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HT Labs and The Doers Company Sign Strategic MoU to Strengthen India-Cyprus-UAE Innovation Corridor

HT Labs and The Doers Company Sign Strategic MoU to Strengthen India-Cyprus-UAE Innovation Corridor

Time of India6 days ago
MUMBAI: In a landmark move that signals bold ambitions for international expansion and cross-border innovation, HT Labs, the innovation and product arm of HT Media, has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (
MoU
) with The Doers Company-organisers of Europe's leading innovation events such as Reflect Festival and the upcoming Doers Summit.
The MoU was formalised at a high-profile event hosted at Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO) under the aegis of Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ), with participation from government dignitaries, investors, and tech leaders spanning India, Cyprus, and the UAE.
The collaboration arrives at a pivotal moment of renewed global engagement, following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Cyprus and a subsequent delegation led by the Cypriot Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation & Digital Policy to Dubai.
The delegation included top officials such as the Chief Scientist of Cyprus and key investors and business leaders from Europe and the Middle East-underscoring a powerful tri-nation vision to foster startup growth, capital flow, and entrepreneurial exchange across India, Cyprus, and the UAE.
The alliance empowers HT Labs to leverage The Doers Company's extensive European innovation ecosystem to accelerate the global journey of OTTplay-India's first AI-powered OTT aggregator and recommendation engine.
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With Cyprus as a launchpad into Europe and Dubai Silicon Oasis as the testbed for cross-border digital infrastructure, media tech, and smart city initiatives, the MoU sets a dynamic framework for founder-investor collaboration, cross-border pilots, and community-led innovation.
The Government of Cyprus, through its Ministry of Research, Innovation & Digital Policy, has extended strong support for the initiative, aligned with its vision of positioning Cyprus as a key entry point into Europe for Indian companies.
With strategic geographic and political alignment, Cyprus aims to become a regional hub for cross-border investment, innovation, and talent.
Commenting on the partnership, Demetris Skourides, Chief Scientist of Research, Innovation & Technology, Republic of Cyprus, remarked, "I would like to thank Mr. Avinash for his trust in our ecosystem and look forward to further profiling how Cyprus and other investors can benefit from bidirectional value creation.
Such collaborations are the foundational pillars that build the future." Badr Buhannad, Deputy Director General, Dubai Silicon Oasis, said, "Dubai Silicon Oasis was envisioned as a smart, future-ready hub for innovation, talent, and entrepreneurship.
Hosting the Doers Summit in partnership with The Doers Company aligns perfectly with Dubai's Economic Agenda D33 to position the city among the world's leading digital and economic centres.
The Summit reinforces our mission to attract forward-looking ventures and connect European and Middle Eastern innovators-accelerating cross-border collaboration in support of the UAE's vision for digital economy growth and global competitiveness." Avinash Mudaliar, Co-Founder & CEO, HT Labs, added, "At HT Labs, this isn't just an expansion-it's a strategic leap into the future. Dubai Silicon Oasis offers the ideal launchpad to take India's most disruptive, AI-driven innovations to the world.
At the core of our work is TaaS-Technology-as-a-Service-delivering scalable, AI-powered solutions across video, apps, web, and content systems that boost engagement, unlock new revenue, and enable global growth. With our strong focus on intelligent, tech-first solutions, we see immense potential to co-create platforms that resonate globally.
What truly elevates this journey is the camaraderie we've built-especially with visionaries like Demetris Skourides, Chief Scientist of Cyprus.
His insights and spirit of collaboration have made him not just a strategic ally, but a trusted friend in our cross-border mission.
With OTTplay leading our media-tech push, we're excited to align with DSO's smart city vision and deliver transformative experiences in entertainment and data intelligence. This marks a defining chapter in building globally relevant platforms from India." Also speaking on the occasion, Dusan Duffek, Co-Founder, The Doers Company & Managing Partner, Zero One Hundred, said "With a young, tech-savvy population and a booming innovation ecosystem, Indian startups such as OTTplay etc.
offer some of the most exciting investment opportunities globally. Similarly, startups from Europe and the Middle East are now building some of the most consequential technologies, which will have an impact not only regionally, but globally. We believe now is the time to build bridges, not borders, and connect this energy with global capital and strategic partners." Stylianos Lambrou, Co-Founder & CEO at The Doers Company, added "We see a significant opportunity in India.
With our growing presence in Greece, Cyprus, and now Dubai, we're uniquely positioned to bridge the gap, providing Indian startups & companies with access to Europe, and offering European startups and companies a pathway into India. The strong relationship between my country and India gives us a powerful advantage, enabling us to amplify our impact across both regions." In the long term, the MoU establishes a multi-regional platform for sustained cooperation-facilitating deal flow, talent mobility, and co-development of cutting-edge digital solutions.
It marks a new chapter in HT Labs' global journey. The agreement also opens doors for internationalisation, driving investments into Indian startups like OTTplay -a significant milestone in the global journey of Indian innovation.
HT Labs is the digital innovation hub and "startup factory" of HT Media, dedicated to creating cutting-edge digital products using research, deep tech, and AI. They focus on addressing consumer needs gaps by developing personalized, tech-driven experiences across various categories like entertainment, food, and finance.
Key products include OTTplay, an AI-powered OTT recommendation engine and aggregator with 30+ OTTs in one app and access to over a million titles (movies, web series etc.
) in a single subscription and Slurrp, a recipe aggregator, both recognized for their innovative approaches.
About The Doers Company The Doers Company is a globally respected platform for connecting tech, business, and innovation leaders across Europe, MENA, and beyond.
Through high-impact events such as Reflect Festival (Cyprus) and the upcoming Doers Summit (Dubai), Doers fosters a powerful cross-pollination of ideas, capital, and collaboration opportunities. The partnership with Dubai Silicon Oasis further strengthens their vision of creating an interlinked innovation corridor from the UAE to Europe.
Website: www.thedoerscompany.com About OTTplay OTTplay is India's first AI-powered OTT aggregator, offering personalised content discovery and bundled subscriptions to over 30 leading OTT platforms. With OTTplay Premium, users can enjoy an intelligently curated content experience tailored to their unique viewing preferences.
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F&O trade volumes slump nearly 20% after Sebi ban on Jane Street
F&O trade volumes slump nearly 20% after Sebi ban on Jane Street

