Latest news with #MerakiLabs
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
States chase chip billions; Porter's unicorn round
States chase chip billions; Porter's unicorn round Also in the letter: UP, Gujarat rush to take part(s) in electronics race Current situation: Tamil Nadu was among the first movers, announcing a programme to match incentives under the Centre's new Electronic Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) after the government rolled out a Rs 23,000 crore package to boost the electronics ecosystem. Gujarat is fast becoming a hub for electronics and semiconductors, with projects from Micron, CG Power, and Tata Electronics in Dholera and Sanand. Uttar Pradesh is positioning itself as a key player, leveraging Noida's growing status as an electronics manufacturing hub. Karnataka already has a competitive Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) policy. 'We might make some tweaks and additions, but it remains competitive,' said Gunjan Krishna, Karnataka's commissioner for industrial development. Also Read: Tell me more: Future outlook: Porter joins unicorn club with $200 million funding round; valuation hits $1.2 billion Deal details: The round, comprising both primary and secondary transactions, has propelled Porter into the unicorn club with a $1.1–$1.2 billion valuation, according to people familiar with the matter. Early investor Peak XV Partners has fully exited as part of the deal. Kae Capital and Lightrock have partially sold their stakes. Vitruvian Partners, an existing backer, also participated. Approximately $140–150 million of the total came from secondary sales, with shares acquired from early-stage investors. Valuation jump: Porter's latest valuation is more than double of $500 million at which it was valued in a 2021 round led by Tiger Global. The valuation surge follows significant business growth for the Bengaluru-based company. Operating revenue for FY25 exceeded Rs 4,000 crore, up from Rs 2,766 crore in FY24, per sources. Ex-Flipkart CTO Peeyush Ranjan joins Mukesh Bansal's Meraki Labs as partner Driving the news: Background: Prior to joining Meraki Labs, Ranjan was general manager and VP of engineering at Google, where he led teams behind AI products such as Google Assistant and parts of the Gemini app. Bansal, cofounder of fashion portal Myntra, has also backed Groww, Skyroot Aerospace, and Lyskraft – a fashion startup by former Zomato executive Mohit Gupta – through Meraki Labs. Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Prosus has invested $8.6 billion in India, remains a key market: CEO Fabricio Bloisi: Why Megabucks AI pilots may not guarantee scalable businesses for technology companies: As Google layoffs continue, a look at Big Tech job cuts in 2025: Global Picks We Are Reading Happy Friday! Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat are moving swiftly to attract major electronic component manufacturers with new incentive schemes. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.■ Peeyush Ranjan joins Meraki■ Prosus's $8.6 billion India bet■ AI pilots' scalability concernsUttar Pradesh and Gujarat are drafting new incentive schemes to attract large-scale electronic component manufacturers to establish factories in their respective has already embedded electronic component manufacturing into its Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) policy.'We might make some tweaks and additions to the policy in light of the latest developments but it is a competitive policy as it stands,' said Gunjan Krishna, Karnataka commissioner for industrial Centre aims to draw Rs 30,000 crore in investments and create over 60,000 jobs over six years, building on the smartphone PLI scheme's success. The goal is to double India's 20% value addition in electronics within five years.(L-R) Pranav Goel and Uttam Digga, cofounders, PorterOn-demand logistics platform Porter has raised $200 million in a funding round led by private equity firms Kedaara Capital and Wellington Ranjan, former CTO, FlipkartPeeyush Ranjan, former Flipkart CTO and long-time Google executive, has joined Mukesh Bansal's startup incubator , Meraki Labs, as a in San Francisco, Ranjan will help expand Meraki's footprint in Silicon Valley as the firm intensifies its focus on artificial intelligence (AI). He will work closely with entrepreneurs at the incubator to shape their technology and product strategies, he told us.'A big part of my role will be to guide Meraki's AI vision… What kind of companies we should start, what are the problems that we will be great at solving?... Not just applying AI for the sake of it,' he Bloisi, CEO, ProsusDutch tech investor Prosus has invested $8.6 billion in India and continues to view the country as a key growth market, CEO Fabricio Bloisi said in a letter to shareholders on firms are investing heavily into AI pilots to build competitive moats and futureproof revenues. However, these outlays may not always translate into scalable businesses, industry experts and founders told major Google laid off hundreds from its global business unit earlier this week, extending the wave of tech job cuts that began in 2023. Big Tech firms, including Meta, Microsoft, and Apple have also trimmed headcount as accelerate investments in artificial intelligence (AI).■ US scraps Biden-era rule that aimed to limit exports of AI chips ( FT ■ AI's threat to Google just got real ( WSJ ■ Sequoia leads $1.5B tender offer for sales automation startup Clay ( TechCrunch
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Ex-Flipkart CTO Peeyush Ranjan joins Mukesh Bansal's Meraki Labs as partner
Peeyush Ranjan , former Flipkart CTO and a Google veteran, has joined Mukesh Bansal 's startup incubator Meraki Labs as a partner. #Operation Sindoor Live Updates| From Sindoor to showdown? Track Indo-Pak conflict as it unfolds India hits Lahore's Air Defence Radars in proportionate response Pakistan tried to hit military targets in these 15 Indian cities, New Delhi thwarts strikes Based in San Francisco, he will help expand Meraki's presence in Silicon Valley as it sharpens its focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and work closely with entrepreneurs at the incubator to shape their tech and product strategies, Ranjan told ET in an interaction. 'Meraki's focus is to be a moonshot factory for amazing projects, and in today's day, AI is a key component of that,' he said. 'A big part of my role will be to guide the AI vision for Meraki… What kind of companies we should start, what are the problems that we will be great at solving?... Not just applying AI for the sake of it.' Ranjan said his presence in Silicon Valley—while Bansal is based out of Bengaluru—gives Meraki an opportunity to 'connect with global networks and talent.' 'With his deep product mindset and engineering leadership, he (Ranjan) will play a key role in building new companies, leading our AI vision, and helping Meraki establish a strong presence in Silicon Valley," Bansal said. Live Events 'Peeyush has built many large-scale products from scratch used by hundreds of millions of people around the world and has a very strong pulse on emerging tech trends,' he added. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories AI focus As a partner, Ranjan will participate in ongoing investments for Meraki Labs' portfolio companies. He will also join the board of Nurix AI , Bansal's own AI startup incubated at Meraki Labs. Nurix, which raised $27.5 million in seed funding from Accel and General Catalyst in September last year, builds custom AI agents for enterprise services like sales and customer support in initial use cases. Ranjan said he would help Nurix design a technical architecture as well as make key leadership hires. 'Nurix itself is going after a very clear problem – and it is looking to solve for these tasks which are very tedious for humans, error-prone, and subject to churn. The whole opportunity for Nurix is to get deep into business operations and see how AI can be applied,' he said. However, Meraki Labs' focus on AI may extend beyond enterprise use-cases. 'For Meraki, it wouldn't be surprising if the next thing we do is focused on consumers,' Ranjan said. Prior to joining Meraki Labs, Ranjan was engaged with Google as its general manager and vice president of engineering, where he led teams shaping AI-driven products including Google Assistant and parts of the Gemini app. Bansal, cofounder of leading fashion portal Myntra, has also backed companies such as Groww, Skyroot Aerospace and former Zomato executive Mohit Gupta's fashion startup Lyskraft through Meraki Labs. He used his personal capital to make these investments.
