By Team Ys

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From Zoho’s messaging platform Arattai’s surge in downloads to the skill gap haunting the electric vehicle ecosystem, YourStory brings today’s headlines spotlighting bold bets in the sector.

Zoho’s Arattai sparks sudden interest but can it rival competition and lead to sustained usage?
Arattai, a cross platform instant messaging and voice over IP service created by Zoho Corporation, is creating quite a buzz.

The app, which offers one-to-one and group chats, voice and video calling, file sharing, stories and channels, is presented as an Indian alternative to global messaging platforms, and is available for Android and iOS users and on desktop operating systems.

While Arattai’s homegrown has led to a surge in downloads, it remains to be seen if it can lead to sustained usage. The app also faces an uphill battle against competitors such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal.

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As India’s EV adoption grows, charging firms look to bridge talent shortage
The Government of India has set an ambitious target of 30% EV (electric vehicle) penetration by 2030. But if the country has to meet this target, it has to address the talent shortage in the sector.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers forecasts that India will require between 1 lakh and 2 lakh skilled professions to meet the 30% target. This includes engineers, scientists and technicians.

But for now, the availability of skilled labour in the EV charging ecosystem seems to have hit a road-bump.

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Dharana Capital leads Rs 137 Cr funding round in Petpooja
Restaurant management software startup Petpooja on Monday raised Rs 137 crore in a new funding round led by growth-stage investment firm Dharana Capital.

The funding round, which was a mix of primary and secondary capital, also saw participation from Ashish Gupta, Co-founder of Helion Ventures; Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Varun Khaitan, Raghav Chandra, Founders of Urban Company; and Mukund Kulashekaran, Chief Business Officer at Urban Company.

The Ahmedabad-based startup will use the funds to improve its product portfolio, accelerate AI-driven automation, and bolster customer support.

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Akashalabdhi closes $1.2M in pre-Seed round
Space-tech startup Akashalabdhi on Monday raised $1.2 million in a pre-Seed round from investors including Riceberg Ventures, 1Crowd, LVX, among others.

The newly raised funds is expected to help speed up the firm’s ongoing projects, including inflatable solar arrays, analogue studies, and the orbital launch of its MVP and building necessary infrastructure for advanced habitation research and development.
Media agency Wit & Chai closes seed round
Creative media agency Wit & Chai, on Monday, said it has closed its seed funding round for an undisclosed amoung at a valuation of Rs 40 crore.

The equity round saw participation from marquee investors including Rohan Vijay Mantri, Promoter of Mantri Landmarks, Sanjay Katkar (MD, Quickheal Technologies), Monish Darda, CTO & Co-Founder of Icertis and Satyen Patel, MD at Sahyadri Industries.

Wit & Chai will use the newly raised funds to strengthen its team in Mumbai, scale operations at their London office, and setting up its footprint in the UAE. The firm is also looking to foray into service-based client verticals, expanding its offerings to include tailored solutions for B2B SaaS companies and large enterprises

The group is also evaluating acquisitions that will accelerate its global expansion and strengthen its presence in new service categories.
Venture Catalysts leads $400K pre-Seed round in Vaani AI Research
Early-stage investment firm Venture Catalysts on Monday lead a $400,000 pre-Seed round in voice agent platform Vaani AI Research.

The round also drew participation from Dr. Abhishek Sharma of Meta’s SuperIntelligence team and Apple, Dr. Viveka Kulharia of MoonValley, Shashikant Chaudhary, former MD of GlobalLogic, Ejaz Ahmed of Meta Reality Labs, Nikhil Tripathi of Bijak, Uday Sodhi, former Business Head at Sony Pictures India, KK Venkata of Oliver Wyman, Swapnil Sheth of IndigoEdge, Michele Barbazza of VAT Group, Switzerland and others.

According to the firm, it intends to use the newly raised funds to scale its voice stack, deepen its models and IP, and partner with enterprises that are ready to move beyond demos and into real-world deployments.
iGo raises Rs 8.2 Cr in pre-Seed funding
Smart electric trike developer, iGo on Monday said it raised Rs 8.2 crore in pre-Seed funding from ISB Angels, 888VC, and Guptaji VC.

The firm will use the newly raised funds to fuel tooling and automation to cut production costs, expand customer experience, and after sales channels, driver further research and development and new variants as well as strengthen working capital to fulfil the current order book.
Other news:
Zomato launches Healthy Mode in Gurugram
Food delivery platform Zomato on Monday launched “Healthy Mode”—a feature that aims to address the growing demand for healthy food options.

The feature is currently live in Gurugram and the company plans to expand in other markets as well.

The feature provides nutritional data that was previously not accessible across online food discovery and delivery platforms.

To assist the restaurant partners, Zomato has leveraged advanced AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) in building detailed macronutrient profiles for their dishes and added a Healthy Score for each dish to rank them from Low to Super, based on the information provided by the restaurant partners.
Agnikul unveils reusable rocket plans
Spacetech startup Agnikul on Monday said it has committed to full rocket reusability, aiming to ensure that no part of its rockets are fully expended or left behind.

Following a controlled-ascent launch using Agnikul’s proprietary autopilot algorithms and software, the company is accelerating development to validate commercially valuable reusable spaceflight technologies.

“Our newly-planned strategy enables cost efficiencies at scale, allowing us to deliver launch services at globally competitive prices; for all small satellite missions,” said Moin SPM, Co-founder & COO of Agnikul Cosmos.

“Unless we embrace new technologies, small rockets cannot achieve the commercial viability our customers will need. This is why our test flight last year was not just a sounding rocket but an amalgamation of almost all the technologies required for controlled ascent.”
PhonePe and Mastercard collaborate to launch contactless payments
PhonePe and Mastercard on Monday said the firms are partnering to launch an exclusive feature for Mastercard cardholders in India.

The new feature will enable Mastercard cardholders to make in-store payments by tapping their NFC-enabled smartphones at payment terminals using the PhonePe app.

This partnership will combine Mastercard’s global expertise in tokenisation with PhonePe’s vast base of 618 million registered users. The new feature will begin rolling out to Mastercard cardholders on the PhonePe app in a phased manner.
(Edited by Megha Reddy)