Startup
Why SingleStore is the ideal choice for real-time analytics and applications
A good data experience is the key to winning or losing a customer. Today’s evolved and aware users seek real-time insights and analytics to make quick decisions. That creates the need for solid data infrastructure to support ever-changing business needs.
Enter SingleStore, the world’s fastest distributed SQL database for real-time analytical applications. It combines transactional and analytical workloads within a multi-model structure in a single engine.
Several case studies prove its success–many of which were highlighted at the Leaders Exchange: Indian Startups’ AI Journey to Global Dominance, organised by SingleStore in collaboration with YourStory.
Apart from the keynote address by Sanjay Arora, General Manager, APAC, SingleStore, the event included a fireside chat–Raj Verma, CEO, SingleStore, and Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO, YourStory.
A panel discussion on ‘Achieving Growth in India: Real time analytics and AI’ brought together trailblazers like Praveen Das, Co-founder, factors.ai; Vikas Gupta, General Manager, HPCL; Vaibhav, Director of Engineering,BharatPe; and Sreedhar Gade, Vice President of Engineering, Freshworks. They discussed the unparalleled opportunities for Indian startups to achieve global dominance through the power of real-time AI. The session was moderated by George Kuruvilla, Senior Director, Data Platform Evangelist (APAC), SingleStore.
Leveraging real-time analytics for growth and decision-making
Elaborating on factors.ai’s journey, Das shared that the first year was all about building the product and getting a few customers on board. However, in 2021, they signed up with SingleStore, because their app was “horribly slow” and impacted customers.
“We did a few evaluations and had certain criteria like being cloud-neutral. We were looking for a single database for both analytical and transactional workloads. As a company, analytics is the core offering of our product,” he shared, adding that factors.ai has scaled from an S2 cluster to S12 cluster in the last three years.
The company has managed its growth without any single resource dedicated to infrastructure. “That’s the sort of advantage we have…our focus has purely been on the application,” Das said.
Gupta spoke about the varied challenges in operations and decision-making in the oil industry. HPCL has a platform, HP Udgam, to support startups and provide funding to those with a vision to grow the industry. But everything boils down to the value driven from data.
“Our products are commodity-based so we need to know how to deliver value to the customer. It is all about how one can offer a personalised experience to the customer. We have moved from ‘data is the new oil’ to ‘data is the daata (giver)’. If you want to earn your bread, you have to play with data,” he shared.
To manage operations, Gupta said it is important to put a governance layer on an OT platform to tell you what is right and what needs to be invested. “Safety is paramount for the oil and gas sector. We have been able to establish visual analytics at our retail outlets to enhance customer safety and avert untoward incidents,” he said, adding that the improved customer service is a consequence of the SingleStore collaboration.
Innovation for scaling
BharatPe reported a 77% surge in new merchant signups in February 2024. But how did the company navigate such large volumes? “It’s more about readiness regarding such scenarios. It can only be done through data infrastructure that we prepare and the data platform we choose. One obvious keyword that comes to everyone’s mind is auto scaling but it also has its limitations, “ he said. He added that handling such scenarios necessitates the implementation of multiple machine learning algorithms in the background, based on data collected in the past.
Freshworks, which started as a single product company in 2010, added multiple products and went public over time. Today, it has a presence in 100+ countries, with 65,000 customers across industry verticals.
“We have been innovating on GenAI and trying to stay ahead of the curve. We have Freshdesk, our customer experience product. We also have Freshservice and, on top of it, when you have Gen AI, you are talking about predictive analytics. Everyone is playing in the past or present; we are playing in the future,” Gade said.
Freshworks is looking to revolutionise customer experience through agentic actions. “We recently launched a beta version of self-service on our CX product where 100% of agent actions are taken by the AI, both on voice or text. This is just the beginning of things that are to come,” Gade said.
Startup
Thesys secures $4M funding led by Together Fund
AI startup Thesys bags $4 million funding in a round led by Together Fund. The round also saw participation from 8VC, the company said in a statement.
The startup will use the funding to bridge the gap of user experience with AI agents. As a visual collaboration tool, the company will also provide a platform that will enable businesses to ideate, visualise, and ship intelligent experiences at scale.
“The way we engage with technology is changing faster than ever. Static interfaces simply don’t meet the demands of today’s AI-capabilities…At Thesys, we’re building tools that make it possible for businesses to adapt and thrive in this new era,” said Parikshit Deshmukh, Co-founder, Thesys.
This evolution is about unlocking the full potential of AI-driven interactions and delivering unparalleled user experiences, he added.
