Funding news
Vaaree secures $4M in seed funding led by Surge, Peak XV
Vaaree, an Indian home furnishings and decor marketplace, has secured $4 million in seed funding led by Surge, Peak XV, with participation from PeerCapital, All In Capital, and Better Capital.
The funding will support the expansion of Vaaree’s team and further the development of its online platform. The company was founded in February 2022 by Garima Luthra, Pranav Arora, and Varun Vohra, and launched its online operations in May 2022.
Vaaree aims to bridge the gap in the Indian market for affordable and high-quality home furnishings and decor. The company also opened its first retail store in Bengaluru.
OnFinance.ai raises $1.05M in seed round led by Silverneedle Ventures, IAN
OnFinance.ai, founded by BITS Pilani graduates, has raised $1.05 million in a seed funding round led by Silverneedle Ventures and IAN.
Other notable investors include LetsVenture Fund, SSV Fund, and Kunal Shah (CRED), along with several angel investors.
The company will use the funding to expand its engineering team and scale its financial AI solution, NeoGPT, globally, with a focus on the United States.
OnFinance.ai’s NeoGPT platform is a financial Large Language Model (LLM) that provides AI co-pilots for research analysis, relationship management, sales, and customer success teams in financial institutions, asset management companies, and wealth management firms. It aims to streamline complex internal processes and enhance data-driven decision-making, addressing the financial sector’s need for faster AI-based processes.
The company, led by co-founders Anuj Srivastava and Priyesh Srivastava, plans to extend its services to banks and wealth management firms in the US and the UK.
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Other news
NABARD appoints Goverdhan S Rawat, Dr Ajay Kumar Sood as deputy managing directors
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has appointed Goverdhan S Rawat and Dr Ajay Kumar Sood as Deputy Managing Directors.
Goverdhan S Rawat, with over three decades of experience at NABARD, previously served as Chief General Manager in Pune, Maharashtra Regional Office. His expertise covers project appraisal, infrastructure financing, rural development, district credit planning, consulting services, board secretariats, and human resources. He holds a graduate degree in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, CAIIB, a postgraduate diploma in Banking and Finance, and an MBA in Leadership and Strategy.
Dr Ajay Kumar Sood, formerly Chief General Manager of NABARD in Himachal Pradesh Regional Office, has also become Deputy Managing Director. He focused on rural infrastructure development and managed funds like RIDF, Micro Irrigation Fund, and Warehouse Infrastructure Fund. Dr Sood’s educational background includes agriculture from Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya (CSKHPKV) and a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi.
Wadhwani AI launches tool for automated news monitoring and analysis
Wadhwani AI has launched “Krishi 24/7,” an AI tool for automated news monitoring and analysis, with support from Google.org. This tool is aimed at assisting the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW) in making timely and informed decisions regarding agriculture.
Krishi 24/7 scans news articles in various languages and translates them into English. It extracts essential information, such as headlines, crop names, event types, dates, locations, severity, summaries, and source links. This ensures that the ministry receives timely updates on relevant agricultural events published on the web.
“We want to build AI solutions for existing challenges where news monitoring and validation have been manual and time-consuming. A similar event tracking and analysis solution for disease outbreaks has been successfully deployed by the institute with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC),” JP Tripathi, Associate Director (Ag), Wadhwani AI, said
This AI tool helps streamline the monitoring and validation of news. It offers a valuable resource for the ministry to improve information flow and decision-making in the agricultural sector.
Chandigarh adopts chatbot to integrate major citizen services into a single platform
Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL) has introduced “BIRBAL,” an AI chatbot that integrates major citizen services into a single platform.
The chatbot addresses a variety of issues, including complaint management, citizen services, public transport services, online payments, health services, property details, and more. It also offers features like voice assistance, live agent support, and AI-based response updates.
“BIRBAL reaffirms the city’s commitment to leveraging technology to create seamless experiences for residents. Its primary objective is to provide accurate information and guide citizens toward the appropriate resources. Through BIRBAL, citizens will have access to comprehensive information on the major services offered by the UT administration, Chandigarh administration, and MC, making it a one-stop platform for information dissemination and grievance redressal,” said Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Anindita Mitra.
If the chatbot cannot address specific queries, a live chat option is available for citizens to engage with dedicated support operators who can promptly provide accurate information. BIRBAL is accessible through the official CSCL website and the Im Chandigarh mobile app.
During the beta testing phase, over 12,434 users engaged with the chatbot, resulting in approximately 32,000 messages exchanged. The AI virtual assistant was developed using CoRover.ai, a generative AI-powered conversational AI platform.
(The copy will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)
Edited by Kanishk Singh
