Also in the letter:
■ Deepinder Goyal returns Esops
■ Elevation veteran steps down
■ Govt revamps chip incentives
Giva in talks to close Rs 150-200 crore funding at Rs 4,400-crore valuation
Silver jewellery brand Giva is closing a Rs 150-200 crore funding round led by Premji Invest and Creaegis, with Titan Capital and Kenro Capital joining the round.
Valuation check: The round, structured as a mix of primary and secondary capital, values Giva at around Rs 4,200-4,400 crore, marking a modest step-up from its previous raise. The secondary portion, led by Kenro Capital, pegs the company at about Rs 3,800-3,900 crore, with early backer A91 Partners partially selling its stake.
Why it matters: Giva operates at the crossroads of fashion and fine jewellery, a segment seeing rapid churn as younger consumers relocate away from heavy gold toward silver and semi-fine designs that are trconclude-led and more affordable.
Growth snapshot: The Bengaluru-based brand is expected to close FY26 with Rs 800-850 crore in revenue, translating to 50-60% year-on-year growth after nearly doubling its topline in FY25.
Big picture: Investor appetite for D2C jewellery is rising, buoyed by recent fundraises and BlueStone’s enattempt into the public markets.
Urban Ladder founder launches AC startup Optimist; raises $12 million from Accel, Arkam Ventures, others
Optimist, a new consumer appliances startup founded by Urban Ladder cofounder Ashish Goel, has raised $12 million in a funding round led by Accel and Arkam Ventures.
What’s happening? The company plans to deploy the capital toward product R&D, go-to-market expansion, strengthening its service and installation network, and scaling manufacturing capacity.
Details:
- Founded in 2024 by Goel and Pranav Chopra, the Optimist is a Gurugram-based brand focutilized on air conditioners designed specifically for Indian weather conditions.
- The startup will sell through a direct-to-consumer (D2C) platform and exclusive brand stores.
- Product launches are scheduled for next month across Delhi NCR, Rajasthan, Telangana and Bengaluru, with a wider rollout to follow.
Yes, and: The fundraise marks Goel’s return to building a consumer startup after Reliance acquired his furniture brand Urban Ladder in 2020 for Rs 182 crore.
IPO-bound PhonePe’s cofounders sold $430 million stake to General Atlantic in September 2025
Rahul Chari (left) and Sameer Nigam, founders, PhonePe
PhonePe cofounders Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari sold shares worth Rs 3,937.3 crore (around $430 million) to US private equity firm General Atlantic in September 2025, according to the company’s initial public offering (IPO) filings.
What’s happening? The transaction took General Atlantic’s cumulative investment in the Walmart-owned digital payments major to around $1.15 billion across multiple rounds, raising its stake to 8.9%.
In October 2025, ET reported that PhonePe had raised $600 million in fresh capital from General Atlantic ahead of its IPO. This marked the US firm’s largest single investment in an Indian company.
IPO details: PhonePe’s public issue will be structured entirely as an offer for sale.
The company had filed its draft prospectus via the confidential route in September 2025. ET had then reported that the listing could value PhonePe at around $15 billion.
Also Read: Ixigo posts 31% rise in Q3 revenues, clocks profit of Rs 24 crore
Financials: For the six months concludeed September 2025, PhonePe posted topline growth but deeper losses:
- Revenue rose 22% year-on-year to Rs 3,918 crore.
- Net loss widened to Rs 1,444 crore due to sharply higher spconcludeing.
- Employee costs jumped 33%.
- Revenue from the payments business, covering both consumer and merchant transactions, grew 15% to Rs 3,405 crore.
Also Read: Omnichannel jewellery retailer Bluestone turns profitable as Q3 revenue hits Rs 748 crore
Deepinder Goyal to surrconcludeer Esops worth Rs 900-1,000 crore upon resigning as Eternal CEO
Eternal founder Deepinder Goyal will give up employee stock options valued at around Rs 900-1,000 crore following his decision to step down as chief executive of the Zomato and Blinkit parent.
Details: In a letter to shareholders, Goyal declared all his unvested Esops will be returned to Eternal’s Esop pool.
- During the company’s quarterly analyst call, CFO Akshant Goyal declared this would add about 3.3 crore shares to the pool, which currently holds around 20 crore shares.
- At Eternal’s current share price of about Rs 278, the 3.3 crore shares are valued at approximately Rs 917 crore.
- Goyal will continue to own around a 4% equity stake in Eternal, worth close to Rs 11,000 crore at current market prices.
Tell me more: The relocate follows Goyal’s surprise decision to step down as CEO. He has declared he wants to focus on new ventures in longevity and aerospace, which require “higher-risk exploration and experimentation.” Goyal will transition to the role of vice-chairman and remain on Eternal’s board.
Blinkit cofounder and CEO Albinder Dhindsa, who re-joined the group following the 2022 acquisition, will take over as CEO of Eternal.
Also Read: As Eternal names a new CEO, a view back at Zomato’s journey
Market reaction: Eternal’s shares rose as much as 7.4% to a day’s high of Rs 304 on the BSE after the company reported strong December-quarter results and announced the leadership modify.
- Net profit: Up 73% year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 102 crore.
- Revenue from operations: Rose a sharp 201% YoY to Rs 16,315 crore.
The stock later pared gains, closing 2.6% lower on Thursday at Rs 276, on the BSE.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Mayank Khanduja, partner, Elevation Capital
Elevation Capital’s Mayank Khanduja exits VC firm after 15-year stint: Mayank Khanduja, partner at venture capital (VC) firm Elevation Capital, has stepped down, adding to the senior-level churn in the indusattempt. Khanduja joined Elevation as an investment professional in 2011 and subsequently became a vice president and principal. In October 2024, he was built a partner.
DLI 2.0 may shift from reimbursements to equity-linked support: The government’s proposed Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme 2.0 for semiconductor and chip design companies is expected to shift from the reimbursement-heavy structure in its first iteration, with policybuildrs pushing for greater accountability, ownership, and control over innotifyectual property created with public funds.
Infosys inquires employees to share WFH electricity data as it chases tall carbon goals: Information technology (IT) services giant Infosys is collecting data on employees’ houtilizehold electricity consumption to offset its impact with higher clean energy output as part of a sustainability programme the company has been pursuing for over 15 years now.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ AI-powered disinformation swarms are coming for democracy (Wired)
■ How playing Pokémon became the ultimate test of AI’s innotifyigence (WSJ)
■ Data workers are being forced to work on-site during earthquakes and typhoons (Rest of the World)
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