Artificial Intelligence (AI) may soon make its way into your kitchens. With newly-developed AI-powered grill, it will take less than mere 90 seconds to cook a perfect steak. UK-based company Seergrills has paved the way for AI in cooking with its new product - Perfecta.&nbsp;

Perfecta, developed by an Aston University engineering graduate, boasts of creating the ‘world’s first AI-powered grill’.&nbsp;The AI-powered cooking machine is developed by Suraj Sudera, a 2015 batch Mechanical Engineering student from Aston University.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nobel-chemistry-prize-sparks-controversy-purported-winners-names-out-before-decision-is-made-642460">Nobel chemistry prize winners' names leaked? Swedish media reports suggest so</a>

Sudera founded Seergrills, a Birmingham-based startup, which applies AI and advanced technologies to specifically improve cooking.

Sudera said, “We noticed there is often difficulty and inconsistency in cooking food; it’s mostly always overcooked and dry, taking a long time.”

“So, we decided to use our skills and knowledge to apply AI to cook the perfect steak and set up SEERGRILLS."

<h2>Perfecta: World’s first AI-powered grill</h2>

Sudera said Perfecta is not just world’s first AI powered grill, but also world’s fastest and most intelligent grill. The company claims that because the process is so fast and focused, it saves up to 50 per cent energy than other cooking methods.

The device is powered by NeuralFire technology, which is AI combined with proprietary cooking system that can cook more than 50 types of food in under three minutes.

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Perfecta, though developed by a UK-based company, is also available to pre-order in the US.&nbsp;

<h2>How does it work?</h2>

Users begin by placing their meat in the grill, utilising a touchscreen to select the desired doneness and sear level, then hitting Start. The Perfecta proceeds to measure the size, surface area and fat content of the meat, using integrated sensors that are part of its NeuralFire AI system.

Based on that information and the user's preferences, the device then cooks the meat (on both sides at once) utilising two vertical infrared burners that reach a maximum temperature of 1,652ºF (900ºC).&nbsp;

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nobel-prize-in-chemistry-awarded-to-french-american-russian-trio-for-a-quantum-discovery-642504">Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to French-American-Russian trio for a quantum discovery</a>

According to Seergrills, the "perfectly cooked" result is ready to eat in no more than three minutes.

Not just meat, the device is also capable of cooking over 50 types of food using propane or electric heat in grill, oven, pizza and rotisserie modes, as per the company.

But in case you are not satisfied with AI-powered device making steaks for you, the device also has&nbsp;a chef mode, which allows you to take the full manual control and grill the meat yourself.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies) 
 
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) may soon make its way into your kitchens. With newly-developed AI-powered grill, it will take less than mere 90 seconds to cook a perfect steak.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) may soon make its way into your kitchens. With newly-developed AI-powered grill, it will take less than mere 90 seconds to cook a perfect steak. UK-based company Seergrills has paved the way for AI in cooking with its new product - Perfecta. Perfecta, developed by an Aston University engineering graduate, boasts of creating the ‘world’s first AI-powered grill’. The AI-powered cooking machine is developed by Suraj Sudera, a 2015 batch Mechanical Engineering student from Aston University. Also Read | Nobel chemistry prize winners' names leaked? Swedish media reports suggest so Sudera founded Seergrills, a Birmingham-based startup, which applies AI and advanced technologies to specifically improve cooking. Sudera said, “We noticed there is often difficulty and inconsistency in cooking food; it’s mostly always overcooked and dry, taking a long time.” “So, we decided to use our skills and knowledge to apply AI to cook the perfect steak and set up SEERGRILLS." Perfecta: World’s first AI-powered grill Sudera said Perfecta is not just world’s first AI powered grill, but also world’s fastest and most intelligent grill. The company claims that because the process is so fast and focused, it saves up to 50 per cent energy than other cooking methods. The device is powered by NeuralFire technology, which is AI combined with proprietary cooking system that can cook more than 50 types of food in under three minutes. Also Read | Same-sex behaviour in animal kingdom and its evolution: Study Perfecta, though developed by a UK-based company, is also available to pre-order in the US. How does it work? Users begin by placing their meat in the grill, utilising a touchscreen to select the desired doneness and sear level, then hitting Start. The Perfecta proceeds to measure the size, surface area and fat content of the meat, using integrated sensors that are part of its NeuralFire AI system. Based on that information and the user's preferences, the device then cooks the meat (on both sides at once) utilising two vertical infrared burners that reach a maximum temperature of 1,652ºF (900ºC). Also Read | Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to French-American-Russian trio for a quantum discovery According to Seergrills, the "perfectly cooked" result is ready to eat in no more than three minutes. Not just meat, the device is also capable of cooking over 50 types of food using propane or electric heat in grill, oven, pizza and rotisserie modes, as per the company. But in case you are not satisfied with AI-powered device making steaks for you, the device also has a chef mode, which allows you to take the full manual control and grill the meat yourself. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

UK-based startup develops AI-powered grill that can cook perfect steak in 90 seconds

Over the last 24 months, Tsubame Industries has been working on a four-wheeled, 4.5-meter (14.8-foot) tall robot that bears a little similarity to "Mobile Suit Gundam" from the immensely popular Japanese animation series. The robot is scheduled to make its debut at the Japan Mobility Show in late October. Afterwards, Tsubame Industries intends to sell the robot in five units for a total of 400 million yen ($2.7 million) apiece. The robot, named ARCHAX after the bird-like dinosaur Archaeopteryx, is equipped with cockpit monitors that project pictures from external cameras. This allows the pilot to control the robot's hands and arms using joysticks from inside its body.

Japan startup develops a giant human-piloted robot

The general decline in startup valuations hit the British Business Bank (BBB) hard in the fiscal year ending in march, sending the country's state development bank into the red by $165 million.

UK state bank reports $165 MN loss due to startup valuation decline

A Coimbatore-based startup site has introduced a wearable gadget for visually impaired people. The company describes this gadget using audio vision as something that will change the lives of visually challenged people at an affordable cost.

Indian startup's gadget for visually impaired

On the Indian economic front, India's gross domestic product has in fact grown at a very impressive 7.8 per cent for the April to June quarter.

India's growth story gets a boost: GDP grew at 7.4%

The Indian government on Tuesday announced a scheme that will provide financial aid of up to Rs 50 lakh ($60,000) to technical textiles startups and other individuals engaged in the industry.

According to a Mint report, the&nbsp;grant-in-aid will be offered for up to 18 months to aspiring innovators under the Grant for Research and Entrepreneurship Across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT) program.

“With a strong emphasis on developing the startup ecosystem in technical textiles, the guidelines focus on supporting individuals and companies to translate prototypes to technologies and products including commercialisation,” Mint quoted the statement made by the ministry of textiles.

The statement added that the GREAT guidelines give momentum to the development of high-performance fibres and composites, sustainable and recyclable textile materials, and smart textiles using artificial intelligence, the internet of things, 3D/4D printing, and rapid prototyping. The application areas for technical textiles include agrotextiles, building textiles, geotextiles, homes, medical textiles, mobile textiles, packaging textiles, protective textiles, and sports textiles.

Notably, companies must not be older than five years to qualify for the grant.

“To incentivise the incubators, the ministry will additionally provide 10 per cent of total grant-in-aid to incubators. To strengthen authenticity and commitment towards the project, a minimum investment of 10 per cent of the funding from the incubatee in two equal instalments is mandated,” the statement said.

The startup guidelines (GREAT), according to the statement, will give the technical textiles startup ecosystem in India the much-needed boost it needs, especially in specialised sub-segments like biodegradable and sustainable textiles, high-performance &amp; specialty fibres, and smart textiles, among others.

The government has also given 26 institutes its approval to upgrade their laboratory facilities and provide training in technical textile application fields.

It has also granted approval to 26 institutions’ requests for the creation and introduction of technical textile degree programs as well as technical textile courses or papers in important areas or specialisations.

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The Indian government on Tuesday announced a scheme that will provide financial aid of up to Rs 50 lakh ($60,000) to technical textiles startups and other individuals engaged in the industry.

The Indian government on Tuesday announced a scheme that will provide financial aid of up to Rs 50 lakh ($60,000) to technical textiles startups and other individuals engaged in the industry. According to a Mint report, the grant-in-aid will be offered for up to 18 months to aspiring innovators under the Grant for Research and Entrepreneurship Across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT) program. “With a strong emphasis on developing the startup ecosystem in technical textiles, the guidelines focus on supporting individuals and companies to translate prototypes to technologies and products including commercialisation,” Mint quoted the statement made by the ministry of textiles. The statement added that the GREAT guidelines give momentum to the development of high-performance fibres and composites, sustainable and recyclable textile materials, and smart textiles using artificial intelligence, the internet of things, 3D/4D printing, and rapid prototyping. The application areas for technical textiles include agrotextiles, building textiles, geotextiles, homes, medical textiles, mobile textiles, packaging textiles, protective textiles, and sports textiles. Notably, companies must not be older than five years to qualify for the grant. “To incentivise the incubators, the ministry will additionally provide 10 per cent of total grant-in-aid to incubators. To strengthen authenticity and commitment towards the project, a minimum investment of 10 per cent of the funding from the incubatee in two equal instalments is mandated,” the statement said. The startup guidelines (GREAT), according to the statement, will give the technical textiles startup ecosystem in India the much-needed boost it needs, especially in specialised sub-segments like biodegradable and sustainable textiles, high-performance & specialty fibres, and smart textiles, among others. The government has also given 26 institutes its approval to upgrade their laboratory facilities and provide training in technical textile application fields. It has also granted approval to 26 institutions’ requests for the creation and introduction of technical textile degree programs as well as technical textile courses or papers in important areas or specialisations. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

India's technical textile startups to receive central aid up to Rs 50 lakh

Indian firm Agnikul Cosmos is on its way to becoming the first in the country to privately design, develop and launch a liquid-fuelled rocket.

Liquid-fuelled rockets are much more complicated to design and build, when compared to solid-fuelled rockets.

Agnikul is targeting to launch their maiden rocket known as 'Agnibaan SOrTeD' (SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator) within a few weeks, the firm said.

Suborbital launches are meant to take the vehicle to the earth's upper atmosphere and not venture into space. Suborbital launches are the preferred method for startups to test and validate their maiden rocket, related sub-systems and thereby progress to more ambitious launch vehicle projects.

According to the firm, 'Agnibaan SOrTeD' is a single-stage launch vehicle driven by Agnikul’s patented Agnilet engine- an entirely 3D-printed, single-piece, 6kN semi-cryogenic engine.

