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Startup News
Dev
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From Zero to Narratium: Building a Powerful AI Roleplay Platform as an Open Source Newbie
- Narratium.ai is an open-source AI storytelling platform designed for creating immersive branching narratives using LLMs like OpenAI or Ollama.
- The platform offers an interactive and structured experience, focusing on character consistency, memory persistence, and personalized worldbuilding.
- Built by a 21-year-old student passionate about AI and storytelling, Narratium aims to provide a modularity and hackable solution for AI roleplay.
- Technical stack includes TypeScript, React, Next.js, React Flow, OpenAI/Ollama, IndexedDB, and more, with key features like graph-based memory system and visual editors.
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Startup Pedia
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Nitin Gadkari announces plans for aerial pods, e-buses to cut traffic woes in Delhi, Bengaluru
- Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announces futuristic transport projects like aerial pods and flash-charging electric buses to ease traffic congestion in Delhi and Bengaluru.
- Plans include an aerial pod transport system between Dhaula Kuan and Manesar, double-decker buses for Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir, and flash-charging electric buses in Nagpur with stops every 40 kilometers.
- Future electric bus corridors are being planned for intercity routes like Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi-Dehradun, and Bengaluru-Chennai to enhance public transportation.
- Additional infrastructure projects under progress by Gadkari include 25 greenfield expressways, a 3,000-km highway for port connectivity, and roads connecting key religious tourism circuits.
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Inc42
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BigBasket’s Meal Express, Meesho’s IPO & More
- BigBasket, backed by Tata, is launching a 10-minute food delivery service across India, starting in Bengaluru and aiming for nationwide expansion by FY26.
- BigBasket plans a vertically integrated model for its food delivery service, using its own dark store infrastructure and offering snacks and beverages from Tata-owned brands like Starbucks.
- As rivals face challenges in the quick food delivery market, BigBasket's in-house brands and infrastructure give it a competitive edge for quality and delivery reliability.
- The move precedes BigBasket's IPO plans within the next 18–24 months, leveraging its momentum and integration with the Tata digital ecosystem.
- Meesho is moving closer to its $1 billion IPO in 2025, with BYJU'S selling off its US entities, and India navigating the balance between AI innovation and regulation.
- Other updates include Wow! Momo raising debt, WLDD acquiring Imagined Studio, GIVA raising INR 450 Cr, and ChatGPT facing an outage.
- NapTapGo aims to make pod hotels mainstream in India, addressing the need for affordable, hygienic accommodation, offering capsule hotels with privacy-focused stays at low prices.
- Operational in Noida and Amritsar, NapTapGo plans expansion to Mumbai, Gurugram, Udaipur, and Varanasi, targeting the low-cost hospitality market dominated by OYO.
- Inc42 Startup Spotlight features NapTapGo, highlighting its ambitious approach to revolutionize the Indian hospitality sector with pod hotels.
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Medium
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The Middle Path: A Sustainable Route to Startup Success:
- The Middle Path in startups emphasizes balance, awareness, and disciplined action, translating to a hybrid model of growth.
- The Middle Path is not about indecision or playing it safe, but intentional entrepreneurship focused on scaling with substance.
- In today's market, the Middle Path is more relevant than ever due to factors like capital efficiency, consistency building trust, and combating burnout.
- To walk the Middle Path, startups should focus on building lean but not starved, raising money on their own terms, scaling culture alongside teams, being revenue-conscious from day one, and creating systems instead of fire drills.
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Economic Times
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Govt may increase scrutiny on quick commerce firms following hygiene, food safety issues
- The Centre is considering increasing surveillance on rapid delivery platforms due to hygiene and food safety concerns at dark stores.
- The government has noted complaints about poor sanitary conditions at warehouses for quick commerce deliveries.
- The FSSAI is expected to conduct more unscheduled checks at dark stores and storage facilities nationwide.
- Following hygiene issues, Maharashtra FDA raided Zepto and Blinkit warehouses, leading to license suspensions.
