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Groww Q2 profit jumps; Hocco eyes big funding scoop
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Groww reported strong quarterly earnings in the July-September period. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.
Also in the letter:
■ AI skills rewire fresher hiring
■ IN-SPACe pushes indigenous chips
■ Google launches Gemini 4 Argon
Groww CEO Lalit Keshre at The ET Startup Awards 2026 in Bengaluru
Billionbrains Garage Ventures, which operates the wealthtech platform Groww, reported a 54% on-year rise in net profit to Rs 725 crore in the July-September quarter, while revenue from operations grew 47% to Rs 1,502 crore.
Revenue mix: The company saw increased contributions from most products, including margin trading facility (MTF) and commodity derivatives. However, the contribution of equity derivatives to total income fell by 12.2 percentage points on-year.
Profitability: On a sequential basis, Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) gained 1% to Rs 968 crore from Rs 960 crore in the first quarter. Over the same period, the Ebitda margin improved by 60 basis points to 64.5% from 63.9% in the previous quarter.
Udaan cofounder and CEO Vaibhav Gupta
B2B ecommerce platform Udaan returned to revenue growth in fiscal 2026 after four years of slowdown, while continuing to pare losses.
Revenue rebound: Udaan reported a 13% increase in operating revenue to Rs 5,134 crore. Revenue had declined 20% in FY25, after a marginal 1% increase in FY24 and a 40% plunge in FY23.
Loss reduction: The company also cut its net loss by 19% to Rs 850 crore in FY26, according to financial documents filed in Singapore by its parent company Trustroot Internet Pvt. Ltd. (TIPL).
Hocco founder Ankit Chona
Private equity firms General Atlantic and ChrysCapital are in talks to invest Rs 300-400 crore in ice cream brand Hocco, valuing the Ahmedabad-based startup at Rs 4,000-4,500 crore, an 80% jump from its previous valuation, according to three people aware of these talks.
Deal details: The proposed round comprises largely primary capital, one of the persons told ET, adding that early investors including Sauce could partially offload some stake. “The secondary tranche of the round has not been finalised yet,” one of the persons said.
Revenue growth: The company more than doubled its revenues in FY26 to over Rs 530 crore from Rs 209 crore in FY25. According to one of the sources, Hocco is again projecting its revenues to double in FY27 to Rs 1,000 crore.
(L-R) Scimplify cofounders Dheeraj Dhingra, Salil Srivastava and Sachin Santhosh
Speciality chemicals manufacturer Scimplify has raised $25 million in a funding round led by Hitachi Ventures as it plans to expand its research and manufacturing operations in the US, cofounder Sachin Santhosh told us.
US expansion: The Bengaluru-based company plans to invest around $10 million over the next two years in the US, where it is looking to expand its presence in the market for advanced materials, which are used in semiconductors, batteries and critical minerals.
Growth outlook: Scimplify's revenue has grown more than sevenfold after its previous fundraise and it has turned profitable, Santhosh said, without disclosing the latest financial figures.
(L-R) Circle cofounders Chirag Kataruka and Ankit Misra
Bengaluru-based pre-owned goods marketplace Circle has raised Rs 25 crore led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Delhivery COO Ajith Pai and existing investors Titan Capital and Myntra cofounder Raveen Sastry.
Use of funds: The startup will use the funds to expand to other cities, invest in AI-powered pricing, product discovery, and verification, and also strengthen its logistics infrastructure.
Also Read: Former Dyson India MD Ankit Jain launches home appliances venture with Rs 12 crore funding
India’s IT-BPM sector is set to revive fresher hiring after a sharp contraction, but the recovery is rewiring the skills companies seek in graduates.
Hiring rebound: Fresher hiring in the sector is projected to rise to up to 2.1 lakh in FY27 after falling to an estimated 1.75 lakh in FY26 from 4 lakh in FY22, according to technology consulting and talent advisory firm HAN Digital’s IT-BPM Graduate Hiring Outlook 2027.
Skill shift: Demand is increasingly shifting towards artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data engineering, cybersecurity, and other specialised technology roles, away from conventional entry-level coding and business process outsourcing jobs.
New hiring hubs: Beyond major metros, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Kochi, Indore, Ahmedabad, and Visakhapatnam are attracting freshers through local GCCs and IT services players seeking lower-cost talent pools.
The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) on Tuesday urged startups, industry, academia, and research organisations to adopt semiconductor products developed by the government-run Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) in Mohali for space and launch vehicle applications.
Indigenous chips: SCL has developed a portfolio of sensors, detectors, amplifiers, analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue converters, processors, memories, application-specific integrated circuits, and communication interfaces for strategic and space applications.
Flight heritage: SCL has around 15 products with flight heritage (evidence that a piece of space hardware has performed successfully during an actual space mission), along with critically qualified and silicon-validated products that function reliably under operational conditions.
Advanced capabilities: SCL highlighted its radiation-testing facilities, electro-optical characterisation capabilities (how things respond to electrical and optical stimuli), and avionics miniaturisation work. In one example, a 100 mm by 100 mm board was miniaturised to 14.5 mm by 14.5 mm, resulting in a nearly 98% reduction in area.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai
Alphabet's Google on Wednesday released its flagship AI model Gemini 4 Argon to developers and businesses worldwide, seeking to regain ground from rivals OpenAI and Anthropic after months of delays and a leadership shakeup at its DeepMind lab.
