Dear Reader,
Rising input costs are squeezing the profitability of FMCG firms. Should you be worried about price hikes?
Not for the moment at least, as companies have absorbed a part of the inflation costs to not hurt consumer demand during the festive season. However, as firms continue to face margin pressures, decisions on price hikes could be taken post-Diwali, from December onwards, say stakeholders.
In other news, US Vice President J D Vance has admitted that his rhetoric has been “imperfect” when he referred to foreign professionals holding H-1 B visas as “indentured servants”. He clarified that his criticism was of the visa system, which gives employers too much power over foreign employees, and not targeted at H-1B visa holders.
India had condemned the terminology used to describe foreign professionals, calling it “deeply offensive” and carrying painful historical and colonial legacy connotations.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government has approved the setting up of Go-Delhi Foundation with a corpus of Rs 50 crore to empower young innovators and startups. The foundation aims to promote startups, innovation and entrepreneurship in the capital and support young people, researchers and entrepreneurs in turning their ideas into practical products and successful enterprises.
ICYMI: In their new book The Lift-Off Nation, Peak XV’s Rajan Anandan and Saurabh Srivastava make the case for India’s startup golden age. Anandan calls for greater corporate investment in R&D and startups and discusses the government’s Rs 1 lakh crore RDI scheme.
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- Peak XV’s big bets on Indian startups
- How Tally stayed relevant for 40 years
Here’s your trivia for today: Which company’s famous plaid pattern is called ‘novacheck’?
Venture capital
Peak XV is taking bigger bets on Indian startups
Indian startup founders are increasingly aspiring to build companies worth $50 billion or even $100 billion, a shift that is prompting venture capital firms such as Peak XV Partners to take bigger risks, according to its Managing Director Mohit Bhatnagar.
During a fireside chat with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory and The Bharat Project, at TechSparks 2026 in Bengaluru, Bhatnagar said the success of companies such as Zomato and the growing acceptance of startups in India’s public markets have fundamentally changed what founders and investors believe is possible.
Key takeaways
- Bhatnagar was gung-ho about the ambition and aspiration of Indian founders which has grown multifold over the years. “The startup ecosystem is in a much better place today than it was 20 years back. The biggest difference is in ambition,” he said.
- He believes AI can be a big advantage for a country like India, and startups should be rooted in India but build for the global market.
- “I really hope we now see a 10x unleashing of entrepreneurial energy because it's become so much easier to launch a product, to try it in the marketplace, than ever before. You don’t need as much capital.”
ICYMI
How Tally stayed relevant for 40 years
Tally Solutions’ journey began much before the SaaS, UPI, GST, and startup boom. Founded in 1986, the accounting software company has outlasted several technology cycles and built a customer network of close to three million.
At TechSparks 2026, Tally’s Managing Director Tejas Goenka and Executive Director Nupur Goenka explained how Tally, a homegrown product company, has stayed relevant over four decades.
Key takeaways
- Nupur Goenka attributed Tally's success to its focus on ownership. Tally handcrafted its stack from the start, she said, with its own database, its own memory manager, and a programming language invented in-house.
- Tejas Goenka stressed on the company’s founding principle. “The cost post-purchase should be near zero,” he said, recalling the days when releases were shipped with a support team of one.
- Going forward, Tally is betting on new geographies, particularly the Middle East and Africa. “We have an incredible two, three decades in front of us... It would be a shame if we let that opportunity slip to create an impactful technology company out of this country,” said Tejas.
News & updates
- AI advancements: Rapidly improving AI capabilities will bring far faster change across all fields, Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said, with one of the company's internal models forecasting that, under certain conditions, it could increase US economic output by almost 50% by 2030.
- Export curbs: China has proposed export controls on 12 technologies used to make solar equipment, citing national security concerns, as part of a broader revision that also covers AI and biotechnology.
What you should watch out for
Jio Platforms’ IPO will open for subscription from October 21 to October 23. This is expected to be the largest public issue in Indian stock market history.
Which company’s famous plaid pattern is called ‘novacheck’?
Answer: Burberry
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