Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (April 8, 2025)

From recruitment requirements in IT companies to Rapido’s plans for a fintech subsidiary, YourStory brings you today’s top stories.

Featured Stories

Pre-packaged or left behind? Entry-level jobs now demand more

With a decent grasp on core subjects, respectable grades, and a few projects to his name—final-year engineering student, Alok Kumar (name changed), thought he was ready for his placement interview. However, when the recruiter asked about AI analytics and prompt engineering, Kumar froze: “We weren’t taught this in college.” The recruiter smiled sympathetically.

A few years ago, getting a job as a fresher in an IT company was simpler—crack an exam, a coding test, clear the interview, and you were most likely in. Today, companies expect more—freshers should be ‘pre-packaged’ with industry-ready skills, hands-on experience, and even AI proficiency.

If they don’t? They are simply left behind. 

While learning on the job still exists, its prequel—learning before the job—is now the norm, leaving many students overwhelmed by the pressure to be industry-ready before they even graduate.

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STSPL is the largest technology development arm of Siemens globally: CEO Pankaj Vyas

India has emerged as a global technology hub, driving innovation and digitalisation agenda for companies worldwide. Siemens, the German technology conglomerate with a strong presence in industrial, infrastructure, and mobility sectors, is relying on its Global Capability Centre (GCC) in India—Siemens Technology and Services Private Limited (STSPL)—to transform into a modern digital enterprise.

STSPL currently employs around 10,000 people, with around 6,000 engaged in research and development. Today, the primary focus for this GCC is to drive the digitisation agenda for Siemens worldwide, particularly from a software perspective, and it has already established a leadership position. This journey is expected to help India taken on global roles with a lot more ownership over the software products being developed.

In an interview with Enterprise Story, Pankaj Vyas, CEO and Managing Director, STSPL, said, over the years, this GCC has tripled the number of inventions and there is only going to be more value driven out of this location.

“Our aspiration is to be at the forefront of being the digitalisation hub for Siemens and its customers,” he said.

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Latest News

After food delivery, Rapido plans new subsidiary for fintech

Ride-hailing startup Rapido is setting up a separate subsidiary to enter the fintech space, diversifying further beyond its core mobility business, two people aware of the matter told YourStory.

The company has begun internal groundwork for the new unit, which is expected to operate independently of its existing business lines. While the finer details remain under wraps, Rapido is exploring offerings in lending and adjacent financial services, the two sources said. “They are looking at a fintech subsidiary, but nothing has been finalised yet,” said one of the sources.

This would mark Rapido’s second major diversification, coming on the heels of its much-anticipated entry into the saturated food delivery market. Already, the WestBridge Capital-backed company has begun hiring and initiating partnerships with restaurants for its new zero-commission food delivery marketplace.

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OpenAI in talks to acquire former Apple design chief Jony Ive’s AI startup for $500M

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is reportedly negotiating to acquire io Products, an AI hardware startup co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The potential deal could exceed $500 million, reports The Information.

io Products is reportedly building AI-enabled consumer devices, including a screenless phone and smart home gadgets.

The acquisition would allow OpenAI to diversify its revenue streams beyond its current core offerings, which include ChatGPT and API services for developers.

Additionally, besides talks of acquisition, the report says that OpenAI is also exploring partnerships with io Products, which currently has a small team including former Apple designers Tang Tan and Evans Hankey.

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Funding News

Gen Z apparel brand Outzidr bags Rs 30 Cr from Stellaris Venture Partners

Online fashion retailer Outzidr has raised Rs 30 crore in a funding round led by Stellaris Venture Partners to serve affordable and trendy outfits to Gen Z consumers.

The round also witnessed participation from angel investors, including Ramakant Sharma (LivSpace) and Ghazal Alagh (Honasa Consumer).

Founded by Nirmal Jain, Mani Kant Mani, and Justin Mario in 2024, the company went live with its D2C platforms earlier this year. It aims to reach Rs 100 crore of annualised run rate in the next 6-8 months.

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Neo Asset Management raises Rs 2,000 Cr

Neo Asset Management announced the first close of its second flagship private credit fund, Neo Special Credit Opportunities Fund-II (NSCOF-II), at Rs 2,000 crore, the alternative asset manager said in a statement on Tuesday.