Unlike traditional (solid-fuelled) sounding rockets that launch from guide rails, Agnibaan SOrTeD will lift off vertically and follow a predetermined trajectory while performing a precisely orchestrated set of manoeuvres during flight, they added.&nbsp;

In the presence of ISRO and IN-SPACe officials, members of the Agnikul team unveiled their launch vehicle at Agnikul's Mission Control Centre (AMCC), in the Indian Government-run spaceport, Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

Notably, Agnikul also has India's first private rocket launch pad, housed within the same campus.

“Delighted to see the progress Agnikul team has made so far. They have our best wishes to have a successful first flight and further activities”, said A. Rajarajan, Director of SDSC-SHAR, at the event where the vehicle was unveiled.

According to&nbsp;Srinath Ravichandran, co-founder and CEO of Agnikul, this upcoming suborbital launch is meant to validate Agnikul's proprietary autopilot, navigation, and guidance algorithms and the capability of their launchpad to undertake more complex missions.

Moin SPM, co-founder and COO of Agnikul, said, “Building a launch vehicle entails the integration of diverse systems, and coming together of various teams spanning different disciplines uniting towards a common goal. This vehicle standing on the launchpad is a testament of everyone’s hard work in the team.”

Agnikul was established in 2017 by Srinath Ravichandran, Moin SPM, and Prof. SR Chakravarthy, who hail from IIT Madras.

The firm’s primary objective is to democratise space exploration by making it both accessible and cost-effective.

The firm had been targeting a maiden launch by September 2022, but owing to the complexities and engineering sophistication involved in kerosene-liquid oxygen rockets, the firm has overshot their initial target by a year.

Notably, this will be the first kerosene-liquid oxygen (semi-cryogenic) rocket to be designed, developed and launched from India.

Meanwhile, the Indian space agency ISRO is also testing its own semi-cryogenic engine, but its engine is exponentially more powerful and sophisticated than that of the private firm.

ISRO's SCE-2000 is meant to significantly enhance the lifting power of India's LVM3 rocket.

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Indian firm Agnikul Cosmos is on its way to becoming the first in the country to privately design, develop and launch a liquid-fuelled rocket. Liquid-fuelled rockets are much more complicated to design and build, when compared to solid-fuelled rockets.

Indian firm Agnikul Cosmos is on its way to becoming the first in the country to privately design, develop and launch a liquid-fuelled rocket. Liquid-fuelled rockets are much more complicated to design and build, when compared to solid-fuelled rockets. Agnikul is targeting to launch their maiden rocket known as 'Agnibaan SOrTeD' (SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator) within a few weeks, the firm said. Suborbital launches are meant to take the vehicle to the earth's upper atmosphere and not venture into space. Suborbital launches are the preferred method for startups to test and validate their maiden rocket, related sub-systems and thereby progress to more ambitious launch vehicle projects. According to the firm, 'Agnibaan SOrTeD' is a single-stage launch vehicle driven by Agnikul’s patented Agnilet engine- an entirely 3D-printed, single-piece, 6kN semi-cryogenic engine. Unlike traditional (solid-fuelled) sounding rockets that launch from guide rails, Agnibaan SOrTeD will lift off vertically and follow a predetermined trajectory while performing a precisely orchestrated set of manoeuvres during flight, they added. In the presence of ISRO and IN-SPACe officials, members of the Agnikul team unveiled their launch vehicle at Agnikul's Mission Control Centre (AMCC), in the Indian Government-run spaceport, Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Notably, Agnikul also has India's first private rocket launch pad, housed within the same campus. “Delighted to see the progress Agnikul team has made so far. They have our best wishes to have a successful first flight and further activities”, said A. Rajarajan, Director of SDSC-SHAR, at the event where the vehicle was unveiled. According to Srinath Ravichandran, co-founder and CEO of Agnikul, this upcoming suborbital launch is meant to validate Agnikul's proprietary autopilot, navigation, and guidance algorithms and the capability of their launchpad to undertake more complex missions. Moin SPM, co-founder and COO of Agnikul, said, “Building a launch vehicle entails the integration of diverse systems, and coming together of various teams spanning different disciplines uniting towards a common goal. This vehicle standing on the launchpad is a testament of everyone’s hard work in the team.” Agnikul was established in 2017 by Srinath Ravichandran, Moin SPM, and Prof. SR Chakravarthy, who hail from IIT Madras. The firm’s primary objective is to democratise space exploration by making it both accessible and cost-effective. The firm had been targeting a maiden launch by September 2022, but owing to the complexities and engineering sophistication involved in kerosene-liquid oxygen rockets, the firm has overshot their initial target by a year. Notably, this will be the first kerosene-liquid oxygen (semi-cryogenic) rocket to be designed, developed and launched from India. Meanwhile, the Indian space agency ISRO is also testing its own semi-cryogenic engine, but its engine is exponentially more powerful and sophisticated than that of the private firm. ISRO's SCE-2000 is meant to significantly enhance the lifting power of India's LVM3 rocket. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Agnikul Cosmos to soon launch India's first kerosene-oxygen-powered rocket

The Indian startup ecosystem is currently experiencing a challenging funding landscape as we reach the halfway point of 2023. Global uncertainty, economic fragility, and a freeze on venture capital investments have combined to create a significant hurdle for these innovative companies. With the total value of VC investments barely reaching $4 billion between January and June, a five-fold decrease compared to the previous year, startups are finding it increasingly difficult to secure the necessary funding for growth and development, CNBC reported.

Funding Drought and Tech Downturn

Since mid-2022, the funding well has been running dry for Indian startups, marking the end of an era of easy money. This trend has become more apparent as Q2 of 2023 records the worst quarter in the last three years, highlighting a significant decline in funding. In fact, June 2023 hit a 34-month low, as per CNBC, reflecting the severity of the funding shortage. Both early-stage and growth-stage companies are affected, but growth-stage firms struggling to achieve profitability face the greatest challenges in securing investment.

Investor Scrutiny and Changing Landscape

Venture capitalists have become increasingly cautious and meticulous, scrutinising startups right from the entry stage. This rigorous approach has prompted concerns surrounding corporate governance, product-market fit, and unit economics. While seed and Series A investments remain relatively accessible, Series B and subsequent funding rounds have become increasingly challenging to secure. This has left growth-stage and late-stage companies in a precarious position, heavily reliant on a substantial capital runway to sustain their operations.

Sectors and Investors

The funding shortage has impacted startups across sectors, but certain industries have shown more resilience. E-commerce continues to lead in funding, while enterprise tech and software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups have attracted considerable interest. Artificial intelligence and machine learning startups hold the third position, reflecting the influence of the Chat GPT revolution. However, being an AI startup is no longer sufficient; venture capitalists now demand a strong business model and defensibility to ensure long-term success. Notably, climate tech startups in the electric vehicle (EV) sector have managed to secure over $1 billion in investments, with companies like Ola Electric leading the way. However, such deals have become scarcer, and the emergence of new unicorns has stalled.

Global Comparison and Hope for Recovery

While the Indian startup ecosystem faces funding challenges, India ranks globally among the top three funded geographies, trailing only the United States and the United Kingdom. Although the global decline in funding has had an impact, there is a silver lining, as India's position reflects investor confidence in its potential.&nbsp;

(With Inputs from Agencies)

The Indian startup ecosystem is currently experiencing a challenging funding landscape as we reach the halfway point of 2023. Global uncertainty, economic fragility, and a freeze on venture capital investments have combined to create a significant hurdle for these innovative companies.

The Indian startup ecosystem is currently experiencing a challenging funding landscape as we reach the halfway point of 2023. Global uncertainty, economic fragility, and a freeze on venture capital investments have combined to create a significant hurdle for these innovative companies. With the total value of VC investments barely reaching $4 billion between January and June, a five-fold decrease compared to the previous year, startups are finding it increasingly difficult to secure the necessary funding for growth and development, CNBC reported. Funding Drought and Tech Downturn Since mid-2022, the funding well has been running dry for Indian startups, marking the end of an era of easy money. This trend has become more apparent as Q2 of 2023 records the worst quarter in the last three years, highlighting a significant decline in funding. In fact, June 2023 hit a 34-month low, as per CNBC, reflecting the severity of the funding shortage. Both early-stage and growth-stage companies are affected, but growth-stage firms struggling to achieve profitability face the greatest challenges in securing investment. Investor Scrutiny and Changing Landscape Venture capitalists have become increasingly cautious and meticulous, scrutinising startups right from the entry stage. This rigorous approach has prompted concerns surrounding corporate governance, product-market fit, and unit economics. While seed and Series A investments remain relatively accessible, Series B and subsequent funding rounds have become increasingly challenging to secure. This has left growth-stage and late-stage companies in a precarious position, heavily reliant on a substantial capital runway to sustain their operations. Sectors and Investors The funding shortage has impacted startups across sectors, but certain industries have shown more resilience. E-commerce continues to lead in funding, while enterprise tech and software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups have attracted considerable interest. Artificial intelligence and machine learning startups hold the third position, reflecting the influence of the Chat GPT revolution. However, being an AI startup is no longer sufficient; venture capitalists now demand a strong business model and defensibility to ensure long-term success. Notably, climate tech startups in the electric vehicle (EV) sector have managed to secure over $1 billion in investments, with companies like Ola Electric leading the way. However, such deals have become scarcer, and the emergence of new unicorns has stalled. Global Comparison and Hope for Recovery While the Indian startup ecosystem faces funding challenges, India ranks globally among the top three funded geographies, trailing only the United States and the United Kingdom. Although the global decline in funding has had an impact, there is a silver lining, as India's position reflects investor confidence in its potential. (With Inputs from Agencies)

Funding Freefall: Indian startups take a dive in 2023

Converting a great idea into a business requires a lot of hard work but that is just the beginning. Next comes the financial support and it was at this stage that a man in Bengaluru couldn’t believe his luck. We are talking about Pawan Gupta, the co-founder and CEO of Betterhalf.ai. In a tweet on Friday, he shared how he “found an unexpected investor in (his) landlord. Contrary to the cases from the city where landlords troubled tenants over minute factors, this house owner went above and beyond by investing $10,000 (Rs 8 lakh approximately) in Pawan's AI-driven matrimonial app. Betterhalf.ai, hailed as India's new age matrimony app and the country's first marriage super app, aims to help individuals find compatible life partners.&nbsp;

Pawan Gupta expressed his admiration for the entrepreneurial spirit of Bengaluru residents who made him believe that the city is called “Silicon Valley of India” for a reason. Using the hashtag #peakbengalurumoment, he shared his unexpected investor's story and expressed gratitude to the landlord for believing in him. “In a tough business landscape, I found an unexpected investor in my landlord. He recently invested $10K in my start-up, Betterhalf.ai. Truly amazed by the entrepreneurial spirit everyone in Bangalore shows. Silicon Valley of India for a reason,” tweeted Pawan.&nbsp;

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In a tough business landscape, I found an unexpected investor in my landlord. He recently invested $10K in my startup <a href="https://twitter.com/betterhalfai?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@betterhalfai</a>. Truly amazed by the entrepreneurial spirit everyone in Bangalore shows. Silicon Valley of India for a reason. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/peakbengalurumoment?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#peakbengalurumoment</a> <a href="https://t.co/IfzUn0lPkl">pic.twitter.com/IfzUn0lPkl</a>
— Pawan Gupta (@pguptasloan) <a href="https://twitter.com/pguptasloan/status/1664630709095481345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

The shared screenshot of the conversation between Pawan and his landlord is also winning the internet. In it, the landlord’s messages read: "I'm investing in U, honestly. All the best and hope you reach the greatest of heights. Dropped the investment. $10K.”

