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Bengaluru-based space-tech startup GalaxEye has successfully launched Mission Drishti, the world’s first commercial OptoSAR satellite, marking a watershed moment for India’s private space sector . The 190 kg spacecraft—India’s largest privately built satellite to date—was placed into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as one of 45 payloads on the CAS500-2 mission .

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has officially confirmed what the data has shown for years: Bengaluru remains India’s undisputed startup capital. In the first quarter of 2026, the city closed 89 deals worth approximately $823 million, pulling significantly ahead of rival hubs Delhi-NCR and Mumbai .

While Silicon Valley pours billions into chatbots and generative art, two founders decided to look where few tech entrepreneurs go:

Apple’s aggressive expansion in India is no longer just about selling more iPhones. It is about embedding itself into the fabric of the country’s manufacturing, digital economy, and developer ecosystem. As CEO Tim Cook recently put it, he is “over the moon excited” about India, calling it a “huge opportunity” for the tech giant .

Amazon and Meta are stepping into India’s UPI arena, not through standalone launches, but by joining a powerful lobbying effort to break the decades-long dominance of PhonePe and Google Pay . Here’s a look at what’s driving this push and how it could reshape India’s digital payments landscape.

The segment, which started as an on-demand and ‘instant’ model, first saw an impact on some services in a few micro-markets as several workers returned home due to assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, as well as for the harvest season in agrarian states .

According to a Morgan Stanley report, the segment clocked 10 million monthly users in March . However, across several micro-markets in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, 15-minute bookings have become unavailable for days and even near-term slots have turned grey .

AI voice-to-text startup Wispr Flow officially launched in India, introducing full Hinglish support and an Android app with a unique floating button interface. The company also deployed 100 branded auto-rickshaws across Bengaluru as part of an offline marketing campaign targeting commuters stuck in traffic.

Barely eight months after its $7 million seed round, Bengaluru-based fintech startup Oolka is back with a significantly larger cheque. The company has raised ₹130 crore (approximately $14 million) in a Series A funding round led by Accel India, at a post-money valuation of ₹730 crore (approximately $87.6 million) .

This rapid succession of funding—seed in August 2025, Series A in April 2026—reflects the intensity with which Oolka intends to address India’s rapidly growing credit management market . The platform leverages what it calls ‘agentic AI’ to help users track, manage, and improve their credit health, moving beyond passive score tracking to taking personalised actions on behalf of users .

In what could be one of the largest acquisitions in tech history, SpaceX announced it has secured an option to purchase the