Category business

NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP), the Intelligent Data Infrastructure company, today announced the release of the next generation of NetApp EF-Series storage systems, built to power the most performance‑intensive workloads at scale. The introduction of EF50 and EF80 helps enterprises and neoclouds meet the growing demands of AI, high-performance computing (HPC), and transactional databases, including in emerging use cases like sovereign AI clouds and AI-powered manufacturing.

“Data is the key component to delivering business value for enterprises, underpinning performance-hungry workloads like AI or databases,” said Sandeep Singh, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Storage at NetApp. “As businesses contend with ever-increasing data volumes and performance-intensive applications such as AI model training, AI inferencing and high-performance computing, they need infrastructure that delivers speed, scalability and efficiency without added complexity. NetApp delivers a comprehensive portfolio that addresses every stage of the AI data pipeline from collecting and preparing data to feeding it to GenAI models that produce business insights. With the new EF-Series systems, purpose-built for extreme performance, we’re enabling customers to deploy and scale high-throughput, low-latency workloads quickly and efficiently, while reducing data center footprint and operational overhead.”

Coupled with high-performance parallel file systems like Lustre or BeeGFS, the new EF50 and EF80 systems accelerate HPC simulations and keep GPUs fully utilized with high-performance scratch space, helping organizations unlock new value and competitive advantage at the right price. Customers ranging from neocloud providers driving AI innovation to movie studios managing massive media libraries will benefit from not only performance and scalability but also robust security measures to safeguard sensitive information and prevent data loss.

The new EF-Series storage systems deliver over 110GBps of read throughput and 55GBps of write throughput, a 250 percent improvement over previous generations. With a power efficiency of 63.7GBps per KW and 1.5PB of storage in 2U, the new systems ensure reliable, high-performance with efficient rack density and an affordable cost. With EF-Series, organizations can:

• Achieve high performance for data-intensive workloads, scaling capacity without sacrificing efficiency or latency
• Balance budget requirements with high-performance needs to make better decisions faster
• Simplify management and operational complexity with affordable block storage, streamlined deployment and support from NetApp’s technical experts.

“As we navigate the AI era, many enterprises are finding that they need to maximize their raw performance to extract the most value from their data,” said Clayton Vipond, Senior Solution Architect at CDW. “The refreshed NetApp EF-Series deliver the throughput and capacity businesses need to scale high-powered workloads that transform data into insights and outcomes.”

“NetApp’s EF-Series systems give Teradata the storage performance needed to support our most demanding workloads,” said Sumeet Arora, Chief Product Officer, Teradata. “We appreciate that NetApp continues to invest in this technology, and with the enhanced performance of the new models, we look forward to exploring opportunities to reduce infrastructure complexity and support the AI and data modernization initiatives our customers care about.”

“By delivering a high-performance storage system that supports parallel file systems like Lustre and BeeGFS, NetApp is making its mark as emerging industries, such as neocloud, emerge to support the AI-Era,” said Simon Robinson, Principal Analyst at Omdia. “Our research validates that AI workloads require a level of raw performance unmatched by any mainstream business workload to date. With the new EF-series systems, NetApp is delivering a solution that addresses the performance needs of large-scale AI projects, whether model training or inference.”

The updated EF-Series builds on decades of durability and reliability from NetApp. With more than 1 million installations, it has a proven track record that customers can rely on.

Additional Resources

• NetApp E-Series Hybrid and EF-Series All Flash: Built for Dedicated, High-Bandwidth Applications
• Power your AI Workloads and Data at the Speed of Innovation

About NetApp

For more than three decades, NetApp has helped the world’s leading organizations navigate change – from the rise of enterprise storage to the intelligent era defined by data and AI. Today, NetApp is the Intelligent Data Infrastructure company, helping customers turn data into a catalyst for innovation, resilience, and growth.

At the heart of that infrastructure is the NetApp data platform – the unified, enterprise-grade, intelligent foundation that connects, protects, and activates data across every cloud, workload, and environment. Built on the proven power of NetApp ONTAP, our leading data management software and OS, and enhanced by automation through the AI Data Engine and AFX, it delivers observability, resilience, and intelligence at scale.

Disaggregated by design, the NetApp data platform separates storage, services, and control so enterprises can modernize faster, scale efficiently, and innovate without lock-in. As the only enterprise storage platform natively embedded in the world’s largest clouds, it gives organizations the freedom to run any workload anywhere with consistent performance, governance, and protection.

With NetApp, data is always ready – ready to defend against threats, ready to power AI, and ready to drive the next breakthrough. That’s why the world’s most forward-thinking enterprises trust NetApp to turn intelligence into advantage.

