Swiggy buys out AI startup Kint.io; Alexa is teaching rural kids

Foodtech unicorn Swiggy has made the first acqui-hire of the year. The online food delivery platform recently announced that it has acqui-hired Kint.io, a Bengaluru-based AI startup. With this, the team of Kint.io, founded in 2014, is all set to join Swiggy to boost its computer vision technology and superior consumer experience. The founding members - Jagannathan Veraraghavan and Pavithra Solai Jawahar - will also join the Swiggy team soon.

A desi version of Alexa… yes, please!

Have you ever tried getting Alexa to do chores for you while giving commands in Hinglish? If not, try doing it and you might be pleasantly surprised. A year since introducing its AI-powered voice assistant in India, Amazon is now trying to integrate Alexa deeper into the day-to-day lives of Indians. It may not be a winner-takes-all market, but the one who speaks to Indians in a language they understand and respects the quirks of the market will stand above the rest. Amazon reckons Alexa is on course to take this pole position.

Over two-thirds of Indian startups received Angel Tax notices: Survey

A joint survey by LocalCircles and Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA) has revealed that the problem of Angel Tax for startups has been quite widespread. According to the findings, more than two-thirds of startups in India that have raised funding since inception have received notices from the Income Tax Department under the provision of Angel Tax. Among the startups that received notices, 73 percent had raised capital between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crore, 17 percent in the Rs 2-10 crore range and six per cent under Rs 50 lakh.

Google Play bans 29 beauty camera apps – here’s why

Google has taken down a slew of “beauty camera” apps in an attempt to clear the Play Store of malicious applications and content. Altogether 29 apps, these were found to be stealing users’ photos, promoting pornographic content and carrying out nefarious activities on Android devices. Furthermore, it was also found that these apps were mostly downloaded from Asia, particularly in India. In case you are still using any of these apps, it’s advisable to uninstall them right away.

Asian Development Bank invests Rs 137 Cr in Annapurna Finance

Bhubaneswar-based micro-financier (MFI) Annapurna Finance has raised Rs 137 crore as a primary equity investment from Asian Development Bank (ADB). This will allow the MFI to extend micro-credits to women members of Joint Liability Groups (JLGs). Annapurna Finance has diversified its portfolio in the MSME finance and affordable housing segment. It has opened 60 branches that are exclusively financing the MSME and housing segment.

Google+ shutdown begins on April 2: All you need to know

Google is finally shutting down its social media service, and the purging date of all Google Plus accounts and pages is set for April 2. This will take away the option for users to “create new Google+ profiles, pages, communities or events”. But what prompted this move? As it turns out, a slew of reasons - including low usage of Plus services, failure to meet consumers’ expectations, and, a massive security breach – resulted in Google taking this step. But before it all goes down, the tech giant is urging users to download and save their content.

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