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India’s Leading Healthcare, Pharma & Biotech Organisations Recognised as Most Preferred Workplaces 2025–26

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Team Marksmen Network successfully hosted the Most Preferred Workplaces 2025–26 – Healthcare, Pharma & Biotech on December 11 at Novotel Mumbai International Airport. Themed “Redefining Workplaces, Reigniting India’s Growth Story,” the day-long conference and awards ceremony brought together over 200+ senior leaders from across the pharmaceutical and healthcare ecosystem to deliberate on the evolving dynamics of workplace culture, talent, and leadership in India.

The summit commenced with a welcome address by Rajesh Khubchandani, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Team Marksmen Network, who emphasized, “As we start this journey, we have seen a lot of narratives and stories being told. The way a select few organisations manage them is truly remarkable. Today, we celebrate the success of every organisation and hope they become harbingers of something even greater.”

The agenda featured a high-impact panel discussion on “Humanizing Healthcare Workplaces: Empathy Meets Innovation,” moderated by Mandar Dani, Director – People & Organization (Health Industries), PwC. The panel brought together eminent HR leaders including Namita Patwari, CHRO, Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited; Dr. Jagmohan Singh Rishi, Global Head – Learning & Digital Business Excellence, Wockhardt Ltd; Rajan B. Saawant, VP Corporate HR, Indoco Remedies Ltd; Rashma Nathani, Head – Human Resources, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital; Vishnupriya Manoharan, Vice President – Human Resources, Kauvery Hospital; and Vamsi Garimella, AVP – People & Culture, Matrix PharmaCorp. The discussion explored how healthcare organizations can balance technological advancement with empathy, well-being, and inclusive people practices.

Following the panel, the summit featured an engaging fireside chat titled “From Pressure to Purpose: Crafting Healthcare Workplaces That Thrive.” The conversation brought together Gautam Khanna, CEO, P. D. Hinduja Hospital & Medical Research Centre, and Dr. Sujit Paul, Group CEO, Zota Healthcare Limited, and was chaired by Karan Karayi, Editor-in-Chief, Team Marksmen Network. The session offered candid leadership perspectives on navigating workforce pressures, fostering purpose-driven cultures, and building resilient healthcare organizations that empower talent while enhancing patient outcomes.

The summit also celebrated excellence by recognising a select group of organisations as the Most Preferred Workplaces 2025–26 in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector, honouring those driving innovation, inclusive culture, and talent-first practices.

Dr. Anuj Gupte, Vice President – Government Projects, MDIndia Health Insurance TPA Pvt. Ltd., heading the State and Central Health Scheme of Maharashtra, joined the forum as Guest of Honour. In his address, Dr. Gupte emphasized, “As India expands its state and central health schemes, the success of these programmes depends on organisations that combine operational excellence with a people-first mindset. Celebrating such workplaces reinforces the importance of collaboration, accountability, and empathy in healthcare delivery.”

The brands felicitated at the gala ceremony included: Abbott India

• Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

• Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited

• CADILA PHARMACEUTICALS LIMITED

• Dr. Reddy’s and Nestlé Health Science Limited

• INDOCO REMEDIES LIMITED

• Kauvery Hospital

• Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital

• Matrix Pharmacorp

• Medtronic

• P. D. Hinduja Hospital & Medical Research Centre

• WOCKHARDT LTD

• Zota Healthcare Limited

This one-of-a-kind platform served as a powerful crucible where vision met courage—bringing together leaders committed to shaping purpose-led, people-first workplaces that inspire excellence and resilience across India’s healthcare ecosystem.

For media queries or partnership opportunities, please write to contact@teammarksmen.com.

India’s Manufacturing Talent Leaders Unite at Team Marksmen Network’s Most Preferred Workplace 2025-26

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Celebrating transformation in manufacturing sector into future-ready workplaces through trust, talent and technology, Team Marksmen Network’s Most Preferred Workplaces manufacturing organisations driving transformation through trust, talent and tech-enablement.

With the rapid advancement of India’s manufacturing sector towards global competitiveness and the nation’s adoption of Industry 4.0, Team Marksmen Network successfully hosted the Most Preferred Workplaces – Manufacturing 2025–26, bringing together the nation’s foremost manufacturing talent leaders to celebrate organisations that are redefining industrial growth through people-first leadership.

