AI-powered diagnostics for EV health; Amazon India’s big Prime Day bet

Hello,

After OpenAI, Meta is now after Apple’s AI specialists.

According to Bloomberg, Meta hired Ruoming Pang, Apple’s head of AI models, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes aggressive efforts to strengthen the company’s AI superintelligence unit. 

Pang led Apple’s team responsible for developing the AI foundation models that power Apple Intelligence and other on-device AI features.

It’s not just Meta that wants the top guns in its firm. Goldman Sachs, too, onboarded veteran policymaker and former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak—a former analyst at the investment bank—as a senior adviser to navigate rising geopolitical and regulatory uncertainty.

Meanwhile, many have found success on social media, but none like this 36-year-old beauty mogul from South Korea. Kim Byung Hoon, the country's newest billionaire, heads Seoul-based APR Corp—the K-beauty device brand behind the gadget ‘Booster Pro’. 

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his 31% stake in APR is now worth about $1.3 billion after the firm’s shares soared 200% this year.

Lastly, Novartis won approval for the first drug to treat malaria in babies and very young children.

Novartis’ Coartem Baby is dissolvable, including in breast milk, and has a sweet cherry flavour to make it easier to administer, and will be first made available to 8 African countries that participated in the assessment.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• AI-powered diagnostics for EV health
• Amazon India’s big Prime Day bet
• Transforming English education in Meghalaya

Here’s your trivia for today: When did Vasco da Gama make his first voyage to India?

Startup 

AI-powered diagnostics for EV health

Founded in 2019, Ahmedabad-based E-Vega Mobility Labs is the parent of BatteryOk Technology, which has developed EV Doctor—a compact, AI-powered device that diagnoses EV battery health in just 15 minutes.  

The startup’s initial focus was on building affordable e-bikes and retrofitting cycles, but it pivoted to battery diagnostics amid the COVID-19 pandemic after noticing a serious gap in the available methods for EV servicing. 

Safeguarding battery health:

• The small and portable device, weighing just 300 grams, is now used by over 1,500 B2B clients, including Zypp, Gauss, MG Motor, and Jitendra EV. More than 2,000 units have been sold across India and to international markets, including Mexico, the US, Vietnam, South Korea, and China.
• EV Doctor uses over 24 proprietary AI models based on ML algorithms like Extended Kalman, XGBoost, and Random Forest. These algorithms classify batteries, estimate DC internal resistance, and identify over 10 different types of faults, from water damage to performance declines.
• The startup remains bootstrapped with Rs 50 lakh and has generated over Rs 4.5 crore in revenue to date. It is in discussions with institutional investors for a funding round at a targeted valuation of Rs 20 crore.

Funding Alert

Startup: Credit Wise Capital

Amount: Rs 200 Cr

Round: Institutional

Startup: Sai Parenterals

Amount: Rs 50 Cr

Round: Equity

Startup: Linkrunner

Amount: Rs 5 Cr

Round: Pre-Seed

Ecommerce

Amazon India’s big Prime Day bet

Amazon India is set to host its largest Prime Day event to date, with more deals, product launches, and extended shopping time. For the first time, Prime Day will run for three days, from July 12 to July 14, offering Prime members 72 hours of exclusive discounts, new product launches, and access to blockbuster entertainment.

New launches:

• Prime Day 2025 will feature over 400 new product launches across categories, including smartphones, electronics, fashion, beauty, and home appliances. Many of these launches are exclusive to Prime members and will debut during the event.
• Customers can also explore and book bikes and scooters from brands like Hero Vida, Ather, Ampere, and Chetak on Amazon, with final handovers at local dealerships. Vehicles have become one of the platform’s fastest-growing categories, according to Saurabh Srivastava, Vice President – Categories at Amazon India.
• Additionally, Amazon Prime Video is rolling out 17 Indian and international shows and movies, including Panchayat Season 4, The Traitors hosted by Karan Johar, and global premieres like Heads of State. There will also be new Amazon Music Prime membership tiers tailored to Indian consumers.

Education

ICYMI: Transforming English education in Meghalaya

Three kilometres from Nongshken, a remote village in Meghalaya’s East Khasi hills bordering Bangladesh, a small school in the middle of a forest is offering hope to 241 students from marginalised communities. 

Started by Genavafa Behphat in 2019, the Dew Drop Academy is part of the Sunbird Trust’s School Transformation Programme, which focuses on all-around development of partner schools in conflict areas. 

News & updates

• LPG import: India plans to source about 10% of its cooking gas imports from the US beginning in 2026. India had rarely bought US LPG in the past due to higher freight costs, but state retailers began buying US LPG in May after China imposed retaliatory import tariffs on US propane.
• New app: Block CEO and Twitter Co-founder Jack Dorsey wrote in an X post on Sunday night that he spent his weekend creating a messaging app called Bitchat that operates through Bluetooth mesh networks, allowing users to send messages without Wi-Fi or cell reception.
• IPO: Shein has confidentially filed for an IPO in Hong Kong to apply pressure on UK regulators and accelerate its long-embattled listing ambitions. Shein previously filed to list in London around 18 months prior but has struggled to receive regulatory approval and, in May, reportedly shifted its focus to Hong Kong.

When did Vasco da Gama make his first voyage to India?

Answer: July 8, 1497. Vasco da Gama set sail from Lisbon with a fleet of four vessels via the Cape of Good Hope to land in Kozhikode, India.

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