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President Message
The AI Impact Summit held in India sent out a clear signal: artificial intelligence is no longer the preserve of big tech or large corporations. It is fast becoming a general purpose tool that will shape competitiveness across the entire economy, including MSMEs. What stood out from the deliberations and showcase was the shift from “AI as a future promise” to “AI as a present-day business utility”. Indian startups showcased solutions that are affordable, modular and relevant to small enterprises—ranging from demand forecasting, inventory optimization and quality control to customer engagement in Indian languages and automation of routine compliance and documentation. The broad direction is unmistakable: MSMEs that use AI to improve productivity, reduce waste, respond faster to markets and customize their offerings - will gain a decisive edge, while those that stay away, risk being priced out or rendered inefficient in increasingly competitive value chains. For MSME associations, the message is equally unambiguous. The role now goes well beyond advocacy and grievance redressal. Associations must become AI enablers—curating credible solutions, facilitating pilots and shared platforms, building basic awareness and skills, and acting as trusted intermediaries between small firms, startups and policymakers. Just as clusters once adopted common testing facilities or shared infrastructure, the next phase will require shared access to AI tools, datasets, training and advisory support. FISME believes that if associations proactively guide this transition—keeping the focus on practical use-cases rather than hype—AI can become a leveler for MSMEs, helping them scale up, integrate into global value chains and participate meaningfully in India’s technology-led growth story.
FISME participated in a high-level engagement with the Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra on 16 Feb, focusing on the challenges and opportunities in MSME financing. The discussion acknowledged RBI’s initiative in achieving a 20% increase in MSME lending (Nov 2025) and highlighted areas requiring further policy interventions.
FISME highlighted key post-sanction issues such as the limitations of the SMA framework, the need for interoperability among TReDS platforms, rigidities in credit bureau assessments like CIBIL, and the requirement for a centralised grievance redressal system. The meeting, attended by FISME’s Banking & Finance Committee Chairman Neeraj Kedia and Secretary General Anil Bhardwaj strengthened collaboration between MSME associations and the RBI for future policy improvements.
The National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) has nominated Anil Bhardwaj, Secretary General of FISME, as a member of its Board. NABCB has recognised FISME as a key stakeholder, and the Quality Council of India (QCI) has included FISME on the NABCB Board as a ‘Representative of MSME Association’. The tenure of a NABCB Board Member is two years on an honorary basis and may be extended by an additional term of two years. NABCB has sought guidance from FISME’s perspective on matters placed before the Board, reflecting the growing emphasis on MSME representation in accreditation and quality-related decision-making processes.
FISME participated in the 3rd DSE Young Scholars Seminar, held at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. On 17 February, a dedicated panel discussion on “Catalysing MSMEs for Employment and Growth” highlighted the pivotal role of MSMEs in driving India’s economic expansion, job creation, and inclusive development. Mr. Anil Bhardwaj, Secretary General, FISME, joined the panel and spoke on structural constraints affecting MSME scaling, issues of financial sector capture in the context of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and the critical link between trade policy and MSME competitiveness, underscoring reforms required to accelerate growth and employment.
In India’s crowded startup ecosystem, good products alone do not win. This guide explains how founders can build a clear, trusted brand that stands out and scales with the business! You launched months ago. The product works. The website looks professional. Ads are running. Content is going out daily. Still, customers struggle to remember you.
New Delhi wrapped up the India AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 21, with its organisers billing it as the world’s “largest and most historic” AI summit.
The six-day event, which kicked off February 16 at Bharat Mandapam, drew heads of state, global tech executives and thousands of visitors — a remarkable feat for a country that is still catching up to the United States and China on the AI frontier. And the result was mixed.
The summit achieved real diplomatic heft, but exposed the limits of both India’s AI ambitions and its capacity to host an event of this scale.....
..
India’s economic growth is projected to reach 7.6 percent in the financial year 2025–26, according to the second advance estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) released by the government on Friday.
