India’s flagship digital payments system, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), has achieved another milestone in FY 2025–26, recording an outstanding ₹230 lakh crore in transaction value through December 2025 — equivalent to about $2.56 trillion. This landmark reflects both broad consumer uptake and deepening integration of digital payments across business and everyday life. UPI’s performance highlights India’s rapid shift toward a cashless economy and underlines the platform’s role as a cornerstone of digital finance infrastructure. Its seamless, instant, and interoperable nature continues to attract users and merchants nationwide. Drivers of the Record Growth Several factors contributed to UPI’s record transaction value: 1. Widening Adoption Across DemographicsUPI usage has grown steadily not just in urban centres but also in smaller towns and rural areas. Simplicity, low cost and widespread awareness have made UPI a preferred choice for peer-to-peer transfers, bill payments and merchant transactions across socio-economic groups. 2. Merchant Integration and Digital CommerceRetailers, service providers and online merchants increasingly accept UPI payments, boosting both P2M (person-to-merchant) volumes and transaction values. UPI’s integration with QR codes, e-commerce platforms and payment links has expanded everyday utility beyond simple person-to-person transfers. 3. Expanded Use Cases and InnovationNew features — including UPI Autopay, recurring payments,…  ​Read MoreBusiness Archives – Trak.in – Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups

The idea of a high-speed rail corridor linking Bengaluru and Pune is gaining traction as central and state leaders push for its prioritisation. Although not part of the seven high-speed routes announced in the Union Budget 2026–27, discussions between senior officials — including Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw — have given the proposal a fresh boost in momentum. Strategic Connectivity Between Major Hubs The envisioned corridor aims to bridge two of India’s most important economic and technology hubs: Bengaluru, known as the country’s Silicon Valley, and Pune, a key centre for IT, manufacturing and education. Proponents argue that faster rail connectivity between these cities could transform travel, bolster business collaboration, and attract investment across both regions. Beyond the endpoints, the project is expected to benefit districts in north and central Karnataka, such as Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad, Haveri, Davanagere, Chitradurga and Tumakuru. Improved rail links could make it easier for residents to access job markets, educational institutions and commercial opportunities in both Bengaluru and Pune. Advocacy From State Leaders Karnataka’s political leadership has actively supported the proposal, emphasising that it deserves priority alongside the corridors already announced in the national budget. MB Patil, Karnataka’s Minister for Large and…  ​Read MoreBusiness Archives – Trak.in – Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups

Anthropic Rattles Markets Anthropic’s launch of Cowork plugins on February 4 sent markets into a tizzy. The AI release sparked a global tech sell-off, dragging down SaaS giants and India’s IT bellwethers alike. So, what did Anthropic launch and why did it spook the markets? The SaaSpocalypse: On February 4, the AI major rolled out 11 plugins for Claude Cowork, positioning it as an AI assistant that moves beyond chat to autonomously execute multi-step workplace tasks directly on a user’s computer. Markets read the launch as a structural inflexion point, which triggered the stock dumping.  IT Stocks Caught In Fire: While the first shockwave hit US and European software giants like Salesforce, Adobe, SAP and ServiceNow, the sell-off quickly shrouded Indian IT stocks. While the Nifty IT index plunged to its worst single-day fall in six years of 6%, giants Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCLTech and Tech Mahindra also slid between 5-8%. Market watchers claimed that tools like Claude Cowork could directly hit India’s labour-intensive service delivery model.  An Overreaction? A section of market voices feels that the sell-off was more about sentiment rather than fundamentals, arguing that near-term positioning should hinge on client stickiness, balance sheets, and deal wins over…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Hello,Quarterly report cards are in for Big Tech and startups alike.Beauty ecommerce platform Nykaa kept on its upward trajectory with its quarterly after-tax profit more than doubling to Rs 67.7 crore year-on-year, driven by strong growth in its beauty business and growing traction for its fashion arm.In fact, the company’s largest vertical—its beauty and personal care retail business—saw its best-ever GMV performance, a growth of Rs 4,302 crore, up 27% from last year.Edtech firm PhysicsWallah, too, saw growth in both its top and bottom lines of about 33% year-on-year, driven by an expanding paid user base and strong operating margins.Meanwhile, Google parent Alphabet closed 2025 on what it termed a “tremendous quarter”, with its fiscal revenue surging past $400 billion for the first time, and the company doubling its capital investment in 2026 to drive its AI advancements.It’s a remarkable turnaround from last year, when the company was thought to be lagging behind rivals in the AI space, such as Microsoft and OpenAI.Speaking of OpenAI, the ChatGPT maker just made it easier for organisations to deploy ‘AI coworkers’ across different processes.The company’s new product, called Frontier, allows organisations to build and manage AI tools and simplifies the process of rolling…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

