In-depth pieces from our analyst team — the operations, market shifts, technology bets, and people decisions shaping food service.

Oil Shock & India’s Urban Mobility The ongoing crude oil crisis is testing the limits of India’s ride-hailing economy. The rising fuel costs are squeezing driver margins and hiking commuter fares, driving urban Indians to shared mobility and electric vehicles.

Emerging out of stealth mode, biotech startup StrainX Bioworks has raised $13 Mn (around ₹124 Cr) in a funding round led by Prime Venture Partners and Leo Capital.

Wearable startup Sychedelic has raised $3.5 Mn (about ₹31.5 Cr) in its seed round from investors like Cultadvisors LLP, TurboStart, Ideabaaz and Praveek Ventures, along with participation from angel investors.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is working on building a common interoperable infrastructure for UPI soundboxes to enable a single device to process UPI payments across different payment apps.

It was FY22 and Shadowfax was still viewed largely as another fast-growing logistics startup battling for ecommerce deliveries in India’s crowded third-party logistics (3PL) market.

For years, we at Inc42 have tracked the Indian tech startup ecosystem and seen it grow from a kid to an adult. Among the clearest signs of evolution and maturity of this ecosystem is the growing number of startups eyeing a public listing now.

India’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) ecosystem is entering a new phase. A decade ago, most D2C brands were built around Instagram marketing, digital storefronts, and online-first consumer behaviour.

Franchising has long been one of the most powerful models in business ownership. The systems are proven, the branding is established, and the operational playbook already exists.

Virtual restaurant operator Dil Foods has raised ₹72 Cr (around $7.7 Mn) in its Series B funding round led by Bikaji Foods Family Office, with participation from V3 Ventures, MJV Ventures, and Alteria Capital.

Packaged food player Wingreens Farms has acquired sustainable food company Safe Harvest in a share swap transaction, after concluding its ₹120 Cr (around $12.6 Mn) Series D funding round led by Ashish Kacholia, with participation from Alchemy Fund.

Update | May 11, 2026, 11:33 IST Shares of Swiggy ended today’s trading session 6% lower at ₹263.7 apiece on the BSE. Its market capitalisation stood at ₹72,789.4 Cr (about $7.6 Bn) at end of the day.