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Fashion tech startup ANNY raises Rs 10-Cr in pre-Series A round funding

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L-R: Rahul Tanwar, Aveen Kaur, and Japjot Singh, co-founders, ANNY

Fashion tech startup ANNY has secured ₹10 crore in a Pre-Series A funding round, led by early-stage investor Atomic Capital, the company announced in a press release on Monday.

The funds will be used to expand its product categories, enhance its technology infrastructure, build leadership teams, and strengthen distribution and marketing efforts as the company aims to accelerate its growth in the fashion industry.

ANNY follows a vertically integrated, inventory-light model with a focus on trend-driven fashion in the accessible luxury segment. Since its launch, the company claims to have achieved 8x growth.

“Our vertically integrated model, coupled with real-time trend responsiveness, allows us to minimize inventory risk and maximize consumer joy. With Atomic Capital’s backing, we are not just scaling faster, we are scaling smarter. This investment fuels our ambition to become a Rs 100 crore ARR brand by next year and drive a true movement in India’s fashion-tech landscape,” said Japjot Singh, founder and CEO of the company.

The company intends to focus on product innovation, technology development, and enhancing customer experience, while also strengthening brand visibility and driving community engagement initiatives.

Indian furniture brand WoodenStreet eyes IPO, targets 4X revenue growth in 3 years

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Lokendra Ranawat, CEO, WoodenStreet

Indian furniture brand WoodenStreet plans to quadruple its revenue within the next three years by scaling its mattress and modular furniture segments and launching dozens of new stores, as the company gears up for a potential stock market listing, according to its CEO.

India’s $34 billion furniture market has witnessed rapid growth in recent years, driven by rising demand for sofas, recliners, wardrobes, and beds. Younger consumers with higher disposable incomes are driving this surge by shopping online more and upgrading their furniture more frequently.

“The idea is to touch 10 billion rupees ($115.90 million) in revenue and profitability in the next three years… and go public,” WoodenStreet founder and CEO Lokendra Ranawat said in an interview last week.

WoodenStreet recorded sales of ₹2.55 billion and a net loss of ₹109 million in FY2024, its first loss in over five years, according to data from Tofler. To achieve its ambitious growth target, CEO Ranawat said the company is expanding aggressively into the mattress segment with its new brand, “Penguin Sleep,” leveraging the post-pandemic focus on wellness.

Additionally, it is making a strong push into modular furniture to capture the rising demand in India’s fast-growing furniture market.

WestBridge Capital-backed furniture brand, which raised $43 million from Premji Invest late last year to strengthen its workforce and manufacturing, sells a wide range of furniture and home décor online while operating 104 stores across India. CEO Ranawat stated that the company aims to triple its store count within the next 18-24 months, focusing on major cities while exploring smaller markets.

In the competitive furniture and mattress space, Wakefit filed for an IPO last month, while Duroflex, the owner of the “Sleepyhead” mattress brand, announced plans in April to go public within 18 months.

When asked if WoodenStreet would consider a deal akin to Reliance’s purchase of its peer Urban Ladder, Ranawat said, “The target is to make it a sustainable and long-term independent brand.”

Brigade Hotel Ventures IPO price band fixed at ₹85-90 per share

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Brigade Hotel Ventures Ltd, a prominent hotel owner and developer in South India, has set a price band of ₹85-90 per share for its upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO) worth ₹749.6 crore.

At the top end of this price band, the company’s valuation stands at over ₹3,400 crore. The IPO will open for subscription from July 24 to July 28, with the bidding for anchor investors commencing on July 23, as announced by the company.

The IPO will consist entirely of a fresh issue of equity shares, with no Offer for Sale (OFS) component.

The company will use ₹468.14 crore from the IPO proceeds to repay debt, while it will allocate ₹107.52 crore to purchase an undivided share of land from its promoter, BEL. Additionally, it will deploy the remaining funds towards acquisitions, strategic initiatives, and general corporate purposes.

Earlier this month, Brigade Hotel Ventures secured ₹126 crore by issuing equity shares to 360 ONE Alternates Asset Management.

The company is a subsidiary of Bengaluru-based real estate major Brigade Enterprises Ltd (BEL). BEL ventured into the hospitality sector in 2004, with its first project, Grand Mercure Bangalore, which began operations in 2009.

Brigade Hotel Ventures operates a portfolio of nine hotels across Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Mysuru, and GIFT City (Gujarat), offering a total of 1,604 keys. Leading global hospitality brands, including Marriott, Accor, and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), manage these properties.

