Ixigo’s Smart Side Door, Bira 91 Faces Threat, and Vietnam's EV cab service debuts in Delhi-NCR

Ixigo is not trying to become another MakeMyTrip. That is the smartest part of its new strategy.

Most online travel companies in India eventually get tempted by the same dream: hotels. Bigger margins, higher ticket size, more room for upselling. But hotels are also where MakeMyTrip is strongest. Fighting MMT in the regular hotel business means fighting on Google ads, discounts, brand recall and premium inventory. That is a very expensive battlefield.

Ixigo seems to have understood this.

Instead of attacking the main hotel market directly, it is entering from the side. Its ₹65.69 crore acquisition of a 54.66% stake in Brevistay is not just a hotel deal. It is a smart flanking move.

Brevistay operates in hourly and short-stay hotels. Users can book rooms for 3, 6 or 12 hours instead of paying for a full night. On paper, this may look like a small niche. In reality, it solves a very Indian problem.

India has millions of travellers who do not travel like tourists. They travel for exams, interviews, small business work, family duties, hospital visits, late trains, early buses and awkward layovers. Many do not need a hotel for 24 hours. They need a clean room for a few hours to rest, bathe, work, keep luggage or simply wait safely.

Traditional hotels were never built for this behaviour. The usual 12 pm check-in and 11 am check-out model wastes a lot of room inventory during the day. For budget and mid-market hotels, this is dead revenue. If the same room can be sold for a few hours during idle periods and still be sold overnight later, the hotel earns more without adding new rooms.

That is the real business case.

Brevistay reportedly had revenue of ₹8.83 crore in FY24, ₹12.23 crore in FY25 and about ₹18.10 crore in FY26. Ixigo is effectively valuing the company at around ₹120 crore to ₹125 crore, or roughly 6.6 times trailing revenue. That is not a crazy acquisition multiple for a category that is growing, asset-light and under-monetised.

But the real value is not Brevistay’s current revenue. The real value is Ixigo’s distribution.

Ixigo already has a strong base in trains, buses and flights. It reported FY26 revenue of ₹1,228 crore and gross transaction value of about ₹18,693 crore. Its monthly transacting users had already reached 3.34 million in FY25. This gives it something Brevistay could never build cheaply: regular, high-intent travel traffic.

Now imagine the use case. A train is delayed by four hours. A bus arrives at 5 am. A student reaches Kota or Delhi before hostel check-in. A small trader has six hours between meetings. Ixigo can push a short-stay option at exactly that moment.

This is very different from asking users to search for a hotel randomly. This is contextual selling.

That is why this deal is more interesting than it looks.

The AI investments also fit into this logic. Ixigo is putting ₹7.5 crore into Proactai and ₹4.5 crore into Vestra.AI. These are small cheques, but they show where the company wants to go. Ixigo already says AI handled 4.35 million customer queries in Q4 FY26 and automated more than 81% of voice calls end-to-end. In a low-ticket travel business, customer support can quietly eat margins. If AI reduces that cost, even small efficiency gains matter.

The risk is obvious. Short-stay hotels in India carry social baggage. Couples, local IDs, police raids, safety concerns and inconsistent hotel quality are all real issues. Scaling this category under a listed company will need discipline. One bad incident can damage trust quickly.

But strategically, Ixigo is doing the right thing. It is not burning money to copy MakeMyTrip. It is using its own strength: Bharat travellers, train and bus data, utility travel behaviour, and AI-led operations.

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.

“Mera Paisa De Re Baba”: Bira 91 Faces Fresh ₹11 Cr Legal Threat From Glass Supplier HNGIL

Bira 91 is staring at another headache after glass supplier HNGIL sent a legal notice over alleged unpaid dues of ₹11.19 Cr.

The manufacturer claims over 51 lakh customized Bira bottles are still lying in its facilities, adding fresh pressure on the beer maker’s ongoing financial challenges.

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“Swagat Nahi Karoge Humara”: VinFast-backed Green SM enters Indian ride-hailing market

Vietnam-based mobility firm Green SM has officially entered India with the launch of its premium all-electric taxi service, Green SM Limo, debuting a fleet of 1,000 VinFast electric SUVs across Delhi-NCR.

Operating on a unique company-owned vehicle model, the ride-hailing service targets the region's premium direct-to-consumer segment with plans to eventually expand its fleet to 10,000 electric vehicles nationwide.

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“Kuch Bada Karna Hai”: ixigo To Acquire A Majority Stake In Brevistay For ₹66 Cr

ixigo is expanding beyond travel bookings with a ₹66 Cr deal to acquire a majority stake in Brevistay.

The company has also approved fresh investments in AI startups Proactai and Vestra.AI, signalling a broader push into new growth areas.

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“Aap Thoda Control Karein”: AMFI Suspends Peak XV-Backed Stable Money’s Mutual Fund Distribution Business

Peak XV-backed Stable Money has hit a regulatory speed bump after AMFI suspended its mutual fund distribution business for six months.

The startup has also paused fresh investments in gold and silver mutual funds, including SIPs and lump sum investments.

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“Ho Raha Bharat Nirman”: AirTrunk To Invest $30 Bn In India To Set Up 5 GW Data Center

AirTrunk plans to invest nearly ₹3 Lakh Cr in India by 2030 to build over 5 GW of data center capacity.

The massive bet aims to power the country’s surging demand for cloud computing and AI infrastructure.

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1. Gaming major Nazara has raised over ₹474 Cr through a preferential issue backed by existing and new investors. The company has already received ₹118.5 Cr upfront as part of the warrant subscription.

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2. Cybersecurity startup Innefu Labs has raised ₹285 Cr in a Series B round led by Panthera Growth Partners. The fresh capital comes as the company gears up for an IPO and global expansion.

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3. AI and data analytics startup Lumiq is set to raise ₹50 Cr in a Series B round led by Bajaj Finserv Ventures, with Info Edge doubling down on its bet. The funding marks Lumiq’s first capital raise in nearly four years.

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4. Defense and aerospace startup Aadyah Aerospace has raised ₹31.5 Cr in a Series A round led by Helios Holdings. The fresh capital is expected to support the company’s growth in India’s fast-expanding aerospace sector.

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