Singapore-headquartered angel investment platform ThinKuvate has announced the first close of its India fund at INR 250 million. The investment comes within four months of the formal launch of the ThinKuvate India Fund — I.

The firm has made investments in four startups – Rosh.ai, Zippee, Pantherun, and NymbleUp.

Rosh.ai was founded in 2021 by Roshy John and Rajaram Moorthy. It specialises in autonomous vehicle technology, providing solutions for the automotive, seaport, and mining industries. The company has raised $1 million in Pre-Series A led by EV2 Ventures, with participation from Caret Capital and ThinKuvate.

Zippee was founded by Madhav Kasturia in 2021 and offers same-day delivery for more than 100 (D2C) brands. Zippee is scaling its operations in metro cities and expanding its brand partnership.

Founded in 2019 by Srinivas Shekar, Pantherun is a cybersecurity company specialising in advanced data protection solutions. The company has raised a bridge round led by QuickHeal Family Office and SIDBI Ventures, with participation from 8X, PiperSerica, and ThinKuvate.

NymbleUp.ai was founded in 2019 by Yogesh Bhatt & Manish Thakur. It has secured pre-series A  led by Chandigarh Angels, IVY Cap, and ThinKuvate. It provides AI-driven predictive workforce management solutions for QSRs and retail chains; forecasting demand across all sales channels at 15-minute intervals. 

ThinKuvate plans to invest in early-stage startups from seed to Series A, focusing on companies leveraging technology at the forefront.

Ghanshyam Ahuja, Managing Partner, ThinKuvate said, “We have been investing in Indian startups and saw the potential growth opportunities. That led us to launch an India-focused fund, we have reached the first milestone in little over 100 days. This validates our thesis on the next-gen innovations taking place in India, which have a global appeal.”

ThinKuvate continues to raise its target corpus, the fund plans to invest in 30 – 40 startups with an average investment size of INR 15 million to INR 40 million. The fund has also attracted top tier general partners globally, to manage the deal flow, due diligence, and overall portfolio management. More than 50 percent of investors in the fund are NRIs from various countries, top of them being Singapore, Australia, the USA, the UK, and Indonesia.

Mayank Jain, CEO, ThinKuvate, says, “We have built capabilities within our team to provide support and help to startups scale faster. The profile of limited partners, who are working professionals with senior roles in large corporates, would be a huge differentiator for the companies we back. Our vast network will not only bring in quality capital but provide access to the founders to accelerate their growth journey post funding from ThinKuvate. As we continue to raise the target corpus, we have already built a healthy deal flow and we are confident that with this fund, we will be able to build a strong portfolio and generate stellar returns for our investors.”

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Uber, one of the leading rides-hailing platforms, has announced a strategic investment in the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). The transaction marks one of the earliest equity investments by a global technology firm into the network.

The capital infusion builds upon Uber’s existing operational integrations with ONDC and to expand user access to multimodal transportation architectures and optimise decentralised logistics frameworks for independent earners and commercial enterprises across the open network.

The deepening collaboration focuses heavily on bridging mass public transit networks with last-mile ride-sharing services under a unified application experience.

The move will see integrated metro rail ticketing features, which are currently live across five Indian cities through the Uber application. Consumers have booked more than 10 million metro rides utilising the Uber-ONDC interoperable infrastructure, indicating strong market demand for consolidated public transit options.

Beyond passenger transit, Uber plans to co-develop enhanced supply chain and logistics features alongside ONDC to improve discovery and delivery efficiencies for businesses operating on the digital platform.

Prabhjeet Singh, President of Uber India and South Asia, said, "India has been at the forefront of building Digital Public Infrastructure that is inclusive, interoperable, and transformative at scale. Our ongoing partnership with ONDC and now this investment puts us at the heart of that innovation journey. By investing in this network, we're helping more people move, more businesses grow, and more earners thrive harnessing the power of the ONDC network.”

Adil Zainulbhai, Independent Director, ONDC, added, "ONDC is a key pillar of India’s efforts to democratise digital commerce and create a level playing field for businesses of all sizes. Uber’s investment is a strong endorsement of India’s digital public infrastructure and its potential to drive innovation, efficiency and inclusive growth."

Image only for representational purposes.

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Chinese automaker BYD has secured the top position in the global automotive innovation ranking within the Automotive INNOVATIONS Report 2026, published by the Germany-based Center of Automotive Management (CAM).

This milestone marks the first time a Chinese automotive manufacturer has claimed the first-place ranking since the annual CAM study was established in 2005.

