Top 5 tech and startup stories of the day
Nexus Venture Partners closed its eighth fund to widen its AI and software portfolio across India and the US. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5.
Also in the letter:
■ InMobi's SoftBank buyback
■ Amazon's qcomm push
■ Dhan bets on Artham
Nexus raises new $700-million fund to back India and US startups
(L-R) Jishnu Bhattacharjee, Abhishek Sharma, Anup Gupta and Suvir Sujan, general partners, Nexus Venture Partners
Nexus Venture Partners has raised its eighth fund , a $700 million vehicle that will back early-stage AI, enterprise software, consumer, and fintech startups across India and the US. Cofounder Suvir Sujan told ET that Nexus will now actively invest in US-only AI, marking a significant expansion of its traditional cross-border software thesis.
AI push in US: Sujan said the new strategy reflects the firm's confidence in developer-first and open-source models, drawing on its experience backing software companies in both regions.
“We understand open source, we understand developers as customers, the AI infrastructure and applications stack. We have evolved from backing India-based startups to investing in US-based software and AI startups. So we will play on the front foot in the US in some of the domains we understand well,” he said.
Nexus, an early backer of Zepto, Rapido, and Postman, has returned about $700 million in cash in recent years and generated $1.5–2 billion in liquidity since its inception. Successful exits include Delhivery, PubMatic, Cloud.com, Mezi and Gluster.
Also Read: Busy startup IPO season gives risk investors Rs 15,000 crore in cash exits
Context: Founded in 2006 by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Naren Gupta, Sujan, and Sandeep Singhal, Nexus was among the first India-US venture firms to build a unified portfolio across both markets. Today, general partners Abhishek Sharma and Jishnu Bhattacharjee lead the US practice, while Anup Gupta and Sujan focus on India.
By the numbers:
Zoom in: Sujan expects several portfolio companies to deliver outsized returns in the coming years. “We have a strong portfolio of exceptional companies, including Turtlemint, Zepto, Rapido, Postman, and Apollo,” he noted. Zepto, where Nexus holds about 13–14% as an early investor, is preparing to file for its IPO soon.
OpenAI strives for Tata hand to grow footprint in India
OpenAI, the world’s most valued artificial intelligence (AI) company, is in advanced talks with Tata Consultancy Services ( TCS) to establish a large AI infrastructure project, sources told us. The partnership would mark the start of the global rollout of OpenAI’s Stargate project.
The deal: OpenAI is negotiating to lease at least 500 MW of data centre capacity from HyperVault, TCS’s new infrastructure arm.
Strategic pivot for TCS: This tie-up fits with TCS's broader ambition to become the world’s largest “AI-led services company.” Last month, TCS and TPG committed up to Rs 18,000 crore to build gigawatt-scale, AI-ready data centres through HyperVault in a 51:49 alliance.
Battle for India: A partnership between OpenAI and TCS could reshape India’s AI map, positioning them directly against the Reliance-Google combine. For OpenAI, securing capacity in India—its second-largest market—is vital as Perplexity and Google Gemini ramp up their local push.
InMobi founders buy back $250-million stake from SoftBank
Naveen Tewari, cofounder and CEO, InMobi
Mobile advertising company InMobi’s founders have repurchased a large chunk of shares from long-time investor SoftBank, raising their shareholding in the company as it prepares to redomicile to India (from Singapore) and go public.
Details:
Sources said the deal values the company at under $1 billion.
Tell me more: With this buyback, founders Naveen Tewari, Mohit Saxena, Abhay Singhal and Piyush Shah will now collectively hold over 60%. To fund the purchase, they have pledged part of their holdings and accessed new capital.
SoftBank first entered InMobi in 2011, investing $100-million, and followed it up with another $100 million cheque the next year.
“Urban India has embraced a new level of convenience”: Amazon’s Amit Agarwal on quick commerce expansion
Amit Agarwal, senior VP, Amazon
Amazon is stepping up its quick-delivery play. In a post on X, senior executive Amit Agarwal said that the company is opening two new dark stores every day. By year-end, Amazon expects to operate 300 micro-warehouses across Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR. He described the early response to Amazon Now as “extraordinary.”
The space: This acceleration coincides with the ongoing competition among big quick commerce players— Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart—vying for share in a market defined by speed, density, and heavy spending.
Rivals:
Also Read: Quick commerce fight intensifies as Swiggy, Zepto eye Rs 15,000-crore public market raise
Industry opinion: Analysts believe Amazon’s renewed push is a response to changing user behaviour in major cities, where quick commerce has become the preferred mode for daily essentials and impulse purchases. Jefferies previously noted that Amazon and Flipkart entered this space out of necessity, as customer spending shifts steadily towards dedicated quick-commerce platforms.
Dhan parent Raise launches Artham, an India-focused AI model for capital markets
Pravin Jadhav, CEO, Raise Financial
Raise has unveiled Artham, a financial AI model designed specifically for Indian markets. The company said that the model has been under development for the past nine months and aims to interpret local regulatory and market information far more accurately than general AI systems.
Model details:
Tell me more: Artham is already integrated into Raise’s product suite. It powers Dhan, the Fuzz research assistant, and the ScanX market-data platform. Users can request summaries, explanations, or market context, and the model can also trigger internal tools to fetch live data and analytics in real-time.
Also in the letter:
■ InMobi's SoftBank buyback
■ Amazon's qcomm push
■ Dhan bets on Artham
Nexus raises new $700-million fund to back India and US startups
Nexus Venture Partners has raised its eighth fund , a $700 million vehicle that will back early-stage AI, enterprise software, consumer, and fintech startups across India and the US. Cofounder Suvir Sujan told ET that Nexus will now actively invest in US-only AI, marking a significant expansion of its traditional cross-border software thesis.
