Ikonz, an Indian metaverse startup, has received undisclosed seed funding from Village Global, an early-stage venture capital firm, and Woodstock, a technology investment firm. The money raised would be used to hire top tech talent and ramp up artistic talent from around the world, as well as drop non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from its IP partners. Village Global is backed by Bill Gates of Microsoft, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Eric Schmidt of Google, Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn, Bob Iger of Disney, Mike Bloomberg of Bloomberg, and Diane…
Read MoreAuthor: FutureTech
Ukraine harnesses Clearview AI to uncover assailants and identify the fallen
Ukraine is using facial recognition software from Clearview AI to track down Russian assailants and identify Ukrainians who have perished in the conflict. Hoan Ton-That, the company’s CEO, told Reuters that Ukraine’s defence ministry started using the software on Saturday. Clearview The facial recognition system developed by AI is divisive, but undeniably powerful, as it uses billions of images scraped from the internet to identify just about anyone. Clearview, according to Ton-That, has over two billion iumages from Russian social media service VKontakte alone. According to Reuters, Ton-That wrote to…
Read MoreIndian Govt Launches Startup Challenge To Empower 100 Startups In Water Sector
Hardeep Singh Puri, the Union Minister for Water Resources, has launched a startup challenge with the goal of empowering 100 water-related startups. The initiative is called the ‘India WaterPitch-Pilot-Scale Startup Challenge,’ and it was created by the Ministry Of Housing And Urban Affairs. The selected startups will receive a grant of INR 20 lakhs as part of the programme. In addition, the Ministry will provide the selected startups with funding and mentorship. ‘The initiative aims to empower startups in the water sector to grow through innovation and design, which will…
Read MorePerfios to acquire fintech platform Karza for Rs 600 crore
Karza Technologies, a banking and financial intelligence solution provider, will be purchased for around Rs 600 crore by Perfios Software Solutions, a Bengaluru-based fintech software firm backed by Warburg Pincus and Bessemer. Perfios raised around Rs 520 crore from Warburg Pincus and Bessemer Venture Partners, as well as some existing investors, earlier this month. The funds will be used to partially fund the acquisition of Karza Tech. Through its superior data engineering and deep tech applications, Karza provides solutions that enable onboarding automation, systemic fraud prevention, and business intelligence. According…
Read MoreIISc-backed ARTPARK to launch $100 million venture fund to invest in AI, robotics startups
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) – Bengaluru’s AI & Robotics Technology Park (ARTPARK) has announced the launch of a $100 million venture fund. The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has given ARTPARK permission to launch the fund. According to Umakant Soni, the CEO of ARTPARK, the venture fund will be formally launched by the end of this month, pending SEBI approval, and fund deployment will likely begin in May or June. Soni said the venture fund size of investments will be in the range of $1 million to…
Read MoreYouTube’s Android app now has video transcriptions
YouTube has added a very useful feature to its videos that will greatly simplify working with quotes and scripts. The platform hosts videos ranging in length from a few seconds to several hours, including podcasts, video essays, and more. And if you needed to find a specific quote or section from these lengthy videos, you’d have to sit through the majority of them until you found what you needed. This problem is now solved by the new transcription feature, which allows users to search for specific parts of a video….
Read MoreAICRA hosts 3rd edition of GAISA to boost AI adoption in India
In a bid to accelerate AI adoption in India, The All-India Council for robotics and automation will host the third edition of the Global Artificial intelligence summit and awards(GAISA) from the 14th and 15th of September 2022 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The summit is a Global AI event that comprises insightful and innovative presentations, panels and round-table discussions, keynote sessions by experts, and an exhibition of new products and services related to artificial intelligence. The event also sets the platform for honouring exemplary work of the institutions, organizations, and…
Read MoreClassplus set to score $80 Mn in Series D round
B2B edtech startup Classplus is in late-stage talks to raise $80 million in a new round co-led by existing investors. This is the Noida-based startup’s fifth funding round in the last two years. “Alpha Wave Global and Tiger Global will lead the Series D round along with the participation of other existing backers and a Middleeast fund,” said one of the people requesting anonymity. Surge from Sequoia Capital, Times Internet, Blume, and GSV Ventures are among the company’s current backers. Tutors can use Classplus’s full-stack mobile solution to manage all…
Read MorePiyush Goyal calls upon startups to help India become self-reliant in energy, defence sectors
Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, on Sunday called for startups to help India become self-reliant in the energy and defence sectors, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of a crisis turned opportunity. Every crisis, like Covid-19’s, can be turned into an opportunity. At the ET Startup Awards in Bengaluru, Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and Textiles, said that Covid-19 is a big crisis and that the “biggest of the century” crisis was turned into an…
Read MoreAd-blocking YouTube Vanced app shutting down over legal threats from Google
YouTube Vanced, the popular ad-blocking tool, is shutting operations after getting legal threats from Google,. The app’s creator revealed the news with an official tweet. Vanced has been “discounted,” according to the statement, and the download links will be withdrawn soon. The ad-blocking app will continue to work for those who already have it installed on their phones, according to the same tweet. It will, however, cease to function at some point in the near future. The shutdown has yet to be given a definite start date. YouTube Vanced is…
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