Tech stack for EV firms?; Flipkart pushes Walmart Q3 numbers

Hello,

What makes Bengaluru… well Bengaluru?

This is the question that UnboxingBLR Foundation’s ‘Bengaluru Rising’ report addresses. The report was 

was launched by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah; Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and Priyank Kharge, Minister for Information Technology, along with UnboxingBLR co-founders Prashant Prakash and Malini Goyal at the Bengaluru Tech Summit.

Moving on. The tech startup ecosystem might be in the middle of a slowdown, but things seem to be heating up for the dairy products brand Country Delight, and SoftBank is showing a keen interest in it. 

Country Delight is looking to raise $50-70 million in a new round at a flat $800 million valuation, and SoftBank has initiated discussions to lead the round, sources told YourStory.

Meanwhile, Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer is facing some rough weather. The company’s shares continued to fall on Tuesday as weak Q2 FY25 results weighed on investors’ sentiments. 

Honasa’s share price tumbled 18%, hitting a low of Rs 242.60. On Tuesday, shares of the D2C brand closed at Rs 263.75 on the BSE, well below its IPO price of Rs 324. 

Lastly, it’s the end of an era as one of the world’s greatest tennis players Rafael Nadal will bid goodbye to the sport at the Davis Cup finals in Malaga this week. 

And, tennis GOAT Roger Federer has penned an emotional letter to the Spaniard, saying “Your old friend is always cheering for you.”

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Why EV firms should have their tech stack?
• Flipkart pushes Walmart Q3 numbers
• KOGO unveils its AI Agent Store

Here’s your trivia for today: What French mountain range separates France from Spain?

Bengaluru Tech Summit

Why EV firms should have their tech stack?

A two-wheeler OEM would find it very difficult to justify the business case for manufacturing its cell, especially in an industry of high capital expenditure and low margins, said Ather Energy Co-founder and CTO Swapnil Jain. 

Speaking at the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024, Jain said the two-wheeler market transitioning to electric would require about 60 GWh (gigawatt-hours) of battery capacity. This means, a large OEM would need anywhere between 25-30 GWh of battery capacity, which is a significant investment. When operating at this scale, battery cell manufacturers face thin profit margins. 

Key takeaways:

• While Ather does not see itself making any strides in battery manufacturing in the future, Jain said, “Well in the long term, unless we probably start making more than two-wheelers.” 
• According to reports, the IPO-bound company’s total domestic dispatches were 16,582 units in September, with Ather's new scooter Rizta accounting for 9,867 units. 
• “I believe technology is something, which is obviously at the heart of everything happening today. If you control the technology, you control everything; you can make everything happen if you actually control the technology,” he said.

<Funding Alert>

Startup: Proost

Amount: Rs 30 Cr

Round: Series A

Startup: Baanhem Ventures

Amount: Rs 3.3 Cr

Round: Fresh

Startup: Swish

Amount: $2M

Round: Seed

Ecommerce

Flipkart pushes Walmart Q3 numbers

Walmart reported steady growth in revenue for Q3 FY25, driven by growth in its ecommerce and advertising businesses globally. Overall, global ecommerce net sales grew by 27% YoY for the quarter, according to the earnings reported by Walmart for Q3 FY25.  

The retail giant reported 28% YoY growth in its global advertising business overall, with its international advertising vertical recording 50% YoY growth, driven largely by Flipkart.

Quarterly figures:

• The growth in international business was positively impacted by Flipkart’s flagship Big Billion Days sale event, which started on September 26. It will also impact the company’s Q4 revenues.
• Walmart expects the growth in ecommerce sales and advertising business for its international businesses in the second half of the year to be similar to the first half. 
• The retail giant reported consolidated revenue of $169.6 billion for the third quarter of FY25, up 5.5% from the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

In-focus

KOGO unveils its AI Agent Store

KOGO, a Bengaluru-based AI startup that predominantly creates ready-to-deploy and custom AI Agents for enterprises and SMEs, launched its AI Agent Store. 

“Agents are multiple-step automation execution programs powered by AI. For instance, if someone wishes to book an appointment at a salon or a table at a restaurant, this requires bookings, multi-step execution, and conversation either through voice or through chat. Those are agents,” Praveer Kochhar, Co-founder and CPO of KOGO, tells YourStory.

AI use case:

• The AI Store caters to diverse sectors, offering a wide array of specialised agents and tools that meet specific business needs. Per the company, its AI agents cater to several industries, including travel, healthcare, finance, retail, and law.
• The store will operate on a pay-as-you-go model, where customers only pay for the usage of the agents and tools, and can recharge the wallet at any time.
• KOGO plans to have over one million AI agents in the store by 2025, it plans to do so via collaborations.

News & updates

• Tensions: Global stocks fell and investors fled to safe-haven assets Tuesday as global markets reacted to escalating tensions between the world’s two largest nuclear powers: Russia and the US. The Dow Jones shed 400 points, or 0.9%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite lost 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively.
• Copyright: Asian News International has sued OpenAI alleging the AI company illegally used its content to train its AI models and generated false information attributed to the news agency. The case marks the first time an Indian media organisation has taken legal action against OpenAI over copyright claims.
• Anti-trust: Meta Platforms disagreed with a CCI order that directed WhatsApp to refrain from sharing user data for advertising purposes with other Meta-owned applications for five years and fined the US tech giant $25.4 million on Monday. Meta said it would legally challenge the order. 

What French mountain range separates France from Spain?

Answer: The Pyrenees Mountains.

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