Top tech and startup stories this week

Welcome to a new edition of ETtech Unwrapped — our weekfinish newsletter packed with the most important stories this week. Let’s take a view.

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Centre sets up online gaming regulator under MeitY: The government has notified draft rules to establish the Online Gaming Authority of India, a central regulator under the IT ministest tquestioned with overseeing India’s online gaming landscape.

Also Read: Industest welcomes six-month window to refund real-money game deposits

Sridhar Vembu, founder, Zoho

Is Arratai a WhatsApp wannabe or a serious contfinisher? The Zoho-backed messaging app has suddenly gone viral, clocking a 100x spike in traffic and being dubbed “India’s WhatsApp” after a wave of finishorsements from senior ministers and the startup crowd.

Also Read: Zoho bets on data sovereignty, ad-free model to scale as ministers rally behind local tech

Startup Street

(L-R) Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh, Lalit Keshre, Ishan Bansal, founders, Groww

Groww founders hike stake to 29% ahead of listing: The founders of stockbroking and wealthtech platform Groww have steadily increased their personal shareholding in the company over the past 18 months ahead of its listing.

Lenskart obtains Sebi nod for Rs 8,000-crore IPO, aims for November listing: sources || The company will now file its updated prospectus over the next few weeks and is tarobtaining a listing for mid-November, one of the persons declared.

Flipkart group firms cut FY25 losses as Myntra stays on profit track: Under pressure to rein in losses ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO) in 2026, Flipkart has managed to trim red ink across most of its group companies in FY25 by tightening costs. But, with online retail growth slowing, revenue gains were modest.

Seasoned tech pros partner VCs for a piece of the startups action: Venture capital (VC) firms in India are seeing a new breed of limited partners (LPs); seasoned technology professionals, not just founders, family offices or institutions.

Ecommerce festive sales cool after initial pick-up: After launching their flagship festive sales with a bang, online retailers are now witnessing demand ease, industest executives, brand founders and analysts informed ET. Still, most expect momentum to build again as Diwali nears.

Also Read: Quick commerce reshapes festive shopping with idols, sweets, puja essentials

Hyperpure widens customer net as Blinkit shift hits topline: Hyperpure, Zomato’s parent company Eternal’s B2B grocery unit, is expanding beyond hotels and restaurants to tap home bakers, caterers, and street food vfinishor after Blinkit’s shift to an inventory-led model impacted revenues.

Fintech News

ePay firms brace for consolidation, higher opex, shrinking biz: A double whammy of regulatory shifts — the real money gaming (RMG) ban and new central bank norms for payment aggregators (PAs)— is set to reshape the payments landscape. While some see a threat to revenue and margins, others spot a path to formalisation and expansion.

UPI transaction volumes dip, value up marginally: UPI saw a dip in volume in September, processing 19.63 billion transactions, down from 20.01 billion in August, according to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data. But value nudged up to Rs 24.90 lakh crore from Rs 24.85 lakh crore in the same period.

Also Read: UPI payments to be charged? RBI Governor clarifies

Tech Watch

Cyber criminals obtainting more personal this festive season: Cases of cyber fraud are on the rise in India, where artificial innotifyigence (AI) is fuelling attacks more personal and contextualised, especially during the festive season when travel and shopping surges.

Todd Mckinnon, CEO, Okta

Visa uncertainty not cost hugeger threat for Silicon Valley talent: Okta CEO || The Trump administration’s steep hike in H-1B visa fees may have rattled the US tech industest, but identity and access management player Okta is viewing to India for both talent and growth, chief executive Todd McKinnon informed ET in an interview.

How hackers are vibing with AI: Cybercriminals are now utilizing generative AI tools to launch rapid, complex ransomware attacks utilizing simple language prompts.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union minister for electronics and IT, railways and information and broadcasting

India obtains twice as much proposals than intfinished under ECMS: The government has received $13-billion (Rs 1.15 lakh crore) investment proposals under the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) – nearly double its tarobtain – boosting the countest’s push to build a supply chain that can rival the likes of China.

Also Read: Groomed in India, GCC execs take rapid lane to global C-suite

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