“The future of AI relies as much on intuitive, adaptive interfaces as it does on backend capabilities. Thesys’ vision for Generative UI aligns perfectly with Together Fund’s commitment to enabling founders who are redefining the user experience,” said Manav Garg, Co-founder and managing partner of Together Fund.
“By empowering teams to create real-time, personalized interactions, Thesys is setting a new standard for AI-driven interfaces. We’re excited to support their journey in transforming the role of design and development tools for the next generation of AI applications,” he added.
The company, founded by Rabi Shanker Guha and Parikshit Deshmukh this year, emerged from the understanding of the need to provide support in the shift towards AI-driven interfaces, it said.
“Thesys envisions a future where all interfaces dynamically adjust to each user’s behavior, preferences, and needs—driven by what the company calls “Generative UI”. Unlike traditional static interfaces that rely on predefined paths, Generative UI uses AI to create unique, adaptive user interfaces on-the-fly, allowing businesses to provide truly personalized digital experiences,” the company added.
The company plans to launch a UI SDK that is set to enable developers to seamlessly integrate Generative UI into their applications. Additionally, post its closed beta launch, the company plans a general availability (GA) with its product within the next quarter positioning itself as the go-to product toolkit for businesses looking to stay ahead in the AI revolution.
“Thesys is pioneering a transformative shift in UI design workflows by integrating AI-driven adaptability… Their Generative UI approach aligns with our commitment to investing in technologies that drive innovation in user experiences,” said Bhaskar Ghosh, partner at 8VC.
Startup
BrowserStack launches AI-driven Low Code Automation tool
Software testing platform
has rolled out Low Code Automation, a solution to simplify test automation for quality assurance teams, developers, and non-technical users.The newly launched solution will address challenges faced by software teams, including manual testing delays and complex automation frameworks, BrowserStack said in a statement.
While traditional test automation requires coding expertise by often limiting non-technical testers to contribute, this tool allows user—irrespective of their technical background—to create and manage AI-driven automated tests without writing code. Users can also use BrowserStack’s cloud infrastructure for reliable test execution.
“(The AI-powered Low-Code Automation (LCA) simplifies the process of building and maintaining test automation suites compared to traditional tools like Selenium. It reduces the steep learning curve and complexity often associated with automation projects, leading to a quicker return on investment (ROI),” Chintan Doshi, Director of Product Management at BrowserStack, told YourStory.
To support development teams worldwide, Low Code Automation speeds up testing cycles, boosts product quality, and enhances user experience by reducing technical barriers.
“Citizen testers—such as business analysts, product managers, and customer support teams—can easily add validations and create automated tests with the test recorder, without requiring coding skills. This reduces their dependency on developers and QAs and empowers them to actively contribute to testing efforts,” Doshi explained.
Founded in 2011 by Ritesh Arora and Nakul Aggarwal, BrowserStack provides a cloud-based platform for developers to test websites and mobile apps across devices, operating systems, and browsers on demand.
With headquarters in San Francisco and Mumbai, the company has expanded its product line to include over 15 products, of which 10 were launched in the past 18 months.
In August, the Accel-backed firm acquired Berlin-based Bird Eats Bug, an advanced bug-reporting tool. The acquisition aims to address the existing gaps in bug reporting and streamline fragmented testing workflows.
Startup
Flipkart’s delivery arm Instakart reports widening losses, lower revenue in FY24
Flipkart’s delivery service arm Instakart’s FY24 losses increased multifold to Rs 1718.4 crore, from Rs 324.6 crore in the previous year, hurt by higher expenses and marginally lower revenues.
The company, which is in the logistics, warehouse, courier and allied services business, clocked an operating revenue of Rs 12,115.3 crore in FY24, 5% lower than Rs 12,787.4 crore it posted a year ago, according to filings made with Toefler.
During the period, the company’s total expenses increased 6% to Rs 14,149.4 crore, mainly driven by employee benefit and other expenses.
Logistics services accounted for the majority (about 78%) of Instakart’s total operating revenues, with Rs 9,429.8 crore, marginally lower than what it collected in the previous year.
Warehousing services, which accounted for about 10% of total operating revenues, witnessed a 28.4% drop in revenue, while collection services, which accounted for 12%, remained stable.
Just a week ago, Flipkart Internet reported a 21% rise in FY24 revenue at Rs 17,907.3 crore helped by rising income from its advertising services.
Flipkart India Ltd, which is Flipkart’s business-to-business (B2B) arm, reported a 26.4% rise in revenue from operations at Rs 70,541.9 crore in FY24.
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