For its IPO, the company has allocated 75% of the issue to Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs), 15% to Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs), and 10% to retail investors. JM Financial and ICICI Securities serve as the book-running lead managers, and the company expects to list its shares on the stock exchanges on July 31.

Y Combinator-backed AI startup Greptile targets $180M valuation

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Greptile, an AI startup, is currently raising a Series A round of $30 million at a valuation of around $180 million, with Benchmark partner Eric Vishria leading the investment. However, sources indicate that the deal is not yet finalized, and the terms could still change.

Founded by Daksh Gupta after his graduation from Georgia Tech in 2023, the startup joined Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 cohort and subsequently secured a $4 million seed round led by Initialized Capital.

Gupta previously shared that the AI startup’s AI bot functions like an experienced coworker, with a deep understanding of the customer’s codebase, allowing it to detect bugs and potential issues that human reviewers might overlook.

The then 22-year-old Gupta posted on X in November that Greptile “offers no work-life-balance.” Employees typically work from 9 am until 11 pm, including Saturdays, and sometimes Sundays, he wrote.

After the post went viral, Gupta told multiple news outlets that outperforming the competition demands maximum effort from every team member. “No one cares about the third-best company, or even the second-best company in any category in software. If you’re going to put in 95 percent effort, it’s the equivalent of putting in 0 percent effort,” Gupta said in an interview.

With its innovative AI-driven approach to code review, the AI startup is positioning itself as a game-changer in developer productivity and software quality. Backed by leading investors and Y Combinator, the startup’s upcoming Series A funding round could further accelerate its growth, pushing its valuation closer to $180 million and solidifying its place in the competitive AI startup landscape.

Unify Foodworks to invest ₹40-Cr for 100 outlets of American soft serve brand Carvel

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Sumer Sethi, founder of Unify Foodworks

Carvel, a renowned American legacy brand famous for its soft serve, has partnered with Unify Foodworks to debut in the Indian market this August, starting with its first outlet in New Delhi, according to Sumer Sethi, founder of Unify Foodworks.

Holding the exclusive master franchise rights for Carvel in India, Unify Foodworks plans to invest ₹40 crore to open 100 stores over the next five years.

“We are eying to capture 7-8 per cent market share of soft serve ice creams over the next 5 years,” he asserted.

“In my experience, what works in India is when a brand owns a category. It’s very difficult to dislodge that kind of loyal consumer recall. That’s why we decided to bring a soft serve brand to India. Carvel has its patented recipe that can produce the freshest form of ice cream in-store,” he further explained.

In the first phase, the brand plans to open 50 stores focused in and around North India, offering a portfolio of 32 SKUs.

“The average size of the store will span across 300 sq.ft, and all the offerings have been competitively priced as we are targeting the masses,” he stated.

The brand anticipates that its stores will achieve breakeven within 18 to 24 months of operations.

“From our second year of operations, we plan to enter online as well,” he said.

The brand aims to launch 5 outlets by the end of this fiscal year.

At present, Carvel operates in over five countries with a network of more than 400 ice cream stores worldwide.

Moving forward, Unify Foodworks plans to bring Rubio’s Coastal Grill to India by the end of this fiscal year, rebranding it as Moe’s Casa Mexicana.

Aurum PropTech gets SEBI nod for SM-REIT

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In a regulatory filing, Aurum PropTech announced that it has become the first publicly listed company in India to receive SEBI’s registration certificate for a Small and Medium Real Estate Investment Trust (SM-REIT), which will operate under the name AMSA SM REIT Investment Trust (AMSA).

The market regulator’s approval allows Aurum PropTech to launch its SM-REIT, aligning with the company’s strategy to expand its business portfolio. The company plans to list the SM-REIT schemes on stock exchanges, enabling retail investors to gain fractional ownership in rent-generating premium office properties.

“This milestone marks the beginning of AMSA’s journey to provide transparent, structured, and regulated access to high-quality real estate investment opportunities for individual investors across India,” Aurum PropTech said.

AMSA, the company’s SM-REIT platform, is actively assessing multiple income-generating commercial properties and will launch its first scheme soon.

Onkar Shetye, Executive Director, Aurum PropTech, said, “The SM REIT framework provides a perfect platform for investors seeking stable financial products that offer attractive yields while being backed by hard assets.”

In addition, Aurum PropTech owns and operates NestAway Technologies, a rental marketplace, while it also manages Aurum Analytica, which helps real estate developers find customers, and furthermore, it runs Sell.do, a platform focused on sales automation and digital transformation for the real estate sector.

The company’s total income increased to ₹284.98 crore in FY 2024-25, up from ₹233.07 crore in the previous fiscal year.

