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This exec went from pitching VC funds to raking in billions โ€” AppLovin CEO now worth $11 billion. Hereโ€™s how | Company Business News

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This exec went from pitching VC funds to raking in billions โ€” AppLovin CEO now worth $11 billion. Hereโ€™s how | Company Business News
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Adam Foroughi, the founder of AppLovin, has recently become one of the world's top 260 richest people, with a net worth of $10.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The Silicon Valley-based marketing services company has seen a surge in its shares this year, with a 7x increase so far. AppLovin reported strong Q3 results, with a revenue of $1.2 billion, beating analysts' estimates. The company's success is attributed to its adoption of artificial intelligence and its focus on mobile app marketing. Foroughi bootstrapped the business after being denied funding from venture capitalists and now owns a 10% stake in the company.

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Affluense AI raises pre-seed round led by Zeropearl VC

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Affluense AI raises pre-seed round led by Zeropearl VC
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Affluense AI, the intelligence platform empowering how businesses connect with affluent customers, has raised Rs 3 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by Zeropearl VC along with participation from Kunal Shah, founder and CEO of CRED, Pravin Jadhav, and other investors. The fresh funds will be utilized for product development, market expansion, technology infrastructure, and talent acquisition, Affluense said in a press release. Co-founded by Sumit Sahu and Rishi Kumar, Affluense empowers businesses serving affluent customers to discover, understand and connect with high-net-worth individuals more effectively. The startup offers solutions such as deep research enrichment, connect AI, trending deals and AI-powered network graphs. Affluense AI aims to transform prospecting workflows into data-driven, relationship-first engines, enabling clients across wealth management, luxury goods, real estate and automotive sectors to accelerate growth at scale. Affluense has partnered with several wealth management firms, where users are reporting significant improvements in the rate of affluent client acquisition.

ONYA raises pre-seed round led by Zeropearl VC

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ONYA raises pre-seed round led by Zeropearl VC
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ONYA raises pre-seed round led by Zeropearl VC Lab-grown diamond jewellery brand ONYA has raised Rs 5.5 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by Zeropearl VC along with participation from angel investors including MyGate founders Vijay Arishetty, Abhishek Kumar, Shreyans Daga, Rohit Jindal, Amal Mishra, and Alkendra Pratap Singh. The fresh capital will be used to accelerate its offline retail expansion across major Indian cities, ONYA said in a press release. Co-founded in 2024 by Himani Yadav and Gaurav Choudhary, ONYA operates as a retailer of lab-grown diamond jewellery that aims to make sustainable, high-quality diamond jewellery accessible and to promote "everyday elegance" with its contemporary designs. The brand focuses on lab-grown diamonds, offering customization and a knowledge hub, and is positioned as a modern, conscious luxury brand. According to the Bengaluru-based startup, it is committed to redefining value in fine jewellery by providing higher brilliance at approximately 20% of the cost of natural diamonds, backed by a Lifetime Exchange and Buyback promise. โ€œONYA didnโ€™t begin as a business idea โ€” it began with a personal moment. My engagement ring was a lab-grown diamond long before the category became mainstream, and that experience made me realize how many people felt priced out of meaningful jewellery,โ€ said Himani Yadav, co-founder of ONYA. Within 11 months, ONYA claims to have expanded to four profitable high-street stores in Bengaluru, achieving a monthly revenue run rate of Rs 2 crore. It plans to expand its product lines, open more customer-first experience stores, and deepen its connection with Indiaโ€™s growing base of conscious luxury consumers.

BIS conducts raid at FirstCry warehouse in Bengaluru

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BIS conducts raid at FirstCry warehouse in Bengaluru
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BIS conducts raid at FirstCry warehouse in Bengaluru Brainbees Solutions Limited, the parent company of FirstCry, said on Monday that the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) carried out a surprise search and seizure at one of its Bengaluru warehouses. According to a filing with the stock exchanges, the operation took place on May 26, 2025, culminating in the seizure of products worth approximately Rs 90 lakh. The BIS alleged non-compliance with hallmarking requirements under Section 14(6) of the BIS Act, 2016, a serious charge that could lead to further legal proceedings. The Pune-based company, which runs one of Indiaโ€™s biggest online stores for baby and kids' products, said the raid did not affect its daily operations. It added that it is taking legal advice and believes the seized products follow BIS rules. FirstCry has stressed that it follows strong corporate and regulatory rules. However, the incident highlights how authorities like the BIS are becoming more watchful about product safety and certification. In November last year, the company was investigated by the GST department in Mumbai. The company also shared its quarterly results on Monday, reporting an 18% year-on-year rise in revenue to Rs 1,930 crore for Q4FY25. However, its losses grew by 74% to Rs 75 crore during the same period. BrainBees debuted on the stock exchange at Rs 446 and is now trading at 355.95 on May 27 (11:42 AM), bringing its total market capitalization to Rs 18,557 crore (approximately $2.18 billion).

