Plazza Bags $15 Mn To Expand Quick Medicine Delivery Business

Source: Startup

Plazza Bags $15 Mn To Expand Quick Medicine Delivery Business

Business • via Startup • Shrishti Bisht

Bengaluru-based quick medicine delivery startup Plazza has raised $15 million in a Series A round led by Accel, Elevation Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners. Founded by former Zomato executive Aman Priyadarshi, the company utilizes AI-powered inventory systems to offer rapid 15-to-30-minute deliveries. Plazza plans to use the funding to enhance its technology and expand its pharmacy network beyond its current two stores in Bengaluru.

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ChatGPT now lets you lock your chats

Startups

The company says the feature is designed for situations where users might be discussing something personal or planning a surprise and want to keep those conversations private when handing their device to friends or family to show them something in another chat.

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Ex-Nvidia-turned-VC Amulya Vishwanath: ‘Physical AI is in it’s LEGO era’

Startups

Amulya Vishwanath of Techable Ventures highlighted the "ChatGPT moment for robotics," noting the industry is currently in a "LEGO era." Foundational software and hardware, like robotic hands and actuators, are being developed, crucial for future innovation and scaling. She compared this phase to the internet era, suggesting it's a matter of time before advancements coalesce. Talent acquisition is also critical, with her firm assisting founders in connecting with top talent amidst competition.

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Plants can speak using electricity, so this startup built an AI model to decipher their language

Startups

Electric Plant, co-founded by Justin Mast, developed Bombadil, a large language model interpreting plants' subtle electrical signals to understand their needs. This technology provides growers with real-time insights, aiming to boost yields and reduce water usage by over 20%. With significantly cheaper sensors, Electric Plant recently secured $11.2 million in seed funding to bring its system, capable of analyzing diverse species,.

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TikTok staff raised child safety concerns, but executives reportedly failed to act

Startups

Court records obtained by NPR reveal TikTok employees repeatedly warned executives about child safety risks, including sexual exploitation and exposure to suicide-related content. Employees flagged minors in purchasable sexual content and exploiting age-restriction loopholes. TikTok allegedly avoided user age surveys to prevent sharing data with the FTC. The platform faces hundreds of lawsuits alleging harm to minors and failure to disclose known risks, having settled some cases.

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Figma co-founder Dylan Field thinks MCP is not a perfect protocol

Startups

Figma is expanding its support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), announcing twenty new partners at its Config conference in India. Despite this expansion, co-founder Dylan Field has expressed concerns that the open-source standard is imperfect and favors frontier labs. Field also highlighted potential data abuse risks and questioned Anthropic's own implementation of the protocol, though he remains committed to opening Figma's ecosystem for its users.

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Jio Platforms' anchor book draws Rs 2.5 lakh crore in bids ahead of IPO

Startups

The IPO of Jio Platforms opens on October 21 Jio Platforms allotted 7.24 crore shares at a price of Rs 1,119 per share to the anchor investors and LIC received the largest allocation Jio Platforms has allotted shares worth Rs 8,109.85 crore to 212 anchor investors at the top end of its price ban.

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SpaceX alum’s aviation startup, Reliable Robotics, lands $115M, topping $1B valuation

Startups

"Reliable Robotics, a Mountain View startup, has secured $115 million in additional funding, pushing its valuation over $1 billion. The company aims to commercialize autonomous flight technology for existing aircraft and is pursuing four FAA certifications. These include a continuous autopilot system, remote pilot operations, a solid-state collision-avoidance radar, and the certification of its own cargo airline, Reliable Airlines, based in Albuquerque using Cessna Caravans.".

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Inspired Capital closes $450M fourth fund as New York pushes back on Silicon Valley’s gravitational pull

Startups

Inspired Capital, founded by Alexa von Tobel and Penny Pritzker, has closed its fourth fund with $450 million, bringing its total assets under management to nearly $1.4 billion. The New York-based firm invests in early-stage companies across both coasts, focusing on serial entrepreneurs and emerging themes. With 12 unicorns and over 10 exits, the firm blends West Coast ambition with East Coast financial discipline to scale its portfolio.

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Spotify launches paid podcast memberships with perks beyond bonus content

Startups

<summary>Spotify launched paid paid memberships for podcasters in 34 global markets, including the U.S. This new monetization tool allows creators to offer fans exclusive perks like bonus content, fewer ads, or early access. Podcasters keep 90% of the revenue, aiming to deepen fan engagement and provide new income streams. This initiative enhances Spotify's platform for creators, competing.

