Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (July 12, 2024)
YourStory presents the daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Friday, July 12, 2024.
Zepto elevates Devendra Meel to CBO
Quick Commerce unicorn Zepto has elevated Devendra Meel to the Chief Business Officer, effective July 2024.
In this role, Meel will spearhead category management and foster brand partnerships, ensuring optimal assortment, pricing, availability, and growth of all core categories on the platform.
“Devendra has had an incredible run at Zepto. After joining us a year ago, he played a key role in scaling our advertising business to hundreds of crores in revenue and, more importantly, built out Zepto Pass end-to-end: from an idea to 5M+ subscribers today,” said Aadit Palicha, Co-founder and CEO, .
Before Zepto, Meel, an IIM-Bangalore graduate, led special initiatives at Zomato and Jio.
AFK Gaming beta launches its dashboard for esports analytics
AFK Gaming has beta launched its analytics dashboard to provide data and insights into the nation’s esports industry.
This tool offers real-time data and analytics to users, brands and other stakeholders.
Insights offers three core analytics modules. Tournaments analytics provides detailed information on prize pools, sponsors, players, and teams. User analytics delivers insights into demographics, occupations, interests, income, and spending habits. Social analytics tracks key metrics such as Instagram followers, YouTube subscribers, and the country’s top live streamers.
Zapp, Bounce Infinity partner for manufacturing scooters
Bengaluru-based and Zapp Electric Vehicles Group, a British electric vehicle brand have partnered to enhance the assembly and distribution of Zapp’s i300 electric urban motorcycle in India.
The partnership leverages Bounce’s manufacturing and market presence to support Zapp’s mission of delivering premium, sustainable personal mobility solutions. Bounce will manufacture Zapp’s electric vehicles per its specifications.
Bounce will support in obtaining necessary approvals for homologating its products in India, with completion expected within 120 days from the MoU’s effective date. They will also explore a distribution partnership to enhance Zapp’s product availability across India.
DeepHealth expands operations in India
DeepHealth, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RadNet, Inc., a player in AI-powered radiology and health informatics, has opened its office in Bengaluru, marking its expansion in the Indian market.
The technology hub will spearhead innovations to advance DeepHealth’s mission of empowering breakthroughs in care delivery.
As a part of its India expansion, DeepHealth will leverage local expertise and a network of strategic partners to enhance the development of AI-powered health informatics solutions.
As the company forges ahead with its expansion plans, it aims to broaden its collaborations and establish affiliations with prestigious institutions to undertake research projects.
magicpin adds over 1,000 brands in a year
Hyperlocal ecommerce platform has added more than 1,000 brands in the fashion, quick service restaurants, and fine dining categories between June of this year and the previous.
In addition, its merchant network has grown to include over 75,000 local merchants, bringing the total to over 275,000 merchants and encompassing more than 3,000 brands to date.
“It has been a phenomenal last 12 months for us... there has been an exponential 100 per cent increase for us in terms of brands and merchants, thereby welcoming over 1000 new brands and over 75,000 local merchants to our platform,” magicpin Co-founder and CEO Anshoo Sharma said.
Astrology prediction platform Melooha acquires GenAI startup Munitalks
AI-first astrology prediction platform has acquired Munitalks, a GenAI startup. The terms of the transaction, including the deal size, were not disclosed by the duo.
This acquisition aims to enhance Melooha’s offerings by integrating Munitalks’ top-down AI-first approach, known for its multilingual support and ability to answer various questions.
Melooha has secured an angel fund of $635,000 led by US-based Streak Ventures LLC, and a group of visionary angel investors.
“This acquisition accelerates Melooha’s strategic goals by merging advanced AI capabilities with ancient astrological wisdom. Munitalks’ technology not only enhances the multilingual and comprehensive nature of Melooha's offerings but also significantly boosts the ability to scale and innovate,” Neeraj Sahejpal, Managing Partner at Streak Ventures LLC said.
Infinx Healthcare expands its presence in India
, a global AI-driven company providing revenue cycle solutions for the U.S. healthcare market, has opened its new state-of-the-art Research and Development Center in Bengaluru.
This new facility highlights Infinx’s dedication to fostering innovation and driving advancements in the healthcare revenue cycle management (RCM) field. Infinx teams will also manage cloud operations and cloud computing from this centre.
Founded in 2012, Infinx is backed by leading global investment firms - Norwest Venture Partners and KKR & Co.
Khaitan & Co appoints three new partner
Khaitan & Co, a leading full-service law firm, has bolstered its corporate and M&A practice with the addition of three new Partners appointments.
Shishir Vayttaden and Aditi Singhvi will join the firm’s Mumbai office, while K. Aishwarya will join the Bengaluru office.
Vayttaden, with over 17 years of experience, specialises in public and private M&A, private equity transactions, and advises prominent private equity funds, Indian conglomerates, and Fortune 500 companies.
Aishwarya, with over 13 years of experience, joins the firm. Singhvi is a 2011 graduate of the National Law University Jodhpur.
This move is part of Khaitan & Co’s strategy to continue investing in its growth and attract top talent.
Olympic esports games to take place in 2025
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that the inaugural Olympic esports games will take place in Saudi Arabia in 2025.
This decision follows the recent proposal by the IOC’s Executive Board and will be presented at the IOC Session ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The IOC has entered a 12-year partnership with the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Saudi Arabia to host the Olympic esports games.
The IOC has emphasised collaboration with International Federations already engaged in esports and National Olympic Committees that include esports in their activities.
(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)
Edited by Affirunisa Kankudti
