New Delhi, Jan 7 (PTI) IT services major HCL Technologies on Thursday said it has partnered with Claim Genius, an artificial intelligence (AI) automation solutions provider for the auto insurance market, to jointly develop and market new AI claims management solutions.

As part of this agreement, HCL will be providing Claim Genius's real-time damage analysis technology for passenger vehicles to global insurance carriers, a statement said. HCL is integrating Claim Genius's platform with its core claims platform, which is widely used by carriers, it added.

This integrated workflow solution will be available for HCL's global clients and will drive speed, accuracy and productivity improvements for the automobile insurance services sector, it said. Once the service is implemented, clients will be able to get an instant AI-powered repair estimate for the damaged vehicle based on photos or videos uploaded from the client's mobile app or claims management system, it added.

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* HobSpace raises around Rs 1 cr from Inflection Point Ventures

* HobSpace, a Mumbai-based start-up that works on enhancing extra-curricular activities for children, on Thursday said it has raised about Rs 1 crore in pre-Series A1 funding from Inflection Point Ventures.

HobSpace had closed a Rs 3.3-crore seed funding from Artha Ventures, Angel List and others in October 2020. The funds will be used to multiply the company's offline centres to reach out to the top towns over the next three years, a statement said.

Hobspace intends to have 20 centres in top-3 cities in the next 12 months, it added. HobSpace was founded in 2019 by Priya Goel Seth and Harsh Jain.

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* KiranaKart raises Rs 5.33 cr in funding from Global Founders Capital, others

* KiranaKart, a Mumbai-based online grocery delivery start-up, on Thursday said it raised Rs 5.33 crore in funding led by Global Founders Capital.

The pre-seed round, which raised KiranaKart's post-money valuation cap to USD 7 million, also saw participation from Contrary Capital, 2 AM Ventures, and angel investors from India and Silicon Valley, according to a statement. The Y Combinator-backed start-up plans to use the funds to expand its 45-minute grocery delivery service across Mumbai and grow aggressively in the city before expanding to other metros, it added.

"We believe our technology-first approach will be a powerful edge over incumbents in this space. Unlike food delivery or ride-sharing, the grocery delivery market in India is far from conquered and we're excited to tackle it head-on with a different approach," KiranaKart CTO and co-founder Kaivalya Vohra said.

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* Venture Catalysts invests in Monrow

* Venture Catalysts on Thursday said it has invested an undisclosed amount in footwear brand Monrow.

The funding round also saw participation from other investors such as Blume Venture, LetsVenture and Angel List, according to a statement. Founded in 2016 by Veena Ashiya, Monrow aims to become the new-age comfort focused brand for the millennial generation. "About 90 per cent of existing brands use European/American shape and fittings of shoes which doesn't serve our lifestyle nor do they fit comfortably...This USD 4.8-billion market is largely unorganised," Ashiya said.

While established retail focused brands have lost connect with mobile-first generation leaving this huge white space for brands who are reinventing the product offering and emotionally connecting with their audience through authentic digital voice, she added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)