Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (August 28, 2025)
Featured stories
From designers to influencers: India’s festive rush fuels scramble for white-collar gig talent
India’s festive hiring rush is no longer confined to warehouses and delivery fleets. From content creators and CRM operators to live commerce hosts and merchandising assistants, companies have stepped up hiring for short-term white-collar talent to manage customer demand.
“As companies gear up for a surge in customer activity from August to December, top ecommerce, quick commerce, and D2C platforms are expanding their temporary workforce to handle the increased volumes in customer support, digital operations, and content delivery,” says Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital, the tech-focused hiring arm of the staffing player.
Randstad India also estimates resilient white-collar hiring, with July recording a 7–8% year-on-year rise. The trend reflects how seasonal hiring, once seen as largely blue-collar, is becoming more diversified and specialised.
PayGlocal helps Indian merchants scale globally with an India-focused cross-border payment solution
Indian merchants and exporters have long struggled with the gaps in cross-border payments. Traditional bank transfers are slow, expensive, and opaque, while global gateways are not built with India’s unique requirements in mind.
For businesses trying to serve international customers, this could translate to poor payment approval rates, compliance hurdles around foreign exchange and inward remittance documentation, and a lack of transparency in settlement timelines. These could ultimately result in lost revenue and operational delay, and hamper efforts to scale globally. These gaps caught the attention of Prachi Dharani, Rohit Sukhija, and Yogesh Lokhande, who had spent years working at Visa, a leader in digital payments, and CyberSource, an American payment gateway, building expertise in merchant acquisition, payments infrastructure, and cybersecurity.
Their work exposed them to the limitations of India’s existing cross-border systems, and they saw firsthand how global best practices could be adapted to create a solution tailored for Indian businesses. In 2021, the trio launched PayGlocal to address what they saw as persistent gaps in cross-border payments for Indian businesses.
Funding news
TransBnk raises $25M from Bessemer, 8i, Accion and others
Banking infrastructure platform TransBnk has raised $25 million in a Series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Arkam Ventures, Fundamentum Partnership, and existing backers 8i Ventures, Accion Venture Labs, and GMO Venture Partners.
The Mumbai-based company said it will use the fresh capital to expand internationally and strengthen its technology and product teams. Founded in 2022 by Vaibhav Tambe, Lavin Kotian, Pulak Jain and Sachin Gupta, TransBnk offers a “single-window” API platform that lets fintechs and corporations connect with multiple banks for onboarding, payments, and reconciliations.
The company has integrated with more than 40 banks and supports over 220 clients, who collectively use nearly 1,500 APIs each month. TransBnk reported growing to “double-digit million” annual dollar revenue within 24 months of inception. The company said it is capital-efficient and profitable at this stage.
Other news
ADIO signs MoU with Ant International to develop Abu Dhabi’s fintech sector
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ant International, a global provider of digital payments and financial technology solutions. Under the agreement, Ant International will share its technological expertise to support the development of Abu Dhabi’s financial technology sector, provide local businesses with digital tools, and enhance financial inclusion and connectivity with international markets.
This collaboration is part of ADIO’s broader strategy to help companies scale from Abu Dhabi and strengthen economic links between Asia and the UAE capital. Earlier this year, ADIO hosted the Abu Dhabi Investment Forum in Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo to encourage greater flows of capital, innovation and trade across regions.
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Aavishkaar Foundation partners with Miller Center to strengthen social entrepreneurship
Aavishkaar Foundation, part of the Aavishkaar Group, has entered into a partnership with the Miller Center for Global Impact at Santa Clara University to strengthen the social entrepreneurship ecosystem, particularly in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and other emerging markets.
The collaboration will focus on joint initiatives such as creating a pipeline of enterprises for Miller Center’s accelerator, exploring fundraising opportunities, including a potential India-specific accelerator, and enabling cross-referrals for investment consideration by Aavishkaar.
Both organisations will also work together on areas like investment readiness, impact measurement, and storytelling, with the aim of supporting early-stage social enterprises and entrepreneurs. Through this partnership, Aavishkaar Foundation and Miller Center intend to build long-term relationships, mentor startups, and enhance the overall impact entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Swiggy expands food on train service to 115+ stations across India
Swiggy Limited has expanded its Food on Train service to over 115 stations across 28 states and union territories, including recent additions such as Madgaon, Tirupati, Ernakulam Junction, Jodhpur, and Jalandhar.
