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Digitaltrends
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Den of Wolves understands what made the Payday series special
- Den of Wolves, developed by 10 Chambers, aims to capture the essence of the original Payday games in a futuristic sci-fi setting.
- Led by Simon Viklund, known for his work on Payday, the small team at 10 Chambers is excited to return to the co-op heist genre.
- Den of Wolves features crews of four players executing heists in a dystopian world controlled by corporations.
- Players must work together to find loot, complete objectives, and navigate through shootouts and stealthy missions.
- The game includes unique elements like deployable energy shields and psychedelic platforming challenges.
- 10 Chambers received an investment from Tencent resulting in a larger team and a more AAA feel for Den of Wolves.
- Developing Den of Wolves has brought challenges in maintaining the studio's original culture while scaling up.
- Despite the growth pains, the developers express gratitude for the opportunity to create Den of Wolves.
- Den of Wolves is seen as an evolution of the Payday formula, blending elements from Payday, GTFO, and futuristic sci-fi.
- The game is set to launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in early access, with no specific release date provided.
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Inc42
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DeCharge Nets $2.5 Mn To Expand Its EV Charging Network
- Blockchain-powered startup DeCharge has raised $2.5 Mn in seed funding to expand its EV charging network.
- The funding round was led by crypto investment firm Lemniscap and saw participation from existing backers and angel investors.
- DeCharge is a decentralised EV charging infrastructure platform built on Solana and offers IoT-enabled charging stations.
- The startup plans to use the funding to hire more employees and expand its presence globally.
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The Robot Report
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Build or buy: Learn from commercialization experts at the Robotics Summit
- The build versus buy debate in startups is inevitable, requiring a decision on in-house development versus outsourcing.
- At the 2025 Robotics Summit & Expo, experts will discuss outsourcing's role in robotics commercialization.
- A breakout session on strategic manufacturing partnerships' benefits will be led by industry leaders.
- Panelists like Jennifer Apicella and Larry Jasinski will share real-world strategies and best practices.
- Apicella, from Pittsburgh Robotics Network, focuses on strategic partnerships and workforce equity.
- Jasinski, with commercialization experience in three companies, brings valuable insights to the panel.
- Karl Sanchack, an executive at Carnegie Foundry and Freespace Robotics, is a pioneer in automation.
- The 2025 Robotics Summit & Expo will gather over 5,000 attendees focusing on commercial robotics.
- Keynote speakers include experts from Boston Dynamics, Symbotic, Amazon Robotics, MIT CSAIL, and PSYONIC.
- The event will feature educational sessions, an expo hall with 200+ exhibitors, networking opportunities, and more.
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Economic Times
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Image Credit: Economic Times
Groww gets CCI approval for bonus shares, founders relinquish extra voting rights
- Fintech startup Groww has received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to issue bonus shares to all existing equity shareholders.
- Groww received the CCI approval as part of its preparation for a public listing in India after relocating its parent entity from the United States.
- The CCI order approved the acquisition of additional voting rights by certain shareholders and the issuance of bonus shares to existing shareholders.
- The CCI also approved the removal of differential voting rights held by Groww's founders, aligning their voting power with other shareholders.
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Startup Pedia
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Image Credit: Startup Pedia
Zomato Lays Off 600 Customer Support Employees Amid Food Delivery Slowdown
- Restaurant aggregator Zomato has laid off 600 customer support associates within a year of hiring them.
- The employees, hired under Zomato Associate Accelerator Program, were not offered renewals at the end of their tenures.
- A former Zomato employee claimed on Reddit that he, along with at least 300 other employees, was fired without warning.
- The employee expressed disappointment with the company, stating that promises of career growth, promotions, and stability were broken.
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Hackernoon
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Image Credit: Hackernoon
ChatGPT Goes Ghibli, Google Gets Smarter, and Microsoft Embeds Knowledge at Scale
- ChatGPT 4o introduces powerful native image generation, sparking the viral 'Ghibli effect,' while Tencent unveils the world's first ultra-large Hybrid-Transformer-Mamba MoE model.
- Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro achieves state-of-the-art performance with enhanced reasoning capabilities, and Microsoft's KBLaM integrates knowledge bases efficiently at scale.
- ChatGPT 4o's image generation system offers text rendering, multi-turn generation, enhanced instruction following, in-context learning, and world knowledge integration.
- The 'Ghibli effect' trend sees users transforming photos into art inspired by Studio Ghibli's animation style after GPT-4o's release.
