Podcasts about ather energy

This episode of Two by Two was first published on 08 May 2025.Premium subscribers of The Ken have full access to ALL our premium audio. They are available exclusively via The Ken's subscriber apps. If you don't have them, just download one and log in to unlock everything. Get your premium subscription using this link.Not a Premium subscriber? You can subscribe to The Ken Premium on Apple Podcasts for an easy monthly price (Rs 299 in India). The channel includes ALL our premium podcasts.-The coffee culture in India has come far today. But has it reached the point where daily commuters grab their cup of joe from their favourite cafe on their way to work? Or do they get it delivered in minutes? Or is the cafe only a destination for meetings?The cafe ideally serves all three use cases. But the bigger reason has more to do with what we as Indians associate with cafes when we walk into a cafe. Some answer lies in the split between food and beverages in India. Food is as big a component as coffee and coffee beverages in a cafe in India. While globally, most numbers suggest the split for food is ~10%.But there are more fundamental reasons why the cafe business is hard to crack at scale. From volume of transactions happening to catching up on the ‘grab and go' coffee culture.But even with all the troubles, more players seem keen to enter the market. Why?Hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan have a fun and insightful conversation about India's coffee culture and its coffee drinkers' tastes in the latest episode of Two by Two. And joining them for the discussion are Abhijeet Anand, founder and CEO, Abcoffee, and Deepak Shahdadpuri, managing director and founder of DSG Consumer Partners.Welcome to episode 41 of Two by Two.–Additional listening:Google Pay: Big. Successful. Vulnerable – https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/google-pay-big-successful-vulnerable/Airtel fights spammers. And Truecaller's business model – https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/airtel-fights-spammers-and-truecallers-business-model/Ather Energy was a pioneer. Can it also be a leader? – https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/ather-energy-was-a-pioneer-can-it-also-be-a-leader/Additional reading:Angel One got what it wished for. That's the problem. – https://the-ken.com/story/angel-one-got-what-it-wished-for-thats-the-problem/–If you are an existing Premium subscriber, you already have full access to ALL our premium audio. They are available exclusively via The Ken's subscriber apps. If you don't have them, just download one and log in to unlock everything. Not a Premium subscriber? You can subscribe to The Ken Premium on Apple Podcasts for an easy monthly price (Rs 299 in India). The channel includes ALL our premium podcasts.–This episode of Two by Two was produced by Hari Krishna. Rajiv CN, our resident sound engineer, mixed and mastered this episode.If you liked this episode of Two by Two, please share it with your friends and family who would be interested in listening to the episode. And if you have more thoughts on the discussion, we'd love to hear your arguments as well. You can write to us at twobytwo@the-ken.com.

Electric two-wheeler maker, Ather Energy, listed on the bourses on earlier in May, but its IPO was subscribed just 1.4X—a modest showing for a company once seen as a premium EV pioneer. The lukewarm response reflected investor fatigue, sparked by Ola Electric's volatile stock performance, the Blusmart funding controversy, and global supply chain headwinds. Despite a strong product portfolio and a reputation for in-house innovation, Ather faces an increasingly crowded market and mounting pressure to scale.IPO proceeds will fund a new manufacturing plant in Maharashtra, expanded R&D, and marketing—moves aimed at boosting capacity and competitiveness.Yet, with subsidies shrinking and profitability still out of reach, Ather's long-term success hinges on its ability to grow sustainably, reduce costs, and prove it's more than just another EV startup riding a fading wave.Tune in.P.S The Ken's podcast team is hiring! Here's what we're looking for.Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here

In today's Tech3 from Moneycontrol, Apple ramps up manufacturing in India with Foxconn and Tata Electronics leading the charge. We dive into why the National Restaurant Association has paused onboarding to ONDC amid leadership churn. Plus, Ather Energy's IPO sees full subscription, startup valuations take a hit with down rounds making a return. Tune in for latest updates on tech and startup world.