The revised estimate is higher than the 7.4 percent projected in the first advance estimates released in January, which were based on the earlier data series. The updated GDP series, presented by Statistics Secretary Saurabh Garg and Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran, incorporates a new base year of 2022–23, replacing the earlier 2011–12 base year. The revision also integrates additional datasets aimed at improving the representativeness and granularity of economic measurement.
The Revenue Department is set to introduce a 30-day customs duty deferral facility for eligible manufacturer-importers from next month to improve liquidity and ease working capital pressures. Eligible manufacturer-importers under the new facility will be able to clear imported goods immediately and pay customs duty within 30 days, improving capital availability for manufacturing and exports, news agency PTI reported. In the Union Budget 2026–27, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed extending to eligible manufacturer-importers the same duty deferral benefit currently available to Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs). The measure is also intended to encourage importers to obtain Tier 3 AEO accreditation.
India’s engineering goods exports rose 10.4 per cent year-on-year to USD 10.40 billion in January 2026, driven by strong growth in copper, iron & steel, and motor vehicles.
Cumulatively, exports grew 4.52 per cent to USD 101.13 billion during April–January FY26, crossing the USD 100 billion mark for the first time in the current fiscal. However, shipments to the US—India’s largest market—declined 6.8 per cent to USD 1.51 billion in January 2026, compared to USD 1.62 billion a year earlier. In contrast, exports to China surged 26.7 per cent to USD 304.85 million.
A day after RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) rates were halved across a wide range of items which triggered concern among exporters, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has restored rates for agriculture, dairy, meat and marine products. These sectors together accounted for USD 54.5 billion, or 12.3 percent of India’s merchandise exports in calendar year 2025, offering much-needed relief to exporters in jobs-intensive segments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his cabinet colleagues to suggest a list of reforms that ministries under them plan to initiate in the coming months, along with details of policy actions already introduced. He directed the Ministers to focus on improving ‘ease of living’ and ‘ease of doing business’ while preparing their proposals. The Prime Minister made the remarks while chairing the first Cabinet meeting at ‘Seva Teerth’. A resolution adopted at the meeting stated that decisions taken at the premises would be guided by the spirit of ‘Nagrik Devo Bhava’ and that it would function as a centre of empowerment rather than authority, TOI reported.
India’s drug regulator is rolling back low-risk procedural requirements in clinical research and exports while strengthening enforcement on manufacturing quality, signalling a more risk-based approach to regulation. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) will withdraw the requirement for export No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) for pharmaceutical shipments to stringent regulatory authority (SRA) markets, including the US, Europe, the UK, Japan, Canada and Australia.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved enhanced delegation of powers to Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (POWERGRID) under existing guidelines for Maharatna Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs). The decision raises the permissible equity investment limit per subsidiary from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 7,500 crore, while retaining the overall cap of 15 per cent of the company’s net worth, in line with Department of Public Enterprises guidelines dated 4 February 2010.
The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), under NITI Aayog, on Thursday launched the first State Innovation Mission (SIM) in Tripura. The SIM, part of AIM 2.0 under NITI Aayog’s State Support Mission, is designed as a permanent institutional mechanism to help States and Union Territories build inclusive and context-specific innovation ecosystems aligned with national priorities and local strengths.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said the state’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) and per capita income have tripled over the past nine years, making it India’s fastest-growing economy. He invited Japanese companies to invest in the state. Addressing the Uttar Pradesh Investment Roadshow in Tokyo, Adityanath said rapid expansion of expressways and airports is turning the state into a key growth engine for the country, reported PTI.
Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to accelerate the rollout of the Amended BharatNet Programme (ABP) in the the state. The agreement aims to strengthen and upgrade rural telecommunications infrastructure and accelerate broadband penetration across gram panchayats and villages. The Government of India has approved financial support of Rs 2,432 crore for implementation of the project in Andhra Pradesh.