BYD achieved the leading score with 157 points, displacing the previous year’s top-ranked manufacturer, Volkswagen Group, which moved to second place with 143 points. Mercedes-Benz secured the third position in the evaluation, registering 134 points.

The index results highlight BYD’s expanding research and development capabilities, alongside the increasing technological competitiveness of Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) within the global automotive landscape.

The Automotive INNOVATIONS report is a long-running industry study launched by CAM in 2005 to track, evaluate and categorise technological innovations, future-ready propulsion systems and software developments among international automotive groups. The shift in leadership for 2026 reflects broader structural transitions and changing product-driven engineering cycles inside the global market.

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Dhoot Transmission, an automotive components manufacturer backed by Bain Capital, has entered into a strategic partnership with Israel-based technology company RideVision. The collaboration marks Dhoot Transmission’s entry into intelligent mobility and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

The partnership is aimed at expanding Dhoot's existing automotive electronics portfolio and introducing localised safety technologies specifically engineered for Indian road conditions and regulatory environments.

The alliance will prioritise the development, technology integration and deployment of intelligent safety solutions across India’s shifting mobility ecosystem. Key focus areas of the partnership include:

• Tailored Engineering: Adjusting global ADAS software and hardware capabilities to navigate unique local driving behaviours, traffic densities and road infrastructure in India.
• Portfolio Expansion: Complemented by Dhoot’s industrial footprint, the collaboration moves the company further into advanced technology and electronic solutions.
• Democratising Safety: Localising the manufacturing stack to reduce production costs, making life-saving driver assistance accessible across broader vehicle segments.

In tandem with this electronic product expansion strategy, Dhoot Transmission announced that its subsidiary, Dhoot Automotive Systems, has executed a business transfer agreement with Bengaluru-based firm Multilink. The acquisition is intended to strengthen Dhoot’s baseline engineering capabilities and position the company for future growth in advanced tech sectors.

Naveen Kumar, CEO – India (Wiring Harness and Electronics), Dhoot Transmission, noted, “We believe this is the right time to bring intelligent safety technologies to India. Our partnership with RideVision combines global ADAS expertise with our deep understanding of the Indian market to develop solutions specifically engineered for Indian road and operating conditions. Together, we aim to make mobility in India safer, smarter, and future-ready.”

Uri Lavi, Founder and CEO, RideVision, added, “India stands at the precipice of a fascinating new era of smart mobility – one that will have a profound, measurable impact on saving lives every single day. Through this collaboration with our partner Dhoot Transmission, we are bringing advanced ADAS capabilities directly to the heart of the Indian market. By localizing this cutting-edge technology, we aim to democratise life-saving safety solutions for all.”

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Pre-owned car marketplace Cars24 has announced the launch of AI Labs, a dedicated initiative designed to develop artificial intelligence-native products and support early-stage entrepreneurs.

As part of the program, the company has committed a USD 20 million investment fund targeted at startups and development teams building transformative AI technologies.

The move marks an expansion of Cars24’s internal technology strategy, where machine learning and artificial intelligence models have already been integrated into core business operations to manage decision-making workflows and customer experience interfaces. Through AI Labs, the company will extend its technical resources externally to independent software engineers and startup founders.

To establish the infrastructure for the program, Cars24 has partnered with technology providers including OpenAI, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and ElevenLabs. This ecosystem will provide participating developers with cloud infrastructure, technical expertise, distribution networks and advanced language and voice synthesis models to accelerate product deployment.

The operational focus of AI Labs is divided into three primary activities:

• Build: Developing proprietary AI-native applications and contributing to global open-source software innovation.
• Partner: Collaborating with established artificial intelligence firms to encourage industry experimentation and technology adoption.
• Invest: Supplying seed capital and strategic support to early-stage businesses building software categories.

Beyond direct equity investments, the initiative will fund community engagement programs, including regional hackathons, builder incubation programs and collaborative open-source projects designed to stimulate developer experimentation.

Vikram Chopra, Founder and CEO, Cars24, said, “Every major technology shift creates a handful of companies that go on to define the future. We believe AI is the biggest shift of our generation, and the opportunity ahead is far larger than anything we've seen before. Over the last few years, we've seen AI fundamentally change how we operate, build products, and serve customers AI Labs is our way of giving back to the ecosystem that is shaping this future. We want to back founders early, help them move faster and support the people building things that seem impossible today but inevitable tomorrow.”

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