Stylework raises ₹30-Cr in pre-Series B funding to accelerate growth

November 20, 2025

Flexible workspace aggregator Stylework has secured ₹30 crore in a pre-Series B funding round, which comes after an earlier first close of ₹10 crore.

The company intends to use this new capital to enhance its technology platform, expand across both Indian and international markets, and hire senior leaders across transactions, business development, and product growth.

The Gurgaon-based firm shared that the latest investment round was led by Equentis Angel Fund, with participation from Karekeba Ventures/Cogniphy AIF Fund, as well as continued support from Lets Venture Fund, MoneyVyapaar, HNIs, and other strategic investors.

“We are witnessing a fundamental transformation in how India’s workspace market is evolving and will unfold itself to a roaring 10 billion USD flex portfolio in the coming two to three years,” said Sparsh Khandelwal, founder and CEO of Stylework.

The company added that the funds will be directed toward strengthening its AI-driven marketplace for operators, clients, and channel partners; improving its workspace ecosystem; advancing predictive analytics and utilization-to-cost comparison dashboards; and supporting broader growth initiatives and partnership-driven expansion. These efforts will help deepen Stylework’s presence across Tier I cities and fast-growing Tier II and Tier III markets in India.

As workspace operators continue to secure major investments through public listings, Stylework is positioning itself as the intelligent data arbitrage layer that connects enterprises to the entire ecosystem. Its aggregator model, the company said, delivers unmatched value to corporates seeking flexibility, cost optimization, and nationwide workspace portfolio management through a master service agreement.

“The flexible workspace sector in India is at an inflection point, driven by evolving enterprise needs and the shift towards managed and serviced workspace models. We believe Stylework is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this transformation through its strong technology backbone, robust partner network, and profitable growth trajectory,” said Manish Goel, founder and managing director at Equentis Wealth. “Our investment underscores our confidence in Stylework’s vision to redefine the future of workspaces in India.”

India’s flexible office sector—currently valued at $3.5 billion—is expected to reach $11.39 billion by 2028–2029, growing at more than 13.7% annually. Using its Flexboard and suite of products, Stylework now connects more than 650 coworking and managed office operators, representing over 5,000 centers, directly with enterprise clients across the country.

AI fintech startup Kaaj raises $3.8 Mn in funding

BRL Editor

November 20, 2025

AI fintech startup Kaaj raises $3.8 Mn in funding — Utsav Shah & Shivi Sharma, co-founders, Kaaj

Kaaj, an agentic AI credit intelligence platform focused on simplifying small business lending, has announced raising $3.8 million in seed funding led by Kindred Ventures, with additional participation from Better Tomorrow Ventures and other investors.

Established in 2024, Kaaj aims to make affordable capital more accessible to small businesses. By using agentic AI workflows that help lenders review complete loan packages and produce decision-ready assessments, the platform reduces operating costs and speeds up the credit evaluation process.

Utsav Shah, co-founder and CEO, Kaaj spent ten years at Uber and Cruise developing scalable AI-driven decision systems. Shivi Sharma, co-founder and President, has extensive experience in credit and fraud risk from roles at American Express, Uber, and Varo Bank.

The new funding will support the acceleration of product development and help the company expand within the $1.7 trillion U.S. small-business lending market and the $1.3 trillion equipment finance market.

Small business formation has reached historic highs in recent years, with more than 33 million small businesses operating across the country. Yet gaining access to capital still poses significant challenges. The Federal Reserve’s 2024 Small Business Credit Survey shows that around half of all applicants do not secure the full amount of financing they seek, leaving them underfunded during critical growth periods. One major reason is that, for many lenders, loans below $1 million are unprofitable due to manual, time-heavy underwriting processes.

Kaaj addresses this issue by deploying AI agents that automate the entire credit review workflow—from business verification and cash flow assessments to asset valuation, financial analysis, and risk evaluation. Tasks that traditionally require days of labor and extensive document review can be completed by Kaaj in under three minutes, producing analysis that integrates seamlessly with existing loan origination systems.

