Trade Deal May Double India Goods Exports to US, Report Says
A broad agreement could nearly double India's exports of goods to the US — its largest market overseas accounting for 19.3% of total exports — within a decade, and increase gross domestic product by 0.6%, economists Abhishek Gupta and Eleonora Mavroeidi wrote in a report Friday. Including services, overall exports to the US should rise 64%, the report said.
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Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Who is Soham Parekh, the serial moonlighter Silicon Valley startups can't stop hiring?
In the last week, social media users have shared dozens of stories about encounters with Soham Parekh, a software engineer who seems to have been simultaneously working at multiple Silicon Valley startups — unbeknownst to the companies — for the last several years. But who is Parekh, how did he pull off his career as a serial moonlighter, and why can't Silicon Valley get enough of him? The saga all started when Suhail Doshi — CEO of image generation startup Playground AI — shared a post Tuesday on X that began: 'PSA: there's a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He's been preying on YC companies and more. Beware.' Doshi claims that, roughly a year ago, he fired Parekh from Playground AI after he found out he was working at other companies. '[I] told him to stop lying/scamming people. He hasn't stopped a year later,' Doshi wrote. That post from Doshi received roughly 20 million views and prompted several other founders to share their run-ins with Parekh as well. Flo Crivello, the CEO of Lindy, a startup that helps people automate their workflows with AI, said he hired Parekh in recent weeks, but fired him in light of Doshi's tweet. Matt Parkhurst, the CEO of Antimetal, a startup that does automated cloud management, confirmed that Parekh was the company's first engineering hire in 2022. Parkhurst tells TechCrunch that Antimetal let Parekh go in early 2023 after they realized he was moonlighting at other companies. Parekh also seems to have worked at Sync Labs, a startup that makes an AI lip-synching tool, where he even starred in a promotional video. He was ultimately let go. At some point, Parekh applied to several Y Combinator-backed startups. Haz Hubble, the co-founder of Pally AI, a Y Combinator-backed startup building an 'AI relationship management platform,' says he offered Parekh a founding engineer role. Adish Jain, the co-founder of YC-backed Mosaic — an AI video editing startup — said he interviewed Parekh for a role, too. TechCrunch has reached out to these companies for comment, but they did not immediately respond. It turns out that Parekh did quite well in many of these interviews and received offers, largely because he's a gifted software engineer. For instance, Rohan Pandey, a founding research engineer of the YC-backed startup Reworkd, told TechCrunch that he interviewed Parekh for a role and he was a strong candidate. Pandey, who is no longer with the startup, says Parekh was one of the top three performers on an algorithms-focused interview they gave candidates. Pandey said the Reworkd team suspected something was off with Parekh. At the time, Parekh told Reworkd he was in the U.S. — a requirement for the job — but the company didn't believe him. They ran an IP logger on a Zoom link from Parekh and located him in India. Pandey recalled other things Parekh said often didn't add up, and some of his GitHub contributions and previous roles didn't quite make sense either. That seems to be a common experience when dealing with Parekh. Adam Silverman, co-founder of the AI agent observability startup, Agency, told TechCrunch his company also interviewed Parekh. Silverman said Parekh sent him a cold DM about a job opening at Agency, and they set up a meeting. Parekh had to reschedule that meeting five times, according to Silverman and emails from Parekh viewed by TechCrunch. Silverman says he was also impressed by Parekh's technical ability, but in the interview, he insisted on working remotely. Much like with Reworkd, that was a red flag for Agency. Roy Lee, the CEO of the 'cheat on everything' AI startup, Cluely, tells TechCrunch he interviewed Parekh twice for a role. Lee said Parekh interviews quite well and 'seemed to have strong react knowledge,' referencing a popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces. Lee says Cluely did not end up hiring Parekh. However, several other companies clearly did. Parekh made an appearance on the Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN) on Thursday to tell co-hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays his side of the story and explain why he's worked at so many companies. He admitted that he's been working at multiple jobs simultaneously since 2022. Parekh claims he was not using AI tools or hiring junior software engineers to assist him with his workload. All that work has made