This act of faith and support from the landlord has also impressed social media users, who lauded the owner’s generosity and belief in Pawan's entrepreneurial skills.&nbsp;

One of the users commented, "Is that actually in $? That's great funding. Best wishes.” To this, Pawan Gupta replied, "Yes-that's correct. Bangalore surprises you."

Pawan Gupta, a graduate of MIT Sloan School of Management, has a strong entrepreneurial background. His latest company Betterhalf.ai introduces the world's fastest single matching system. 
 
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Converting a great idea into a business requires a lot of hard work but that is just the beginning. Next comes the financial support and it was at this stage that a man in Bengaluru couldn’t believe his luck.

Converting a great idea into a business requires a lot of hard work but that is just the beginning. Next comes the financial support and it was at this stage that a man in Bengaluru couldn’t believe his luck. We are talking about Pawan Gupta, the co-founder and CEO of Betterhalf.ai. In a tweet on Friday, he shared how he “found an unexpected investor in (his) landlord. Contrary to the cases from the city where landlords troubled tenants over minute factors, this house owner went above and beyond by investing $10,000 (Rs 8 lakh approximately) in Pawan's AI-driven matrimonial app. Betterhalf.ai, hailed as India's new age matrimony app and the country's first marriage super app, aims to help individuals find compatible life partners. Pawan Gupta expressed his admiration for the entrepreneurial spirit of Bengaluru residents who made him believe that the city is called “Silicon Valley of India” for a reason. Using the hashtag #peakbengalurumoment, he shared his unexpected investor's story and expressed gratitude to the landlord for believing in him. “In a tough business landscape, I found an unexpected investor in my landlord. He recently invested $10K in my start-up, Betterhalf.ai. Truly amazed by the entrepreneurial spirit everyone in Bangalore shows. Silicon Valley of India for a reason,” tweeted Pawan. In a tough business landscape, I found an unexpected investor in my landlord. He recently invested $10K in my startup @betterhalfai. Truly amazed by the entrepreneurial spirit everyone in Bangalore shows. Silicon Valley of India for a reason. #peakbengalurumoment pic.twitter.com/IfzUn0lPkl — Pawan Gupta (@pguptasloan) June 2, 2023 × The shared screenshot of the conversation between Pawan and his landlord is also winning the internet. In it, the landlord’s messages read: "I'm investing in U, honestly. All the best and hope you reach the greatest of heights. Dropped the investment. $10K.” This act of faith and support from the landlord has also impressed social media users, who lauded the owner’s generosity and belief in Pawan's entrepreneurial skills. One of the users commented, "Is that actually in $? That's great funding. Best wishes.” To this, Pawan Gupta replied, "Yes-that's correct. Bangalore surprises you." Pawan Gupta, a graduate of MIT Sloan School of Management, has a strong entrepreneurial background. His latest company Betterhalf.ai introduces the world's fastest single matching system. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

India: Only in Bengaluru, landlord invests $10000 in tenant’s startup

A Tokyo-based startup, Preferred Robotics Inc, has introduced a new rectangular robot called "Kachaka" designed for home use.&nbsp;This innovative robot responds to verbal commands and can efficiently deliver various items within the house. Equipped with sensors and a camera, Kachaka attaches to a specially designed table fitted with caster wheels.

<h2>How does Kachaka function?&nbsp;</h2>

To initiate the delivery process, users simply place the desired object on the table and give a command. Once the command is given, the robot can transport the item to a pre-registered location within the house.&nbsp; Additionally, Kachaka can be programmed to bring books, magazines, or other objects to its owner at specified times.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mysterious-venice-canal-stuns-locals-as-patch-takes-on-fluorescent-green-hue-597632">Mysterious! Venice canal stuns locals as patch takes on fluorescent green hue</a>

The robot's AI technology enables it to analyse camera images, allowing it to detect and avoid obstacles such as walls and furniture, ensuring safe navigation. Although automation is commonly used in controlled environments like factories, Preferred Robotics has focused on developing a robot capable of operating safely at home, even in varying surroundings.

<h2>What is Kachaka capable of?</h2>

Weighing 10 kilograms, Kachaka has a maximum carrying capacity of 20 kg, including the attached table. It can move at a speed of up to 80 centimeters per second, making it efficient and time-saving for household tasks. With more people spending increased time at home, especially for remote work, Preferred Robotics aims to reduce the time spent on chores with the help of their innovative home robot.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-secures-approval-for-second-hydropower-project-in-nepal-strengthening-bilateral-energy-cooperation-597637">India secures approval for second hydropower project in Nepal, strengthening bilateral energy cooperation</a>

The robot is available with a double or triple-shelf table configuration and is priced starting from 251,800 yen. Users are also required to pay a monthly fee of 980 yen for the robot app.

<h2>Preferred Robotics</h2>

Preferred Robotics, a subsidiary of Preferred Networks Inc, is known as one of Japan's "unicorn" companies, a term used to describe unlisted startups valued at over $1 billion.&nbsp;

Watch | Turkey Elections 2023: Erdogan back for another five years

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Since its establishment in 2014, the company has been dedicated to providing AI-driven robotic solutions that enhance human lives through the integration of advanced technology and supercomputers.

<h2>How can AI robots help humans?&nbsp;</h2>

AI robots can act as intelligent personal assistants, helping individuals with tasks, managing schedules, and providing personalised recommendations. These assistants can leverage AI algorithms to understand user preferences, learn from interactions, and provide tailored services across various domains.

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A Tokyo-based startup, Preferred Robotics Inc, has introduced a new rectangular robot called "Kachaka" designed for home use. This innovative robot responds to verbal commands and can efficiently deliver various items within the house.

A Tokyo-based startup, Preferred Robotics Inc, has introduced a new rectangular robot called "Kachaka" designed for home use. This innovative robot responds to verbal commands and can efficiently deliver various items within the house. Equipped with sensors and a camera, Kachaka attaches to a specially designed table fitted with caster wheels. How does Kachaka function? To initiate the delivery process, users simply place the desired object on the table and give a command. Once the command is given, the robot can transport the item to a pre-registered location within the house. Additionally, Kachaka can be programmed to bring books, magazines, or other objects to its owner at specified times. Also Read | Mysterious! Venice canal stuns locals as patch takes on fluorescent green hue The robot's AI technology enables it to analyse camera images, allowing it to detect and avoid obstacles such as walls and furniture, ensuring safe navigation. Although automation is commonly used in controlled environments like factories, Preferred Robotics has focused on developing a robot capable of operating safely at home, even in varying surroundings. What is Kachaka capable of? Weighing 10 kilograms, Kachaka has a maximum carrying capacity of 20 kg, including the attached table. It can move at a speed of up to 80 centimeters per second, making it efficient and time-saving for household tasks. With more people spending increased time at home, especially for remote work, Preferred Robotics aims to reduce the time spent on chores with the help of their innovative home robot. Also Read | India secures approval for second hydropower project in Nepal, strengthening bilateral energy cooperation The robot is available with a double or triple-shelf table configuration and is priced starting from 251,800 yen. Users are also required to pay a monthly fee of 980 yen for the robot app. Preferred Robotics Preferred Robotics, a subsidiary of Preferred Networks Inc, is known as one of Japan's "unicorn" companies, a term used to describe unlisted startups valued at over $1 billion. Watch | Turkey Elections 2023: Erdogan back for another five years × Since its establishment in 2014, the company has been dedicated to providing AI-driven robotic solutions that enhance human lives through the integration of advanced technology and supercomputers. How can AI robots help humans? AI robots can act as intelligent personal assistants, helping individuals with tasks, managing schedules, and providing personalised recommendations. These assistants can leverage AI algorithms to understand user preferences, learn from interactions, and provide tailored services across various domains. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. ×

Meet 'Kachaka': Japanese startup unveils home robot capable of delivering items through voice commands

A South African company is now offering cuddle services for a fee, a first in Africa according to founder Florence Letswalo. She started a professional cuddling business called Pro Cuddling SA in May 2022, offering to "take the loneliness away" with cuddling sessions for at least 90 minutes, starting at 900 rand ($47). Take a look.

Feeling lonely? South Africans snuggle up to professional cuddlers

Startup ecosystem faces funding crunch in 2023. Startups funding in the US market dropped by around half to $32.5 billion in the first quarter, while in China it fell 60% to $5.6 billion. The problem is not limited to the US and China. A report by CB Insights indicates severe worries for Indian startups as well.

