Startup

A health monitor for pets; Fostering leadership and community awareness

Published

6 days ago

November 2, 2024

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Hello,

There’s a new kid on the block and it means business.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI chatbot is now integrating search engine capabilities, challenging the long-standing dominance of Google’s web search. That has prompted some experts to declare that Google is ‘no longer the standard’.

By citing sources and showing users how it came up with answers, ChatGPT has attempted to address large language model (LLM) hallucinations and lack of transparency in one fell swoop.

Apple is also darting for accuracy with Apple Intelligence, however, co-founder Steve Wozniak remains wary of LLMs’ potential inaccuracies. “I want things to be really [meticulous] that I know it’s accurate,” he told Bloomberg TV.

But what will be the long-term impact of LLMs? According to researchers at the University of Toronto, these models can impair the ability of humans to think creatively, resulting in less varied and innovative ideas.

There are still greater problems—even bad actors are after LLMs. Attackers use LLMs to generate content for fake websites to extract credentials from victims (classic phishing) or by pretending to be stores of famous brands offering super discounts.

But there’s a telltale sign of a spurious website using LLM-generated text: it apologises a lot.

Also, a new study by researchers at Technion, Google Research and Apple revealed that these models possess a much deeper understanding of truthfulness than previously thought. They do not encode truthfulness through a single unified mechanism but rather have different notions of truth.

Welcome to the post-truth world.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about

Helping pet parents monitor health
Fostering leadership and community awareness

Here’s your trivia for today: Who was the first woman to construct a railway line in India?

Woman Entrepreneur

Helping pet parents monitor health

After helping her friend Vivek Srinivas get a dog, Vani Aiyer realised the challenge people faced with every vet visit—a lack of comprehensive data that often served as a roadblock to accurate diagnoses.

Through research discussions with vets and pet parents, Aiyer and Srinivas decided to start VETiNSTANT in 2023 to connect pets, vets, and pet parents for timely diagnosis.

Happy tails:

The startup offers P.A.W.S. (Pets Administration and Workflow System) for clinics. It digitises clinic management by automating payments, billing, and inventory, and simplifying consultations by automatically creating notes, prescriptions, and billing records.
It also offers a non-invasive, hand-held pet health monitoring device called ExamD, which integrates with the VETiNSTANT tracker app. It monitors the pet’s temperature, SPO2, heart, lung, and abdomen auscultation.
There’s also the Exam D Pro device for veterinarians. It tracks multiple metrics that professionals can handle, like murmur identification and grading for early heart condition detection, lung abnormality detection, insights for issues like COPD, asthma, wheezing, and more.

Top Funding Deals of the Week

Startup: Finova Capital

Amount: $135M

Round: Series E

Startup: Vridhi Home Finance

Amount: Rs 310 Cr

Round: Series B

Startup: Udaan

Amount: Rs 300 Cr

Round: Debt

Education

Fostering leadership and community awareness

At the age of 17, Ali Basha and his friend Chitra started tuition for children from vulnerable communities of North Chennai who faced the risk of dropping out of school due to poverty and unstable home environments. In 1992, Basha’s efforts formalised into Zenith Tuition Centre in Tiruvottiyur, North Chennai.

“My work has been to show them a glimpse into the world outside their homes and schools,” he tells SocialStory.

Education for leadership:

Basha has built a network of educators and educational institutions to spread awareness of the dangers of unchecked industrialisation and trade expansion in peripheral Chennai.
“Our goal now is to educate children by exposing them to talks by climate experts, arts education, and street theatre that explore these long-term ecological damages,” he adds.
“For communities like ours, education is often looked at as a one-stop solution,” says M Rajesh, who joined the centre in 2018, adding, “Education, when not rooted in our indigenous knowledge and cultural contexts as farming and fisher communities, is just a superficial solution to a much larger problem.”

Ali Basha's Zenith Tuition Centre is building resilience in North Chennai's youth

News & updates

Local first: Indonesia has banned sales of Google Pixel smartphones for failing to meet domestic content requirements, days after blocking Apple’s iPhone 16 in Southeast Asia’s largest phone market. The government said Google’s phones cannot be traded until they comply with rules requiring 40% local content in smartphones sold in Indonesia.
Unprecedented: Meta’s publicly available AI model Llama model was used by some Chinese research institutes associated with the People’s Liberation Army to develop an AI product for potential military uses, Reuters reported.
Growth test: The economic outlook for the Asia-Pacific region seems a touch brighter but as risks to growth mount, cautious policymaking will be needed, the International Monetary Fund said. Asia’s economic growth is expected to moderate this year and the next as the post-pandemic boost fades and demographic factors like population ageing increasingly put a brake on activity.