The day-long conference and award program recognised manufacturing organisations that have demonstrated exceptional commitment towards workforce empowerment, leadership trust, digital readiness and operational excellence, reinforcing the belief that sustainable industrial growth is built on strong workplace cultures.

The summit kicked off with a welcome address by Rajesh Khubchandani, Co-Founder & MD, Team Marksmen Network, emphasizing the need for organizations to balance purpose, technology, and people strategy. “Today, workplaces are not just about processes; they’re about people, purpose, and performance,” he noted.

The agenda featured a high-impact Panel Discussion on Tackling the Toughest Workforce Challenges in Manufacturing, which was moderated by Purushottam Kaushik, Head, Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution, The World Economic Forum India Liaison Office, World Economic Forum. Eminent panellists included Nishad Mehta, General Manager and Head – Corporate Learning and Development, Larsen & Toubro; Sarika Gore, Head HR & GM, Artsons Limited, A Tata Enterprise; Sheetal Arora, Head Human Resources & IR, Mobility Group India, Eaton; Tapan Bagwe, Head HR- India & South Asia, Barry Callebaut Group; and Nidhi Mer, Human Resources Director- APAC, Septodont.

The elite platform of thought-leadership and recognition was graced by Shri Subhash Desai, Former Minister of Industry & Mining, Government of Maharashtra as a Guest of Honour. During his address at the platform, Shri Desai highlighted, “India today has the youngest population in the world, with over 60 per cent of our people below the age of 40. This demographic advantage is our greatest strength, but it also places a significant responsibility on industry and leadership. Manufacturing, in particular. The challenge before us is not just to merely create jobs, but to build future-ready factories and workplaces that can continuously upskill, engage and empower this young workforce.”

The summit also featured insightful keynotes and high-impact panel discussions on critical themes including smart factories, IT-OT convergence, future skills for manufacturing, ESG-led operations and building workforce loyalty on the shopfloor, offering leaders actionable insights to navigate a rapidly evolving industrial landscape.

The summit also celebrated excellence with a clutch of select organisations recognised as the Most Preferred Workplace 2025-26 in Manufacturing for driving innovation, inclusive culture, and talent-first practices.

The brands celebrated in a gala ceremony included:

* Artsons Limited, A Tata Enterprise
* Barry Callebaut Group
* CMR Green Technologies Limited
* CROMPTON GREAVES
* Eaton
* Larsen & Toubro
* PI Industries Ltd
* NRB Bearings Limited
* PharmaZell (India) Private Limited, An Axplora Company
* Rotork
* RSWM Limited
* Schindler India Pvt. Ltd.
* Septodont
* TCPL PACKAGING LIMITED

This landmark event marked a defining moment for manufacturing leadership—where intent translated into action. It brought organisations together to strengthen leadership resolve and set new standards of excellence across manufacturing workplaces, reinforcing the need to leverage India’s industrial and technological capabilities for long-term, purpose-led growth. The future of manufacturing calls for decisive, collective action to build workplaces that engage talent, drive performance and are truly preferred.

For media queries or partnership opportunities, please write to contact@teammarksmen.com

Home services startup Pronto targets $25 Mn in funding round

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Anjali Sardana, Founder & CEO, Pronto

Home services startup Pronto is holding advanced talks to raise $25 million in equity funding from a group of investors, including Epiq Capital, along with existing backers Glade Brook Capital, General Catalyst, and Bain Capital, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The company is negotiating the round at a valuation of nearly $100 million. Meanwhile, the fundraising is unfolding as the 10-minute house-help segment gains momentum, with venture capital firms steadily increasing capital deployment into the category.

Earlier, Pronto raised $11 million in August in a round co-led by General Catalyst and Glade Brook Capital, which valued the startup at approximately $45 million.

Anjali Sardana founded Pronto in April 2025. The company connects households in Gurugram with trained professionals who deliver services such as cleaning, laundry, utensil washing, and basic meal preparation. Although the startup was initially domiciled in Delaware, it has recently shifted its base back to India.

Currently, Pronto operates across New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. In addition, the company has recently launched services in Pune. However, queries sent to Pronto, Epiq Capital, Glade Brook Capital, General Catalyst, and Bain Capital did not receive immediate responses.

