YoY to ₹1,594.3 Cr from ₹1,322.6 Cr in H1 FY25.  Meanwhile, total expenses grew 15.9% to ₹1,446.2 Cr in H1 FY26 from ₹1,248.1 Cr in H1 FY25. The company had a tax outgo of ₹27.9 Cr during the period under review as against a tax credit of ₹22.8 Cr in H1 FY25.  EBITDA for the period zoomed 41.7% to ₹185.6 Cr from ₹131 Cr during the same period last year. EBITDA margin expanded to 11.9% in H1 FY26 from 10.1% last year.  The H1 FY26 performance follows a strong turnaround in FY25, when the company returned to profitability. It posted a consolidated net profit of ₹220.6 Cr as against a loss of ₹54.7 Cr in FY24. Operating revenue grew 25.9% YoY to ₹2,765.4 Cr in FY25. Founded in 2000,…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

In its ongoing multi-year campaign to reduce its employment, Wells Fargo has announced yet another wave of layoffs. Hence, bringing the total number of employees expected to lose their jobs in 2026 to over 100. According to the Des Moines Register, the lender has informed 49 employees of their impending layoffs. The notices take effect on April 4, according to documents filed on Iowa’s WARN website.There have been 147 declared layoffs at Wells Fargo this year, following four waves in January, February, and March. The most recent round brings the total to 147. Part of a larger trend of staff restructuring at the San Francisco-based bank, the layoffs are happening now. According to the Des Moines Register, the most recent listing brings the grand total of seven rounds of publicised layoffs since September to 224.Why Wells Fargo Laying Off Employees?A media request for comment regarding the most recent batch was not promptly addressed by Wells Fargo. A bank representative has previously stated, however, that the institution routinely assesses and changes personnel numbers in response to market circumstances. When feasible, it seeks out internal opportunities to keep impacted individuals on staff.The organisation offers severance packages and career counselling in cases when…  ​Read MoreStartupTalky- Business News, Insights and Stories