“Lenders face a fundamental profitability problem: it takes the same amount of time and resources to underwrite a $100,000 loan as it does a $5 million loan,” said Shivi Sharma, President and co-founder of Kaaj. “This forces lenders to prioritize larger loans, leaving millions of small businesses without access to the capital they need to operate and grow. Kaaj’s platform doesn’t just speed things up. It fundamentally changes the economics of small business lending, making smaller loans profitable for lenders while improving the borrower experience.”

The platform has already reviewed more than $5 billion in loan applications, serving an expanding network of lenders and brokers that includes major industry players like Amur Equipment Finance, Quality Equipment Finance, and Fundr.

Kaaj supports both lenders and brokers, who collectively drive the majority of small business lending activity. For lenders, the platform enables efficient scaling without expanding headcount—allowing a team that currently handles 500 monthly applications to process 2,000 with no additional hiring. For brokers, the system offers intelligent matching features that direct deals to the best-suited financing partners. “Time kills deals in small business lending,” said CEO and co-founder Utsav Shah of Kaaj.

The platform also integrates easily with widely used CRM systems such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, HubSpot, Zoho, and others, enabling full deployment in under three weeks.

Beyond efficiency, Kaaj tackles a long-standing challenge in commercial lending: inconsistency in decision-making. Through behavioral studies conducted alongside credit underwriters, Kaaj found that lending decisions vary depending on factors like workload, time of day, and even the day of the week—issues that often disadvantage brokers and borrowers.

Kaaj ensures that every application receives the same thorough analysis, regardless of external conditions. This improves the quality and reliability of credit decisions while enhancing transparency and audit readiness—key requirements in today’s regulatory environment. Every data point, calculation, and insight within the platform is fully traceable, giving lenders complete visibility and control over their final decisions.

“Small business lending has long struggled with a fundamental economics problem, the cost to underwrite smaller loans hasn’t matched the returns, leaving millions of businesses underserved,” said Kanyi Maqubela, Managing Partner at Kindred Ventures. “Kaaj is solving this by fundamentally changing the unit economics of SMB lending through intelligent automation. The platform doesn’t just incrementally improve efficiency; it unlocks an entirely new category of profitable lending that was previously inaccessible.”

“We’re backing a team with the rare combination of deep AI expertise and domain knowledge in credit risk to build the infrastructure that will power the next generation of small business finance,” said Jake Gibson, Founding Partner at Better Tomorrow Ventures.

OPO Hotels strengthens footprint with new managed property in Karol Bagh

BRL Editor

November 20, 2025

OPO Hotels strengthens footprint with new managed property in Karol Bagh — Sandeep Basu, CEO, OPO Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd.

The OPO Hotels has announced the launch of its latest managed hotel in Karol Bagh, marking a significant move in the brand’s ongoing expansion throughout Delhi NCR. The property offers over 30 well-designed rooms along with a modern restaurant, a casual café, and a scenic rooftop bistro, adding fresh hospitality options to one of Delhi’s most well-known commercial areas.

The agreement for the property was completed two months ago, and now the hotel is functioning at full capacity. Afterward, OPO Hotels took charge once the renovation phase was finished, ensuring that every part of the hotel aligns with the brand’s commitment to comfortable design, reliable service, and meeting the expectations of today’s travelers.

Commenting on the opening, Sandeep Basu, CEO, OPO Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd., said, “Karol Bagh has a rhythm of its own, and we are proud to become part of it. This hotel gives us the chance to serve guests who value comfort, convenience, and a warm atmosphere right in the middle of Delhi’s energy. We look forward to creating a stay experience that feels easy, reliable, and thoughtfully designed for today’s traveler.”

The new Karol Bagh property represents an important step in OPO’s larger growth roadmap for the Delhi NCR region. The company continues to see the area as a key market due to its strong blend of business centers, connectivity points, and leisure destinations. By entering established localities like Karol Bagh, OPO Hotels advances its mission of offering accessible, guest-focused hospitality while strengthening its network for the long term.

Luma AI raises $900 Million led by Humain

BRL Editor

November 20, 2025

Luma AI raises $900 Million led by Humain — Amit Jain, CEO & co-founder, Luma AI

Video-generation startup Luma AI announced that it has secured $900 million in a new funding round, led by Humain, an artificial intelligence company backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

The round also saw participation from Advanced Micro Devices’ venture arm and existing backers Andreessen Horowitz, Amplify Partners, and Matrix Partners, with the announcement made at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum on Wednesday.

