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Happy Wednesday! Snap India boss Pulkit Trivedi said the platform is seeing a sharp spike in advertiser adoption. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.Also in the letter:■ ETtech Done Deals■ Vanguard marks Ola down■ India’s AI talent edgeSnapchat’s India advertiser base jumps 10-fold in just two years: Pulkit Trivedi 131494642Snapchat has grown its advertiser base in India tenfold over the past two years, according to Pulkit Trivedi, managing director for India at Snap Inc.Tell me more: Trivedi said the number of advertisers making meaningful, recurring spends on Snapchat has tripled as more brands use the platform to reach younger users. He did not disclose absolute numbers.Snap is also leaning hard into AI- and augmented reality-led ads. It has rolled out AI-powered tools for campaign optimisation and targeting, while formats such as Sponsored Snaps and AR try-ons are lifting engagement and conversions.Zoom out: This surge comes in a brutal ad market, where economic jitters and geopolitical flare-ups are forcing brands to scrutinise every marketing dollar. Snap had earlier flagged ad revenue pressure from the West Asia conflict and softer demand in North America. Even so, India is one of its fastest-growing markets and now its largest globally, with more than 250 million monthly active users.Also Read: Snap layoffs: CEO Evan Spiegel cites productivity gains from AI adoption in note to employeesIndian VCs expand US footprint to tap AI boom early 131494612Indian venture capital firms are quietly building beachheads in the US to sit closer to the AI boom, catch shifts early and wire themselves into high-growth deals.What’s happening: A clutch of India-linked investors has expanded its US presence as AI soaks up a larger share of global startup capital. Elevation Capital now has three people in the US, including AI partner Krishna Mehra, while Peak XV has opened a Bay Area office and is building a team across the country.Nexus Venture Partners principal Arjun Gandhi also shifted to San Francisco earlier this year.Tell me more: The shift accelerated in 2025 as generative AI funding spiked. “In India, it now accounts for about 50% of funding, since other sectors such as quick consumer and fintech are still active, up from 15–20% in 2024 and 40% in 2025, with more capital likely in 2026,” Dev Khare of Lightspeed India previously told us.Added perk: Being on the ground in the US also keeps firms closer to their portfolio founders. ET had earlier reported that more than 100 Indian AI founders have moved to the US since 2024.FirstClub raises $55 million from Peak XV, Sofina; valuation doubles to $255 million 131494616Ayyappan R, founder, FirstClub FirstClub, founded by former Flipkart executive Ayyappan R, has raised $55 million from Peak XV Partners and Sofina, more than doubling its valuation to $255 million in under a year. The bet shows how investors still back differentiated quick-commerce plays even as the space stays crowded.What’s new:FirstClub now runs 24 dark stores, or “clubhouses”, across Bengaluru and Hyderabad.Ayyappan told us the company is doubling order volumes every three months.Average order value is about Rs 1,200, driven more by larger baskets than higher prices.Tell me more:FirstClub is leaning on curated products, lab testing and deeper quality checks as its core edge.It is expanding slowly by design to keep tighter control over sourcing and the supply chain.It wants to lock in strong unit economics through fewer SKUs, higher order thresholds and more batching.Peak XV in talks to back Ringg AI as voice AI gains attention: Sources 131494620(L-R) Kali CV, Siddharth Shankar Tripathi and Utkarsh Shukla, founders, Ringg AIVoice AI is having a moment. Peak XV Partners is in talks to lead a $10 million round in Bengaluru-based Ringg AI, sources tell us, as VCs start to see voice not just as call-centre automation but as the front door for AI-native software.What’s happening:Ringg AI builds voice agents for enterprises and raised $5.5 million earlier this year from Arkam Ventures, Capital2B and others.Capital2B, backed by Info Edge and Temasek, is also likely to join the new round.Peak XV has already backed voice infra startup Vapi and is also in talks to invest in Wispr Flow.Why it matters:Investors are now slicing voice AI into multiple markets such as enterprise agents, speech infrastructure, dictation, dubbing and multilingual interfaces.India is a key test bed because many users are more comfortable speaking than typing.Better models are making voice AI viable across support, sales, collections and servicing.PixelSky invests Rs 40-45 crore in biofuels firm GPS Renewables131494624Hitesh Ahuja, managing partner, PixelSkySecondaries-focused investor PixelSky Capital has invested about Rs 40–45 crore in Mumbai-based waste-to-energy company GPS Renewables, sources told us.PixelSky is targeting the final close of its Rs 400 crore debut fund by July. GPS Renewables is also exploring a larger fundraise over the coming quarters, sources said.Other Top Stories By Our Reporters 131494630Ola founder Bhavish AggarwalVanguard marks Ola valuation down to $70 million: Funds managed by US investment giant Vanguard have slashed the fair value of ride-hailing platform Ola’s parent, ANI Technologies, to $70 million as of February 28, according to regulatory filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).India’s AI edge will come from talent, not compute: Snowflake CEO | India’s biggest opportunity in the artificial intelligence race may not come from building the largest AI infrastructure, but from its talent pool and ability to innovate under constraints, according to Snowflake chief executive Sridhar Ramaswamy.Global Picks We Are Reading■ This is how Trump finally signed the AI executive order (Wired)■ How virtual power plants could provide energy for data centers (MIT Technology Review)■ Martin Scorsese gets backlash after endorsing 'creatively freeing' AI (BBC)