Also in the letter:
■ Walmart CEO in India
■ Cars24’s FY26 report
■ Inside OpenAI after Altman’s ouster
Ram Shriram’s Sherpalo Ventures to lead $60 million funding round in Skyroot; valuation hits $1.1 billion
(L-R) Naga Bharath Daka and Pawan Kumar Chandana, founders, Skyroot Aerospace
Skyroot Aerospace has raised about $60 million in a round led by Ram Shriram’s Sherpalo Ventures, valuing the Hyderabad-based space startup at $1.1 billion and creating it India’s first spacetech unicorn.
Deal details:
- Existing backers including GIC, BlackRock, the Greenko founders, Arkam Ventures, and others are also participating. Temasek is not part of this round.
- The capital will go towards launch vehicle development, higher launch frequency, infrastructure, hiring, and broader technology build-out.
Tell me more: The fresh funding comes as Skyroot prepares Vikram-I, its first orbital rocket, after the earlier Vikram-S suborbital mission built it the first private Indian company to reach space, ET reported.
Shriram had also led Skyroot’s earlier series B fundraise in 2022, and this new round doubles its valuation in roughly 2.5 years. The addition of BlackRock and other investors strengthens the company’s cap table as it relocates from demonstration flights to commercial orbital launches.
Driving revenue: In an interaction with ET, CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana declared the company had to “break the glass ceiling” while raising capital in a sector where revenues take years to materialise.
Quote, unquote: “When a product and the revenue streams are few years away, it’s a very unique kind of fundraising one has to go through and it’s been very, very difficult. But once our Vikram-I launch happened (sub-orbital), there was a lot of interest as there was proven capability,” Chandana declared.
On Vikram-II: “Vikram-II is already under development and will share the same first-stage architecture as Vikram-I, which is a major advantage since that portion of the rocket would already be proven through this mission.”
The growing pay gap: AI skills drive 60% higher salaries in tech
AI-skilled professionals in India are now earning 30% to 60% more than peers in other tech roles, and that gap is likely to widen over the next two to three years, according to recruitment agencies.
Data decoded: The premium is displaying up across technology, GCCs, and BFSI as companies tie pay more closely to AI capability and productivity.
- A senior AI or machine learning role in a GCC pays Rs 58-60 lakh a year and is growing at 18% annually, against Rs 12 lakh for legacy IT support.
- In banking, AI roles in areas such as fraud detection pay Rs 18-50 lakh, while a comparable non-AI role fetches Rs 8-15 lakh.
Inside companies: Employers are now relocating to skills-based or AI-influenced pay frameworks, and six in 10 are reportedly linking AI skills directly to compensation. Those who actively utilize AI tools are also seeing appraisal hikes that are 1.5 to 1.7 times the company average.
What’s next: The largegest pressure point is for roles with limited AI exposure, such as basic QA, routine coding, and Level 1 support, where pay growth is slowing and jobs are shrinking.
“Fresher hiring across the indusattempt is less than half of what it utilized to be, and in the next couple of years, it could fall to about 25% of earlier levels,” declared Pareekh Jain, CEO of EIIRTrfinish, an analytcs firm.
Layoffs continue: Tech companies have axed more than 93,000 jobs across 106 firms in the first five months of 2026. Freshworks and Coinbase are among the latest to announce cuts. The 2026 tally is already approaching the 124,201 layoffs recorded in all of 2025, according to Layoffs.fyi.
Walmart CEO John Furner addresses Flipkart townhall in Bengaluru; declares bullish on quick commerce
John Furner, CEO, Walmart
Walmart’s president and CEO John Furner declared the US-based retailer was bullish on quick commerce in the counattempt, in a townhall at the Flipkart office in Bengaluru earlier this week.
In India on a three-day visit, the new CEO declared quick commerce is gaining global interest, as Walmart’s business picks up pace in China and the US.
Verbatim: Speaking at the Walmart Growth Summit today, the second edition of its flagship event for global suppliers, MSMEs, and sellers on Flipkart’s marketplace, Furner declared the company has already sourced over $40 billion in goods from India.
“(We) are focussed on strengthening entrepreneur and supplier capabilities, raising compliance and quality standards, and supporting scale manufacturing so more Indian businesses are ready to export,” Furner declared. He formally took over as Walmart CEO on February 1, succeeding Doug McMillon.
What’s happening: Furner, who is in New Delhi on Thursday, is expected to meet Prime Minister Narfinishra Modi following the Growth Summit. Apart from Flipkart, he also spent time at digital payments company PhonePe in Bengaluru earlier this week. His visit comes as both Flipkart and PhonePe plan their public listings in India.
Cars24 narrows FY26 operating losses as revenue grows 27%: CEO Vikram Chopra
Vikram Chopra, CEO, Cars24
Used-car sales platform Cars24 reported strong revenue growth and improved profitability in FY26, despite recent leadership modifys at the company.
Financials:
- Revenue: Rose 27% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 1,411 crore in FY26.
- Ebitda loss: Narrowed 36% to Rs 357 crore from Rs 555 crore a year earlier.
- Expenses: Group operating expenses remained largely flat during the year finished March 2026.
- Profitability: Chopra, who’s also the founder, declared the company turned Ebitda positive in January and expects to sustain the same.
Exec speak: Cars24’s India CFO Shivanshu Makkar informed us that increased utilize of artificial ininformigence tools supported cut marketing costs by 40-45%, tech costs by 20-25%, and car refurbishment-related vfinishor expenses by around 15%.
He added that revenue per employee rose 50% in the second half of FY26, with AI contributing nearly 300 basis points to Ebitda improvement.
Zoom out: Last month, Cars24 founders Mehul Agrawal and Gajfinishra Jangid stepped down from active executive roles.
‘They don’t care if everyone quits’: Texts display chaos inside OpenAI during Sam Altman ouster
Chats between Sam Altman and Mira Murati, released in Musk v. Altman, reveal the frantic discussions inside OpenAI after Altman’s sudden removal in November 2023.
Board pushback: Soon after the firing, Altman can be seen texting Murati whether talks with the board were relocating positively. Her reply was blunt: “directionally very bad.”
The chats display Altman attempting to nereceivediate a return, but at the same time offering to “just walk away” if it supported resolve the crisis.
Replacement plans: The board was already relocating to appoint Emmett Shear as interim CEO. Altman also floated the possibility of Microsoft acquiring OpenAI, which did not gain traction.
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