Startup crisis in India impacts growth

Elon Musk, Gautam Adani, India’s top ministers and leading global investors, all under one roof in India’s national capital region: what more does a startup founder need? Such was the promise of the “The World Startup Convention” that over 100,000 fund-seekers worldwide applied for registration. Luke Talwar, the event's co-founder, declared in December it would be the world’s biggest funding festival with the target of raising investments worth more than INR 100,000 crore [or $12 billion]. The three-day event was supposed to be held at the Expo Mart located at Knowledge Park in Greater Noida, on the outskirts of the Indian capital New Delhi, &nbsp;from March 24th. 
&nbsp; 
Sohil Shah, the founder of Spreadd.io, a Dubai-based ‘Decentralised Creator Economy’ company, decided not to squander away this godsent opportunity to raise funds. He discussed the idea with his colleague Sayan Sapui and declared that he will be flying his entire team to Noida to pitch to investors. Sayan surfed the web to know more about the event and his findings really made an impression. 
&nbsp; 
The homepage of the official website of the World Startup Convention featured top Indian officials including Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister of India’s northern state of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami.
<img alt="Home page of World Startup Convention website" data-align="center" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a6725157-dfcb-4714-9abf-b3873514a6ae" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/im%201.PNG" />
The icing on the cake were promotional messages from India’s top influencers. Ankur Warikoo, Chetan Bhagat, MBA Chaiwala and Raj Shamani, all of them were singing the praises of the event.
<img alt="India's top influencers" data-align="center" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="19f00e57-9ed4-4a09-ae17-70d0b3cea0c0" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/im%202.PNG" />
In his message, Warikoo can be seen saying, “1,500 VCs [venture capitalists], 9,000 angel investors, India’s leading banks and 75,000+startups will be present at the event.” Raj Shamani, in his message, recommended founders to book passes and turn their startup dream into reality. 
&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Luke Talwar and Arjun Chaudhary, the founders of ‘World Startup Convention’, also hinted that eminent personalities like Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla), Gautam Adani (Founder &amp; Chairman of Adani Group), Sheikh Hamdan (Crown Prince of Dubai) and Sundar Pichai (CEO of Google) will attend the mega event. Interestingly, they all were referred to as “special invitees” and not “attendees” in posters used for event promotion.
<img alt="Promotional content used by WSC" data-align="center" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="61a3e4fd-84c8-4c8a-8c6f-9372b061b935" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/im%203.PNG" />
“Having seen a few ads of the event myself featuring a few of India’s top influencers, I agreed to go,” Sayan told WION. But within days, when Sayan’s colleagues at spreadd.io dug more into the event and history of its founders, their perception of World Startup Convention dramatically changed. “After research by one of our team members named Nikunj Kachhiya, he realised that this company organised some events like this before too and the participants left some negative tweets and reviews about them,” Sayan said. 
&nbsp; 
Eventually, Sayan and his colleagues decided against going to the event.

<h2>Stuff hits the fan</h2>

But many others, including Vaibhav Anant from Bambrew, gave their all to secure funding at the event. Team Bambrew “invested over 50 lac [five million] rupees” to make their presence felt at the World Startup Convention, according to a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMNxl3lGCVE">statement </a>by Anant. 
&nbsp; 
But the turnaround of events that took place on 24th March stirred a massive uproar in India’s entrepreneurial community. What was supposed to be the world’s biggest startup funding festival turned out to be “India’s biggest startup scam.” 
&nbsp; 
“There were only 70 founders present at the event, and no good investor,” Anant said. 
&nbsp; 
In no time, the founders realised they had been scammed out of their hard-earned money. 
&nbsp; 
What came hot on the heels was a clash between founders and organisers. Some founders climbed on the stage and demanded compensation. Police had to be called in. 
&nbsp; 
“Apparently, standing on the World Startup Convention stage in Noida are not the investors from Sequoia or Accel, but cops from the Uttar Pradesh Police,” wrote Rajan Singh, CEO of HabitStrong, on LinkedIn. 
&nbsp; 
“We had very high hopes. This was the biggest investment we made in a convention like this, and we are devastated to the core,” Vaibhav Anant said. “Nobody is going to believe the idea of such a convention like this in future, even if it is genuine,” Anant said in a video message. 
&nbsp; 
Disgruntled founders are now planning to take legal action against the organisers and the influencers who promoted this fake event. 
&nbsp; 
“The World Startup Convention has affected a few of our startups. Apart from monetary, there has been a huge loss of trust and morale. We are trying to take collective legal action against the organisers,” wrote Vandana Rungta, co-founder of WerFunds Pvt Ltd, on social media.&nbsp;

<h2>Role of the influencers</h2>

&nbsp;All the influencers who spoke about the event have played their part in promoting this scam. And for that reason, the founders are slamming these influencers too. “Ankur Warikoo, I was your fan and looked up to you as a founder. I have now lost every bit of trust. It will be so so difficult to even trust anyone now,” Vaibhav Anant wrote on LinkedIn 
&nbsp; 
But, how did the influencers get it all wrong? 
&nbsp; 
“I believe where it all went wrong is that the Influencers’ manager or managing team was approached by the brand and they agreed to do it with little to no background checks on the company,” Sayan Sapui told WION upon being asked the same question. 
&nbsp; 
“If they spent some time researching on the event company, their past events and whether there are any negative reviews on the internet, there could have been a chance they would have been able to save a lot of entrepreneurs from losing their money and time,” Sayan told further. 
&nbsp; 
But make no mistake, the carelessness shown by the influencers, in this case, does make a good court case. The Consumer Affairs Ministry of India clearly states it is the moral responsibility of the influencers to verify the authenticity of the product they are promoting. An influencer can be fined up to 5 million rupees in case of failure to comply with the guidelines. 
&nbsp; 
WION tried to reach Ankur Warikoo, MBA Chaiwala and Raj Shamani to know what they had to say in their defence. This is what Ankur Warikoo told WION: 
&nbsp; 
“I am not involved in the conceptualising or organising of the event. We had done an Instagram collab reel on 19th January where I spoke about the importance of funding for a startup and how this event could be a good opportunity to explore the same and meet other founders.” 
&nbsp; 
“The terms of the collab were clear that my video will not be used for promoting the event. However, I realised that this was not respected. While they took down ads of the video when we asked them to, the video was and is still being used on their website and in all of their communication,” he said. 
&nbsp; 
“In January itself we distanced ourselves from the event. They repeatedly asked me to be present for the event, which we declined. As late as February, we had to keep sending them emails asking them to take down ads they were running to promote the event using my video,” he added.
<img alt="What Warikoo said in his defence?" data-align="center" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="247a0968-26f4-466c-bd2f-0c0f6cb0e027" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/im%204.PNG" />
 
&nbsp;“It is really tragic to see how the event eventually ended up. It showed promise and could have genuinely helped founders if done the right way,” he pointed out. 
&nbsp; 
MBA Chaiwala and Raj Shamani didn’t reply to the emails sent by WION.

<h2>Lessons learned</h2>

In a nutshell, &nbsp;Sayan Sapui recommends both influencers and entrepreneurs do their due diligence before signing up for such events. 
&nbsp; 
“Take everything from TV ads to Influencers on Instagram with a pinch of salt,” Sayan said while addressing founders. 
&nbsp; 
For influencers, Sayan has a simple yet powerful suggestion: Always put your credibility above all. 
&nbsp; 
According to Sayan, “An influencer’s career is built on TRUST. And we all know it’s a very fragile thing, especially in the online world. As a startup/finance influencer, these online celebrities hold massive responsibility towards their audience.”

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Elon Musk, Gautam Adani, India’s top ministers and leading global investors, all under one roof in India’s national capital region: what more does a startup founder need?

Elon Musk, Gautam Adani, India’s top ministers and leading global investors, all under one roof in India’s national capital region: what more does a startup founder need? Such was the promise of the “The World Startup Convention” that over 100,000 fund-seekers worldwide applied for registration. Luke Talwar, the event's co-founder, declared in December it would be the world’s biggest funding festival with the target of raising investments worth more than INR 100,000 crore [or $12 billion]. The three-day event was supposed to be held at the Expo Mart located at Knowledge Park in Greater Noida, on the outskirts of the Indian capital New Delhi, from March 24th. Sohil Shah, the founder of Spreadd.io, a Dubai-based ‘Decentralised Creator Economy’ company, decided not to squander away this godsent opportunity to raise funds. He discussed the idea with his colleague Sayan Sapui and declared that he will be flying his entire team to Noida to pitch to investors. Sayan surfed the web to know more about the event and his findings really made an impression. The homepage of the official website of the World Startup Convention featured top Indian officials including Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister of India’s northern state of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami. The icing on the cake were promotional messages from India’s top influencers. Ankur Warikoo, Chetan Bhagat, MBA Chaiwala and Raj Shamani, all of them were singing the praises of the event. In his message, Warikoo can be seen saying, “1,500 VCs [venture capitalists], 9,000 angel investors, India’s leading banks and 75,000+startups will be present at the event.” Raj Shamani, in his message, recommended founders to book passes and turn their startup dream into reality. Luke Talwar and Arjun Chaudhary, the founders of ‘World Startup Convention’, also hinted that eminent personalities like Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla), Gautam Adani (Founder & Chairman of Adani Group), Sheikh Hamdan (Crown Prince of Dubai) and Sundar Pichai (CEO of Google) will attend the mega event. Interestingly, they all were referred to as “special invitees” and not “attendees” in posters used for event promotion. “Having seen a few ads of the event myself featuring a few of India’s top influencers, I agreed to go,” Sayan told WION. But within days, when Sayan’s colleagues at spreadd.io dug more into the event and history of its founders, their perception of World Startup Convention dramatically changed. “After research by one of our team members named Nikunj Kachhiya, he realised that this company organised some events like this before too and the participants left some negative tweets and reviews about them,” Sayan said. Eventually, Sayan and his colleagues decided against going to the event. Stuff hits the fan But many others, including Vaibhav Anant from Bambrew, gave their all to secure funding at the event. Team Bambrew “invested over 50 lac [five million] rupees” to make their presence felt at the World Startup Convention, according to a statement by Anant. But the turnaround of events that took place on 24th March stirred a massive uproar in India’s entrepreneurial community. What was supposed to be the world’s biggest startup funding festival turned out to be “India’s biggest startup scam.” “There were only 70 founders present at the event, and no good investor,” Anant said. In no time, the founders realised they had been scammed out of their hard-earned money. What came hot on the heels was a clash between founders and organisers. Some founders climbed on the stage and demanded compensation. Police had to be called in. “Apparently, standing on the World Startup Convention stage in Noida are not the investors from Sequoia or Accel, but cops from the Uttar Pradesh Police,” wrote Rajan Singh, CEO of HabitStrong, on LinkedIn. “We had very high hopes. This was the biggest investment we made in a convention like this, and we are devastated to the core,” Vaibhav Anant said. “Nobody is going to believe the idea of such a convention like this in future, even if it is genuine,” Anant said in a video message. Disgruntled founders are now planning to take legal action against the organisers and the influencers who promoted this fake event. “The World Startup Convention has affected a few of our startups. Apart from monetary, there has been a huge loss of trust and morale. We are trying to take collective legal action against the organisers,” wrote Vandana Rungta, co-founder of WerFunds Pvt Ltd, on social media. Role of the influencers All the influencers who spoke about the event have played their part in promoting this scam. And for that reason, the founders are slamming these influencers too. “Ankur Warikoo, I was your fan and looked up to you as a founder. I have now lost every bit of trust. It will be so so difficult to even trust anyone now,” Vaibhav Anant wrote on LinkedIn But, how did the influencers get it all wrong? “I believe where it all went wrong is that the Influencers’ manager or managing team was approached by the brand and they agreed to do it with little to no background checks on the company,” Sayan Sapui told WION upon being asked the same question. “If they spent some time researching on the event company, their past events and whether there are any negative reviews on the internet, there could have been a chance they would have been able to save a lot of entrepreneurs from losing their money and time,” Sayan told further. But make no mistake, the carelessness shown by the influencers, in this case, does make a good court case. The Consumer Affairs Ministry of India clearly states it is the moral responsibility of the influencers to verify the authenticity of the product they are promoting. An influencer can be fined up to 5 million rupees in case of failure to comply with the guidelines. WION tried to reach Ankur Warikoo, MBA Chaiwala and Raj Shamani to know what they had to say in their defence. This is what Ankur Warikoo told WION: “I am not involved in the conceptualising or organising of the event. We had done an Instagram collab reel on 19th January where I spoke about the importance of funding for a startup and how this event could be a good opportunity to explore the same and meet other founders.” “The terms of the collab were clear that my video will not be used for promoting the event. However, I realised that this was not respected. While they took down ads of the video when we asked them to, the video was and is still being used on their website and in all of their communication,” he said. “In January itself we distanced ourselves from the event. They repeatedly asked me to be present for the event, which we declined. As late as February, we had to keep sending them emails asking them to take down ads they were running to promote the event using my video,” he added. “It is really tragic to see how the event eventually ended up. It showed promise and could have genuinely helped founders if done the right way,” he pointed out. MBA Chaiwala and Raj Shamani didn’t reply to the emails sent by WION. Lessons learned In a nutshell, Sayan Sapui recommends both influencers and entrepreneurs do their due diligence before signing up for such events. “Take everything from TV ads to Influencers on Instagram with a pinch of salt,” Sayan said while addressing founders. For influencers, Sayan has a simple yet powerful suggestion: Always put your credibility above all. According to Sayan, “An influencer’s career is built on TRUST. And we all know it’s a very fragile thing, especially in the online world. As a startup/finance influencer, these online celebrities hold massive responsibility towards their audience.” WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

