Emergent’s Bold AI Future, Ola’s Double Trouble, and Cashfree’s Big Buyback

The global software industry has been built on a single, unquestioned assumption: code is scarce, developers are expensive, and building software is slow. The $1.9 trillion IT services industry exists to monetize that scarcity. Emergent is attacking that assumption head-on, and that is why its $70 million Series B, led by Khosla Ventures and SoftBank, matters far more than the number itself

Emergent is not any other AI coding tool, it is attempting something more radical: replacing the idea of “development” with autonomous creation. Where Copilot-style tools assist humans, Emergent’s bet is that AI can orchestrate the full lifecycle - frontend, backend, databases, integrations, hosting - without human specialists.

This is why SoftBank’s return to India through Emergent is symbolic. After three years of restraint, Masayoshi Son didn’t re-enter with a fintech or a consumer app. He chose a vibe-coding startup. That is a statement about where he believes the next layer of value will be created: not in applications, but in the collapse of creation itself.

Emergent’s growth numbers are almost absurd: from $100K to $50M ARR in just 210 days, a 500x jump that rivals the fastest infrastructure companies globally. More interesting than the velocity is who is using it. Nearly 80% of its users have never written a line of code. Sixty percent are non-technical entrepreneurs - factory owners, contractors, small business operators.

That positioning is deliberate. While Lovable and Replit focus on builders, Emergent is going after the far larger SME market. If you remove the technical barrier, you don’t just create new startups - you reorganize how businesses operate.

The founding team explains a lot. Mukund Jha comes from Dunzo, where he lived through hypergrowth, capital excess, collapse, and restructuring. Those scars matter. Most founders only experience the upside of venture. Mukund has seen the downside. Madhav Jha, on the other hand, brings deep machine learning experience from Amazon and Dropbox. This isn’t a product founder + growth founder pairing. It’s operations + AI systems design. That combination is rare.

The product thesis is simple: speed is not enough. Many platforms can generate demos. Emergent wants to own the full lifecycle - deployment, hosting, databases, integrations. This is where the moat will live. Code generation will commoditize. Infrastructure ownership will not.

That is also where the risks begin.

If an AI-generated app causes a financial loss or security breach, who is liable? The user? The platform? The API provider? The law doesn’t know yet. Copyright frameworks don’t even recognize non-human authorship. This is not a philosophical issue. It is a commercial one. Enterprises will not adopt tools that expose them to unbounded legal risk.

Emergent’s “Quality Agent” layer, designed to scan for vulnerabilities and errors, is a step in the right direction, but it is not a legal shield. Regulation will shape this market as much as technology.

Emergent is not being built to be a lifestyle SaaS. Its likely exits are acquisition by a cloud giant or a massive IPO as an AI infrastructure layer. Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce are the natural buyers.

What Emergent is really selling is not code. It is the collapse of the last professional monopoly.

When anyone can build software, the question stops being “Can this be built?” and becomes “Should this exist?” That is a far more dangerous - and far more powerful - world.

Let’s go through what else is happening in Indian startup world - Grab your simmering cup of StartupChai.in and unwind with our hand-brewed memes.

“Aapka Kya Hoga Janab-E-Ali”: Ola Electric Slumps 8% as CFO Exit Rattles Investors

Ola Electric’s shares plummeted over 8% to an intraday low of ₹32.80 following the resignation of CFO Harish Abichandani, who stepped down citing personal reasons. To steady the ship, the company immediately appointed industry veteran Deepak Rastogi as the new CFO and Key Managerial Personnel.

The stock's sharp decline adds to a difficult period for the EV maker, which has seen its share price drop nearly 16% over the past week and over 12% year-to-date.

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“Kaddu Katega, Sab Mein Batega”: Cashfree Payments rolls out ESOP buyback for over 400 employees

Cashfree Payments has rolled out an ESOP buyback covering over 400 current and former employees as the company marks a decade since its founding.

The buyback includes 175 former employees and coincides with the Bengaluru-based firm’s move into a new 80,000-square-foot headquarters at Ecoworld, signaling a phase of operational consolidation.

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1. Raana Semiconductors has raised $3 Mn to scale R&D and product development for its CZ-based silicon crystal growth equipment. The Tamil Nadu-based firm reports a 30% revenue CAGR with confirmed orders worth ₹12 Cr for FY26.

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2. Unbox Robotics has raised $28 Mn in a mix of primary and secondary capital to expand its global footprint, with part of the round providing ESOP liquidity to employees. The funding was led by ICICI Ventures and Info Edge’s Redstart Labs, alongside F-Prime, 3one4 Capital, Navam Capital, and Force Ventures.

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3. Whizzo has raised $15 Mn in a funding round led by Fundamentum, with participation from LB Investment and existing investors Lightspeed and BEENEXT. The startup plans to deploy the capital to deepen R&D and build proprietary IP focused on materials science innovation.

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4. Shadowfax has raised ₹856 Cr from anchor investors ahead of its IPO, allotting 6.90 Cr equity shares at ₹124 apiece, as per a stock exchange filing. Domestic mutual funds dominated the anchor book, picking up 3.68 Cr shares or 53.24% of the allocation across 20 schemes.

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5. Intellend Technologies Advisors has raised $1.2 Mn (₹10.6 Cr) in a seed round led by Incubate Fund Asia, with participation from M Venture Partners, Atrium Angels, and angel investor Dhananjay Tiwari. The capital will be used to strengthen the team and advance the product roadmap.

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6. Pinky Promise has raised $1 Mn in a pre-seed round led by the Rebalance Angel Community, with participation from angels including former TCS MD and CEO Subramanian Ramadorai and Mala Ramadorai. The AI-led digital clinic plans to use the capital to expand its platform.

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7. For Real has raised ₹3.2 Cr in a pre-seed round from Titan Capital to build its tech platform, onboard brands, and drive early user adoption. Founded by Anurag Sheth and Mohit Sheth, the Delhi-based startup is creating an online factory outlet marketplace.

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8. Emergent has raised $70 Mn in a Series B round led by Khosla Ventures and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, taking its total funding to $100 Mn since launch. The Dunzo co-founder-led startup is building an AI-native platform that lets users create production-ready apps using natural language.

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