Trade and investment continue to form a central pillar of the India–Canada partnership, with both countries aiming to significantly scale up economic engagement in the coming years. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), bilateral trade in goods stood at CAD 13.32 billion in 2024. Between January and October 2025, goods trade reached CAD 11.09 billion, indicating sustained momentum in commercial exchanges. India’s principal exports to Canada include pharmaceuticals, electronic goods, gems and jewellery, seafood and engineering products. Key imports from Canada comprise minerals, pulses, potash, paper products and scrap metals.
India and the European Union are set to grant each other Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status under their proposed free trade agreement (FTA).
The provision, included in the draft text released on Friday, will bind both sides to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and prevent new import or export restrictions beyond global norms for 5 years, according to a Reuters report.
The agreement, concluded after nearly 18 years of negotiations, is expected to come into force within a year after legal review and ratification by the European Parliament and Indian authorities.
India and Nepal on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen bilateral cooperation in forests, wildlife, environment, biodiversity conservation and climate change. The agreement was formalised between the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Environment at a ceremony held in New Delhi. The signing took place in the presence of Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Nepal’s Minister for Forests and Environment Madhav Prasad Chaulagain.
As per an official release, the MoU aims to promote structured collaboration through exchange of knowledge, technical expertise and best practices, including restoration of wildlife corridors and interlinking areas across shared ecosystems
Should internal hiring always be prioritised over external talent?
Organisations often speak about building careers from within, yet they also turn to the market when speed, scale or specialised skills become critical. Promoting internal talent strengthens trust, continuity and aspiration, while external hires can bring in fresh thinking, challenge comfort zones and help organisations evolve. The tension lies not in choosing one over the other, but in how leaders weigh loyalty against agility, and potential against immediacy.
Pricing strategy for Indian market: A step-by-step guide
Most startups do not fail because the product is weak. They fail because pricing is misaligned with Indian market reality. India is not one market. Purchasing power can vary 5–10x between metros and rural regions. What converts in Bangalore may stall completely in Bhopal. At the same time, founders face pressure from hyper price-sensitive customers, aggressive competitors racing to the bottom, and investors demanding growth with strong unit economics. Price too high and adoption slows. Price too low and margins collapse. The goal is not finding the perfect number.
How to build a go-to-market strategy for startups in 2026
Building a startup in 2026? This guide breaks down how to create a go-to-market strategy that drives adoption, revenue, and faster paths to profitability. The days of launching first and figuring distribution later are over. With funding becoming more selective and profitability timelines tightening, startups now win or lose on their go-to-market strategy. A strong GTM strategy defines how you reach customers, how fast you convert them, and how efficiently you turn traction into revenue. For Indian founders, this also means designing for price sensitivity, regulation, and fragmented buying behaviour.
CITI Flags 50% Cut In RoDTEP Benefits, Seeks Immediate Restoration
Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has expressed concern over the halving of benefits under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme and has urged the government to restore the earlier rates and value caps with immediate effect. CITI Chairman Ashwin Chandran said, “The decision has come as a bolt from the blue and is a real shock, as it is the last thing the exporting community was expecting amid the continuing global uncertainty, which shows no signs of letting up.”
How Sindhuja Sura is trying to make personal safety an everyday habit with BoomBird
BoomBird is a personal safety brand founded by Sindhuja Sura. BoomBird’s compact personal safety alarm emits a 130-decibel sound and flashing strobe light at the first sign of discomfort, helping users draw attention and move away from risk. From a young age, women in India are not just advised but conditioned to be vigilant in public spaces. For generations, advice on personal safety has been about not doing things, with restrictions often cloaked in protection. We can’t be blamed. The statistics are alarming.
The hardware company started by Deepinder Goyal reached a $190 million post-money valuation in a friends-and-family round backed by early Zomato investors and over 30 of its own employees, who invested at par valuation with no equity discount. Wearable startup Temple has raised $54 million in its first round of funding, reaching a post-money valuation of approximately $190 million, Founder Deepinder Goyal shared in a post on X. The "friends and family" round was financed entirely by the founders' network, early-stage investors in the food delivery company Zomato, and more than 30 Temple employees.
