ThinKuvate Backs Rosh.ai and Zippee Among Others In Early Age Seed Round

ThinKuvate Backs Rosh.ai and Zippee Among Others In Early Age Seed Round

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.”

Bosch SDS, Dassault Systèmes Join Forces To Accelerate Digital Transformation For Indian Manufacturers

Bosch SDS, Dassault Systèmes Join Forces To Accelerate Digital Transformation For Indian Manufacturers

Bosch Software and Digital Solutions (Bosch SDS) has entered into a collaboration with Dassault Systèmes in India, aimed at helping manufacturing enterprises accelerate digital transformation across product engineering, manufacturing operations and industrial value chains.

The partnership combines Dassault Systèmes’ capabilities in Virtual Twin Experiences, Product Lifecycle Management, Digital Manufacturing and Manufacturing Operations Management with Bosch SDS’ expertise in contextualised data products, manufacturing transformation, energy optimisation, IT/OT integration and machine-level intelligence. It also draws on both companies’ global industrial AI expertise. Early momentum has been demonstrated through an engagement with a leading Indian electric vehicle manufacturer, where Dassault Systèmes’ DELMIA Apriso MES platform and Bosch SDS’ manufacturing transformation capabilities are being deployed to enable intelligent, real-time connected operations, yielding improvements in production efficiency, quality and digital traceability.

Under the collaboration, the two organisations will jointly work across several identified areas. These include AI-enabled manufacturing transformation and Agentic AI orchestration through the Bosch Cognitive Factory platform; Digital Thread and traceability across engineering, manufacturing and lifecycle operations; contextualised data products and enterprise intelligence; energy management, sustainability transformation and an Energy Management Platform; smart factory, connected operations and IT/OT convergence with machine-level intelligence and Digital Product Passport and regulatory compliance readiness. Joint market engagement will extend into heavy engineering and process sectors, leveraging the complementary domain strength and technology depth of both organisations.

Bosch SDS will serve as a Consulting and System Integration partner to Dassault Systèmes across the identified transformation areas, spanning engineering, manufacturing and enterprise operations. Both organisations will jointly innovate and develop solutions to support customers in deploying end-to-end AI, Digital Thread and AI-enabled Digital Product Passports across product and manufacturing value chains.

Dattatreya Gaur, MD & CEO, Bosch Software and Digital Solutions, said, “Manufacturing enterprises today are looking beyond isolated digitisation initiatives towards connected, intelligent and autonomous operations. Our collaboration with Dassault Systèmes brings together two highly complementary strengths in Industrial AI: Bosch SDS’s deep expertise as a technology partner and practitioner across manufacturing, operational technology integration along with the Bosch Cognitive Factory platform, and Dassault Systèmes’ leadership in Virtual Twin Experience and Digital Thread capabilities. Together, we are uniquely positioned to help manufacturers accelerate AI-led transformation across the entire product and manufacturing value chain with greater speed, intelligence and scale.”

Ramesh Ramaswamy, Global Sales Head, Bosch Software and Digital Solutions, said, “The future of manufacturing will be defined by how seamlessly enterprises connect engineering, operations, data and AI across the value chain. Through this collaboration, Bosch SDS and Dassault Systèmes are bringing together complementary strengths to help manufacturers move from fragmented transformation efforts to truly connected, software-defined and intelligent operations. This creates a far stronger foundation for manufacturers to scale innovation, resilience and operational agility in the AI era.”

Deepak NG, Managing Director, India, Dassault Systèmes, said, "Our collaboration with Bosch SDS marks a major milestone for the manufacturing industry. By connecting our virtual twin technology with their industrial expertise, we are helping factories adopt AI much faster. This will create highly connected and sustainable operations. Together, we look forward to helping companies innovate and grow in the digital era.”

Tata Motors Partners PETRONAS Lubricants India For Used-Oil Recycling Pilot

Tata Motors - PETRONAS Lubricants India

Tata Motors and PETRONAS Lubricants India have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a collection and recycling program for used automotive lubricants.