Learn more at www.netapp.com or follow us on X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

NETAPP, the NETAPP logo, and the marks listed at www.netapp.com/TM are trademarks of NetApp, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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In an industry often focused on what’s in front of the camera, TECNO is turning the spotlight to what stands quietly behind the scenes. Today, the innovative smartphone brand announced the launch of #TECNOGotYourBack, a long-term brand platform that celebrates the resilience, support systems and everyday ‘backbones’ powering India’s progress.

To bring this narrative to life, TECNO has chosen the biggest stage in India: the cricket crease. In a purposeful branding move, the TECNO logo will feature on the back of the helmets of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) throughout the 2026 season.

This goes beyond a traditional sponsorship; it is a reflection of a core mission. TECNO’s mission is to back town dreamers and CSK is a team famously built on the backs of those who made it against the odds – from Sanju Samson in Vizhinjam and Dhoni from Ranchi to Ruturaj from Nagpur.

By backing CSK, TECNO is simply living its mission: supporting those who started small and made it exciting. When TECNO stands behind the team, it sends a clear message to 200 million Indian families: “We back dreamers like you, and we’ve got your back.”

Reflecting on how this partnership aligns with the brand’s deeper purpose, Mr. Arijeet Talapatra, CEO, TECNO Mobile India, shared the vision driving this collaboration: “Most brands want to be the trophy in your hand. We want to be the spine that helps you stand tall enough to reach for it. #TECNOGotYourBack isn’t just a campaign; it’s our commitment to being the ‘Backbone of Bharat.’ By placing our logo on the back of the CSK helmet, we are making a statement: we aren’t just watching the game from the sidelines – we are right there, literally backing the champions who inspire this country. We are building a brand that stands for local champions, ensuring that when they push boundaries, they know TECNO has their back.”

“At Chennai Super Kings, we have always believed that success is built on trust, resilience and the strength of the people who stand behind you. This partnership with TECNO reflects that shared philosophy. We are delighted to welcome TECNO to the Super Kings family and look forward to a meaningful association that celebrates the spirit of backing champions, both on and off the field,” said KS Viswanathan, Managing Director, Chennai Super Kings.

The partnership with CSK serves as the first proof point of this reimagined brand purpose. The “Helmet Strategy” highlights a simple human truth: every champion has a support system that often goes unseen. By claiming the back-of-the-helmet real estate, TECNO transforms a branding slot into a conversation about loyalty and reliability.

As the tournament progresses, #TECNOGotYourBack will expand beyond the pitch, focusing on the “backbones” of Indian society – the dreamers, the entrepreneurs and the everyday heroes who keep the country moving forward.

Smartly today announced it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire INCRMNTAL, a pioneering AI-powered incrementality measurement platform that delivers real-time insights into the incremental impact of marketing investments across channels without relying on user-level data or tracking.

As brands activate across social, commerce, and premium CTV, understanding what actually drives incremental growth has become increasingly complex. By combining INCRMNTAL’s real-time incrementality insights with Smartly’s platform that enables advertisers to turn insights into action across channels, marketers can continuously direct investment to what drives business outcomes. The integration will translate incrementality signals into real-time planning and optimization within Smartly, helping brands and agencies allocate budgets with greater confidence.

“Marketing leaders today are demanding better measurement for performance and accountability,” said Laura Desmond, CEO of Smartly. “Incrementality is becoming increasingly important in a world where traditional approaches are challenged to move at the speed of AI and the changing consumer journey. With INCRMNTAL, Smartly enables marketers to connect what’s happening in their business outcomes in real time with how they optimize media, creative, and campaigns, so they can see performance as it happens and take immediate action.”

INCRMNTAL’s AI-powered always-on methodology analyzes natural fluctuations in campaign activity instead of forcing marketers to exclude audiences, pause campaigns, or run formal experiments. The solution complements marketers’ existing measurement tools, including marketing mix modeling (MMM) and multi-touch attribution (MTA).

With this acquisition, Smartly will reinforce its position as the platform that connects creative, media, and intelligence, helping marketers orchestrate performance with confidence.

About Smartly
Smartly is the AI-powered advertising technology company ranked as the leader in The Forrester Wave™: Creative Advertising Technologies. Our platform unifies creative and media to produce intelligent creative, dynamic, data-driven image and video assets optimized for seamless activation across channels. Brands manage, optimize, and scale high-performance campaigns in one place, achieving PwC-validated results, including a 5.5x return on ad spend (ROAS) and 42 minutes saved every hour.

We support 800+ brands and manage over $7 billion in ad spend globally. With strategic partnerships across major media platforms, including Amazon, Google, Meta, Pinterest, Reddit, Snap, Spotify, and TikTok, we help Fortune 500 companies deliver relevant advertising at speed and scale. Backed by deep media expertise and best-in-class customer support, we empower brands to maximize performance and drive real business outcomes. Visit Smartly.io to learn more.

