One quick thing: Ashneer Grover’s second innings in fintech

In today’s newsletter: 

• It's India shining for TCS
• IIT Prof's startup readies $100 million round 
• Meta's AI chatbot is here

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Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest software services exporter, beat profit estimates in its latest quarterly earnings, driven largely by growth in its Indian business.

TCS’ revenue rose 3.5% to Rs 61,237 crore in Q4, missing Street estimates. This increase was mainly driven by the Indian market, which grew almost 38% Y-o-Y and over 20% sequentially.

• All other geographies either contracted or grew at a much slower pace in Q4

North America, TCS’ largest geography, accounting for over 52% of revenue, contracted by 2% sequentially.

The quarter was filled with other interesting data.  

• TCS clocked in a record $13.2 billion worth of orders in the quarter
  
  
• The operating margin was up 100 bps to 26%, beating estimates at a time when most IT companies are struggling in this metric
  
  
• Employees will be awarded annual increments in the range of 4.5-7%, with top performers raking in double-digit bonuses

Following in the footsteps of its larger rival Accenture, the Mumbai-based company also declared that it won AI deals worth $900 million in the last two quarters.

TCS experienced a decrease in its employee headcount for the first time in 19 years. 

• This can be attributed to their decision to leverage existing talent instead of backfilling positions lost to attrition

Also read: TCS hires over 10,000 freshers from top colleges

The IT services firm announced that its chief operating officer (COO) N Ganapathy Subramaniam will retire next month. 

• The company has opted to eliminate the COO position altogether

Funding winter? Think again! 

We're hearing that a large $100 million round is in the cards for Sedemac Mechatronics, a startup founded by an IIT Bombay professor and his students.

Pune-based Sedemac Mechatronics, an auto parts and powertrain controls manufacturing firm, is in talks to raise $100 million from A91 Partners, Xponentia Capital Partners, and 360 ONE Asset. 

• The round is likely to close at a valuation of $250 million, sources tell us

Founded in 2007, the startup has more than 500 employees and serves top OEMs in India, including Hero MotoCorp, Mahindra, and TVS.

This potential fundraise signals a renewed investor interest in the Indian manufacturing sector. 

• This trend aligns with the government's Make in India initiative and PLI schemes, promoting domestic manufacturing

In 2023 alone, manufacturing firms like Etheral Machines, Zetwerk, and Tamil Nadu-based Frigate raised funds across rounds.

Find out more

Facebook parent Meta is turning to its largest user market as it seeks to become a prominent player in the AI arms race alongside tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and upstarts such as OpenAI.

Meta is testing its AI chatbot, Meta AI, with select users in India across Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. 

• The move comes nearly seven months after the social networking giant announced the chatbot as part of its big push into generative AI

On Instagram, Meta AI is available through the direct messaging feature. 

• Users can interact directly with the chatbot, which functions as a general-purpose assistant capable of answering a wide range of questions 

• They can also call upon the assistant in existing personal and group chats on Instagram to get answers to their queries

With over 3 billion users on its platforms, Meta has the potential to become a major force in the field of AI by integrating this technology into its core products.

Dig deeper

Picture credit: Microsoft Copilot

• Elon Musk’s AI startup x.AI Corp is looking to raise $3 billion to $4 billion in a deal that would value the company at $18 billion
  
  
• AI research lab OpenAI reportedly fired two researchers, Leopold Aschenbrenner and Pavel Izmailov, following an internal investigation into alleged information leaks

Craving a real-life story with a musical twist?

Amar Singh Chamkila just dropped on Netflix! This biographical drama tells the story of Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila, played by  Diljit Dosanjh. 

Craving a post-apocalyptic fix? Look no further than Fallout, the TV series based on the iconic video game franchise. Watch it on Amazon Prime Video

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