From a big hike in minimum pensions to HDFC Bank catching up with Goldman Sachs in market cap, the diplomatic thaw in Canada-India ties, churn at Infosys, Hero's big move at Ather Energy, and why gold and silver are making headlines this Akshaya Tritiya. Tune in for the big stories.

To get your dose of daily business news, tune into Mint Top of the Morning on Mint Podcasts available on all audio streaming platforms.https://open.spotify.com/show/7x8Nv1RlOKyMV5IftIJwP1?si=bf5ecbaedd8f4ddc Banks across India will see scattered closures this week. April 29: Parshuram Jayanti (Himachal Pradesh) April 30: Akshaya Tritiya & Basava Jayanti (Multiple States) May 1: Nationwide shutdown for Labour Day, Maharashtra Day, and Gujarat Day. If you have urgent banking needs, act fast before the long break hits. After a pause, Ather Energy is hitting the market with its IPO, priced between ₹304–₹321 per share. Subscription: April 28–30 Grey Market Premium: ₹17 above issue price Listing: May 6 Proceeds will fund a new Maharashtra plant, R&D, marketing, and debt repayment. Early buzz suggests Ather could electrify the IPO street. Cars24 has laid off over 200 employees in product and tech as part of a cost restructure, right after acquiring Team-BHP. CEO Vikram Chopra called it a reflection of misplaced bets, not performance. Employees will get severance, mentorship, and redeployment support. Cars24 now focuses on becoming leaner in a tough auto-tech space. TVS Motor is expected to post 13% revenue growth in Q4, thanks to strong scooter and EV sales. EV sales soared 30%, while premium motorcycle models like Apache also saw double-digit growth. Key investor focus areas: International expansion after Ion Mobility deal EV market defense against Ola and Bajaj Premiumization strategy for motorcycles TVS remains a stock analysts are bullish on for FY26. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra urged U.S. investors to back India, calling it a rare beacon of growth and stability amid global headwinds. Expected GDP growth: 6.5% in 2025 RBI shifts to an accommodative stance, signaling more rate cuts Malhotra's message: India remains the fastest-growing major economy, despite trade wars and global uncertainty. River Mobility posted a 20x revenue surge to ₹104 crore but saw losses balloon to ₹176 crore in FY25. Aggressive retail expansion (25 stores) boosted scooter sales but increased burn rates. The goal: 100 stores by FY26 Gross margin profitability by October  Bank Holidays: Plan Ahead!⚡ Ather Energy IPO: Full Throttle

In today's Tech3 from Moneycontrol, Ather Energy files for IPO but slashes its valuation target. Flipkart is cutting its cash burn and prepping for a homecoming IPO. We also talk about A91 Partners' new $665M fund, the user dip at discount brokerages, and how Trump's trade war 2.0 could boost iPhone manufacturing in India. Tune in for the sharpest tech and startup updates.

