Decision Models Go Live, GIVA Nets $103 Mn & More

The Rise Of Decision Models

The AI race so far has largely been about models that can chat, code and reason. But a quieter shift is underway: decision models are emerging as an alternative to large models. As Indian startups and global giants enter the space, can decision models become AI’s next product layer?

What Are Decision Models? Unlike a conventional LLM, decision models do not generate prose. They return precise and structured outputs like probabilities and scores. Its approach is designed for bounded tasks and taking a decision – one that can be reviewed and governed later. General-purpose models can do this, but calling them at every step adds latency, cost and unpredictability.

The Growing Demand: Decision models are gaining more traction among enterprises as they are more affordable than LLMs. This is because they consume less tokens and bring strict output control, auditability and deep integration with proprietary internal data. While the momentum began with Jev, the first public model from TypeSafe AI, big giants like Cloudflare, Microsoft, AWS, OpenAI and Perplexity have also entered the space lately.

India Enters The Chat: Homegrown startups are also catering to this shift. PurpleTalk’s Sthānika lab recently launched Sieve, while ConvAI Innovations has also unveiled an open-weight model called Laya that developers can run locally on laptops or phones. Both target decisions rather than open-ended generation.

The Workflow Question: Industry insiders believe that the next commercial opportunity may lie in pairing decision models with proprietary data, feedback loops and a clearly defined customer problem. For India, the entry points include specialised models, routing infrastructure and applications built around high-volume enterprise workflows. 

The challenge for local startups will be to prove measurable gains in accuracy, cost or speed, and not just benchmark scores. So, can Indian founders turn the early edge in the decision model space into a durable advantage? Let’s find out…

From The Editor’s Desk

GIVA Nets $103 Mn

• The omnichannel jewellery brand has raised ₹975 Cr in a round led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management to accelerate its offline expansion, strengthen manufacturing capabilities and widen its product portfolio. 
• The transaction comprised a mix of primary and secondary capital. Early investors India Quotient and Sixth Sense Ventures partially exited through the deal while retaining some of their stakes. Multiples will also secure a board seat.
• Founded in 2019 as an online-first silver jewellery brand, GIVA has since expanded into gold and lab-grown diamonds. It operates around 425 stores across India and plans to add 160 outlets in FY27. The brand closed FY26 with a revenue of ₹865 Cr.

Apple India’s Record Quarter

• The smartphone maker claims to have reported an all-time revenue record in India in the September 2026 quarter. This came on the back of its iPhone business setting a quarterly revenue record, while Mac and services revenue reached new highs.
• Globally, Apple’s revenue rose 12% YoY to $114.5 Bn during the quarter under review, while consolidated net profit increased 11.8% YoY to $30.7 Bn.
• Going forward, the company expects its December 2026 quarter revenue to grow 7-10% YoY, projecting quarterly revenue at a new high.

Soket Debuts AI Model

• Soket Labs, along with ZenteiQ, have launched indigenously-built AI models under the IndiaAI Mission. The models unveiled include EKA-1, developed by Soket Labs, and Dhir 2B and Dhir 5B, developed by ZenteiQ.
• EKA-1 is a 26.3 Bn parameter AI model trained on nearly 7.5 Tn tokens across 22 scheduled Indian languages and English. The model claims to cater to use cases across mathematics, code, reasoning and agentic AI.
• Meanwhile, ZenteiQ’s open-source models support English and 10 other Indian languages. It claims capabilities like document-grounded automation and knowledge even in low-connectivity or sensitive environments.

Nuuk Eyes ₹100 Cr

• The D2C home appliances brand is raising around $10.5 Mn in a round led by Wipro Consumer Care Ventures and RPSG Capital Ventures. The potential fundraise will value the startup at about ₹500 Cr (about $53 Mn).
• Founded in 2023, Nuuk sells design-focused home and kitchen appliances. Its portfolio spans vacuum cleaners, fans, heaters, garment care products, air fryers, juicers, and mixer grinders. The startup also operates an offline store in Delhi NCR.
• Nuuk’s planned fundraise comes amid growing investor interest in home appliance startups. The investments point to VC interest in brands developing differentiated products, with in-house manufacturing and scalable distribution networks.

Top-Level Reshuffle At Porter

• The logistics startup has named former Amazon executive Gaurav Jain as its new chief financial officer. Porter has also elevated Shubham Gupta and Mohit Rathi to the post of chief technology officer and chief marketing officer, respectively.
• Jain joins Porter after over 11 years at Amazon India, where he headed finance and supply chain operations. His appointment comes nearly six months after the exit of his predecessor Anurag Jalori. 
• Founded in 2014, Porter offers logistics services, including B2B goods movements, packers and movers service for relocation, and intercity courier services. It claims to serve over 30 Lakh customers every month across 35 cities in India.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

How Balisto Is Building Electric Tillers For India’s Small Farmers

Farmers often need separate machines for tilling, weeding and puddling. This raises equipment costs, fuel expenses and reliance on manual labour. Balisto Agritech is building a multipurpose electric farm machine that can handle several field operations on one platform.

A Multi-Job Tiller: Founded in 2024, the startup has developed the Balisto 130 Pro, a 13 hp electric power tiller. It is designed for land preparation, weeding, inter-cultivation, puddling, rotavating, earthing up and trolley operations. It is also developing an autonomous version of its tractor using GPS, sensors and field coordinates.

The Electric Moat: The machine runs on detachable LFP batteries and three motors. It can be operated onboard or remotely, while IoT connectivity sends operating data to the cloud for monitoring and fault diagnosis. Balisto sells the single-battery version at ₹2.5 Lakh and the double-battery version at ₹3 Lakh. 

Healthy Early Traction: The startup claims to have so far sold more than 30 machines, which have generated cumulative sales above ₹60 Lakh. It sells through 15 dealers in Maharashtra and also reaches farmers through rental agripreneurs. Its plant in Maharashtra can produce 60 machines a month, scalable to 150. It aims to sell over 200 machines by early-2027. 

Operating in the Indian agricultural machinery market, which is projected to become a ₹2.72 Lakh Cr opportunity by 2034, can Balisto make electric farm machinery mainstream for India’s small farmers?

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From barrier creams and body butters to serums and lip care, winter skincare has become a whole lot bigger. Brands are now building products for every little winter skin concern, and consumers have more options than ever. Here is all about it…

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