Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (November 20, 2024)
Summary
The investment is part of a total seed round of $5.4 million.The funding will be used for the construction of a fully cryogenic testing facility at BITS Pilani Hyderabad along with a push towards achieving the milestone of a technology demonstration vehicle, with plans for a Vertical Takeoff, Vertical Landing HOP Test reaching up to 10 km altitude within the next 15 months.The fresh infusion will also accelerate Abyoms research and development efforts and expand its team to over 50 employees.Earlier this year, SCOPE introduced a $50 million venture capital fund through its investment arm, SCOPE VC, aimed at supporting startups. Beyond financial backing, SCOPE VC intends to implement a Y Combinator-style cohort model, offering selected startups mentorship, corporate connections, and strategic resources.Taqtics, a SaaS platform for retail and restaurants, has raised $1.2 million in seed funding led by Sprout Venture Partners and Capital-A.With this funding, we are doubling down on innovation, including leveraging AI and automation to simplify retail operations. Taqtics provides an innovative solution that simplifies oversight while driving efficiency, said Sahil Gupta, Partner at Sprout Venture Partners.Taqtics, a product of Peachy Technologies, offers an all-in-one platform that provides real-time store audits for compliance tracking, employee training and SOP management, and simplified visual merchandising.Blinkit adds Decathlon products to all its pincodesZomatos quick commerce arm Blinkit has launched Decathlon products in all operational cities.Customers can now get sports and gym equipment, winter essentials, yoga needs, travel bags and apparel for men and women, noted Albinder Dhindsa, CEO, Blinkit in a post on X.Early growth venture equity fund AWE Funds onboards former British Telecom exec Arun Seth to its investment committee.Seths insights will enable AWE Funds to invest in sectors critical to sustainable development, including climate, health, fintech, agriculture, and education, the company said in a statement.Seth has spent 17 years as the founding managing director and chairman of British Telecom in India, while also serving on the boards of Dixon Technologies, Narayana Health, Jubilant Life Sciences, Tech Mahindra, and CyberMedia.Global advisory, consulting, and executive search firm, Eunity Partners, marks its foray into India under its strategic expansion plan to expand into Asian markets.To lead its growth in India, it also appointed Farhan Ahmed Hazarika as its Associate Partner. The IIT Roorkee alumnus has held key leadership roles at A2Z Green Waste Management, IL&FS Environmental, and EverEnviro.Extended reality platform Metadome.ai has appointed Sandeep Jain as the new head of sales.In his previous stint at Adobe, Jain led the Enterprise Greenfield segment as a sales leader acquiring several new logos and penetrating various industry verticals like retail, fashion, IT, ecommerce, manufacturing, and home decor.Jain comes with 25 years of sales experience in the SaaS, telecommunications, computer networking, data centres, cloud transformation, media, information technology, and customer digital experience verticals.Enterprise solution provider SUSE has announced the availability of SUSE AI, a secure, trusted platform to deploy and run GenAI applications. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) working with SUSE AI for security, extensibility, and flexibility.Marketing technology provider Netcore Cloud has expanded its partnership with Google Cloud to elevate its product discovery, AI-powered search, merchandising, and customer engagement marketing platforms.The expanded partnership will enable brands to deliver a hyper-personalised experience to boost customer retention and revenue growth, it said in a statement.This collaboration is a part of Netcore Clouds efforts to double its ARR by 2027 and expand its footprint across North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia.Business accelerator The Circle: Founders Club concluded its demo day for the K-StartupCentre India cohort at The Circle Work in Millennium City Center, Gurugram.The event showcased ten South Korean startups across sectors including IoT, edtech, HRtech, sustainability, cybersecurity, and F&B to explore and expand into the Indian market.During the four-month programme, the startups signed over 20 MoUs, went through 500+ hours of mentoring, had more than 200+ one-on-one meetings, and participated in 10+ top-tier conferences in India.