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Thursday, February 13, 2025. This is Nelson John, let's get started. Amid India-China geopolitical tensions, China's Fosun Pharmaceutical is in discussions with three global private equity firms to sell its majority stake in the Hyderabad-based Gland Pharma. Fosun currently owns about 51% of Gland Pharma, after initially acquiring a 74% stake for $1.2 billion. They have hired investment banks Morgan Stanley and UBS to assist with the sale. Global private equity firms Blackstone, Brookfield, and Warburg Pincus are interested in buying this stake, valuing the company at nearly $3 billion. Gland Pharma, founded in 1978, specializes in making generic injectable medicines and serves nearly 90 countries, focusing on India and the U.S. markets. In the December quarter, the company reported revenues of ₹1,384 crore and a profit after tax of ₹204.7 crore.The potential sale is expected to trigger an open offer to Gland Pharma's shareholders, with the buyers aiming to own between 60-65% of the company after the transaction. In a major step toward strengthening digital payment security, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed additional factor authentication (AFA) for international card-not-present (CNP) transactions. This means Indian consumers will have an extra layer of security when making payments to foreign merchants—just like they already do for domestic transactions.Now you may wonder what prompted this move by the RBI?It's primarily due to Rising Fraud Cases in international transactions involving unauthorized charges on foreign websites with minimal authentication. Now adding AFA will ensure stronger security standards that safeguard Indian cardholders against such risks.   US-based industrial and aerospace giant Honeywell and Greenko founders-led AM Green signed an agreement on Wednesday to collaborate on manufacturing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in India from biofuels, including ethanol, methanol, and green hydrogen. Under this agreement, Honeywell's cutting-edge technology will be leveraged to produce SAF from renewable sources, aligning with global efforts to transition toward greener energy solutions. AM Green, a company backed by the founders of renewable energy giant Greenko, will focus on production and scaling operations in India, catering to both domestic and international markets.The companies will assess the feasibility of making SAF in India to reduce the country's oil import dependence, helping shipping companies adopt the low-emission fuel, and aiding aviation companies to meet International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines for low-carbon fuel replacements. The global aviation industry is under increasing pressure to cut carbon emissions, and SAF has emerged as a key solution. This partnership strengthens India's role in the green energy revolution, supporting global decarbonization goals while reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Over two dozen Indian startups are expected to go public in the coming months, including big names like Groww, Lenskart, and Zepto, which could see billion-dollar IPOs. Smaller companies like Ather Energy, BoAt, Bluestone, Infra.market, PhysicsWallah, PayU, and Pine Labs are also gearing up for their stock market debuts. This is a jump from last year when only 13 startups, including Swiggy, Ola Electric, and FirstCry, went public. However, market conditions are getting tougher. Investment bankers say startups might need to adjust their IPO sizes and valuations due to recent global economic shifts. The US stock market has been hit hard after President Donald Trump announced new tariffs, leading to uncertainty in global equity markets. India's Nifty 50 index is down 12.5% from its peak last September, with foreign investors selling off shares. Amid tough market conditions and lock-in expiries those looking to invest in upcoming IPOs could also be staring at losses in the short term      At the Maha Kumbh Mela, India's largest spiritual gathering, several startups are seizing the opportunity to engage with the vast influx of pilgrims. Zomato-owned Blinkit has set up a temporary store offering ritual-related items and other essentials. Swiggy's Instamart has established a stall near the Triveni Sangam to serve attendees. PhonePe, in collaboration with ICICI Lombard General Insurance, is providing affordable travel insurance plans tailored for Kumbh visitors. Chai Point has deployed around 175 personnel and 18-20 mini stations, utilizing brewing bots capable of producing 15 liters of tea every 12 minutes, resulting in daily sales of approximately 160,000 cups reports Peiyamvada C. Now these initiatives not only cater to the immediate needs of pilgrims but also serve as strategic moves for brand visibility and customer acquisition. By adjusting pricing and packaging, these startups aim to connect with a broader audience beyond their typical urban clientele, gathering valuable insights for future expansions.

How is data driving the future of electric mobility? At the Qlik AI Reality Tour in Mumbai, I sat with Ankit Mogra, Head of Research & Analytics at Ather Energy—India's third-largest electric scooter manufacturer and the largest fast-charging network in the country. In our conversation, Ankit shared how Ather Energy is leveraging data and analytics to revolutionize the EV industry:

