The funding momentum continued in the Indian startup ecosystem this week as 22 startups raised nearly $116.26 million, led by four growth-stage transactions.

Last week, the domestic startup ecosystem raised nearly $176 million in funding across 16 deals.

This week, four startups raised around $80 million in funding among the growth-stage deals.

Wealth management platform Dezerv raised $32 million in a funding round led by Premji Invest. The round also saw participation from existing investors Matrix Partners India (aka Z47), Accel and Elevation Capital.

Sridhar Vembu, CEO and Co-founder of Cloud software major Zoho, on Saturday said the company has opened its first dedicated factory to assemble the Karuvi line of power tools.

The company, situated in Tenkasi district in Tamil Nadu, last month announced to invest an undisclosed amount in manufacturing startup Karuvi, which would create jobs in smaller towns and villages.

"The factory is in a small village called Mathapuram in Tenkasi district, close to the Zoho office in Mathalamparai village," informed Vembu on X social media platform.

"We have trained a group of about 15 talented young people drawn from surrounding villages to work in the factory," he said, adding that this is a small beginning for a big dream in rural manufacturing.

Flexi staffing industry increased 15.3 per cent (year-on-year) in the previous fiscal (FY24), up from 14 per cent, and about 220,000 flexible jobs were created, a new report has shown.

According to the Indian Staffing Federation's (ISF) Annual Employment Trends 2024 report, the staffing industry kept on demonstrating quarter-on-quarter growth of 2.3 per cent in the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY24, adding 30,000 new flexi employment opportunities.

The federation mentioned that the total flexi workforce employed by ISF members grew to about 166,000 during the financial year.

London-based technology company Nothing on Friday announced that 1 lakh units of its sub-brand's debut smartphone CMF Phone 1, which is being manufactured in India, was sold in just three hours across various channels.

"The overwhelming demand for CMF Phone 1 further solidifies Nothing's reputation for delivering cutting-edge technology and unique design," Nothing said in a statement.

The company launched the device in two variants (6GB+128GB and 8GB+128GB) at a starting price of Rs 15,999.

Riding on overall economic growth, especially in the rural markets, the Indian automobile industry saw a robust performance across all segments in the first quarter of the current fiscal (FY25), including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three-wheelers, and two-wheelers, data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said on Friday.

In the passenger vehicles segment, sales surpassed one million units in Q1 FY25 for the first time.

According to SIAM, sales grew by 3 per cent compared to the same period last year, reaching a total of 1,026,006 units.

Fintech company Partior on Friday announced the first close of over $60 million Series B round led by the venture capital and growth investing firm Peak XV Partners.

The round was also supported by Valor Capital Group and Jump Trading Group as new investors, and JP Morgan, Standard Chartered and Temasek as existing shareholders.

"We see a very bright future for blockchain-based frictionless, cross-border transactions. Having some of the world’s best banks and investors back our vision, validates this even further," Humphrey Valenbreder, CEO, Partior, said in a statement.

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong has been on a visit to India to review the company's local operations and meet with business partners, according to a report.

Lee arrived in Mumbai on Thursday, reports News Agency, citing sources.

Samsung Electronics operates a smartphone factory in Noida, northern India, and a home appliance facility in Sriperumbudur, southern India, along with several R&D and design centres.

Quick grocery delivery platform Zepto on Friday announced the elevation of Devendra Meel to the Chief Business Officer (CBO), effective July 2024.

In this role, he will lead category management and foster brand partnerships, ensuring optimal assortment, pricing, availability, and growth of all core categories on the platform.

"I am deeply committed to this mission and will bring all my energy and dedication to it. Zepto's meritocratic, fast-moving environment offers high-stakes challenges and the potential for 10X career growth," Meel said in a statement.

Elon Musk-run X is developing a downvoting feature which will be used to improve the ranking of replies.

While the company hasn't announced its plans officially, recent findings suggest that the 'downvote' feature might actually resemble a 'dislike' button instead of a Reddit-style downvote icon, reports.

As per code references found in the X iOS app show a button that seems like a broken heart icon next to the microblogging platform’s heart-shaped 'like' button as well as direct references to a 'downvote' feature.

The feature was tested by the company in 2021, ahead of Musk’s acquisition.

After Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal backed Infosys founder Narayana Murthy's 70-hour work-week advice, a top neurologist on Friday warned that it could increase the risk of several serious diseases and even premature death.

Murthy had, in 2023, said that if India wants to compete with developed economies that have made remarkable progress in recent decades, youngsters should work for 70 hours a week.

In a recent podcast, Bhavish reignited the debate on the 70-hour work week, saying that he is "fully in sync" with his advice.