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Startup News
Startup Pedia
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Revant Himatsingka, aka Food Pharmer launches health-focused brand OWN
- Revant Himatsingka, also known as Food Pharmer, is launching a health-focused clean-label brand called OWN in the food startup space.
- Himatsingka, with a strong follower base on social media, is introducing Food Pharmer 2.0 and 'Food Pharmer Approved' to offer clean-label foods and authentic brands to consumers.
- Despite the initial plan for lab-tested certification, Himatsingka will roll out products without it due to high costs, focusing on clean ingredients and providing alternatives to consumers.
- The first product under the OWN brand will be whey protein, co-created with followers, emphasizing the use of only essential ingredients for better health. The products are set for a soft launch in June and a full launch in July, available online on various platforms.
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Medium
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The $450 Million Mirage: How AI Hype Fueled Builder.ai’s Collapse
- Builder.ai, a startup marketed as an AI-powered app development platform, raised $450 million but was revealed to be powered by human developers, not AI.
- This case of AI washing exposes a systemic issue of misrepresenting AI capabilities, from inflated financials to deceptive branding, across industries.
- Investor excitement in AI's promise for automated efficiency and scalability highlights the gravity of the situation when reality falls short of expectations.
- The collapse of Builder.ai raises critical questions about accountability and transparency in the tech industry's AI hype, emphasizing the need for genuine innovation over mere illusions.
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Inc42
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Need For Speed: Quick Commerce-Led Boom Fuels 60% Revenue Growth For EV Startup Battery Smart
- India's gig economy is thriving, driven by the growing trend of 10-minute deliveries powered by quick commerce and green vehicles such as EVs, where battery technology plays a crucial role.
- Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) is transforming the logistics sector into a $5.60 billion market over the next five years, creating opportunities for companies like Battery Smart.
- Battery Smart, founded by Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka, has emerged as a leader in battery swapping for commercial EVs, raising significant funding and expanding rapidly.
- The company's strategic expansion plans include setting up swapping stations in high-demand areas, with a focus on serving gig workers in the quick commerce and e-commerce sectors.
- Battery Smart's innovative approach to battery swapping offers cost-effective and time-efficient solutions for EV fleet operators, enabling significant savings in both initial investment and operational costs.
- Partnerships with OEMs have been crucial for Battery Smart to ensure interoperability, as the Indian EV market is expected to grow rapidly with government initiatives like PM E-Drive.
- Battery Smart's revenue surged by 60% in FY25, driven by investor interest, expansion efforts, and a focus on operational profitability through efficient unit economics.
- Despite challenges like battery degradation, lack of standardization, and logistical hurdles in Tier II and III cities, Battery Smart remains optimistic about the future growth potential of the battery swapping market in India.
- As India aims for a net-zero emission target by 2070, the demand for EVs and battery swapping services is expected to rise, presenting a significant opportunity for companies like Battery Smart.
- With a strong market share and strategic partnerships, Battery Smart is poised for continued growth in an industry driven by the quick commerce revolution and the shift towards sustainable transportation solutions.
- The battery swapping market in India is projected to grow, with a focus on setting up more charging infrastructure and catering to the evolving needs of gig workers and delivery fleets.
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Economic Times
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Loantap secures $6.2 million in fresh funding from July Ventures and existing investors
- Loantap, a Pune-based digital lending platform, secures $6.2 million in fresh funding led by July Ventures and existing investors.
- The total capital raised by Loantap now stands at around $26 million. Additionally, the company raised $2.3 million in venture debt.
- The company pivoted from consumer lending to serving small businesses, focusing primarily on small merchant loans and has scaled down its unsecured consumer lending book.
- Loantap aims to disburse around Rs 900 crore in loans by FY26, focusing on offering credit lines to small retailers and providing a middleware solution to financial institutions.
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Medium
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How to Reduce Product Returns with 3D: Experience and Best Practices
- Adding a 3D viewer can lead to a 15% to 35% decrease in product returns by allowing shoppers to rotate items, zoom in on textures, and switch materials easily.
- To optimize mobile performance, the 3D viewer should have a load time of less than 2 seconds, and integration should be quick and easy without the need for custom development.
- Start with common variants like color and material when implementing 3D models, and design a 'mobile-first' UI with intuitive features like pinch-zoom and swipe to rotate.
- Using a 3D configurator can reduce returns by up to 35%, increase Average Order Value (AOV) by 15%–22%, and enhance customer satisfaction by validating demand before building a full MVP.
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Siliconangle
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Sema4.ai raises $25M in funding for its AI agent platform
- Sema4.ai, a startup specializing in AI agent platform, secured $25 million in funding through an extension of its Series A round.
- The funding was led by Benchmark and Mayfield Fund along with other investors like Snowflake Ventures, Rocketship VC, MVP Ventures, and Cox Enterprises.
- Sema4.ai's platform allows users to build AI agents for automating tasks like extracting information from documents and integrating with external applications.
- The company announced the general availability of Sema4.ai Team Edition, integrated with Snowflake, enabling deployment of AI agents to predict product demand and perform various tasks without moving data out of Snowflake.
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Gritdaily
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Why Lisa T. Miller Says Mid-Level Sales Are Killing Your Growth
- Lisa T. Miller, a healthcare sales strategist, warns that mid-level sales can hinder growth in healthcare organizations.
- Focusing on mid-level contacts like department managers may lead to stalled pipelines as they lack purchasing power.
- Hospital executives prioritize solutions that align with both patient care and financial performance, seeking measurable ROI.
- Reaching the C-suite with solutions that impact cost savings, efficiency, strategic goals, and clinical outcomes is crucial.
- Mid-level wins can create a false sense of progress, leaving sales teams stuck in prolonged sales cycles.