Operating daily from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm, the service delivers meals directly to passengers’ seats through PNR-based logistics, offering an alternative to limited pantry car or station food. A growing trend within the service is the use of the “Order for Others” feature, which now accounts for nearly 14% of orders, with families sending homestyle meals such as thalis, rice bowls, and fruit plates to loved ones on long-distance journeys.
Lunch remains the most popular slot, with significant demand from cities like Vijayawada, Salem, Warangal, Nagpur, and Thrissur. Swiggy has also introduced regional festive dishes, including Malvani fish curry, Kerala Sadya, Mangalorean gravies, Gujarati thalis, and Rajasthani delicacies, bringing local flavours to train travel across India’s busiest routes.
WhatsApp rolls out AI-powered ‘Writing Help’ feature with privacy safeguards
has introduced Writing Help, a new AI-powered feature that assists users in drafting messages in different styles such as professional, funny, or supportive. The feature is built on Private Processing technology, which enables AI-generated suggestions without Meta or WhatsApp accessing users’ messages or rewrites.
Use of Writing Help is optional and remains off by default. Independent audits by NCC Group and Trail of Bits have reviewed the security framework behind Private Processing, and further technical details are available through WhatsApp’s published white paper and blog.
Amazon expands India operations with 12 new fulfilment centres and 6 sort centres
has announced the launch of 12 new fulfilment centres (FCs) and the expansion of six existing ones, adding 8.6 million cubic feet of storage capacity ahead of the festive season. The company has also set up its first FCs in Hooghly, Tiruvallur, Krishnagiri, Visakhapatnam, and Hubballi, along with six new sort centres in Hubli, Trivandrum, Rajpura, Gorakhpur, Moradabad, and Prayagraj, covering 500,000 sq. ft.
The expansion, operated by logistics partners, is expected to improve delivery speeds, create thousands of jobs, and place inventory closer to customers. These additions follow Amazon’s earlier launches of five FCs and over 30 last-mile delivery stations in June 2025, as well as its announcement of a Rs 2,000 crore investment to strengthen operations infrastructure, safety programs, and technology across India.
India Accelerator acquires starters’ CFO to expand startup support services
India Accelerator (IA), a multi-stage venture capital fund, has acquired Starters’ CFO, a finance and accounting services provider for startups. The acquisition will allow IA to integrate financial management and compliance expertise into its platform, offering services such as AI-enabled bookkeeping, on-demand CFO support, fundraising readiness, and compliance advisory.
Together, IA and Starters’ CFO plan to develop structured finance programs, establish Centres of Excellence across HR, legal, marketing, and technology, and build a comprehensive support system for startups. The move strengthens IA’s shift from an accelerator to a broader venture-building platform aimed at addressing multiple needs of early and growth-stage companies.
Wellbeing Nutrition projects Rs 350 Cr sales in FY26, targets profitability by FY27
Wellbeing Nutrition is on track to achieve Rs 350 crore in gross sales in FY26 and projects crossing Rs 600 crore with profitability by Q4 FY27.
The company, already CM3 positive, reports a consumer base of over one million across 16,000 pin codes in India and 25 international markets, with overseas business expected to grow fivefold in the coming year.
Backed by a 70% CAGR over the past three years, Wellbeing Nutrition operates through e-commerce, modern retail, and 3,700 pharmacy outlets nationwide, while expanding in markets such as the US, UK, UAE, and Southeast Asia. The company plans further growth in categories including kids’ nutrition and gut health, alongside deeper retail and global expansion.
Infosys partners with Mastercard to integrate global money movement solutions
has partnered with Mastercard to integrate the latter’s money movement solutions, Mastercard Move, with its Finacle platform under EdgeVerve Systems.
The collaboration will enable banks and financial institutions to access cross-border and domestic payment capabilities in over 200 countries and 150 currencies, covering more than 95% of the global banked population.
The integration aims to reduce implementation time and resource requirements for financial institutions adopting these services.
Edited by Jyoti Narayan
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