Welcome to the year-end special edition of Two by Two.We've released 22 episodes of Two by Two since our inaugural edition in July. We've covered an incredible breadth of counterintuitive topics framed as, well, two by twos. Would Flipkart become Phonepe before Phonepe became Flipkart? Did Delhi prick Bengaluru's bubble? Is the golden era of the software engineer over? Why is health insurance broken? How will Ola and Uber avoid ‘death by a thousand cuts'? Why is Zepto behaving like a gold medallist? Can venture capitalists do no wrong? Dmart versus the challengers at the gates. AI and the impending disruption of Indian SaaS. We've had incredible fun exploring these ideas with a bunch of really sharp, experienced and opinionated guests. Finding guests who don't hesitate to speak their minds and state unpopular truths has been one of the hardest things. Far, far tougher than finding interesting topics. We owe all our guests a huge thanks for trusting us. Far too many professionals and leaders prefer to stick to rehearsed and predictable talking points in public these days.We'd started Two by Two with the ambition to operate at the intersection of curiosity and synthesis. Each week, we said we'd spot the hidden connections and unasked questions. We'd identify the cast of players and their motivations. We'd bring in incredible people to discuss these with. We'd try to answer simple yet fundamental questions like, what is going on, why is it happening, who gains and who loses, and where is all of this leading to?By always asking questions. Always connecting the dots. Always being unfiltered and uninhibited.We wanted Two by Two to be ‘your personal investigative brain'. In 2025 we hope to make Two by Two even more interesting and unpredictable. Yes, at its core it will still be a weekly podcast. But I'm excited at the possibility of doing so much more by involving our subscribers, listeners and readers in these endeavours. We want to make Two by Two ‘our collective investigative brain'. And hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan will continue to do so with a new episode every Thursday.To listen to all episodes of Two by Two, consider subscribing to The Ken's Premium plan, which in addition to the podcast, will also get you access to our long-form stories, Premium newsletters and visual stories.If you just want access to Two by Two, you can do that as well on Apple Podcasts with a paid subscription.Two by Two is also a free weekly newsletter published every Friday. You can sign up for it here. Listen to all Two by Two episodes here:1. Will Flipkart become Phonepe before Phonepe becomes Flipkart? - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/will-flipkart-become-phonepe-before-phonepe-becomes-flipkart/2. Why has all the excitement and disruption gone out of startups? - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/why-has-all-the-excitement-and-disruption-gone-out-of-startups/3. Is Zepto a gold medallist or a bronze medallist? - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/is-zepto-a-gold-medalist-or-a-bronze-medalist/4. Delhi pricked the Bengaluru bubble - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/delhi-pricked-the-bangalore-bubble/5. Swiggy needs to reclaim its past glory - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/swiggy-needs-to-reclaim-its-past-glory/6. Is the golden era of the (software) engineer over? - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/is-the-golden-era-of-the-software-engineer-over/7. Google Pay: Big. Successful. Vulnerable - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/google-pay-big-successful-vulnerable/8. Private coaching is eating away at schooling - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/private-coaching-is-eating-away-at-schooling/9. Why Stripe could not become the Stripe of India? - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/why-couldnt-stripe-become-the-stripe-of-india/10. Health insurance in India is ripe for disruption - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/health-insurance-is-ripe-for-disruption/11. Netflix and its last growth market - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/netflixs-last-growth-market/12. Ather Energy was a pioneer. Can it also be a leader? - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/ather-energy-was-a-pioneer-can-it-also-be-a-leader/13. Do we even need Product Managers? - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/do-we-even-need-product-managers/14. How will Ola and Uber avoid ‘death by a thousand cuts'? - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/how-will-ola-and-uber-avoid-death-by-a-thousand-cuts/15. The relentless rise of the government as a competitor - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/the-relentless-rise-of-the-government-as-a-competitor/16. What does the future hold for Ola Electric? - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/what-does-ola-electrics-future-hold/17. Can venture capitalists do no wrong? - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/can-venture-capitalists-do-no-wrong/18. Dmart versus the challengers at the gate - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/dmart-versus-the-challengers-at-the-gate/19. Marketing is eating itself from the inside - https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/marketing-is-eating-i...

