In Brief: Chiratae announces new edition of Innovator’s Program; Agnikul signs MoU with Alaska Aerospace

Venture capital firm Chiratae Ventures has announced the seventh edition of its Innovator’s Program for startups in the seed stage. The five week program for selected applicants provides seed and early stage founders with mentorship, customer connect and capital. The program will focus on technology startups in the space of consumer tech, deep tech, health tech, enterprise and software solutions as well as fintech. Chiratae Ventures has partnered with 14 companies so far through the Innovator’s Program. The firm has invested close to $125 million across 50 startups in the seed stage and the program helps the venture capital firm scout for future deals. Chiratae is an investor in the likes of Uniphore, FirstCry, Lenskart and others.

Spacetech startup Agnikul signs MoU with Alaska Aerospace Corporation for launch

IIT Madras incubated spacetech company Agnikul Cosmos has signed a memorandum of understanding with US-based Alaska Aerospace Corporation to test launch India’s first private small satellite rocket Agnibaan from the latter’s facilities. Agnibaan will be launched from the Pacific Spaceport Complex - Alaska on the Kodiak Island, US. As part of the agreement, Alaska Aerospace and Agnikul will work to secure regulatory approvals including launch license from the US Federal Aviation Administration, US export control, as well as compliance on export laws and regulations in India. 

HDFC Life and IvyCamp invite applications for the third season of Futurance

Life insurance company HDFC Life and IvyCap Ventures backed startup mentoring platform IvyCamp have invited applications from startups for the third phase of corporate engagement program, Futurance. The program shortlists startups building innovative solutions in the insurance sector for proof of concept, strategic alliance or investment opportunity from HDFC Life. For this cohort, Futurance is scouting for companies in the field of blockchain application, virtual reality (VR) for customers to enhance sales and servicing, non-invasive medical test providers and artificial intelligence (AI) based sourcing, selection and management of sales agents. 

Synergy Strategic launches automation framework in India

Global insurance technology solutions provider Synergy Strategic Solutions has launched its automation accelerator framework ASTRA in India. The launch comes as part of  the Hong Kong headquartered company’s Asia-Pacific expansion plans. The ASTRA framework helps insurers enhance operational efficiency by automated processing. The solution is supported by data APIs (application programming interface) and smart connectors that enable seamless integration. According to a statement issued by the company, the framework has been deployed by leading insurance companies across the APAC region. 

NoBroker expands its society management system app to five new cities

Real estate platform NoBroker has expanded its visitor tracking and society management app for apartments, NoBrokerHood, to five new cities including Jaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Ahmedabad and Nagpur. The app is now available across 11 cities. The app helps apartments and gated societies track visitor entry and provides a platform for community discussions. It has also added features in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic such as touchless entry using facial recognition and health tracker for information on nearby containment zones. Currently, the app is available across 4500 apartments, witnessing an eight-fold growth in the last five months.