Deeptech bets heat up; Paytm, PB Fintech, Meesho earnings

Happy Thursday! VCs are doubling down on India’s deeptech, with early-stage bets leading the charge. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in this edition:
■ Pronto hits $200 million valuation
■ Freshworks, Pocket FM layoffs
■ Adobe India MD interview

Early-stage tech draws VC interest across aviation, biotech, precision manufacturing

Investors are continuing to chase India’s deeptech story, but with a sharper eye on risk — finding more comfort in early-stage deals across AI, healthcare and precision manufacturing than in big-ticket commitments, as the funding market remains cautious.

Buzzing deals:

Aviation and aerospace component manufacturers Parsec Aerospace and Alteon Energy are discussing raising fresh funding from Lightspeed and Lachy Groom, respectively.
Dognosis, which uses dogs’ olfactory abilities to identify diseases, has recently closed a $4-6.5 million round from Accel and others.
Biotech startup Locksmith Bio is currently in discussions with Sameer Brij Verma, a veteran tech investor in India who launched his new fund last year.
Verma is also currently talking to Leumas, a precision manufacturing firm for pharmaceutical companies.

Tell me more: While the early-stage deal activity in deeptech is buzzing, growth and late-stage rounds stay in the slow lane.

However, there are a few deals in the making.

Drone tech startup Airbound and precision manufacturing firm Ethereal Machines are in advanced stages of closing growth rounds.
But the overall growth-stage activity in deeptech dropped 12% in 2025 compared to the year before, while early-stage saw a 10% rise.

Also Read: VCs double down on high-growth bets as select startups ratchet up steep valuations

Paytm posts first-ever annual profit of Rs 552 crore in FY26

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO, Paytm

Digital payments firm Paytm has posted its first full-year profit, driven by cost control and growth in financial services revenue.

Q4 numbers:

Operating revenue: up 18% at Rs 2,264 crore, vs Rs 1,912 crore a year earlier
Net profit: at Rs 183 crore, compared to a loss of Rs 545 crore last year
Total expenses: at Rs 2,269 crore, vs Rs 2,155 crore a year earlier

FY26 numbers:

Operating revenue: up 22% at Rs 8,437 crore, from Rs 6,900 crore
Net profit: at Rs 552 crore, compared to a loss of Rs 663 crore last year

What else? The company said it transferred its offline merchant payments business to its wholly owned arm, Paytm Payment Services, for a valuation of Rs 975 crore, with no overall impact on its financial position.

PB Fintech’s Q4: Revenue up 36% to Rs 2,061 crore, net profit up 54%

Alok Bansal and Yashish Dahiya, founders, PB Fintech group

PB Fintech reported strong quarterly results, with growth in both revenue and profit driven by higher insurance premium collections.

Q4 numbers:

Operating revenue: up 36% at Rs 2,061 crore, vs Rs 1,507.8 crore a year prior
Net profit: up 54% at Rs 261 crore, vs Rs 169 crore last year
Total expenses: Rs 370 crore vs Rs 307 crore in the year-ago period.
Employee expenses: up 37%, at Rs 699.3 crore.

FY26 numbers:

Operating revenue: up 37%, at Rs 6,794 crore.
PAT: Rs 670 crore, up 115%.
Full-year insurance premium (Policybazaar): up 42%, at Rs 29,934 crore.

Also Read: Paytm’s cap table turns Indian: What changes now?

Meesho’s March quarter: Losses shrink 88% as revenue sees healthy growth

Vidit Aatrey, CEO, Meesho

Ecommerce platform Meesho reported a sharp reduction in its consolidated losses for the March quarter compared to the previous year.

Financials:

Consolidated loss: down 88% to Rs 166 crore in March vs Rs 1,391 crore a year earlier.
Revenue from operations: up 47% at Rs 3,531 crore vs Rs 2,400 crore in the same quarter last year.

Also Read: SaaS firm Capillary Tech posts strong Q4 on enterprise wins, Kognitiv integration

Instant house-help startup Pronto bags $20 million as valuation doubles to $200 million

Anjali Sardana, founder, Pronto

Instant home services startup Pronto has secured $20 million (Rs 189 crore) from US tech investor Lachy Groom, doubling its valuation since March, founder Anjali Sardana told us.

Deal details: This investment adds to Pronto’s earlier $25 million round, which valued the company at $100 million and saw participation from Epiq Capital, General Catalyst, and Bain Capital Ventures. With the latest funding, Pronto’s total capital raised now stands at $58 million.

ET had earlier reported on Groom’s investment on April 24.

Yes, and? In April, the company’s monthly orders rose 40% compared to the previous month, while average order values stayed in the Rs 130–140 range due to lower discounts amid tight supply.

Also Read: Pronto crosses 500,000 bookings in March as platform completes a year

Rival watch: This comes shortly after rival Snabbit raised $56 million from Susquehanna Venture Capital, Unicorn Growth Fund, and Bertelsmann India Investments, taking its valuation to $350 million. It has raised $112 million so far.

Meanwhile, market leader Urban Company went public last year, but its stock has faced pressure since listing due to increasing competition from risk-capital-backed startups.

Also Read: Househelp apps top 2 million monthly orders amid profitability questions

Freshworks to cut 500 jobs; Q1 revenue hits $228 million

Dennis Woodside, CEO, Freshworks

Announcing quarterly results, Freshworks said it will cut jobs as it increases focus on artificial intelligence.

Layoffs lowdown: The company said it will cut 11% of its global workforce, affecting nearly 500 employees, as part of its shift towards AI-led operations.

Chief executive Dennis Woodside said there are no plans for more job cuts, adding that the company will keep teams lean. “We will be very thoughtful about any additional headcount… or backfilling existing roles, and about how we stay fast and nimble while taking advantage of AI,” he told us.

This is its first major round of layoffs since 2024, when it cut around 13% of its staff globally.

Also Read: Freshworks cofounder Mathrubootham rejects ‘SaaSpocalypse’ prediction, says AI agents won’t kill industry

Financials:

Revenue: rose to $228.6 million on-year, beating estimates of $223.24 million.
Operating loss: narrowed to $8.1 million from $10.4 million a year earlier.

Pocket FM cuts 100 jobs, moves 2,000 contract employees on Quess Corp’s payroll

Rohan Nayak, cofounder, Pocket FM

Audio storytelling platform Pocket FM has laid off about 100 employees, representing roughly 10% of its total workforce, sources familiar with the matter told us.

Why the layoffs? One source said the decision followed an internal review, where certain employees were found not to meet the required skill standards for their roles.

“Most of the layoffs were in the content team, while many contractual employees have also been moved to Quess Corp’s payroll,” the person added.

Grocery delivery startup Apna Mart culls 10% of staff, moves base to Gurugram

Accel and Peak XV-backed grocery delivery startup Apna Mart has cut around 10% of its workforce, roughly 35 to 40 employees, as part of a broader restructuring tied to AI-led automation.

What else: Jobs were also affected due to the shift in location. In an internal email reviewed by ET, the company informed affected employees that their roles had been impacted due to the transition “from Bangalore to base locations,” while offering severance equivalent to two months’ pay.