Launched three months ago, NSCOF-II—a SEBI-registered Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF)—aims to shore up a total corpus of Rs 5,000 crore. The fund provides structured credit to mid-market, EBITDA-positive companies, backed by hard asset collateral and regular coupon payments.

The first close has attracted investments from a mix of family offices, ultra-high net-worth individuals (UHNIs), and institutional investors.

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Cautio bags Rs 11 Cr in ongoing seed round

AI-powered video telematics startup Cautio secured Rs 11 crore in its ongoing seed round.

The round saw participation from 9Unicorns, Venture Catalysts, Antler India, Infinyte Club, Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) through PIEDS-BITS Pilani, and CARS24 Founders - Gajendra Jangid and Vikram Chopra, the company said.

“Cautio is addressing one of India's most pressing concerns - road safety - by integrating AI-powered video telematics into mobility solutions. Their approach has the potential to significantly reduce accidents, improve fleet efficiency, and save lives. We are excited to support their journey as they scale and bring safer roads to millions," said Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder and Managing Director, 9Unicorns & Venture Catalyst.

The company operates in over 35 cities across India, and has enabled over 3 crore kilometers of safe travel and safeguarded more than 16 lakh trips, reducing risks, enhancing accountability, and optimizing operations, it said.

We are giving fleet operators, drivers, and passengers a chance to be safer, more responsible, and more accountable on the road, said Ankit Acharya, Co-founder and CEO, Cautio.

Scoutflo secures Rs 1.4 Cr in Pre-Seed funding

DevOps AI platform Scoutflo raised Rs 1.4 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by 100X.VC. The round also saw participation from strategic investors Arjun Pillai and Prasanna Venkatesan.

The company plans to use the fresh fund to enhance its AI-driven deployment automation, debugging, and issue resolution, while strengthening security and compliance for every deployment, it said in a statement.

It also plans to use the capital to work toward expanding its solutions across new markets and building strategic partnerships to drive growth and adoption.

"The traditional DevOps model struggles to keep up with modern AI-driven software development. Developers need autonomy, while enterprises require security and efficiency. Scoutflo acts as an AI-powered DevOps expert in every team, simplifying deployments while ensuring compliance and security," said Kalpesh Bhalekar, Co-founder and CEO, Scoutflo.

Other News

Eric Yuen joins Decimal Point Analytics as Partner and Head of Data Science

AI and data analytics company Decimal Point Analytics onboarded Eric Yuen as Partner and Head of Data Science.

The veteran with more than 20 years of experience at the intersection of finance, technology, and data science was prior to this the Managing Director and Head of Data Science at Blackstone Credit. Prior to Blackstone, he has held various senior leadership roles at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

“His unique blend of financial expertise, technological foresight, and data-driven thinking aligns perfectly with our mission to deliver a performance advantage to our clients. Eric’s leadership will be pivotal as we continue expanding our AI and data science capabilities across global markets, said Shailesh Dhuri, CEO, Decimal Point Analytics. 

“Decimal Point Analytics has a bold vision for transforming how data and AI drive insights in the financial sector. I’m excited to join a firm that is deeply committed to innovation and look forward to contributing to its next phase of growth,” said Yuen.

WRMS Global subsidiary enters into strategic partnership with Kerala Gov

Ingen Technologies, the subsidiary of WRMS Global, announced its selection as the WINDS Implementation Partner (WIP) by the Department of Agriculture Development and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of Kerala.

"This strategic collaboration aims to revolutionise weather monitoring in the state, significantly strengthen agricultural resilience through advanced weather data collection systems," the company said.

Ingen Technologies is set to deploy around 950 Weather IoT Systems, including Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) and Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs) across 14 districts in Kerala. These installations will deliver real-time weather data—covering temperature, humidity, wind speed & direction, and rainfall, it added.

"Kerala has faced significant climate-related disasters in recent years, including the devastating Kerala floods of 2018 and recurring monsoon-related calamities. These events have underscored the critical need for accurate and timely weather monitoring. By installing advanced weather IoT systems and providing real-time datasets across Kerala, we are helping to improve disaster preparedness, enabling farmers and authorities to proactively mitigate risks and safeguard livelihoods," said Ankit Agarwal, Head, AWS and IoT, INGEN.

(The copy will be updated with the latest news throughout the day)