🚀 Medial Secures Investment on Shark Tank India - Fueling the Future of Professional Social Networking. 🔥
✕
Login
Home
News
Messages
Startup Showcase
Trackers
Premium
Premium Content
Jobs
Notifications
Settings
Try our Valuation Calculator →
Log In
News on Medial
Tesla's Optimus bot is looking a little steadier on its feet. Maybe the yoga stretches are paying off.
Business Insider
·
1y ago
Medial
Elon Musk has shared a new video of Tesla's humanoid robot, Optimus, walking around a warehouse. The updated version of Optimus is reported to be faster and lighter than its predecessor. However, the walking style still needs further improvements to appear more natural. Tesla unveiled the first prototype of Optimus at the 2022 Tesla AI day and has since showcased its capabilities in tasks like picking up an egg and performing yoga stretches. Musk aims to start shipping some units of Optimus by next year, though his timelines have been regarded as overly ambitious in the past.
View Source
Related News
Starship, carrying Tesla's bot, set for Mars by end-2026: Elon Musk
Economic Times
·
4m ago
Medial
SpaceX's Starship plans to travel to Mars by the end of the following year, carrying Tesla's humanoid bot, Optimus. Elon Musk noted that human landings on Mars could start by 2029, but are more likely by 2031. Optimus may commence factory tasks by late 2024. Starship is essential for SpaceX's satellite launch business and Musk's Mars colonization dreams, following signals of heightened national interest under the U.S. administration.
View Source
Elon Musk showcases Tesla humanoid robot performing Yoga, Namaste
Economic Times
·
1y ago
Medial
Elon Musk showcased the Tesla humanoid robot called 'Optimus', which can perform yoga and greet people with a 'Namaste'. The robot is equipped with advanced AI software and sensors similar to Tesla's Autopilot system. It can self-calibrate its arms and legs and learn tasks using only vision. Optimus is designed for mass production and may cost around $20,000. It has a battery pack that can last a full day, Tesla chip, Wi-Fi, LTE connectivity, and biologically-inspired hands for object manipulation. Musk believes it will bring a transformative change to civilization.
View Source
Elon Musk says he wants Optimus to be a 'good looking robot' that people think of as a friend
Business Insider
·
1y ago
Medial
During a discussion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Elon Musk revealed more about Tesla's ambitions for its humanoid robot, Optimus. Musk compared Optimus to a friend, stating that people will regard their personal robot as such. Although Tesla is not planning to make Optimus look like a human, Musk joked that they want the robot to be good-looking. The fully functional robot will be capable of performing various tasks, such as walking the dog, babysitting, cooking, and playing the piano. Musk believes that in the future, each person will have their own robot, suggesting that robots could outnumber humans.
View Source
Rohatyn moves to exit legacy private equity bet with a dud
VCCircle
·
7m ago
Medial
Rohatyn Group, an emerging markets-focused private equity firm, is looking to exit a legacy investment with disappointing results. Earlier this year, the firm successfully exited an Indian company with impressive returns, but now they are selling off another portfolio company that has underperformed. Despite acquiring the company for a significant amount, there is little to show for it, causing disappointment for its Limited Partners (LPs).