The fresh investment pushes Luma’s valuation to over $4 billion.

Luma builds multimodal “world models” capable of learning from text, video, audio, and images to replicate real-world environments. CEO Amit Jain explained that these models go beyond text-only large language models and are more effective in “helping in the real, physical world.”

“With this funding, we plan to scale and accelerate our efforts in training and then deploying these world models today,” Jain said.

In September, Luma AI introduced Ray3, described as the first reasoning video model able to interpret prompts and generate videos, images, and audio. Jain noted that Ray3 currently performs better than OpenAI’s Sora 2 and is comparable to Google’s Veo 3.

Humain, launched in May, aims to deliver full-stack AI solutions to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s presence as a global AI leader. The company is headed by industry expert Tareq Amin, formerly CEO of Rakuten Mobile and previously leading Aramco Digital.

During the forum, Humain also revealed multiple collaborations, including standalone data center projects with AMD, Cisco, GlobalAI (built on Nvidia infrastructure), and Elon Musk’s xAI.

Luma AI and Humain will additionally collaborate to construct a 2-gigawatt AI supercluster in Saudi Arabia, called Project Halo, which Jain said will be among the world’s largest GPU deployments.

Across the tech industry, major companies are investing heavily in supercomputing resources to train advanced AI systems. In July, Meta announced its 1-gigawatt Prometheus supercluster, while Microsoft recently rolled out the first supercomputing cluster built with the Nvidia GB300 NVL72 platform.

“Our investment in Luma AI, combined with HUMAIN’s 2GW supercluster, positions us to train, deploy, and scale multimodal intelligence at a frontier level,” Amin said in a release. “This partnership sets a new benchmark for how capital, compute, and capability come together.”

Their partnership also includes Humain Create, an initiative dedicated to developing sovereign AI models trained on Arabic and regional datasets. In addition to working on what is expected to be the world’s first Arabic video model, Jain said Luma AI’s technologies will be applied across businesses in the Middle East.

He pointed out that because most AI models scrape data from the open internet, regions outside the U.S. and Asia tend to have limited representation in AI-generated content.

“It’s really important that we bring these cultures, their identities, their representation—visual and behavioral and everything—to our model,” Jain said.

AI content-generation tools have faced pushback from entertainment companies over copyright issues. Luma’s text-to-video platform Dream Machine encountered claims of IP copying earlier this year, but Jain emphasized that the company has strong protective systems in place.

“Even if you really try to trick it, we are constantly improving it,” he said. “We have built very robust systems that are actually using models we trained to detect them.”

Logistics intelligence startup Pidge raises Rs 120-Cr in funding

BRL Editor

November 19, 2025

Logistics intelligence startup Pidge raises Rs 120-Cr in funding — Ratnesh Verma & Rushil Mohan, co-founders, Pidge

Pidge, a supply marketplace and interoperable last-mile logistics platform, announced on Wednesday that it has raised Rs 120 crore in growth capital. The round was led by La Vida es Chula (LVEC), a capital fund founded by entrepreneur and investor Thomas Meyer, along with participation from existing investors.

The Gurugram-based startup will use this investment to expand further into Tier II and Tier III markets. Moreover, it plans to strengthen its product and technology capabilities through continued innovation in AI and data science. The company also intends to pilot its logistics operating system in select international markets as part of its global ambitions.

Founded in 2019, Pidge operates a technology-driven logistics platform that offers last-mile delivery solutions for both businesses and individuals. The B2B startup currently serves over 20,000 brands across quick commerce, e-commerce, retail, pharma, and apparel sectors. Its client list includes major names such as Zomato, Swiggy, KFC, Tata 1mg, EatClub, and Snitch, and its services now span more than 50 cities.

Commenting on the fundraiser, Ratnesh Verma, founder and CEO of Pidge, said, “As India manifests its vision of single-digit logistics costs and 2x e-commerce every 3 years, Pidge is poised to be the foundation for that growth with the country’s largest, interoperable, last-mile logistics platform. This capital accelerates new propositions and markets and doubles down on efficient, sustainable, scalable growth. We’re delighted to welcome Thomas Meyer and LVEC to our cap table as the lead investor.”