Notably, Pronto’s fundraising efforts follow closely after rival Snabbit announced a $30 million funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments. At the same time, both companies are competing with InstaHelp, the on-demand house-help service from Urban Company, which listed in September.

Over the past few months, the 10-minute house-help segment has recorded a sharp surge in order volumes and has emerged as one of the most active consumer internet categories in India. In August, Urban Company fulfilled around 2.09 lakh InstaHelp orders, while Snabbit completed about 1 lakh orders and Pronto delivered between 25,000 and 30,000 orders. By October, these figures increased significantly to 4.68 lakh orders for Urban Company, 3.1 lakh for Snabbit, and 66,000 for Pronto.

By early December, the startup generated nearly 6,000 bookings per day and onboarded about 1,300 professionals onto its platform.

Previously, Sardana shared insights on the company’s unit economics and said, “Pronto’s pre-discount average order value (AOV) stood at around Rs 250 in August,” while noting that discounts typically ranged between 15% and 20%.

Speciale Invest launches Rs 1,400-Cr fund for deeptech startups

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Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner & Arjun Rao, General Partner - Speciale Invest

Venture capital firm Speciale Invest is launching a new investment vehicle that will focus on Series A and later-stage rounds, thereby marking a strategic shift from its long-standing emphasis on pre-seed and seed-stage investments. The deep-tech-focused firm is targeting a corpus of Rs 1,400 crore for this vehicle.

Under the new strategy, Speciale Invest will write cheques ranging between $5 million and $8 million. Additionally, the firm will allocate nearly 30%–40% of the total corpus toward follow-on investments.

According to Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner at Speciale Invest, the firm launched this vehicle to address the growing shortage of growth-stage capital in a rapidly expanding sector. “We have discovered that deep-tech is not an experiment. It is becoming mainstream,” he said.

Furthermore, Rajaram explained that increasing sector visibility will naturally draw more investors. “As the sector gains prominence, more investors will come and invest in the sector, which is good for the sector. Our most educated guess is that many of them will invest small amounts of money very early. Therefore, more companies will get started, and more companies will have deep tech capital. Our belief is that many of these companies will also need growth capital support. Given that this segment is now taking off, growth capital support may not be adequately available. And this is something that we relate to quite heavily among the 30+ companies that we have invested in across the last eight years,” he added.

Meanwhile, the announcement comes at a time when investor attention toward deep-tech is rising even as growth-stage funding into the sector continues to thin.

Notably, this development follows Speciale Invest’s recent close of its Rs 600 crore Fund III, which doubled the size of its previous fund. Over the past eight years, the firm has built a strong track record in deep tech and has acted as the first institutional investor in companies such as Agnikul Cosmos and Metastable Materials.

To support the new phase of investments, Speciale Invest has promoted Venture Partner Vijay Jacob to the role of General Partner—Growth.

Importantly, Jacob clarified that the firm will retain its sectoral focus. “There is no change in the sectors that we’ll be looking at,” he said. Speciale Invest will continue backing startups across space-tech, energy, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and biosciences. “The key insight is that technical difficulty that translates into a competitive advantage is something that does not change when we move from seed-stage to growth-stage,” he noted.

Going forward, the firm expects the new vehicle’s portfolio to include both existing portfolio companies and fresh investments. “We will look to invest in the best companies, whether it’s part of our portfolio or not,” Jacob said.

In addition, the shift toward later-stage investments is likely to draw stronger interest from institutional investors as limited partners. Rajaram pointed out that because the fund will support Series A and later-stage companies where technology risks are largely addressed, institutional capital is expected to engage more actively.

Finally, General Partner Arjun Rao stated that the firm is closely tracking emerging opportunities in quantum energy, defence technology, and semiconductors.

MRG and Lodha Group unveil ₹3,600+ Cr real estate projects in Gurugram

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Rajjath Goel, Managing Director, MRG Group

MRG Group has announced a strategic collaboration with Lodha Group, marking Lodha’s formal entry into the Delhi-NCR real estate market. Through this partnership, the two developers will jointly develop two marquee projects located in premium corridors of Gurugram.

Moreover, the alliance focuses on delivering high-end commercial and residential developments aimed at redefining quality benchmarks in the region. Together, the two projects carry a combined revenue potential exceeding ₹3,600 crore, underscoring the scale and ambition of the collaboration. Meanwhile, Cushman & Wakefield served as the advisor to MRG Group for this transaction.

