Author: Neel Achary

Aurum PropTech Solidifies Leadership in Indian PropTech Sector, Turns PAT Profitable in Q3 FY2026

Mumbai, India, Jan 19: Aurum PropTech, a leading integrated PropTech platform in India, today announced its consolidated financial results for the third quarter of FY2026, marking a significant milestone as the company delivered a Profit After Tax (PAT) positive quarter. This achievement reinforces Aurum PropTech’s evolution into a scalable, profitable, and technology-led PropTech institution.

Consolidated Financial Highlights (Q3 FY2026 vs Q3 FY2025)

• Total income recorded strong year-on-year growth of 77%

• PBT margin improved to 1.6%, reflecting a sharp expansion of 1,535 basis points from the previous year

• Adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 6.5%, an improvement of 885 basis points year-on-year

These results underscore Aurum PropTech’s disciplined execution, steadily improving unit economics, and sustained focus on long-term value creation.

 Segment Performance Highlights

Distribution Business: Scaling Data-Driven Growth

Sell.do

• Closed over 140 enterprise deals and added 1,100 new licenses during the quarter

• Achieved 67% growth in new sales, highlighting strong market traction

• Successfully deployed AI Calling Bot and Personal WhatsApp solutions into production

Aurum Analytica

• Supported 140+ active clients across 260+ projects

• Delivered 54% year-on-year growth, with over 117,000 leads sold in Q3 FY26

• Initiated Aurum Explore MVP to enhance organic reach and expand offerings in Tier-2 markets

PropTiger

• Maintained 175+ active developer clients across 11 active mandates

• Recognized with Quarterly Sales Champion and Best Performer awards from leading developers

• Strengthened multiple growth engines across primary sales, mandates, and mortgage services

Rental Business: Expanding the Rental Horizon

HelloWorld

• Operated 270+ active coliving spaces across 15+ cities

• Onboarded 16 new buildings and added over 2,200 new tenants

• Upgraded the short-stay module and launched a dynamic inventory dashboard

NestAway

• Closed 1,400+ bookings across Standard and Lite models

• Scaled the platform to approximately 9,900 rentable units across 5,183 houses

• Enhanced resale and partner platforms with upgraded dashboards and backend infrastructure

Leadership Commentary

Commenting on the results, Mr. Onkar Shetye, Executive Director, Aurum PropTech, said:

“Q3 FY26 represents a pivotal moment in Aurum PropTech’s journey, as we transitioned from an Adjusted EBITDA-positive position to delivering a PAT-positive outcome. This milestone reflects years of disciplined execution, improving unit economics, and a strong philosophy of capital stewardship across the platform. Our Distribution businesses continue to scale through AI-led innovation at Sell.do, geographic expansion at Aurum Analytica, and sustained operational efficiency at PropTiger. Meanwhile, our Rental platforms—HelloWorld and NestAway—are demonstrating resilience and cash-generative potential. On the Capital side, we are progressing deliberately toward SM REIT opportunities with a strong focus on regulatory readiness and long-term value creation. Together, these developments reinforce our vision of building a scaled, profitable, and technology-led PropTech institution of enduring value.”

CollegeDekho appoints Tapan Jindal as Chief Financial Officer

Gurugram, Jan 19: CollegeDekho, the ed-tech startup by CarDekho Group has today announced the appointment of Tapan Jindal as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as the education services company looks to strengthen its financial governance framework and prepare for next stage of growth. The appointment follows CarDekho’s $10Mn investment in the startup later last year. In his new role, Tapan will join the company’s core leadership team, leading its finance, legal and compliance functions with a focus on corporate governance, capital efficiency, and long-term strategic planning.

Tapan, a Chartered Accountant, brings over 2 decades of rich experience spanning early-stage startups to public companies including Scaler, SugarBox, Zee Group and Devyani International. Tapan has been a part of CarDekho Group in the past where he supported the leadership in strategic planning, fundraising and financial transformation of the company, commending the role of Director- Finance.

