• Startup Pulse
    Traversal raises $120 million in a Series B round at a $1 billion valuation, led by Kleiner Perkins, Redpoint and Khosla Ventures, with Sequoia Capital, Battery Ventures and Amex Ventures participating. GIVA raises over $100 million in a round led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management. The Croffle Guys raises ₹14 crore in a round led by V3 Ventures, with N.A.N Partners participating. Solgram raises over $1 million in a pre-seed round led by DSG Consumer Partners and Saama Capital, with Kapil Chopra participating. Sachin Tendulkar makes a strategic investment in Metasports Interactive, the company behind Hitwicket. The amount was not disclosed. Hyeglo Beauty raises ₹7 crore in a round led by Sauce, with Giga Capital, Consumer Collective, Reckitt's Arjun Purkayastha and The Patient Capital participating. Unify Foodworks raises ₹5 crore in seed funding through convertible debentures from Atrium Ventures, SailThru Ventures, Arjun Vaidya and Abhishek Goyal. OBSESS raises approximately ₹3 crore in an angel round from Pushpendra Singh, Amit Goel and Harshit Vij. Dispatch Network raises ₹5 crore in a pre-seed round led by Antler India, with angel investors participating. Two Point O Capital raises $10 million in a round led by Transition Venture Capital, with Omnivore and angel investors participating. Traversal raises $120 million in a Series B round at a $1 billion valuation, led by Kleiner Perkins, Redpoint and Khosla Ventures, with Sequoia Capital, Battery Ventures and Amex Ventures participating. GIVA raises over $100 million in a round led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management. The Croffle Guys raises ₹14 crore in a round led by V3 Ventures, with N.A.N Partners participating. Solgram raises over $1 million in a pre-seed round led by DSG Consumer Partners and Saama Capital, with Kapil Chopra participating. Sachin Tendulkar makes a strategic investment in Metasports Interactive, the company behind Hitwicket. The amount was not disclosed. Hyeglo Beauty raises ₹7 crore in a round led by Sauce, with Giga Capital, Consumer Collective, Reckitt's Arjun Purkayastha and The Patient Capital participating. Unify Foodworks raises ₹5 crore in seed funding through convertible debentures from Atrium Ventures, SailThru Ventures, Arjun Vaidya and Abhishek Goyal. OBSESS raises approximately ₹3 crore in an angel round from Pushpendra Singh, Amit Goel and Harshit Vij. Dispatch Network raises ₹5 crore in a pre-seed round led by Antler India, with angel investors participating. Two Point O Capital raises $10 million in a round led by Transition Venture Capital, with Omnivore and angel investors participating.
  • Hexaware Introduces Zero License to Replace SaaS Workflows with Agentic AI

    Zero License

    Hexaware Technologies [NSE: HEXT], a global IT services and solutions provider, announced the launch of Zero License, a new enterprise offering designed to help organizations replace bloated SaaS workflows with agentic AI in months, not years.

    The Zero License platform enables enterprises to reduce software license costs, eliminate manual effort, and simplify complex application stacks by making AI agents the primary execution layer while making maintenance, upgrades, and feature additions faster and easier.

    Over the past decade, enterprise SaaS stacks have expanded significantly, often without becoming more efficient.

    Organizations continue adding tools faster than they retire them, leading to overlapping capabilities, rising license costs, and growing integration overhead.

    Hidden waste from zombie licenses, shelfware, and auto-renewals continues to erode software ROI, while vendors tighten licensing models and reduce commercial flexibility.

    Also Read: Agentic AI Shift Reshapes India’s IT Services and Enterprise Software Economics: Tracxn Report

    Zero License Shifts Enterprise Execution from Tools to Outcomes

    Zero License addresses these challenges by shifting the focus from managing tools to executing outcomes.

    Instead of adding another software layer, the offering introduces an AI operating layer over existing systems.

    Core platforms remain systems of record, while AI agents become the system of action – handling intake, data capture, routing, execution, and follow-ups across processes.

    This approach reduces dependence on low-value SaaS, cuts integration overhead, and accelerates operational cycle times.

    “Most organizations don’t have a tooling problem. They have an execution problem,” said Sanjay Salunkhe, President & Global Head – Digital and Software Services, Hexaware.

    “Zero License helps enterprises move from software that organizes work to AI that actually does the work. The result is faster execution, simpler stacks, and measurable reduction in license spend within months.”

    Also Read: vCision: CitiusTech and Ventra Health Launch Agentic AI-Powered Revenue Intelligence Platform

    The Zero License offering is particularly suited to workflow-heavy and regulated industries, including:

    • Healthcare: AI agents automate claims, prior authorizations, and provider and member workflows over core platforms.
    • Insurance: AI agents manage intake, triage, adjudication, and follow-ups across policy and claims systems.
    • Banking and Financial Services: AI agents execute KYC, onboarding, reconciliations, and exception handling across systems.
    • Manufacturing and Utilities: AI agents support planning, coordination, scheduling, and service execution while reducing tool sprawl and operational friction.

    “With Zero License, AI isn’t another tool in the stack. It’s the execution surface,” said Siddharth Dhar, President & Global Head – AI, Hexaware.

    “Enterprises can finally simplify their technology landscape while gaining greater control over how work actually gets done.”

    Author

    • Salil Urunkar

      Salil Urunkar is a senior journalist and the editorial mind behind Sahyadri Startups. With years of experience covering Pune’s entrepreneurial rise, he’s passionate about telling the real stories of founders, disruptors, and game-changers.

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