About INCRMNTAL
INCRMNTAL is an AI-powered marketing measurement platform that delivers actionable incrementality measurement for advertising campaigns. The platform provides always-on insights without relying on user-level data or planned experiments, using technological innovation, reinforcement learning, and causal AI to reveal the true impact of marketing across Mobile, Web, TV & CTV, Influencers, OOH & DOOH, Audio, and Podcasts.
Learn more at www.incrmntal.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260316113888/en/

Cushman & Wakefield recently handed over a one-of-a-kind, accessibility first campus to Latika, a Dehradun-based nonprofit, reinforcing the role of the built environment in enabling inclusive social infrastructure.

India is home to over 26 million persons with disabilities (Census 2011), yet educational infrastructure designed entirely around accessibility remains limited. Latika’s new premises address this structural gap by embedding universal design principles from inception, ensuring accessibility is integrated into the core architecture of the campus.

Developed over a three-year construction timeline, the 56,000 sq feet of built-up space has been designed to support over 1,500 disabled children and their families. The facility integrates accessibility at every level, including a multi-storey ramp system, barrier-free circulation, inclusive classrooms, therapy facilities and thoughtfully planned family support spaces. Every element of the campus has been planned to support safe mobility, learning and participation for children with diverse physical and developmental needs.

Latika’s new premises represents a significant milestone in its 30+ year history of inclusion, grassroots engagement and specialized support for disabled children in Uttarakhand.

Cushman & Wakefield partnered with Latika to help realise this vision. The firm provided CSR seed capital and delivered comprehensive pro-bono project management services through its Project & Development Services team.

This included construction oversight, cost and timeline management, quality control and execution coordination, reflecting the standards typically deployed in large-scale commercial developments. By applying disciplined project management practices, the firm supported the timely delivery of a campus built to high accessibility standards.

The project also incorporates sustainable design principles, including the use of local materials, local craftsmanship, and low-maintenance, energy-efficient construction techniques, ensuring the campus remains environmentally responsible and easy to maintain over the long term.

Anshul Jain, Chief Executive, India, SEA, MEA and APAC Office and Retail, Cushman & Wakefield, said, “We firmly believe that buildings drive culture. They shape opportunity, enable participation, and have the power to drive inclusion in the way we live, work, learn, and play. Through our partnership with Latika on their inclusive and accessible building, we aim to demonstrate how thoughtfully designed infrastructure can help move the conversation on disability forward in India.

Our teams approached this project with the same discipline, advisory expertise and integrated project delivery standards that we apply to large-scale developments. It was also our privilege to bring like-minded organizations within the real-estate fraternity, to come together to support this initiative.

When accessibility is embedded into infrastructure from the beginning, it expands opportunity and enables children with disabilities to learn, grow and participate with confidence. We hope this campus contributes to a broader shift towards more inclusive design in India’s built environment.”

Jo Chopra, Founder and Executive Director, Latika, said, “Every child, regardless of ability, deserves to grow up in a place where they’re valued and able to participate fully in community life. Our new campus gives concrete shape to that vision. Designed for accessibility, learning and community through everyday experience, it’s an important milestone for us as well as for inclusive education in India. We hope it’ll serve not only the children and families in our programmes, but also demonstrate what a truly inclusive environment looks like, and what becomes possible when inclusion is built into the environment from the start. We’re grateful to Cushman and Wakefield for helping make it possible.”

Aksigen IVF has been honoured with two prestigious accolades at the National Fertility Awards 2026, organised by ET Healthworld to recognize excellence and innovation in the fertility industry. The awards were announced at a ceremony held on March 7 in Mumbai.

Aksigen IVF received two significant recognitions: “IVF Clinic of the Year – West Zone” and “Excellence in Digital Innovation – National Level.” These awards highlight the organisation’s commitment to advancing fertility care through clinical excellence, innovation, and the effective use of digital platforms to improve patient engagement and access to fertility information.

The IVF Clinic of the Year – West Zone award acknowledges Aksigen IVF’s consistent efforts in delivering high-quality fertility treatments backed by strong clinical protocols and patient-centric care. Meanwhile, the Excellence in Digital Innovation – National Level award recognizes the organisation’s initiatives in leveraging digital tools and platforms to enhance awareness, patient education, and communication across the fertility care journey.

Dr. Gautam Daftary, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Aksigen IVF, expressed his excitement by stating, “These recognitions are a testament to our team’s commitment to delivering science-driven, patient-centric fertility care. At Aksigen IVF, we believe that combining clinical excellence with digital innovation can significantly improve access to reliable fertility information and treatment pathways. This recognition further motivates us to continue advancing fertility care and supporting individuals and couples on their journey to parenthood.”

Aksigen IVF is a science-led fertility care platform built on a strong legacy in reproductive medicine. The organisation combines over 40 years of reproductive science expertise with more than 15 years of focused IVF practice, having managed over 30,000 fertility treatment cycles across IVF, ICSI, and allied assisted reproductive technologies.

