Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (May 14, 2025)
From Microsoft laying off over 6,000 employees to US tech giants striking major AI deals in the Middle East amid Trump’s tour, YourStory brings today’s headlines that highlight significant developments across industries. Here’s a roundup of key stories:
Featured news
This startup automates road surveys for repairs and upkeep
New Delhi-based RoadVision AI’s data-driven technology solution collects and processes satellite images and video footage to provide real-time insights on road defects, safety risks, repairs, improvements, and maintenance.
The platform obtains satellite imagery from UP42, a marketplace for earth observation data, to obtain a broad overview of road networks and flag sections that need attention.
It also uses a smartphone-based app mounted on vehicles to capture geotagged videos and data related to location, distance, and time, as part of road surveys. It obtains footage from dashcams, survey vehicles, and drones too.
Read more here
How Flipkart charts fleet electrification within its supply chain
Walmart-backed Flipkart, in 2023, joined Climate Group’s global initiative to move to a 100% electric last-mile delivery fleet by 2030.
In an interview with YourStory, Nishant Gupta, Head of Sustainability, lays out Flipkart’s blueprint for this transition. It had to set up charging stations for its vehicles, convince Wishmasters—Flipkart’s delivery partners—about the benefits of using an EV, and enable financing solutions for those partners who wished to transfer.
Read more here
Latest news
US tech giants strike major AI deals in the Middle East amid Trump’s tour
Several major US technology companies have announced multi-billion-dollar artificial intelligence (AI) deals in the Middle East, with US President Donald Trump securing a whopping $600 billion in commitments from the region to American firms during his ongoing Gulf tour.
NVIDIA, AMD, and Qualcommare among the key firms forming major agreements, reports Reuters. One of the biggest deals involves chipmaker giant Nvidia, which plans to supply “hundreds of thousands” of AI chips to Saudi Arabia.
The initial batch will include 18,000 units of its latest Blackwell processors, which will be delivered to Saudi-backed AI startup, Humain.
Read more here
IIFL Fintech Fund logs over 100% return from Finarkein exit
IIFL Fintech Fund, an early-stage investor in India’s financial technology sector, has exited its investment in Finarkein Analytics, recording over a 100% return within three years, according to a company statement on Tuesday.
This marks the fund’s second successful exit following the sale of TrustCheckr to Truecaller in October 2023.
Founded in 2021, IIFL Fintech Fund—backed by the IIFL Group—targets startups that can potentially integrate with IIFL’s broader financial services ecosystem. The fund’s portfolio includes names such as Leegality, FinBox, DataSutram, Finvu, Trendlyne, Riskcovry, and more.
Read more here
Microsoft to lay off over 6,000 employees, affecting 3% of global workforce: Report
Tech giant Microsoftis planning to lay off over 6,800 employees, affecting about 3% of its global workforce. As of June, the company employed 228,000 people worldwide.
The latest job cuts will span all levels, functions, and geographies, reported CNBC. The company has disclosed that 1,985 roles would be affected at its Redmond headquarters, including 1,510 office-based positions.
Read more here
Dream Sports to invest $50M in Cricbuzz and Willow TV to boost global cricket engagement
Dream Sports, the developer of the fantasy sports app Dream 11, will invest $50 million in cricket media and broadcasting platforms Cricbuzz and Willow TV. Dream Sports is home to brands such as Dream11 and FanCode, while Cricbuzz is a popular website for live scores and cricket commentary.
Willow TV is a cricket broadcaster in North America. The strategic minority investment aims to “super-charge” global cricket fan experiences through real-time analytics, interactive streams, commerce integrations, and artificial intelligence-powered personalisation, according to a statement.
Read more here
Funding news
Smart hiring platform Third Bracket raises close to Rs 50 M in seed funding
Third Bracket, a next-gen smart hiring platform, today announced that they have raised close to Rs 50 million in seed funding from a group of HNIs at a substantial valuation.
The investment will fuel the venture’s mission to transform hiring through advanced AI capabilities, radically improve speed-to-hire and bring significant efficiencies to recruitment. Besides accelerating product innovation, expanding the AI engine that powers smarter, bias-free hiring, the funds will be used to scale operations to meet the growing demand from enterprises.
ContraVault AI Secures Rs 5.1 Cr in Seed funding from Titan Capital
ContraVault AI, an AI-powered platform, has successfully raised Rs 5.1 crore in a seed funding round led by Titan Capital, alongside notable investors including Rajiv Ahuja, Haresh Chawla, Jaswinder Ahuja, Dilipkumar Khandelwal, Abhishek Goyal and others.
The newly raised funds will be directed towards deepening ContraVault AI’s verticalisation across key tender and RFP sectors to enhance accuracy and relevance in analysis. With an immediate focus on scaling sales efforts within India’s under-digitized tender ecosystem, ContraVault AI is set to unlock significant growth opportunities, ultimately aiming for global expansion.
Founded by Sayan Sen, Tanmay Juneja, and Isha Juneja, ContraVault AI is designed to address the critical challenges associated with tender management, which have long been plagued by manual processes and significant risk of error. By harnessing advanced artificial intelligence, ContraVault AI is transforming the traditional workflows in tender and RFP management, enabling companies to streamline their operations, reduce risks, and make faster, smarter decisions.