‘Biggest startup scandal’: How one event in India’s Noida scarred India’s entrepreneurial ambitions

Ahead of India's Union Budget 2023, we list out the three things that the startup ecosystem is expecting for the tech industry. Watch this video to know more.

Startup India's expectations from the Budget

Robots are a common site on the industrial production lines but now they're also increasingly in demand in the agricultural sector. An Israeli startup is offering a set of flying robots that can identify ripe fruit and harvest them.

WION Climate Tracker | Israel: Farmers using flying robots to harvest their produce

Trading has officially started on Tuesday at the state-run data exchange in China’s southern tech hub of Shenzhen. Watch full video to know more.

World Business Watch | Shenzhen data exchange starts official trading

Collapsed crypto exchange FTX said on Saturday that it has started a strategic evaluation of its worldwide assets and is putting some businesses up for sale or reorganisation. Together with around 101 associated companies, FTX also requested judicial intervention to permit the functioning of a new worldwide cash management system and payment to its essential suppliers. In one of the most publicised cryptocurrency meltdowns, the exchange and its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on November 11. As a result, an estimated million clients and other investors are expected to suffer total losses in billions of dollars.

In a court document filed on Saturday, FTX requested authorisation to pay its crucial vendors up to $17.5 million in prepetition claims and up to $9.3 million in interim orders.

The exchange said that if the requested judicial injunction is not granted, it will cause "immediate and irreparable damage" to its operations.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-how-ftx-bought-its-way-to-become-the-most-regulated-crypto-exchange-535241">How FTX bought its way to become the 'most regulated' crypto exchange</a>

"Based on our review over the past week, we are pleased to learn that many regulated or licensed subsidiaries of FTX, within and outside of the United States, have solvent balance sheets, responsible management and valuable franchises," FTX's new Chief Executive Officer John Ray said.

In order to assist with the selling process, the business, subject to court approval, has named Perella Weinberg Partners LP as its main investment bank.

Also WATCH |&nbsp;Twitter faces questions on security breach; agency to probe unfair business practices

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/twitter-faces-questions-on-security-breach-agency-to-probe-unfair-business-practices-535547/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"I respectfully ask all of our employees, vendors, customers, regulators and government stakeholders to be patient with us as we put in place the arrangements that corporate governance failures at FTX prevented us from putting in place prior to filing our chapter 11 cases," Ray said.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

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Collapsed crypto exchange FTX said on Saturday that it has started a strategic evaluation of its worldwide assets and is putting some businesses up for sale or reorganisation.

Collapsed crypto exchange FTX said on Saturday that it has started a strategic evaluation of its worldwide assets and is putting some businesses up for sale or reorganisation. Together with around 101 associated companies, FTX also requested judicial intervention to permit the functioning of a new worldwide cash management system and payment to its essential suppliers. In one of the most publicised cryptocurrency meltdowns, the exchange and its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on November 11. As a result, an estimated million clients and other investors are expected to suffer total losses in billions of dollars. In a court document filed on Saturday, FTX requested authorisation to pay its crucial vendors up to $17.5 million in prepetition claims and up to $9.3 million in interim orders. The exchange said that if the requested judicial injunction is not granted, it will cause "immediate and irreparable damage" to its operations. Also read | How FTX bought its way to become the 'most regulated' crypto exchange "Based on our review over the past week, we are pleased to learn that many regulated or licensed subsidiaries of FTX, within and outside of the United States, have solvent balance sheets, responsible management and valuable franchises," FTX's new Chief Executive Officer John Ray said. In order to assist with the selling process, the business, subject to court approval, has named Perella Weinberg Partners LP as its main investment bank. Also WATCH | Twitter faces questions on security breach; agency to probe unfair business practices "I respectfully ask all of our employees, vendors, customers, regulators and government stakeholders to be patient with us as we put in place the arrangements that corporate governance failures at FTX prevented us from putting in place prior to filing our chapter 11 cases," Ray said. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

FTX conducts strategic assessment; requests judicial relief to pay important vendors

Indian education tech giant Byju's has reportedly decided to lay off around 2,500 of its employees as it struggles to improve its finances and book profits.

In a statement on Wednesday, the $22 million valued start-up said that the layoffs are a step to cut costs and achieve overall profitability.

In May, the online learning platform had reported a&nbsp;loss&nbsp;of 45.64 billion rupees ($554.77 million) for fiscal 2021 due to higher promotion and employee expenses.

"To avoid redundancies and duplication of roles, and by leveraging technology better, around five per cent of BYJU’S 50,000-strong workforce is expected to be rationalised across product, content, media, and technology teams in a phased manner," the statement said,&nbsp;according to Moneycontrol.com.

The employees who have been sacked are from its subsidiary units like Toppr, and WhiteHat Jr, apart from the core team of sales and marketing, operations, content and design teams.

Moreover, they have consolidated its subsidiaries like Toppr, Meritnation, TutorVista, Scholar, and HashLearn, into a single business unit, while Aakash and Great Learning will function as separate organisations.

According to reports, Toppr alone has seen the maximum number of layoffs with 350, while another 300 employees are being asked to put in their papers, .

They have been told that their salaries for about 1-1.5 months would be withheld if they fail to hand in their resignation.

Moreover, 600 contractual employees have been asked to leave. However, the company said it would add 10,000 teachers in 2023 to its current strength of 20,000.

The decision to retrench employees comes in the wake of dwindling demand for Byju's services, which had reached its peak during the Covid lockdown when schools were closed for several months.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Indian education tech giant Byju's has reportedly decided to lay off around 2,500 of its employees as it struggles to improve its finances and book profits. In a statement on Wednesday, the $22 million valued start-up said that the layoffs are a step to cut costs and achieve overall profitability.

Indian education tech giant Byju's has reportedly decided to lay off around 2,500 of its employees as it struggles to improve its finances and book profits. In a statement on Wednesday, the $22 million valued start-up said that the layoffs are a step to cut costs and achieve overall profitability. In May, the online learning platform had reported a loss of 45.64 billion rupees ($554.77 million) for fiscal 2021 due to higher promotion and employee expenses. "To avoid redundancies and duplication of roles, and by leveraging technology better, around five per cent of BYJU’S 50,000-strong workforce is expected to be rationalised across product, content, media, and technology teams in a phased manner," the statement said, according to Moneycontrol.com. The employees who have been sacked are from its subsidiary units like Toppr, and WhiteHat Jr, apart from the core team of sales and marketing, operations, content and design teams. Moreover, they have consolidated its subsidiaries like Toppr, Meritnation, TutorVista, Scholar, and HashLearn, into a single business unit, while Aakash and Great Learning will function as separate organisations. According to reports, Toppr alone has seen the maximum number of layoffs with 350, while another 300 employees are being asked to put in their papers, . They have been told that their salaries for about 1-1.5 months would be withheld if they fail to hand in their resignation. Moreover, 600 contractual employees have been asked to leave. However, the company said it would add 10,000 teachers in 2023 to its current strength of 20,000. The decision to retrench employees comes in the wake of dwindling demand for Byju's services, which had reached its peak during the Covid lockdown when schools were closed for several months.

Indian edtech giant Byju's lays off 2,500 employees to cut costs, improve profitability

With expanded liberalisation policies and opening of the Indian economy, the Indian software industry has gone beyond just global offshoring opportunities. Now, India is a breeding ground for inspiring business leaders and innovators.

India@75: World's 3rd largest startup ecosystem

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Thursday that the Delhi Cabinet has adopted a start-up strategy that aims to provide financial and procedural assistance to youth in starting businesses. A 20-member task force will be established for the purpose.

Kejriwal said that the "Business Blaster" programme, which is already being implemented in Delhi government schools, will be extended to college students so that they can work on their business ideas using government seed money.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/indias-largest-ipo-lic-opens-for-subscription-10-things-to-know-476222" hreflang="en">India's largest IPO, LIC, opens for subscription: 10 things to know</a>

"The government will provide financial help to start-ups through collateral-free loan, financial parts of rent and employee salaries. It will form a panel of agencies and experts to provide free help to new start-ups in trademark registration and fulfilling other formalities."&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;India's central bank RBI hikes interest rate

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/indias-central-bank-rbi-hikes-interest-rate-476462/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Kejriwal expressed optimism that the legislation would result in a spike in the start-up sector in Delhi.