The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry Of Statistics And Programme Implementation (Mospi) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) with Base 2024=100. The item basket and the corresponding weights are based on Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24.
FISME regularly receives monthly reports on the economies of various countries from their missions in India. These reports provide information on key economic parameters, trade related information and all news relevant for importers and exporters. In this edition you can take a look at reports on:
Write your comments on the FISME Factor. Share your views and suggestions on MSME issues. Win prize! The best mail will get a special book every fortnight.
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The AI Impact Summit held in India sent out a clear signal: artificial intelligence is no longer the preserve of big tech or large corporations. It is fast becoming a general purpose tool that will shape competitiveness across the entire economy, including MSMEs. What stood out from the deliberations and showcase was the shift from “AI as a future promise” to “AI as a present-day business utility”. Indian startups showcased solutions that are affordable, modular and relevant to small enterprises—ranging from demand forecasting, inventory optimization and quality control to customer engagement in Indian languages and automation of routine compliance and documentation. The broad direction is unmistakable: MSMEs that use AI to improve productivity, reduce waste, respond faster to markets and customize their offerings - will gain a decisive edge, while those that stay away, risk being priced out or rendered inefficient in increasingly competitive value chains. For MSME associations, the message is equally unambiguous. The role now goes well beyond advocacy and grievance redressal. Associations must become AI enablers—curating credible solutions, facilitating pilots and shared platforms, building basic awareness and skills, and acting as trusted intermediaries between small firms, startups and policymakers. Just as clusters once adopted common testing facilities or shared infrastructure, the next phase will require shared access to AI tools, datasets, training and advisory support. FISME believes that if associations proactively guide this transition—keeping the focus on practical use-cases rather than hype—AI can become a leveler for MSMEs, helping them scale up, integrate into global value chains and participate meaningfully in India’s technology-led growth story.
FISME participated in a high-level engagement with the Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra on 16 Feb, focusing on the challenges and opportunities in MSME financing. The discussion acknowledged RBI’s initiative in achieving a 20% increase in MSME lending (Nov 2025) and highlighted areas requiring further policy interventions.
FISME highlighted key post-sanction issues such as the limitations of the SMA framework, the need for interoperability among TReDS platforms, rigidities in credit bureau assessments like CIBIL, and the requirement for a centralised grievance redressal system. The meeting, attended by FISME’s Banking & Finance Committee Chairman Neeraj Kedia and Secretary General Anil Bhardwaj strengthened collaboration between MSME associations and the RBI for future policy improvements.
The National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) has nominated Anil Bhardwaj, Secretary General of FISME, as a member of its Board. NABCB has recognised FISME as a key stakeholder, and the Quality Council of India (QCI) has included FISME on the NABCB Board as a ‘Representative of MSME Association’. The tenure of a NABCB Board Member is two years on an honorary basis and may be extended by an additional term of two years. NABCB has sought guidance from FISME’s perspective on matters placed before the Board, reflecting the growing emphasis on MSME representation in accreditation and quality-related decision-making processes.
FISME participated in the 3rd DSE Young Scholars Seminar, held at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. On 17 February, a dedicated panel discussion on “Catalysing MSMEs for Employment and Growth” highlighted the pivotal role of MSMEs in driving India’s economic expansion, job creation, and inclusive development. Mr. Anil Bhardwaj, Secretary General, FISME, joined the panel and spoke on structural constraints affecting MSME scaling, issues of financial sector capture in the context of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and the critical link between trade policy and MSME competitiveness, underscoring reforms required to accelerate growth and employment.
In India’s crowded startup ecosystem, good products alone do not win. This guide explains how founders can build a clear, trusted brand that stands out and scales with the business! You launched months ago. The product works. The website looks professional. Ads are running. Content is going out daily. Still, customers struggle to remember you.
