IT fresher hiring rebounds; Agrani's Rs 800 crore raise
Happy Friday! After nearly two years of subdued fresher intake, hiring is picking up across the technology and IT industry. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
After nearly two years of a decline in hiring entry-level staff in the technology and IT sector, recruitment is experiencing a resurgence. India's $300 billion IT services industry is expected to see fresher hires of 115,000-135,000 in the current fiscal year, marking a 4.5-22.7% increase from the previous year's low of 110,000 entries.
The slowdown in fresher recruitment began in FY22 with 380,000 hires, dropping to 155,000 in FY24, and reaching the current level of around 110,000 in FY26. Experts attribute the decline to a heightened demand for specialized skills in AI, cloud, data, and cybersecurity to enhance revenue visibility, meet client expectations, and ensure deployment readiness.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru-based semiconductor startup Agrani Labs is in negotiations to raise Rs 800-850 crore in a funding round that may include Samsung, 360 One Asset Management, and existing investor Peak XV Partners. Agrani, founded by former Intel and AMD executives, is developing high-performance AI GPUs for data centers along with a comprehensive software stack.
If the deal goes through, Agrani would be valued at approximately Rs 2,400-2,500 crore on a post-money basis, making it one of the largest early-stage fundraises by an Indian semiconductor startup.
Written by urgent.news from Economic Times Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