- Multiple packaged food companies raised concerns about storage lapses at dark stores used by quick commerce platforms.
- FSSAI had urged state authorities to enhance scrutiny after previous raids highlighted food safety violations at dark stores.
- Quick commerce platforms were asked to ensure a minimum 30% shelf life or at least 45 days before product expiry.
- Apart from food safety, quick commerce firms faced scrutiny for dark patterns, prompting awareness campaigns and advisories.
- Industry experts attribute the issues to the rapid expansion of quick commerce platforms and the need for optimal storage practices.
- HSBC Global Research noted a significant increase in the number of dark stores operated by quick commerce firms in India.
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Economic Times
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Wealthtech startup PowerUp Money raises $7 million from Accel, Blume, others
- Bengaluru-based wealthtech startup PowerUp Money raises $7.1 million in funding led by Accel, Blume Ventures, and Kae Capital.
- Co-founded by Prateek Jindal, who was previously with Uni Cards, the startup offers direct mutual fund investments to retail investors and has obtained a registered investment advisor (RIA) license.
- PowerUp Money targets retail investors with a focus on those with investments ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 2 crore, aiming to tap into the growing Indian mutual fund market.
- The funding will be used to strengthen the research vertical, develop new products, and enhance customer acquisition efforts, with a team of 30-35 individuals at PowerUp Money.
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Economic Times
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Flexiloans raises another Rs 375 crore from Fundamentum, Accion and others
- Flexiloans, a new-age non-banking finance company, has raised Rs 375 crore in a funding round led by existing investors Fundamentum, Accion, Nuveen, and Maj Invest.
- The funding includes both primary and secondary capital. British International Investment also joined as a new investor in this round.
- Flexiloans, founded in 2016, focuses on small businesses providing term loans and working capital. The company plans to achieve Rs 5,000 crore in assets under management in the next 18 to 24 months.
- Despite challenges in the sector, Flexiloans reported profitability for three years and closed FY24 with a total revenue of Rs 263 crore. The company aims to expand its product offerings and aims for Rs 3,500 to 4,000 crore in assets under management by FY2026.
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Economic Times
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Garuda Aerospace raises $1 million from Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office, others
- Drone startup Garuda Aerospace, co-backed by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, secures $1 million in funding from Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office and existing investors.
- Funds raised will be utilized to increase manufacturing capacity, enhance R&D efforts, and expand export presence to 50 countries by year-end.
- The company plans to enter the US and African markets, reduce foreign dependencies through in-house component manufacturing, and focus on software and automation advancements.
- Garuda Aerospace, founded in 2015, offers a range of drone services, including drone-as-a-service, pilot training, and has served numerous prominent clients and government agencies.
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Siliconangle
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Atlassian rival Linear raises $82M to expand developer tools and target enterprise adoption
- Linear Orbit Inc., a competitor to Atlassian Corp., has raised $82 million in new funding to enhance its developer tools and target larger enterprise customers.
- The funding round was raised on a valuation of $1.25 billion, with Linear offering issue-tracking and project management platform focusing on efficiency, clarity, and developer-first workflows.
- Linear's platform features AI-assisted bug triage and sprint tools, along with a Triage system to efficiently manage incoming issues. It provides analytics tools for progress tracking and integrates with services like GitHub and Slack.
- The Series C round was led by Accel Partners LP, with participation from existing investors 01A Advisors and Sequoia Capital Operations, and new investors Seven Seven Six and Designer Fund. Linear has raised a total of $134.2 million to date.
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Siliconangle
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Horizon3.ai secures $100M to expand partner reach and federal adoption
- Horizon3.ai raises $100 million in new funding to scale up its partner ecosystem, expand platform capabilities, and accelerate adoption in the U.S. federal market.
- The company offers an artificial intelligence-powered autonomous pentesting platform called NodeZero, which emulates real-world cyberattacks across networks and cloud environments autonomously.
- NodeZero goes beyond traditional vulnerability scanning by executing full attack chains, post-exploitation actions, and providing actionable insights for fixing vulnerabilities.
