Singapore-headquartered angel investment platform ThinKuvate has announced the first close of its India fund at INR 250 million. The investment comes within four months of the formal launch of the ThinKuvate India Fund — I.

The firm has made investments in four startups – Rosh.ai, Zippee, Pantherun, and NymbleUp.

Rosh.ai was founded in 2021 by Roshy John and Rajaram Moorthy. It specialises in autonomous vehicle technology, providing solutions for the automotive, seaport, and mining industries. The company has raised $1 million in Pre-Series A led by EV2 Ventures, with participation from Caret Capital and ThinKuvate.

Zippee was founded by Madhav Kasturia in 2021 and offers same-day delivery for more than 100 (D2C) brands. Zippee is scaling its operations in metro cities and expanding its brand partnership.

Founded in 2019 by Srinivas Shekar, Pantherun is a cybersecurity company specialising in advanced data protection solutions. The company has raised a bridge round led by QuickHeal Family Office and SIDBI Ventures, with participation from 8X, PiperSerica, and ThinKuvate.

NymbleUp.ai was founded in 2019 by Yogesh Bhatt & Manish Thakur. It has secured pre-series A  led by Chandigarh Angels, IVY Cap, and ThinKuvate. It provides AI-driven predictive workforce management solutions for QSRs and retail chains; forecasting demand across all sales channels at 15-minute intervals. 

ThinKuvate plans to invest in early-stage startups from seed to Series A, focusing on companies leveraging technology at the forefront.

Ghanshyam Ahuja, Managing Partner, ThinKuvate said, “We have been investing in Indian startups and saw the potential growth opportunities. That led us to launch an India-focused fund, we have reached the first milestone in little over 100 days. This validates our thesis on the next-gen innovations taking place in India, which have a global appeal.”

ThinKuvate continues to raise its target corpus, the fund plans to invest in 30 – 40 startups with an average investment size of INR 15 million to INR 40 million. The fund has also attracted top tier general partners globally, to manage the deal flow, due diligence, and overall portfolio management. More than 50 percent of investors in the fund are NRIs from various countries, top of them being Singapore, Australia, the USA, the UK, and Indonesia.

Mayank Jain, CEO, ThinKuvate, says, “We have built capabilities within our team to provide support and help to startups scale faster. The profile of limited partners, who are working professionals with senior roles in large corporates, would be a huge differentiator for the companies we back. Our vast network will not only bring in quality capital but provide access to the founders to accelerate their growth journey post funding from ThinKuvate. As we continue to raise the target corpus, we have already built a healthy deal flow and we are confident that with this fund, we will be able to build a strong portfolio and generate stellar returns for our investors.”

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Bengaluru-headquartered L&T Technology Services (LTTS), a global leader in AI and Digital Engineering R&D, has entered into a strategic global partnership with Emerson, a global automation leader.

The strategic collaboration aims to accelerate system integration and product development across the industrial, transportation, semiconductor & aerospace and defence sectors.

Under the agreement, LTTS will act as a global System Integrator and technology development partner for Emerson’s NI (National Instruments) test and measurement platform. The partnership focuses on architecting software-defined, data-centric engineering environments that enhance system performance and sustainability.

As part of the understanding, LTTS will establish a dedicated CoE at its Mysuru campus in India. This hub will leverage NI hardware and software to drive applied innovation, test automation and validation workflows. The partners will co-develop solutions tailored for high-complexity sectors where resilience and engineering rigor are critical. The engagement also includes joint go-to-market initiatives and extended client support models to provide ‘lifecycle enablement’ for global enterprises.

Ritu Favre, President for Emerson’s Test and Measurement business, said, “Engineering environments are becoming increasingly software defined, data centric and interconnected. Our open, modular NI platform provides the architectural foundation organisations need to manage growing system complexity while accelerating validation and deployment cycles. Through our collaboration with LTTS as a global system integrator, we extend this platform into industry-specific implementations that help customers move from engineering uncertainty to operational confidence and leveraging the proven technology leadership of NI automated test and measurement solutions.”

Alind Saxena, Executive Director & President at LTTS, added, “Our clients in Mobility, Sustainability and Tech require engineering systems that are intelligent and future-ready. Our partnership with Emerson strengthens LTTS’ ability to architect and deploy such systems at scale.”

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Mumbai-headquartered SUV major Mahindra & Mahindra has successfully deployed AI-powered conversational voice agents to manage the massive customer outreach for the launch of its premium SUV, the XUV 7XO.

The initiative, led by the group’s dedicated Mahindra AI division, utilised AI-tech from ElevenLabs to handle high-volume customer interactions during the peak launch period.

The XUV 7XO, which premiered on 5 January 2026, represents Mahindra's most technologically advanced internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. To manage the typical surge in inquiries that accompany a major automotive launch, Mahindra AI opted for a scalable digital solution rather than traditional call centre expansion.

The AI voice agents, named nAIna, conducted thousands of concurrent outbound calls, engaging prospective buyers in natural, multi-turn conversations. Powered by ElevenLabs’ Text-to-Speech API, the agents provided human-like, low-latency responses in multiple languages. The campaign is said to have achieved around 8 percent conversion uplift in qualified inquiries, successfully routing high-intent leads directly to dealerships.

