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Rediff.com acquires minority stake in Tachyon Technologies
MUMBAI: Rediff.com India Ltd. has acquired a minority stake in Tachyon Technologies, a Bangalore-based software company for an undisclosed sum. This is part of Rediff‘s strategy to invest in start-up companies with innovative technologies. |
Says Rediff.com chief executive officer and founder Ajit Balakrishnan, “we aspire to encourage promising start-ups to develop innovative world class products that support our business. As a part of such efforts, we are delighted to have an opportunity to invest in a promising start-up company, such as Tachyon Technologies.” Adds Rediff.com chief technology officer Venki Nishtala added “The predictive text input technology developed by Tachyon is based on sophisticated machine learning techniques and is an improvement on simple phonetic maps and specialized language keyboards, thus enabling millions of Indians to benefit from the internet.” |
Tachyon Technologies has built a product named Quillpad, which enables users to type in English alphabets to input words in other languages (in the respective scripts) with ease on the basis of phonetics, allowing them to communicate in their language of choice. Rediff.com has adopted this technology in its Rediffmail email and Rediff Bol messenger service. Commenting on the Rediff‘s investment in Tachyon, Tachyon Technologies CEO Ram Prakash has this to say:”Rediff.com‘s investment in Tachyon Technologies should provide us with the capital we need to enhance our development infrastructure. Hopefully, this will help us to realise our ultimate goal of developing great products.” |
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
