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SoftBank To Invest $ 500 Million In Paytm Mall

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SoftBank, the Japan based venture capital firm, is reportedly in talks to invest $ 500 million in the online marketplace Paytm Mall. According to a news daily, Paytm Mall and SoftBank have already held initial talks for a $ 500 million to $ 600 million financing round.

SoftBank may lead this funding round with an investment of $ 300 million in the ecommerce venture operated by Paytm ECommerce Pvt., Ltd. Till date, SoftBank holds close to 20% stake in One97 Communications which runs the digital payments arm Paytm as well as Paytm Mall. Chinese etailing giant Alibaba also holds a majority stake (over 50% ) in the company.

The Times of India reported a source close to the discussions saying, “The funding proposal is yet to be discussed with the company board. However, there (sic) are informal commitments that have come through from investors. They still need to set a valuation for the transaction as the initial capital from Alibaba and SAIF was an internal round.

Reports also surfaced last month hinting the online retail platform Paytm Mall had initiated discussions to raise Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 4,000 crores in fresh funding by the end of this year to compete with Flipkart and Amazon. However, Paytm has not responded to the rumors while SoftBank said the company “does not comment on speculations”.

Earlier this year SoftBank invested a whopping $ 2.4 billion in Flipkart via its Vision Fund. Nevertheless, according to sources, SoftBank’s potential investment in Paytm Mall will not have any conflict of interest with Flipkart because Paytm Mall differentiates itself as a platform that helps bring offline retailers online. 

Paytm Mall also received $200 million from majority investor Alibaba and venture capital fund SAIF Partners in August this year. Alibaba and its affiliate Ant Financial’s stake in Paytm E-Commerce Pvt., Ltd., increased from 40% to 62% post this round of investment. The company was also planning to invest $ 35 million in its technology and logistics infrastructure to strengthen its position in the ecommerce market.  

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Centre Mulls Revoking X’s Safe Harbour Over Grok Misuse

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Grok - StartupStories

The Centre is weighing the option of revoking X’s safe harbour status in India after its AI chatbot Grok was allegedly misused to generate and circulate obscene and sexually explicit content, including material seemingly involving minors. The IT Ministry has already issued a notice to X, directing the platform to remove unlawful content, fix Grok’s safeguards, act against violators, and submit a detailed compliance report within a tight deadline. If the government finds X’s response inadequate, it could argue that the platform has failed to meet due‑diligence standards under Indian law, opening the door to harsher action.​

Under Section 79 of the IT Act, safe harbour protects intermediaries like X from being held directly liable for user‑generated content, provided they follow due‑diligence rules and promptly act on legal takedown orders. Revoking this protection would mean X and its officers could be exposed to criminal and civil liability for obscene, unlawful, or harmful content that remains on the platform, including AI‑generated images from Grok. This prospect significantly raises X’s compliance risk in India and could force tighter moderation, stricter AI controls, and more aggressive removal of flagged posts.​

The Grok episode also spotlights the regulatory grey zone around generative AI, where tools can create harmful content at scale even without traditional user uploads. Policymakers are increasingly questioning whether AI outputs should still enjoy the same intermediary protections as conventional user posts, especially when they involve women and children. How the government ultimately proceeds against X over Grok misuse could set a precedent for AI accountability, platform responsibility, and safe harbour interpretation in India’s fast‑evolving digital ecosystem.

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How Pronto Is Redefining 10-Minute Home Services in India with a $25 Million Fundraise

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Startup Stories

Home services startup Pronto is in advanced talks to raise about $25 million at a near-$100 million valuation, underscoring strong investor confidence in India’s fast-growing 10-minute home services market. This potential round would be the company’s third major funding milestone after its $2 million seed and $11 million Series A in 2025, backed by marquee investors such as General Catalyst, Glade Brook Capital, Bain Capital and new participant Epiq Capital. The fresh capital is expected to further strengthen Pronto’s positioning as a leading tech-led household help platform for urban consumers.​

Pronto operates a 10-minute on-demand home-services platform that connects users with trained, background-verified workers for everyday tasks like sweeping, mopping, utensil cleaning, laundry and basic cooking. Using a hub-and-spoke, shift-based model, the startup stations workers at hyperlocal hubs, enabling sub-10-minute fulfilment and more predictable earnings compared to the informal domestic-help market. Founded in 2024 by Anjali Sardana and based in Delhi NCR, Pronto has already expanded from Gurugram into major cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune, and is handling around 6,000 daily bookings with nearly 1,300 active professionals as of December 2025.​

The upcoming $25 million fundraise is expected to be used to enter more metros, deepen presence in existing neighbourhoods with additional hubs and upgrade Pronto’s technology for smarter routing, shift planning and real-time operations. A significant portion of the capital will also go into training, retention and benefits for its workforce to maintain consistent service quality at scale, especially as competition heats up from rivals like Snabbit and Urban Company in the rapid home services space. This near-$100 million valuation not only validates Pronto’s model but also highlights a broader shift toward organised, tech-driven domestic-help solutions in India’s largely informal home-services market.​

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Bhavish Aggarwal Sells ₹325 Crore Ola Electric Stake, Retains Control

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Startup Stories

Bhavish Aggarwal has sold Ola Electric shares worth about ₹325 crore over three consecutive trading sessions, primarily to fully repay a promoter-level loan of ₹260 crore and release all pledged promoter shares. Despite the stake sale, he continues to hold a significant shareholding of over 34 percent in Ola Electric, and the company has clearly stated that there is no change in promoter control or his long-term commitment to the business. This one-time, limited monetisation at the promoter’s personal level is positioned as a structural clean-up rather than a signal of reduced confidence in the company.

The transactions, executed through open-market bulk deals, included an initial sale of about 2.6 crore shares worth roughly ₹92 crore at an average price of ₹34.99 per share, followed by additional trades of around ₹142 crore and ₹90 crore, taking the total sale value to approximately ₹324–325 crore. As a result, Aggarwal’s stake has fallen by a little over 2 percent, while all previously pledged promoter shares about 3.93 percent of Ola Electric’s equity are being released, removing the overhang and risk typically associated with pledged stock. The company has also clarified that these deals do not involve any capital raise or dilution by Ola Electric itself, which is important for investors tracking promoter stake and governance.

The share sale came at a time when Ola Electric’s stock had been under pressure, even hitting an all-time closing low amid concerns around growth, competition and heavy promoter selling. However, once the company confirmed that the stake sale was complete and all promoter-level pledges would be cleared, the stock rebounded sharply, gaining around 9–10 percent as markets welcomed the removal of this technical overhang. For investors, the focus is now expected to shift back to Ola Electric’s core fundamentals EV sales growth, margins, and market-share performance in India’s two-wheeler EV segment while the reduced promoter debt risk and continued high promoter holding offer some comfort on long-term alignment.

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