20 members will be part of the task force; which includes a government officer, academics, and industry and trade representatives, who will decide on registration applications from start-ups.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/rbi-hikes-rates-by-40-basis-points-with-immediate-effect-governor-shaktikanta-das-476199" hreflang="en">RBI hikes rates by 40 basis points with immediate effect: Governor Shaktikanta Das</a>

Business Blasters project is a hands-on component of the Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum (EMC) curriculum for grades XI and XII, in which students are given seed money (Rs. 2000 each) "to build on an idea that generates profit, or solves a social problem". The program is powered by ₹60 Crores in seed capital provided by the Delhi Government.

The initiative allows&nbsp;EMC students to exhibit their problem-solving skills by producing value that;&nbsp;Innovation that can be used to solve a variety of problems or needs;&nbsp;Identifying and addressing a market need or&nbsp;taking on a communal problem and solving it effectively.

Watch WION LIVE HERE:

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe>

(With inputs from agencies)

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Thursday that the Delhi Cabinet has adopted a start-up strategy that aims to provide financial and procedural assistance to youth in starting businesses.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Thursday that the Delhi Cabinet has adopted a start-up strategy that aims to provide financial and procedural assistance to youth in starting businesses. A 20-member task force will be established for the purpose. Kejriwal said that the "Business Blaster" programme, which is already being implemented in Delhi government schools, will be extended to college students so that they can work on their business ideas using government seed money. Also read | India's largest IPO, LIC, opens for subscription: 10 things to know "The government will provide financial help to start-ups through collateral-free loan, financial parts of rent and employee salaries. It will form a panel of agencies and experts to provide free help to new start-ups in trademark registration and fulfilling other formalities." Watch | India's central bank RBI hikes interest rate Kejriwal expressed optimism that the legislation would result in a spike in the start-up sector in Delhi. 20 members will be part of the task force; which includes a government officer, academics, and industry and trade representatives, who will decide on registration applications from start-ups. Also read | RBI hikes rates by 40 basis points with immediate effect: Governor Shaktikanta Das Business Blasters project is a hands-on component of the Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum (EMC) curriculum for grades XI and XII, in which students are given seed money (Rs. 2000 each) "to build on an idea that generates profit, or solves a social problem". The program is powered by ₹60 Crores in seed capital provided by the Delhi Government. The initiative allows EMC students to exhibit their problem-solving skills by producing value that; Innovation that can be used to solve a variety of problems or needs; Identifying and addressing a market need or taking on a communal problem and solving it effectively. Watch WION LIVE HERE: (With inputs from agencies)

Delhi launches start-up plan to assist young people start businesses

An Israeli-based startup company has claimed to have created robotic beehives. The company says that its agricultural technology has saved more than 160 million bees in the past year and it aims at saving bees from climate change.

Israeli-based startup 'Beewise' aims to revive the disappearing bee population

It's been more than fifty years since man set foot on the Moon. Since then, we have made progress in space science by leaps and bounds. But humankind is focussing its gaze on the Moon again. NASA's Artemis mission is aiming to bring a human on the lunar surface again.

There are talks in the scientific world of making use of the Moon as a launching pad for future space missions. For this, we would have to have a much more comprehensive presence on and around the Moon than before.

What a space start-up is doing may come handy in such an endevour. This company, called Quantum Space is planning to create a robotic outpost near the Moon.

Quantum Space has been set-up by Steve Jurczyk. He is former associate administrator of NASA. The company was formed in 2021. As per a report in The Verge, the robotic outpost Quantum Space plans to set up near Moon will help in providing internet capabilities on the lunar surface. It will also refuel spacecrafts, collect data and help assemble structures in lunar space.

Jurczyk says that his company also intends to make vehicles that will aid NASA in lunar missions.

NASA is planning to create an internet-like system of communications infrastructure around the Moon called LunaNet. This would be less reliant on Earth technologies for navigation, communication, and data relays," he said as quoted by The Verge.

It's been more than fifty years since man set foot on the Moon. Since then, we have made progress in space science by leaps and bounds. But humankind is focussing its gaze on the Moon again.

It's been more than fifty years since man set foot on the Moon. Since then, we have made progress in space science by leaps and bounds. But humankind is focussing its gaze on the Moon again. NASA's Artemis mission is aiming to bring a human on the lunar surface again. There are talks in the scientific world of making use of the Moon as a launching pad for future space missions. For this, we would have to have a much more comprehensive presence on and around the Moon than before. What a space start-up is doing may come handy in such an endevour. This company, called Quantum Space is planning to create a robotic outpost near the Moon. Quantum Space has been set-up by Steve Jurczyk. He is former associate administrator of NASA. The company was formed in 2021. As per a report in The Verge, the robotic outpost Quantum Space plans to set up near Moon will help in providing internet capabilities on the lunar surface. It will also refuel spacecrafts, collect data and help assemble structures in lunar space. Jurczyk says that his company also intends to make vehicles that will aid NASA in lunar missions. NASA is planning to create an internet-like system of communications infrastructure around the Moon called LunaNet. This would be less reliant on Earth technologies for navigation, communication, and data relays," he said as quoted by The Verge.

Startup plans to create robotic outpost near the Moon

India's startup sector is one of the shining examples of the Indian economy over the past two years. Going forward, 2022 is supposed to be even more optimistic, with more hopes for the startup ecosystem.

Bright outlook for India's startup ecosystem ahead of budget 2022

India will be celebrating January 16 as "National Start-up day", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. While addressing start-ups across the country, he said, "To make the culture of start-ups reach the far-flung parts of the country, it has been decided to celebrate January 16 as "National Start-up Day."

In his interaction, he called for innovating 'for India and from India' to scale new milestones. &nbsp;

The interaction was held as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. PM Modi interacted with over 150 startups via video conferencing under "Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem" section of the event.&nbsp;

"Our startups are changing the rules of the game. I believe that startups are going to be the backbone of New India. Let us innovate for India, innovate from India," the PM said.

He further highlighted that India has more than 60,000 startups with 42 unicorns. He also shared the steps taken by the government to free entrepreneurs and innovation from bureaucratic silos.&nbsp;

"India's ranking on the Global Innovation Index is improving because of the programme on innovation started in the country. India was ranked 81 in 2015 and now it is at No. 46," the PM said.

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

India will be celebrating January 16 as "National Start-up day", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. While addressing start-ups across the country, he said, "To make the culture of start-ups reach the far-flung parts of the country, it has been decided to celebrate January 16 as "National Start-up Day.

India will be celebrating January 16 as "National Start-up day", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. While addressing start-ups across the country, he said, "To make the culture of start-ups reach the far-flung parts of the country, it has been decided to celebrate January 16 as "National Start-up Day." In his interaction, he called for innovating 'for India and from India' to scale new milestones. The interaction was held as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. PM Modi interacted with over 150 startups via video conferencing under "Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem" section of the event. "Our startups are changing the rules of the game. I believe that startups are going to be the backbone of New India. Let us innovate for India, innovate from India," the PM said. He further highlighted that India has more than 60,000 startups with 42 unicorns. He also shared the steps taken by the government to free entrepreneurs and innovation from bureaucratic silos. "India's ranking on the Global Innovation Index is improving because of the programme on innovation started in the country. India was ranked 81 in 2015 and now it is at No. 46," the PM said. (With inputs from agencies)

To promote culture of start-ups, January 16 to be celebrated as 'National Start-up Day,' says PM Modi

Helsinki-based solar food says its new protein can lessen the environmental impact of the world's food system, which accounts for over a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Finnish food tech startup says it is making a new nutrient-rich protein from thin hair

Finland based food tech startup makes nutrient rich protein from Solein

Travel destinations are fun but some cities have airports that are known for something unique. If all goes well, passengers travelling to Rome by air will soon be able to take flying taxis to go to their desired location inside the city. The company operating Rome's main airport and a German startup have undertaken this project.

Startup Volocopter hopes to make Fiumicino Airport a pioneer site for the rotor-bladed, battery-powered two-seater air taxi it is developing.

Aeroporti di Roma (AdR) CEO Marco Troncone said the journey in one of the craft, which takes off and lands vertically, will take around 15 minutes, compared with 45 minutes or more by car.

The initial cost of a ride will be around 150 euros ($175), a price likely to drop as the service goes mainstream, he said.

"The connection will be very swift," he told Reuters at Fiumicino, where Volocopter was showcasing a prototype. "It will be a silent journey and ... the level of emissions will be zero."

Volocopter, founded in 2011, hopes to get a commercial air licence from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) within three years and then start operations, its Chief Commercial Officer Christian Bauer said.

Rome is seen as the third most suitable European city behind Paris - where Volocopter said in June it hoped to have a service in operation in time for the Olympic Games - and Berlin for the development of air taxis, an EASA study showed.

(With inputs from agencies)

Travel destinations are fun but some cities have airports that are known for something unique. If all goes well, passengers travelling to Rome by air will soon be able to take flying taxis to go to their desired location inside the city.

Travel destinations are fun but some cities have airports that are known for something unique. If all goes well, passengers travelling to Rome by air will soon be able to take flying taxis to go to their desired location inside the city. The company operating Rome's main airport and a German startup have undertaken this project. Startup Volocopter hopes to make Fiumicino Airport a pioneer site for the rotor-bladed, battery-powered two-seater air taxi it is developing. Aeroporti di Roma (AdR) CEO Marco Troncone said the journey in one of the craft, which takes off and lands vertically, will take around 15 minutes, compared with 45 minutes or more by car. The initial cost of a ride will be around 150 euros ($175), a price likely to drop as the service goes mainstream, he said. "The connection will be very swift," he told Reuters at Fiumicino, where Volocopter was showcasing a prototype. "It will be a silent journey and ... the level of emissions will be zero." Volocopter, founded in 2011, hopes to get a commercial air licence from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) within three years and then start operations, its Chief Commercial Officer Christian Bauer said. Rome is seen as the third most suitable European city behind Paris - where Volocopter said in June it hoped to have a service in operation in time for the Olympic Games - and Berlin for the development of air taxis, an EASA study showed. (With inputs from agencies)

Rome airport to have flying taxis by 2024

SAN FRANCISCO — In 2009, Shamir Karkal and several colleagues struggled to raise money for a banking startup, Simple. Most of the 70 venture capital firms they met over the course of a year did not see the point of the idea, he said. The few that did thought it would fail.

