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TCS Q1 profit rises; Nandan Nilekani's biggest VC bet
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TCS kicked off FY27 with growth in revenue and profit. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5.
Also in the letter:
■ Gaming's new goldmine
■ Meta's Muse under lens
■ Netflix expands India playbook
K Krithivasan, CEO, TCS
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) opened FY26 on a solid note, reporting growth in both revenue and profit, courtesy of steady deal momentum.
By the numbers
Headcount update: TCS reported a rebound in hiring in the June quarter, with its closing headcount rising by around 9,300 from the previous quarter to 593,798.
CEO speak: Chief executive K Krithivasan said TCS continued to grow despite geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds. Clients, he added, are ramping up spends on artificial intelligence (AI), modernisation, cybersecurity, sovereign cloud and platform simplification.
Also Read: AI not a threat, but opportunity for IT services: TCS chairman N Chandrasekaran
Varun Alagh and Ghazal Alagh, founders, Honasa Consumer
Honasa Consumer, the parent company of Mamaearth, is also guiding for a strong first quarter of FY27.
What the company expects:
Also Read: Honasa Consumer to acquire majority stake in Fluence Pharma at Rs 135-crore valuation
Mayank Kachhawaha, Sanjeev Aggarwal, Prateek Jain and Sanjay Chaturvedi, general partners, Fundamentum
Fundamentum, the venture capital firm founded by Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani and Helion Ventures founder Sanjeev Aggarwal, has launched its third growth-stage technology fund.
Fund details
Tell me more: Aggarwal said that Fundamentum was created to address the funding gap startups face as they scale. “India has a very good startup ecosystem, but the wheels come off when companies try to scale,” he told us.
He added that the firm supports founders not just with capital but also with organisation design, governance, hiring and go-to-market strategy.
What else? Sources told us that Nilekani has moved from a general partner (GP) to an anchor limited partner (LP) role for Fund III and Fundamentum Frontier Advisors (F2A). His position at Fundamentum will largely remain unchanged, with continued mentoring of the team and founders.
The launch follows partner Ashish Kumar's move to lead Fundamentum Frontier Advisors (F2A), which focuses on AI and deeptech investments.
Also Read: Startup seed rounds double as VCs turn more selective
India's mobile gaming industry could generate $2.4 billion from in-app purchases (IAP) and advertising by 2029, according to a new report. And the big upside is in non-real money games.
What's happening? Gaming research firm Naavik prepared the report for Mixi Global Investments, the investment arm of Japanese entertainment company MIXI. It flags a visible shift towards non-RMG titles.
Early signals:
Tell me more:
Growing trend: The momentum comes after India banned real-money gaming (RMG) under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, passed last August. The law aimed to tackle gaming addiction, but it has also nudged more developers towards non-RMG titles.
Also Read: ETtech In-depth: Banned in India, but it's business as usual for offshore real money gaming firms
Meta has been hit by a series of controversies in recent weeks, and its new Muse Image feature is the latest flashpoint.
What's happening? IT secretary S Krishnan said the government will examine whether Muse Image – Meta's AI-powered image-generation tool – complies with India's legal framework, following concerns about privacy, consent, and the use of public photos.
The controversy: Muse Image lets users create and edit images using text prompts, sketches and Instagram usernames. Critics say the feature allows people to generate AI images using photos from public Instagram profiles simply by entering a username.
In effect, anyone can reuse publicly available Instagram photos to create new AI-generated images, raising questions around consent and potential misuse.
Other concerns: Krishnan said the government is also reviewing Meta's responses to notices over WhatsApp's proposed username feature and the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on Instagram before deciding its next steps.
Also Read: Meta removed four million accounts, 36 million posts over child exploitation
Netflix India is widening its content slate for the second half of 2026, with plans to drop four titles every week across original shows, films and licensed content.
Why the push? The company is expanding its pipeline as Indian audiences sample more formats, genres and languages across both mobile devices and connected TVs. Alongside scripted series, Netflix is adding more non-fiction, comedy and longer-format shows.
“Streaming has married cinematic storytelling with a larger footprint of audience tastes, in terms of genres and languages,” Netflix India vice-president, content, Monika Shergill told ET. “Audiences are becoming genre-fluid and format-agnostic.”
What else? Netflix is also tightening its partnerships with YouTube creators. Shergill said the platform now views them as storytellers with distinct voices, rather than simply social media influencers.
Also in the letter:
■ Gaming's new goldmine
■ Meta's Muse under lens
■ Netflix expands India playbook
TCS sees steady Q1 growth amid strong deal momentum
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) opened FY26 on a solid note, reporting growth in both revenue and profit, courtesy of steady deal momentum.
By the numbers
- Net profit: Up 5% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 13,349 crore, from Rs 12,760 crore a year earlier.
- Revenue: Rose 14% YoY to Rs 72,275 crore.
- Order book: $9.5 billion for the quarter.
Headcount update: TCS reported a rebound in hiring in the June quarter, with its closing headcount rising by around 9,300 from the previous quarter to 593,798.
