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Udaan to buy Swiggy’s Lynk; India’s BRICS tech push
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Udaan is set to acquire Swiggy-owned Lynk Logistics. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5.
Also in the letter:
■ YouTube backs India's IP play
■ IT stocks take a hit
■ Foreign universities revive edtech
Vaibhav Gupta, CEO, Udaan
B2B ecommerce firm Udaan is set to acquire retail distribution company Lynk Logistics from food delivery major Swiggy, according to a company statement.
Deal details:
Tell me more: Udaan said its financial performance has been improving, with revenue growing at a compound annual growth rate of about 25% over the 10 quarters through January-March 2026. Its contribution margin rose nearly 500 basis points, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) burn declined about 70%.
The acquisition comes less than two months after Udaan raised $160 million through a mix of fresh equity, debt and debt-to-equity conversion.
Also Read: Udaan acquires retail tech startup ShopKirana for $88.5 million in stock
(L-R) Jai Nanavati and Raoul Nanavati, cofounders, Navana AI
Voice AI startup Navana AI has raised Rs 40 crore in a round led by entrepreneur and investor Ronnie Screwvala.
Round details: The funding also saw participation from existing and new investors, including Antler India, Neysa founder and CEO Sharad Sanghi, Avaana Capital's Sandeep Singhal, and Aureolis Ventures founding partner Paula Mariwala.
Navana AI will use the funds to expand its presence in the BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) sector and invest in speech models for Indian languages and dialects. It also plans to strengthen its AI contact centre and automated quality evaluation products.
Also Read: Satellite imaging startup Pixxel bags $100 million from Temasek, others
India will seek stronger research ties and government partnerships in artificial intelligence, advanced computing, quantum technologies, and semiconductor materials at the upcoming BRICS summit.
Driving the news: India aims to complete several major projects during its chairmanship of the 11-country bloc.
Quote, unquote: “In all these areas, we have aimed to mirror the success of our domestic policies,” an official said. “Other nations are keen to establish frameworks similar to AIkosh — our national, centralised platform for non-personal datasets — and AI models, or our onboarding of over 38,000 high-performance graphics processing units in our common compute facility under the IndiaAI Mission.”
Ethical AI: India will also work to strengthen a shared BRICS framework for responsible and human-centric AI. The focus will include AI safety, bias mitigation, cybersecurity, and data protection, officials said.
India's content industry is shifting as television and streaming margins tighten, pushing creators to own and monetise intellectual property (IP), with YouTube emerging as a platform for premium, long-form originals.
For instance:
YouTube is in talks with more production houses for exclusive programming. Producers see this as a way to test new formats while retaining IP and monetisation rights, signalling a shift in India's content economy. This is also reshaping how original fiction gets made.
Verbatim: “Television is now catering to the older, immobile family viewer, and the subscription-led apps cater to a very and high-paying audience. Maybe sometimes young Indians can't afford this,” Kapoor told ET. Building fiction while owning the IP is the "need of the hour" and gives her greater risk-taking ability in storytelling, she said.
Shares of Indian IT companies fell up to 3% on Monday as strong US jobs data raised expectations of a September interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
What's happening?
Why is this happening? US job growth rose sharply in August, while unemployment held at 4.1%, pointing to a stronger labour market. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 1.62 lakh, against economists' expectation of 56,000.
The data boosted expectations of a September rate hike by the Federal Reserve, with traders pricing in a 57% chance of a rate increase this month. Higher US rates could reduce client spending and hurt Indian IT firms, which earn a significant share of their revenue from the United States.
Also Read: Domain experts edge out pure techies for plum jobs at IT, GCCs
Foreign universities setting up shop in India are opening up new opportunities for edtech companies offering online higher-education and professional courses.
More on this: Simplilearn and Scaler expect the growing presence of overseas universities to support enrolment. Emeritus, which has seven university joint ventures, expects its India footprint to expand 10-15% in the coming years.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued 16 Letters of Intent (LoIs) to 15 universities from Australia, Italy, the UK, and the US to establish campuses in India. The proposed campuses are expected to come up in Bengaluru, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Mumbai, and Chennai.
Yes, and? Around five campuses have been set up so far, including those of the University of Southampton, Queen's University Belfast, and Australia's Deakin University.
The impact on enrolments is likely to be clearer after the first batches of these universities graduate.
Also in the letter:
■ YouTube backs India's IP play
■ IT stocks take a hit
■ Foreign universities revive edtech
Udaan to acquire Swiggy-owned retail distribution company Lynk Logistics
B2B ecommerce firm Udaan is set to acquire retail distribution company Lynk Logistics from food delivery major Swiggy, according to a company statement.
Deal details:
- The transaction values Lynk Logistics at Rs 500 crore, with Swiggy set to receive a 2.8% stake in Udaan.