This episode was first released on November 7, 2024, for The Ken's premium subscribers. We've unlocked it for our Basic and Free subscribers for a limited time. Listen to it on your favourite podcast streaming platforms before it goes behind a paywall.Ola Electric's woes just don't seem to be stopping.From angry customers to its mercurial CEO getting into online spats as pressure mounts, many of its problems stretch seemingly beyond its control today for it to make a quick turnaround and change the narrative. And this is hurting its valuation significantly, both in the private and public markets. Just this week, Ola Electric's price fell below its listing priceOla Electric can and should take credit for making EV two-wheelers common on Indian roads. It achieved this through rampant marketing, getting the word out for its product, and eventually delivering its products to eager customers as well. These did yield results in the short term as well. At its peak, Ola Electric's vertically integrated ecosystem was a big pull, which, along with its marketing efforts, allowed it to gain nearly 53% market share in the EV two-wheeler segment.But the strategy of moving fast and breaking things to press an early mover advantage that startups usually apply has now started to backfire, as angry customers take to social media to express their frustration with the longer wait times to get their vehicles serviced and working again.These kinds of troubles tend to happen with startups. But when the situation is such that you can't just fix things as you would do in an app, and you are under the scrutiny of the public markets. The need to deliver becomes absolutely detrimental.In this week's episode, host Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan try to understand Ola's recent history, how it fared after listing on the Indian bourses, the troubles it has faced, and what the future holds.Joining them for the episode are Jinesh Gandhi, Research Director at Ambit*, with over 20 years of experience tracking multiple sectors, and Narayan Sundararaman, an accomplished leader with over 28 years of experience in marketing strategy. Narayan has worked at Cadbury, Star TV, and was the ex-CMO at Bajaj Auto.Reference Stories:How Ola Electric blew its leadOla Electric wants to take on Hero's Splendor. But e-bikes are not e-scootersThe real reason behind Ola Electric slashing its IPO valuation in a booming stock marketOther Two by Two episodes:Ather Energy was a pioneer. Can it also be a leader?*Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the analyst and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Ambit Capital Private Ltd. The analyst does not hold any financial interest in the securities discussed in the podcast, nor do their relatives. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. It is essential to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions.This episode was produced by Hari Krishna. Mixing and mastering for this episode is done by Rajiv CN. Write to us about what you thought of the episode at twobytwo@the-ken.com.

Ola Electric's woes just don't seem to be stopping.From angry customers to its mercurial CEO getting into online spats as pressure mounts, many of its problems stretch seemingly beyond its control today for it to make a quick turnaround and change the narrative. And this is hurting its valuation significantly, both in the private and public markets. Just this week, Ola Electric's price fell below its listing priceOla Electric can and should take credit for making EV two-wheelers common on Indian roads. It achieved this through rampant marketing, getting the word out about its product, and eventually delivering its products to eager customers as well. These did yield results in the short term as well. At its peak, Ola Electric's vertically integrated ecosystem was a big pull, which, along with its marketing efforts, allowed it to gain nearly 53% market share in the EV two-wheeler segment.But the strategy of moving fast and breaking things that startups usually apply to press an early mover advantage has now started to backfire, as angry customers take to social media to express their frustration with the longer wait times to get their vehicles serviced and working again.These kinds of troubles tend to happen with startups. But when the situation is such that you can't just fix things as you would do in an app, and you are under the scrutiny of the public markets. The need to deliver becomes absolutely detrimental.In this week's episode, host Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan try to understand Ola's recent history, how it fared after listing on the Indian bourses, the troubles it has faced, and what the future holds.Joining them for the episode are Jinesh Gandhi, Research Director at Ambit*, with over 20 years of experience tracking multiple sectors, and Narayan Sundararaman, an accomplished leader with over 28 years of experience in marketing strategy. Narayan has worked at Cadbury, Star TV, and was the ex-CMO at Bajaj Auto.Reference Stories:How Ola Electric blew its leadOla Electric wants to take on Hero's Splendor. But e-bikes are not e-scootersThe real reason behind Ola Electric slashing its IPO valuation in a booming stock marketEpisode unlocked for free and basic subscribers: Ather Energy was a pioneer. Can it also be a leader?This is a shorter 'highlights only' episode of an hour-and-a-half-long podcast. If you want to listen and get early access to the full episode, consider becoming a Premium subscriber to The Ken, which in addition to Two by Two, will also give you access to our long-form stories, Premiums newsletters and visual stories. Or if you just want to listen to Two by Two for now, for iOS users, we have enabled Premium subscription on Apple Podcasts.You can sign up for The Two by Two newsletter here—it's free!*Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the analyst and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Ambit Capital Private Ltd. The analyst does not hold any financial interest in the securities discussed in the podcast, nor do their relatives. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. It is essential to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions.This episode was produced by Hari Krishna. Mixing and mastering for this episode is done by Rajiv CN. Write to us about what you thought of the episode at twobytwo@the-ken.com.