Talking about the appointment, Ruchir Arora, Founder & CEO, CollegeDekho, said,

“We are excited to welcome Tapan on board. His enriching experience of running an education venture, and scaling startups and ed-techs will help us unlock the next stage of growth for CollegeDekho. His experience in scaling platforms and building robust financial frameworks will be instrumental in accelerating CollegeDekho’s mission as we democratize access to quality education, guidance, and skilling for students across the country.”

Tapan Jindal, Chief Financial Officer, CollegeDekho, said,

“Education has been close to my heart, and having run an education venture early in my career, I feel CollegeDekho is the place for me and being back in CarDekho Group is like coming back to home. I look forward to creating long term value for stakeholders and strengthening the financial and governance practices as we work towards contributing to the education sector in India via making education accessible to so many.”

Founded in 2015, CollegeDekho enables students to find higher education opportunities in India and abroad. The edtech platform is currently focused on solidifying its presence in Tier 2 & 3 cities with its ‘CollegeDekho Assured’ program that enables students to pursue industry aligned degree courses with partner universities across India. Last year, CollegeDekho guided more than 4 million students for admissions.

Cloudflare acquires Astro web framework team to accelerate high-performance web development

Cloudflare, the leading connectivity cloud company, today announced that The Astro Technology Company team, the creators of the Astro web framework, will be joining Cloudflare. Astro is a popular JavaScript web framework used by major brands like Unilever, Visa, and NBC News, as well as hundreds of thousands of developers, to build fast, content-driven websites. Astro will remain open source to ensure the long-term growth and development of the project under Cloudflare’s stewardship. With the Astro team joining Cloudflare, the companies are doubling down on a sustainable future for Astro to remain the definitive framework for content-driven websites.

Search engines prioritize fast-loading, clean pages, and consumers today expect seemingly instant load times from the web pages they visit. Websites that rely heavily on JavaScript for initial rendering often struggle to deliver this speed, hurting search rankings and customer conversions. With Astro, each web page loads only the most critical code that is needed to display a page in a browser. This makes Astro the preferred choice for building high-performance, content-driven websites optimized for speed.

“Protecting and investing in open source tools is critical to the health of a functioning, free, and open Internet,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. “By acquiring this talented team and committing to one of the most impactful frameworks when it comes to speed and performance, we’re going to ensure Astro continues to be the best web framework for content-driven websites, not only as it is today but for years to come.”

“Joining Cloudflare allows us to accelerate Astro’s development faster and on a much larger scale,” said Fred Schott, CEO of The Astro Technology Company. “Astro will continue to be the best way for developers to build content-driven websites, whether they host on Cloudflare or elsewhere.”

Astro is already the backbone for successful platforms like Webflow and Wix that run on Cloudflare. Astro introduced the beta release of Astro 6 this week, which brings support for additional JavaScript runtimes, improves performance and speeds up build times. Cloudflare is also committed to continuing to support open-source contributions, via the Astro Ecosystem Fund, alongside industry partners including Webflow, Netlify, Wix and Sentry.

Troogue Co-founder Calls for Govt-Led Startup Scaling, AI Access and Stronger R&D Incentives

By:- Mr. Madhu Rajputra Peravalli, Co-founder, Troogue

“We keep talking about enabling startups, but real scale comes when the government becomes a customer, not just a regulator. A single government project says more to investors than ten pitch decks. On skilling too, we need to be brutally honest, training that doesn’t lead to employability is just expensive motivation. I would request the FM to consider funding platforms linking skilling to hiring. We also need to democratise AI access, which is currently affordable for only big tech, in order for India to become a leader in AI-led innovation. Finally, strengthening R&D tax incentives for startups building original IP will boost innovation, create more jobs and foster an environment wherein startups thrive.”

GJC Submits Pre-Budget 2026–27 Recommendations to Boost Gems & Jewellery Sector

GJC Submits Comprehensive Pre-Budget Recommendations for Union Budget 2026–27, Calls for GST Rationalisation and Measures to Boost Formalisation & MSME Growth in Gems & Jewellery Sector

Mumbai, Jan 19: All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC), the apex body representing India’s domestic gems and jewellery trade, submitted its detailed pre-budget recommendations to the Hon’ble Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman for consideration in the Union Budget 2026–27.