Parekh a much better programmer, he believes, but notes that it's taken a toll. Parekh said he's notorious among his friends for not sleeping. He repeated several times throughout the interview that he works 140 hours a week, which comes out to 20 hours a day, seven days a week. That seems to be borderline impossible — or at the very least, extremely unhealthy and unsustainable. Parekh also said he took multiple jobs because he was in 'financial jeopardy,' implying he needed all the income he could get from his various employers. He claims he deferred going to a graduate school program he had been accepted to, and instead decided to work at several startups simultaneously. Notably, Doshi shared a copy of Parekh's resumé that claims he received a masters degree from Georgia Institute of Technology. When TBPN's co-hosts asked why Parekh didn't just ask one company to raise his salary and help with his financial struggles, Parekh said he liked to keep a boundary between his professional and private life. (But he had also opted for low salaries and high equity at all his jobs, which doesn't quite add up with his financial crisis story. However, Parekh declined to share more about it.) Parekh told the hosts he genuinely loved his work, and it was not solely about the money. He says he was very invested in the missions of all the companies where he worked. He also admitted that he's not proud of what he's done, and he doesn't endorse it. Some are calling Parekh a scam artist and a liar, but in classic Silicon Valley fashion, Parekh appears to be trying to turn his viral moment into a business. Parekh announced his newest employer, which he claims to be exclusively working at: Darwin Studios, a startup working on AI video remixing. However, Parekh quickly deleted the post after announcing it, as did the founder and CEO of the startup, Sanjit Juneja. TechCrunch has reached out to Parekh requesting an interview regarding this article, however, he has not yet accepted. Instead, a spokesperson representing him sent TechCrunch a statement from Darwin's CEO. 'Soham is an incredibly talented engineer and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market,' said Juneja. We've seen countless startups turn their viral, often controversial, moments into businesses in the last year. One of the most famous is Cluely, which is known for creating provocative marketing campaigns. It's rage bait, but it's attention-grabbing, and it was enough to land Cluely a $15 million seed round from Andreessen Horowitz. Perhaps Parekh will land a similar fortune in the future. Update: This story has been updated to reflect TBPN's current name and include additional comments from Antimetal.
Entrepreneur
3 hours ago
- Entrepreneur
Top Venture Capital Deals of the Week (June 28–July 04)
Stay updated on this week's most impressive startup fundings, the key investors involved, and the sectors that are drawing the most venture capital interest. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. India's startup ecosystem remained vibrant this week with a mix of B2B marketplaces, climate-tech innovations, agritech solutions, and consumer-focused ventures that successfully secured funding. From revolutionising local kirana stores to creating eco-friendly alternatives to plastic, let's dive into the standout startup funding highlights of the week: Jumbotail Inception: 2015 2015 Founders: S Karthik Venkateswaran and Ashish Jhina S Karthik Venkateswaran and Ashish Jhina Based-out: Bengaluru Jumbotail is a B2B online marketplace aimed at revolutionising food and grocery retail for India's ubiquitous kirana stores. It provide a comprehensive platform that covers everything from digital ordering and warehousing to logistics and fintech solutions, plus a modern retail network called J24. With their GoldenEye Retail Operating System, Jumbotail is helping small retailers go digital and modernize, giving them a fighting chance against larger retail chains. Funding Amount: USD 120 Million Investors: SC Ventures, Artal Asia Eggoz Inception: 2017 2017 Founders: Abhishek Negi, Aditya Singh, and Uttam Kumar Abhishek Negi, Aditya Singh, and Uttam Kumar Based-out: Gurugram Eggoz is a tech-enabled egg farming company that focuses on producing and selling high-quality, nutritious eggs. It offers brown, white, and Nutra eggs, and also sell egg-based products like burgers and nuggets. Eggoz operates a farm-to-consumer model, ensuring freshness and hygienic practices, and is expanding its presence both online and offline. Funding Amount: USD 20 Million Investors: Gaja Capital, IvyCap Ventures, Rebright Partners, Avaana Capital, NABVENTURES, and others AppsForBharat Inception: 2020 2020 Founder: Prashant Sachan Prashant Sachan Based-out: Bengaluru AppsForBharat is a leading faith-tech company focused on spiritual engagement through digital tools. Its flagship app, Sri Mandir, allows users to engage in virtual pujas, send chadhava (offerings), receive