Hello,
Trump tariffs may hit home hard, and the most vulnerable are women.
Since February, American buyers such as American Eagle and Walmart have put millions of dollars’ worth of orders on hold. This impacts the South Asian textile industries, which traditionally employ women, who have fewer options to retrain or find other work.
Export-dependent, labour-intensive sectors such as gemstones and jewellery, apparel and textiles, as well as oil refiners, are expected to be the worst affected by the tariffs.
In Bihar, many women have started taking control of their future and are gaining financial literacy, starting enterprises, and transforming their communities through the Jeevika Didi programme. The initiative aims to form self-help groups among rural women and enhance their income, financial inclusion, and empowerment.
In another win for women entrepreneurs, female-founded semiconductor AI startup SixSense has netted $8.5 million in funding led by Peak XV’s Surge. The firm helps semiconductor manufacturers predict and detect potential chip defects on production lines in real time.
Elsewhere in the startup ecosystem, Mobikwik’s losses widened steeply for the quarter ended June, even as revenues declined and expenses moderated. However, its core payments business recorded its highest-ever quarterly gross merchandise value, aided by the optimisation of direct costs.
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- Delhivery delivers profits in Q1 FY26
- Netrasemi’s edge AI chips
- Inside Colombo SaaS firm WSO2
Here’s your trivia for today: Which famous psychologist is known for his experiment on obedience, involving participants giving electric shocks to others?
Logistics
Delhivery delivers profits in Q1 FY26
Delhivery began FY26 with a sharp improvement in profitability, as India’s largest integrated logistics provider reported a 68.5% annual jump in net profit for the June quarter. The company posted a net profit of Rs 91 crore in Q1 FY26, compared to Rs 54 crore a year earlier, with profit margins expanding to 3.8% from 2.4%.
The strong margin expansion came despite modest growth in revenue, which rose 6.2% YoY to Rs 2,424 crore. Service revenue, which excludes other operating income, grew 5.6% to Rs 2,294 crore.
Key takeaways:
- It outlined a medium-term plan to scale supply chain services to Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,000 crore in annual revenue within three years, with a targeted 12% EBITDA margin and over 20% return on capital employed.
- Delhivery is preparing to launch an economy cross-border parcel product in Q3 FY26, in partnership with FedEx and Aramex. The service will aim to capture value in small-package export and import flows, particularly from Indian SMEs tapping into global marketplaces.
- Having spent heavily on warehousing, automation, and fleet expansion between FY22 and FY25, the company now appears to be entering a more measured phase. The focus is on monetising assets, expanding service offerings, and improving return on invested capital.
Top Funding Deals of the Week
Startup: SAFE
Amount: $70M
Round: Series C
Startup: Zetwerk
Amount: Rs 600 Cr
Round: Debt
Startup: Navi Technologies
Amount: Rs 170 Cr
Round: Equity
Interview
Netrasemi’s edge AI chips
Having just secured Rs 107 crore in a funding round led by Zoho Corporation and Unicorn India Ventures, Jyothis Indirabhai, Co‑founder and CEO of Netrasemi, is upbeat about the company’s growth prospects.
The Kerala semiconductor startup wants to take India’s chip story beyond the lab and into the real world. Backed by fresh funding and government support, the company is developing ‘edge AI’ chips in-house, using its own IP to power devices at the edge of a network.
Made in India:
- Whether it’s a drone deftly navigating a crowded warehouse, or a security camera instantly recognising a threat, edge AI has become the frontier of innovation where real‑time response, data sovereignty, and sustainability converge.
- Its patented architecture spans use cases such as surveillance, robotics, autonomous drones, and industrial automation, with each chip optimised for the stringent power, cost and performance constraints endemic to edge environments.
- Netrasemi has completed development of two advanced video-enabled edge AI chips, which are now in the tapeout stage. Over the next 12-18 months, it plans to bring its SoC families into production and kick off R&D on next-gen, ultra-high-performance chips for edge servers. Launches are expected by early 2026.
Startup
Inside Colombo SaaS firm WSO2
WSO2’s boldest bet was building an enterprise middleware stack, which has now become the backbone for some of the world’s largest corporations. The SaaS firm’s API management tools and software solutions have found their way into the digital infrastructure of Jio Platforms, Wipro, and Samsung, all after it chose to plant its roots in the island nation of Sri Lanka.
News & updates
- OpenAI: The ChatGPT-maker raised $8.3 billion at a $300 billion valuation, reported NYT. The deal is part of OpenAI’s broader strategy to secure $40 billion this year. It reported that Dragoneer Investment Group, an under-the-radar investor, led the round with a startling $2.8 billion cheque.
- Gaming: Nintendo more than doubled revenue in Q1, as it logged bumper sales of its Switch 2 console in the first month of release. Sales of Nintendo’s Switch 2 now total 5.82 million units. The firm kept its annual sales forecast for the Switch 2 unchanged at 15 million units.
- Crypto: Businesses across Asia are increasingly warming up to stablecoins for cross-border transactions—a trend set to accelerate further as Hong Kong moves to legalise the use of digital tokens, experts told CNBC. Singapore and Hong Kong were among the top three markets for stablecoin flows, following the US. The Singapore-China route, in particular, emerged as the busiest for stablecoin flows.
Which famous psychologist is known for his experiment on obedience, involving participants giving electric shocks to others?
Answer: Stanley Milgram.
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