Startup Spotlights

Jharkhand Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar inaugurated the two-day IInvenTiv 2026 innovation fair at the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, on Monday .

Positioned as a transformative platform to link research, innovation, investment, and policy, the event is designed to act as a national feeder for the prestigious Bharat Innovates 2026 global summit scheduled to be held in Nice, France, from June 14-16 .

Prime Movr, an emerging player in the global race for wireless power transmission, is preparing to launch its first pilot deployments in Pune . Leveraging laser-based power beaming technology, the company aims to deliver electricity without traditional wires, targeting the industrial and IoT sectors where such innovation could be truly transformative.

For India’s fintech ecosystem, 2026 was supposed to be a year of validation. After a prolonged reset phase marked by tighter capital and regulatory scrutiny, several late-stage platforms were preparing to tap public markets . Walmart-backed PhonePe, payments infrastructure leader Razorpay, digital lending platforms Moneyview and Kissht—all had their sights set on listings that would provide liquidity to early investors and signal the sector’s maturation .

In a development that underscores India’s rising stature in the global space economy, European satellite giant Eutelsat has confirmed it is in active talks with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for future satellite launches . The negotiations, confirmed by Eutelsat CEO Jean-François Fallacher, represent a significant vote of confidence in India’s launch capabilities and its broader vision of building a thriving commercial space sector .

It began with an email. At 6 in the morning, employees across Oracle’s global offices—in India, the US, Canada, and Mexico—received a brief, chilling notification from “Oracle Leadership” . The message was stark: “After careful consideration of Oracle’s current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role as a result of a broader organisational change. Today is your last working day” .

By the time the dust settled on March 31, 2026, reports confirmed that approximately 12,000 employees in India had been laid off—nearly 40% of the company’s 30,000-strong domestic workforce . Globally, the cuts impacted an estimated 30,000 workers, representing about 18% of Oracle’s total headcount of 162,000 as of May 2025 .

In a move that underscores India’s emergence as a global fintech powerhouse, European fintech giant Revolut has announced plans to base nearly 40% of its global workforce in India by the end of 2026 . The company, valued at $75 billion with over 65 million customers worldwide, will hire 1,600 new employees over the next two years, taking its total headcount in India to approximately 5,500 out of a global workforce of 12,000 .

Infosys made a decisive move to strengthen its digital capabilities, announcing two major acquisitions of US-based technology firms with a combined value of up to $560 million . The acquisitions—Optimum Healthcare IT and Stratus Global—represent a strategic push into two high-growth verticals: healthcare and insurance technology .

India’s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City is taking a significant step toward gender diversity in entrepreneurship. On March 26, 2026, GIFT City announced the launch of the Women in Fintech Accelerator under the GIFT International Fintech Innovation Hub (GIFT IFIH) .

The initiative is designed to strengthen the participation of women-led startups within India’s IFSC ecosystem by addressing key barriers that have historically limited their access to institutional capital . By creating a structured pathway for women entrepreneurs to build investment-ready ventures, GIFT City is positioning itself as a global fintech hub that champions inclusivity alongside innovation.

Global venture giants Accel and Prosus have announced the first cohort of their Atoms X LeapTech programme, selecting six startups that operate far outside the industry’s usual playbook . Described as “off-the-map” ideas, these are companies working on problems where markets are still undefined, progress is difficult to measure, and the path to commercialization is measured in years, not quarters .

Selected from over 2,000 applications, the inaugural cohort spans healthcare, climate, space, and longevity—science-led themes with long development cycles and uncertain commercial pathways . The initiative reflects a growing recognition among global investors that India’s next wave of breakthrough companies will not come from copying existing models, but from building entirely new categories rooted in deep science and engineering .