We have unlocked the full and unedited version of episode 12, which we released on October 3rd for Premium subscribers of The Ken on The Ken's mobile app and Apple Podcasts. Now, you can stream the full episode on Spotify, Amazon Music, Youtube or wherever you listen to your podcasts for free for a limited time.Ather Energy is the third-largest seller of electric two-wheelers in India. Founded in 2013, Ather Energy is known to have kicked off the electric two-wheeler wave in India. They came in with a great product which offered the best of software and hardware on a two-wheeler. And over a decade of its existence, Ather has delivered on its promise of a great product which will create a “magical experiences” for its customers.Ather spent years building their own electric two-wheelers from the ground up. They built their own batteries, their own chassis, their own electronics and powertrain, and even their own software. But in the process, they lost the opportunity to become the market leader, a spot that was filled by Ola Electric, a much later entrant.On September 9th this year Ather filed its draft red herring prospectus as it plans to go ahead and list on the Indian bourses. And as hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan sat down to discuss and understand what the market looks like for electric two-wheelers and how Ather will fare in a market, it kickstarted and popularized. They also got two great guests to discuss this.First is the co-founder and CEO of IPO-bound Ather Energy Tarun Mehta himself and the second guest we had was Professor Rishikesha Krishnan, Director of IIM Bangalore, and a professor of Strategy.It's not often that we have the co-founder and CEO of a company heading for its IPO discussing its strategy with the director of one of India's most prestigious management institutes, who both studies and teaches strategy.And over the course of 90 minutes, they discussed the strategy and vision Ather Energy is going ahead with into the future and how they intend to keep innovating on their product leadership while also stepping up and getting on the front foot to improve their market leadership.Welcome to Episode 12 of Two by Two.Two by Two is also a newsletter, where every Friday a storified version of the latest episode is sent out to subscribers for free. You can sign up for the Two by Two Newsletter here.This episode of Two by Two was researched and produced by Hari Krishna. Rajiv CN, our resident sound engineer, mixed and mastered this episode.New episodes are released every Thursday. So follow the show wherever you get your podcasts, and tell us what you think of the show.Write to us at twobytwo@the-ken.com and let us know what you thought of the episode.

Ather Energy is the third largest seller of electric two-wheelers in India. Founded in 2013, Ather Energy is known to have kicked off the electric two-wheeler wave in India. They came in with a great product which offered the best of software and hardware on a two-wheeler. And over a decade of its existence Ather has delivered on its promise of a great product which will create a “magical experience” for its customers.Ather spent years building their own electric two-wheelers from the ground up. They built their own batteries, their own chassis, their own electronics and powertrain, and even their own software. But in the process, they lost the opportunity to become the  market leader, a spot that was filled by Ola Electric, a much later entrant.On September 9th this year Ather filed its draft red herring prospectus as it plans to go ahead and list on the Indian bourses. And as hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan sat down to discuss and understand what the market looks like for electric two-wheelers and how Ather will fare in a market it kickstarted and popularized. They also got two great guests to discuss this.First is the co-founder and CEO of IPO-bound Ather Energy Tarun Mehta himself and the second guest we had was Professor Rishikesha Krishnan, Director of IIM Bangalore, and a professor of Strategy.It's not often that we have the co-founder and CEO of a company heading for its IPO discussing its strategy with the director of one of India's most prestigious management institutes who both studies and teaches strategy.And over the course of 90 minutes, they discussed the strategy and vision Ather Energy is going ahead with into the future and how they intend to keep innovating on their product leadership while also stepping up and getting on the front foot to improve their market leadership.Welcome to Episode 12 of Two by Two.This is shorter version of the episode which highlights some of the most interesting parts of the discussion. The full episodes are available to Premium subscribers of The Ken on The Ken app and Apple Podcasts.Two by Two is also a newsletter, where every Friday short storified version of the latest episode is sent out to subscribers for free. You can sign up for the Two by Two Newsletter here.This episode of Two by Two was researched and produced by Hari Krishna. Rajiv CN, our resident sound engineer, mixed and mastered this episode.New episodes are released every Thursday. So follow the show wherever you get your podcasts and tell us what you think of the show.Write to us at twobytwo@the-ken.com and let us know what you thought of the episode.