The startup claims it has recorded 10X annual growth and is currently operating at an annual run rate of Rs 250 crore. Additionally, Pidge reported that its valuation has increased more than 5X since its previous funding round.

Expressing his confidence in the company, Thomas Meyer, founder and CEO of LVEC and Desigual, said, “I am excited to be a part of Pidge and have always backed founders who compound value with discipline. Ratnesh, as an accomplished global business leader, has built Pidge with intent. I have full confidence in the technology and team he has built to continue to stay ahead as e-commerce in India changes… We believe in the Indian growth story and see the potential in Pidge to set a new standard of reliability for Indian commerce. Their compliance, governance, technology, and innovation are impressive.”

Moustache Group of Hotels adds new property to Select Portfolio in Manali

BRL Editor

November 19, 2025

Moustache Group of Hotels adds new property to Select Portfolio in Manali — Abhishek Khandelwal, co-Founder and Director, Moustache Group of Hotels

Moustache Group of Hotels has expanded its Select portfolio by launching a new property in Manali, aligning with its broader strategy to capitalize on rising tourism across northern India.

The company aims to open 50 additional properties by 2028, further strengthening its presence in major leisure destinations such as Kasol, Shimla, Nainital, and McLeodganj. The newly opened Manali property offers 49 keys and sits within one of Himachal Pradesh’s busiest travel corridors.

Explaining the rationale behind introducing the newest Select property in Manali, Abhishek Khandelwal, co-Founder and Director of the Moustache Group of Hotels, said, “We chose Manali because it’s one of India’s strongest mid-range hotel markets with consistent demand and diverse travellers seeking quality stays at the right price. Manali is currently experiencing a surge in footfall, with recent figures indicating over 15,000 tourists per day, driven by improved weather, post-Diwali travel, and the anticipation of more snowfall. Its accessibility and year-round inflow made it the ideal destination to introduce a Select property.”

At present, the group operates over 33 properties across 11 states, including five hotels under the Select category. Existing Select properties in Naukuchiatal, Mukteshwar, and Udaipur support the brand’s mid-budget positioning, which caters to both family and business travellers.

Originally known for its backpacker-focused stays, Moustache Group of Hotels has now diversified into multiple verticals. Moreover, these include Luxuria for premium experiential offerings and Select for high-performing mid-scale hotels. The company aims to achieve Rs 100 crore in revenue by 2026, with nearly half expected to come from the expanding Select portfolio.

Meanwhile, the broader tourism industry continues to offer strong growth potential. Analysts project that India’s tourism market will reach $26.24 billion in 2025 and could grow to $54.34 billion by 2030, driven by steady domestic demand and renewed interest in hill destinations.

Sharing insights on the Select segment’s growth prospects, Deepak Agarwal, co-Founder and Director of the Moustache Group of Hotels, said, “The Select segment is expected to contribute 40 to 50 percent of the company’s projected 100 crore revenue by 2026. In the upcoming season alone, we anticipate a 10 percent uptick in business within this vertical. We will be focusing heavily on Select properties in the coming years, especially those that show strong long-term potential and align closely with our ethos. Narrowing our focus will help us deepen expertise, strengthen loyalty, and offer sharply curated, high-value experiences.”

Voice AI startup Synthio Labs raises $5 Mn in funding

BRL Editor

November 19, 2025

Voice AI startup Synthio Labs raises $5 Mn in funding — L-R: Rajashekar Vasantha, Supreet Deshpande & Sahitya Sridhar, co-founders, Synthio Labs

Healthcare startup Synthio Labs has raised $5 million in a seed funding round led by Elevation Capital, while 1984 Ventures, Peak XV Partners, Y Combinator, and several healthcare and AI-focused angel investors also participated.

The company operates as a healthcare-centric voice AI platform that enables pharmaceutical companies to automate engagement with both doctors and patients.

Synthio Labs explains that global pharma companies spend over $30 billion annually on doctor and patient engagement; however, outreach still remains manual, fragmented, and difficult to scale. Moreover, doctors often experience significant information overload, while many patients—especially those managing chronic illnesses—lack continuous support, which contributes to treatment drop-off rates reaching nearly 50%. The startup aims to solve these challenges through compliant, real-time voice AI that delivers accurate medical information whenever needed.

