NEWS YOU CAN’T MISS

Startups Flee Silicon Valley for Mumbai

For years, India’s hottest startups planted their flags in Silicon Valley or Singapore to grab global capital, dodge bureaucracy, and enjoy tax perks. That playbook is fading.

Big names like PhonePe and Groww have already shifted headquarters back to India. Razorpay, Meesho, Zepto, and Pine Labs are exploring the same path. The trend has a name: reverse flipping. And it’s rewriting the rules of India’s startup scene.

So what changed?

• India has cut red tape and made it easier for foreign parent companies to merge into local subsidiaries. Tax friction is lighter.

• Meanwhile, the country’s stock markets are booming. Millions of young retail investors, alongside big institutions, are fueling strong demand for tech IPOs.

Suddenly, staying home looks smarter than going abroad. 🤔

• Groww made the first big move. The Bengaluru fintech shelled out $159 million in taxes to shift its parent entity from Delaware back to India, a bold bet that turned heads across the industry. Now it’s lining up an $9 billion IPO in Mumbai.

• Analysts predict that as many as 90% of India’s foreign-domiciled unicorns could follow, though timing will vary.

The new mantra: Made in India, listed in India, owned by India.

Can This AI Pet Really Fix Loneliness?

Pengu isn’t your typical AI companion. Instead of chatting one-on-one with a bot, you and a friend raise this virtual penguin together.

You feed it, play mini-games, and watch it grow… but only if you collaborate.

Think of it as a shared digital project designed to spark conversation and teamwork in real life. You even get a co-parenting “license” (see picture above). It’s like parenting but without teenage drama.

That twist is what makes Pengu stand out in a crowded field of AI companions. Most apps in the space risk trapping people in endless solo interactions, deepening the isolation they claim to solve. Pengu flips the script: the AI pet is the excuse for two humans to connect.

The approach is working.

• The app has already reached 15 million users worldwide, and its parent company, Berlin-based Born, just closed a $15 million Series A round led by Accel and Tencent, bringing its total raise to $25 million.

• The fresh capital will fuel expansion into the US and the addition of new AI characters.

Honestly, I’m just impressed that 15 million people are raising little virtual penguins together. ♥️

Robot Antelopes in Tibet: Brilliant or Bizarre?

High on Tibet’s Hoh Xil plateau, a strange new antelope has joined the herds.

At first glance, it’s indistinguishable: doe-like eyes, thick brown fur, nimble frame. But behind that lifelike disguise is a machine: a robot antelope fitted with 5G and AI vision.

Built by China’s Academy of Sciences, Xinhua, and DEEP Robotics, this bionic creature trots alongside the wild ones, quietly logging their migrations, feeding habits, even mating rituals, and streaming it all back to researchers in real time.

Unlike human observers, the robot doesn’t spook the animals. It weathers the bitter cold at 4,600 meters, scrambles over rocky slopes and muddy wetlands, and can even trigger alerts when antelopes drift toward busy roads.

Some see it as a smart way to study animals without disturbing them, but others feel it’s unnatural and disruptive. What do you think?