BYJU'S without cloud, telecom services; An AI agent for sales reps

Hello,

Instagram’s finally putting on kid gloves about children’s online safety. 

Millions of teenagers with Instagram accounts may soon find their public profiles made private, as the social media platform tries to create age-appropriate experiences for minors.

These new features are also aimed at allaying fears about the addictive nature of social media and exposure to inappropriate content—something the platform has been sued for in dozens of lawsuits.

For a generation being raised by the internet, is this too little too late?

Meanwhile, the newest entrant into the social media landscape is also set to touch a new wealth class.

Elon Musk’s sprawling empire may soon make him the world’s first trillionaire by 2027. 

There’s no dearth of challengers: The meteoric rise of Nvidia and the AI boom could catapult CEO Jensen Huang to the same milestone in 2028, along with Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.

Taking a closer look at the top brass of the world’s top companies, another thing is clear: C-suite is still a boys’ club. While women hold more top jobs than ever before, they lag behind men on crucial early promotions into management, according to a 10-year study. 

That’s not to say there’s been no progress. Women today make up 29% of C-suite positions compared to 17% in 2015. 

Change is a hard and messy road, and ambition powers us through it. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• BYJU'S cut off from cloud, telecom services
• An AI agent for sales reps
• Guiding new parents on nutrition

Here’s your trivia for today: Because the company CEO still owns the domain, the URL relentless.com will redirect you to the website of what company?

Edtech

BYJU'S cut off from cloud, telecom services

Service providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Vodafone Idea, have suspended their services to BYJU’S due to unpaid dues.

BYJU’S has not paid AWS for at least two months, and has not recharged its commercial calling facilities package for Vodafone Idea in August, people aware of the matter told YourStory. However, the edtech company denied any suspension of services.

Mounting troubles:

• Amazon’s cloud computing platform AWS was providing cloud services to the edtech company’s mobile application, while telecommunications service provider Vodafone Idea was the sole mobile network service provider for the edtech firm.
• “With so many vendor payments piling up and no revenue coming in, it’s getting difficult for BYJU’S to make any payments,” one of the sources said anonymously.
• According to the second person quoted above, very few teachers are conducting online classes voluntarily as they are not being compensated for it given the edtech company’s financial struggles.

Funding Alert

Startup: Redcliffe Labs

Amount: $42M

Round: Series C

Startup: Way2News

Amount: $14M

Round: Series B

Startup: e6data

Amount: $10M

Round: Series A

Startup

An AI agent for sales reps

Childhood friends Ashutosh Singh, Neeraj Gupta, and Pankaj Gupta saw an opportunity to address the numerous challenges Business Development Representatives face, including burnout, inconsistency, and scalability issues, using AI. 

In 2024, they founded Revrag.ai and developed an AI-powered assistant to streamline repetitive tasks for sales teams, allowing them to concentrate on high-value activities. 

AI partner:

• Revrag launched Emma, an AI agent designed to fully automate sales processes and scale outreach efforts. The AI agent prospects and writes bespoke hyper-personalised emails to book meetings for sales representatives.
• “This technology will handle routine tasks and initial outreach, allowing human BDRs to focus on high-value activities that require emotional intelligence and complex problem-solving,” explains Co-founder and CEO Singh.
• The startup has been piloting the product with multiple B2B startups including Segwise, Bindbee, GenscaleAI, FutureAGI, DevDymanics, and Fretron.

Woman Entrepreneur

Guiding new parents on nutrition

Like many new parents, Sonal Babbar Bhardwaj had a lot of questions and realised that her friends, family and peers were equally confused.

In 2023, she launched Viraa Care, which offers online courses for parents on topics, including breastfeeding and bottle feeding.

Knowledge transfer:

• Viraa Care offers two programmes—one-on-one consultations for three months and live courses where parents can interact with experts online.
• With a team of five experts, Viraa Care claims to have helped over 500 families in the US and India. The startup had raised $100,000 in a pre-seed round in January 2024.
• Bhardwaj plans to launch a B2B segment, collaborating with hospitals, gynaecologists, and paediatricians, so the startup can reach more parents.

News & updates

• Negotiations: Negotiators at Boeing and its largest union are due to resume talks over a labour contract on Tuesday, as the planemaker seeks to bring a swift end to a strike that is costing the indebted company an estimated $100 million a day.
• Shelved plans: Intel Corp’s decision to postpone its planned factory in Germany marks a setback for the European Union’s semiconductor ambitions, and will reignite controversy in Berlin over where to allocate $11 billion in earmarked subsidies.
• Star power: Universal Music Group said it expects to achieve high revenue and earnings growth through the end of 2028 as the record label behind Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande bets on subscriptions and its expanding network of partnerships.

Because the company CEO still owns the domain, the URL relentless.com will redirect you to the website of what company?

Answer: Amazon.

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