India’s digital lending market is growing rapidly, projected to reach $2.45 billion by 2030 from $486.6 million in 2024, according to Grand View Research. However, loan recovery rates haven’t kept up with disbursement growth.The collections infrastructure remains fragmented, with thousands of independent agencies using manual processes and limited technology. These methods often don’t align with the service expectations of today’s digital borrowers.In 2019, Ananth Shroff was travelling abroad when he missed a credit card payment. Unable to reach him on his usual number, the bank contacted his family and threatened legal action. “How can they treat me like this when I paid on time every month? I missed one payment, and this was the situation,” he recalls. The experience cost the bank a customer and planted the seed for DPDzero.Shroff (CEO) and Ranjith B.R. (CTO) saw an opportunity to build a unified platform where lenders could integrate their systems, send borrower data, and receive recoveries without managing multiple collection agencies. “If lenders had a platform that they could simply integrate, push data, and money comes back in return, maybe that’s how to get India to scale,” Shroff says.In 2022, they launched DPDzero to digitise loan collections, with Shroff as CEO…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

IT secretary S Krishnan yesterday reportedly said that the government plans to examine the Economic Survey’s suggestion for age-based access for social media and other digital platforms. As per news agency PTI, Krishnan said that the Centre will examine all the opinions and take a call on the matter.  “You have seen what the Economic Survey has to say. A number of views are being expressed. We will examine all the views and take a call,” Krishnan reportedly said while responding to a question on whether the Centre is considering an Australian-like ban to block children from accessing social media platforms.  This comes after the Economic Survey last week urged the Union government to consider gatekeeping social media, while also cutting down online teaching to avoid digital addiction. The Survey, tabled in Parliament, had said online platforms should be made responsible for enforcing age verification, and simpler devices should be promoted for children to access educational content with safeguards to address the rising problem of digital addiction.  “Policies on age-based access limits may be considered, as younger users are more vulnerable to compulsive use and harmful content. Platforms should be made responsible for enforcing age verification and age-appropriate defaults, particularly…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

D2C fragrance brand EM5 has secured an undisclosed investment from Indian cricketer Suryakumar Yadav. The startup has also onboarded Kumar as a partner in the company.  In a statement, EM5 said that the partnership is “rooted in strong audience alignment and shared sensibilities”.  “EM5 is a young, homegrown brand that’s genuinely committed to changing the fragrance game in India, and I’ve always loved how scent becomes a part of your everyday identity… As an investor and partner, I’m excited to be part of a journey that’s building something authentic, digital-first, and rooted in India,” said Yadav.  Founded in 2022 by Shashank Chourey, EM5 is a D2C brand that sells a range of products such as perfumes, roll-ons, foot sprays, scented candles and beard balms. The startup sells its products via its own website, online marketplaces and quick commerce platforms.  EM5 also featured on the 2025 edition of Inc42’s FAST42 list.  The D2C brand clocked a revenue of INR 7.08 Cr in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24), up 4X from INR 1.43 Cr in the year-ago fiscal.  The bootstrapped startup last year told Inc42 that it was working to establish a stronger presence in select retail and experiential spaces to improve…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Fashion ecommerce major Myntra is laying off employees as part of a consolidation exercise, which aims to move its Gurugram-based satellite operations to Bengaluru. Sources told Inc42 that the company aims to relocate certain roles into larger teams based out of Bengaluru, while some jobs will be phased out. The relocation and retrenchments will impact 50 employees of the company’s Gurugram-based catalogue team.  A source close to the company said that the move is aimed at centralising teams, streamlining internal processes and improving coordination. The Walmart-backed marketplace plans to offer severance pay, outplacement services and extended insurance cover to the impacted employees, added the source.  The source said that the relocation and layoffs are unrelated to AI implementation or performance considerations. Inc42 has reached out to the company for a comment on the  development. This story will be updated upon receiving their response. Founded in 2007 by Mukesh Bansal, Ashutosh Lawania and Vineet Saxena, Myntra is an online marketplace which allows third-party sellers to sell their fashion products such as apparels and other accessories. The Bengaluru-based startup was acquired by Flipkart for $240 Mn in 2014. The fashion ecommerce arm of Flipkart’s net profit zoomed about 18X to INR 548…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

The government has expanded the scope of startup definition to include deep tech startups with a recognition period of up to 20 years and a turnover limit of Rs 300 crore.In a gazette notification from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said, “in the case of an entity recognised as a Deep Tech Startup under this notification, such entity shall cease to be a Deep Tech Startup on completion of twenty years from the date of its incorporation or registration, or if its turnover for any previous year exceeds three hundred crore rupees.”This notification comes into immediate effect, but for the non-deep tech startup, the categorisation remains the same, i.e., for a period of 10 years anda turnover limit of Rs 200 crore.The definition of deep tech, according to the government, is that it is working on producing a solution based on new knowledge/advancements within a scientific or engineering discipline or multiple disciplines, which is yet to be developed or is in the process of being developed. It has a high percentage of expenditure on research and development (R&D) activities as a percentage of revenue/funding. It owns or is in the process of creating significant novel…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed