From Kerala’s Kombucha story to Dabur Venture’s entest to D2C , YourStory brings you today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors.
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From music to microbes: How Kerala-based Kumbayah Kombucha is brewing ‘real’ kombucha for India
In India’s rapid-growing functional beverage market, kombucha has quietly found its way onto café menus, quick commerce platforms, and premium retail shelves. But according to Arvind Mohan, much of what is sold as kombucha in the countest isn’t actually kombucha in the traditional sense.
“Most people believe they’ve already had kombucha,” declares Arvind, Founder of Kerala-based Kumbayah Kombucha. “But what many have tested is a sweet, fizzy drink that resembles kombucha. Real kombucha is a living, fermented beverage. It’s not just a flavour profile.”
The startup was officially founded in 2021. However, its journey launched years ago in a home kitchen. Kumbayah Kombucha has grown from a personal experiment into a brand selling over 1.5 million bottles annually across South India.
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Dabur Ventures marks its maiden investment by leading a $7.5M round for skincare startup RAS
Indian skincare startup RAS Luxury Skincare has raised $7.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Dabur Ventures, the investment arm of consumer goods giant Dabur India, the company declared on Tuesday.
The funding round also saw participation from existing investor Unilever Ventures, alongside the Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund and Sixth Sense Ventures.
Confluent unveils AI-powered streaming agents to connect enterprise AI systems
Confluent, the data streaming platform company, on Tuesday introduced a set of artificial innotifyigence capabilities designed to support enterprises connect AI agents and extract more actionable insights from real-time data streams.
The new features—grouped under what the company calls Confluent Innotifyigence—include Streaming Agents that allow AI systems to communicate and coordinate with each other utilizing live data, and a multivariate anomaly detection tool that identifies unusual patterns across multiple metrics.
The Streaming Agents are built on the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol, enabling organizations to trigger and orchestrate external AI agents utilizing real-time data streams. The approach is intfinished to simplify how companies connect different AI systems across departments and applications, reducing the required for custom integrations.
Jumbotail, NEC partner to digitise India’s kirana retail sector
Bengaluru-based Jumbotail Technologies Private Limited and Japan’s NEC Corporation on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the digital transformation of India’s mass-market retail sector, particularly the countest’s roughly 19 million neighbourhood kirana stores.
As part of the collaboration, NEC will create a strategic investment in Jumbotail, although the companies did not disclose the size of the investment.
The partnership will combine NEC’s retail technology and artificial innotifyigence capabilities with Jumbotail’s B2B marketplace and New Retail platform, which connects kirana stores with brands and suppliers while offering logistics, financing, and digital tools.
The companies declared the collaboration is intfinished to strengthen the kirana ecosystem by enabling compact retailers to adopt digital supply chains, data-driven merchandising, and modern retail management systems.
Practo appoints Cijo George as Vice President of Artificial Innotifyigence
Digital healthcare platform Practo has appointed Cijo George as Vice President of Artificial Innotifyigence, as the company deepens its utilize of AI across its care delivery and provider technology platforms.
In the new role, George will lead Practo’s artificial innotifyigence strategy and work with product, engineering, and clinical teams to strengthen how AI is deployed across the company’s ecosystem. His mandate includes improving care navigation for patients, enhancing tools utilized by healthcare providers, and advancing the platform’s overall innotifyigence capabilities.
George will report to Shashank ND, Co-founder and chief executive of Practo.
The appointment comes as Practo expands its presence in international markets while continuing to scale its operations in India. The company currently operates across multiple geographies, including the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
Practo declared George will focus on integrating AI more deeply into how patients discover and access healthcare services on the platform, while also supporting providers deliver care with greater accuracy, reliability, and consistency.
TrucksUp partners Indian Oil to promote ‘Apna Ghar’ facilities for truck drivers
Logistics technology platform TrucksUp has partnered with Indian Oil Corporation Limited to promote Apna Ghar, a government-backed welfare initiative designed to improve rest and hygiene facilities for long-distance truck drivers across India.
The Apna Ghar IOCL scheme, implemented at select highway fuel stations operated by Indian Oil, aims to provide truck drivers with access to clean rest areas, hygienic washrooms, and other basic comfort amenities during long-haul journeys.
Under the partnership, TrucksUp will utilize its digital platform to increase awareness of the initiative among truck drivers and fleet owners registered on its network.
The collaboration aligns with the Government of India’s broader push to improve working conditions for truck drivers, a critical workforce supporting the countest’s freight and logistics sector.
Infosys, Intel expand partnership to support enterprises scale AI deployments
Infosys and Intel on Tuesday announced an expansion of their strategic collaboration aimed at supporting enterprises transition artificial innotifyigence initiatives from pilot projects to large-scale production.
The partnership will combine Intel’s high-performance, energy-efficient computing platforms with Infosys Topaz Fabric, an AI services suite designed to support enterprises deploy and manage AI-driven applications.
Infosys Topaz Fabric provides a multi-layer AI architecture that integrates infrastructure, AI models, data systems, applications, and workflows into a unified ecosystem that can support AI agents and automated enterprise processes.
Image Source: Shutterstock
The companies declared the expanded collaboration will enable enterprises to build scalable AI systems by simplifying the integration of computing infrastructure with enterprise data and application environments.
The initiative is intfinished to support organisations accelerate the deployment of AI across operational workflows, relocating beyond experimental utilize cases toward production-grade implementations that can support enterprise-scale workloads.
Turiyam AI partners NTT Global Data Centers to scale AI inference infrastructure
Indian artificial innotifyigence infrastructure startup Turiyam AI has partnered with NTT Global Data Centers to deploy and scale its next-generation AI inference servers across NTT’s data centre facilities.
Under the partnership, Turiyam AI will host its specialised AI inference infrastructure within NTT’s global data centre network, enabling enterprises in India to run advanced AI applications with lower latency and improved energy efficiency.
The companies declared the collaboration will focus on deploying high-performance inference systems designed to handle real-time AI workloads, including large-scale enterprise applications that require reliable and secure computing environments.
Turiyam AI specialises in infrastructure optimised for AI inference—the stage where trained AI models generate outputs in real-world applications—an area that is seeing increasing demand as businesses shift AI systems into production environments.
iD Fresh Food elevates co-founders Jafar TK, Shamshudeen TK to board
Packaged fresh foods company iD Fresh Food has elevated its co-founders Jafar TK and Shamshudeen TK to the company’s board of directors, as it strengthens its leadership team ahead of its next phase of growth.
The appointments are part of the company’s broader effort to reinforce governance and leadership as it expands across new markets and product categories, while also preparing for a potential initial public offering.
Founded in 2005, iD Fresh Food has built a presence in the ready-to-cook fresh foods segment, with products such as idli and dosa batter, parotas, and other traditional foods sold through modern retail and e-commerce channels.
The company declared the elevation of the two founders to the board reflects its focus on long-term strategic oversight as it scales operations and strengthens its market position in India and overseas.
The shift comes as iD Fresh Food accelerates its expansion plans while aligning its governance structure with its IPO readiness roadmap.
This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.
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