By last year, things had changed. When Karkal set out to raise funding for his new financial technology startup, Sila, which makes regulatory compliance software, he garnered $5 million in a few months with a fraction of the pitches. He said he was frustrated it did not happen even faster.

“I know folks in the space who raised rounds in less than one week,” he said.

Sila is one of thousands of financial technology startups riding an investor frenzy driven by a growing realization that Big Finance is ripe for a tech makeover. When the pandemic forced businesses to speed up their usage of digital tools, including e-commerce and online banking, the demand for what is known as fintech exploded.

Now startups with names like Blend, Brex and Dave that provide decidedly unglamorous banking, lending and payment processing offerings are hot tickets. That was punctuated this month when Stripe, a payments company, raised $600 million in a financing that valued it at $95 billion, the highest ever for a private startup in the United States.

Financial technology companies are also making a splash on the stock market. On March 23, Robinhood, a stock trading app popular with young adults, filed for an initial public offering. And Coinbase, a cryptocurrency startup, is scheduled to go public in the next few weeks in what could be a $100 billion listing.

Even tiny financial startups that have not formally introduced their products — such as Zeller, which will offer banking services to businesses; and Sivo, which is building lending software — have raised millions of dollars and been valued at nine-digit sums.

In total, venture capital investors poured $44.4 billion into financial technology startups last year, up from $1.1 billion in 2009, according to PitchBook, which tracks private financings.

Many investors are making bold predictions that these startups will upend big banks, established credit card providers — and in some cases, the entire financial system.

“The banks are extremely vulnerable” because they have not kept up with what customers expect, said Mark Goldberg, an investor at the venture capital firm Index Ventures. He predicted $1 trillion of market value could transfer from old guard financial institutions to tech companies over the next two decades.

“It’s what Amazon did to offline retail,” he said. “It’s just playing out 10 years later in fintech right now.”

The financial technology startups that are riding the boom run the gamut. They provide services including checking accounts, mortgages, insurance, investing, payment processing and cryptocurrencies.

Many are capitalizing on people’s long-simmering distrust of the big banks, especially after the 2008 financial crisis. Often, the startups offer slick and easy-to-use apps, no physical branches and low or no fees. And they are building on people’s growing familiarity over the past decade with tech tools and digital payments, a shift that has accelerated in the pandemic.

Just as cheap cloud computing and smartphones once enabled a wave of new app startups, the financial technology sector has developed its own set of building blocks, allowing new companies to spring up faster.

One of the building-block companies is Stripe. Founded in 2010, Stripe started out by offering to process payments for small businesses and startups. By 2018, it was worth $20 billion and had begun investing in other startups.

Stripe now processes hundreds of billions of dollars in payments a year, has expanded to larger customers including Salesforce and Booking.com, and has made more than 30 investments in other fintech startups.

“We are in a hypergrowth industry and within that, the company itself is experiencing hypergrowth,” Dhivya Suryadevara, Stripe’s chief financial officer, said in an interview.

Domm Holland, chief executive of Fast, an e-commerce checkout software startup, said Stripe sped up his company’s progress. Customers who use Stripe to accept online payments can then use Fast’s software for their checkout process.

“If Stripe didn’t exist today, we would first have to build Stripe,” Holland said. “That’s a lot of work. They’ve already done that.”

Last year, as Fast’s business grew in the pandemic, investors began messaging Holland daily asking to invest in the company. “I have people LinkedIn messaging and emailing, just offering, ‘Take $5 million at any valuation you like,’” he said. “It is a bizarre world to live in.”

He ended up raising $102 million for Fast in January. Stripe was one of the main investors in the financing.

Other companies that play similar “building block” roles in the financial technology boom include Affirm, which offers lending and went public this year; Shopify, which enables e-commerce transactions; and Plaid, which helps apps connect with bank accounts.

“The infrastructure has gone to a whole other level,” said CJ MacDonald, founder of Step, a debit card provider aimed at teenagers. Introduced in September, Step quickly reached 1 million customers, partly from endorsements from social media influencers like Charli D’Amelio.

In December, Step raised $50 million in funding. The company was not looking for more money, MacDonald said. But investors started calling as soon as the app joined the top-downloaded finance app list shortly after it was released. The money came together in a matter of weeks, he said.

Investors are even clamoring to buy into broken deals. Plaid, which had agreed to sell itself to Visa for $5.6 billion last year, saw the deal unravel in January after facing antitrust scrutiny. Now the fast-growing company is in talks with investors to raise funding at a valuation near $15 billion, said two people with knowledge of the company who spoke on the condition they not be identified because the discussions are confidential. The Information earlier reported Plaid’s funding talks.

Sheel Mohnot, an investor at Better Tomorrow Ventures, said Plaid’s sale price to Visa was viewed as “so amazing” at the time. But now, with multiple fintech companies approaching $100 billion valuations, it looks low.

Some caution that the excitement has gotten far ahead of reality.

Robert Le, an analyst at PitchBook, pointed to the valuation of Affirm, which has a market capitalization of $20 billion, or roughly 40 times its annual revenue. That is significantly higher than the value that investors typically assign to blue-chip financial services companies. American Express, for example, trades at just three times its annual revenue.

“I think it’s a little irrational,” Le said. “Over the long haul, some of these companies will have to come down.”

Some of the startups have already hit growing pains. Chime, a banking startup, had a series of outages in 2019, leaving millions of customers with no access to their money for hours. Some Coinbase customers have said they were locked out of their accounts or experienced thefts of their money. And Robinhood faces nearly 50 lawsuits and multiple regulatory investigations after it halted trading for some stocks during a frenzy in “meme” stocks in January.

Leigh Drogen, chief executive of Estimize, an investment data startup, said the hiccups, high valuations and irrational behaviors have not canceled out all the progress in fintech.

“There are a lot of very, very real things, and then there’s some insanity,” he said. “That happens in every boom.”

SAN FRANCISCO — In 2009, Shamir Karkal and several colleagues struggled to raise money for a banking startup, Simple. Most of the 70 venture capital firms they met over the course of a year did not see the point of the idea, he said.

SAN FRANCISCO — In 2009, Shamir Karkal and several colleagues struggled to raise money for a banking startup, Simple. Most of the 70 venture capital firms they met over the course of a year did not see the point of the idea, he said. The few that did thought it would fail. By last year, things had changed. When Karkal set out to raise funding for his new financial technology startup, Sila, which makes regulatory compliance software, he garnered $5 million in a few months with a fraction of the pitches. He said he was frustrated it did not happen even faster. “I know folks in the space who raised rounds in less than one week,” he said. Sila is one of thousands of financial technology startups riding an investor frenzy driven by a growing realization that Big Finance is ripe for a tech makeover. When the pandemic forced businesses to speed up their usage of digital tools, including e-commerce and online banking, the demand for what is known as fintech exploded. Now startups with names like Blend, Brex and Dave that provide decidedly unglamorous banking, lending and payment processing offerings are hot tickets. That was punctuated this month when Stripe, a payments company, raised $600 million in a financing that valued it at $95 billion, the highest ever for a private startup in the United States. Financial technology companies are also making a splash on the stock market. On March 23, Robinhood, a stock trading app popular with young adults, filed for an initial public offering. And Coinbase, a cryptocurrency startup, is scheduled to go public in the next few weeks in what could be a $100 billion listing. Even tiny financial startups that have not formally introduced their products — such as Zeller, which will offer banking services to businesses; and Sivo, which is building lending software — have raised millions of dollars and been valued at nine-digit sums. In total, venture capital investors poured $44.4 billion into financial technology startups last year, up from $1.1 billion in 2009, according to PitchBook, which tracks private financings. Many investors are making bold predictions that these startups will upend big banks, established credit card providers — and in some cases, the entire financial system. “The banks are extremely vulnerable” because they have not kept up with what customers expect, said Mark Goldberg, an investor at the venture capital firm Index Ventures. He predicted $1 trillion of market value could transfer from old guard financial institutions to tech companies over the next two decades. “It’s what Amazon did to offline retail,” he said. “It’s just playing out 10 years later in fintech right now.” The financial technology startups that are riding the boom run the gamut. They provide services including checking accounts, mortgages, insurance, investing, payment processing and cryptocurrencies. Many are capitalizing on people’s long-simmering distrust of the big banks, especially after the 2008 financial crisis. Often, the startups offer slick and easy-to-use apps, no physical branches and low or no fees. And they are building on people’s growing familiarity over the past decade with tech tools and digital payments, a shift that has accelerated in the pandemic. Just as cheap cloud computing and smartphones once enabled a wave of new app startups, the financial technology sector has developed its own set of building blocks, allowing new companies to spring up faster. One of the building-block companies is Stripe. Founded in 2010, Stripe started out by offering to process payments for small businesses and startups. By 2018, it was worth $20 billion and had begun investing in other startups. Stripe now processes hundreds of billions of dollars in payments a year, has expanded to larger customers including Salesforce and Booking.com, and has made more than 30 investments in other fintech startups. “We are in a hypergrowth industry and within that, the company itself is experiencing hypergrowth,” Dhivya Suryadevara, Stripe’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. Domm Holland, chief executive of Fast, an e-commerce checkout software startup, said Stripe sped up his company’s progress. Customers who use Stripe to accept online payments can then use Fast’s software for their checkout process. “If Stripe didn’t exist today, we would first have to build Stripe,” Holland said. “That’s a lot of work. They’ve already done that.” Last year, as Fast’s business grew in the pandemic, investors began messaging Holland daily asking to invest in the company. “I have people LinkedIn messaging and emailing, just offering, ‘Take $5 million at any valuation you like,’” he said. “It is a bizarre world to live in.” He ended up raising $102 million for Fast in January. Stripe was one of the main investors in the financing. Other companies that play similar “building block” roles in the financial technology boom include Affirm, which offers lending and went public this year; Shopify, which enables e-commerce transactions; and Plaid, which helps apps connect with bank accounts. “The infrastructure has gone to a whole other level,” said CJ MacDonald, founder of Step, a debit card provider aimed at teenagers. Introduced in September, Step quickly reached 1 million customers, partly from endorsements from social media influencers like Charli D’Amelio. In December, Step raised $50 million in funding. The company was not looking for more money, MacDonald said. But investors started calling as soon as the app joined the top-downloaded finance app list shortly after it was released. The money came together in a matter of weeks, he said. Investors are even clamoring to buy into broken deals. Plaid, which had agreed to sell itself to Visa for $5.6 billion last year, saw the deal unravel in January after facing antitrust scrutiny. Now the fast-growing company is in talks with investors to raise funding at a valuation near $15 billion, said two people with knowledge of the company who spoke on the condition they not be identified because the discussions are confidential. The Information earlier reported Plaid’s funding talks. Sheel Mohnot, an investor at Better Tomorrow Ventures, said Plaid’s sale price to Visa was viewed as “so amazing” at the time. But now, with multiple fintech companies approaching $100 billion valuations, it looks low. Some caution that the excitement has gotten far ahead of reality. Robert Le, an analyst at PitchBook, pointed to the valuation of Affirm, which has a market capitalization of $20 billion, or roughly 40 times its annual revenue. That is significantly higher than the value that investors typically assign to blue-chip financial services companies. American Express, for example, trades at just three times its annual revenue. “I think it’s a little irrational,” Le said. “Over the long haul, some of these companies will have to come down.” Some of the startups have already hit growing pains. Chime, a banking startup, had a series of outages in 2019, leaving millions of customers with no access to their money for hours. Some Coinbase customers have said they were locked out of their accounts or experienced thefts of their money. And Robinhood faces nearly 50 lawsuits and multiple regulatory investigations after it halted trading for some stocks during a frenzy in “meme” stocks in January. Leigh Drogen, chief executive of Estimize, an investment data startup, said the hiccups, high valuations and irrational behaviors have not canceled out all the progress in fintech. “There are a lot of very, very real things, and then there’s some insanity,” he said. “That happens in every boom.”