The representation focuses on five core pillars:

1. GST reforms to restore affordability and eliminate working capital blockage
2. Direct tax relief on unrealised inventory appreciation due to gold price surge
3. Strengthening formalisation and consumer protection through policy clarity
4. Operationalisation of the long-pending Tourist GST Refund Scheme
5. Sector-specific measures to mobilise idle gold, deepen digital payments, and support MSMEs

Key recommendations include:

Reduction of GST on gold & silver jewellery from 3% to 1.25% (or a uniform 1.5% across the sector) on revenue neutral / equivalence ratio to offset inflation-driven tax burden and revive middle-class and rural demand.

Refund of accumulated ITC on input services or reduction of GST on key input services (rent, security, logistics, etc.) from 18% to 5% to correct inverted duty structure.

Clear circular affirming 5% GST on jewellery job-work services to protect karigars and prevent field-level harassment.

One-year deferral of income tax on unrealised inventory appreciation caused by gold price rise in FY 2025–26, without interest.

Exemption from capital gains tax on exchange of hallmarked jewellery when proceeds are reinvested in new jewellery.

Immediate operationalisation of the Tourist GST Refund scheme at major airports to boost inbound tourism retail spending.

Simplified compliance for MSME jewellers, including higher turnover thresholds for returns and protection from duplicate notices post-audit.

Policy framework for digital gold, rationalised MDR on credit card transactions, and introduction of formal EMI for hallmarked 22-karat jewellery.

The submission emphasises to strengthen India’s position as a global jewellery hub while aligning with national goals of Atmanirbhar Bharat, Make in India, and Viksit Bharat @2047.

Rajesh Rokde, Chairman, All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) said: 

“The sharp rise in gold prices has multiplied the absolute GST burden on consumers and created severe working capital stress for jewellers, even though no policy change has occurred. Our recommendations are not for concessions but for restoring proportionality, liquidity and fairness. A modest GST reduction, together with relief on notional inventory gains and job-work clarity, will bring millions of transactions back into the formal economy, protect karigar livelihoods, and make jewellery once again an accessible savings asset for Indian households. We are confident that the Hon’ble Finance Minister will consider these practical, calibrated reforms in the upcoming Budget.”

Avinash Gupta, Vice Chairman, GJC added: 

“Our sector is deeply committed to formalisation, transparency and digital transformation. By operationalising the Tourist GST Refund Scheme, enabling EMI for 22-karat jewellery, capping credit-card MDR, and regulating digital gold, we can significantly enhance traceability, boost tourism-linked exports, and bring younger consumers confidently into the organised market. These steps will also help reduce India’s reliance on imported bullion over time by mobilising domestic gold through transparent banking channels. We stand ready to partner with the Government to implement these changes smoothly and effectively.”

The council remains committed to partnering with the government to drive transparency, formalization, and consumer trust, ensuring the sector’s contribution to India’s economic and cultural legacy.

Allcargo Terminals Secures 10-Year Extension from JNPA for Speedy Multimodes CFS

“The contract extension reflects our confidence in Allcargo Terminals’ operational capabilities and its contribution to port-led logistics efficiency at JNPA. With the planned infrastructure upgrade, Speedy Multimodes CFS will be equipped to handle the steadily growing cargo volumes at JNPA with its scale, efficiency, and digital-first logistics services. The extension of the contract and upgradation of the facility will contribute to JNPA’s vision to become the first Indian port to handle 10 million TEUs by 2027.”

“We thank JNPA for their continued confidence in us and look forward to further strengthening our partnership. This extension reflects the trust placed in our operational capabilities and reinforces our role in supporting EXIM trade and port operations at JNPT with enhanced efficiency and reliability. Our proximity to the port enables faster turnaround times and smoother cargo movement, while the expanded operating scale positions us to effectively handle the next phase of growth in cargo volumes at JNPT and contribute to a stronger, more integrated port ecosystem.”

