GCCs step up hiring; Valentine’s Day sales surge

Happy Friday! Global capability centres are ramping up hiring in 2026, even as AI-led automation reshapes certain roles. That and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:
■ Data centre capacity set to rise
■ Idfy raises $52 million
■ USV Pharma-Wellbeing Nutrition deal

---

Global capability centres (GCCs) continue to expand across India in 2026, even as automation trims parts of their workforce.

Jobs at risk: Industry estimates suggest GCCs could add 120,000-140,000 employees this year. At the same time, AI-led automation may eliminate more than 10,000 roles, primarily in predictable, repetitive functions.

• EIIRTrend's Pareekh Jain estimates more than 10,000 layoffs in 2026, including about 5,000 in technology GCCs across software, enterprise software and consumer software firms.
• Nearly half of the reductions could come from tech captives as companies shift AI tools from pilot projects to full production.

In 2025, layoffs ranged between 5,500 and 6,500. Even so, new and existing GCCs added a net 150,000 jobs, according to UnearthInsight CEO Gaurav Vasu. Over 2,000 roles were cut in the last quarter alone at the technology centres in India of
Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, tied to AI-driven efficiency gains.

What else? Hiring at the lower end has slowed. Recruitment fell 8% in banking and financial services and 11% in retail and ecommerce in recent quarters.

Also Read: Tier-II GCC dream awaits govt bridge to cross execution gap

---

Valentine's Day is becoming a high-velocity sales window for quick commerce platforms and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands across gifting categories, including fashion, accessories, jewellery, beauty, personal care, and sexual wellness.

Quick commerce offerings: Zepto, Blinkit, and Instamart have rolled out dedicated Valentine’s sections on their apps since February 7, featuring curated listings and themed interfaces to drive impulse purchases.

Uptick in sales: D2C brands are seeing clear momentum on these platforms.

• Sexual wellness products brand MyMuse reported a 50-60% YoY jump in sales via quick commerce channels during this period.

Revenue boost: While February 13 and 14 remain peak days for last-minute orders, brands say demand now builds through Valentine's week.

“We usually see a 4X spike in revenue, which is from January 15 to February 14, so those 30 days are what we capture,” said Twishaa Gupta, cofounder of fashion and accessories brand Salty.

---

Indian space start-up AgniKul Cosmos and AI cloud firm NeevCloud are planning to build an AI-based data centre in low-earth orbit (LEO).

The companies aim to launch a proof-of-concept mission before year-end, with full commercial services targeted for 2027.

About the mission:

• The venture positions itself as India’s first privately led orbital AI inferencing project.
• AgniKul will mount NeevCloud’s AI-powered data centre on its extended upper stage – the segment of the rocket that typically deploys satellites and burns out.
• Instead of discarding it, AgniKul has developed patented systems to keep the upper stage operational in orbit, converting it into a hosting platform.
• Cofounder and chief executive Srinath Ravichandran described this shared-hardware approach as a potential global first.

Tell me more:

• Launch into LEO, possibly from Sriharikota, subject to orbit requirements and regulatory approvals.
• The launch and manufacturing will be done in India.
• NeevCloud will run what it calls an “orbital inferencing layer” focused on low-latency AI services.
• The platform will prioritise real-time inference over AI model training.
• The first system will deploy around 500 AI chips and support up to 100,000 concurrent users or roughly 10 million AI calls per day, depending on workload.

Also Read: Astrome, Azista, Dhruva Space to build satellite bus platforms under IN-SPACe scheme

---

Regtech firm Idfy gets Rs 476 crore from Neo Asset, others: Mumbai-based regulatory technology startup Idfy has secured Rs 476 crore ($52 million) in a funding round led by Neo Asset Management, along with the participation of existing investors Blume Ventures, Analog Capital, Elev8 and others.

USV Pharma buys 79% stake in Wellbeing Nutrition for Rs 1,583 crore: USV Pharma on Thursday announced that it has acquired 79% stake in Wellbeing Nutrition for Rs 1,583 crore in an all-cash deal, as it expands into India’s fast-growing nutraceutical supplements and wellness space.

Honasa Consumer sees 16% revenue uptick; profit at Rs 601 crore: Honasa Consumer, the parent company of the beauty and personal care brand Mamaearth, on Thursday reported a 16% on-year increase in operating revenue, at Rs 601 crore, for the quarter ended December, driven by growth in focus categories and product innovation. The company’s net profit stood at Rs 50 crore, compared to Rs 26 crore a year ago.

Shadowfax clocks five-fold jump in net profit in Q3, revenue up 65%: New-age logistics firm Shadowfax’s net profit jumped five-fold to Rs 35 crore in the December quarter of FY26, from Rs 6.4 crore a year ago, on the back of market share gains.

---

■ Crypto-funded human trafficking is exploding (Wired)

■ Not on TikTok? They're tracking you anyway (BBC)

■ Can India be a “third way” AI alternative to the US and China? (Rest of the World)