Tech5: Jio, Airtel to bring Starlink to India, Meta testing own AI chip, India's...
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Last Updated: Mar 12, 2025, 10:20 IST2 min
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Jio, Airtel strike deals to bring Starlink to India
Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have struck agreements with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring Starlink’s high-speed internet services to its customers in India. The deals have the potential to take high-speed internet to far-flung regions of India via the low Earth orbit constellation of thousands of Starlink satellites.In both cases, implementing the plans will be subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorisations to sell Starlink in the country. Jio and Airtel, India’s two dominant wireless providers are both looking to bring Statlink gear to retail consumers via their extensive networks of physical stores and outlets around the country.
Meta testing own AI chip in partnership with TSMC
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is testing its first in-house chip for training AI, in an effort to build its own custom silicon and reduce dependence on expensive chips from Nvidia, Reuters reports, citing two sources with knowledge of the plan.Meta’s 2025 capex on AI chips is up to $65 billion. The company is working with Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s biggest chipmaker, to produce its chips, which are meant to be AI-specific as against integrated graphics processing units, according to Reuters.
Salesforce to invest $1 billion in Singapore to expand AI sales
Salesforce has announced a $1 billion investment in Singapore over five years to accelerate digital transformation and adoption of its AI platform, Agentforce, CNBC reports.This investment aims to enhance productivity by integrating autonomous agents into the workforce, addressing Singapore’s labour challenges due to an ageing population and declining birth rates.
Among Salesforce’s customers in Singapore are Singapore Airlines, Grab, M1, FairPrice Group, Ocean Network Express and PRISM+, according to a press release from the maker of cloud software for CRM. Singapore Airlines and Salesforce separately announced that the Airline is incorporating Agentforce, Einstein in Service Cloud, and Data Cloud into its customer case-management system.
Bain sees whispers of a spring in India’s VC funding landscape
India’s venture capital (VC) landscape demonstrated resilience and recovery in 2024, with funding rebounding to $13.7 billion—1.4x the 2023 levels, Bain and Company said in its India Venture Capital Report 2025 on March 10. Strong domestic fundamentals, progressive regulatory reforms, and rising public market activity strengthened India’s position as Asia-Pacific’s second-largest VC destination, according to the report.A rise in deal volumes (880 in 2023 versus 1,270 in 2024, a 45 percent increase) led this growth in deal activity. Small and medium-ticket deals (less than $50 million in value), which made up around 95 percent of the deals, increased by about 1.4x while large deals (more than $50 million in value) nearly doubled, returning to pre-pandemic levels.
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Tech-first sectors (consumer tech, software and SaaS, and fintech) remained dominant, capturing more than 60 percent of the total funding. Consumer tech became the largest sector, with funding rising 2.3x to $5.4 billion. Exit activity remained steady in 2024, edging up to $6.8 billion.
Deepinder Goyal backs former teammate’s small aircraft venture
Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO of Zomato, has teamed up with former COO Surobhi Das to back a regional small-passenger aircraft service, Economic Times reports, citing people familiar with the plan. Goyal has already invested $20 million in the startup, LAT Aerospace, founded by Das, according to ET.The company is seeking $50 million in funding to build a fleet of short take-off and landing (STOL) 24-seater aircraft that have a range of 1,500km, according to the report.
First Published: Mar 12, 2025, 10:20
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