iWorld
Bharti Airtel acquires AI start-up AuthMe
MUMBAI: Indian global telecommunications services company, Bharti Airtel, confirmed on Wednesday that it had acquired AuthMe ID Services. AuthMe is a Bengaluru based start-up company concentrating on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Bharti Airtel global CIO Harmeen Mehta said, “We are thrilled to bring on board a bunch of highly talented people who share our passion for building exciting digital solutions that benefit our customers”.
The core team of the Bengaluru based start-up company will join the telecom chief as part of the ‘acquihire’ deal. The employees of AuthMe will become a part of Airtel X labs in Bengaluru. The negotiation amount has not been disclosed yet.
Mehta looked full of promises as he said, “We are rapidly scaling up Airtel X Labs, our digital innovation factory, and these new solutions will accelerate our journey towards rolling out intuitive digital products, particularly in vernacular languages, for our 430 million plus customers.”
With this, Airtel has also obtained the intellectual property rights for two flagship solutions Callup AI and Fintech OCR. Callup AI is a chat and voice assistant which uses AI to solve consumer queries through email, chat and phone calls. Fintech OCR is an overall Optical Character Recognition (OCR) pipeline built for financial documents. It is designed for handling KYC documents, bank/credit card/loan statements, mark sheets. It can also understand any language with standard fonts.
iWorld
Crocs India ropes in Rakesh Bedi for quirky new digital campaign
Veteran actor brings humour and nostalgia to brand’s latest ‘Crocshake’ film.
MUMBAI: Crocs has decided to shake things up quite literally by teaming up with veteran actor Rakesh Bedi for its latest digital campaign. The campaign, conceptualised by One Hand Clap, cleverly taps into the current wave of nostalgia and character-led content. It features Rakesh Bedi, who is currently enjoying renewed popularity after Dhurandhar, in a series of increasingly chaotic yet humorous everyday situations.
At the centre of the film is a simple handshake that spirals into a chain of unexpected twists, culminating in the fun “Crocshake.” The light-hearted narrative highlights how ordinary social moments can turn into memorable ones, perfectly aligning with Crocs’ brand ethos of individuality, comfort, and self-expression.
Crocs India country manager Manoj Juneja said the campaign reflects the brand’s desire to stay culturally relevant. “This collaboration with Rakesh Bedi blends humour, nostalgia, and contemporary trends to create content that entertains and sparks conversations,” he noted.
Rakesh Bedi added, “What I loved about this campaign was how naturally the humour came through. It takes a simple, everyday situation and turns it into something completely unexpected. It’s always exciting to be part of something audiences can instantly connect with.”
The campaign builds on Crocs India’s ongoing strategy of creating relatable, digital-first storytelling that resonates with a wide audience while staying true to the brand’s playful personality.
In a crowded footwear market, Crocs continues to stand out by keeping things fun, comfortable, and conversation-worthy proving once again that sometimes all you need is a good shake (or Crocshake) to make your mark.