- Google Gemini 2.5 Pro excels in benchmark performance, scientific reasoning, mathematical reasoning, multimodal processing, and global performance.
- Microsoft KBLaM efficiently integrates structured external knowledge into language models, offering dynamic updates and improved interpretability.
- Tencent's Hunyuan-T1 model, leveraging Hybrid Transformer-Mamba architecture, excels in reasoning, mathematics, Chinese language tasks, and code generation.
- Anthropic's 'think' tool enhances complex reasoning capabilities, showing significant improvement in tasks requiring sequential tool calls and multi-step decision-making.
- Notable tools include Chat2DB for AI-powered SQL queries, Goast.ai for automating bug fixing in software engineering, Corgea for AI-powered Static Application Security Testing, and Mage for AI-generated product photos.
- These advancements in AI engineering highlight the continuous evolution in image generation, reasoning capabilities, knowledge integration, and enhanced tool functionalities.
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Startup Story
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Image Credit: Startup Story
BorderPlus Acquires Onea Care to Strengthen Ethical Recruitment of Indian Nurses to Germany
- BorderPlus, India’s leading workforce mobility platform, acquires Onea Care, a German healthcare recruitment firm to create fair pathways for Indian nurses to work in Germany.
- BorderPlus pledged USD 10 million towards mergers and acquisitions to establish a strong on-ground presence in India, Germany, and other key markets, while introducing digital-first solutions for seamless integration.
- Germany faces a shortage of healthcare professionals, aiming to recruit 500,000 nurses by 2030. India, with skilled nursing talent, can contribute to filling this gap.
- Onea Care, a trusted German healthcare recruitment firm, strengthens BorderPlus' ability to scale ethical recruitment solutions and uphold high hiring standards.
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TechCrunch
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Image Credit: TechCrunch
Meet Ponte Labor, a startup matching Hispanic immigrants to jobs using WhatsApp
- Stephanie Murra and Lorenza Vélez, Harvard Business School graduates, founded Ponte Labor to help Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. find jobs through their preferred channel, WhatsApp.
- Ponte Labor aims to bridge the gap between Hispanic immigrants and employers in the hospitality, construction, retail, and blue-collar industries by using a hiring platform that pre-vets, matches, and onboards workers efficiently.
- The startup pre-vets candidates for legal work authorization and connects them directly to employers, resulting in cost savings for businesses and better job opportunities for workers.
- Ponte Labor uses an AI recruiter that conducts WhatsApp and voice-based AI interviews, focusing on the hospitality industry but planning to expand into other sectors.
- Since its launch, Ponte Labor has grown rapidly, onboarding over 60,000 candidates and placing nearly 800 workers, with a significant increase in annualized revenue from $70,000 to $550,000.
- Ponte Labor recently raised a $3 million seed round led by Harlem Capital, with a revenue model based on charging a monthly fee equivalent to 10% of a worker's monthly salary.
- Focused on Hispanic immigrants, Ponte Labor's approach includes using Spanish-language social media and recruiting channels, achieving deep trust with the community.
- The startup aims to expand its services to other immigrant communities in the future while supporting candidates in achieving their professional goals, such as learning English for career advancement.
- Ponte Labor's success in the talent marketplace stems from its strategic use of WhatsApp to engage with the Hispanic community, where nearly half of the foreign-born labor force in the U.S. consists of Hispanics.
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Startup Story
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PhysicsWallah in Advanced Talks to Acquire Drishti IAS for Rs 2,500 Crore
- PhysicsWallah, the Indian edtech unicorn, is in advanced talks to acquire Drishti IAS, a leading civil services coaching institute, for approximately Rs 2,500 crore.
- The acquisition is a strategic move for PhysicsWallah as it prepares for its IPO, aiming to expand its presence in the competitive UPSC coaching sector.
- Drishti IAS, with a revenue of Rs 405 crore and a profit of Rs 90 crore in FY24, would bring a well-established brand and high-margin business vertical to PhysicsWallah's portfolio.
- The acquisition reflects the evolving landscape of edtech, with a blending of online and offline coaching models to create a holistic learning ecosystem.
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Eu-Startups
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Tripadvisor who? Maps Untold bags €350k to personalise your next adventure
- Eindhoven-based TravelTech startup, Maps Untold, has raised €350k in funding to launch its AI-powered personalised city guide platform.
