Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (October 30, 2024)

Castrol India appoints Kedar Lele as managing director

Castrol India Limited, a lubricant manufacturer, has appointed Kedar Lele as its new Managing Director, effective November 1, 2024.

Lele joins Castrol India after a two-decade career at Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), where he last served as the Executive Director responsible for Sales and Customer Development in South Asia. 

Kedar has been working closely with Sandeep Sangwanat, the outgoing managing director, since September 2024, the company said.

As part of the leadership shift, Sangwanat will assume the role of Global Chief Marketing Officer at Castrol headquarters in London from November 1, 2024.

CoinDCX integrates the world’s first decentralised custody

CoinDCX, a crypto exchange, has integrated decentralised custody inside the CoinDCX App. This feature allows users to move their holdings from CoinDCX’s custody to a decentralised wallet, meaning their assets will be stored directly on the blockchain. This empowers its 15 million users with more control over their crypto assets. At the same time, users retain full access to the platform’s core features. 

CoinDCX’s Web3 Mode replaces seed phrases with advanced security layers such as two-factor authentication (2FA) and multi-party computation (MPC), making decentralised custody more secure and accessible to the broader crypto community. Users can seamlessly transfer their assets back to the CoinDCX exchange for trading or liquidation at any time, offering flexibility that traditional self-custody wallets lack.

MumbaiHacks GenAI hackathon sees participation of 1,460 technologists

MumbaiHacks, the generative AI hackathon co-hosted by the Tech Entrepreneurs Association of Mumbai (TEAM) and Made in Mumbai, in collaboration with Meta, NVIDIA, Quantiphi, and ATLAS SkillTech University, was held on October 25 and 26 and saw the participation of 1,460 hackers selected from nearly 3,000 registrations.

The hackathon received 398 project submissions. With a Rs 12 lakh prize pool, mentorship opportunities, and a platform for teams to pitch their ideas to a panel of industry and tech leaders, each team showcased AI-driven solutions that stood out for their ingenuity, scalability, and potential to make a significant impact, according to a statement. 

Building on the success of Mumbai Hacks 2024, TEAM also announced the upcoming edition of their flagship event, Mumbai Tech Week in February 2025.

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