- Swiggy will also invest Rs 75 crore in Udaan for an additional 0.4% stake.
- Swiggy acquired Lynk Logistics in 2023 through an all-stock transaction.
Tell me more: Udaan said its financial performance has been improving, with revenue growing at a compound annual growth rate of about 25% over the 10 quarters through January-March 2026. Its contribution margin rose nearly 500 basis points, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) burn declined about 70%.
The acquisition comes less than two months after Udaan raised $160 million through a mix of fresh equity, debt and debt-to-equity conversion.
Also Read: Udaan acquires retail tech startup ShopKirana for $88.5 million in stock
Voice AI startup Navana raises Rs 40 crore from Ronnie Screwvala, others
Voice AI startup Navana AI has raised Rs 40 crore in a round led by entrepreneur and investor Ronnie Screwvala.
Round details: The funding also saw participation from existing and new investors, including Antler India, Neysa founder and CEO Sharad Sanghi, Avaana Capital's Sandeep Singhal, and Aureolis Ventures founding partner Paula Mariwala.
Navana AI will use the funds to expand its presence in the BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) sector and invest in speech models for Indian languages and dialects. It also plans to strengthen its AI contact centre and automated quality evaluation products.
Also Read: Satellite imaging startup Pixxel bags $100 million from Temasek, others
India set to pitch tech synergy for cementing BRICS
Driving the news: India aims to complete several major projects during its chairmanship of the 11-country bloc.
- For instance, the Global Research Advanced Infrastructure Network (GRAIN) will give researchers shared access to high-performance computing systems and supercomputers.
- The proposed Startup Innovation Fund and Incubator Network will connect chip design and deeptech startups across member countries.
Quote, unquote: “In all these areas, we have aimed to mirror the success of our domestic policies,” an official said. “Other nations are keen to establish frameworks similar to AIkosh — our national, centralised platform for non-personal datasets — and AI models, or our onboarding of over 38,000 high-performance graphics processing units in our common compute facility under the IndiaAI Mission.”
Ethical AI: India will also work to strengthen a shared BRICS framework for responsible and human-centric AI. The focus will include AI safety, bias mitigation, cybersecurity, and data protection, officials said.
YouTube pushes India's content industry towards owning IP
For instance:
- Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms has partnered with YouTube to launch five long-form fiction shows, after YouTube's collaboration with Aamir Khan on the 2025 film Sitaare Zameen Par.
- Applause Entertainment and Swastik Productions have also launched YouTube-led offerings.
YouTube is in talks with more production houses for exclusive programming. Producers see this as a way to test new formats while retaining IP and monetisation rights, signalling a shift in India's content economy. This is also reshaping how original fiction gets made.
Verbatim: “Television is now catering to the older, immobile family viewer, and the subscription-led apps cater to a very and high-paying audience. Maybe sometimes young Indians can't afford this,” Kapoor told ET. Building fiction while owning the IP is the "need of the hour" and gives her greater risk-taking ability in storytelling, she said.
Infosys, HCLTech, TCS, other IT stocks drop up to 3% due to Fed rate hike worries
Shares of Indian IT companies fell up to 3% on Monday as strong US jobs data raised expectations of a September interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
What's happening?
- The Nifty IT index fell over 2% to 30,082, leading the decline across all major sectoral indices.
- Infosys, LTI Mindtree, and Mphasis slid around 3% each.
- Tech Mahindra, OFSS, Coforge, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Persistent Systems, and TCS fell 1-2%.
Why is this happening? US job growth rose sharply in August, while unemployment held at 4.1%, pointing to a stronger labour market. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 1.62 lakh, against economists' expectation of 56,000.
The data boosted expectations of a September rate hike by the Federal Reserve, with traders pricing in a 57% chance of a rate increase this month. Higher US rates could reduce client spending and hurt Indian IT firms, which earn a significant share of their revenue from the United States.
Also Read: Domain experts edge out pure techies for plum jobs at IT, GCCs
Foreign university influx fuels Indian edtech resurgence
Foreign universities setting up shop in India are opening up new opportunities for edtech companies offering online higher-education and professional courses.
More on this: Simplilearn and Scaler expect the growing presence of overseas universities to support enrolment. Emeritus, which has seven university joint ventures, expects its India footprint to expand 10-15% in the coming years.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued 16 Letters of Intent (LoIs) to 15 universities from Australia, Italy, the UK, and the US to establish campuses in India. The proposed campuses are expected to come up in Bengaluru, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Mumbai, and Chennai.
Yes, and? Around five campuses have been set up so far, including those of the University of Southampton, Queen's University Belfast, and Australia's Deakin University.
The impact on enrolments is likely to be clearer after the first batches of these universities graduate.
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I agree to receive newsletters and marketing communications via e-mail