The two companies will launch the pilot project simultaneously across Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to evaluate a scalable model for lubricant waste management.

The initiative creates a traceable system for collecting, storing and processing used lubricants through registered recycling channels, with the goal of converting collected waste into re-refined base oil.

Tata Motors will utilise its authorised service centre network to facilitate collection, while PETRONAS Lubricants India will oversee the logistics and transfer of used oil to certified re-refiners. The collaboration aligns with India's Extended Producer Responsibility regulations governing hazardous waste disposal.

Binu Chandy, India Managing Director at PETRONAS Lubricants India, said, "Achieving true circularity in used oil begins when re-refined base oil is reintegrated into finished lubricants. Our collaboration with Tata Motors marks an important step toward building a scalable model for used oil circularity and reflects the strength of our channel network as we work to significantly reduce our carbon footprint across operations."

Vikram Agrawal, Head of Spares and Non-Vehicle Business, Tata Motors, said, "At Tata Motors, practices and partnerships promoting sustainability are integral to advancing circular economy principles and creating meaningful environmental impact across the automotive value chain. Through our collaboration with PETRONAS Lubricants India, we are taking a significant step towards establishing a structured framework for the collection, recovery, and recycling of used automotive lubricants. This pilot initiative aligns closely with our commitment to responsible resource stewardship and supports India's broader sustainability ambitions. By bringing together the complementary strengths and expertise of our two organisations, we aim to assess the viability of a scalable used-oil recycling model that can drive long-term value and contribute to industry-wide progress."

Sensata Unveils OmniNode High-Voltage Power Distribution System For Electric CVs

Sensata - OmniNode

Sensata Technologies has introduced OmniNode, a power distribution system designed to consolidate high-voltage components for commercial electric vehicles. The platform integrates switching, circuit protection, current sensing, diagnostics, communications and DC charging capabilities into a single unit.

The modular platform targets Class 5 and above battery electric trucks and buses, as well as off-road commercial machinery. By combining contactors, fuses and sensors into a single system, OmniNode claims it replaces setups reliant on multiple discrete components.

The standardised architecture is engineered to reduce integration complexity, shorten OEM development cycles and streamline validation across multiple vehicle platforms.

Brian Wilkie, Executive Vice-President and President of Aerospace, Defense and Commercial Equipment, Sensata Technologies, said, "Commercial vehicle manufacturers are under pressure to scale electrification programs while managing increasing system complexity. With the OmniNode, we are delivering an integrated, off-the-shelf approach that helps engineers simplify power distribution architecture, accelerate development timelines and bring greater consistency and efficiency to vehicle platform design."

The system allows automakers to standardise power distribution hardware across diverse commercial vehicle fleets while maintaining application-specific configurations. The approach aims to reduce engineering overhead and simplify component sourcing for high-voltage commercial vehicle architectures.

Nissan and Honda Conclude Agreement To Standardise Next-Generation SDV ECUs And Software

Nissan Motor Co - Honda Motor Co

Japanese automakers Nissan Motor Co and Honda Motor Co have entered into a joint development agreement to standardise electronic control units (ECUs) alongside the in-vehicle operating system, middleware and vehicle control software for next-generation software-defined vehicles (SDVs).

The electrical and electronic architecture incorporating the standardised components is scheduled for deployment in next-generation SDVs produced by both companies from fiscal year 2029 onward. The initiative forms part of a strategic partnership between the two automakers targeting carbon neutrality and traffic safety goals.

As per the agreement, Nissan and Honda will establish common technical specifications for multiple core ECUs within the vehicle architecture. The joint development program encompasses the in-vehicle operating system layer along with key elements of the middleware and vehicle control software.

The collaboration is designed to combine engineering resources to increase development speed and achieve investment efficiencies. The partners to reduce individual research and development costs while generating economies of scale across their vehicle lineups by standardising foundational software and hardware layers.