The startup enemies of Wall Street are booming

Investing in art is something beyond what many people can afford. But anyone can now own a small share of a masterpiece, the question is how? WION tells you in this report.

New York: Anyone can now own a small share of a masterpiece

Microsoft Corp has hired former US&nbsp;Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate whether the use of facial recognition technology developed by an Israeli startup it funded complies with its ethics principles, the company said on Friday.

AnyVision, based outside Tel Aviv, has come under scrutiny following reports by Haaretz's TheMarker business newspaper and NBC News that its technology is used to surveil Palestinians who live in the occupied West Bank.

AnyVision, which denied to NBC such use of its services, did not respond to a request for comment.

The probe reflects growing unease about facial recognition surveillance in the United States and elsewhere that civil liberties groups say could lead to unfair arrests and limit freedom of expression.

Microsoft announced facial recognition ethics principles last year, saying the company would "advocate for safeguards for people's democratic freedoms in law enforcement surveillance scenarios and will not deploy facial recognition technology in scenarios that we believe will put these freedoms at risk."

Microsoft said in a statement that Holder would lead a team from law firm Covington &amp; Burling to conduct the probe. Holder, the top US&nbsp;legal official under former President Barack Obama, was hired by Uber Technologies Inc&nbsp;in 2017 to review claims of sexual harassment.

He did not immediately return a request for comment.

M12, the venture fund of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, participated in a $74 million series A investment round that AnyVision announced in June.

NBC had reported that AnyVision's technology was used within the West Bank and at Israeli border crossings. The company told NBC its software was not used for West Bank surveillance and was deployed at border crossings in a manner similar to US&nbsp;Customs' use of biometric identification at airports.

Israel faces criticism and a boycott for its occupation and policies toward Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

AnyVision in an August blog post also said that it would announce an ethics advisory board and that it had a responsibility to prevent its technology's abuse. At the same time, it touted how facial recognition speeds up border crossings while helping law enforcement spot criminals.

Microsoft itself markets a facial recognition tool and backed a US&nbsp;Senate bill, announced on Thursday, that would require a court order before federal law enforcement could use the technology for targeted, ongoing surveillance.

Neema Singh Guliani, senior legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the bill "falls woefully short of protecting people's privacy rights."

Microsoft Corp has hired former US Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate whether the use of facial recognition technology developed by an Israeli startup it funded complies with its ethics principles, the company said on Friday.

Microsoft Corp has hired former US Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate whether the use of facial recognition technology developed by an Israeli startup it funded complies with its ethics principles, the company said on Friday. AnyVision, based outside Tel Aviv, has come under scrutiny following reports by Haaretz's TheMarker business newspaper and NBC News that its technology is used to surveil Palestinians who live in the occupied West Bank. AnyVision, which denied to NBC such use of its services, did not respond to a request for comment. The probe reflects growing unease about facial recognition surveillance in the United States and elsewhere that civil liberties groups say could lead to unfair arrests and limit freedom of expression. Microsoft announced facial recognition ethics principles last year, saying the company would "advocate for safeguards for people's democratic freedoms in law enforcement surveillance scenarios and will not deploy facial recognition technology in scenarios that we believe will put these freedoms at risk." Microsoft said in a statement that Holder would lead a team from law firm Covington & Burling to conduct the probe. Holder, the top US legal official under former President Barack Obama, was hired by Uber Technologies Inc in 2017 to review claims of sexual harassment. He did not immediately return a request for comment. M12, the venture fund of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, participated in a $74 million series A investment round that AnyVision announced in June. NBC had reported that AnyVision's technology was used within the West Bank and at Israeli border crossings. The company told NBC its software was not used for West Bank surveillance and was deployed at border crossings in a manner similar to US Customs' use of biometric identification at airports. Israel faces criticism and a boycott for its occupation and policies toward Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. AnyVision in an August blog post also said that it would announce an ethics advisory board and that it had a responsibility to prevent its technology's abuse. At the same time, it touted how facial recognition speeds up border crossings while helping law enforcement spot criminals. Microsoft itself markets a facial recognition tool and backed a US Senate bill, announced on Thursday, that would require a court order before federal law enforcement could use the technology for targeted, ongoing surveillance. Neema Singh Guliani, senior legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the bill "falls woefully short of protecting people's privacy rights."

Microsoft to probe work of Israeli facial recognition startup it funded

Facebook on Monday said that it had made a deal to buy a startup working on ways to command computers or other devices using thoughts instead of taps, swipes, or keystrokes.

CTRL-labs will become part of Facebook Reality Labs with an aim at perfecting the technology and getting it into consumer products, according to Andrew Bosworth, Vice-President of Augmented and Virtual Reality at the California-based social network.

"We know there are more natural, intuitive ways to interact with devices and technology," Bosworth said in a post at Facebook announcing the acquisition.

"And we want to build them. The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/libra-facebook-unveils-cryptocurrency-meant-to-be-new-global-currency-228282">vision</a> for this work is a wristband that lets people control their devices as a natural extension of movement,"&nbsp;he added.

Bosworth explained that the wristband will decode electrical impulses such as those sent to hand muscles telling them to move certain ways, such as clicking a computer mouse or pressing a button.

The wristband will translate impulses into signals a device can comprehend, having thoughts rather than mouse clicks or button presses prompt actions on computers, according to Facebook.

"It captures your intention so you can share a photo with a friend using an imperceptible movement or just by, well, intending to," Bosworth said.

"Technology like this has the potential to open up new creative possibilities and reimagine 19th century inventions in a 21st century world," he added.

He spoke of how thought-commanded interactions might dramatically alter how people experience augmented or virtual reality scenarios, which currently feature hand-held controls.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/facebook-unveils-new-portal-video-chat-tv-streaming-devices-250423">Facebook</a> did not disclose financial terms of the deal to buy New York-based CTRL-labs, but unconfirmed media reports said it paid more than $500 million.

After Facebook bought virtual-reality gear startup <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/facebook-unveils-upgraded-wireless-oculus-headset-vr-push-167899">Oculus</a> in early 2014 in a deal valued at $2 billion, social network Co-Founder and Chief Mark Zuckerberg heralded the technology as the next major computing platform.

Oculus has since built a line of virtual reality gear, pushing down the price and eliminating the need to be plugged into a computer with its Quest VR headset.

In Early 2017, Facebook announced projects aimed at allowing users to use their minds to type messages or their skin to hear words.

The projects were the focus of a team of scientists, engineers, and system integrators with a goal of "creating a system capable of typing 100 words-per-minute straight from your brain," Facebook said at the time.

Such brain-computer interface technology currently involves implanting electrodes, but Facebook wanted to use sensors that could be worn to eliminate the need to surgically intrude on the brain.

Such technology could, for example, let people fire off text messages or emails by thinking, instead of needing to interrupt what they are doing to use smartphone touchscreens.

Facebook on Monday said that it had made a deal to buy a startup working on ways to command computers or other devices using thoughts instead of taps, swipes, or keystrokes.

Facebook on Monday said that it had made a deal to buy a startup working on ways to command computers or other devices using thoughts instead of taps, swipes, or keystrokes. CTRL-labs will become part of Facebook Reality Labs with an aim at perfecting the technology and getting it into consumer products, according to Andrew Bosworth, Vice-President of Augmented and Virtual Reality at the California-based social network. "We know there are more natural, intuitive ways to interact with devices and technology," Bosworth said in a post at Facebook announcing the acquisition. "And we want to build them. The vision for this work is a wristband that lets people control their devices as a natural extension of movement," he added. Bosworth explained that the wristband will decode electrical impulses such as those sent to hand muscles telling them to move certain ways, such as clicking a computer mouse or pressing a button. The wristband will translate impulses into signals a device can comprehend, having thoughts rather than mouse clicks or button presses prompt actions on computers, according to Facebook. "It captures your intention so you can share a photo with a friend using an imperceptible movement or just by, well, intending to," Bosworth said. "Technology like this has the potential to open up new creative possibilities and reimagine 19th century inventions in a 21st century world," he added. He spoke of how thought-commanded interactions might dramatically alter how people experience augmented or virtual reality scenarios, which currently feature hand-held controls. Facebook did not disclose financial terms of the deal to buy New York-based CTRL-labs, but unconfirmed media reports said it paid more than $500 million. After Facebook bought virtual-reality gear startup Oculus in early 2014 in a deal valued at $2 billion, social network Co-Founder and Chief Mark Zuckerberg heralded the technology as the next major computing platform. Oculus has since built a line of virtual reality gear, pushing down the price and eliminating the need to be plugged into a computer with its Quest VR headset. In Early 2017, Facebook announced projects aimed at allowing users to use their minds to type messages or their skin to hear words. The projects were the focus of a team of scientists, engineers, and system integrators with a goal of "creating a system capable of typing 100 words-per-minute straight from your brain," Facebook said at the time. Such brain-computer interface technology currently involves implanting electrodes, but Facebook wanted to use sensors that could be worn to eliminate the need to surgically intrude on the brain. Such technology could, for example, let people fire off text messages or emails by thinking, instead of needing to interrupt what they are doing to use smartphone touchscreens.

Facebook buys startup working on 'mind control of machines'

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