Who was the first woman to construct a railway line in India?

Answer: Alice Tredwell. The Englishwoman took up the contract of the Bhor Ghat section of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway line between Mumbai and Pune and completed the construction in 1863.

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Startup

Juspay cuts losses by 7.7% as revenue surges 49.6% in FY24

Published

1 min ago

November 7, 2024

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Payments startup Juspay Technologies saw its losses narrowing in FY24 as revenue growth outpaced expenditure. It narrowed its total loss for the period to Rs 97.54 crore, down 7.76% from Rs 105.75 crore in FY23.

According to the consolidated financial statements accessed from the Registrar of Companies, the SoftBank-backed fintech firm’s revenue from operations surged 49.64% to Rs 319.32 crore, up from Rs 213.39 crore in FY23.

Juspay’s primary revenue source—payment platform integration fees—brought in Rs 286.52 crore. Additional operating revenue from services like product implementation and support added Rs 32.80 crore.

Total expenses rose by 29.52% to Rs 443.74 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 342.59 crore in the previous year. This increase was largely driven by employee benefit expenses, which saw a 41.73% jump to Rs 303.36 crore, while other expenses increased slightly over 3.56% to Rs 123.76 crore.

Juspay, founded in 2012 by Vimal Kumar and Ramanathan RV in Bengaluru, specialises in developing payment orchestration solutions that act as a technology layer over traditional payment gateways.

The Accel-backed startup has also developed Namma Yatri, a mobility app focusing on ride-hailing services, leveraging Juspay’s strengths in payments and open-source protocols. Namma Yatri is built on the Beckn Protocol and aligns with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), aiming to provide low-cost ride-hailing options and open access to digital mobility services.

Recently, Juspay decided to spin off Namma Yatri as an independent entity to attract separate investors and scale further. In February, the company said it acquired LotusPay in an all-cash deal to strengthen its offerings to the BFSI segment and merchants.

LotusPay, founded in 2016, pioneered NACH Debit technology with cloud-based software for merchants and banks. Using NPCI’s NACH Debit, it facilitates recurring payments for loans, insurance, and subscriptions.

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Startup

Flipkart selects five startups for third cohort of Flipkart Leap Innovation Network

Published

1 hour ago

November 7, 2024

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Flipkart has selected five innovative startups for the third cohort of its flagship startup accelerator programme, Flipkart Leap Innovation Network (FLIN).

The cohort is introducing startups that are driving advancements across GenAI, omnichannel, analytics, and video commerce, the company said in a statement.

The selected startups— Intelligence Node, Invenzo Labs, StoryBrain, Phyllo, and D-ID— are set to run pilot programs with Flipkart to develop solutions.

“The selected startups get access to mentorship, resources, and the opportunity to execute pilot projects within the Flipkart ecosystem, scaling their solutions to meet the demands of India’s digital economy and e-commerce growth,” the company said.

Since its launch in 2022, the accelerator programme aims to accelerate the growth of the startup ecosystem in India, driving collaboration, and championing cutting-edge retail innovations.

“Through the FLIN programme, Flipkart continues to expand its role as a catalyst for innovation within India’s startup ecosystem, providing a collaborative platform for startups to test, refine, and deploy solutions that can shape the future of e-commerce in India,” said Naren Ravula, Vice President and Head – Product Strategy and Flipkart Labs.

The programme is designed to engage with startups through commercial partnerships in Flipkart’s areas of interest. Successful startups get the opportunity to scale up to a business partnership.

Over 20 startups from the initial two cohorts have concluded pilots working closely with the Flipkart Product and Engineering teams.

The company added that four startups from the previous cohort— Anagog, Speedsize, Sangti, and Vtion— have recently concluded successful pilot projects with Flipkart.

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Startup

Thesys secures $4M funding led by Together Fund

Published

2 hours ago

November 7, 2024

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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.

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