PhysicsWallah eyes $3.2 Bn valuation; price band set at Rs 103โ€“Rs 109

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PhysicsWallah eyes $3.2 Bn valuation; price band set at Rs 103โ€“Rs 109
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PhysicsWallah eyes $3.2 Bn valuation; price band set at Rs 103โ€“Rs 109 Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah has announced the price band for its upcoming Rs 3,480 crore initial public offering (IPO) at Rs 103โ€“Rs 109 per share, valuing the company at around Rs 28,426 crore ($3.2 billion) at the upper end. The issue will open for public subscription on November 11 and close on November 13, with the anchor book opening a day earlier on November 10. The IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 3,100 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of Rs 380 crore by existing shareholders. In a notable move, co-founders Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari have reduced their OFS component, signalling a long-term commitment to the companyโ€™s growth. As per the RHP, the fresh capital will be deployed towards expanding PWโ€™s offline network, strengthening its technology infrastructure, and supporting strategic acquisitions in test prep and skilling segments. Founded in 2020, PhysicsWallah has emerged as a rare profitable player in Indiaโ€™s edtech ecosystem, which has largely been under pressure following the sectorโ€™s funding slowdown. The company runs over 500 offline centres under its โ€˜PW Vidyapeethโ€™ and โ€˜Pathshalaโ€™ brands, and claims to serve over one crore monthly active users across its digital platforms. According to its financials, PhysicsWallah reported Rs 2,887 crore in operating revenue and Rs 243 crore in loss during FY25. Meanwhile for the first quarter of ongoing fiscal year (Q1 FY26), the firm reported a revenue of Rs 847 crore while its losses stood at Rs 127 crore in the same period. The IPO will test investor appetite for new-age education firms after a lull in the space. If it sails through successfully, PhysicsWallah could pave the way for peers like Unacademy and Vedantu to explore public listings. For now, all eyes will be on how public markets price Indiaโ€™s most-watched edtech story, one thatโ€™s attempting to balance scale, sustainability, and investor confidence.

