AI-powered R&D platform for consumer products; Demand for AI talent spikes in India
Deeptech startup Bettrlabs is digitising product development for consumer brands, helping them move from idea to formulation faster without investing heavily in physical labs; Bengaluru tops the list in AI hiring followed by Hyderabad and there has been emergence of Tier II cities for such talent.
Hello,
What if you never had to scroll again, but still never missed a thing?
That’s the pitch behind Noscroll, an AI bot that quietly sifts through the chaos of social feeds, news, and online chatter, and pings you only when something actually matters. No infinite feeds, no brainrot—just signal. Built by former OpenSea CTO Nadav Hollander, it’s an attempt to turn the internet from a distraction machine into a decision-making tool.
That idea of AI doing more for you is showing up elsewhere too. OpenAI’s new GPT-5.5 pushes further into ‘agentic’ territory—planning, executing, and completing multi-step tasks with minimal input. It’s less about generating answers, and more about getting things done.
At the same time, the broader tech ecosystem is grappling with the downsides of always-on platforms. Norway plans to ban social media use for children under 16, following Australia’s lead, signalling a growing push to put guardrails around digital consumption.
From cutting down noise to rethinking access, the question is shifting: not just what technology can do—but how much of it we actually want.
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- AI-powered R&D platform for consumer products
- AI hiring in India jumps 59.5%: Report
Here’s your trivia for today: What was the first ransomware attack to demand payment in Bitcoin?
In-focus
AI-powered R&D platform for consumer products
Founded by JP Mohanty, Ravinkumar S, Prathap Raj, and Beena Rai, Bettrlabs is a Bengaluru-based deeptech startup building an AI-powered R&D operating system for physical consumer goods. The platform aims to streamline one of the most fragmented processes in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industries: product development.
Key takeaways:
- The startup replaces traditional lab processes with AI tools to create formulations, analyse ingredients, and handle regulatory checks.
- Betterlabs cuts product development timelines from over 7 months to just 30–90 days by streamlining experimentation and decision-making.
- It Offers features like reverse-engineering products, ingredient analysis, and market insights to help brands build better, evidence-backed products.
Top funding deals of the week
Startup: Oolka
Amount: Rs 130 Cr
Round: Series A
Startup: LightFury Games
Amount: $11 million
Round: pre-Series A
Startup: M
Amount: Rs 102 Cr
Round: Seed
Technology
AI hiring in India jumps 59.5%: Report
India’s AI talent boom is gaining both speed and depth, with hiring surging and demand spreading beyond traditional tech hubs into new cities and industries. The latest report by LinkedIn highlights a clear shift from early-stage experimentation to real-world deployment, as companies of all sizes invest in AI capabilities and seek professionals who can translate tools into tangible outcomes.
Key takeaways:
- AI hiring jumped 59.5% year-on-year, with Bengaluru remaining the top hub, but strong growth in emerging centres like Hyderabad and Vijayawada signals a broader decentralisation of AI opportunities across India.
- While large enterprises continue to dominate AI hiring through heavy investments in infrastructure and governance, small and mid-sized businesses are catching up, playing a crucial role in scaling AI from pilot projects to full deployment.
- Demand is increasingly centred on practical capabilities such as AI agents, productivity tools, and automated feature engineering, with industries like manufacturing also prioritising skills like AI prompting as AI moves deeper into real-world operations.
News & updates
- Meta: Amazon has landed a major win over Meta, powered by its in-house chips. The company announced on Friday that Meta will use millions of AWS Graviton processors to support its expanding AI workloads.
- Oil prices: Oil prices fell Friday after reports that Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi will visit Pakistan for possible peace talks. Brent crude slipped 0.42% to $104.63 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate fell 1.15% to $94.75.
What was the first ransomware attack to demand payment in Bitcoin?
Answer: CryptoLocker (2013)
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