Connect with us

Technology

Mesa School of Business raises ₹110 crore to expand its portfolio of programmes for the AI era

Published

on

Series A co-led by Dharana Capital and Elevation Capital in India’s first startup focused business school

BENGALURU, India, Oct. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Mesa School of Business has raised ₹110 crore, comprising ~₹85 crore in Series A equity funding co-led by Dharana Capital and existing investor Elevation Capital, and ₹25 crore in venture debt from InnoVen Capital and Alteria Capital. New capital will be used to invest in AI-first curriculum for existing programs, launch & grow new programs and build strategic partnerships with the startup ecosystem.

Founded in 2023 by Ankit Agarwal and Varun Limaye, Mesa runs residential programmes built around learning by doing real things. Every student builds and runs a small business, and learns to use AI to build and launch a tech product. More than 100 founders have taught on campus, and students have worked on over 200 projects with startups. Mesa is also backed by founders including Kunal Shah (CRED), Vidit Aatrey (Meesho), Abhiraj Bhal (Urban Company) and Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm).

Mesa has grown from a single postgraduate cohort to over 550 students across three programmes in the last 3 years: a one-year Post Graduate Programme in Startup Leadership, a four-year undergraduate programme on business & entrepreneurship, and Forge, a one-year programme for fresh graduates.

Mesa School alumni either opt for full time jobs in startups or choose to build their own companies. First two PG cohorts got an average CTC of ₹26 lakh, with the top 25% averaging ₹36.5 lakh. All placed students joined top startups, including Zomato, Zepto, Urban Company, Scapia and Comet, 58% of them in founder-facing roles.

Nearly 20% of graduates became entrepreneurs themselves. 50+ student startups are currently incubated at Mesa Startup Lab, the school’s in-house residency. Put together, they have raised ₹25+ crore in funding and grants and have an annual revenue run-rate of ₹50+ crore. Their backers include Nikhil Kamath, Ronnie Screwvala, Campus Fund, BeyondSeed, Foundery, i-Venture@ISB and IdeaBaaz. Among them is Mumbai Pav Co. which has raised ₹9 crore. Two student founders have already appeared on Shark Tank India.

Mesa will use the funds in three areas. It will strengthen its leadership team and build its capabilities in AI-led programme design and delivery, setting the school up to scale both its existing and new programmes. It will deepen strategic partnerships with leading startups, which will help shape its programmes and offer students industry-led projects, mentorship and job opportunities. And it will invest in launching and scaling new programmes.

“The rapid evolution of modern tech has exposed a glaring disconnect in higher education: students feel unprepared for new-age roles, and companies can’t find job-ready talent. Mesa is bridging that gap by rethinking business education for an AI-first world, ensuring students develop proven, high-impact operational capabilities.” said Vamsi Duvvuri, Founder and Managing Partner, Dharana Capital.

“Higher education in India needs to be rebuilt for the AI era, not patched. We believe founder-led, mission-driven schools like Mesa will be the new-age builders of Indian education, and we’re excited to double down,” said Mukul Arora, Co-Managing Partner, Elevation Capital.

“In an AI-led world, what will set ambitious young people apart is judgement, a bias for action and an understanding of how the world actually works – and those come only from experience. That’s why at Mesa, every student builds a real business with real revenue, uses AI on live problems, and gets feedback from founders who are always in the room. That is why startups hire our students, and why so many of them go on to build their own startups,” said Ankit Agarwal, co-founder, Mesa School of Business.

“AI will take over much of back-office work. Young people shouldn’t spend their early careers in roles that are disappearing, but building, selling and launching things. That’s what Mesa trains them to do,” said Varun Limaye, co-founder, Mesa School of Business.