Additionally, the leadership teams expressed strong confidence in Gurugram’s long-term real estate prospects. Commenting on the partnership, Rajjath Goel, Managing Director, MRG Group, said, “We are excited to join hands with Lodha Group. Lodha brings a legacy of trust, design excellence, and an unwavering commitment to quality and is poised to address a significant gap in NCR for high-quality living. This also showcases our confidence in Gurugram’s continued strength as India’s most aspirational real estate market.”

Overall, the collaboration reflects growing institutional confidence in Gurugram as a key growth hub within Delhi-NCR. As demand for premium residential and commercial spaces continues to rise, the MRG–Lodha partnership positions both groups to capitalize on evolving consumer preferences and strengthen their footprint in one of India’s most competitive real estate markets.

Bare Anatomy parent Innovist crosses Rs 300-Cr revenue in FY25

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L-R: Rohit Chawla, Sifat Khurana and Vimal Bhola, co-founders, Innovist

Innovist, the parent company of Bare Anatomy, Chemist at Play, Sunscoop, and Vinci, delivered a strong financial performance in the fiscal year ended March 2025, as total revenue crossed Rs 300 crore and the company achieved profitability during the year.

During FY25, Innovist recorded more than 2.8X year-on-year growth in operating revenue, reaching Rs 299 crore compared to Rs 105.8 crore in FY24, as reflected in its consolidated filings with the Registrar of Companies. Founded in 2018 by Rohit Chawla, Sifat Khurana, and Vimal Bhola, Innovist—earlier known as Onesto Labs—builds hair and skin care products across four brands: Bare Anatomy, Chemist at Play, Sunscoop, and Vinci Botanicals.

Moreover, product sales remained the company’s primary revenue driver, contributing 97.5% of total revenue, or Rs 291.5 crore, while shipping receipts added another Rs 7.6 crore during the year. In addition, Innovist earned Rs 2.34 crore from interest on current investments and other non-operating sources, which lifted its total income to Rs 301.4 crore.

On the cost side, advertising continued to be the largest expense, rising 2.5X year-on-year to Rs 136.5 crore and accounting for more than 45% of total expenditure. Meanwhile, material costs also climbed sharply, increasing 2.6X to Rs 78.5 crore over the same period.

Furthermore, warehousing expenses nearly tripled to Rs 24 crore in FY25. Employee benefit expenses stood at Rs 15 crore and accounted for around 5% of total costs. At the same time, commissions paid to sole buying agents for sourcing raw materials surged over 19X to Rs 15.5 crore.

Additionally, other overheads—including transportation, rent, IT costs, and legal and professional fees—pushed total expenses to Rs 301 crore for the year.

As a result of nearly threefold revenue growth and the recognition of Rs 11.8 crore in deferred tax income, the D2C house of brands swung to profitability. Innovist reported a net profit of Rs 12 crore in FY25, compared with a loss of Rs 12.5 crore in FY24. Consequently, its ROCE improved to -1.46%, while the EBITDA margin turned positive at 0.42%, supported by an EBITDA of Rs 1 crore.

At the unit level, the company improved its expense-to-earning ratio to Rs 1.01 during the year. As of March 2025, the Gurugram-based firm reported current assets worth Rs 116 crore, including cash and bank balances of Rs 46 crore.

According to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Innovist has raised $30 million in funding to date. Most recently, the company secured $16 million in April through a mix of primary and secondary transactions led by ICICI Venture, which also enabled an exit for its existing investor, Accel.

India’s Retail Boom to Attract USD 3.5 Bn in Next 3 Years, US Malls Crumble

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Anuj Kejriwal, CEO - Retail Leasing and Industrial & Logistics, ANAROCK Group

Mumbai, 17 December 2025: As malls in western countries of the world brace for an existential crisis, global capital is pivoting toward a market that seems to defy every global retail trend—India. While the U.S. has witnessed a net closure of nearly 1,200 mall stores since 2020—with rising vacancies forcing almost 40% of empty malls to undergo rezoning or repurposing—India is experiencing a retail resurgence driven by strong consumer demand and growing institutional investor confidence.

