MUFG’s new India fund; District goes sporting

Happy Tuesday! Japan’s MUFG is doubling down on India just as a new wave of investors moves into the country’s startup market. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:
■ Ola's QIP move
■ LVX's AI play
■ UPI logs strong May

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Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is putting together a $250 million India-focused startup fund, with the option to scale it to $400 million, as investors outside the SoftBank–Tiger Global club step up bets in a more disciplined funding market.

What’s happening:

• The MUFG fund will back Series A and Series B rounds, mainly in fintech startups, and will be led by Mayank Shiromani, deputy chief investment officer at MUFG Innovation Partners.
• So far, MUFG has been using its $300 million Ganesha Fund for Indian fintech bets, mostly at the growth stage.
• Venture Intelligence data shows MUFG and Mirae have done four deals each since 2025, while Susquehanna has closed 10 and Enrission 15.
• These investors have backed startups such as Jupiter, DMI Finance, Dhan, Olyv, Skydo, AppsForBharat, Safe Security, Atlys, Snabbit and Battery Smart.

Tell me more:

• Players like Mirae and MUFG have become more active just as incumbents such as Tiger Global and SoftBank have pulled back from India.
• Tiger Global’s India startup deals fell from 55 in 2021 to six in 2025, with none so far in 2026.
• SoftBank made 17 bets in India in 2021 and four in 2022, but hasn’t done a deal here since.
• Investors say valuations have cooled, competition has eased, and India’s digital consumption habits are now mature enough for startups to scale with less capital.

Also Read: ETtech Deals Digest: Startups raised $1.11 billion in May, up 37% on-year

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Eternal-owned District is moving beyond ticketing into venue bookings, brand partnerships and other sports-focused offerings as it targets India’s growing recreational sports market.

M&A hunt: The company has explored acquisitions in the sports venue discovery and booking segment, including discussions with Hudle, as it looks to bulk up in the category.

Beyond the court: Industry executives say the bigger opportunity lies in capturing consumer spending across bookings, equipment, training, apparel and sports-led experiences, not just ticket sales.

Also Read: Eternal Q4 revenue, profit surge on Blinkit boost

Batting for growth: The sports push comes as District — Eternal’s third-largest consumer business — scales up, with management betting on new use cases to drive engagement, retention and long-term growth.

Also Read: Eternal targets $20 billion in B2C NOV by FY28; $1 billion in adjusted Ebitda by FY29: Deepinder Goyal

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Bhavish Aggarwal, founder, Ola Electric

Ola Electric kicked off its qualified institutional placement (QIP) on Monday, according to a stock exchange filing.

QIP details:

• The floor price has been set at Rs 37.74 per share, a 4.5% discount to Monday’s closing price of Rs 39.53.
• Ola Electric’s board had earlier cleared raising up to Rs 1,500 crore through a QIP in October, though sources told us the final amount could be lower.
• The company may offer investors a discount of up to 5% on the floor price.
• The final issue price will be set in consultation with the book-running lead managers.
• Motilal Oswal is the banker for the QIP.

Also Read: Ola Electric infuses Rs 2,000 crore in EV and cell manufacturing

Fund use: The company plans to use the proceeds to repay debt, fund growth initiatives and cover corporate needs.

The bigger picture: The raise comes as Ola Electric faces slowing sales, market-share pressure and continued losses in the electric two-wheeler market. Brokerages have also flagged worries over market-share erosion and cash burn.

That said, registrations picked up in May, with volumes rising to 14,752 units.

Also Read: Ola Electric Q4 loss narrows 42.5% to Rs 500 crore, CEO Aggarwal bets on volume recovery

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Salesforce SVP Gaurav Pathak

Salesforce SVP Gaurav Pathak on AI automation: Artificial intelligence could automate as much as 50% of enterprise data management work within the next 12–18 months as companies roll out AI agents for tasks ranging from data discovery and integration to governance and quality management, according to a senior Salesforce executive.

Investment platform LVX launches Elvix: Early-stage angel investment platform LVX Ventures (formerly LetsVenture) has launched Elvix, an AI-powered platform that provides continuous, intelligent feedback on investments.

Insurers racing to ‘AI-proof’ systems: Indian insurers are reworking how they assess cyber risks after the industry regulator asked them to review their exposure to AI-driven cyber threats, raising concerns that traditional underwriting models may not hold up in the age of generative AI.

UPI processes Rs 29.9 lakh crore in May: The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), run by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), processed transactions worth Rs 29.90 lakh crore in May, up 19% year-on-year and 3% month-on-month.

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■ China has approved the world’s first invasive brain-computer chip—here’s what’s next (MIT Technology Review)

■ India’s AI deal with the UAE challenges U.S. cloud dominance (Rest of World)

■ ‘More harmful than helpful’: young people sour on AI (FT)