About Mesa School of Business

Mesa School of Business is a Bengaluru-based institution that prepares young people to build, lead and create value in an AI-first world. It was founded in 2023 by Ankit Agarwal (Harvard Business School, IIT Bombay; formerly BCG and Urban Company) and Varun Limaye (Kellogg School of Management; formerly Amazon). Mesa offers residential programmes for undergraduates, fresh graduates and early-career professionals, and its mission is to build India’s Stanford. www.mesaschool.co

About Dharana Capital

Dharana Capital is an India-focused growth-stage technology and consumer investment firm. Dharana Capital’s current investments include Urban Company, LAT Aerospace, MyGate, Vyapar, Temple, Itilite, Petpooja, Vayudh and Beyond Appliances amongst others. Dharana is backed by top US University endowments and other non-profit institutions.

About Elevation Capital

Founded in 2002, Elevation Capital is one of India’s leading early-stage venture capital firms, partnering with founders from seed through scale. Elevation has invested more than $2.5 billion across 200+ companies, backing category-defining businesses across consumer-tech, fin-tech, enterprise AI, healthcare and deep-tech, including MakeMyTrip, Paytm, Firstcry, Swiggy, Urban Company and Meesho. The firm remains committed to backing audacious founders building enduring companies from India for the world.

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/mesa-school-of-business-raises-110-crore-to-expand-its-portfolio-of-programmes-for-the-ai-era-302905735.html

Continue Reading

Technology

Thunes Secures Double Win at the Pay360 Awards 2026

Published

on

By

Best FX Initiative and Best Business Payments Product wins recognise Thunes’ capabilities in global liquidity management and cross-border business payments

LONDON, Oct. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Thunes, the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world, today announced that it has won Best FX Initiative and Best Business Payments Product at the Pay360 Awards 2026. The double win recognises Thunes’ work to help businesses manage liquidity across currencies and make cross-border payments with greater speed, visibility and control.

Announced on 7 October at Grosvenor House Hotel in London, the awards are organised by The Payments Association and recognise innovation and achievement across the payments industry.

The recognition reflects two connected challenges for businesses operating internationally: ensuring funds are available where and when they are needed, and delivering payments reliably across markets. Thunes addresses these through its Direct Global Network, which spans 140 countries and billions of payment endpoints, supported by its SmartX Treasury System and Fortress Compliance Platform.

Thunes won Best FX Initiative for the second consecutive year, building on its 2025 recognition for excellence in global liquidity management. Its SmartX Treasury System supports money movement across more than 90 currencies, helping Members manage funding and settlement across the Network.

The Best Business Payments Product award recognises Thunes’ Business Payments solution, which supports salary, supplier and invoice payments, alongside treasury funding. It enables financial institutions and the businesses they serve, plus enterprises, marketplaces and platforms to pay across borders through the accounts and wallets their recipients use.

Abigail Slater, SVP Sales Europe, at Thunes, said: “Businesses need confidence that they can fund and deliver payments across borders without unnecessary complexity. These awards recognise how we bring those capabilities together, helping our Members manage liquidity, pay suppliers and employees, and grow internationally. Thank you to our valued Members for their trust and to the brilliant Thunes team who deliver for them every day.”

Mathieu Limousi, Chief Marketing Officer at Thunes, said: “Consecutive FX wins and recognition for our Business Payments product reflect the amazing progress our teams are making in solving real problems for the Members we serve. At Thunes we are committed to simplifying global money movement so our Members can focus on serving their customers and growing their businesses.”

The double win builds on Thunes’ previous Pay360 successes, including Best FX Initiative in 2025, and Leading Organisation in the Industry and Best International Payments, Remittance or use of FX in 2024.

About Thunes:

For more information, visit: https://www.thunes.com/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/thunes-secures-double-win-at-the-pay360-awards-2026-302905990.html

SOURCE Thunes

Continue Reading

Technology

ZyG Launches the ZyG Score to Identify the Next Breakout eCommerce Brands; Predicting eCommerce Success Moves from Gut Feeling to Science

Published

on

By

eCommerce brands with $1M+ in annual online sales receive a ZyGnal, ZyG’s proprietary X-ray of a brand’s market opportunity, at no cost The 500 most promising brands will receive a $10,000 ZyG-funded Marketability Test to prove their potential with real customers

TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ZyG, the operating system for eCommerce scale, today launched the ZyG Score, a new way to identify consumer brands with the potential to reach hundreds of millions in annual online sales.