India’s economic growth is projected to reach 7.6 percent in the financial year 2025–26, according to the second advance estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) released by the government on Friday.
The revised estimate is higher than the 7.4 percent projected in the first advance estimates released in January, which were based on the earlier data series. The updated GDP series, presented by Statistics Secretary Saurabh Garg and Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran, incorporates a new base year of 2022–23, replacing the earlier 2011–12 base year. The revision also integrates additional datasets aimed at improving the representativeness and granularity of economic measurement.
The Revenue Department is set to introduce a 30-day customs duty deferral facility for eligible manufacturer-importers from next month to improve liquidity and ease working capital pressures. Eligible manufacturer-importers under the new facility will be able to clear imported goods immediately and pay customs duty within 30 days, improving capital availability for manufacturing and exports, news agency PTI reported. In the Union Budget 2026–27, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed extending to eligible manufacturer-importers the same duty deferral benefit currently available to Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs). The measure is also intended to encourage importers to obtain Tier 3 AEO accreditation.
India’s engineering goods exports rose 10.4 per cent year-on-year to USD 10.40 billion in January 2026, driven by strong growth in copper, iron & steel, and motor vehicles.
Cumulatively, exports grew 4.52 per cent to USD 101.13 billion during April–January FY26, crossing the USD 100 billion mark for the first time in the current fiscal. However, shipments to the US—India’s largest market—declined 6.8 per cent to USD 1.51 billion in January 2026, compared to USD 1.62 billion a year earlier. In contrast, exports to China surged 26.7 per cent to USD 304.85 million.
A day after RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) rates were halved across a wide range of items which triggered concern among exporters, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has restored rates for agriculture, dairy, meat and marine products. These sectors together accounted for USD 54.5 billion, or 12.3 percent of India’s merchandise exports in calendar year 2025, offering much-needed relief to exporters in jobs-intensive segments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his cabinet colleagues to suggest a list of reforms that ministries under them plan to initiate in the coming months, along with details of policy actions already introduced. He directed the Ministers to focus on improving ‘ease of living’ and ‘ease of doing business’ while preparing their proposals. The Prime Minister made the remarks while chairing the first Cabinet meeting at ‘Seva Teerth’. A resolution adopted at the meeting stated that decisions taken at the premises would be guided by the spirit of ‘Nagrik Devo Bhava’ and that it would function as a centre of empowerment rather than authority, TOI reported.
India’s drug regulator is rolling back low-risk procedural requirements in clinical research and exports while strengthening enforcement on manufacturing quality, signalling a more risk-based approach to regulation. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) will withdraw the requirement for export No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) for pharmaceutical shipments to stringent regulatory authority (SRA) markets, including the US, Europe, the UK, Japan, Canada and Australia.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved enhanced delegation of powers to Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (POWERGRID) under existing guidelines for Maharatna Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs). The decision raises the permissible equity investment limit per subsidiary from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 7,500 crore, while retaining the overall cap of 15 per cent of the company’s net worth, in line with Department of Public Enterprises guidelines dated 4 February 2010.
The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), under NITI Aayog, on Thursday launched the first State Innovation Mission (SIM) in Tripura. The SIM, part of AIM 2.0 under NITI Aayog’s State Support Mission, is designed as a permanent institutional mechanism to help States and Union Territories build inclusive and context-specific innovation ecosystems aligned with national priorities and local strengths.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said the state’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) and per capita income have tripled over the past nine years, making it India’s fastest-growing economy. He invited Japanese companies to invest in the state. Addressing the Uttar Pradesh Investment Roadshow in Tokyo, Adityanath said rapid expansion of expressways and airports is turning the state into a key growth engine for the country, reported PTI.
Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to accelerate the rollout of the Amended BharatNet Programme (ABP) in the the state. The agreement aims to strengthen and upgrade rural telecommunications infrastructure and accelerate broadband penetration across gram panchayats and villages. The Government of India has approved financial support of Rs 2,432 crore for implementation of the project in Andhra Pradesh.
