Startup news and updates: daily roundup (September 13, 2021)

WhatsApp to offer end-to-end encryption option for backup

WhatsApp on Friday said it will allow users to backup their chat history with end-to-end encryption, after which the content will be accessible only to them and no one will be able to unlock their backup.

The end-to-end encryption backup feature for WhatsApp - which has two billion users globally - will be available on iOS and Android in the coming weeks.

After grocery division, Zomato shuts down nutraceutical business

After pulling the plug on its grocery business, Zomato has rolled back its nutraceutical business in less than six months of its launch. YourStory has confirmed the development through the company's customer care department. Gurugram-based foodtech unicorn Zomatohad added its own product line of health and dietary supplements in March.

Pandemic prompting professionals to rethink their career paths: Amazon India survey

The pandemic is prompting professionals in the country to rethink their career paths with many looking at switching industries as well as upskilling themselves to advance in their careers, according to a survey commissioned by Amazon India. The ecommerce major commissioned a survey to gauge the pulse of the impact of COVID-19 on jobs and future career plans among Indian professionals. The survey was conducted by Morning Consult in August and covered 1,000 professionals across India.

Medicine delivery by drones to be piloted in 16 green zones in T'gana, says Scindia

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiradtiya Scindia on Saturday said the Medicines from the Sky project under which drugs and vaccines are delivered using drones, will be taken up on a pilot basis in 16 green zones in Telangana and scaled up to the national level based on data. Launching the project here, Scindia said the new Drone Policy brought out by the NDA government at the Centre recently eased rules regarding drone operations in the country by reducing the number of forms that need to be filled to operate them from 25 to 5 and decreasing the types of fee charged from the operator from 72 to 4.

Koo to raise headcount to 500 in one year; to hire for engineering, product, community management

Homegrown microblogging platform Koo App expects to raise its headcount to over 500 people in the next one year, as it looks to hire across engineering, product, and community management teams.

Twitter rival Koo, which has scripted phenomenal growth with a user base touching the 1 crore-mark recently, has 200 employees on its rolls at present. "We are now 200 people, and we will reach at least 500 people in the next one year as we hire primarily in areas such as engineering, product and community management," Koo co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna told PTI.

Ola Electric Futurefactory to be run entirely by women

"An Aatmanirbhar Bharat requires Aatmanirbhar women," said Bhavish Aggarwal, Group CEO and co-founder Ola Electric, in his blog on Ola Electric's FutureFactory, before adding, "Today, I am proud to announce that Ola Futurefactory, will be run entirely by women. We welcomed the first batch this week and at full capacity, Futurefactory will employ over 10,000 women, making it the world’s largest women-only factory and the only all-women automotive manufacturing facility globally."

[Funding alert] WickedGud raises $340K in pre-seed round led by Titan Capital, marquee investors

WickedGud — a brand owned by 100Percent Nourishment Private Limited — on Monday said it raised $340,000 in a pre-seed round led by Titan Capital. The round also saw participation angels and marquee investors, including Archana Priyadarshini (Partner at Point One Capital), Gaurav Ahuja (MD at Chrys Capital), Amit Chaudhary (Founder, Lenskart), Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta (Co-founders, boAt), Harsh Vakharia (Founder, Invideo), and Jorge Fernandez Vidal (Investment Director at Liechtenstein Group).

Amazon India launches its largest fulfilment centre in Bengaluru

Amazon India, one of the leading ecommerce marketplaces, has announced the launch of its largest fulfilment Centre (FC) in the country with a storage capacity of more than 2.4 million cubic feet in Bengaluru. A statement from Amazon India noted that with this launch, it has increased its overall storage capacity by 60 percent. Now, it has more than 6.5 million cubic feet of storage space spread across five fulfilment centres in Karnataka.

[Funding alert] Drone and AI tech startup Enercomp raises Rs 1.5 Cr in angel round

Ahmedabad-based drone manufacturing, services, and AI tech startup Enercomp raised its angel round of funding of Rs 1.5 crore from ah! Ventures angel platform. This is ah! Ventures’ 23rd investment in 2021 and five more investments will be announced shortly.

Infosys, Microsoft ink multi-year deal with Ausgrid

IT major Infosys and Microsoft have entered into a multi-year strategic engagement with Ausgrid to accelerate the cloud transformation of the largest electricity distributor on Australia's east coast.

This programme will further Ausgrid's vision to connect communities and empower lives with a focus on affordability, reliability and sustainability, Infosys said in a regulatory filing on Monday.

Greaves Cotton launches multi-brand EV retail store AutoEVmart in Bengaluru

Greaves Cotton on Monday launched its first multi-brand EV retail store 'AutoEVmart' in Bengaluru, and said it will set up similar outlets in other cities in a phase-wise manner.

The Mumbai-based diversified group had last week said it will enter the multi-brand EV retail business. Greaves mobility business comprises Ampere Electric, which caters to both two-wheeler (e-scooters) and three-wheeler (e-rickshaw, e-auto and e-loader) segments. Within e-three wheelers, the company has a presence in e-rickshaws under the ELE brand and e-autos under the MLR brand.

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