Anuj Kejriwal, CEO – Retail Leasing and Industrial & Logistics, ANAROCK Group, says, “Latest ANAROCK data shows that in the next 3 years, Indian malls are set to see over USD 3.5 Bn of capital inflows. Meanwhile, 88+ foreign brands have entered the Indian retail market and are seeking to expand aggressively. Several more global brands are in the pipeline, seeking space in the severely restricted Grade-A assets currently available.”

As a sharp counterpoint to Western countries’ markets, India’s massive unmet demand from a young consumer base and limited organized retail competition, backed by supportive FDI policies, are exactly what foreign brands and investors now seek.

A major confidence driver is the extreme undersupply of quality retail space in the country. India’s per capita retail stock remains one of the lowest in the world—Tier 1 cities operate with just 4 to 6 sq. ft. per person, Tier 2 and 3 cities with 2 to 3 sq. ft., and Grade A mall space alone sits at barely 0.6 sq. ft. per capita. In contrast, the US averages close to 23 sq. ft., while China exceeds 6 sq. ft.

“This gap, combined with India’s per capita income nearly doubling in the last decade, has created a demand–supply mismatch virtually unheard of in global retail,” says Kejriwal. “Grade-A malls are running near-full occupancy, reporting 95-100% occupancy with long waitlists for key zones. Rental growth has consistently surpassed pre-pandemic levels, and developers now find leasing cycles outpacing construction cycles—a rarity anywhere in the world.”

For investors seeking predictable, inflation-hedged cash flows, this imbalance is a compelling long-term opportunity.

Consumption Gravitates to Quality Malls

With its rare combination of demographic demand drivers, India’s consumption story is creating new headlines. The country is on track to become a USD 6 trillion consumption economy by 2030. Unlike their Western counterparts, Indian malls are lifestyle destinations anchored in entertainment, dining, and social experiences. Daily footfalls in major malls routinely exceed 20,000 on weekdays and surge beyond 40,000 on weekends. F&B and entertainment now account for 30–35% of footfalls, resulting in a resilient retail mix almost completely immune to the online retail disruptions that are defeating Western malls.

Sharpened Investor Appetite

India has over 600 operational malls, but less than 100 meet the institutional benchmarks that attract global funds – triggering aggressive competition for top-tier assets.

“With its 19 malls’ portfolio housing 1,000+ brands and generating INR 1,600 Cr in annual NOI, Blackstone’s Nexus Select Trust REIT listing in 2023 kick-started retail-led REITs in India,” adds Kejriwal. “It established the sector’s credentials as a transparent, scalable, and professionally managed asset class. By 2030, at least two more retail REITs are expected to enter the Indian market.”

E-commerce Not a Spoilsport

Among the most attractive dynamics for global investors is that Indian malls have not capitulated to e-commerce—they are, in fact, benefiting from it. India’s e-commerce penetration remains around 8%, far below the 20%-plus levels seen in China and the US. Brands here are increasingly going ‘phygital,’ with offline stores now experiencing and trust-building centers while online platforms drive scale.

Many leading D2C brands report that offline conversions are 2-3 times higher than online. In India, physical retail has retained its relevance in a digital age.

Peerless Value Proposition for Global Investors

Indian Grade-A malls typically deliver 14-18% IRRs, almost twice the yields seen in many Western markets. Rental escalation cycles, consumption growth-linked revenue-sharing arrangements, and consistently low vacancies signal stability and upside for global capital seeking both yield and long-term growth.

“This renders India unique among the world’s leading retail markets,” Kejriwal sums up. “In the US and Europe, malls are contending with oversupply, declining footfalls, online cannibalization—and the looming specter of repurposing into other formats. In contrast, the Indian retail market has limited quality supply, rising incomes, heavy footfalls, and rapid brand expansion. In the first half of 2025, retail leasing in India rose almost 70% Y-o-Y, and new mall supply grew by over 160%.”

MoEngage raises additional $180 Mn in Series F funding

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Raviteja Dodda & Yashwanth Kumar, co-founders, MoEngage

MoEngage, a customer engagement platform for consumer brands, has raised an additional $180 million as part of its Series F round. Previously, the company secured $100 million in November 2025, thereby taking the total Series F funding to $280 million. ChrysCapital and Dragon Funds led the latest tranche as new investors, while Schroders Capital joined the round alongside existing backers TR Capital and B Capital.

