Instant messaging application WhatsApp has made a radical update to its app. WhatsApp new Status feature rolled out to its users on Monday.
This Status feature will allow its users to share moments with friends and family throughout their day via photos, videos, and Gifs.
WhatsApp founder and CEO Jan Koum announced that the company reinvented the Status feature which unexpectedly coincides with the app’s 8th birthday which is on February 24th. The new WhatsApp Status updated will be an end to end encrypted too.
Watch the video of the launch of WhatsApp new feature:
This will be something similar to the way people scroll through their Facebook or Instagram newsfeeds. The shared photos, videos and Gif’s will be visible to selected friends for 24 hours before getting disappeared.
Facebook which owned WhatsApp, now represents a bigger shift for WhatsApp than it did for Instagram. Users can watch updates from friends and reply them privately. They can also shoot their imagery with drawings and captions and can send them to the selected contacts they have chosen with persistent privacy settings.
The idea behind this change is to just build an application that lets your friends and other contacts know what you are up to.
Coming to the analytics, WhatsApp has nearly 1.2 billion active users, and users almost send 60 billion messages per day including 3.3 billion photos, 760 million videos, and 80 million Gifs.
Imarticus Learning, an IPO-bound professional education firm, has acquired Bengaluru-based edtech platform MyCaptain for INR 50 crore in a cash-and-stock deal. This marks Imarticus’s fourth acquisition in four years and is aimed at expanding its presence in non-tech career training, especially across India’s Tier-II and Tier-III cities. MyCaptain, which has over 500,000 learners and a revenue of ₹27 crore for FY25, specializes in creative and entrepreneurial fields, with 60% of its users from smaller cities.
With this acquisition, Imarticus will bring MyCaptain’s employability bootcamps in digital marketing, design, and content to its 20+ classroom centers in 16 cities, blending online and offline learning. MyCaptain will operate as a fully-owned subsidiary, and all 250 of its employees will join Imarticus, expanding the combined workforce to over 850. The move supports Imarticus’s goal to reach five million learners by FY28 and deepen its offerings in non-tech domains.
Saudi Arabia has been named the fastest-growing startup ecosystem in the world in the 2025 StartupBlink Global Startup Ecosystem Index, with a growth rate exceeding 200%—the only country in the global top 100 to achieve this milestone. This surge has earned the Kingdom the “Country of the Year” title, highlighting its transformation into a global innovation leader.
The report ranks 110 countries and 1,400 cities, with three Saudi cities—led by Riyadh—making the global top 1,000. Riyadh entered the world’s top 100 startup cities, posting a 134% growth rate, and solidifying its role as a regional tech hub.
Saudi Arabia now leads globally in HealthTech, nanotechnology, and transport tech, and ranks among the top in sectors like fintech, e-commerce, logistics, and gaming. The Kingdom’s rapid progress is fueled by Vision 2030, robust government support, and record venture capital investment, making it the most funded VC market in MENA.
Startups such as Tabby, Tamara, and Jahez exemplify this momentum, as Saudi Arabia emerges as a top destination for innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Supreme Court of India has granted interim relief to Paytm’s gaming arm, First Games, by staying proceedings on a ₹5,712 crore GST notice issued by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). The notice, sent in April 2025, demanded GST for the period January 2018 to March 2023, based on the department’s view that 28% GST should be levied on the total entry amount, rather than the 18% GST currently paid on platform fees.
First Games challenged the notice in the Supreme Court, which on May 23, 2025, ordered a stay on all further proceedings until a final decision is reached. The dispute is part of a broader industry-wide debate over the correct GST treatment for real money gaming platforms, with similar cases pending before the court. Following the stay, Paytm shares rose nearly 2% in early trading, reflecting investor optimism.
The Supreme Court’s order provides temporary relief to First Games and signals ongoing judicial scrutiny of GST demands across India’s online gaming sector.
