Startup news and updates: daily roundup (April 21, 2023)

Red Fort Capital funds Ludhiana-based Pancham Hospitals

Investment platform Red Fort Capital has announced its entry into the Indian healthcare sector by investing in Pancham Hospitals Private Limited, Ludhiana. The funding is expected to provide a significant boost to Pancham Hospital's expansion plans.

The funding will be utilised to upgrade the hospital's medical infrastructure, introduce new specialities and technologies, and expand its services to cater to the growing demand for quality and affordable healthcare in the region.

Pancham Hospital, with over 10 years of experience in the healthcare industry, is known for its cardiac sciences healthcare services and is equipped with state-of-the-art medical technology and a highly skilled team of doctors and medical professionals.

Boson Whitewater, Unnati Foundation to install water ATMs in rural Karnataka

Bengaluru-based Boson Whitewater has partnered with NGO SGBS Unnati Foundation to install water ATMs across villages in Karnataka. ExxonMobil and Broadridge have funded the project under their CSR initiative.

To date, the firms have installed 10 water ATMs in Malur and Doddaballapur villages on the outskirts of Bengaluru, benefitting more than 1,500 families, a statement by Boson Whitewater read.

After assessing the locations proposed by Unnati Foundation, Boson Whitewater installs the water ATMs and provides water ATM cards to the panchayat. Each family is issued a card with Rs 50 preloaded on it, which can be swiped to dispense 20 litres of water. A charge of Rs 5 per 20 litres per can of water is levied.

“At Boson Whitewater, our overarching goal is to use our technology to create easy access to clean water. We look for opportunities like this that allow us to make a huge difference to communities that find it difficult to access clean water," said Vikas Brahmavar, CEO and Co-founder, Boson Whitewater.

Over the next few months, more water ATMs will be installed across various villages in Karnataka, the press release read.

Mark Zuckerberg announces new feature on WhatsApp

Mark Zuckerberg has announced a new product on WhatsApp called 'Keep in Chat' that lets people in a chat with disappearing messages save the messages they need the most.

With the 'Disappearing Messages' feature, conversations do not stick around forever. While this extra layer of privacy protects messages from falling into the wrong hands, an occasional voice note or a key piece of information that one may want to keep can be preserved through the 'Keep in Chat' feature.

The sender will be notified when someone keeps a message and they have the ability to veto the decision. If the sender decides that their message can’t be kept by others, it will be deleted when the timer expires.

Messages saved on WhatsApp will be noted with a bookmark icon and one can see these messages in the 'Kept Messages' folder.

Web3 infrastructure provider Zeeve and Coreum Blockchain in partnership 

Zeeve, the institutional staking and managed blockchain infrastructure provider, has entered into a partnership with Coreum Blockchain, enabling users to deploy validator nodes on the recently announced Coreum Mainnet with just a few clicks.

Coreum, a high-performance blockchain designed for enterprise use cases, launched Mainnet to the public on March 24 this year, after months of rigorous testing and development.

Under this partnership, Zeeve has integrated Coreum staking nodes on its platform, allowing institutions and individual investors to easily participate in the network as validators for maximised yields and also contribute to the security and decentralisation of the blockchain. Zeeve’s automated node deployment, coupled with no-code APIs, remove the need for complex development, expanding the universe of businesses that can capitalse on the many benefits of blockchain, said a statement.  

WinZO launches cybersecurity programme to tackle cyber vulnerabilities

Social gaming and interactive entertainment technology platform WinZO has announced the launch of its new cyber security challenge programme, Code Health and Security Evaluation, in partnership with Indian IIT-Delhi, Delhi Technological University, Netaji Subhash University of Technology, and IIID.

The programme aims to invest in and develop open-source technology and best practices that can be used by businesses, government agencies, and other organisations to protect against cyber vulnerabilities.

Through this programme, WinZO, along with the partnered institutes, aims to develop open-source technologies for cyber security. The first phase of the programme would extend a scholarship of Rs 5 lakh to the winners. Top-performing participants are also eligible for internships and pre-placement interviews at WinZO.

“Any cyber-attack, no matter how small, is a threat to our national security and must be identified, managed, and shut down. Young engineers need to develop an early outlook for security threats and solutions that can help organisations stay ahead of emerging threats,” said Paavan Nanda, Co-founder of WinZO.

The company aims to scale its programme to 100 colleges in two years, said a statement from WinZO.

Engineers Without Borders International launches partnership with Bentley Systems

Engineers Without Borders International has entered into a partnership with infrastructure engineering software company Bentley Systems to support the organisation’s mission to unite the Engineers Without Borders organisations as a global force. The aim is to benefit millions of people in addressing today’s most pressing challenges and accelerating progress for a sustainable and equitable future, said a statement from the network.

The partnership also aims to provide the engineering leadership needed to tackle the global challenges that humanity faces, at a meaningful scale before it is too late, said the statement.

The partnership, which includes five years of core funding and executive insights, fundamentally strengthens the capacity of Engineers Without Borders International to drive more collaboration and cooperation within the movement, deliver better results, and unlock its global impact, it added.

With the ongoing climate crisis posing serious challenges such as lack of access to clean drinking water, improved sanitation facilities, nutritious food, safe housing, and reliable energy, Engineers Without Borders said its organisations across the globe are working to deliver critical infrastructure to communities in need and people in crisis.

(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)