Preventive pain care startup Betterhood has raised ₹5 crore in seed funding led by Kairon Capital, with participation from angel investors such as Yogesh Kabra of XYXX and Rishubh Satiya of Plix. The startup offers products for pain care and musculoskeletal health. Betterhood plans to utilise the capital for product development, team expansion, and to boost distribution across channels.

Ola Electric plans to raise up to ₹2,000 crore by selling a stake in its battery arm, Ola Cell Technologies, Moneycontrol reported. This comes as Ola Electric tries to restructure and strengthen its financial status after a dip in sales of its two-wheelers. Avendus and Motilal Oswal have been roped in for the fundraising process, the report stated.

US-based startup MachinePulse's AI agent Karpo has started offering to pay users' bills worth up to $300 (over ₹27,000) if they manage to impress it. "Text me before you go out next time. I'll sponsor up to $300/person if I think the idea is interesting," Karpo said. Users can even share their anecdotes to try to "impress" the AI agent.

Kerala-based robotics and AI firm Genrobotics has secured a ₹80 crore deal from Singapore's national water agency to deploy nearly 44 robots for updating water infrastructure across Singapore. The startup outperformed over 600 competing companies worldwide. The company's CEO said that deployment will take place over next two financial years and they would charge ₹2.5 crore per project.

PhonePe has halted its plans to launch an initial public offering, citing the increased market volatility amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions. "We sincerely hope for a swift return to peace in all the affected regions. We remain committed to a public listing in India," CEO Sameer Nigam said. The company was reportedly looking to raise around ₹12,000 crore through IPO.

Out of 15 new-age tech companies that went public last year, eight are now trading below the issue price, Moneycontrol reported. These companies are PineLabs, PhysicsWallah, WakeFit, IndiQube, SmartWorks, WeWork India, ArisInfra and DevX. "The war in West Asia has taken everything down. So to that extent, these stocks are also down," said CapitalMind CEO Deepak Shenoy.

US-based startup Kled AI announced it's building the first human data marketplace after raising $5.5 million (nearly ₹50 crore) in a seed round. Kled users get paid for uploading personal data, including images and videos. Avi Patel, Kled's Indian-origin Founder and CEO, said plagiarised and altered data is rejected and only labelled, model-ready data is deployed for training and fine-tuning.

India has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into imports of phthalic anhydride, an industrial chemical, from Taiwan, Ministry of Commerce and Industry said. The chemical is a key component used to make plastics and paints. The probe was launched after complaints by several companies alleged that Taiwanese imports of the chemical were being dumped in India at lower-than-normal prices.

International Energy Agency (IEA) released a detailed plan of how it'll undertake largest-ever oil stock release of 400 million barrels amid a global supply disruption. The Americas will contribute the largest amount, at 172.2 million barrels, followed by IEA member countries in Asia Oceania region (66.8 million barrels). Of the planned releases, 72% will be in crude oil form.

Amir Chand Jagdish Kumar (Exports), the processor and exporter of basmati rice under the brand Aeroplane, will launch its ₹440-crore IPO on March 24. The Haryana-based company's public offer will comprise an entirely fresh issue, with no offer-for-sale (OFS) component. The company will finalise IPO share allotment by March 30 and is likely to make market debut on April 2.