India-based Nazara Technologies acquired a 50% controlling stake in Spanish AI gaming startups Bluetile Games and BestPlay Systems for $100.3 million (nearly ₹918 crore) through its UK-based subsidiary. The company holds the right to acquire the remaining 50% stake by 2028. The deal also includes performance-linked earn-outs of up to $98.2 million (nearly ₹898 crores).

AI-powered commerce infrastructure platform Assiduus Global has closed a $25 million Pre-Series B funding round led by Bajaj Finserv. Since its last round, the company has quadrupled revenue, tripled valuation, and remained profitable for seven years. The capital will expand AI capabilities, strengthen enterprise partnerships, and drive growth across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

Contemporary innerwear and shapewear brand Pinq Polka has raised ₹4 crore in a Pre-Series A led by Inflection Point Ventures. The capital will be used to scale marketing, strengthen the team, and support working capital. Founded by Manveen Ssharma, the brand has grown nearly 19X over three years and gained visibility through Shark Tank India.

Logistics firm Delhivery on Wednesday said it has expanded its Economy Air Parcel Service under ‘Delhivery International’ to the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. With this expansion, Delhivery aims to enhance exposure for Indian MSMEs, exporters, and tier-2 and tier-3 cities to major global markets. The move follows the company’s December 2025 launch of its service to the United States.

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas praised Google, calling its strength in quick navigation searches an "unparalleled advantage". In an X post, he said most mobile browser searches involve restaurant or local shops and "Google does a much better job here than anyone else in the world, including Perplexity." Notably, Google is the default search engine in Perplexity AI's assistant Comet.

Gujarat unveiled a Financial Support Model for startups under AI Innovation Challenge. Under this, startups will get up to ₹50 lakh for moderate and up to ₹1 crore for complex projects post proof-of-concept (PoC) stage completion. In case of funding for developing PoC, startups will get up to ₹7.5 lakh for moderate and up to ₹10 lakh for complex projects.

Conversational AI startup VerbaFlo, which focuses on real estate, has raised $7 million (roughly ₹65 crore) in a seed funding round led by Pi Labs. It integrates with systems and centralises communication across email, web chat, and WhatsApp, embedding AI into operations. With this, the startup’s total funding to date has reached close to $10 million (about ₹93 crore).

AI startup Anthropic has posted a job opening for a chemical weapons and high-yield explosives expert to prevent the "catastrophic misuse" of its technology. Rival OpenAI is also hiring a researcher focused on biological and chemical risks. The hires come amid reports that the US is using AI tools in its ongoing war with Iran.

Digital MSME lending firm Optimo Capital raised ₹100 crore in debt funding from Punjab National Bank (PNB). It also entered into a co-lending partnership with Godrej Finance to disburse ₹200 crore over the next 12 months. Last year, Optimo raised ₹150 crore in an equity funding round led by its Founder Prashant Pitti, along with Blume Ventures and Omnivore.

AI startup Eragon has raised $12 million at a $100 million post-money valuation to build an agentic AI operating system for enterprises. The round was backed by investors like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's sister Arielle at Long Journey Ventures, Soma Capital, etc. The system would integrate with tools like Salesforce and other enterprise systems and custom-train on the client's data.