Can AI Fix VerSe's Broken Notes, subtl.ai Shuts Shop & More

Can AI Fix VerSe’s Broken Notes?

With AI reshaping the Indian content landscape, VerSe Innovation appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place. The parent company of DailyHunt and Josh culled 30% of its workforce in May – not to trim costs but to leverage AI to find its footing in a turbulent market. So, what’s cooking at VerSe?

A Desperate Yet Calculated Bid? For VerSe, leveraging AI is a desperate bid to monetise its multiple ventures, bring advertisers, and revive its short-video platform Josh. Not just this, the troubled startup has also been utilising the tech for news curation, generating personalised content recommendations and automating summaries of articles.

VerSe’s Revival Strategy: Beyond AI, the company has also been focussed on its next suite of products and services:

• NexVerse, an AI-powered programmatic adtech engine
• Leveraging the Magzter acquisition to sell bundled e-subscriptions for magazines via Dailyhunt Premium
• Driving ad revenues and subscriptions in vernacular languages through OneIndia
• Expanding into audio tech with Josh Audio Stories

It is also betting on some of its new acquisitions to help turn around the company and potentially add $100 Mn to its top line in FY25.

VerSe’s Downhill Ride: Once valued at a staggering $5 Bn, VerSe has been left to fend for itself ever since the rise of GenAI rendered most of its high-profile acquisitions (between 2020 and 2022) moot and disrupted industry norms. However, problems have been ailing the startup for some time now – declining revenues, mounting losses, alleged weaknesses in internal control, tumbling valuations, and the list goes on.

While much remains to be done to fix the company’s many woes, will the AI bet pay off for VerSe? Let’s find out…

From The Editor’s Desk

Square Yards To File DRHP: The Delhi NCR-based proptech startup plans to file its draft IPO papers for a potential INR 2,000 Cr listing by the end of the ongoing fiscal. Square Yards is currently finalising investment bankers for its IPO.

subtl.ai Shuts Shop: The GenAI startup is in the process of shutting down its operations amid its inability to raise fresh capital. The startup leveraged artificial intelligence to help enterprises optimise information discovery on the internet.

Smartworks Sets IPO Price Band: The coworking startup has set a price band of INR 387 to INR 407 per share for its public issue, which will open on July 10. Smartworks IPO will comprise a fresh issue of up to INR 445 Cr and an OFS component of up to 33.79 Lakh shares.

New CEO At Zomato: The foodtech major’s parent Eternal has elevated Aditya Mangla as the CEO of its food delivery business. Prior to this, Mangla served as the head of product for the food delivery vertical. He succeeds Rakesh Ranjan, who resigned earlier this year.

Captain Fresh Rolls The IPO Dice: The meat and seafood startup’s board has passed a resolution to drop the word ‘private’ from its name, turning Captain Fresh into a public entity. Seeking a valuation of $1 Bn, the startup aims to raise $400 Mn through its public listing.

Amazon Steps Up Quick Delivery Game: The ecommerce major’s quick commerce service, Amazon Now, is now live in Delhi in beta mode for select customers. The company announced its foray into quick commerce last year and began piloting “Now” in Bengaluru in February.

Reshuffle At BigBasket: The Tata-owned grocery delivery platform has appointed former Vini Cosmetics executive Manish Bajoria as its new chief financial officer. The appointment comes as BigBasket looks to slash its burn and scale up its quick commerce play.

Incuspaze Acquires VSKOUT: The workspace provider has acquired the real estate-focussed B2B SaaS platform in a cash and equity swap deal to set up a dedicated GCC vertical. This comes weeks after Incuspaze acquired Pune-based TRIOS in a cash-and-stock deal.

Inc42 Startup Spotlight Can This Startup Power India’s Defence Independence?

India’s defence sector has long relied on foreign imports for advanced weapon systems. However, growing geopolitical uncertainties and complex global macroeconomic conditions have highlighted the need for technological sovereignty and national self-reliance in defence manufacturing.

To address this, ex-DRDO intern Priyanka Singhal launched Ammunic Systems in 2024. The Bengaluru-based startup focusses on designing and developing advanced weapon systems tailored to the needs of Indian defence forces, all while contributing to India’s push for indigenous innovation.

Readying India’s Arsenal: The core competence of the Bengaluru-based startup lies in electronic fuzes, warheads, and munition integration across land, air, and naval platforms. Ammunic’s portfolio comprises smart firing systems for land operations, gravity drop munitions for aerial warfare, and underwater electronic fuzes for naval applications — all built with a focus on precision, safety, and compatibility with Indian defence standards.

A Marquee Client List: In the country’s $18.4 Bn defence tech market, the one-year-old startup counts the likes of Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force, and DRDO, among others, as its clients.

With India ramping up its “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” defence initiatives, can Ammunic Systems fuel India’s defence self-reliance?

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