Digital Striker has raised $1 million from US-based Foxhog Ventures to establish India’s first manufacturing unit for optical fibre tools. The initiative aims to reduce India’s reliance on Chinese imports in the sector. The funding will support plant setup, hiring, expansion, and meeting current demand through imports.

Zero-sugar beverage startup CHINI KUM has raised ₹1 crore in pre-seed funding led by angel investors to support product innovation and market expansion. Founded by Priyank Jain, the brand plans to launch low-calorie drinks via quick commerce and D2C channels, targeting health-conscious consumers seeking sugar-free beverages across India.

HyKr, founded by Krishna Dunthoori, will deploy ₹100 crore to co-build up to 20 startups in India by FY27, acting as an institutional co-founder for early-stage teams. Venture studio will provide capital and execution support across product, technology, operations, and go-to-market, helping founders quickly build investor-ready companies in deep tech, health, and proptech sectors across India.

Material Depot has raised $10 million in a funding round co-led by Accel and Stellaris Venture Partners to expand technology, scale experience centres, and grow its curated materials platform across India. The startup plans to strengthen supply chains, expand private labels, and accelerate its omnichannel expansion in interior design and home decor markets.

Alternative dairy startup 1.5 Degree founded by Vedansh Goyal raised $1 million in pre-Series A funding led by 35North Ventures to scale manufacturing and expand into Indian cities. Focused on institutional food services, it supplies plant-based milk, yogurt and desserts, earning most revenue from contracts while very gradually entering retail and cloud kitchens to reach more consumers.

Dr Sudhir Mehta, chairman of EKA Mobility and Pinnacle Industries, took a helicopter to reach Pune after being stuck for eight hours in a massive traffic jam on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway following a gas tanker accident. Sharing aerial visuals of the massive jam, Mehta wrote, "For such emergencies we need to plan exits at different points on expressway."

Before India-US trade deal was announced, NSA Ajit Doval had informed US State Secretary Marco Rubio of India's stance in a meeting last year, Bloomberg reported. "India wouldn't be bullied by US President Donald Trump and his top aides, and would be willing to wait out his term, having faced other hostile US administrations in the past," Doval reportedly said.

MiMedx Group shares gained around 5% in Wednesday morning’s trade after the company entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Summit Products Group. According to the agreement, Summit will distribute Hydrelix, NovaForm, and G4Derm Plus, designed to complement MiMedx’s portfolio of leading surgical and wound products.

IT major Cognizant Technology Solutions plans to hire about 24,000-25,000 fresh graduates in 2026, ramping up campus recruitment as artificial intelligence-led delivery models improve entry-level productivity. "We hired close to 20,000 school graduates in 2025...For next year, we plan to increase this by about 20%," CFO Jatin Dalal said. Cognizant added about 14,800 employees overall in 2025.

Martech startup Fibr AI has raised $5.7 million in a seed round led by Accel. Founded in 2023 by Ankur Goyal and Pritam Roy, the company builds an agentic web experience layer that turns static websites into adaptive, self-optimising systems. Its platform helps enterprises personalise experiences for both human visitors and AI-driven systems.