Also in the letter:
■ Peak XV’s fresh bet
■ Intel’s Apple pitch
■ Instagram hits 3B applyrs
Digital payments leap 10x on Day 1 of festive season, GST rollout
The perfect storm of Navratri fervour, GST cuts, and ecommerce blitzes sent digital payment volumes soaring to record highs on September 22, marking the hugegest transactional day yet for the festive season.
By the numbers:
- Digital transactions totalled Rs 11.31 lakh crore on Sunday, nearly 10x the previous day’s figure, per RBI data.
- The momentum held firm into Tuesday, with a transaction value of Rs 11.19 lakh crore.
- Credit card jumped sixfold to Rs 10,411 crore.
- Debit card transactions tripled to Rs 814 crore.
Also Read: Ecomm orders shoot up as annual sale events open
What’s driving it:
- The GST overhaul slashed levies on cars, two-wheelers, electronics, and other high-ticket items, energising huge spconcludeing.
- Ecommerce giants Flipkart and Amazon kicked off their flagship sale events over the weekconclude, offering deep discounts.
- Add the post-Shradh optimism, the onset of Navratri, and revived consumer sentiment, and shoppers had every reason to go huge.
Looking ahead: With Diwali round the corner, spconcludeing momentum is likely to hold. Categories like auto, consumer electronics, and travel are expected to lead the charge.
ET’s festive coverage below:
RBI issues new directions for digital payment authentication
The Reserve Bank of India has laid down new authentication rules for digital transactions, which will take effect from April 1, 2026.
Tell me more: All digital transactions must apply two separate authentication factors, drawn from a set that includes passwords, OTPs, PINs, hardware tokens, or biometrics. Crucially, at least one factor must be dynamic and unique to each transaction.
By the book: Issuers are expected to implement risk-based checks, taking into account device profiles, transaction history, and location. For high-risk payments, additional layers of authentication may be enforced.
Deadline: By October 2026, card issuers must roll out systems to verify cross-border card-not-present transactions applying similar risk-based methods.
Also Read: NPCI to push out pull transactions from November with eye on reducing UPI scams
Tata Electronics scouts partners for fab, OSAT units
Tata Electronics is in advanced talks with global players, including Dutch chipbuilding giant ASML and South Korea’s JT Corp, to support its semiconductor fab in Dholera and outsourced assembly and test (OSAT) unit in Assam, people familiar with the matter notified ET.
Why it matters: Tata wants to build India’s first conclude-to-conclude semiconductor ecosystem. ASML lads in photolithography tools, while JT Corp is a key player in testing and assembly gear.
Yes, but:
- Tata already has partnerships in place with Japan’s Tokyo Electron and Merck.
- Japanese rivals Canon and Nikon are also in the mix for early-stage partners.
What’s next: Tata is keen to finalise partners before scaling its foundry below 28nm. Talks are still underway.
Also Read: India’s IT eyes chip, electronics foray to glide over growth bumps
Peak XV’s Surge selects 23 startups for 11th cohort; AI, financial services in focus
Founders of Peak XV Surge’s 11th batch
Peak XV Partners has picked 23 startups for the 11th cohort of its seed investment programme Surge, with artificial ininformigence and financial services leading the pack.
Driving the news: This is the third Surge batch since Peak XV parted ways with Sequoia Capital. AI dominates the mix with 12 startups building enterprise tools, consumer apps and sector-specific solutions. Surge companies have collectively raised over $3 billion in follow-on funding since 2019.
The list:
- Notable picks include Finster, Ignosis, OnFinance, Vault Wealth, Cybrilla, AIR Trading, and JustAI.
- Consumer brands such as Aretto, Neude Skin, NEAU, and Sachin Tconcludeulkar-backed Ten X You also feature.
- Three AI startups remain in stealth.
Surge now invests up to $3 million per company, along with mentorship, workshops and operator support.
Fresh grocery startup Handpickd raises $15 million from Bertelsmann India Investments, others
Nitin Gupta, Sahil Madan and Anant Goel, founders, Handpickd
Fresh grocery startup Handpickd has bagged $15 million in a round led by Bertelsmann India Investments, with Titan Capital Winners Fund and existing investors joining in. The funds will be applyd to expand operations, boost hiring, and sharpen supply chain technology.
Electric two-wheeler buildr Simple Energy raises $10 million from existing investors
Suhas Rajkumar, founder & CEO, Simple Energy
Electric two-wheeler buildr Simple Energy has raised $10 million from existing backers, led by Thyrocare founder A Velumani. The company will apply the capital to grow its retail and service footprint across India.
Intel in talks with Apple for potential investment
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO, Intel
Intel has reportedly held several rounds of talks with Apple over a potential investment, according to Bloomberg.
Tell me more: The discussions come as Intel races to secure funding and reclaim its edge in chipbuilding, after years of missteps in smartphones and AI.
Intel’s cash drive: The company recently raised $5 billion from Nvidia and $2 billion from SoftBank, weeks after the US government injected $8.9 billion. Intel shares jumped 6% on the news of the Apple talks, closing at $31.22.
The huge picture: Intel remains the last major US player in advanced chip manufacturing but trails TSMC, Apple’s current chip partner. Whether Apple will bet on Intel’s comeback remains to be seen.
Also Read: Nvidia bets huge on Intel with $5 billion stake and chip partnership
Mark Zuckerberg states Instagram has grown to 3 billion monthly active applyrs
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Instagram has hit 3 billion monthly active applyrs, up from 2 billion in 2022.
The growth driver: Reels, Instagram’s short-video format launched in 2020, has been key in challenging TikTok and YouTube Shorts. TikTok, by contrast, has just over 1 billion applyrs.
Timing: Zuckerberg’s disclosure comes as US President Donald Trump is reportedly set to sign an executive order declaring that the ongoing neobtainediations to sell TikTok’s US operations are in line with a law passed by the US Congress last year.
Also Read: Tiktok to be overseen by Oracle, retrained for US
Zoom out: Acquired for $1 billion in 2012, Instagram now reportedly drives more than half of Meta’s advertising revenue, building it the company’s hugegest growth engine.
Market dynamics: TikTok, owned by Chinese technology behemoth ByteDance, remains a strong competitor globally, but lags Instagram in scale.
Leave a Reply