Startup news and updates: daily roundup (October 17, 2022)

Garuda Aerospace and Lockheed Martin Canada to collaborate on UAS solutions 

Garuda Aerospace and Lockheed Martin Canada CDL Systems have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to integrate Garuda Aerospace’s made-In-India drones with Lockheed Martin Canada CDL Systems’ advanced Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) software solutions for defense and commercial purposes.

The companies are committing to exploring expanded partnership opportunities - working closely to build a strong data processing capability and develop joint algorithms which will cater to a wide range of drones and various drone-based service applications in sectors such as defense, agriculture, mining, large scale mapping and industrial inspection. 

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Garuda Aerospace recently commenced its $30 million Series A round at $250 million valuation. Former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has invested and is also the brand ambassador of the company. Garuda Aerospace boasts of a drone fleet of 400 drones and a well-trained team of over 500 pilots across 26 different cities.

Gupshup supports SBI General Insurance with health insurance buying journey on WhatsApp 

Gupshup, the global leader in conversational engagement on Monday announced its association with SBI General Insurance, a private general insurance company, to enhance its insurance buying journey on WhatsApp. With Gupshup’s conversational chatbot, customers can not just purchase a new insurance policy from SBI General but renew an existing one, intimate claims and more, all within WhatsApp. 

Customers across the country can buy insurance from SBI General by sending a ‘Hi’ to http://wa.me/919136233331/ on WhatsApp. The bot will guide users through a simple and secure buying process, and help them complete the purchase within the WhatsApp chat thread. The hassle-free buying experience ensures that end-to-end policy purchase happens on the platform itself, right from exploring product features to accessing their policy documents. 

Apart from facilitating purchases, the WhatsApp chatbot allows for deeper insights into customer journeys and possibilities of advanced personalisation across crucial customer touchpoints.

UpScalio launches private-label gaming brand Archer Tech Labs, achieves annualised run-rate of Rs 3 Cr

UpScalio, an Indian ecommerce roll-up, has announced the launch of Archer Tech Labs, an electronic peripherals brand exclusively geared towards the gaming industry.

Archer Tech Labs, is exclusively built for gamers, and supplies a large selection of premium gaming accessories, with features that rival the largest international brands at a competitive price point. Archer is looking to double down on high category addressability for gamers and provide all solutions under one roof. This will further differentiate it from other electronic peripheral brands.

The brand has debuted exclusively on Amazon with 12 products across cooling pads, gaming mice, gaming keyboards, and mousepads. Each product has been designed to unlock the highest performance for gamers - the cooling pads allow for rapid heat dissipation, the mice have eight buttons to maximise dexterity, and the mechanical keyboards enhance the pace of keystrokes.

The brand has adopted a customer-centric approach to their product development, and will continue to build features that elevate the experience of the gamer.

Apart from performance marketing, Archer Tech Labs will be tying up with esports teams, gaming media outlets, and is also developing a comprehensive social media strategy to promote the brand. It will also participate in events such as Comic-Cons to reach their target audience.

Google collaborates with Assam Government to power digital-led learning and skill development for students and youth

Google on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support and accelerate the Government of Assam’s mission to promote digital growth and development in the state. Under this new initiative, Google will collaborate with the Assam Government’s Skill, Employment and Entrepreneurship Department (SEED) to strengthen their school digitization efforts with digital learning tools and solutions to aid teaching and learning, while also promoting the fundamentals of online safety and digital citizenship to school children through the ‘Be Internet Awesome’ program.

Google will also extend scholarships for Google Career Certificates to Assam’s youth in collaboration with the Assam Skill Development Mission (ASDM).

Google has previously collaborated with the State Government to increase internet penetration across Assam and support the government’s efforts on women empowerment, internet safety, skill development and universal education. In 2018, Dibrugarh train station became the 400th railway station in India to become WiFi-enabled under Google’s joint initiative with Indian Railways and RailTel. Most recently, Assamese was added to the list of languages available in Google Translate.

Sanchiconnect inks MoU with IIM Lucknow to expedite the deeptech startups funding in India

Sanchiconnect, a specialized community for deeptech startups and investors, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow Incubation Center. The partnership aims to assist IIML EIC startups in raising funds and establishing connections for corporate market access.

The memorandum creates a collaborative arrangement, a first of its kind between Sanchiconnect and IIML EIC, across two areas. Sanchiconnect will be their go-to market and investment partner to IIML EIC to help build deep tech innovative products. The MoU will also enable the two partners to decode deep technologies including artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, to enhance the existing portfolio of IIML EIC.

Sanchiconnect will accelerate investment in early and growth-stage companies using AI, ML, Blockchain, Computer Vision, Drones, Renewable Power, and other deep-tech sectors. SanchiConnect's global investor partner network assists in discovering, comparing, and connecting to fast-track finance and specializes in enabling cross-border business and funding opportunities for emerging tech and deep tech early to mid-stage companies.

5G, telecom jobs rise in India, enterprises continue to prioritize cybersecurity talent: Indeed

Research released on Monday by the jobs site, Indeed, shows that job postings for “telecommunications” and “5G” have increased by 33.7% between September 2021 and September 2022 on Indeed’s platform. 

Job roles such as Telecommunications Engineer have grown by 16% from August to September 2022. Similarly, clicks for Customer Service Representatives and Operations Associates have increased by 13.91% and 8.22% respectively in the last one month. The data also revealed that the average salary for top job roles such as technical support, BPO executive and customer service representative is Rs 3,53,298, 3,29,520 and 3,06,680 respectively. 

The COVID-19 pandemic fast tracked the requirement for robust cybersecurity practices as companies became remote, more devices were online, digital payments were rising and security issues were at an all time high. Indeed shows that job postings for “cybersecurity” have grown 81% between August 2019 to August 2022. 

As India rolls out 5G, demand for cybersecurity is likely to increase as well. There is already a talent mismatch of 25.5% in security between August 2019 to August 2022, the launch of 5G services will trigger a major spike in security related jobs.