Laura Mercier Officially Relaunches in India in Exclusive Partnership with LUXASIA

Laura Mercier, the iconic prestige beauty brand renowned for its effortless artistry and skin-enhancing formulas, announces its official relaunch in India through an exclusive partnership with LUXASIA India. The return marks an exciting new chapter for the brand, bringing its signature philosophy of effortless, refined beauty to a new generation of discerning Indian consumers through high-performance products designed to perform across every occasion. 

Founded by world-renowned makeup artist Laura Mercier, the brand is rooted in a singular belief: beauty should enhance, not mask, who you are. Trained as a painter, Laura discovered her passion for makeup at Paris’s esteemed Carita Institute, where her artistry was shaped by European elegance and perfected backstage on the world’s most influential editorial sets. Her career flourished in New York, where she became a trusted artist to global icons including Madonna, Julia Roberts, and Sarah Jessica Parker. In 1996, she translated decades of professional expertise into a brand built on timeless techniques, intuitive formulas, and a belief in honoring women’s natural beauty through effortless enhancement.

Laura Mercier is a pioneer of modern makeup, defined by an uncompromising quality that stands the test of time and a legacy of creating and redefining product categories. The brand introduced Tinted Moisturiser to the world, forever changing how women think about complexion. Cult-favorite essentials such as the Translucent Loose Setting Powder, Caviar Eyeshadow Sticks, and Pure Canvas Primers have become industry benchmarks for performance, versatility, and ease of use. Central to the brand is the signature Flawless Face technique designed to create skin that looks perfected, yet completely natural.

The relaunch in India highlights a curated selection of the brand’s most iconic products alongside its broader portfolio of complexion, color, and tools, including the brand’s latest innovations designed to meet the evolving needs of today’s consumer. Key products include the Pure Canvas Blurring Primer for a smooth, perfected base; the award-winning Translucent Loose Setting Powder for invisible, long-lasting wear; Caviar Stick Shimmer Eye Color for effortless, blendable dimension; Caviar Matte Lipstick for richly pigmented, lightweight color; Real Flawless Concealer for seamless, crease-free coverage; Tinted Moisturiser Natural Dewy for sheer, radiant skin; and the Velour Puff, a professional-grade essential for a flawless, airbrush like powder application.

Laura Mercier speaks to a confident, creative, and quality-discerning woman who values thoughtful routines, proven performance, and products that feel both luxurious and wearable. Through its partnership with LUXASIA India, the brand will offer Indian consumers access not only to its iconic products, but also to expert guidance, personalised consultations, and the effortless artistry that has defined Laura Mercier for nearly three decades. 

Commenting on the relaunch, Ginny Wright, CEO of Orveon Global, the global beauty collective behind Laura Mercier, shared her enthusiasm for the partnership, saying:

“We partnered with LUXASIA due to their deep market expertise and proven success in the luxury and prestige beauty sector. Together, we’re focused on strengthening and growing Laura Mercier’s brand footprint in India, with plans to double our distribution points by 2026. We plan to expand into new states such as Amritsar, Lucknow, and Ahmedabad, bringing our most iconic products – including Translucent Loose Setting Powder, Real Flawless Foundation, and Caviar Eyeshadow Stick – to more prestige beauty consumers. This expansion allows us to deepen our connection with Indian beauty communities while introducing innovative color cosmetics and enhancing everyday artistry techniques and education.”

LUXASIA is proud to expand its partnership with Laura Mercier to India. India’s cosmetics market has been experiencing exponential growth, and we look forward to continuing to play a leading role in this segment.” – Satyaki Banerjee, Chief Executive Officer, LUXASIA Group

Praseed Changarath, Country Manager – India, LUXASIA Group, added:

“As Indian consumers become more discerning and sophisticated, we are confident that Laura Mercier’s innovative offerings will be well-received. With the make-up segment estimated to grow at a 5Y CAGR of more than 15%, we have no doubt that the prospects for both Laura Mercier and LUXASIA India are promising.” 

Laura Mercier will be available online and at select stores within the Nykaa, Tira, Sephora, Myntra, and Shoppers Stop Beauty footprints. More than makeup, Laura Mercier offers a philosophy of beauty—one rooted in artistry, authenticity, and confidence, helping every woman look and feel her best self.