Prowatch X to Launch on February 15 with VO2 Max and Body Energy Monitoring

Prowatch, the smartwatch accessory sub-brand of Lava International Ltd., India’s leading homegrown smartphone brand, is set to launch the latest addition to its lineup, Prowatch X, on February 15, 2025. Designed to offer deeper insights into performance and well-being, Prowatch X comes equipped with VO2 Max Measurement and Body Energy Monitoring, features typically found in high-end smartwatches.

With VO2 Max Measurement, Prowatch X provides an accurate assessment of cardiovascular fitness, helping users understand their endurance levels and optimize their training. This feature is crucial for athletes and fitness-conscious individuals looking to enhance their stamina and overall performance. Whether running, cycling, or engaging in high-intensity workouts, VO2 Max tracking ensures users stay on top of their fitness goals with precise, data-driven insights.

Complementing this is the Body Energy Monitoring feature, which analyzes heart rate variability, stress levels, sleep quality, and daily activity to gauge energy reserves in real time. By offering a holistic view of the body’s energy fluctuations, Prowatch X empowers users to plan workouts, rest periods, and daily routines more effectively, preventing burnout and enhancing overall well-being.

With these advanced health-tracking capabilities, Prowatch X is set to redefine how users monitor fitness and recovery. Available in multiple strap variants, the smartwatch seamlessly blends innovation with a sleek, modern design. The smartwatch will be available for purchase starting February 21, 2025, exclusively through Flipkart.com.

MIB, IEIC, and WinZO Launch the Tech Triumph Season 3 to Showcase India’s Gaming Innovation at Global Platforms

Select Indian Gaming Startups and Students to Showcase Talent at GDC & WAVES

The Tech Triumph Program (TTP), has been launched by the Interactive Entertainment and Innovation Council (IEIC) in partnership with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) & WinZO Games as part of the Create in India Challenge Season - 1. In the run-up to the World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES), this Challenge will identify, recognize, and showcase India’s gaming talent for the first time at the international platform of WAVES.

The TTP empowers India’s gaming startups through investment, mentorship, and global exposure. Selected participants will receive an opportunity to showcase their games to a global audience and network with the best global gaming talent and investors through fully sponsored event access, exhibition space, airfare, and a platform to present their work internationally. This season, the competition is open to gaming studios, developers, and esports organizations working across PC, mobile, and console platforms, as well as startups in payments, security, engagement, monetization, and other gaming support solutions. The challenge is open to domestic as well as international participants and the application dates have been extended to February 20, 2025. Selected students from diverse backgrounds will also gain access to mentorship and funding to turn innovative ideas into impactful projects.

The selection process involves three key stages. The participants are invited to submit their entries for initial evaluation. Shortlisted candidates will proceed to a final evaluation round, where they will present their concepts to a panel of experts. The winners will then receive guidance from a team of mentors to prepare for their international showcases, ensuring their concepts are well-represented on the global stage.

Sanjay Jaju, Secretary of MIB, said, “The Tech Triumph Programme (TTP) is a part of India’s movement to propel the country’s gaming and tech innovations onto the world stage. WAVES and TTP share a common mission: to foster innovation, collaboration, and growth within India’s AVGC-XR ecosystem. The TTP, part of Create in India Challenges Season 1, is expected to provide emerging startups with vital resources and a global stage to accelerate their growth. Through such programs, we intend to elevate India’s gaming industry to new heights and provide opportunities to the creative potential of our youth.”

Abhishek Malhotra, Advisor of IEIC, said, “The program exemplifies India’s growing strength in the gaming ecosystem, and it has become a powerful platform to nurture talent and elevate it to global standards. This program is not only about showcasing India’s capabilities but also about preparing our innovators with the insights, connections, and opportunities they need to compete internationally. Season 3 is set to be our most impactful edition of TTP yet, as we’ve expanded resources for participants, including funding, enhanced mentorship and tools, to empower them to innovate and bring real value to the global gaming ecosystem.”

Paavan Nanda, Co-founder of WinZO, said, “The TTP stands at the intersection of innovation and ambition. Our vision at WinZO is to see Indian gaming startups compete and win on a global scale, and this program embodies that goal. We are committed to nurturing local talent by providing them with opportunities to access funding, cutting-edge resources, and global platforms, allowing them to transform their ideas into successful ventures. As India progresses toward becoming a leader in digital gaming, this program reflects the ‘Create in India for the World’ philosophy, setting the foundation for an industry that’s both resilient and globally impactful. We are proud to collaborate with IEIC and the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to make this vision a reality and take India’s digital ecosystem to new heights through initiatives such as WAVES."

In past editions TTP the winners have showcased their games at prestigious events like GDC 2024, Gamescom in Germany and Brazil, and the Brazil Gaming Show, with guidance from distinguished leaders across industry and government. Past editions have seen distinguished industry and government leaders, including former Secretary to the Government of India Rohit Kumar Singh, Ambassador to Brazil Suresh K Reddy, Info Edge co-founder Sanjeev Bhikchandani, and Kalaari Capital Managing Director Rajesh Raju, serve as judges and mentors, offering invaluable expertise to participants. With the third season of the TTP, India’s gaming ecosystem is set to make a lasting impact on the international stage, advancing the nation’s ambitions for a dynamic and globally recognized ‘Made in India’ tech industry.

