HR Tech’s RoI Focus, Adda247 Axes 200 Jobs & More

The Indian HR Tech Scene

HR tech is at a crossroad. After years of just digitising payroll, the industry is now chasing measurable business outcomes, tighter budgets and AI-led intelligence. Can this soft reset finally fix the category’s weak economics?

The Digitisation Trap: The first wave of Indian HR tech streamlined operations for enterprises by replacing manual workflows with software. While this made such HR platforms indispensable, it also tied pricing to headcount and pushed the category into a low-margin, per-employee model that scaled more slowly. 

On top of this, long sales cycles and expensive implementation kept margins under pressure. As a result, unit economics remained elusive for the segment.

AI Changes The Pitch: In 2026, the narrative appears to have flipped. Instead of broad HR pitches, a new wave of AI-led startups are selling outcomes and offering high-precision products that help enterprises reduce hiring times, improve retention and increase productivity. Startups are also opting for a modular approach, building specialised AI layers on top of existing data sets and HR tools, to reduce deployment complexity and improve customer conversion.

This shift has made HR tech solutions more measurable and has given sellers a clearer ROI story to seek more margins.

Enterprise Budgets Move: Buying behaviour is changing too. No longer only limited to central HR teams, CHROs, CTOs and business heads are now also allocating budgets to HR tools that can improve performance indicators. This has shortened sales cycles for HR tech startups and improved willingness to pay. 

On the back of these shifts, unit economics are beginning to improve for the HR tech ecosystem, but gains remain uneven. While structural constraints remain, can this outcome-first model finally give HR tech the pricing power and unit economics that the first generation never quite achieved? Let’s find out…

From The Editor’s Desk

Adda247 Axes 200 Jobs

• Ahead of its planned IPO next year, the edtech startup has laid off 20% of its workforce, or around 200 employees. The layoffs impacted employees across multiple verticals, including product, design and content.
• The restructuring is expected to save the startup ₹5 Cr annually. The layoffs came amid concerns over Adda247’s cash runway and declining traction in StudyIQ’s online business vertical. Earlier, it also shut its Hindi-language CUET vertical.
• Founded in 2016, Adda247 is a test prep platform for over 500 examinations. It has raised nearly $67 Mn to date. This comes as the startup is gearing up for an IPO in the next 12-18 months. 

Wingreens Farms Bags ₹120 Cr

• The packaged food player has raised around $12.6 Mn in Series D round led by Ashish Kacholia to expand product portfolio and scale distribution. Founded in 2011, Wingreens Farms sells packaged foods like healthy snacks, sauces and dips.
• Following the fundraise, the startup also announced the acquisition of sustainable food company Safe Harvest in a share swap transaction. With this, Wingreens  aims to become an integrated farm-to-consumer platform. 
• Wingreens claimed to have achieved EBITDA profitability in FY26 and is eyeing a public listing in the next two years. The Raw Pressery’s parent entity has raised $76.5 Mn to date.

Acko Turns Profitable In FY26

• The IPO-bound insurtech unicorn turned profitable in FY26, posting a net profit of ₹43.6 Cr in FY26 compared to a loss of ₹193.4 Cr in FY25. Meanwhile, its net earned premium rose 26% YoY to ₹191.8 Cr.
• Overall, Acko’s total income rose 39.7% YoY to ₹199.5 Cr in FY26, while operating expenses related to insurance business fell 12.3% YoY to ₹62.3 Cr during the fiscal year.
• Founded in 2016, Acko sells a range of insurance products online. Last month, the unicorn appointed bankers to helm its proposed IPO at a likely valuation of up to $2.5 Bn. It is targeting a listing on the bourses by H1 2027.

India’s AI Manufacturing Push

• IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that global tech giant Google is “seriously” considering manufacturing AI servers in India. He also added that the Centre has reached out to other OEMs to make AI servers in the country.
• While Google designs its own AI hardware, such as Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), it depends on global manufacturing partners like Quanta Computer and Foxconn for assembling and producing its server systems.
• Vaishnaw also claimed that India has two semiconductor factories under commercial production, while a third plant is set to begin production in July and a fourth by December. Overall, work is currently underway on 12 semiconductor units.

InCred’s IPO Stack

• Last week, the fintech unicorn filed its updated DRHP with the SEBI for an IPO, which will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹1,250 Cr and an OFS of up to 9.9 Cr shares.
• KKR, which is one of its largest shareholders, intends to sell the highest number of up to 4 Cr shares via the IPO. Manipal Group’s subsidiary MNI Ventures will be selling up to 1.98 Cr shares. V’Ocean Investments will sell up to 67.12 Lakh shares.
• InCred Holdings’ promoters collectively own about 21% stake in the company. This includes CEO Bhupinder Singh’s 0.75% stake and promoter group entity B Singh Holdings Ltd’s 15.84% stake.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

How Gabify Is Working On Early Detection Of Autism

In India, autism and ADHD are often identified after valuable time is lost. Too few specialists and high screening costs make early intervention harder than it should be. Gabify is trying to change this with its AI-led screening model.

AI-Powered Screening: Founded in 2023, Gabify uses AI-powered video and speech analysis to flag potential developmental delays. Parents can upload short clips of their child’s natural interactions, which the platform analyses for behavioural and communication red flags. The platform generates instant, data-backed reports that can support more informed consultations with doctors.

Bridging Concern: The startup sits between parental intuition and formal diagnosis. By partnering with schools and paediatric networks, Gabify is also trying to widen access beyond individual households and build a more consistent screening layer across child-facing institutions.

A Growing Need: The timing is strong. With India’s wellness services industry expected to cross $43.76 Bn by 2031, the startup is targeting an underserved corner of that market where faster recognition could change long-term health outcomes. So, can Gabify become the early screening layer for flagging development delays?

Infographic Of The Day

For years, the winning formula in India’s ecommerce playbook was more SKUs and sellers. This has now started to fray. D2C marketplaces are now going deeper and betting on trust and community instead of scale. Here is all about it…

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