Gensol Founders Get SEBI's Whiplash, Gupshup Trims 500 Jobs & More

Jaggi Brothers Accused Of Using Gensol’s Funds As Piggybank

SEBI has barred Gensol promoters and BluSmart cofounders, Anmol and Puneet Singh Jaggi, from holding any directorial or key managerial roles at the EPC company, and restricted them and the company from accessing the securities market. The action stems from allegations of fraudulent diversion and misuse of company funds by the Jaggi brothers.

What’s The Catch? Gensol took a loan of INR 977 Cr from the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency and Power Finance Corporation for leasing 6,400 EVs to BluSmart.

However, the company only spent INR 663.9 Cr to procure 4,704 EVs while the remaining INR 262.13 Cr is unaccounted for. As per SEBI, a part of the funds was used to purchase an apartment in DLF’s ‘The Camellias’ project and buy a stake in Ashneer Grover’s Third Unicorn.

Promoters In Murky Waters: Meanwhile, SEBI has put on hold Gensol’s proposed 1:10 stock split, stating that it would appoint a forensic auditor to examine the books of Gensol and its related parties.

BluSmart Takes The Damage: The SEBI crackdown has eclipsed BlueSmart’s future in more ways than one, even though the company has managed to raise $180 Mn so far. Already under scrutiny for delayed salaries amid a cash crunch, rumours suggest BluSmart may soon pivot to operating as a fleet partner for rival Uber.

With BluSmart’s future in limbo, .

From The Editor’s Desk

: The conversational AI unicorn laid off around 200 employees in a restructuring exercise earlier this month. This followed the company firing another 300 employees across departments in December 2024.

: The SaaS platform’s tryst with AI began half a decade ago in 2019. Since then, the company has tripled its spending towards AI and integrated a range of AI capabilities into its SaaS offerings. On the back of this, Whatfix is eyeing $150 Mn in ARR in two years.

: Chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s D2C kitchenware brand is looking to go public later this year at a valuation of INR 1,800 Cr. The startup plans to file its DRHP with SEBI by mid-June and will launch the IPO by December.

: Reacting positively to the US decision to temporarily pause reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, 30 out of the 32 new-age tech companies under Inc42’s coverage gained in a range of 0.09% to 20% yesterday. Fino Payments Bank was the biggest gainer.

: The customer engagement platform is in talks with new and existing backers to raise the capital in a mix of primary and secondary transactions at a valuation of $800 Mn-$850 Mn. The company has raised $207.38 Mn in funding to date.

: The foodtech major has announced the full-scale rollout of its professional service marketplace. Pyng is an AI-driven platform which connects users to verified service professionals including financial advisors, and astrologers, among others.

: The customer engagement platform has acquired the promotion automation solutions platform for an undisclosed amount. This comes at a time when CleverTap is looking to reverse flip to India with an eye on an IPO.

: Officials of the payments body held a meeting with representatives of major banks and TPAPs to discuss UPI’s multiple outages over the past three weeks. NPCI directed the attendees to be cautious when commenting publicly on the matter.

Inc42 Startup Spotlight How Harvested Robotics Is Bringing AI-Powered Bots To Indian Fields

Farming remains a labour-intensive sector, plagued not just by outdated tools and low yields but also by labour shortages during critical harvest periods. To tackle these challenges, Rahul Arepaka and George Mathew launched Harvested Robotics in 2023.

Building Robots For Weeding: The two-year-old agritech startup is developing autonomous robots that can identify, select, and harvest crops with speed and precision. Equipped with AI-powered vision, advanced sensors, and smart decision-making, these robots navigate complex farm environments and handle delicate produce with care

Automating Farms: By automating the harvesting process, the startup also aims to minimise crop wastage to make farming more sustainable. The integration of harvesting robots can also help farmers streamline resource use and move towards sustainable farming practices.

What’s The Market Opportunity? While the harvest robot market is still in its infancy in India, the global harvesting robot market is projected to become a $2.80 Bn market opportunity by 2034.

As more and more Indian farmers embrace emerging technologies like AI and drones,

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