- Lisa emphasizes the importance of targeting C-suite decision-makers and speaking their language to drive successful sales.
- Her Strategic C-Suite Selling approach involves a diagnostic analysis, empowerment training, and live implementation to secure executive relationships.
- By focusing on high-level access and delivering value, Lisa's methods have resulted in significant contract wins and faster sales cycles.
- In the evolving healthcare sales landscape, selling directly to the C-suite is essential for demonstrating value and securing partnerships.
- Lisa advises sales teams to shift from mid-level strategies to C-suite selling for achieving faster deals, larger contracts, and deeper impact.
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Inc42
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Bessemer Ropes In Pankaj Mitra To Lead India Investments In AI & SaaS
- Pankaj Mitra has been named as the new partner at Bessemer Venture Partners to lead enterprise tech, AI, and cybersecurity investments in India.
- Mitra, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and the University of California, brings over two decades of experience in investments, SaaS, and product management.
- Bessemer Venture Partners, with over $18 Bn in assets under management, has a portfolio of more than 80 startups in India including Swiggy and Urban Company.
- Bessemer recently closed its second India-dedicated fund at $350 Mn to support early-stage startups in AI, SaaS, fintech, healthtech, consumer brands, and cybersecurity.
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Gritdaily
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Why Business Leaders Are Turning to Baden Bower to Dominate Google Search
- Baden Bower, a global public relations agency, helps clients manage their online presence to influence search results and build trust through stories in well-known media.
- They focus on getting clients featured in respected news outlets like Forbes, Yahoo Finance, and Business Insider, which can impact how investors and the public perceive a person or brand.
- The agency stands out by offering performance-based pricing, delivering clear outcomes, and focusing on creating a digital presence that attracts positive attention for clients.
- With a sharp focus on SEO, Baden Bower helps clients improve their search engine rankings through links from trusted publications, ultimately enhancing both perception and placement online.
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UX Design
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How to write surveys that actually work: lessons from Strava
- Strava, with 150 million users and a 4.8-star rating on iOS, is a popular fitness app known for its Language Network Effect and Data Network Effect.
- The app retains users with years worth of activity data and progress charts, creating a defensible moat for the business.
- A research survey landed in the inbox of the author, Rosie Hoggmascall, prompting her to reflect on her relationship with Strava over the past 7 years.
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Pymnts
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AI Startup Manus Unveils Text-to-Video Tool
- AI startup Manus introduced a text-to-video generative AI tool that turns prompts into structured videos.
- Users can generate fully storyboarded and animated video content with a single prompt using Manus' new tool.
- Manus' video generation tool is currently available to early access users on different tiers and will be released for free to the wider public.
- The move by Manus puts them in competition with other AI video tools like OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Veo, among others, as the generative AI video space continues to evolve.
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TheStartupMag
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How to Save Money Daily on Business Expenses
- Companies can save money on daily business expenses by making strategic tweaks like auditing recurring costs and leveraging energy-efficient solutions.
- Implementing preventive maintenance protocols for equipment and facilities can reduce accidents and unexpected downtime, leading to cost savings.
- Optimizing energy usage through targeted upgrades and behavioral adjustments can significantly cut electricity consumption.
- Negotiating service contracts, leveraging technology for efficiency, and cultivating a cost-conscious culture are additional strategies for reducing daily business expenses.
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Inc42
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No Respite To Gensol As NCLAT Quashes Plea To Defreeze Assets
- NCLAT rejects pleas of Gensol-linked entities seeking a stay on assets freeze ordered by NCLT Ahmedabad bench.
- Gensol approached NCLAT stating freeze was imposed without a hearing, hindering salary payments; MCA argues facts were presented to NCLT.
- SEBI found governance lapses at Gensol Engineering, leading to investigations by various regulatory bodies.
- Gensol and BluSmart face insolvency petitions amid allegations of fund misuse and financial irregularities.
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Medium
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From Techies to Angel Investors — A Conversation with Nicole & Pedro | AngelFamilia Wednesdays
- Through their experiences as angel investors, Nicole and Pedro highlight the importance of having foresight to recognize good ideas and strong founders.
- Nicole found her community through Pipeline Angels, focusing on investing in women and femme-led companies.
- Pedro's angel syndicate, Alas Angels, focuses on growing Latino investors to build generational wealth within the Latino community.
- Both investors find excitement in investing in companies that solve community-specific problems, such as childcare affordability and women's healthcare.
- They emphasize the value of learning through angel investing, especially in gaining insights into future trends.
- Nicole emphasizes the importance of representation in angel investing and how seeing other women investors encouraged her to start investing.
- Pedro highlights the challenge of finding principles for saying 'yes' to investments, focusing on understanding emerging trends and technologies.
- Both investors stress the importance of being part of syndicates and investment groups for shared due diligence and support.
- Nicole advises creating conditions for successful investing, including financial stability and a clear investment approach.
- In summary, angel investing is seen as both an art and a science, requiring critical thinking, self-awareness of biases, and strategic decision-making.
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TechCrunch
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CrowdStrike’s former CTO on cyber rivalries and how automation can undermine security for early-stage startups
- CrowdStrike's former CTO, Dmitri Alperovitch, highlights the vulnerability of humans in companies and the risks of automation in cybersecurity.
- As the Chinese AI market shifts away from U.S. chipmakers and cyber threats increase, the interconnection between tech, security, and geopolitics becomes more evident.
- In a conversation on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Alperovitch discusses the evolving cybersecurity landscape, the importance of security for startups, and the impact of global rivalries on innovation.
- Topics covered include challenges faced by secure-by-design startup founders, the influence of AI export controls on innovation, and investor expectations in cybersecurity startups.
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