Time of India

time28 minutes ago

  • Time of India

F&O trade volumes slump nearly 20% after Sebi ban on Jane Street

Agencies Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel Mumbai: Volumes on India's thriving futures and options dropped nearly a fifth last week after Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) ban on New-York-based quantitative trading firm Jane Street for alleged market manipulation . The recovery to the recent peak in trading activity may not happen immediately, which may squeeze exchanges' earnings. The daily average turnover in index options trade on the NSE, which commands the majority in derivatives trading volumes in India, declined by nearly 17.4% last week from previous week."The recent dip in options turnover is likely due to the exit of a large market-making participant, which has impacted market liquidity and efficiency," said Vaibhav Sanghavi, CEO, ASK Hedge interim, ex-parte order probed into alleged index manipulation by Jane Street involving bank shares and Bank Nifty index futures and options, while banning it from trading in Indian market. The regulator's investigations showed the trading firm was engaged in manipulative trades on expiry days of Bank Nifty derivatives that pushed outcome in its favour. The absence of Jane Street in market has had a ripple effect with other large firms cutting the size of their the weekly options expiry day of Thursday-the most active trading day-turnover was down over 21% to about ₹472.5 lakh crore from ₹601.2 lakh crore a week ago, as per data from ETIG. Vipin Kumar, assistant vice-president of derivatives and technical research at Globe Capital Market, said during the entire expiry week (July 4 to July 10), index futures volumes were down by nearly 24% while index options volume was down by 16.5%, when compared with the entire previous expiry week (June 27 to July 3). Shares of BSE listed on the NSE, and NSE traded in unlisted market, declined in face of drop in volumes. Since Sebi put out order on July 3, NSE shares have dropped 6% to ₹2,150 as on July 13, as per data from BSE stock is down 16%. "It's too early to determine if this loss of turnover is permanent, but it will certainly impact revenues at the exchange-level if prolonged," said said volumes may have also declined as a result of lower volatility due to choppy trading since the start of July. 'The index was trading in a tight range of less than a percent and volumes are usually low during this kind of market move,' he said.'On July 11, Nifty breached that range on the downside and we recorded a sharp uptick in the volumes of index futures, stocks futures and stocks options that were up by 17%, 18% and 28%, respectively compared with the same day the previous week.'Sanghavi said that while this may reduce turnover in the short term, it also creates a more level playing field, limiting the advantage of high-frequency or algorithmic traders who typically account for 40-45% of options volume. Rajesh Palviya, head of technical and derivatives research at Axis Securities, said liquidity could improve once mutual funds launch SIFs, which could build derivative books of Rs 30,000- Rs 40,000 crore over time

