Startup news and updates: daily roundup (April 22, 2022)
YourStory presents daily news roundups from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Friday, April 22, 2022.
Tech Mahindra to create 1000 jobs in the UK, generate new revenue streams
Tech Mahindra on Friday announced that it will create new revenue streams and create 1,000 job opportunities in the UK. The development came soon after the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcements regarding new UK-India collaboration on Artificial Intelligence made during his visit to India.
The tech giant plans to collaborate with an academia and research institute in the UK to co-innovate at Tech Mahindra’s Makers Lab in Milton Keynes.
“Trade and investment between the UK and India is creating good jobs and sustaining livelihoods in both of our countries. I’m very pleased that Tech Mahindra has decided to join the legions of Indian companies investing in the UK, boosting our technology sector and driving economic growth,” Boris Johnson had said.
CP Gurnani, Managing Director and CEO of Tech Mahindra said, “Innovations and applications of Artificial intelligence (AI) can significantly transform productivity and create revenue streams for businesses in the UK.”
NPCI to recruit and train over 250 engineering trainees from across India
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Friday announced its latest campaign to recruit more than 250 Graduate Engineering Trainees (GETs) to be placed at NPCI’s office facilities in key metro cities across India. The last date to apply is April 28 on NPCI’s official website.
As part of the recruitment drive, NPCI will introduce a programme titled ‘Learn DeepTech while you Earn’ aimed at those pursuing post-graduate certification in artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) or Blockchain from a reputed institution.
They will be working on products like UPI, RuPay, and FASTag that have millions of daily users and become part of a peer group of technologists who form the key drivers of innovation in digital payments.
Nishith Chaturvedi, chief human resource and admin at NPCI said,
“Through this initiative, we at NPCI wish to create high impact career opportunities for young innovators to contribute towards developing breakthrough technology in the payments space. We will continue to work with India’s tech-savvy brains and develop revolutionary offerings to create a delightful and seamless payment experience for millions of Indians.”
Fitness startup HealthifyMe launches HealthifyPro
Health and fitness startup on Friday launched its flagship fitness plan HealthifyPro, which comes integrated with a Biosensor system with a Continuous Glucose Monitor (BIOS), at its annual event Ignite.
The feature is currently offered in beta version on an invite-only basis in India and will be launched globally in the next few months.
In January 2022, HealthifyMe crossed $50 million revenue run rate and now aims to cross $100 million in Accounting Rate of Return (ARR) within eight months. Last year, the startup raised $75 million in a Series C round led by LeapFrog and Khosla Ventures to expand into India and South East Asia markets besides making inroads into North America.
Dr. Ambrish Mithal, Padma Bhushan, Chairman and Head of Endocrinology and Diabetes at Max Hospitals said, "I've had the opportunity to advise Tushar and the HealthifyMe team since their inception and HealthifyPro is their best foot forward yet. Medically speaking, understanding your metabolism is key to unlocking health and fitness results.”
Nykaa Fashion acquires activewear brand- Kica
Lifestyle ecommerce platform Nykaa Fashion announced the acquisition of the Indian activewear brand- Kica on Friday.
The company builds on strengthening the active wear category with this acquisition and the launch of Nykd All Day last year.
Founded by Aneesha Labroo in 2017, Kica offers leggings, tops, jackets, and tracks at affordable prices and has also built an online community of women around the brand.
Adwaita Nayar, CEO of Nykaa Fashion said, “With a strong vision to empower women to lead an active lifestyle, Kica is a brand that brings equal passion to product and community both. We are excited to scale this brand further, alongside the dynamic and passionate entrepreneur, Aneesha."
Aneesha Labroo, who founded Kica in 2017 said the brand has found strong synergies with Nykaa Fashion’s positioning within the ecommerce landscape and its engagement with customers across the country.
Ex Ola Electric co-founder launches sustainability platform StepChange
Ex co-founder Ankit Jain and a doctoral researcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sidhant Pai on Friday launched the sustainability platform StepChange to usher in environmental change by enabling small changes in the user’s daily life.
The platform aims to offer a series of personalised and effective steps to help users adapt to aco-friendly lifestyle habits and behaviours.
“For many people…climate change was too big a problem, and it was just easier to not think about it in the absence of concrete guidance on specific decisions they could make as individuals. That’s where the idea for StepChange was born,” the co-founders said during the launch.