Trade and investment continue to form a central pillar of the India–Canada partnership, with both countries aiming to significantly scale up economic engagement in the coming years. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), bilateral trade in goods stood at CAD 13.32 billion in 2024. Between January and October 2025, goods trade reached CAD 11.09 billion, indicating sustained momentum in commercial exchanges. India’s principal exports to Canada include pharmaceuticals, electronic goods, gems and jewellery, seafood and engineering products. Key imports from Canada comprise minerals, pulses, potash, paper products and scrap metals.
India and the European Union are set to grant each other Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status under their proposed free trade agreement (FTA).
The provision, included in the draft text released on Friday, will bind both sides to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and prevent new import or export restrictions beyond global norms for 5 years, according to a Reuters report.
The agreement, concluded after nearly 18 years of negotiations, is expected to come into force within a year after legal review and ratification by the European Parliament and Indian authorities.
India and Nepal on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen bilateral cooperation in forests, wildlife, environment, biodiversity conservation and climate change. The agreement was formalised between the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Environment at a ceremony held in New Delhi. The signing took place in the presence of Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Nepal’s Minister for Forests and Environment Madhav Prasad Chaulagain.
As per an official release, the MoU aims to promote structured collaboration through exchange of knowledge, technical expertise and best practices, including restoration of wildlife corridors and interlinking areas across shared ecosystems
According to the FISME factor, 20% of MSME are happy with the Union Budget 2026–27 while 80% can’t say. 
Organisations often speak about building careers from within, yet they also turn to the market when speed, scale or specialised skills become critical. Promoting internal talent strengthens trust, continuity and aspiration, while external hires can bring in fresh thinking, challenge comfort zones and help organisations evolve. The tension lies not in choosing one over the other, but in how leaders weigh loyalty against agility, and potential against immediacy.
Most startups do not fail because the product is weak. They fail because pricing is misaligned with Indian market reality. India is not one market. Purchasing power can vary 5–10x between metros and rural regions. What converts in Bangalore may stall completely in Bhopal. At the same time, founders face pressure from hyper price-sensitive customers, aggressive competitors racing to the bottom, and investors demanding growth with strong unit economics. Price too high and adoption slows. Price too low and margins collapse. The goal is not finding the perfect number.
Building a startup in 2026? This guide breaks down how to create a go-to-market strategy that drives adoption, revenue, and faster paths to profitability. The days of launching first and figuring distribution later are over. With funding becoming more selective and profitability timelines tightening, startups now win or lose on their go-to-market strategy. A strong GTM strategy defines how you reach customers, how fast you convert them, and how efficiently you turn traction into revenue. For Indian founders, this also means designing for price sensitivity, regulation, and fragmented buying behaviour.
Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has expressed concern over the halving of benefits under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme and has urged the government to restore the earlier rates and value caps with immediate effect. CITI Chairman Ashwin Chandran said, “The decision has come as a bolt from the blue and is a real shock, as it is the last thing the exporting community was expecting amid the continuing global uncertainty, which shows no signs of letting up.”
BoomBird is a personal safety brand founded by Sindhuja Sura. BoomBird’s compact personal safety alarm emits a 130-decibel sound and flashing strobe light at the first sign of discomfort, helping users draw attention and move away from risk. From a young age, women in India are not just advised but conditioned to be vigilant in public spaces. For generations, advice on personal safety has been about not doing things, with restrictions often cloaked in protection. We can’t be blamed. The statistics are alarming.
The hardware company started by Deepinder Goyal reached a $190 million post-money valuation in a friends-and-family round backed by early Zomato investors and over 30 of its own employees, who invested at par valuation with no equity discount. Wearable startup Temple has raised $54 million in its first round of funding, reaching a post-money valuation of approximately $190 million, Founder Deepinder Goyal shared in a post on X. The "friends and family" round was financed entirely by the founders' network, early-stage investors in the food delivery company Zomato, and more than 30 Temple employees.
“ Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it. ”