This initiative aligns with India’s vision of becoming a global powerhouse in gaming technology and intellectual property, bolstered by the growth of India’s AVGC and XR sectors, which now contribute significantly to the economy. According to a FICCI-EY report, digital and online gaming grew the most within the Indian media sector.

For more information please visit: https://www.thetechtriumph.com/

PaymentTech Startup ToneTag Raises $78 Mn in a Round Led by Valuequest S.C.A.L.E. Fund and Others

Naffa Innovations Pvt. Ltd. (ToneTag), India’s leading voice-based payment and commerce solutions provider, has attracted an investment of INR 674 crores in its Series B2 funding round. The funding is a combination of primary and secondary capital and is led by ValueQuest S.C.A.L.E. Fund and its co-investors who have committed over 50% of the round, Iron Pillar, Elevate Inflection Capital LLC. Existing investor Elevate Innovation Partners LLC are also participating in this round. This investment will enable ToneTag to revamp customers payment experiences and accelerate its global expansion.

Kumar Abhishek, Founder and CEO of ToneTag

With over 30 million interactions per day, ToneTag is leveraging its patented soundwave protocol to deliver a seamless solution to its customers. Its stability at this scale highlights India’s prowess in creating globally competitive product companies. ToneTag counts global tech giants and leading Indian Banks amongst its customers in a B2B SaaS offering.

The company’s commitment to innovation has earned the trust of leading investors and partners. The funds raised will be directed toward scaling operations, advancing R&D efforts, recruiting quality talent, and enhancing marketing initiatives. ToneTag is also setting its sights on new markets in Asia, South America and the Middle East to bring its transformative solutions to a wider audience.

Pushkar Jauhari, MD & Head of Private Equity at ValueQuest commented, “India's digital payment landscape has been growing rapidly, and we are excited to partner with ToneTag. ToneTag’s innovative voice-based technology coupled with regulatory and customer validation positions it well to capture market opportunity. At ValueQuest, we like backing companies that leverage new technology and commercialize offerings to address real world challenges.”

Adding to this, Ashok Ananthakrishnan, Partner of Iron Pillar said, “We have been tracking ToneTag since 2017 and are excited to see the progress made by the company in terms of its marquee customer base, growth and profitability of the business. We are delighted to partner ToneTag in its next phase of growth in the payment infrastructure ecosystem. We believe ToneTag can play a crucial role in deepening and widening the UPI user base in both feature and non-feature phones in India. Iron Pillar is also keen on partnering ToneTag in its foray into newer markets such as GCC, SouthEast Asia and South America”

Sridhar Chityala of Elevate Inflection Capital LLC and Elevate Innovation Partners LLC said, “ToneTag by Naffa innovations represents one of the most revolutionary and innovative transformation programs in the payments industry. Powered by patented Soundwave communication protocols for device-to-device engagement operating on Mobile infrastructure, democratization of payments is now a reality. ToneTag service is unique that it operates both under digital and analog protocols. Thanks to India for the UPI payment protocol that it has dedicated to the industry, digitiazation of payments is skyrocketing in India. An outstanding team, client base, and well backed investor base, we are proud to be a part of this company since 2017”

Kumar Abhishek, Founder and CEO of ToneTag, said, “This funding round is a testament to the trust our investors have in our vision and technology prowess. With their support, we are ready to take the next big leap of bringing awe-inspiring experiences in the hands of consumers and expanding our solutions globally. This is not just a milestone for ToneTag but for India’s product innovation landscape.”

With a firm foundation and ambitious vision, ToneTag continues to set benchmarks in the payment technology space, paving the way for secure, scalable, and transformative commerce solutions worldwide. This round was orchestrated by Nitish Aggarwal and Anu Aggarwal from Investment banking firm Probhus Ventures , operationally supported by Girish Kaushik and Suman Bajoria from JAA Associates and legal consultants from Lex Connect Consulting

Cisco Announced First, Jointly Developed AI Agent from Its Strategic Partner Mistral AI

First Jointly Developed AI Agent Helps Customers Maximize Cisco Investments and Boosts Productivity

• Powerful Partnership: The first of several AI agents being developed by Cisco with Mistral AI as a strategic technology partner, to help drive Cisco’s Customer Experience (CX) move towards an Agentic-AI-Led future.
• AI-Powered Efficiency: The AI Renewals Agent streamlines and enhances the creation process for Cisco’s Renewals team by analyzing data from 50 sources to build custom proposals tied to customer outcomes.
• Strategic On-Premises Deployment: Custom AI model ensures data security, privacy, and compliance, while also enabling performance tuning and cost optimization.

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in security and networking, today announced the first, jointly developed AI Agent from its strategic partnership with Mistral AI, one of Europe’s leading providers of AI solutions. The AI Renewals Agent greatly enhances and streamlines the renewal proposal creation process at Cisco by consolidating both structured and unstructured data from over 50 signals and sources and providing real-time sentiment analysis, summarized recommendations, intelligent automation, and personalization, all tied to customer outcomes and key performance indicators (KPIs).