View Source
Exclusive: Pagarbook turns cashflow positive amid steep valuation drop
Entrackr
·
3m ago
Medial
Exclusive: Pagarbook turns cashflow positive amid steep valuation drop Pagarbook is raising Rs 10 crore (approximately $1.2 million) in its Series A5 round from Peak XV Partners, at a valuation of Rs 163 crore — representing an 85% drop from its previous funding round. In the current funding environment, survival has become the top priority for startups — even if it means raising capital at a steep discount. This appears to be the case for Pratilipi, which recently raised fresh funds at a valuation more than two-thirds lower than before. Similarly, Pagarbook is raising a small round, accepting an 85% drop in its valuation to stay afloat. Importantly, the firm has also turned cashflow positive as of March 2025, signaling a shift toward sustainable growth alongside the valuation cut. The board at Pagarbook passed a special resolution to issue 1,826 Series A5 CCCPS at an issue price of Rs 54,764.5 to raise the aforementioned sum, according to its recent regulatory filing reviewed by Entrackr. Pagarbook plans to use the fresh capital to support its expansion and growth, as per filings. Entrackr estimates that the company’s valuation has dropped by approximately 85%, from Rs 1,084 crore ($127 million) in its Series A4 round to Rs 163 crore ($19 million) in this round. The round appears to be ongoing, and the Bengaluru-based company is likely to raise additional capital as part of its Series A5 round. Founded in 2019, PagarBook is a staff management platform that helps SMEs streamline HR processes by simplifying attendance tracking, speeding up payment cycles, reducing disputes, eliminating human errors in wage calculations, and facilitating salary payments — all through its flagship workforce management app. It pivoted in 2022 from financial service to software as a service solution provider for Indian SMEs. According to co-founder Rupesh Mishra, Pagarbook currently has an average revenue run rate (ARR) of Rs 60 crore. “We turned cash flow positive in March 2025,” he said. As per the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Pagarbook has raised nearly $22 million to date. Following the allotment, Peak XV Partners will have a 21.62% stake in the company. For the fiscal year ending March 2024, the Bengaluru-based company reported an operating revenue of Rs 13 crore and a loss of Rs 70.4 crore, which includes an exceptional item expense of Rs 36.4 crore. Looking at the numbers, two things are obvious. One, that Pagarbook has struggled in the quicksand that is monetising from the Indian SME sector. The sector, for all its numbers in the millions, remains hopelessly disorganised, and plagued by off book transactions. Two, in the course of its struggles and the burn down of an impressive amount of funding, Pagarbook might have discovered something of value or promise to manage a little more funding to test that thesis. It is not the first, or the last firm where this has happened. When you back a bunch of smart people on breaking open an opportunity, even if they fail, they will usually come out with valuable learnings, and sometimes, a different opportunity. Disclaimer: Bareback Media has recently raised funding from a group of investors. Some of the investors may directly or indirectly be involved in a competing business or might be associated with other companies we might write about. This shall, however, not influence our reporting or coverage in any manner whatsoever.
View Source
No hurry to sell, indefinite horizon on Zomato holding: Sanjeev Bikhchandani
Entrackr
·
1y ago
Medial
Info Edge, India’s largest and most storied recruitment portal, has had a stellar run in the last three years with its portfolio company Zomato’s market cap surging almost 2.3X since its stock exchange debut. The firm’s bet on fintech unicorn Policybazaar is also paying off well. The company has made it clear it is in no hurry to book profits on these investments, even as it continues to nurse its own brands beyond Naukri to profitability. The firm, one of the few to survive the dotcom boom and bust cycle of 2000, has been led by founder and chairman Sanjeev Bikhchandani for a large part of this journey. And today, Bikhchandani has earned the right to be looked up to as the statesman for the sector. Entrackr caught up with Bikhchandani in his Gurugram office and he spoke on a range of topics including Naukri, Info Edge’s investments, serial entrepreneurs and corporate governance. Here are the edited excerpts. As a listed firm that carries a heavy overhang from its investment portfolio, does it worry you that it might impact the valuation of the core Naukri business? Not really. Institutional investors are smart. We give them adequate data so that they analyze Naukri thoroughly before making a conclusion about valuation. We don’t run Naukri for valuation every day or month or quarter. We look at how we create value for our shareholders in the long run. And that’s how we run our businesses. So, this hypothesis about our core or even group business doesn’t stand. Info Edge has been an investor in Zomato for over 14 years and despite the latter’s share price rising nearly 14o% from