Startups prep for exits as Chinese backers find little love
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Mint

time34 minutes ago

  • Mint

Startups prep for exits as Chinese backers find little love

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Several Chinese investment firms may also offload stakes through initial public offerings of startups as a part of the offer-for-sale component. For instance, Hong Kong-based Hillhouse Capital, alongside other investors, is expected to sell some stake in CarDekho when the company goes public, Mint exclusively reported in September last year. Shrinking Chinese exposure From 2005, close to $16.8 billion in funding has been channelled from China into India, according to China Global Investment Tracker by public policy think tank American Enterprise Institute. Tencent has been among the most active Chinese investors in India, backing firms including Swiggy, Byju's, Dream11, Udaan, and PolicyBazaar. Shunwei Capital has invested in ShareChat, Meesho, Pratilipi, Koo, and Cashify, among others. The investor has reportedly exited Pratilipi and Koo. Alibaba, through Ant Group, had stakes in Paytm and Zomato, which have since been pared down. 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Stocks to buy today: Trade Brains Portal recommends two stocks for 14 July
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Today we recommend two stocks, one from the defence sector and one from the port services shipbuilding sector iscrucial for India's economic and strategic growth, contributing to national security, economic development, and global trade. The Indian port sector iscrucial for the nation's economic growth, acting as a vital link for international trade and contributing significantly to the GDP. We also analyse the market's performance on Friday to understand what may lie ahead for stock indices in the coming days. Two stocks to buy today, recommended by Trade Brains Portal Current price: ₹1,983 Target price: ₹2,490 in 16-24 months Stop-loss: ₹1,725 Why it's recommended:One of the top shipbuilding and repair yards in India, Cochin Shipyard Ltd. was established in 1972 and has Miniratna-I status. Its infrastructure blends economy, scale and flexibility. The company has a technical partnership with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to supply the ministry of shipping with shipbuilding and ship repair capabilities. CSL has collaborated with major players in the sector such as Vard Group (Norway), GTT (France), and Rolls-Royce Marine (Norway). In FY25, shipbuilding accounts accounted for 61% of its total income, with ship repair accounts accounting for the remaining 39%. The company reported revenue from operations of ₹4,820 crore in FY25, a 26% increase from the previous year. The shipbuilding segment contributed ₹2,955 crore of revenue, up 5% from FY24, and the ship repair segment saw an 85% increase in revenue to ₹1,864.57 margin stood at 24% to ₹1,164 crore, and inventory turnover declined to 3.31 from 5.48 in after tax was ₹827.33 crore, a 6% increase from ₹783.27 crore in FY24. The company signed many significant deals in Q1 of FY26. 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Used port equipment sales, low-carbon logistics initiatives, crane and engineering services, quay and marine, storage and warehousing, and more are among the services offered by the organisation. The company's FY25 revenue remained flat at ₹988.4 crore from ₹987.6 crore in FY24. For the previous three years, its income increased at a CAGR of 10%. Gujarat Pipavav's profit after tax increased by 16% year over year from ₹342 crore in FY24 to ₹397 crore in FY25. Over the previous three years, net profit increased at a CAGR of 26%. Management anticipates a 2-3% gain in overall income, despite the 5% tariff hike that went into effect in January. Furthermore, the business anticipates EBITDA margins for FY26 to be between 59 and 60 percent. The company's liquid cargo capacity increased by 15% year over year from 1.28 million metric tons in FY24 to 1.47 million metric tons in FY25. Roll-on/roll-off (RORO—No. of Cars) climbed from 97,120 units in