Aksigen IVF integrates pharmaceutical research rigour with clinical fertility expertise. The organisation focuses on personalised, evidence-based treatment frameworks, advanced embryology, integrated diagnostics, and patient education to deliver transparent and high-quality fertility care.

The National Fertility Awards by ET Healthworld celebrate excellence across India’s fertility ecosystem, honouring clinics, specialists, and organisations that are setting new benchmarks in reproductive healthcare. Receiving these dual honours underscores Aksigen IVF’s growing reputation as a trusted name in fertility care, driven by science, innovation, and a commitment to improving fertility outcomes for patients across India.

Website: https://www.aksigenivf.com/

The second edition of the landmark programme is being organised with support from Google Cloud. Applications open nationwide on 17th March. Prizes include up to $1 million in investment from Campus Fund, Google Cloud credits, and exclusive workshops. Apply here – https://yourcampusfund.com/futurex/.

Campus Fund, a $100M fund investing exclusively in student-led/dropouts/recent graduate startups, today announced the launch of FutureX – AI. The second edition of India’s premier platform for young innovators, FutureX, doubles down on Artificial Intelligence across the full stack – from foundational to applied – inviting the country’s most ambitious student founders, college dropouts and early graduates to compete for investment, infrastructure, and a platform to build what’s next.

Applications are now open and will close on 10th April 2026. The programme runs through May, culminating in a grand finale at Google’s Bengaluru office on 29th May 2026, where the top 10 shortlisted startups will pitch to an esteemed panel of investors, founders, and industry leaders.

“FutureX began with a simple conviction – that some of India’s most consequential companies will be built by people still on campus or who just left it. The first edition proved that. FutureX AI goes deeper into AI, the single most transformative technology of our times, and gives young innovators the capital access, infrastructure, and community to build something that lasts.”

– Richa Bajpai, Founder and CEO, Campus Fund

Building on a Strong First Edition

FutureX – DeepTech 2025 set a high bar. The winners were:

• Winner – Folium Sensing – Fiber optic based distributed sensing technologies from IIT Madras

• First Runner-Up – NCF Labs – Discoverers of a new material that has an exceptionally high solar to thermal efficiency of 87.9% from IIT Bombay

• Second Runner-Up – Climitra – vertically integrated ecosystem for waste biomass-driven industrial decarbonization also from IIT Bombay

The inaugural edition was evaluated by a distinguished jury:

• Bharat Shah – Co-Founder, HDFC Bank

• Aprameya R – Co-Founder & CEO, Koo

• Mohit Saxena – Co-Founder & Group CTO, InMobi

• Raghunandan G – Founder, Zolve

• Mekin Maheshwari – Founder, Udhyam

• Shanti Ekambaram – Deputy MD, Kotak Mahindra Bank

• Yatin Shah – Co-Founder, 360 ONE

• Akarsh Hebbar – President, Vedanta, Spark Startups and Display Glass

• Arun Chittilappilly – Co-Founder & MD, Wonderla Holidays

• Sandeep Cashyap – Head of Startup Business, India, Google Cloud

The jury for FutureX AI will be announced soon.

What We’re Looking For

FutureX AI is exclusively focused on AI startups. We’re in search of the best student-led startups/dropout/graduates within 3 years across Undergrad, Masters and PhD building in AI – including but not limited to:

• Generative AI & Large Language Models

• AI Agents, Copilots & Workflow Automation

• AI Infrastructure (MLOps, Model Serving, Training)

• Vertical AI (Healthcare, Legal, Finance, Education, Marketing)

• AI + Hardware (Robotics, Edge AI, Embedded Systems)

• Foundational AI Research (Novel Architectures, Safety)

What Participants Get

Every startup accepted into FutureX AI gets a platform to accelerate them:

• A direct path to Campus Fund’s Investment Committee, with investment opportunities of up to $1 million

• Access to Google Cloud credits, technical guidance, and hands-on AI tooling via the Google for Startups Cloud Program to build and scale with confidence

• Exclusive workshops and sessions covering AI product building, fundraising for AI startups, and scaling from MVP to market

• The Top 10 get an opportunity to present to Industry veterans on the Grand Finale on 29th May 2026 in Bengaluru

Additional participant benefits will be announced soon.

Who Should Apply

FutureX AI is open to current students (UG, PG, or PhD) and graduates or dropouts from 2023 onwards who hold at least 25% equity in their startup. This edition is laser-focused on AI – whether you’re working on foundational models, applying AI in healthcare, climate, fintech, or agritech, building AI-enabled hardware, or solving hard problems with AI at the core. This is your platform.

Applications close 10 April 2026. Apply now https://yourcampusfund.com/futurex/