prasad, and stream devotional content, bridging traditional faith practices with digital convenience. Funding Amount: USD 20 Million Investors: Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital, Fundamentum, Elevation Capital, Peak XV Partners Aukera Inception: 2023 2023 Founders: Lisa Mukhedkar and Kumar Saurabh Lisa Mukhedkar and Kumar Saurabh Based-out: Bengaluru Aukera is a premium lab-grown diamond jewelry brand offering IGI-certified diamonds through an omnichannel retail model. With 13 company-owned stores in metro cities, Aukera caters to modern consumers seeking sustainable and ethical luxury. The brand offers a range of rings, earrings, pendants, and more, blending traditional and contemporary designs. Funding Amount: USD 15 Million Investors: Peak XV Partners, Fireside Ventures, Sparrow Capital, Prath Ventures, Alteria Capital Bambrew Inception: 2019 2019 Founder: Vaibhav Anant Vaibhav Anant Based-out: Bengaluru Bambrew is a sustainability-focused startup replacing single-use plastic with compostable packaging made from bamboo fiber, agro-waste, and recycled paper. It serves multiple industries, helping businesses meet their sustainability goals while reducing plastic dependency. Funding Amount: USD 10.3 Million Investors: Ashok Goel, ENRISSION INDIA CAPITAL Eeki Inception: 2018 2018 Founders: Abhay Singh and Amit Kumar Abhay Singh and Amit Kumar Based-out: Kota Eeki is transforming agriculture with IoT-enabled, climate-controlled aeroponic farms. These farms grow pesticide-free vegetables at scale, making sustainable farming both viable and cost-efficient. The company partners with landowners to convert non-arable land into productive farmland. Funding Amount: USD 7 Million Investors: Sixth Sense Ventures Zango AI Inception: 2024 2024 Founders: Ritesh Singhania and Shashank Agarwal Ritesh Singhania and Shashank Agarwal Based-out: Bengaluru and San Francisco Zango AI offers a regulatory compliance platform that combines AI-powered agents with human expertise to automate critical compliance functions like horizon scanning, gap analysis, and controls testing. It aims to streamline compliance for financial services and other complex sectors. Nexus Venture Partners, South Park Commons, and notable angels including Richard Davies and Alan Morgan
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Indian PM Modi receives top civilian honor in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago conferred India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Carribean nation's highest civilian honor on Friday, in a first for a foreign leader. President Christine Carla Kangaloo gave Modi the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago at a ceremony at President's House in St Ann's, near the capital Port of Spain. Modi was on a two-day tour of the dual-island country as he seeks to shore up New Delhi's ties with the Caribbean and Latin America. The visit marked the Indian leader's first official trip to Trinidad and Tobago — where more than a third of the population is of Indian descent — since he came to power over a decade ago. "This honor is a symbol of the deep and eternal friendship between our two countries," Modi said. Relations between India and Trinidad and Tobago find their roots in 1845, when indentured Indian laborers first arrived to work on sugar and cocoa plantations under British colonial rule as slavery ended. Over 140,000 laborers settled in the Caribbean nation between 1845 and 1917. "India and Trinidad & Tobago rose from the shadows of colonial rule to write our destiny of progress. Our nations stand tall as proud democracies and pillars of strength in the modern world," Modi said on X. India and Trinidad & Tobago rose from the shadows of colonial rule to write our destiny of progress. Our nations stand tall as proud democracies and pillars of strength in the modern world. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 4, 2025 The Indian prime minister's visit to Trinidad and Tobago focused on boosting investment in energy, health, security and other sectors Trinidadian Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced a number of investments in medical, energy and technological infrastructure promised by her Indian counterpart. "This visit is more than just diplomacy. It marks a new dawn," she said. "India, and Trinidad and Tobago, will now work as strategic partners," Persad-Bissessar added. Modi also declared that the sixth generation of citizens of Indian origin in the dual-island nation would be eligible to receive Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards, allowing them to freely live and work in India. The Indian prime minister is currently on a five-nation diplomatic tour, covering Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil and Namibia. He landed in Argentina late on Friday and is scheduled to hold talks with President Javier Milei. Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