its listing price, Info Edge didn’t sell its shares. What level of return are you anticipating from Zomato? Actually, we don’t calculate Investment Return Rate (IRR). Info Edge invested in Zomato because of our conviction that it could become a great company. And if you are convinced about your conviction then it will happen. So, IRR is the happy incidental outcome of investing early behind companies that you want to help. That’s my belief. We are not in any hurry to sell and have an indefinite horizon. Every VC firm has a fund cycle and pressure to return capital to their limited partners but that’s not the case with Info Edge as you are investing from your own balance sheet. Could you elaborate on this? That pressure does not make this choice. We have a long term horizon and we call it patient capital. To be a successful early stage investor in India, you have to be quite patient because companies take anywhere between 10-15 years to go to IPO from seed stage. So if you have funds for only 6-10 years, you will not realize the full fruits of your investment. If you have a 20 year fund, you tend to perform better. However, such a horizon could be possible only when you’re investing from your own whole balance sheet. Do you believe that Blinkit could become bigger than Zomato? I think both are large but Blinkit is going to be fairly large. If we look at Zomato’s quarter-on-quarter numbers, online food ordering appears to have stagnated in top 10-15 cities. What’s your take on this? Obviously, there is the base effect. But, we don’t see stagnation. Also, you need to compare year-on-year, not quarter-on-quarter. When YoY numbers are compared, there is growth. I think full fiscal year performance is more important than quarter. We used to commonly hear about Naukri’s recruitment business that it was not the online presence, but your sales force or feet on the street that made the difference. Does that still hold true? Online sales have never been a big part of our strategy. When you want to sell more expensive products, you need face-to-face contact. At Naukri, we have clients whom we bill several crore rupees for annual subscription and such accounts need heavy offline touch. While the product will be consumed online, the stuff around it very often will be offline. Over the years, several players have tried to crack the recruitment business in the blue collar segment but most of them died. What are the challenges in the segment? Blue collar segment has broadly three challenges. First, it’s hyperlocal. The job seekers in this segment don’t move to different cities as they look for opportunities in and around their locality. Second, very often there isn’t a detailed text CV which makes the process slow and inefficient. Third, potential workforce in the segment do not search for jobs on the laptop and use vernacular languages. They are mostly on mobile. So you’ve got to adapt to all these things and still somehow get revenue and profit. We have been trying to get inroads in the blue collar segment for over two years now but we have just started monetizing it. Our future position in the segment depends on monetization. Some of the celebrated entrepreneurs are launching a second or third company without their first startup churning profit. How do you see this trend? I think this isn’t a progressive trend. As an entrepreneur, you need to focus on one thing and do really well. Once you’ve cracked that you can add on a second thing in the same company. Over the past couple of years, we have witnessed corporate governance issues with some startups. Even Info Edge saw serious lapses at 4B Networks. What’s your opinion about this? By and large, my belief is that 95-98% of Indian founders are genuine but there will be a few bad examples. Investors make sure that when something wrong happens in their portfolio, it is highlighted and actions are taken to ensure that such incidents do not repeat. Any governance issue isn’t good for anyone including limited partners, investors, founders and the startup ecosystem. What factors contributed to the lack of success with Info Edge’s e-commerce investments 99labels, MyDala, and Happily Unmarried? Limitation of raising foreign direct investment (FDI) and heavy investment into competition were two major reasons for failure of 99labels while MyDala had a product market fit (PMF) issue. Happily Unmarried is now a part of VLCC and we are still a shareholder there.
View Source
Trackers
Active Indian VC’s
OG Capital
Email
With a hands-on approach, OG Capital aims to invest in over 20 promising...
Accel Partners
Email
Early and growth-stage investments in disruptive technology companies with...
Blume
Email
Early-stage venture capital firm investing in technology startups in India. Focus on...
Access All Trackers
Startup Showcase Winners
June 2025
Buddy
Helping your parents when you are miles away
BiteStop
The Pit Stop Your Cravings Deserve
Bloomer
The next generation E-commerce platform
Enter Ongoing Startup Showcase
Top Users
Trending News on Medial
Download the medial app to read full posts, comements and news.
Go to Medial App
Not Now
Know everything that’s happening in the startup ecosystem, first.
Enable Notifications?
No, thanks
Count me in