CEO and co-founder Supreet Deshpande emphasized that the future of healthcare will depend not only on breakthrough therapies but also on “how we reach and support every clinician and patient who relies on them.” Additionally, CTO and co-founder Rajashekar Vasantha stated that Synthio is building AI infrastructure to enable this support “intelligently, compliantly, and at scale.”

Synthio’s AI operating system integrates three core products: Jarvis, a clinical-grade voice AI copilot designed for pharma field teams; Ather, a multimodal AI engine that powers omnichannel engagement; and Simulation Studio, a digital-twin platform that models clinician and patient behavior for research and strategy. Together, these tools automate compliant conversations, generate structured insights, and standardize communication across large life sciences organizations.

Several top 10 global pharma companies and major D2C healthcare brands already use these solutions. In one deployment, Synthio’s voice AI delivered highly personalized support to more than 5,000 eczema patients in just 48 hours, demonstrating its ability to scale engagement rapidly.

Founded by Supreet Deshpande, Sahitya Sridhar, and Rajashekar Vasantha, Synthio Labs has strong India roots, as the founding team gained academic and professional experience in Karnataka and Chennai. Their backgrounds include roles at McKinsey, ZS Associates, Amazon, and Audible, where they contributed to large-scale pharma commercial work and key advancements in LLM and voice-tech development.

Operating teams in both India and the United States, the company plans to use the newly raised capital to expand engineering and product capabilities, scale deployments across the U.S. and Europe, and strengthen partnerships with global life sciences companies. Synthio aims to establish AI-driven engagement as the new worldwide standard for clinician and patient support.

Krishna Mehra, AI Partner at Elevation Capital, stated that Synthio is building the “next major customer engagement infrastructure for life sciences,” noting that the trillion-dollar pharma commercial system is “ripe for reinvention.”

Although voice automation in healthcare continues to grow, Synthio Labs works in a specialized niche: clinical-grade voice AI tailored specifically for life sciences engagement. While certain startups build voice assistants for healthcare, most solutions focus on hospital operations, appointment workflows, or patient triage rather than pharma-doctor communication.

Competitors like Tovie AI, Gnani.ai, Botphonic, and Convozen AI primarily support hospitals and clinics by automating appointment scheduling, symptom assessment, and administrative tasks. Others, such as ElevenLabs and DeepforgeAI, develop voice agents for patient access and call-center automation.

However, very few companies address the commercial side of life sciences as directly as Synthio Labs. By prioritizing compliant medical conversations, field-team copilots, and clinician-patient digital twins, the company presents itself not merely as another conversational AI product but as an AI infrastructure layer for pharma engagement—one that aims to unify how drugmakers communicate with doctors and patients across the globe.

TGI Hotels expands Goa portfolio with the signing of Trishvam Palolem Beach Resort

BRL Editor

November 19, 2025

Goa, India — TGI Hotels announces the signing of Trishvam Palolem Beach Resort, a premium beachfront retreat under TGI’s premium brand portfolio—Trishvam. This development marks TGI’s second property in Goa, following its established presence in Panjim, and now extends the brand’s footprint to the shores of Palolem Beach, one of South Goa’s most celebrated destinations. The resort is scheduled to launch in December 2025.

Nestled directly on the beach, Trishvam Palolem Beach Resort will feature 42 elegantly designed cottages that blend natural aesthetics with modern comforts. Thoughtfully conceptualized as a premium coastal hideaway, the resort promises immersive beachfront living with uninterrupted access to Palolem’s serene shoreline.

The resort will also include a signature all-day dining multi-cuisine restaurant, a relaxing swimming pool, a fully equipped gym, and a rejuvenating spa, catering to leisure travellers seeking comfort, wellness, and an elevated beachside escape.

Commenting on the signing, Amit Kumar, Chief Marketing Officer, TGI Hotels, said: Panjim laid the foundation for our growth in Goa, and expanding into Palolem is a natural next step. Trishvam, part of our premium brand collection, reflects TGI’s commitment to elevated hospitality. Trishvam Palolem Beach Resort is the third property under the Trishvam premium brand collection, after Pondicherry and Krishnagiri, strengthening TGI’s presence in the leisure segment and enhancing its footprint in Goa. With this new resort, we aim to offer guests a refined beachfront stay that brings together comfort, local charm, and our signature warmth.