- The Series D funding round was led by New Enterprise Associates Inc., with participation from SignalFire, Craft Ventures Management, and 9Yards Capital; NEA partner Lila Tretikov will join the Horizon3.ai board.
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Siliconangle
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Glean nabs $150M in funding at $7.2B valuation
- Glean Technologies Inc. secures $150 million in late-stage funding, led by Wellington Management, valuing the company at $7.2 billion.
- The funding round was driven by the company's ambition to accelerate growth, not out of necessity, according to Glean founder and CEO Arvind Jain.
- Glean offers AI productivity tools including Glean Search for data retrieval, Glean Assistant for AI assistance in tasks like data analysis and research, and Glean Agents for creating AI agents like debugging software code.
- Glean plans to utilize the funding to expand its market presence, enhance product development, and grow its international customer base and partnerships.
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TechCrunch
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AI storage platform Vast Data aimed for $25B valuation in new round, sources say
- Vast Data, a provider of AI-friendly data storage platform, is seeking a $25 billion valuation in a new funding round.
- The company's proposed valuation marks a significant increase from its previous $9 billion valuation in its Series E funding round in December 2023.
- Vast Data's platform aims to eliminate the need for storage tiers by offering data management software combined with unified hardware from vendors like Supermicro and HPE.
- The company, with customers like Pixar and ServiceNow, has seen impressive growth, achieved $200 million in annual recurring revenue, and has been free cash flow positive for four years.
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Medium
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Platform Perspectives: Edition 1, Stephanie Rich
- Stephanie Rich, Partner at Bread & Butter Ventures, discusses her journey in venture and role in platform work.
- Having started as employee number one at a startup, Rich gained diverse experience in various roles.
- Her early career in journalism helped her develop skills essential for platform work, like storytelling and interpersonal connections.
- Rich's role at Bread & Butter Ventures involves managing various aspects such as content creation and brand-building on LinkedIn.
- She emphasizes using AI tools for efficiency, particularly in content generation and daily tasks.
- Rich is excited about projects like the revamped founder portal on Softr and the upcoming 2026 Founder Summit.
- She foresees a future in platform roles with more technical and data-focused talent, as well as specialization and the need for strong generalists.
- Rich's advice for those aspiring to enter the platform field is to be genuinely helpful, aligned with firm values, and willing to contribute meaningfully.
- Her story highlights the importance of trust, experimentation, and alignment with firm values in succeeding in platform roles.
- For those interested in featuring platform professionals, Rich welcomes suggestions and connections on LinkedIn.
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Pymnts
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Wells Fargo Expects Consumer Loan Growth to Remain Flat or Slow
- Wells Fargo expects consumer loan growth in the US to remain stagnant or potentially decrease by the end of the year.
- The Chief Financial Officer of Wells Fargo mentioned that the uncertainty around tariffs makes it challenging to predict growth in commercial loans.
- Citigroup is preparing for a possible decline in consumer financial health by setting aside provisions for potential loan losses.
- Consumer credit surged by $17.9 billion according to data released by the Federal Reserve, indicating increased lending activity during an April rush.
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Gritdaily
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One Title Man: Rajesh Michael Lalloo’s Vision for a New Hollywood Beyond Borders
- Rajesh Michael Lalloo, also known as JRMichael, is focused on creating films with global appeal, believing that Hollywood is more of an attitude towards honest storytelling than just a location.
- Lalloo's background includes degrees in computer science and television and radio, and he has been honored by Marquis Who’s Who for his contributions to the entertainment industry.
- As the owner of Brick House Pictures and Life Destiny Miracles LLC, Lalloo has been involved in producing award-winning projects like the 'Night Fall' TV series and 'Killer Winter'. He has plans for several upcoming releases in various genres.
- Lalloo aims to expand his creative empire by delivering compelling stories through his work as an actor, producer, and director, with upcoming projects including horror, psychological thriller, and sci-fi films.
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