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Oura adds new fitness metrics to show how workouts impact your body

Startups

While Oura has largely dominated the smart ring market for years, rivals like RingConn and Ultrahuman are emerging to dethrone it, putting pressure on the company to keep innovating. By launching more advanced workout metrics, Oura is looking to differentiate itself from competitors as the smart ring market gets more crowded.

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OYO-parent PRISM to nearly halve IPO fresh issue size to up to Rs 3,350 cr: Sources

Startups

"PRISM, the parent company of OYO, plans to reduce its IPO fresh issue size from nearly Rs 6,650 crore to up to Rs 3,350 crore. This decision follows strong cash generation and an improved balance sheet, reducing the company's capital needs. Most proceeds will be used for debt repayment. Meanwhile, Moody's Ratings upgraded PRISM's outlook to positive, citing expected EBITDA growth to around Rs 3,000 crore over 18 months.".

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Otter.ai raises $320 million from General Catalyst’s growth fund for its meeting tool

Startups

Meeting note-taking tool Otter.ai announced on Tuesday that it has raised $320 million from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund (CVF), which provides capital to startups without diluting equity and gets returns on the results of marketing spend. Otter.ai said that it will use these funds for enterprise growth, go-to-market strategy, international expansion, and product innovation. […].

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Eloelo's Saurabh Pandey bets that Dolphin AI can break the gatekeepers of Indian storytelling

Startups

"Eloelo Group has introduced Dolphin AI, a video creation tool designed to lower production costs and enable Indian creators to compete globally. CEO Saurabh Pandey believes AI can transform India into a content export hub by removing budget barriers for storytellers. While micro-drama platforms are consolidating, Pandey encourages the development of lean AI studios to produce exportable intellectual property for global audiences and various streaming platforms.".

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Embedded AI evaluators won’t be an easy solution, Hugging Face’s policy chief says

Startups

AI labs have staked their reputations on model benchmarking — the supposedly neutral and accurate system of evaluations that are designed to measure whether one AI product is better than another. However, the methods behind these evaluations are complicated and still maturing, said Irene Solaiman, Hugging Face’s chief policy officer, during a discussion at TechCrunch […].

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Hackers hit AI coding tool OpenCode, running up charges on users’ AI accounts

Startups

OpenCode is an open-source AI coding agent that's become a popular alternative to Claude Code and Cursor. But hackers got into part of its online platform and stole some users’ API keys, and the AI tools it turned to for help kept refusing to look at the malicious code.

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People are using AI to make their smart TVs dumb again

Startups

Developers and users are utilizing AI tools like Claude Code to "vibe-code" smart TVs, removing bloatware, sponsored ads, and tracking features. Projects such as "dumbtv" and "cleanyourtv" allow users to customize interfaces and improve performance across various brands. While these AI-driven hacks offer more control and potentially disrupt the ad industry, they carry risks, including the possibility of disabling critical system packages or bricking devices.

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Hunar Raises ₹40 Cr To Scale Agentic AI For Frontline Hiring

Business

Bengaluru-based conversational AI startup Hunar.AI raised ₹40 Cr ($4.2 Mn) in Series A funding, led by Blume Ventures. Founded in 2022, the company automates frontline workforce management, including hiring and onboarding, using AI agents with over 20 language capabilities. The.

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Beyond the GenAI hype: Amazon's Rajeev Rastogi bets on agentic AI to boost enterpise operations

Startups

Speaking at TechSparks 2026, Rajeev Rastogi, Vice President of Machine Learning at Amazon highlighted the rise of agentic AI in the entire enterprise operating layer, marking a transition from static software to autonomous systems capable of understanding natural language instructions.

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How a FD calculator helps investors plan savings with ease

Startups

Saving for life’s big goals? Start with an FD calculator Bajaj Finance’s online tool lets you compare amounts, tenures, and payout options instantly, turning guesswork into clear savings plans. Establishing a financial goal makes the process of saving a lot easier. If you plan to save well,.

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The science of deep sleep and how Duroflex Airboost helps you get more of it

Startups

India’s newest sleep technology is designed to enhance the N3 stage, the body’s repair shift, for better recovery, immunity, and stress resilience. You can get enough sleep and still not get enough recovery. We obsess over sleep duration, the “eight hours” metric, but duration alone doesn't.

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