Layoffs, departures continue as Indian startups raise $1 Bn in April: Report

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Layoffs, departures continue as Indian startups raise $1 Bn in April: Report
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The year 2024 started on a good note for Indian startups: an average of $1 billion in monthly funding, which is a significant growth when compared to the previous year during which monthly funding went below $500 million three times. In April 2024, however, startups crossed the $1 billion threshold on the back of a couple of pre-IPO funding, a few late-stage rounds, and debt deals. Indian startups raked in more than $1 billion across 124 deals in April, according to data compiled by startup data intelligence platform TheKredible. This included 36 growth-stage deals worth $813 million and 65 early-stage deals amounting to $225.75 million. Moreover, there were 23 undisclosed rounds, primarily early-stage deals. During the recent Startup Mahakumbh festival, Peak XV Partnersโ€™ managing director Rajan Anandan said that Indian startups are expected to raise $8 billion to $12 billion this year. He also added that around $20 billion of private capital is lying uninvested and is committed to investment in private firms and startups in India. This estimate appears close considering the current rate of monthly funding. [Month-on-Month and Year-on-Year trend] In April 2024, there was a 14% year-on-year jump in funding from $912 million in the same month last year. Even on a monthly basis, April almost matched Marchโ€™s $1.18 billion funding. Interestingly, only one startup i.e. PharmEasy managed to raise funding in three digits during the last month. Since January, homegrown startups have raised close to $4 billion, and at this rate, it may cross the $11 billion funding raised in 2023. [Top growth stage deals] Healthcare startup PharmEasyโ€™s $216 million pre-IPO round stood at the top, though its valuation dropped nearly 90% from $5.6 billion to $710 million during the latest fundraise. Financial services firm Northern Arc also announced its $80 million Series C round while Ola Electric raised $50 million in debt even after filing draft IPO papers. Altum Credo, ProcMart, SingleInterface, Infinity Fincorp, CloudExtel, and LetsTransport also featured in the top 10 growth stage deals in April. [Top early-stage deals] Omnichannel fashion startup Lyskraft, founded by Zomatoโ€™s co-founder Mohit Gupta and Myntra and Cultfitโ€™s co-founder Mukesh Bansal, scooped up $26 million in a seed funding round and was on the top of the list in early-stage deals in April. Gen AI startup Neysa bagged $20 million whereas spacetech company Dhruva Space and edtech firm Emversity (Beyond Odds) raised $15 million and $11 million, respectively. The rest of the early-stage startups in the top 10 list raised less than $10 million each. The list includes Traya, LightFury Games, GTM Buddy, FincFriends, and Accacia. [City and segment-wise deals] City-wise, expectedly, Bengaluru-based startups are on top with 42 deals, contributing around 26% of the overall funding in April. Delhi-NCR and Mumbai followed with 30 and 26 deals, respectively. However, Mumbai-based startups topped the list in terms of the total amount raised. The list further counts Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, and Ahmedabad among others. Segment-wise, e-commerce startups (including D2C brands) and fintech startups co-led the list with 19 deals each followed by healthtech (16), SaaS (15), EV (5), automotive tech (4), and foodtech (4) startups among others. Visit TheKredible for more details. [Stage-wise deals] Series-wise, 44 startups raised funding in the Seed round followed by 20 Series A deals, 13 Pre-Series A, 11 Series B deals, and 7 Pre-Seed deals. As many as 14 startups raised debt funding worth $199.2 million during the period. [Mergers and acquisitions] Indian startups saw nearly a dozen mergers and acquisitions in April of which most deals were undisclosed. Among the disclosed deals, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) acquired a majority stake in digital infrastructure solutions company iBUS for about $200 million. US-based Aurionpro Solutions also acquired Indian fintech company Arya.ai for $16.5 million. The notable list of M&A also includes the acquisition of Shy Tiger brands by Ghost Kitchens India, Orbit by Postman, Awign by MyNavi, and Magzter by Dailyhuntโ€™s parent company VerSe Innovations. [Layoffs, top-level exits, and shutdown/s] The mass firing in startups continued in April as they laid off nearly 1,500 employees during the month. April surpassed the cumulative layoffs of 1,100 employees during the first quarter of 2024. Troubled edtech company Byjuโ€™s remained on top with 500 layoffs, followed by The Good Glamm Group, Healthify, and Scaler with 150 layoffs each. Check the full list here. April also saw high-profile exits from startups including five chief executives. Sujot Malhotra, CEO of Beardo, Surinder Chawla, CEO of Paytm Payments Bank, Arjun Mohan, CEO of Byjuโ€™s India, Sukhleen Aneja, CEO of The Good Glamm Groupโ€™s D2C Brands Division and Hemanth Bakshi, CEO of Ola Cabs, have quit this month. Besides layoffs and departures, Nintee, a digital health startup launched by Wingify founder Paras Chopra, announced shutting down its operations after a year of launch. During the first three months of 2024, six startups announced their shutting down operations in India. [ESOP buyback] Employeesโ€™ stock buyback also continued in April as three growth-stage companies โ€“ Pocket FM, XYXX, and The Sleep Company โ€“ announced their ESOP buyback program last month. Pocket FM bought back $8.3 million worth of stocks from employees while the rest two did not disclose the transaction details. The March quarter saw four ESOP buybacks including MyGate, Meesho, Classplus, and Imagekit. Visit TheKredible to see series-wise deals along with amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, and more insights. [Conclusion] While the trajectory of fund raising is positive, its quality might worry some, as it has gone to a firm that was clearly in distress and at a massive haircut (PharmEasy), besides the large, lumpy deal from NIIF. It might also be time to relook debt funding numbers as part of overall startup funding figures, as debt is usually taken by startups that are running operations sustainably from a financial perspective, or where founders do not want to dilute stakes any more. So itโ€™s not quite the risk capital that equity funding is. With a host of IPOs being lined up, we expect the growth trajectory to sustain as pleased investors return to find the next big opportunity.

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