Stellaris Venture Partners’ AI playbook; UKG’s bet on its India GCC

Indian women’s access to finance has grown rapidly over the years. But their wealth creation has not. And this is not their fault or failure. 

Many structural barriers limit women’s financial outcomes, says a report by Lxme, a financial platform for women, in collaboration with EY India. 

Women earn less than men. They are late to the investment game. Often, policy treats women’s financial inclusion as a box to tick. Low financial literacy and workforce participation are also factors.

If these were to change, women could power a Rs 40 lakh crore GDP opportunity. Priti Rathi Gupta, Founder, Lxme, highlights how long-term participation by women will help India’s growth story.

In other news, China has set an economic growth target of between 4.5% and 5%, its lowest since 1991—as it braces for a slower growth path. The world’s second largest economy is battling several challenges including weak consumption, shrinking population, and global trade tensions. 

Here’s a challenge all of us have to deal with: online privacy. 

Is it a luxury today, and not a right? In a dystopian potential future, smart fridges could share information about our food choices with health insurers. While this may not be an inevitable reality, it’s a scary thought. Also think about this: did we ever have online privacy in the first place? 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Stellaris Venture Partners’ AI playbook
• UKG’s bet on its India GCC 

Here’s your trivia for today: How many grapes are needed to make one bottle of red wine? 

Investment

Stellaris Venture Partners’ AI playbook

Venture capital firm Stellaris Venture Partners is doubling down on AI and deeptech startups in India. But it’s not rushing headlong into the AI frenzy.

The early-stage VC firm plans to invest $100 million - $150 million in AI startups. However, it is in no hurry to make investments. It is highly selective and keen on backing the right founders. What matters is conviction, says  Alok Goyal, Partner at Stellaris.

Key takeaways: 

• Stellaris is not hung up on a particular thesis or an investment target. It is open to ideas and ready to go with the flow with a founder-first approach.
• The firm’s focus will be on application enablers within the AI ecosystem. “We are looking at everything from agent builders, to guardrails, to security… We are more bullish on these AI use cases,” notes Goyal.
• In January this year, Stellaris led a $3-million funding round in voice AI startup Arrowhead. The firm has also invested in B2B marketing and sales analytics platform Factors.ai and AI-driven intelligence platform OrbitShift.

GCC

UKG’s bet on its India GCC 

Workforce management solutions provider UKG has been in India since 2007. Over the years, it has developed strong leadership and expertise in engineering and services. The next wave of growth will come from AI products, says Nitin Chandel, GVP & India Country Manager.

In the last two decades or so, the India GCC has grown to over 4,000 employees across four locations: Noida, Pune, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. It is now on par with any other key engineering centre of the company across the globe, including the United States, Canada, and Australia, says Chandel. 

Driving expertise:

• The company has five key product lines around HR and payroll management, serving over 80,000 customers worldwide across industries such as retail, healthcare, and manufacturing. India heads one of the payroll product lines.
• The India GCC has built AI agents that handle compliance elements for employers in payroll management. It has also developed AI agents for workforce roster management in hospitals, especially for nurses.
• India is an integral participant in the company’s AI journey, as it has access to vast amounts of data on workforce management and derives valuable insights from this information.

News & updates

• Oil prices: The Iran conflict drove oil prices higher again on Thursday. Concerns about energy supply continued to drive up oil prices. The dollar also resumed its gains after a breather in ​the previous session. 
• Post-merger: The acquisition of Warner Bros is expected to bring many changes for Paramount, apart from $79 billion in debt. Paramount is consolidating studio operations and looking to monetise its real-estate assets. 
• Vehicle recall: Ford is ​recalling over 6 lakh vehicles in ‌the US over windshield wiper issues. The wiper motor may fail, ​reducing visibility and ​increasing crash risks, the US National ​Highway Traffic Safety Administration ​said. The recall includes certain 2020-2022 Explorer, Escape, Lincoln ​Aviator, and Lincoln Corsair ​vehicles.

How many grapes are needed to make one bottle of red wine?

Answer: 600-800

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