The company will deploy the fresh capital to accelerate innovation within its Merlin AI suite, expand go-to-market teams across North America and EMEA, and evaluate strategic acquisitions that enhance the platform’s capabilities. At the same time, the startup continues to strengthen its footprint in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, where enterprise brands are upgrading customer engagement stacks and integrating marketing and product workflows.

Alongside these growth initiatives, MoEngage has completed its second employee tender offer worth approximately $15 million. Through this initiative, the company enabled liquidity for 259 current and former employees, supporting long-term wealth creation. Additionally, the round included select secondary transactions for early investors, including Eight Roads, Helion Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, and Ventureast.

“At MoEngage, we believe our success is a collective effort, built on a culture of ownership and innovation. It is vital that we recognize the people who brought us to this stage,” said Raviteja Dodda, CEO & co-founder of MoEngage. “This liquidity program reflects that commitment by ensuring that the builders of MoEngage, our employees, and early investors have the opportunity to directly share in the milestones we achieve together. We are grateful for the partnership of ChrysCapital, Dragon Funds, Schroders Capital, TR Capital, and B Capital as we continue to scale globally.”

Meanwhile, Southeast Asia and ANZ remain core growth markets for MoEngage, as enterprises across Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand rapidly adopt AI-powered, insights-driven engagement platforms. In response, MoEngage continues to invest in regional expansion to meet rising enterprise demand.

The company works closely with leading regional brands such as Kredivo, Alfamart, Blibli, XL Axiata, Trust Bank, Stan Entertainment, 13Cabs, Canstar, and TFE Hotels. In addition, it partners with global enterprises including 7-Eleven, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Samsung, Domino’s, KFC, and Nestlé to unify customer data and deliver personalized, omnichannel experiences.

Furthermore, the startup is expanding beyond marketing teams by strengthening its offerings for product teams through MoEngage Analytics and MoEngage Inform. As customer engagement increasingly requires cross-functional alignment, the platform enables marketing and product teams to operate on shared data and deliver cohesive customer experiences.

MoEngage Inform centralizes critical transactional messaging, including OTPs, account notifications, and service updates, through a single API across multiple channels and providers, ensuring reliability separate from marketing campaigns. At the same time, enhanced product analytics capabilities within MoEngage Analytics connect behavioral insights directly to action. By unifying user data with real-time engagement, the platform allows product managers to understand user behavior and immediately trigger experiences that improve retention and lifetime value.

“Customer engagement has never belonged to just one team. Customers move through many moments, and those moments should feel connected and supportive,” added Dodda. “When product, engineering, and marketing work from the same data and tools, they can show up more naturally for their audiences. That’s the experience we want to help companies deliver so they can grow their brands.”

Rishabh Iyer, Vice President at ChrysCapital, said, “ChrysCapital is excited to partner with MoEngage for its next phase of AI-led growth. This investment aligns with our strategy to back technology platforms built in India for global enterprises, leveraging deep talent, capital efficiency, and a sophisticated understanding of enterprise needs. We are impressed by MoEngage’s disciplined operating model, sustained US execution, and broad product capabilities. We look forward to helping the team become the world’s leading marketing technology platform.”

Ridhi Chaudhary, CIO of Dragon Funds, stated, “We are pleased to partner with MoEngage, impressed by its strong management, continuous product innovation, and durable growth. We believe MoEngage’s best-in-class product and AI capabilities position it well to lead the martech category.” Aakash Tulsani, Managing Director at Dragon Funds, added, “MoEngage sets the bar for innovation by leveraging AI on first-party data, making it essential for marketers. It is a privilege to partner with MoEngage again, having invested previously.”

“At Zeta, we are building the modern banking stack for the world’s leading financial institutions. As a data-driven company, we rely on deep customer insights to drive our product strategy,” said Bhavin Turakhia, co-founder & CEO, Zeta. “MoEngage Analytics has helped us optimize critical journeys like onboarding, activation, and cross-sell, while their messaging capabilities allow us to instantly nudge customers. Effectively bridging the gap between insight and action. As a user of the product, I am impressed by the constant innovation. Additionally, MoEngage Inform has become essential for powering our mission-critical communications, delivering account and transaction updates with high reliability and speed.”

