FutureTech

Light Information Systems, a Natural Language Processing AI-workforce startup, has raised $5.4 million in a Series A round headed by Pavestone Ventures. The startup’s no-code AI platform E42 enables companies to automate otherwise time-consuming and resource-intensive activities. Enterprise clients of Light Information Systems can create and customize “AI Co-workers” to handle a wide range of tasks ranging from customer service and human resources to corporate analytics and intelligence gathering. Clients of the startup vary in industries and sizes, from SMEs to Fortune 500 companies. Animesh Samuel and Sanjeev Menon founded…

Bollywood actress, producer, social worker Diya Mirza has joined Indian wooden toy startup Shumee as an investor and brand ambassador. Meeta Sharma Gupta’s Bengaluru-based D2C brand creates “development-friendly child-safe toys for kids up to the age of eight.” Shumee’s toys are designed in-house by their designers and handcrafted by local artisans out of wood, cotton, and other child-safe materials. Since its inception in 2016, the startup has sold over 200,000 toys in six countries. It sells directly through its website as well as through platforms such as Amazon. Speaking on…

Byju’s has hired investment banks to raise at least $500 million in Term Loan B (TLB) borrowings in the United States, as India’s most valuable startup seeks to replenish its war chest with debt after spending billions of dollars on acquisitions this year, according to three people familiar with the development. The EdTech unicorn will mostly use the funds for acquisitions, with a part of the funds also being used for working capital. “Byju’s is working with American investment banks JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley to structure the TLB financing….

Gramophone, an Indore-based Agritech startup, has raised INR 75 Cr (about $10 Mn) in its Series B funding round. The round was led by Z3 Partners, with existing investors Infoedge, Asha Impact, and Siana Capital also participating. Amit Sharma of Sunrise Group, Sumeet Kanwar of Verity, and Chona Family Office are among the new investors in the round (Havmor Group). The funding will be used to expand the startup’s technology platform. It intends to grow geographically while also exploring inorganic growth possibilities like mergers and acquisitions. “With this investment, we…