Fractal Goes Public, Josh Foulger Steps Down, and MakeMyTrip Partners Minor Hotels

Fractal going public is more than just another tech company joining the stock market. It’s a rare chance to see how much India's AI industry is actually worth, something founders and investors have been waiting for.

For years, AI companies in India have lived in a valuation fog. Private markets rewarded growth narratives, marquee clients, and “AI-first” positioning without forcing clarity on margins, repeatability, or durability of demand. Fractal now forces that reckoning.

Fractal’s journey itself explains why this moment matters. Unlike consumer-facing SaaS or developer tools, Fractal built inside large enterprises - banks, retailers, healthcare firms - solving high-stakes, operational problems using data science and applied AI. Its revenue profile is not viral, but it is sticky. Contracts are long-term, integrations are deep, and switching costs are real. This is not “AI as promise.” It is AI as plumbing.

Public markets care deeply about that distinction.

The IPO will answer a question that private capital has largely avoided: how do you price enterprise AI services that sit somewhere between software and consulting? Fractal is not a pure SaaS company with 80% gross margins, nor is it a traditional IT services firm selling headcount. Its economics live in the uncomfortable middle - higher margins than services, lower than SaaS; slower growth than consumer tech, but far greater revenue visibility.

If Fractal is valued closer to IT services multiples, it signals that markets still see AI-led analytics as execution-heavy, people-dependent businesses. If it commands a premium, it validates the thesis that deeply embedded AI systems deserve software-like valuation logic, even if delivery remains human-assisted.

There is also a second-order effect. A successful, reasonably priced IPO gives late-stage AI and data companies a credible exit path outside strategic sales or overseas listings. It tells founders that discipline, not storytelling, is what ultimately compounds value. For investors, it resets expectations around returns in enterprise AI - fewer moonshots, more durable cash flows.

Crucially, this is not an “AI hype” IPO. Fractal is not riding a sudden generative-AI wave. Its relevance comes from longevity - from surviving multiple tech cycles, client budget freezes, and shifts in data architectures. That makes its public debut a referendum not on trends, but on fundamentals.

Fractal’s IPO is not about celebration. It is about calibration. For the first time, Indian public markets are putting a clear price on enterprise AI built out of India, for global clients, with real operating history behind it.

And once that price is set, the fog lifts for everyone else.

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.

“Maza Nahi Aaya”: Aye Finance And Fractal IPO’s Debuts

Day one of the IPO party stayed oddly quiet as Aye Finance saw just 3% subscription by early afternoon, with QIBs completely sitting out while retail interest hovered at a modest 18%.

Over at Fractal, the story was similar if slightly livelier, as the issue reached 6% subscription by 13:27 IST, driven largely by retail bids that covered about a quarter of their reserved portion. Even employee participation at Fractal remained muted at 10%, making day one less opening bell frenzy.

Read more here and here

“Kar Chale Hum Vida”: Josh Foulger steps down as Zetwerk Electronics president

Josh Foulger has stepped down as president of the electronics division at Zetwerk, marking the end of a roughly two year stint where he led its push into consumer and electronics manufacturing.

Industry sources say the exit is for personal reasons, bringing a quiet close to a phase that coincided with Zetwerk scaling up its electronics ambitions.

Read more here

“Hum Saath Saath Hai”: MakeMyTrip partners with Minor Hotels to expand international portfolio

NASDAQ listed MakeMyTrip has tied up with global hospitality group Minor Hotels to widen its international hotel portfolio for Indian travelers.

The partnership brings access to over 560 city hotels and resort properties spread across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, all bookable directly on the platform. It is a steady, portfolio building move that signals MakeMyTrip’s push to deepen outbound travel offerings.

Read more here

1. Bengaluru based Pandorum Technologies has raised $18 Mn in a funding round led by Protons Corporate, with participation from Galentic Pharma, Noblevast Advisory, Avinya Fund, and the Burman Family. The fresh capital will fuel its push into tissue repair therapies.

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2. Ecommerce enablement firm Velocity has committed ₹100 Cr to scale its logistics arm, Velocity Shipping, as it sharpens its play in the shipping aggregation market. The capital will be used to roll out AI driven tools across the logistics chain, aiming to improve efficiency, pricing, and delivery outcomes at scale.

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3. Emerging hair beauty brand Truth & Hair has raised ₹2.5 Cr from Varun Alagh on Shark Tank India as it looks to scale its portfolio across hair makeup, styling, and scalp first care. The deal gives the brand both growth capital and a strategic backer as it sharpens its push.

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4. DSLR Technologies, the parent company of D2C ethnic wear brand Aramya, has raised ₹80 Cr in a Series A round led by existing investors Z47 and Accel India. The funding was raised through the allotment of over 10,900 Series A compulsorily convertible preference shares.

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