AI push in US: Sujan said the new strategy reflects the firm's confidence in developer-first and open-source models, drawing on its experience backing software companies in both regions.
“We understand open source, we understand developers as customers, the AI infrastructure and applications stack. We have evolved from backing India-based startups to investing in US-based software and AI startups. So we will play on the front foot in the US in some of the domains we understand well,” he said.
Nexus, an early backer of Zepto, Rapido, and Postman, has returned about $700 million in cash in recent years and generated $1.5–2 billion in liquidity since its inception. Successful exits include Delhivery, PubMatic, Cloud.com, Mezi and Gluster.
Also Read: Busy startup IPO season gives risk investors Rs 15,000 crore in cash exits
Context: Founded in 2006 by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Naren Gupta, Sujan, and Sandeep Singhal, Nexus was among the first India-US venture firms to build a unified portfolio across both markets. Today, general partners Abhishek Sharma and Jishnu Bhattacharjee lead the US practice, while Anup Gupta and Sujan focus on India.
By the numbers:
- Fund size: $700 million (Fund VIII), similar to its 2023 vehicle.
- Portfolio: 30 companies (15 digital India, 15 global software and AI)
Zoom in: Sujan expects several portfolio companies to deliver outsized returns in the coming years. “We have a strong portfolio of exceptional companies, including Turtlemint, Zepto, Rapido, Postman, and Apollo,” he noted. Zepto, where Nexus holds about 13–14% as an early investor, is preparing to file for its IPO soon.
OpenAI strives for Tata hand to grow footprint in India
OpenAI, the world’s most valued artificial intelligence (AI) company, is in advanced talks with Tata Consultancy Services ( TCS) to establish a large AI infrastructure project, sources told us. The partnership would mark the start of the global rollout of OpenAI’s Stargate project.
The deal: OpenAI is negotiating to lease at least 500 MW of data centre capacity from HyperVault, TCS’s new infrastructure arm.
- These talks follow failed negotiations with Reliance, which has aligned more closely with Google.
- OpenAI will act as the anchor tenant, ensuring local data residency.
- This is a commercial lease, not an equity deal, as the Tata Group wants HyperVault to remain neutral and host OpenAI’s competitors like Anthropic.
Strategic pivot for TCS: This tie-up fits with TCS's broader ambition to become the world’s largest “AI-led services company.” Last month, TCS and TPG committed up to Rs 18,000 crore to build gigawatt-scale, AI-ready data centres through HyperVault in a 51:49 alliance.
Battle for India: A partnership between OpenAI and TCS could reshape India’s AI map, positioning them directly against the Reliance-Google combine. For OpenAI, securing capacity in India—its second-largest market—is vital as Perplexity and Google Gemini ramp up their local push.
Mobile advertising company InMobi’s founders have repurchased a large chunk of shares from long-time investor SoftBank, raising their shareholding in the company as it prepares to redomicile to India (from Singapore) and go public.
Details:
- SoftBank, which held around 35% of InMobi, has reduced its stake to approximately 5-7%.
- The Japanese investor, which put in $200-220 million over multiple tranches, is estimated to have received about $250 million from the sale.
- This transaction helps SoftBank avoid being classified as a promoter when InMobi goes public.
Tell me more: With this buyback, founders Naveen Tewari, Mohit Saxena, Abhay Singhal and Piyush Shah will now collectively hold over 60%. To fund the purchase, they have pledged part of their holdings and accessed new capital.
- On Thursday, ET reported that InMobi and its founders secured $350 million in dollar-denominated debt from Varde Partners, Elham Credit Partners, and SeaTown Holdings.
SoftBank first entered InMobi in 2011, investing $100-million, and followed it up with another $100 million cheque the next year.
Amazon is stepping up its quick-delivery play. In a post on X, senior executive Amit Agarwal said that the company is opening two new dark stores every day. By year-end, Amazon expects to operate 300 micro-warehouses across Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR. He described the early response to Amazon Now as “extraordinary.”
The space: This acceleration coincides with the ongoing competition among big quick commerce players— Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart—vying for share in a market defined by speed, density, and heavy spending.
Rivals:
- Flipkart Minutes: Targeting around 800 dark stores by year-end.
- Blinkit: Over 1,800 stores as of September; aiming for 2,100 by year-end and 3,000 by March 2027.
- Instamart and Zepto: Roughly 1,000–1,100 stores.
Also Read: Quick commerce fight intensifies as Swiggy, Zepto eye Rs 15,000-crore public market raise
Industry opinion: Analysts believe Amazon’s renewed push is a response to changing user behaviour in major cities, where quick commerce has become the preferred mode for daily essentials and impulse purchases. Jefferies previously noted that Amazon and Flipkart entered this space out of necessity, as customer spending shifts steadily towards dedicated quick-commerce platforms.
Raise has unveiled Artham, a financial AI model designed specifically for Indian markets. The company said that the model has been under development for the past nine months and aims to interpret local regulatory and market information far more accurately than general AI systems.
Model details:
- Artham is a 7-billion-parameter model.
- Trained on both public and in-house Indian financial datasets.
- Runs entirely on cloud servers based in India.
- Fine-tuned to interpret regulatory filings, corporate announcements, market structures and other India-specific financial material.
Tell me more: Artham is already integrated into Raise’s product suite. It powers Dhan, the Fuzz research assistant, and the ScanX market-data platform. Users can request summaries, explanations, or market context, and the model can also trigger internal tools to fetch live data and analytics in real-time.
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