FY24 to 164,977 units in FY25, a 70% YoY increase. It anticipates a 5%–7% increase in its capacity for liquid cargo. With a predicted growth of almost 40%, its rural volumes are also expected to continue expanding strongly. Additionally, dry bulk stays the same in terms of containers, although the container market is expected to rise by 3% to 5%. In the realization part, the company aims to achieve between ₹8,500 and ₹8,800 for container, dry bulk, and liquid in FY26. Risk factors:GPPL faces competition from two nearby ports, Adani Port & SEZ Ltd (domestic capacity of over 498 million tons) and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (7.7 MTEU). These ports operate on a larger scale and draw a healthy volume of traffic from nearby industrial hubs and export-import activities. The company's ability to offer competitive tariffs and ensure healthy operating efficiency will remain critical to support growth over the medium term. How the market performed on Friday in Friday the Nifty opened on a bearish note at 25,255.50, below the previous close of 25,355.25. It touched a day's low of 25,129.00 and closed at 25,149.85, below the 20-day EMA. At the end of the day, the Nifty 50 was down 205.40 points, or -0.81%. The BSE Sensex followed the same trend and declined 689.81 points, or 0.83%, from its opening of 82,820.76 to close at 82,500.47. The Nifty 50 RSI dropped to a monthly low of 48.75, and the Nifty ended above the 50/100/200 EMAs. The BSE Sensex RSI closed at 48.59, well below the overbought level of 70, and the Sensex went below the 20-day EMA but closed above the 50/100/200 EMAs. India VIX stood at 11.82 on Friday. This fall came due to reasons such as weak initial Q1 results and tariff concerns from the US, as it imposed a 35% tariff on Canada. Almost every major index declined on Friday. The Nifty IT index, which closed the day at 37,693.25, down 683.40 points, or 1.78%, was one of the top losers. TCS, Wipro, LTI Mindtree, and Oracle Financial Services were among the index's top losers, down more than 1%. TCS has fallen 3.43% due to weak Q1 results. The Nifty Media index was also among the top losers, closing Friday at 1,704.30, down by 1.60%, or 27.80 points. Among the top losers in this index were Dish TV India, Zee Entertainment, PVR Inox, and Saregama India, which fell over 2%. The Nifty Pharma index ended the day at 22,225.90, up 149.10 points or 0.68%. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Alkem Laboratories, and Ajanta Pharma led the sector with gains exceeding 1%. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals rose 14.55% on Friday, after the announcement that its subsidiary, IGI Therapeutics SA & AbbVie, had an exclusive global licensing agreement for the cancer and autoimmune drug ISB 2001. Asian markets were moderately bullish on Friday. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index rose 0.46%, or 111.20 points, to close at 24,139.57, while the South Korean Kospi index declined -0.23%, or 7.46 points, to close at 3,175.77. Japan's Nikkei 225 ended the day down 76.68 points, or -0.19%, at 39,569.68. The Thailand SET composite rose 0.96%, or 10.73 points, and closed at 1,121.13. The Indonesian Jakarta Composite rose 0.60%, or 42.07 points, closing at 7,047.44 points. The Shanghai index ended the day flat at 3,510.18, up 0.50 points, or 0.01%. On Friday, the US Dow Jones Futures closed at 44,348.70, down 301.94 points, or -0.68%. The Nifty 50 index has declined by 1.22% this week owing to various factors such as the weak start of earnings season, increased tariff concerns, and the weakened risk appetite of investors. Trade Brains Portal is a stock analysis platform. Its trade name is Dailyraven Technologies Pvt. Ltd, and its Sebi-registered research analyst registration number is INH000015729. Investments in securities are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing. Registration granted by Sebi and certification from NISM in no way guarantee performance of the intermediary or provide any assurance of returns to investors. Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.

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