CEO speak: Chief executive K Krithivasan said TCS continued to grow despite geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds. Clients, he added, are ramping up spends on artificial intelligence (AI), modernisation, cybersecurity, sovereign cloud and platform simplification.
Also Read: AI not a threat, but opportunity for IT services: TCS chairman N Chandrasekaran
Honasa Consumer expects strong Q1 growth, led by Mamaearth
Honasa Consumer, the parent company of Mamaearth, is also guiding for a strong first quarter of FY27.
What the company expects:
- Year-on-year revenue growth in the thirties.
- Reported revenue growth in the mid-twenties, as Flipkart Group's revised revenue recognition policy weighs on marketplace sellers.
- Mamaearth to deliver high-teen YoY growth, driven by stronger demand and continued offline expansion.
Also Read: Honasa Consumer to acquire majority stake in Fluence Pharma at Rs 135-crore valuation
Fundamentum launches Rs 2,200 crore growth fund with Nandan Nilekani as anchor LP
Fundamentum, the venture capital firm founded by Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani and Helion Ventures founder Sanjeev Aggarwal, has launched its third growth-stage technology fund.
Fund details
- Target corpus: Rs 2,200 crore, including a Rs 400 crore greenshoe option.
- Anchor investor: Nilekani is making his largest investment in a venture capital firm through Fundamentum Fund III.
- Leadership: The fund will be managed by Aggarwal, Prateek Jain, Mayank Kachhwaha and Sanjay Chaturvedi. It follows the firm's 2017 and 2022 fund vintages.
- Investment focus: Consumer technology, fintech, and AI-native or AI-enabled startups.
- Cheque size: Average investment of $10-15 million in about 11 companies. Around 40% of the fund is reserved for follow-on investments.
Tell me more: Aggarwal said that Fundamentum was created to address the funding gap startups face as they scale. “India has a very good startup ecosystem, but the wheels come off when companies try to scale,” he told us.
He added that the firm supports founders not just with capital but also with organisation design, governance, hiring and go-to-market strategy.
What else? Sources told us that Nilekani has moved from a general partner (GP) to an anchor limited partner (LP) role for Fund III and Fundamentum Frontier Advisors (F2A). His position at Fundamentum will largely remain unchanged, with continued mentoring of the team and founders.
The launch follows partner Ashish Kumar's move to lead Fundamentum Frontier Advisors (F2A), which focuses on AI and deeptech investments.
Also Read: Startup seed rounds double as VCs turn more selective
A multi-billion-dollar gaming revolution is loading as non-RMGs strike gold
India's mobile gaming industry could generate $2.4 billion from in-app purchases (IAP) and advertising by 2029, according to a new report. And the big upside is in non-real money games.
What's happening? Gaming research firm Naavik prepared the report for Mixi Global Investments, the investment arm of Japanese entertainment company MIXI. It flags a visible shift towards non-RMG titles.
Early signals:
- Krafton India says paying users of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) rose 17% in the first quarter.
- Dot9 Games, which develops FAU-G: Domination, and casual gaming startup Felicity Games expect higher advertising revenue and IAP.
Tell me more:
- India's IAP revenue grew 14.6% to $800 million in 2025, while China's declined 2.2%.
- India also ranked first in Asia for mobile game downloads and time spent on mobile games in 2025.
Growing trend: The momentum comes after India banned real-money gaming (RMG) under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, passed last August. The law aimed to tackle gaming addiction, but it has also nudged more developers towards non-RMG titles.
Also Read: ETtech In-depth: Banned in India, but it's business as usual for offshore real money gaming firms
Meta's Muse in trouble within days of launch; government to review legal compliance
Meta has been hit by a series of controversies in recent weeks, and its new Muse Image feature is the latest flashpoint.
What's happening? IT secretary S Krishnan said the government will examine whether Muse Image – Meta's AI-powered image-generation tool – complies with India's legal framework, following concerns about privacy, consent, and the use of public photos.
The controversy: Muse Image lets users create and edit images using text prompts, sketches and Instagram usernames. Critics say the feature allows people to generate AI images using photos from public Instagram profiles simply by entering a username.
In effect, anyone can reuse publicly available Instagram photos to create new AI-generated images, raising questions around consent and potential misuse.
Other concerns: Krishnan said the government is also reviewing Meta's responses to notices over WhatsApp's proposed username feature and the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on Instagram before deciding its next steps.
Also Read: Meta removed four million accounts, 36 million posts over child exploitation
Netflix to widen India content play with four weekly launches, creator-led shows
Netflix India is widening its content slate for the second half of 2026, with plans to drop four titles every week across original shows, films and licensed content.
Why the push? The company is expanding its pipeline as Indian audiences sample more formats, genres and languages across both mobile devices and connected TVs. Alongside scripted series, Netflix is adding more non-fiction, comedy and longer-format shows.
“Streaming has married cinematic storytelling with a larger footprint of audience tastes, in terms of genres and languages,” Netflix India vice-president, content, Monika Shergill told ET. “Audiences are becoming genre-fluid and format-agnostic.”
What else? Netflix is also tightening its partnerships with YouTube creators. Shergill said the platform now views them as storytellers with distinct voices, rather than simply social media influencers.
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