“MoEngage Inform has become a core part of how we run our e-commerce experience at Loblaw across our lines of business,” said Charu Pujari, SVP, AI and Engineering at Loblaw Digital. “It keeps customers updated on their delivery and pickup orders with the speed and reliability they expect, which has made a meaningful difference in how engaged and confident they feel throughout the process.”

Visa startup Atlys in talks to raise about $40 Million from SIG, MakeMyTrip

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BRL Editor
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Mohak Nahta, CEO and founder at Atlys

Atlys, an online visa facilitation platform backed by a16z, is close to finalizing a $35–40 million funding round as more travelers turn to digital platforms to plan international trips, according to people familiar with the matter. As global travel demand accelerates, the company is drawing strong investor interest amid a broader travel boom.

Moreover, Susquehanna International Group (SIG), travel technology major MakeMyTrip, and Belgian investment firm Sofina are expected to lead the funding round. Together, these investors are likely to contribute roughly $30 million of the total $35–40 million raised, sources said. In addition, Atlys’ existing investors will invest the remaining $5–10 million, with Peak XV Partners, Elevation Capital, and other current backers participating.

However, Atlys has rejected these claims and stated that it is not raising capital at this time. “We firmly deny the claims being made. The information being quoted is inaccurate and does not reflect the facts,” a company spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the funding discussions come at a time when international travel and visa demand are rising sharply. Notably, December flight bookings have increased by 20–25 percent year-on-year, while travelers are extending the duration of their holidays. As a result, Indian consumers are preparing for one of the strongest year-end travel seasons in recent years.

Additionally, Indians have spent a record $50 billion on overseas travel over the past three years. During this period, travelers have also increased their average trip budgets by 20–30 percent, highlighting a clear shift toward higher-value international travel experiences.

During the ongoing talks, Atlys is reportedly seeking a valuation of around $200 million, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

Founded in the US in 2021, Atlys focuses on reducing the time and complexity involved in visa applications for Indian travellers. The company aims to capitalize on the expanding travel market by streamlining documentation, lowering rejection rates, and reducing visa processing times to as little as 55 seconds across more than 150 destinations.

Previously, the company raised a $5 million seed round in 2021 from a16z and other investors. Subsequently, it secured $12 million in a round led by Peak XV Partners and Elevation Capital, with participation from Mantis VC, South Park Commons, the Pinterest founders, and others. Later, Atlys raised $20 million in a Series B round led by existing investors Peak XV Partners and Elevation Capital.

DoorDash launches Zesty, an AI-powered social app for restaurant discovery

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Andy Fang, co-founder, DoorDash

DoorDash is launching a new AI-powered social app designed to help users quickly discover local restaurants. The app, called Zesty, is currently available in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York.

With this launch, DoorDash is expanding beyond food delivery and moving into the social discovery space. Essentially, the app aims to eliminate the hassle of reading countless reviews, browsing menus across platforms, or scrolling through TikTok to decide where to eat.

Once users open the app and sign in using their DoorDash accounts, they can ask an AI chatbot for personalized dining recommendations based on their preferences. For instance, in an Instagram promotional post, the company highlighted that users can enter prompts such as “A low-key dinner in Williamsburg that’s actually good for introverts” to receive tailored suggestions. Additionally, the app offers pre-filled prompts like “Brunch spots good for groups” and “Romantic dinner with a vintage feel” to guide users.

Meanwhile, DoorDash co-founder Andy Fang wrote in an X post that the app pulls information from DoorDash, Google Maps, TikTok, and other sources to “curate the best suggestions from the web.” Over time, the app learns individual tastes to better understand what users enjoy and what they prefer to avoid. After finding a recommendation of interest, users can save it or share it with others.

Beyond AI-driven search, users can view and share photos and comments about restaurants they have visited, discover content created by others, and follow people—similar to features found on traditional social networks.

“At DoorDash, we’re always looking for new ways to help people connect with the best of their communities,” a DoorDash spokesperson said. “We’re piloting an app called Zesty to make it easier to discover great nearby restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and more through personalized search and social sharing. We’re excited to learn from early testers as we keep shaping what local discovery can look like.”

Overall, the launch of Zesty represents DoorDash’s latest step toward diversifying beyond delivery services. Earlier this year, the company also introduced features that allow customers to make reservations for in-person dining and earn rewards for in-store purchases.

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