Every ZyG Score starts with a ZyGnal, ZyG’s proprietary, fully agentic X-ray of a brand’s market opportunity. Starting today, consumer brands with $1M+ in online sales will receive their ZyGnal at no cost, providing them with unparalleled insights into their competitive landscape and where and how they can win.

Brands with a strong ZyGnal can advance to a real-world Marketability Test where ZyG uses its network of AI agents to build the brand’s positioning, creative, offers and storefront, and then tests them with U.S. consumers. The test reaches enough users to deliver meaningful predictive KPIs, including the ability to forecast lifetime value (LTV). The 500 brands with the strongest ZyGnals will get a fully funded Marketability Test, with ZyG investing $10,000 of its own capital in media spend. The ZyGnal and Marketability Test together produce the ZyG Score, with standout brands invited to become ZyG Scale Partners. ZyG then executes scale end to end and can provide the financing needed for customer acquisition, removing one of the main barriers to eCom growth.

“We’re on a quest to find the brands that can truly break the internet,” said Omer Kaplan, CEO and Co-Founder of ZyG. “But there’s enormous value for brands along the way. The ZyGnal gives them a level of intelligence about their market, competition and opportunity that they simply can’t get anywhere else. And for the 500 brands that show the strongest ZyG Score, we will invest $10,000 of our own capital into a Marketability Test to see how that opportunity holds up with real customers. We’re investing in finding the next breakout brands and giving brands something incredibly valuable in the process.”

This model creates a new path from promising product to scaled consumer brand: understand the opportunity agentically, prove it with real customers, then put execution and financing behind the brands with the greatest potential.

Finding the 0.2%

Amazon and Shopify made it dramatically easier to start selling online, but scaling into a globally successful brand is a different story. Just 0.2% of eCommerce businesses generate more than $100 million in annual sales.

The leap from promising product to successful online brand is difficult for three reasons: it is hard to know which brands truly have the potential to scale, executing that scale requires coordinating an enormous number of moving parts, and growth requires financing.

ZyG addresses all three. The ZyG Score identifies brands that have real scale potential. ZyG then takes responsibility for scaling those it selects on its platform, end to end. It can also provide financing so that media spend isn’t a barrier to growth. 

“Great products are everywhere, but very few have what it takes to become massive online brands,” said Omer Kaplan, CEO and co-founder of ZyG. “The ZyG Score is designed to identify those standout brands. When we do, we put ZyG’s full firepower behind them, with the goal of scaling them tenfold in just two or three years.”

From ZyGnal to ZyG Score

Every ZyG Score begins with a ZyGnal, ZyG’s proprietary X-ray of a brand’s market opportunity. Hundreds of AI agents analyze competitors’ websites, ads, reviews, social engagement, pricing and traffic, combining that intelligence with paid datasets and ZyG’s own proprietary benchmarks. The result is a detailed view of who the brand is really competing against, where it can win, and how significant the opportunity could be.

With the ZyGnal, ZyG is making this first stage of its assessment available at no cost to any eCommerce brand with 1M+ in annual online sales, regardless of whether they ultimately become ZyG Scale Partners.

From the ZyGnals, ZyG will select the 500 brands with the strongest breakout potential to advance to the second stage: a live Marketability Test. ZyG builds the positioning, messaging, storefront, creative and offers required to test the opportunity, and then puts them in front of real U.S. consumers for approximately one week. ZyG invests approximately $10,000 in media spend for each selected brand to attract real customers and measure their behavior.

Acquisition costs, conversion, engagement and other performance data are measured against ZyG’s benchmarks and predictive models. Together, the ZyGnal and Marketability Test produce the final ZyG Score.