Aurum PropTech operates under Aurum Ventures, a diversified conglomerate with interests spanning telecom, aviation, renewable energy, and real estate.

Snapdeal’s parent AceVector submits confidential IPO draft papers to SEBI

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L-R: Kunal Bahl & Rohit Bansal, co-founders, AceVector

AceVector, the parent company of e-commerce platform Snapdeal, has confidentially submitted draft documents to market regulator Sebi to raise capital via an initial public offering (IPO).

In a public announcement on Saturday, AceVector stated that it has submitted “the pre-filed draft red herring prospectus with Sebi and the stock exchanges …in relation to the proposed initial public offering of its equity shares on the main board of the stock exchanges.”

Besides Snapdeal, the Gurugram-based AceVector also runs the software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform Unicommerce and consumer brand accelerator Stellar Brands.

Unicommerce went public in 2024, and investors oversubscribed its IPO 168.32 times, reflecting an exceptional response.

Founded by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, AceVector has chosen the confidential pre-filing route, enabling it to delay public disclosure of IPO details in the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) until the later stages. This approach is increasingly popular among Indian companies seeking greater flexibility in their IPO strategies.

In recent months, several companies—such as INOX Clean Energy, logistics player Shadowfax Technologies, stockbroker Groww, Gaja Alternative Asset Management, commerce enabler Shiprocket, Tata Capital, edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah, and Imagine Marketing, the parent of wearables brand boAt—have also opted for confidential IPO filings, reflecting a growing preference for this flexible route.

With AceVector joining the growing list of companies choosing the confidential IPO route, the trend underscores a strategic shift among Indian firms seeking flexibility and privacy in their fundraising plans. As market interest in tech-driven businesses like Snapdeal, Unicommerce, and boAt continues to rise, AceVector’s IPO could mark a significant milestone for the evolving Indian startup ecosystem.

Reliance launches Ajio Rush to compete with emerging fashion startups

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Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) is accelerating its push into fashion quick commerce. The retail major rolled out AJIO Rush, a four-hour apparel delivery service.

Currently operational in six cities, AJIO Rush offers over 1.3 lakh product options to customers. The company claims the service delivers stronger unit economics by driving higher average order values and reducing return rates.

“AJIO Rush, a 4-hour delivery service was launched during the quarter and is live in 6 cities with 130k+ options. With faster deliveries, the initiative will further improve customers’ shopping experience on the platform. The initiative is delivering better unit economics driven by higher average bill value and lower returns,” said the company. 

Following the trend, AJIO has mirrored fashion ecommerce leader Myntra, which started piloting 30-minute to 2-hour product deliveries last year. The move also comes amid a surge of new-age fashion quick commerce startups like Slikk, NEWME, and KNOT, who are reshaping the fast-fashion delivery landscape.

However, Reliance Retail has not disclosed the specific contribution of its digital and new commerce segments to the company’s total revenue in Q1 FY26.

Overall, Reliance Retail reported a 28.3% jump in net profit to INR 3,271 Cr for the quarter under review, compared to INR 2,549 Cr in Q1 FY25. Revenue from operations also rose 11.3%, reaching INR 73,720 Cr in Q1 FY26 versus INR 66,260 Cr in the same period last year.

With the launch of its quick fashion delivery service, AJIO reported that revenue from new customers surpassed 18%, marking a 150-basis-point increase year-on-year (YoY). The marketplace also expanded its product catalogue to over 2.6 million items, reflecting a 44% YoY growth.

On the grocery front, JioMart recorded a 68% sequential and 175% YoY jump in quick delivery orders during Q1 FY26. The platform, which offers 30-minute deliveries, has scaled its hyperlocal quick commerce network to 2,200+ stores across 1,000+ cities.

It was also a robust quarter for Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) digital streaming vertical. JioHotstar attracted over 460 million monthly active users (MAUs) in Q1 FY26, driven largely by IPL viewership. Additionally, downloads of the JioHotstar app surpassed 1.04 billion on Android devices during the period.

Meanwhile, Jio Platforms’ consolidated net profit rose 25% to INR 7,110 Cr in Q1 FY26, compared to INR 5,698 Cr in the same quarter last year, while operating revenue climbed 19% to INR 35,032 Cr, up from INR 29,449 Cr in Q1 FY25.

Overall, RIL’s operating revenue grew 5% YoY to INR 2.48 lakh Cr, while net profit surged 76% YoY to INR 30,681 Cr, boosted by a one-time gain of over INR 8,900 Cr from a stake sale in Asian Paints.

