Outlook Business – February 2026

Summary

Rs.100 buys Outlook Business February 2026 (Volume 21, Issue 2) — the Start-Up Special featuring NR Narayana Murthy interviewed at page 28. Cover brands itself Outperformers with top investors, best states and best cities ranked. Swapnil Jain of Ather Energy, Ashutosh Sharma of Exotel and Shashank Kumar of Razorpay also in conversation. Regular columnists include Kitty Agarwal and Hemant Mohapatra.

The Start-Up Special covers India's entrepreneurial landscape across 192 pages. NR Narayana Murthy (p.28) discusses his views on the current start-up ecosystem. Ashutosh Sharma (p.72) on Exotel's journey. Swapnil Jain (p.84) on Ather Energy's scaling. S Krishnan (p.92) on policy frameworks. Shashank Kumar (p.142) on Razorpay's growth. Columns include Prayank Swaroop (p.44), Kitty Agarwal (p.50) on women in tech, Hemant Mohapatra (p.104) and Kunal Khattar (p.134). Start-Up Outperformers analyses why growth-stage deep-tech ventures are missing from India's success story.

Regular sections include Editor's Note (titled "Carnival Country" by Neeraj Thakur), Columns, Interviews and News Analysis. Desperate in Davos by Parth Singh covers WEF as a platform for smaller economies amid US-China trade tensions.

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Content Guide

▸ Interviews

p.28 · NR Narayana Murthy — The Start-Up Ecosystem
Infosys founder on the current state of Indian entrepreneurship, comparing the 1990s IT boom with today's start-up landscape. He addresses valuation discipline, founder work ethic and the role of regulation. His specific metric for sustainable start-up growth — revenue per employee — is a filter you can apply to any company in your portfolio.

p.72 · Ashutosh Sharma — Exotel's Journey
Exotel's founder on building a cloud-telephony business in India's regulatory environment and the shift to AI-powered customer engagement platforms. The article includes specific customer acquisition cost trends over Exotel's lifecycle. Use his unit-economics progression as a benchmark for any B2B SaaS company targeting Indian SMEs.

p.84 · Swapnil Jain — Ather Energy's Scaling Playbook
Ather Energy's co-founder on scaling EV manufacturing, building charging infrastructure and competing with incumbents. Jain shares specific production capacity numbers and the capital efficiency ratio that made their expansion viable. The per-unit manufacturing cost reduction trajectory he cites provides a reference for any EV start-up's cost roadmap.

p.142 · Shashank Kumar — Razorpay's Growth
Razorpay's co-founder on the payments company's journey from start-up to fintech leader, including the shift from pure payments to banking-as-a-service. The article covers specific metrics on merchant acquisition and payment volume growth. Use their product-expansion sequencing as a model for any fintech's roadmap from single product to platform.

▸ Columns

p.44 · Prayank Swaroop — Column
Analysis of current start-up valuation trends and the correction cycle affecting late-stage Indian companies.

p.50 · Kitty Agarwal — Column
Perspective on women in technology entrepreneurship, covering funding disparities and network access gaps. Includes specific data on the percentage of VC funding going to women-led start-ups in India.

p.104 · Hemant Mohapatra — Column
On the evolution of deep-tech investing in India and the patience required for returns. Contrasts Indian and US deep-tech funding cycles.

▸ News Analysis

Desperate in Davos — Parth Singh
Analysis of how smaller economies use the WEF platform to build trade relationships as the US and China roil global trade. Singh reports from Davos with specific diplomatic and business developments relevant to India.

▸ Special Feature

Start-Up Outperformers
Analysis of why Indian start-ups have grown by leaps and bounds yet growth-stage deep-tech and AI ventures remain absent from the picture. Covers the funding gap between seed and Series B, talent shortages in specialised roles and the exit pressures that force early selling.

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Editor's Take

The February 2026 Start-Up Special is Outlook Business's strongest issue this year. The interview lineup — Murthy, Jain, Sharma, Kumar — is genuinely impressive, and each conversation delivers specific operational metrics rather than general commentary. Swapnil Jain's manufacturing cost data is the kind of detail that makes the cover price worthwhile for any EV investor. The Start-Up Outperformers analysis correctly identifies the deep-tech gap and provides structural reasons rather than lazy criticism. Weakness: four regular columns sit in the issue but several are too short to land their arguments. Desperate in Davos is a well-reported piece that deserved more space. The issue is 192 pages but roughly 50 pages are full-page ads from financial services firms. This issue is essential for anyone investing in or building an Indian start-up.

Strengths
• Murthy, Jain and Kumar interviews all deliver proprietary metrics
• Start-Up Outperformers analysis correctly diagnoses the deep-tech gap
• Desperate in Davos is a rare piece of genuine trade diplomacy reporting

Weaknesses
• Several columns are too short to develop their arguments
• High ad density reduces editorial pages below the 192-page count suggests

Verdict: Essential — The best Indian start-up ecosystem analysis this year; the interview quality alone justifies purchase.