Zomato launches Nugget🍗
Musk’s xAI launches Grok 3, Sirona buys back brand, Paytm to become profitable, Fudning Deals and more.
Good morning and welcome to Tuesday’s edition of Rise & Shine!
"Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead."
— Susan Sontag
Today, Susan Sontag’s words remind us that action is the key to progress. Waiting for the "perfect moment" or external validation keeps us stuck—real growth happens when we take the initiative.
Progress belongs to those who embrace curiosity, dive in, and figure things out.
Tech Updates
Sirona buys back brand from The Good Glamm Group
Sirona, previously acquired by the Good Glamm Group, has repurchased the brand to operate independently. This marks a rare instance of a startup reclaiming its brand post-acquisition. “For two years, we nurtured the brand with GoodGlamm before stepping away. We had a good run together, with its highs and lows. But with Good Glamm’s changing priorities, we felt the best way forward was to reclaim the brand and lead its next phase of growth ourselves,” said Deep Bajaj, co-founder of Sirona in a Linkedin post.
Zomato launches AI-backed customer support platform Nugget
Zomato chief Deepinder Goyal on Monday unveiled Nugget, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven customer support platform designed to enhance the company's food delivery service, quick commerce arm Blinkit, and Hyperpure. This is the first product from Zomato Labs, the company's incubator for in-house innovations.
Elon Musk’s xAI launches Grok 3, challenges ChatGPT with new reasoning models and AI agent
Elon Musk led xAI has launched its Grok 3 series of models during a live-stream on Tuesday. The new Grok 3 model is said to have 10x more compute than the last generation and will compete with the likes of ChatGPT 4-o and Gemini 2 Pro. “Grok 3 across the board is in a league of its own. Even its little brother Grok 3-Mini is reaching the frontier across all the other competitors.” xAI team said during Grok 3 launch.
Paytm on track to become profitable next quarter
One 97 Communications, which runs the fintech platform Paytm, will focus on payments, credit, and wealth management for the next two years as it reduces non-core businesses, according to its founder and chief executive, Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
Funding Deals
Spyne, an AI-powered visual merchandising platform for the automotive industry, has raised $16 million in its Series A round, which was led by Vertex Ventures. Existing investors, including Accel, Storm Ventures, and Alteria Capital, also participated in the round.
Ikonz Studios, specializing in hyper-realistic, multilingual digital avatars and holographic technology, has secured $5 million in strategic funding as part of its ongoing pre-Series A round from Marc Jordan. The round also saw participation from Ramana Thummu, Madhusudan Kela, and Akash Bhanshali, with all four investors joining through their family offices.
Devices-as-a-Service (DaaS) platform Swish Club has secured $4.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round, including $3.3 million in equity and $1.2 million in debt financing. The equity round was led by Powerhouse Ventures, along with participation from Blume Ventures, Founders Fund, Touchstone Ventures, Eternal Capital, and Atrium Ventures. The round also included other investors such as Livspace’s Anuj Srivastava, Ajit Reddy, Deb Dutt, and Tushar Patel.
Deeptech startup Dynolt Technologies has raised $1.7 million in its seed round led by Transition VC. Marquee angel investor Yashowardhan Shah also participated in the round.
Independent verification platform You Care Lifestyle (YCL) has raised $1 million in a funding round co-led by Luke Coutinho and Narendra Firodia, both of whom also act as the co-founders of the company.
BYTES, an AI-powered ADAS for two-wheeler mobility, has emerged from stealth mode and secured funding from Nikhil Kamath’s WTFund as part of its second cohort for 2024. The company has secured a ₹20 lakh non-dilutive grant to accelerate its aim of enhancing road safety through cutting-edge AI and computer vision technology.
💃🏻 Short Story: The Reluctant Writer
Maya always dreamed of writing a novel but kept waiting for inspiration to strike. One day, she decided to write a single page—no matter how unpolished.
Day by day, those pages added up, and eventually, she finished her book. The key wasn’t inspiration—it was showing up and doing the work.
Tweet of the day🐥
Today, take action—however small. Don’t wait for the perfect conditions or for someone to tell you it’s okay.
Rise & Shine reminds you that action creates momentum, and momentum creates success.
Have an energized and productive Tuesday!
Thanks for reading till the end!