Hello,One of India’s largest VC firms is bleeding executive talent.Managing Directors at Peak XV—Ashish Agrawal, Ishaan Mittal, and Tejeshwi Sharma—have left the company to set up their own venture capital firm. PeakXV added that this move was taken amid its focus on artificial intelligence and to make space for AI-native investors.Meanwhile, Indian markets are rallying in relief after US President Trump announced a trade deal to cut tariffs to 18% from 50% in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers.India has agreed to buy petroleum, defence products, and aircraft from the US, while partly opening up its agriculture sector, according to a Reuters report. Additionally, the country has lowered tariffs on imported cars to address Washington’s immediate demands.Along with lifting stock markets, the deal also provided much-needed support for the rupee, which has been in the doldrums as Asia’s worst-performing currency in January.Lastly, despite some siloed progress, the gender gap in Indian workplaces is far from being bridged. YourStory’s flagship women-focused event, SheSparks—scheduled for March 14 at IIT Delhi—aims to bring together women from all industries and walks of life to confront these realities while charting practical paths forward.Don’t miss your chance to be a part…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

Climate tech startup Varaha has marked the first close of its ongoing $45 Mn Series B funding round at $20 Mn.  The round was led by WestBridge Capital, with participation from existing backer Omnivore Ventures. The company also said that RTP Global, which led Varaha’s Series A round, also joined the round with a super pro-rata investment. The fundraise marks WestBridge’s first bet in the climate tech space in India. The startup plans to utilise the fresh proceeds to expand footprint, strengthen its scientific as well as measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) capabilities. The company said that a chunk of the capital will also be deployed to scale a new industrial partnership model that will extend its capabilities worldwide. Founded in 2022 by Madhur Jain, Ankita Garg and Vishal Kuchanur, Varaha is a clean tech startup that claims to operate 20 carbon dioxide removal projects across India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and the Ivory Coast.  The startup generates high-quality carbon credits by enabling farmers, with small land holdings, to follow regenerative agriculture and agroforestry. These credits are then used by businesses to offset their greenhouse emissions.  Earlier today, the company also announced the launch of Varaha Industrial Partners Program (VIPP) to…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Online matchmaking platform Juleo has shut down operations. The startup’s cofounder Varun Sud took to LinkedIn to announce that the startup is “pausing” its services after failing to raise further capital.  “We built an AI Matchmaker with zero scams, found product market fit and successfully got singles across India into relationships and marriages, but were sadly unable to get institutional investors to buy into our vision given baggage from past carcasses in the space,” Sud said. Important to mention that the startup had raised $2.5 Mn in a funding round in August 2024 from angel investors like Livspace cofounder Ramakant Sharma, CRED founder Kunal Shah, Acko cofounder Ruchi Deepak, Groww cofounders Harsh Jain and Lalit Keshre, among others. Moving forward, Sud hinted at founding a new venture in the “consumer AI space”. Founded in 2023 by Sud and Chiranjeev Ghai, Juleo offered subscription-based matchmaking services. It later began integrating offline community events and activities for singles to complement its digital offerings. Its AI-powered matchmaking, Genie, selected potential matches and managed the logistics of arranging in-person meetings. Further, women’s profiles were private by default, giving them control over their visibility.  The startup claims that its app saw over 5 Lakh installation…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Six years after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) ordered a probe into alleged abuse of dominance by Flipkart, the Supreme Court has now reportedly set aside that ruling and sent the matter back to the appellate tribunal for a fresh review. As per a report by Bar and Bench, the SC bench, which comprised of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi, ruled that the NCLAT must independently decide whether there is enough basis to order an investigation, without relying on material that may not be legally relevant under the Competition Act. Further, it noted that the earlier NCLAT ruling appeared to rely on observations made during income tax proceedings against Flipkart India. Those findings were later overturned by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT).  The case dates back to a 2018 complaint filed by the All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA), which represents over 2,000 online sellers. The association had accused Flipkart of abusing its position by favouring large sellers and enabling deep discounting that hurt smaller vendors. While the CCI had earlier closed the complaint, holding that neither Flipkart nor Amazon was dominant in India’s online marketplace, the NCLAT overturned that finding in…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media