About TGI Hotels

TGI Hotels & Resorts is a leading hospitality group in India, with a diverse portfolio of hotels, resorts, and leisure properties across key destinations. Committed to quality, personalized service, and thoughtful design, TGI creates memorable experiences for both business and leisure travellers through its multiple brands.

About Trishvam – Recrafting Memories

Trishvam, TGI Hotels’ premium brand collection, offers discerning travellers exclusive experiences in serene and scenic locations. With properties in Pondicherry, Krishnagiri, and now Palolem, Trishvam embodies TGI’s promise of elevated hospitality and thoughtfully crafted stays—recrafting memories for every guest.

For more information, please visit: www.trishvam.com | www.tgihotels.com

Ramee Hotels signs 100-key resort in Karjat

BRL Editor

November 19, 2025

Ramee Hotels has signed a new 100-key resort in Karjat as part of its focused expansion throughout Maharashtra. Blue Neck Group and Ramee Hotels are developing the project in its greenfield phase.

Sharing his views on the announcement, Raj Shetty, Founder, Chairman & Managing Worker, Ramee Group, said, “Ramee Hotels has always focused on building destinations that resonate with today’s travellers. Karjat offers tremendous potential, and this new resort will be developed with the same passion and commitment that define our brand. We look forward to creating a landmark destination that welcomes families, corporates, and holidaymakers alike.”

The resort’s design blends leisure, celebration, and lifestyle elements while it sits amid Karjat’s lush mountain scenery and overlooks cascading waterfalls. Moreover, the plan features expansive open lawns, landscaped activity zones, exclusive event and party areas, an elevated terrace, and a swimming pool crafted to elevate guest experiences.

The project will further include contemporary dining venues along with well-planned recreational amenities that cater to a diverse group of travellers. Its design and offerings position it as a strong choice for vacations, celebrations, corporate offsites, and weekend escapes for visitors from nearby metropolitan areas.

Commenting on the development, Saurabh Gahoi, Senior Vice President, Ramee Group of Hotels, said, “Karjat is becoming one of Maharashtra’s most sought-after leisure and celebration destinations. This signing is an important step in our growth strategy as we continue expanding into high-potential markets. Our collaboration with Blue Neck Group reflects our commitment to creating properties that bring together exceptional hospitality, thoughtful design, and meaningful guest experiences.”

With this agreement, the group continues strengthening its presence in high-demand destinations, driven by increasing interest in leisure and MICE travel. Additionally, Karjat’s rising reputation as a preferred short-break getaway aligns strongly with Ramee Hotels’ broader expansion strategy in Maharashtra.

Kraken valued at $20 Billion after new fundraise

BRL Editor

November 19, 2025

Crypto exchange Kraken announced on Tuesday that its latest fundraise values the company at $20 billion, marking a 33% jump in less than two months, as investor appetite for digital asset companies continues to grow.

The company closed an $800 million dual-tranche round, boosted by a crypto-friendly regulatory stance under U.S. President Trump, which has motivated digital asset platforms to expand in the U.S. with expectations of clearer rules. Kraken’s primary tranche was backed by major institutional players including Jane Street, HSG, Oppenheimer Alternative Investment Management, and Tribe Capital — the latter co-founded by Kraken’s co-CEO Arjun Sethi.

In the second tranche, Citadel Securities injected $200 million as a strategic investment.

This round pushes Kraken’s valuation far above its newly listed public peers Bullish and Gemini, both of which have struggled after strong debut sessions on U.S. exchanges, highlighting ongoing hurdles for crypto companies navigating public markets as the sector aims for mainstream traction.

The update also arrives at a moment when crypto prices are dipping after an extended rally led by bitcoin, influenced by uncertainty over future U.S. rate cuts and a more risk-averse sentiment among investors.

Kraken has been directing capital toward expansion across multiple asset classes and increasing its user base. Just last month, it revealed the acquisition of futures exchange Small Exchange from IG Group for $100 million, setting the stage for a fully U.S.-based derivatives offering.

Industry peers like Gemini, Coinbase, and Ripple have likewise gained from reduced regulatory pressure under President Trump, who, along with his family, has been an active participant in this emerging financial sector.

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