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IT fresher hiring rebounds; Agrani’s Rs 800 cr raise

By Sohail Khan 2 October 2026, 7:43 am

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Morning Dispatch

IT fresher hiring rebounds; Agrani's Rs 800 crore raise

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Happy Friday! After nearly two years of subdued fresher intake, hiring is picking up across the technology and IT industry. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:

■ Moneyview's listing pop

■ UPI transaction volume dips

■ RDI funding pause

IT sector sees an uptick in fresher hiring after two years of slowdown

India’s $300 billion technology and IT services industry is seeing a revival in fresher onboarding after nearly two years of subdued hiring.

Even so, entry-level recruitment remains below mid-level hiring as demand for experienced AI talent stays strong.

Number wise: Fresher hiring, which fell to a record low of around 110,000 in FY26, is expected to rise to 115,000-135,000 in the current fiscal year, according to recruitment firm Quess Group. That implies a 4.5-22.7% increase.

The decline had been steady:

FY22: 380,000
FY23: 250,000
FY24: 155,000
FY25: 125,000
FY26: ~110,000

A rebound began in the June quarter, with TCS, Infosys and HCLTech together recruiting about 19,000 entry-level staff, Nasscom said in its September quarter report covering 29 IT services firms.

Higher bar for freshers: Experts told us the bar for entry-level talent has risen. Firms increasingly want specialised capabilities in AI, cloud, data and cybersecurity to improve revenue visibility, meet client demands and ensure deployment readiness with limited ramp-up time.

Agrani in talks to raise Rs 800-850 crore from Samsung, 360 One, Peak XV

Dheemanth Nagaraj, Ashok Jagannathan, Rajesh Vivekanandham and Srikanth Nimmagadda, cofounders, Agrani Labs

Bengaluru-based semiconductor startup Agrani Labs is in talks to raise Rs 800-850 crore in a funding round that could include South Korean conglomerate Samsung, 360 One Asset Management and existing backer Peak XV Partners, people aware of the matter told ET.

The company is also looking to tap around Rs 120-130 crore under the government-backed Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme as part of the fundraise.

Deal details:

Peak XV is likely to invest about Rs 180-200 crore; the exact amounts for Samsung and 360 One could not be immediately confirmed.
The round is expected to value Agrani at approximately Rs 2,400-2,500 crore on a post-money basis.
If completed, this would be among the largest early-stage fundraises by an Indian semiconductor startup.

What Agrani is building: Founded by former Intel and AMD executives Dheemanth Nagaraj, Ashok Jagannathan, Srikanth Nimmagadda and Rajesh Vivekanandham, Agrani is developing high-performance AI GPUs for data centres along with a full software stack. The startup emerged from stealth earlier this year after an $8 million seed round led by Peak XV.

Also Read: Intel-AMD veterans' Agrani Labs scouts for $100 million to build AI chip

Moneyview closes 67% above IPO price, boosts paper gains for Ribbit, Accel

Puneet Agarwal, cofounder and CEO, Moneyview

Digital lender Moneyview’s shares closed 67% above their IPO (initial public offering) price on Thursday, sharply increasing the paper value of the residual holdings of early investors Ribbit Capital, Accel, and Tiger Global, who partially monetised their stake through the public offering.

IPO proceeds: Ribbit, Accel and Tiger Global realised about Rs 39 crore, Rs 83 crore and Rs 52 crore, respectively, by selling part of their holdings through the IPO’s OFS (offer for sale) portion at Rs 34 apiece.

Investor gains: Ribbit’s remaining stake was worth about Rs 826 crore at the closing price, while Accel’s was valued at around Rs 1,775 crore. Tiger Global’s residual holding was worth about Rs 1,117 crore.

Financials:

Revenue: Total income rose 43% to Rs 3,404 crore in FY26 from Rs 2,379 crore in FY25.
Profit: PAT increased 1% to Rs 243 crore from Rs 240 crore in FY25.

UPI transaction volume dips to 24.07 billion in September

India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed 24.07 billion transactions worth Rs 29.37 lakh crore in September, moderating from a record high in August, according to data released by the NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India).

What’s happening: Transaction volumes dipped 1.8% from 24.51 billion in August, while the value of transactions also fell marginally month-on-month. On a year-on-year basis, transaction

MDR backdrop: The September numbers come ahead of changes to the MDR (merchant discount rate) framework that take effect from October 15. NPCI announced a 0.4% MDR on UPI transactions for person-to-merchant payments above 2,000, keeping small-ticket transactions outside its remit. There will be no charge on peer-to-peer payments.

Other Top Stories By Our Reporters

RDI funding pause: The Technology Development Board (TDB) has closed its call for proposals under the government's Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme for administrative reasons, its secretary Rajesh Kumar Pathak told ET, denying that a shortage of funds had prompted the move.

Ex-Elevation Capital partner joins Bessemer: Mayank Khanduja, a former partner at Elevation Capital, has joined Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners as a partner in its India team, the firm said in a statement on Wednesday.

SBI Mutual Fund increases Swiggy stake: SBI Mutual Fund, India’s largest asset management company, has raised its stake in food and grocery delivery company Swiggy to above 5% purchasing 1.18 crore shares worth around Rs 300 crore through open-market transactions, an exchange filing showed.

Global Picks We Are Reading

■ Why we can thumb our noses at AI (FT)

■ Saudi Arabia’s new EV brand takes on the US rival it already controls (Rest of World)

■ Cracks emerge in AI’s debt-fueled data center boom (The Information)