From scoring brands to scaling 

A strong ZyG Score opens the final gate: an invitation to scale with ZyG. When ZyG partners with a brand, it takes responsibility for the digital execution required to scale, from customer acquisition, creative and conversion to retention, organic growth, customer support and logistics. Underpinning it all is one connected system built on unified data, predictive models and a network of AI agents.

The objective is not to give brands another set of tools or dashboards to manage themselves, but to deliver eCommerce scale as an outcome.

Financing Growth

Beyond validation and execution, eCommerce brands face a significant financing challenge. 

ZyG finances customer acquisition for Scale Partners using its predictive lifetime-value and return models, so marketing can be accelerated without financing every incremental advertising dollar themselves.

To complete the ZyG onboarding and receive your ZyGnal: https://www.zyg.com/zyg-score

About ZyG

ZyG is an operating system delivering ecommerce scale, turning great brands into breakout online success. The ZyG OS combines unified data, predictive models and a network of AI agents to identify, validate, finance and execute growth end-to-end.

ZyG is led by members of the ironSource founding team, which took the company public on the NYSE in 2021 at an approximately $11 billion valuation, alongside senior leaders in AI, ecommerce and growth. For more information, visit www.zyg.com.

Contact:
press@zyg.com 

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zyg-launches-the-zyg-score-to-identify-the-next-breakout-ecommerce-brands-predicting-ecommerce-success-moves-from-gut-feeling-to-science-302906762.html

SOURCE ZyG

Continue Reading

Technology

Mibro Launches AeroPace, a Running Smartwatch Designed for Beginner Runners

Published

on

By

New 32g smartwatch combines Mibro Coach, precision tracking, and a lightweight design to make scientific running training more accessible

SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Smart wearables maker Mibro today announced the launch of AeroPace*, its latest running smartwatch and the brand’s first running watch for beginner runners. Guided by its mission to help people live more active and healthier lives, Mibro aims to lower the barrier to scientific running and make smart wearables a trusted companion for everyday activity.

Lowering the Barrier to Scientific Running

As running gains popularity worldwide, many beginners face challenges such as lacking professional guidance, difficulty interpreting running data, and uncertainty in creating effective training plans.

To address these needs, AeroPace combines a lightweight design with Mibro Coach, the brand’s self-developed, AI-powered training feature that delivers personalized workout plans through the Mibro Fit App and compatible Mibro smartwatches. Together, they provide an accessible, scientific, and efficient approach to training.

Powered by the Mibro Coach, AeroPace generates personalized training plans based on users’ goals and performance. It provides real-time data analysis and optimization recommendations, helping users gradually improve their running ability with simple, user-friendly experience.

Ultra-Lightweight Design Meets Professional Performance

Weighing only 32g, AeroPace features a lightweight, slim design that supports comfortable wear during long-duration workouts. Despite its compact form, it features:

AMOLED High-Brightness Display: For clear visibility in all lighting conditions.AI-Powered Dual-Band Five-Satellite Positioning: Ensuring accurate tracking of running routes.Multi-Channel Optical Heart Rate Monitoring: Providing comprehensive and precise health data.

AeroPace is designed to empower every runner, regardless of their experience level. By integrating advanced technology with user-friendly features, Mibro aims to inspire more people to start and sustain their running journeys.

Availability and Pricing

Mibro AeroPace will be available on Oct. 13, 2026, through Mibro’s official channels. Pricing starts at 149.99 EUR.

About Mibro

Founded in 2015, Mibro is a brand of ZhenShi Information Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. The brand focuses on sports and outdoor exploration. With the philosophy of “Live Smart, Go Active,” Mibro develops reliable and user-friendly wearable devices that support users throughout their fitness journeys.

For more information, please visit https://www.mibrofit.com/ or follow Mibro on Facebook and Instagram.

Business Inquiries: business@mibrofit.com

Media Contact: pr@mibrofit.com

*AeroPace features are intended for general fitness training purposes and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mibro-launches-aeropace-a-running-smartwatch-designed-for-beginner-runners-302903454.html

SOURCE Mibro

Continue Reading

Trending