India’s tech hiring edge; Fashion funding heats up

Happy Friday! AI and lower-cost talent have given a hiring advantage to countries like India, Philippines and Brazil. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:
■ Scimplify eyes fresh funds
■ Muted IT outlook
■ Infy’s new acquisitions

---

Even as US tech firms trim roles on the back of AI-driven efficiency, hiring is holding firm in countries like India, the Philippines and Brazil, where sharp cost advantages are hard to ignore.

What’s happening? The mix of powerful AI tools and lower-cost talent in these markets is tilting the scales in favour of job seekers.

The pay gap: A senior engineer in California can cost around $280,000 a year. A similar role in Bengaluru — even with paid AI tools like Cursor or Claude — is closer to $52,000.


Also Read: TCS rolls out lateral hiring months after Infosys goes head-hunting for specialist programmers

By the numbers:

• Around 60,000 tech workers have been laid off globally in early 2026, but India has so far seen limited fallout.
• Major tech firms, including Facebook/Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Microsoft and Google (FAANMG), added about 32,000 employees in India last year.
• EY India plans to hire 14,000–15,000 people.
• Capgemini aims to add 60,000 jobs.
• Google has opened its new Ananta campus in Bengaluru.
• Accenture is planning a new site in Andhra Pradesh with 12,000 seats.
• FAANMG companies’ India workforce has climbed to about 216,000 by the end of 2025, logging strong double-digit growth over the past two years.

Driving factors: “This is being driven by a combination of factors such as rising H-1B costs, US tech layoffs and restructuring, and increasing demand for 24x7 engineering and global R&D, accelerating GCC expansion,” said Sanketh Chengappa, head of professional staffing at Adecco India.

Also Read: Tech hiring set to rise 12-15% in 2026: Adecco India

---

The new fiscal is opening with a surge of fashion and lifestyle deals, as a clutch of early- to mid-stage brands and platforms lines up fresh capital, a clear sign that investor appetite is snapping back.

Deal street:

• Bags maker Zouk is in early talks with Tata Capital and IvyCap Ventures to raise $30–35 million, people in the know told us.
• Bengaluru-based Slikk is in discussions with Susquehanna Asia VC to raise $15–20 million, per sources.

Tell me more:

• Niche segments such as men’s fashion, women’s shapewear, Gen Z clothing and kidswear are set to gain traction in the next fiscal.
• Another big shift: artificial intelligence is now woven into the category, powering personalisation at scale.
• Fashion and accessories have also caught a second wind from the quick-commerce wave.

Quick background: For years, investors stayed wary of fashion because of messy inventory. Managing stock at scale is hard — especially in fast fashion, where trends flip overnight. Industry watchers say new-age brands are now tracking trends in real time and tightly syncing demand with supply.

Also Read: Scroll, spot, buy: Why fashion and lifestyle shopping is growing on Instagram

---

(L-R) Salil Srivastava and Sachin Santhosh, founders, Scimplify

Speciality chemicals platform Scimplify is in talks to raise $30–40 million from a consortium of Japanese investors led by Hitachi Ventures, at a post-money valuation of around $300 million, people in the know told us.

Valuation jump: The round will roughly double its valuation in under a year, from $150 million in March 2025. A small secondary component will also let early investors partially cash out.

What it does: Founded in 2023, Scimplify aggregates excess manufacturing capacity across factories and offers end-to-end sourcing — from R&D to commercial production — for sectors such as pharma, agrochemicals and personal care.

Growth snapshot: The company is tracking an annualised revenue run rate of around $100 million, with customers in over 35 countries and plans to expand into Japan and Europe.

Why it matters: Geopolitical tensions are forcing global firms to diversify supply chains, boosting demand for asset-light manufacturing platforms like Scimplify.


(L-R) Saurabh Jain and Harish Reddy, cofounders, Stable Money

Bengaluru-based fixed-income startup Stable Money is set to close a $15 million round from existing investors, sources said.

Round details: The round will be led by Nandan Nilekani-founded Fundamentum, with participation from other existing investors, Peak XV Partners, Z47 (previously Matrix Partners India) and RTP Global.

• This comes on the back of a $25 million round Stable Money raised in February, led by Peak XV Partners.

“The round has pushed up the startup’s valuation to $275 million, compared to $175 million earlier this year,” said one of the people in the know.

What else? Founded in 2022, Stable Money has raised $65 million so far. Once this round closes, it will further strengthen the company’s equity. In 2025, the startup raised $20 million in a round led by Fundamentum and others.

During the February round, Jain said the funds would be used to grow the business and launch new products.

---

Muted Q4 awaits IT large caps as clock ticks slow on AI gains: The fourth quarter results for Indian large-cap IT services are likely to be muted with growth expectations in the range of -1.6% to 2% on a sequential basis, CLSA and JPMorgan said.

Infosys to acquire US firms Optimum Healthcare IT for $465 million, Stratus for $95 million: IT services giant Infosys said on Wednesday that it would acquire two US-based companies — healthcare digital transformation firm Optimum Healthcare IT for $465 million and insurance-tech consulting firm Stratus for $95 million — in all-cash deals.

---

■ Anduril wants to own the future of war tech. Mishaps, delays, and challenges abound (Wired)

■ The rise of China’s hottest new commodity: AI tokens (FT)

■ 'A game-changing moment for social media' - what next for big tech after landmark addiction verdict? (BBC)