Seven, a Mumbai-based fintech startup and one of India’s first contactless wearable payments companies, has raised a strategic pre-Series A investment from Shivam Malhotra, Founder of Malsons Ventures, a global entertainment venture studio and investment firm headquartered in Mumbai. As part of the transaction, Malhotra has acquired a 1% stake in the company.With this investment, Malhotra joins Seven’s existing investor base, which includes Venture Catalysts, Vinners, and Anchorage Capital Partners backed by the Sheth Family Office. The funds will be deployed for innovation, market penetration, product development, team expansion and overall business growth.Seven, best known for its flagship product 7 Ring, previously featured on Shark Tank India and has also entered the semi-final round of The Drapers Show India 2025. The startup operates in India’s rapidly growing digital payments ecosystem, which is projected to reach Rs 577 trillion by FY29.The 7 Ring is a certified wearable payment device supported by RuPay and MasterCard. Built on NFC technology, it enables tap-and-pay transactions without the need for charging, OTPs, PINs, or smartphone apps. The ring integrates with a prepaid wallet on the RuPay network and is powered by UPI.Commenting on the Investment, Malhotra said, “In the entertainment world, we trade in attention;…  ​Read More​YourStory RSS Feed

We are all drawn toward videos. After all, videos tend to grab our attention and make way more sense in terms of the time invested. Video content has become a powerful tool to capture the attention of website visitors. According to Wyzowl, over 91% of marketers use video content on their websites. However, creating high-quality videos can be time-consuming and require significant video editing skills. Thankfully, with the development of artificial intelligence (AI), there are now several AI-powered tools available to streamline the video creation process and save you time.In this article, we will explore a list of some of the best AI video generators in 2026 that can help you create impressive videos faster and more efficiently.Top AI Video Creation Platforms Comparison Table ToolFree PlanStarting PriceUSP / Key FeatureBest ForPictory✅ Yes (3-video trial)$19/monthURL-to-video generation, 3M+ assetsQuick marketing or blog videosSynthesia✅ Free demo$29/monthRealistic AI avatars & voices, 120+ languagesTraining, corporate videosWave Video✅ Yes$16/monthVideo hosting capabilityMarketers & content creatorsDesigns.AI❌ No$24.92/monthText-to-video generation, script creationCreators needing multiple assetsRunway✅ Yes$12/monthText prompt video generation, AI effectsExperimental & creative videosLumen5❌ No$19/monthConverts written content to videoBlog and content marketingFlexClip✅ Yes$19.99/monthAI subtitles, text-to-speech in 140+ languagesSocial media & small businesses What is an AI Video Generator? An AI…  ​Read MoreStartupTalky- Business News, Insights and Stories

Margins Cushion Wakefit’s Profitability Fresh from its IPO, Wakefit reported a profitable Q3 FY26. Despite seasonal discounts and a CFO transition, the D2C furniture and mattress brand clocked record quarterly revenues, alongside a sharp improvement in its margins.  Here is a snapshot of Wakefit’s Q3 numbers: Profits stood at ₹31.9 Cr compared to a loss of ₹2.4 Cr in Q3 FY25 Revenue from operations rose 9.4% YoY to ₹421.3 Cr  EBITDA improved 158% YoY to ₹70.3 Cr, while margins expanded to 53.8%  Total expenses rose a marginal 0.4% YoY to ₹396.7 Cr  The Margin Play: The D2C brand flipped to profitability in Q3 on the back of gross margin expansion that offset modest top-line growth and a one-off labour code expense. What also helped was operating leverage kicking in across its core categories, even as management flagged temporary demand shifts tied to GST changes that favour other consumption baskets. The Omnichannel Drift: Wakefit also continued to diversify beyond pure ecommerce in Q3. Own channels drove the majority of sales, giving Wakefit pricing control and customer data depth. Similarly, marketplace presence and new company-owned stores brought incremental reach.  On the product front, mattresses remained Wakefit’s undisputed cash cow, while furniture and…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Deeptech startup ThirdAI Automation has raised $3 Mn (₹27.2 Cr) in a seed funding round co-led by Endiya Partners and Capria Ventures. In a statement, the startup said that it plans to utilise the freshly raised funds to scale product development, ramp up hiring in India and overseas, and accelerate deployments at equipment manufacturers and semiconductor fabs. “This round will provide the momentum required to take our technology deeper into real fab environments. Our long-term vision is to build an operating system for industrial operations, where AI continuously reasons over complex, multimodal data to guide decisions across the manufacturing lifecycle,” said ThirdAI cofounder Sainyam Galhotra.  Founded in 2024 by Galhotra and Vivek Vishwakarma, ThirdAI Automation offers AI-powered root cause analysis (RCA) and troubleshooting platform for semiconductor manufacturing. The startup’s AI-powered copilot sifts through equipment logs, sensor data, images, and operational records to diagnose failures at chip manufacturing facilities.  Speaking with Inc42, cofounder and CEO Vishwakarma explained that ThirdAI’s software, which is installed into the fab equipment, performs an RCA every time there is an alert to streamline manufacturing. The startup also assists engineers in debugging operations at their facility or their customer facility. The fundraise comes as India is racing…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Dental tech startup toothsi’s parent makeO has signed an agreement to acquire Singapore-based oral care brand Zenyum for an undisclosed amount.  Once materialised, the deal will position toothsi as a pan-Asian player in clear aligners, orthodontics, and oral care. As part of the deal, Zenyum will become a subsidiary of makeO, with group headquarters based out of Mumbai.  However, the transaction is still subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. While makeO cofounder Arpi Mehta will continue as the group CEO, Zenyum cofounder Julian Artopé will remain the Singapore-based entity’s chief executive. Zenyum’s Southeast and North Asia operations will continue to be run from Singapore. In a statement, the homegrown startup said that the combined entity will operate across 10 countries, including India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. makeO also said that the combined entity will leverage economies of scale and supply-chain efficiencies to roll out competitive pricing, faster turnaround times, and expanded financing options for patients. The Mumbai-based startup also said that its in-house clinical and treatment planning teams will support Zenyum’s operations to improve treatment outcomes, speed up delivery timelines and expand product offerings. “This acquisition is a milestone…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Member of Parliament (MP) and AAP leader Raghav Chadha has urged the Centre to legalise virtual digital assets (VDAs) such as cryptocurrency and stablecoins. Speaking during Budget discussion in the Upper House of Parliament on 9 February, Chadha said that the Union government should take steps to build a compliance framework for VDAs and then heavily regulate the sector.  “ The need of the hour is to build a compliance framework for cryptos and heavily regulate these VDAs… This will bring INR 15,000 Cr to INR 20,000 Cr into the government’s coffers. We currently tax these digital assets as if they are legal, but we regulate them as if they are illegal… Prohibition isn’t protection, regulation is protection,” said Chadha.  Chadha flagged that India, despite de facto legalised taxation for cryptos, did not recognise VDAs as an asset class. Making his point, he further added that the country lacked dedicated licencing laws for virtual assets and customer protection frameworks for crypto investors.  Due to this heavy taxation regime, the AAP MP claimed, INR 4.8 Lakh Cr worth of trade in VDAs had moved to offshore platforms. He also claimed that 180 local crypto startups moved overseas to Singapore and the…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media