Bengaluru-based FreshToHome will raise ₹75 crore ($8.5 million) via debt from Trifecta Venture through non-convertible debentures. The funds will support working capital and general corporate needs as the meat and seafood startup scales operations, expands quick commerce, and focuses on financial discipline.

The Centre notified draft rules for social security of delivery workers on Tuesday as lakhs of workers went on strike on Christmas and New Year. Workers who've been engaged with a platform for 90 days will be eligible for different insurance plans. They'll have to register using their Aadhaar number, which will be used to generate their Universal Account Numbers.

Former Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor questioned the need for 10-minute deliveries. He was replying to Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal's X post, which stated that Zomato and Blinkit "delivered at a record pace" on New Year's Eve. Kapoor asked, "Would 30 minutes or 1 hour delivery (without so much pressure and need for speed) be the end of the world?"

The ED froze assets worth ₹192 crore possessed by ZO Games Private Limited, publishing arm of gaming company WinZO, in a money laundering probe. This comes over a month after ED arrested WinZO Co-founders Saumya Rathore and Paavan Nanda under PMLA. An investigation by ED had found WinZO lured customers to play without informing them they were playing with bots.

Shimla will host HiM MSME Fest 2026 from January 3, spotlighting innovation, entrepreneurship, and MSME growth in Himachal Pradesh. The flagship event will feature Startup Awards, investor networking, workshops, and policy discussions, aiming to boost regional startups, attract investment, and promote inclusive, sustainable business growth.

Mumbai-based Knight Fintech has raised $23.6 million (about Rs 215 crore) in Series A round led by Accel, with participation from IIFL and Rocket Capital, taking its total funding past $30 million. It said that it will deploy the fresh capital to deepen its AI-native product stack across embedded finance, automated credit underwriting, risk intelligence, data analytics and portfolio monitoring.

Ratan Tata invested in over 50 Indian startups between 2013 and 2019 through his family office and RNT Capital. While a few, like Ola, Lenskart, Snapdeal and Urban Company, scaled into major brands, many seed-stage bets failed, shut down or stayed small, reflecting the high-risk reality of early startup investing.

A day after gig workers staged a strike seeking a ban on the 10-minute delivery system among other things, Zomato Founder Deepinder Goyal said the quick deliveries are enabled by the density of stores and not by delivery partners driving fast. "The rider drives an average of under 2kms in about 8 minutes...That's an average of 15kmph," he said.

Shares of India's largest cigarette maker ITC Ltd fell the most in six years on Thursday after the government imposed higher tax on tobacco products. The shares crashed nearly 10% and wiped out over ₹50,000 crore in market capitalisation. The price of cigarettes will reportedly increase by 20%-30% from February 1.

UP's Shravan Kumar Vishwakarma, who owns India's newest airline Shankh Air, worked as a loader and tempo driver on the streets of Kanpur once. "I drove autos with acquaintances and tried few small businesses, many of which failed," he said, adding that his business journey gained momentum in 2014 after entering the cement trade before expanding into mining and transport.