What’s brewing in the tech, startup world?
Today's key highlights include:
AI startups Krutrim raises $50 million, becomes unicorn 40 days after launching
Samsung collaborates with Physics Wallah to enhance online education for students
NeoGrowth lists foreign currency bonds for 3.5 million euros at IFSC in GIFT City
Odisha's Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) drives innovation with its first cohort of industry-startups
Agritech startups seek incentives for infrastructure development and AI adoption in Budget 2024
Krutrim, a LLM startup founded by Ola Co-Founder Bhavish Aggarwal, has raised $50 million from Matrix Partners at a $1 billion valuation. Krutrim becomes India's fastest unicorn, marking a significant milestone not only for the company but also for the Indian tech ecosystem, the company said. In response to the unique requirements of the Indian tech ecosystem, Krutrim is building an AI computing stack and a family of LLMs.
The company announced in December that its LLM was the most comprehensive training program to include Indian data. As well as fueling generative AI applications in various Indian languages, the model will also power Krutrim's conversational AI assistant.
In collaboration with Physics Wallah, Samsung has launched 'Samsung Education Hub', an education app designed for TV. Smart Monitors will be available gradually, beginning with 2023 models and extending to 2020 models, with the Education Hub app available on Samsung TVs ranging between 32 and 98 inches. As part of the initiative, Physics Wallah, India's leading online EdTech startup, will provide an educational platform for online classes on TVs.
Through the Education Hub app, CBSE Board students in grades 6 through 12 and those preparing for competitive exams such as IIT and NEET will have access to live classrooms and on-demand education content. Physics Wallah's existing students with Samsung TVs, as well as Samsung TV users who want to subscribe to the EdTech platform, can access the educational content.
NeoGrowth, a digital lender with a focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), listed foreign currency bonds (FCB) for 3.5 million euros from Developing World Markets (DMW) at the India International Exchange (IFSC) in GIFT City. NeoGrowth became the first company to utilize GIFT City's unified depository. Funds will be used to provide onward lending to MSMEs.
We, at NeoGrowth, are proud to participate in the IFSC at GIFT City, which offers Indian companies the opportunity to secure offshore funds here in India. In addition to helping financial institutions like NeoGrowth diversify their funding sources, the initiative will also pave the way for other industries to seek funding outside traditional channels, said NeoGrowth's Managing Director and CEO, Arun Nayyar.
Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), a leading industry body in Odisha, organized its Industry-Startup 1st Cohort at Bhubaneswar Club. To foster collaboration and innovation, the event, held under the theme "Creating a Startup Ecosystem for Odisha," brought together key players from a variety of sectors. The Industry-Startup 1st Cohort was a significant step towards fostering innovation and collaboration in Odisha, reinforcing the ICC's commitment to create a thriving eco-system that benefits both industries and startups.
As part of its mandate to bridge the gap between startups and established industries, the IT & Start-Up Committee of the ICC Odisha State Council organized a platform where startups could network and interact with prospective customers, receiving advice from established industry leaders.
Through an Expression of Interest (EoI) process, the committee curated ten startups aligned with livelihood, education, climate change, and sustainability themes.
The agritech startups in the country have high hopes from the upcoming budget that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present on February 1, before the country heads for general elections in April-May. According to Waycool MD Karthik Jayaraman, exempting long-term capital gains on private equity investments in the agriculture sector would promote innovation and support infrastructure development.
Digital public infrastructure tailored for the agritech sector is needed to mitigate climate change's effects, according to players in the sector.