By automating tasks and optimizing workflows, the AI Renewals Agent enables strategic focus and customer engagement, enhancing satisfaction and retention, and driving growth. Built using a custom AI model, the solution operates on-premises, ensuring data security, privacy, and compliance as well as empowering performance tuning and cost optimizations. It is estimated that the AI Renewal Agent could reduce the time spent building a renewal proposal and preparing for a customer engagement by as much as 20%, a figure poised to grow as the AI agent improves based on usage and more workflows are automated.

The new agent is the latest AI innovation for Cisco’s Customer Experience (CX) organization and continues to demonstrate how Cisco is delivering against its vision of using AI to make every customer experience personalized, proactive and predictive, and delivering unique outcomes that exceed customers’ expectations.

“Mistral AI is a critical partner for Cisco Customer Experience (CX) as we build towards an Agentic-AI-Led future,” said Liz Centoni, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Experience Officer, Cisco. “In addition to cutting-edge AI technology, Mistral AI shares our mission to put the customer at the center of everything we do. The AI Renewals Agent is an important milestone and the first of many innovative solutions that we’re going to build together. The impact on our teams is also significant as we continue to look at opportunities to simplify and reduce friction in their jobs. By combining our large data set, customer trust and Mistral’s industry-leading technology, we are on our way towards shaping the future of customer and employee engagement.”

“This announcement marks another significant milestone in our strategic partnership with Cisco,” said Arthur Mensch, CEO, Mistral AI. “It demonstrates how GenAI can enhance access to rich and complex information sources, deliver critical value to Cisco’s customers and ecosystem, and save considerable time for all stakeholders involved. This achievement has been made possible thanks to the exceptional talent of Cisco’s engineering teams.”

Amazon Announces Three New Renewable Energy Projects in India

The projects are among 53 solar and wind projects helping match the electricity consumed by Amazon’s operations

• These projects are part of Amazon’s efforts to enable new sources of carbon-free energy and meet our Climate Pledge commitments.
• Amazon is the world's leading corporate purchaser of renewable energy for the fifth consecutive year, and is one of the top corporate purchasers in India, according to Bloomberg NEF.

Amazon today announced investments in three new wind projects in India, emphasizing the company’s broader commitment to matching the electricity consumed by our operations with renewable energy, and advancing progress toward its Climate Pledge goals.

Across India, Amazon has now enabled a total of 53 solar and wind projects to date, which together will provide more than 4 million megawatt hours (MWh) of new carbon-free energy in the country, providing sufficient energy capacity to power the equivalent of more than 1.3 million Indian homes. The projects include 9 utility-scale solar and wind farms across the country, as well as onsite solar arrays on 44 local buildings that host Amazon operations.

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon'ble Union Minister of Railways, Electronics & Information Technology, and Information and Broadcasting, stated,

Under the leadership of Hon'ble PM Shri Narendra Modi ji, India is rapidly emerging as a global leader in the clean energy transition. Investments from companies like Amazon are accelerating this progress. Clean energy is not only about sustainability; it is central to our goal of producing 50% of our electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. As we expand our digital and transportation infrastructure, renewable energy will play a crucial role in powering the next wave of connectivity and innovation.

Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Hon’ble Minister of State of Power and New and Renewable Energy, said, 

I welcome Amazon's continued commitment to India's renewable energy transition. Investments in wind and solar projects are crucial for achieving our renewable energy targets and ensuring energy security. These projects will not only contribute to a cleaner environment but also generate employment and foster economic growth in local communities. The Government of India remains committed in its efforts to support such initiatives, and I encourage other global corporations to invest in our green energy future.

“Amazon is committed to driving the carbon-free energy transition forward in both India and around the world, which will help us all address climate change at scale,” said Avinash Shekhar, Head, APJC Energy and Water Strategy, AWS. “As the top corporate purchaser of solar and wind since 2020, we’ve invested in more than 600 solar and wind projects globally, including more than 50 in India, which is part of our Climate Pledge commitment to attempt to reach net zero carbon emissions across our operations by 2040.”

The latest projects that Amazon has signed include three new wind energy projects, which are CleanMax Koppal, BluPine Solapur, and JSW Energy Dharapuram. CleanMax Koppal is a 100 Mega Watt (MW) wind farm located in Karnataka. BluPine is also a 99 MW wind project located in Maharashtra. The JSW Energy Dharapuram is a 180 MW wind project is located in Tamil Nadu, South India.

These projects will contribute to India's renewable energy goals and help create numerous construction jobs in their respective regions, according to the developers.

Supporting local communities

Amazon is proud to have met its 100% renewable energy goal seven years early in 2023, and has invested in more than 600 projects globally, which are capable of producing enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of 8.3 million US homes. The renewable energy projects Amazon supports not only help match the electricity consumed by our operations, but also provide new sources carbon-free energy to the local communities where our customers, vendors, and employees live and work. They also help create jobs, support local businesses, and boost the local tax base, which are all part of Amazon’s commitment to become a more sustainable company.