The year was 1975. The day was Today, 4 April. At a time when most people didn’t know what computers were, two young men, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, decided to make history. Allen used to work as a programmer while Gates was still in college at Oxford. However, when the idea of Microsoft or Micro-Soft, as it was called then; came to be, they realised conventional life wouldn’t get them anywhere.
The inspiration of Microsoft as a company came to be when Paul Allen read an article about the Altair 8800 micro computer in the Popular Electronics magazine. Gates approached MITS (the makers of the Altair) and offered his and Allen’s services to write a new version of the BASIC programming language for the Altair. In eight weeks, Allen and Gates were able to demonstrate their program to MITS, who agreed to distribute and market the product under the name of Altair BASIC.
From then onwards, there no stopping the two of them. Microsoft’s first successful program that was publicly released was a new version of Unix called the Xenix. Released in the year 1980, Xenix later became the founding platform for Microsoft’s word processor called Multi Tool Word. This later became what is now known as Microsoft Word. In what was known as the deal of the century, Bill Gates earned sole licensing rights to MS-DOS for IBM. This was the first time Microsoft broke ground and came to be one of the largest software companies.
The very first Microsoft Mouse was launched on 2 May, with Microsoft’s crowning glory, Microsoft Windows, being launched in 1983. In 1986, the company went public and Bill Gates became the youngest ever billionaire. In August 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95. In 2001, the first XBox was launched. In 2005, Microsoft changed gaming forever by launching the XBox 360. In the year 2012, Microsoft made their first foray into the computing hardware market with the announcement of Surface tablets that ran Windows RT and Windows 8 Pro.
Microsoft grew from being a small startup in a garage to one of the wealthiest software companies in the world in a mere 43 years. With Windows being what it is today, none of this would have been possible had Bill Gates and Paul Allen been the conventional people they were expected to be!
MobiKwik is venturing into the stock broking sector with the launch of its subsidiary, MobiKwik Securities Broking Private Limited (MSBPL), following approval from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on March 3, 2025. This move aims to diversify MobiKwik’s offerings beyond its core digital payments services and compete with established players like Zerodha and Groww.
MSBPL will provide a range of brokerage services, including trading in shares, securities, commodities, and derivatives. The subsidiary has an initial capital of Rs 1 lakh, with plans for an additional Rs 2 crore investment to support its operations.
As MobiKwik enters this competitive market, it brings a substantial user base of 172 million and a merchant network of 5 million. Despite recent financial challenges, including a reported loss of Rs 55.2 crore in Q3 FY25, the company aims to leverage its existing infrastructure and user engagement to capture a share of the growing investment technology market, projected to reach $74 billion by 2030.
This strategic expansion aligns with MobiKwik’s broader goals of enhancing its financial service
Nazara Technologies has sold its entire 71.54% stake in Sports Unity Private Limited, the company behind the multiplayer quiz game ‘Qunami’, for INR 7.15 lakh. This divestment, effective March 25, 2025, signifies a strategic shift for Nazara, which had previously acquired a controlling interest in Sports Unity in 2019 for INR 7.5 crore.
The decision to offload the stake comes as Sports Unity has faced financial difficulties, reporting no active business operations and a negative net worth of INR 0.45 crore at the end of FY24. This move aligns with Nazara’s broader strategy to streamline its operations and concentrate on more profitable ventures within the gaming sector.
This sale follows Nazara’s recent divestment of a 94.85% stake in another subsidiary, Open Play, to Moonshine Technologies for INR 104.33 crore. Despite reporting record quarterly revenue of INR 544.7 crore in Q3 FY25, Nazara experienced a 53.5% decline in net profit year-over-year.
Nazara continues to focus on enhancing its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and investments in high-potential gaming platforms while navigating the competitive landscape of the gaming industry.
Hypergro.ai, a Bengaluru-based marketing technology startup, has raised Rs 7 crore in seed funding led by Silverneedle Ventures, with participation from Huddle, TDV Partners, HME Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, FiiRE, and angel investors. Founded in 2022 by Rituraj Biswas, Neha Soman, Abhijeet Kumar, and Arijit Mukhopadhyay, the company aims to revolutionize digital marketing by addressing challenges like high Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) and low Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
The startup leverages AI to create hyper-personalized video ads using user-generated content (UGC). The fresh capital will be used to enhance Hypergro.ai’s AI capabilities, expand operations, and build a specialized team focusing on data analysis, predictive algorithms, and automation.
Since its inception, Hypergro.ai has collaborated with over 70 brands, including several from Shark Tank India. The company’s innovative approach has led to its selection for Google’s Startups Accelerator: AI First (India) program in July 2024, providing access to critical training, mentorship, and state-of-the-art AI tools.
Hypergro.ai’s platform now supports a community of over 300,000 creators across India and has partnered with more than 100 brands, significantly enhancing its AI model’s accuracy and improving revenue generation for clients. As it continues to expand and refine its AI-powered marketing solutions, Hypergro.ai is set to transform the digital advertising landscape, offering businesses more effective and efficient customer acquisition and engagement strategies.