Reliance is doubling down on quick commerce across categories—from AJIO Rush’s four-hour fashion deliveries to JioMart’s 30-minute grocery service—while strengthening its digital ecosystem with JioHotstar and Jio Platforms. Backed by strong revenue growth, expanding customer acquisition, and strategic scaling, RIL’s diversified retail and digital ventures are positioning the conglomerate as a dominant force in India’s evolving ecommerce and streaming markets.

Digi Yatra App crosses 15 Million downloads

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Suresh Khadakbhavi, CEO, Digi Yatra Foundation

Digi Yatra, an SSI (Self-Sovereign Identity)-based platform leveraging facial authentication for seamless passenger processing, has surpassed 15 million app downloads. This achievement highlights its transformative role in delivering biometric-enabled, contactless airport experiences for millions of travelers. By prioritizing privacy and efficiency, Digi Yatra is reshaping the future of air travel across India.

Launched in December 2022, the platform has already enabled over 60 million frictionless journeys, integrating advanced facial recognition technology across 24 airports nationwide. With an average of 30,000 app downloads per day and projections reaching around 16.5 million downloads by August 2025, the platform continues to set new benchmarks in digital travel innovation, reinforcing its status as a trusted travel companion for passengers.

Commenting on this landmark achievement, Suresh Khadakbhavi, CEO, Digi Yatra Foundation, said, “Reaching the 15 million user milestone is a strong reaffirmation of the growing trust in Digi Yatra’s vision to deliver a seamless, secure, and future-ready travel experience. In 2024, initiatives like the ‘d-KYC’ campaign and expansion to Tier-II airports helped us connect with a wider audience. As we look ahead, our focus remains on expanding our footprint, improving user features, and setting new global benchmarks in passenger identity management. Strengthening multilingual accessibility remains a key commitment as we work to make the platform even more inclusive and user-friendly. Our long-term vision is to establish Digi Yatra as the ‘Travel Stack of India,’ offering a secure, private, and efficient identity verification system across both physical and digital gateways.”

Digi Yatra plans to broaden its reach by implementing its biometric-based system at four more airports—Chandigarh, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangaluru, and Srinagar—in the coming months. In addition, the platform is introducing support for all 22 official Indian languages, allowing passengers to manage airport processes in their preferred language.

The upcoming Digi Yatra 2.0, currently in testing, will deliver enhanced features and include support for international travel, pending regulatory approvals. The platform is also preparing an international pilot program that will let inbound travelers with e-passports experience its seamless ecosystem.

Through a strategic partnership with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) under the One-ID X Digi Yatra framework, the platform is aligning with global standards to enable smoother international travel. Furthermore, by 2028, Digi Yatra aims to cater to nearly 80% of India’s domestic air travelers—up from the current 30–35%—while also exploring integrations with airlines and online travel agencies to simplify boarding pass sharing.

LaRiSa Hotels & Resorts to open 5th luxury property in Himachal Pradesh

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LaRiSa Hotels & Resorts has signed a new hotel management deal in Palampur, located in the picturesque Kangra Valley of Himachal Pradesh. With four renowned properties already in the state, this addition—LaRiSa Resort, Palampur—becomes the brand’s fifth property in Himachal.

Spread over 2.5 acres, the upcoming resort is envisioned as an immersive nature retreat. It will feature an herb garden, fruit-bearing trees, and a serene Yin-Yang-inspired fish pond, providing guests with a sensory experience that reflects LaRiSa’s farm-to-table concept and wellness-focused philosophy.

The resort will offer 20 spacious rooms and suites, ranging from 400 to 850 sq. ft., each featuring a balcony with stunning views of either the mountains or the cityscape. Amenities will include an infinity pool overlooking the Dhauladhar range, a restaurant, a bar, a lounge, and a full-service spa equipped with steam and shower rooms.

Speaking on the development, Priya Thakur, Director of LaRiSa Hotels & Resorts, noted Palampur’s rising popularity due to its cool climate, natural beauty, pilgrimage sites, and adventure activities such as hiking and paragliding. “This resort marks a strategic expansion in a fast-emerging destination,” she added.

This new venture is in partnership with the Sandhu Family, promoters of Grassmere Resorts. Achint Kaur Sandhu, Partner at Grassmere, stated, “We aim to redefine luxury experiences in Palampur with this collaboration, offering something the market has long awaited.”

With its fifth property in Himachal Pradesh, LaRiSa Hotels continues to redefine luxury hospitality by blending natural beauty, wellness experiences, and modern comforts, offering guests an unforgettable retreat in the heart of the Kangra Valley.

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