Using AI, the system provided ‘always-on’ support, contacting leads and answering queries outside of standard business hours.

Manjari Upadhye, Chief Marketing Officer, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “Large-scale launches need new ways to manage customer conversations. During the XUV 7XO launch, our partnership with ElevenLabs helped us successfully deploy AI voice agents to support peak demand and helped route queries to dealerships.”

Karthik Rajaram, GM & Country Head, India, ElevenLabs, added, “Automotive launches compress weeks of customer demand into days. Every call needs to sound as natural and responsive as the first, whether it is the tenth or the ten-thousandth. This partnership with Mahindra showed that AI voice agents can operate at enterprise scale in India - handling thousands of concurrent calls in multiple languages without compromising conversation quality. This sets a new benchmark for how automotive brands can engage buyers at launch.” 

Following the measurable success of the XUV 7XO campaign, Mahindra AI plans to integrate these intelligent voice layers across the entire automotive lifecycle, including service reminders, follow-ups, and long-term customer engagement workflows.

The XUV 7XO is positioned as the premium evolution of the XUV700, priced between INR 1.5 million and INR 2.55 million. It is the first vehicle in India to feature the combined Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos entertainment experience, alongside a ‘Coast-to-Coast’ triple-screen HD display and Level 2 ADAS safety features.

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MathWorks, a leading software tools company, recently concluded MATLAB EXPO 2026 today, hosting over 1,300 engineers, scientists and industry leaders to discuss the transition of generative AI, engineering copilots and agentic AI from experimental phases to production-scale deployment.

The event focused on the integration of AI-assisted design and simulation into Model-Based Design workflows across industries such as automotive, aerospace and semiconductors. Discussions highlighted the importance of maintaining engineering rigour, traceability and safety while utilising automated workflows.

At the event, MathWorks leaders Seth Deland and Avinash Nehemiah demonstrated how agentic AI capabilities in MATLAB and Simulink are accelerating simulation-led decision-making and system deployment.

Savyasachi Srinivas, VP at Collins Aerospace, detailed the use of AI-enabled knowledge systems and digital twins to move aerospace products from initial concept through to formal certification.

The event saw a panel discussion featuring representatives from Boeing, Mercedes-Benz R&D India, TCS, HSBC and the Indian Institute of Science addressing the critical need for human oversight and verification when validating AI-assisted outputs in real-world systems.

Also, the event saw technology demonstration including Raftar Formula Racing from IIT Madras, displayed their competition-winning race car designed using MathWorks tools.

The highlight at the UAV Pavilion saw drone and eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) platforms from Speedgoat, Zmotion Autonomous Systems and Reude Technologies.

Sunil Motwani, Country Manager – Sales and Service – MathWorks India, said, “This year’s MATLAB EXPO reflected growing industry interest in applying GenAI, copilots and agentic AI to engineering workflows in ways that improve productivity while preserving validation, traceability and safety.”

The conference underscored a consistent industry shift: engineering teams are moving beyond basic AI experimentation toward certification-ready systems where AI agents accelerate design and verification while keeping engineers central to the decision-making process.

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Hyderabad-based electric vehicle manufacturer Olectra Greentech has announced the adoption of Dassault Systemes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

The collaboration is designed to create a digitally integrated product development ecosystem, aligning Olectra's engineering processes with global OEM standards.

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform provides a unified environment that connects design, simulation and manufacturing. By implementing this system, Olectra aims to move toward virtual twin technology and model-based engineering, allowing it to validate vehicle designs in a virtual space before physical prototyping.

Key Objectives of the Collaboration:

• Digital Integration: Transitioning from component-level engineering to system-level digital orchestration.
• Accelerated Time-to-Market: Reducing innovation cycles through seamless collaboration between engineering and manufacturing teams.
• Virtual Validation: Using simulation to ensure precision and reduce the need for multiple physical prototypes.
• Scalability: Developing new electric bus and truck platforms capable of meeting international benchmarks.

Mahesh Babu, MD, Olectra Greentech, said, At Olectra, we see the future of mobility being shaped by electrification and digital engineering. As part of our commitment to transforming mobility through accessible innovation and a pragmatic future, we are making significant investments in developing new bus and truck platforms. Our collaboration with Dassault Systemes and adoption of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform will play a vital role in building these to global standards and aligning with global benchmarks. This enables us to move faster, design smarter, and deliver with world class precision. As India accelerates its EV transition, we remain focused on leading in both deployment and engineering excellence.”

Deepak NG, Managing Director, India, Dassault Systemes, added, “Our collaboration with Olectra reflects a forward-looking shift toward integrated, platform-driven innovation, enabling faster, smarter, and more sustainable electric vehicle development. Together, we aim to strengthen the transformation of India’s mobility ecosystem through virtual twin experiences.”

The adoption of the platform comes as Indian manufacturers increasingly shift toward platform-based engineering to manage the complexity of next-generation vehicle architectures and drive sustainable growth in the EV sector.

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