What to know:
Also in the letter:
■ AI skills rewire fresher hiring
■ IN-SPACe pushes indigenous chips
■ Google launches Gemini 4 Argon
Groww Q2 net profit jumps 54% to Rs 725 crore; revenue rises 47%
Billionbrains Garage Ventures, which operates the wealthtech platform Groww, reported a 54% on-year rise in net profit to Rs 725 crore in the July-September quarter, while revenue from operations grew 47% to Rs 1,502 crore.
Revenue mix: The company saw increased contributions from most products, including margin trading facility (MTF) and commodity derivatives. However, the contribution of equity derivatives to total income fell by 12.2 percentage points on-year.
Profitability: On a sequential basis, Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) gained 1% to Rs 968 crore from Rs 960 crore in the first quarter. Over the same period, the Ebitda margin improved by 60 basis points to 64.5% from 63.9% in the previous quarter.
Udaan returns to revenue growth in FY26; net loss narrows 19%
B2B ecommerce platform Udaan returned to revenue growth in fiscal 2026 after four years of slowdown, while continuing to pare losses.
Revenue rebound: Udaan reported a 13% increase in operating revenue to Rs 5,134 crore. Revenue had declined 20% in FY25, after a marginal 1% increase in FY24 and a 40% plunge in FY23.
Loss reduction: The company also cut its net loss by 19% to Rs 850 crore in FY26, according to financial documents filed in Singapore by its parent company Trustroot Internet Pvt. Ltd. (TIPL).
General Atlantic, ChrysCapital in talks to invest Rs 400 crore in Hocco at $500 million valuation
Private equity firms General Atlantic and ChrysCapital are in talks to invest Rs 300-400 crore in ice cream brand Hocco, valuing the Ahmedabad-based startup at Rs 4,000-4,500 crore, an 80% jump from its previous valuation, according to three people aware of these talks.
Deal details: The proposed round comprises largely primary capital, one of the persons told ET, adding that early investors including Sauce could partially offload some stake. “The secondary tranche of the round has not been finalised yet,” one of the persons said.
Revenue growth: The company more than doubled its revenues in FY26 to over Rs 530 crore from Rs 209 crore in FY25. According to one of the sources, Hocco is again projecting its revenues to double in FY27 to Rs 1,000 crore.
Speciality chemicals startup Scimplify raises $25 million to expand US operations
Speciality chemicals manufacturer Scimplify has raised $25 million in a funding round led by Hitachi Ventures as it plans to expand its research and manufacturing operations in the US, cofounder Sachin Santhosh told us.
US expansion: The Bengaluru-based company plans to invest around $10 million over the next two years in the US, where it is looking to expand its presence in the market for advanced materials, which are used in semiconductors, batteries and critical minerals.
Growth outlook: Scimplify's revenue has grown more than sevenfold after its previous fundraise and it has turned profitable, Santhosh said, without disclosing the latest financial figures.
Pre-owned goods marketplace Circle raises Rs 25 crore led by Nexus Venture Partners
Bengaluru-based pre-owned goods marketplace Circle has raised Rs 25 crore led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Delhivery COO Ajith Pai and existing investors Titan Capital and Myntra cofounder Raveen Sastry.
Use of funds: The startup will use the funds to expand to other cities, invest in AI-powered pricing, product discovery, and verification, and also strengthen its logistics infrastructure.
Also Read: Former Dyson India MD Ankit Jain launches home appliances venture with Rs 12 crore funding
AI skills redraw entry-level jobs map as IT-BPM fresher hiring rebounds
India’s IT-BPM sector is set to revive fresher hiring after a sharp contraction, but the recovery is rewiring the skills companies seek in graduates.
Hiring rebound: Fresher hiring in the sector is projected to rise to up to 2.1 lakh in FY27 after falling to an estimated 1.75 lakh in FY26 from 4 lakh in FY22, according to technology consulting and talent advisory firm HAN Digital’s IT-BPM Graduate Hiring Outlook 2027.
Skill shift: Demand is increasingly shifting towards artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data engineering, cybersecurity, and other specialised technology roles, away from conventional entry-level coding and business process outsourcing jobs.
New hiring hubs: Beyond major metros, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Kochi, Indore, Ahmedabad, and Visakhapatnam are attracting freshers through local GCCs and IT services players seeking lower-cost talent pools.
IN-SPACe urges organisations to adopt SCL’s indigenous chips
The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) on Tuesday urged startups, industry, academia, and research organisations to adopt semiconductor products developed by the government-run Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) in Mohali for space and launch vehicle applications.
Indigenous chips: SCL has developed a portfolio of sensors, detectors, amplifiers, analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue converters, processors, memories, application-specific integrated circuits, and communication interfaces for strategic and space applications.
Flight heritage: SCL has around 15 products with flight heritage (evidence that a piece of space hardware has performed successfully during an actual space mission), along with critically qualified and silicon-validated products that function reliably under operational conditions.
Advanced capabilities: SCL highlighted its radiation-testing facilities, electro-optical characterisation capabilities (how things respond to electrical and optical stimuli), and avionics miniaturisation work. In one example, a 100 mm by 100 mm board was miniaturised to 14.5 mm by 14.5 mm, resulting in a nearly 98% reduction in area.
Google launches flagship AI model Gemini 4 Argon for developers, businesses
Alphabet's Google on Wednesday released its flagship AI model Gemini 4 Argon to developers and businesses worldwide, seeking to regain ground from rivals OpenAI and Anthropic after months of delays and a leadership shakeup at its DeepMind lab.
What to know:
- Key capabilities: Gemini 4 Argon handles complex, multi-step tasks in coding, finance, law, cybersecurity, and science.
- Pricing: API rates start at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, doubling after November 30.
- Early adoption: Deloitte, LexisNexis, Ambience Healthcare, and Isomorphic Labs are testing the model.
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