- The funding will be used to complete the company's product, expand its user base, and validate its business model.
- Maps Untold aims to provide hyper-personalised travel recommendations by leveraging AI and removing generic 'top 10' lists and unreliable reviews.
- The platform aims to support local businesses and promote sustainable travel habits, and plans to exceed 250,000 monthly active users by the end of the year.
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ISN
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Image Credit: ISN
Deepinder Goyal-led Zomato fires 600 employees; some say company gave no warning
- Deepinder Goyal-led Zomato has reportedly fired 600 customer support associates just a year after hiring them.
- The company is shifting towards automation, using AI to handle customer service operations, in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
- The employees were allegedly dismissed without prior notice and given one month’s salary as severance, citing performance-related issues as reasons for termination.
- Former employees have expressed frustration over the abrupt terminations, claiming there was no warning or opportunity to improve.
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ISN
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Image Credit: ISN
Smart vending startup Wendor raises $2.5 million in funding from Elanpro
- Delhi-based smart vending startup Wendor has raised $2.5 million from Elanpro.
- The funding will support Wendor's AI-driven retail automation platform and expansion plans.
- The investment provides Wendor with operational support from Elanpro, leveraging their service and logistics network.
- Wendor plans to launch experience centers, expand internationally, and enhance their AI-driven vending technology.
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Pymnts
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Trump’s Tariff Tactics Yield Tepid Dealmaking Activity
- Merger and acquisition (M&A) volume in the first quarter rose 12.6% year over year to $984.4 billion, thanks to the three large Chinese state-run deals in the Asia-Pacific region.
- However, global bankers are scaling back deals and experiencing lower revenues, with US M&A volume falling 13% to $436.6 billion in the first quarter.
- Protracted trade war makes IPOs less attractive in the future, resulting in a decline in offerings by 17.7% to 1,065.
- The uncertainty caused by geopolitical tensions, fluctuating tariffs, and economic unpredictability is impacting dealmaking, leading to tepid activity in the market.
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TheStartupMag
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Image Credit: TheStartupMag
How to Choose the Right Company for Appointment Setting: A Business Owner’s Guide
- Appointment setting companies help businesses secure qualified appointments, freeing up time to focus on closing deals.
- Before choosing a company, define your goals and target audience to find the best fit for your business.
- Look for appointment setters with industry experience to ensure they understand your niche and challenges.
- Evaluate the lead generation process of the company to ensure the quality of leads being targeted.
- Consider the outreach strategy of the company, including touchpoints like cold calls, emails, and LinkedIn outreach.
- Assess the quality of representatives making the calls to ensure a positive first impression of your brand.
- Check for transparent reporting and KPI tracking to monitor the performance of the appointment setting service.
- Understand the pricing models offered, like pay-per-appointment, retainer-based, or hybrid models.
- Watch out for red flags such as lack of references, unclear processes, overpromising results, and lack of customization.
- Consider starting with a trial or pilot program before committing to a long-term agreement to assess the company's performance.
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Yourstory
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Image Credit: Yourstory
At 25, MakeMyTrip says best is yet to come, bets on investments, AI to outpace industry growth
- MakeMyTrip, as India’s pioneering online travel company, celebrates 25 years and anticipates surpassing industry growth with investments and AI advancements.
- Co-founder Deep Kalra and CEO Rajesh Magow express optimism about the company's future due to India's growth prospects and shifting consumer behaviors towards travel experiences.
- Magow highlights the demographic dividend, infrastructure investments, rising incomes, and changing consumer spending patterns as positive factors for the company's growth.
- MakeMyTrip eyes higher growth rates than the industry through investments in various sectors like corporate business, intercity, forex, visa, and AI-powered enhancements.
- AI is seen as transformational for MakeMyTrip, with plans to further leverage this technology to enhance consumer experiences and internal productivity.
- The founders recount MakeMyTrip's journey through challenges, initially facing financial difficulties but ultimately finding growth opportunities after the IPO and strategic mergers.
- Despite ups and downs, MakeMyTrip navigated through survival phases to high-growth periods, including the 2016 merger with Goibibo and RedBus, and overcoming challenges post-COVID-19.
- Magow acknowledges short-term uncertainties and emphasizes the need for continuous innovation and differentiation to stay ahead in the market amidst the AI era.
- He mentions the importance of investing in the right areas, leveraging data, and delivering effectively to maintain leadership and navigate through changing market dynamics.
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