From women in the industry blending culture and passion in advertising and filmmaking to a startup accepting receiving a record-breaking Rs 8 crore offer on Shark Tank India, YourStory brings today’s headlines that highlight significant developments across industries.
Here’s a roundup of key stories:
Featured stories
How Amita Madhvani became leader in advertising and production
Amita Madhvani’s upbringing in a close-knit chawl in Mahim instilled in her a love for community and storytelling. Inspired by her parents’ values of service and adaptability, she entered the male-dominated advertising industry of the 1980s, thriving through hard work and curiosity.
Her time at advertising giants like Ogilvy and Leo Burnett broadened her perspective, allowing her to see the industry from the agency’s vantage point.
As she grew in the industry and became the co-partner and producer at Equinox Films and the co-founder of Ram Madhvani Films, Madhvani played a crucial role in steering these companies to prominence.
Latest news
SEBI issues warning to Ola Electric
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a warning notice to electric vehicle maker Ola Electric for violating disclosure norms.
The warning states that the company’s Chairman and Managing Director, Bhavish Aggarwal, shared information about the company’s store expansion plans on social media before notifying the stock exchanges.
On December 2, Aggarwal announced that Ola Electric intended to open 3,200 stores by December 20 as it aimed to increase its store count to 4,000 due to a decline in its market share. However, on December 19, the company postponed the opening of these stores to December 25.
Swiggy launches Snacc
A new player in the quick food delivery space, Swiggy’s latest app Snacc seems to have features of its private label Swiggy Cafe and Swiggy Bolt, its 10-minute food delivery service.
Snacc, which is operational in pin codes near the company’s headquarters in Bengaluru and operational between 7 AM to 1 AM, features breakfast, meals, beverages and snacks predominantly unbranded in nature, except select products from Blue Tokai.
Funding news
RAS Luxury secures $5M from Unilever Ventures to fuel omnichannel expansion
Farm-to-face beauty and personal care brand RAS Luxury Skincare raised $5 million in a Series A funding round led by Unilever Ventures.
The round also saw participation from Amazon SMBhav Venture Fund, existing investors like Sixth Sense Ventures and angel investors, including the family of Keki Mistry.
RAS plans to use the funds for various growth initiatives including expanding its retail footprint and plans to grow its exclusive brand outlets from the current two to 50. The company aims for offline channels to generate 25% of its revenue within the next four years.
Culture Circle accepts Rs 3 Cr deal on Shark Tank India
Devansh Jain Nawal, and Ackshay Jain, Co-Founders, Culture Circle
Luxury app Culture Circle, which offers authenticated collection of sneakers, streetwear, and luxury fashion, accepted a strategic deal of Rs 3 crore for 3% equity from Kunal Bahl and Ritesh Agarwal, declining a deal of over Rs 8 crore on Shark Tank India.
“Culture Circle was built to solve one of the biggest challenges in luxury fashion—trust…Our goal is to make authentic luxury accessible to all, and this milestone on Shark Tank validates our mission and hard work,” said Devansh Jain Nawal, Founder & CEO, Culture Circle.
The company said that it was praised for its proprietary AI-powered Culture Circle authentication system, SourceX.
Other news
LenDenClub launches daily earning loans for P2P lenders
Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform LenDenClub launched a new daily earning loan that allows lenders to earn daily interest along with principal repayments, credited directly to their bank accounts.
With the launch, the platform allows lenders/investors a choice of loans starting from a 9-month tenure, with interest income beginning the next day, the company said.
It serves as an alternative for individuals seeking regular income through the LenDenClub platform. Lenders can lend as little as Rs 250 to a borrower with a choice out of hundreds of borrowers on the platform, it added.
“By offering daily income from loans, we provide lenders with immediate liquidity and flexibility. This initiative aligns with our goal of simplifying financial opportunities through the usage of technology. Our system processed 23 crore transactions between lenders and borrowers on the platform. Our technology is so robust that we are able to provide such complex solutions like processing daily EMIs from borrowers to lenders,” said Bhavin Patel, CEO, LenDenClub
Inflexor Ventures elevates Harsha Mundhada, Murali Krishna Gunturu to partners
Sector-agnostic venture capital fund Inflexor Ventures, which specialises in seed to Series B investments, announced the elevation of Harsha Mundhada and Murali Krishna Gunturu as partners in the fund.
“Harsha and Murali have been integral to our success, demonstrating both the vision and perseverance that define great investors. Their elevation to Partners underscores our belief in fostering leadership from within and ensuring that our founders continue to receive top-notch support at every stage of their journey,” said Jatin Desai, Managing Partner at Inflexor.
Harsha Mundhada has been with Inflexor since 2016, and prior to this stint, she worked with Deloitte, Ernst and Young, and PriceWaterhouseCooper in their transaction advisory department. Meanwhile, Murali Krishna Gunturu was a founding member of Inflexor. He previously worked with Ernst and Young and also played the role of a virtual CFO for a few SMEs.
Inflexor recently raised its first Opportunities Fund and is gearing up to raise its third blind pool corpus of Rs 1,250 crore in FY26.
GrowthJockey launches Intellsys
GrowthJockey, a player in venture architecture and technological innovation, launched Intellsys, an AI-powered growth marketing intelligence platform designed to empower businesses with real-time, data-driven insights.
At the core of Intellsys is Copilot AI, which leverages community intelligence to provide actionable insights, bridging the gap between data analysts and business leaders.
Intellsys simplifies this complexity posed by vase data by consolidating information from over 200 data sources and analysing more than 15 million data points per second. It tracks over 1,000 metrics in real time.
Intellsys represents a new era in marketing intelligence, combining cutting-edge AI with an intuitive user experience. We are not just offering a tool; we’re providing a solution that empowers businesses to make smarter decisions, faster. Intellsys enables leaders to focus on strategic growth while leaving the complexity of data management to AI,” said Ashutosh Kumar, CEO of GrowthJockey.
(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)
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