In this Roundup, hosts Roshan Cariappa and Gunjan Saha discuss the latest headlines in India's startup ecosystem, covering topics such as the Great Indian Shopping Festival on eCommerce apps, separation talks between Mensa Brands and Men's XP, and GoKwik's acquisition of Return Prime. The episode also highlights government initiatives to simplify processes for overseas startups shifting domicile back to India. Additionally, the conversation touches on India's plans to establish a self-sustained space station by 2035 and land on the moon by 2040, the launch of Accel's new pre-seed accelerator program for Bharat startups. The episode wraps up with an entertaining discussion on cultural sensitivity at Ather Energy and the achievements of Sourabh Netravalkar, the star cricketer and Oracle employee. 00:00 Introduction 01:47 Topics and Opening comments 06:48 EY Suicide Case and Work Culture 11:13 E-commerce Festive Season Preparations 14:37 Men's XP separating from Mensa Brands 17:27 GoKwik's International Expansion 23:21 Government Initiatives to simplify moving overseas startups 30:52 India's Space Ambitions 31:21 Technological and Geopolitical Implications 32:42 Challenges and Comparisons in Space Exploration 37:09 Accel's New Pre-Seed Accelerator Program: Accel Atoms 38:45 Recent Fundraises and Market Trends 41:55 Nike's new CEO's career 45:25 Lessons from China's Startup Ecosystem 48:54 Ather's Onam "Controversy" 58:10 Conclusion and Upcoming Episodes

In today's episode, we look at 3 big stories: - Ather Energy files for an IPO - India's diamond industry is in deep distress - How big is the front-running problem in the Indian stock market? We also send out a crisp and short daily newsletter for The Daily Brief. Put your email here and we'll make you smart every day: https://thedailybriefing.substack.com/ If you prefer video: https://www.youtube.com/@marketsbyzerodha

In this episode of the Startup Operator Roundup, Roshan and Gunjan delve into key developments in India's vibrant startup ecosystem. They discuss the significance of freedom for startups, the technological advancements in India's digital infrastructure, and the promising updates in UPI's payment system. Highlights include Sarvam AI's innovation in Indian language models, Krafton's plans for an R&D center in India, and significant fundraises by Ather Energy, Fresh Bus, and Skydo. In this week's talk of the town they touch on Google's Eric Schmidt's becoming an arms dealer and Peter Thiel's take on the current state of AI. 00:00 Introduction 00:29 Celebrating Independence Day and Startup Freedom02:37 Sarvam AI: Revolutionizing Indian Languages08:00 UPI Circle: Expanding Financial Inclusion11:20 Krafton's R&D Center in India12:54 Startup Fundraising Highlights17:24 AI in Warfare: Eric Schmidt's Vision23:26 Peter Thiel on AI's Future25:26 Ghana's Acquisition by Radio Mirchi26:59 Conclusion and Sign Off------------------------------------- Click here to get regular WhatsApp updates:https://wa.me/message/ZUZQQGKCZTADL1 ------------------------------------- Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ------------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode!

I know what you're thinking. Didn't the First Principles podcast draw its curtains? Yes we did.But then we decided to do a final super-splice of every single episode we did. There were 41 founders. A bit too many for a single supercut episode, don't you think?So, here's the first 20.We went through all the episodes and picked a few minutes from each that we felt captured the essence of the specific founder and their approach to entrepreneurship, leadership, and well, life.You'll listen to Kabeer Biswas, co-founder and CEO of Dunzo; Baskar Subramamian, co-founder and CEO of Amagi; Nithin Kamath, co-founder and CEO of Zerodha; Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO at InMobi; Ananth Narayanan, founder and CEO of Mensa Brands; Harshil Mathur, co-founder and CEO of Razorpay; Vineeta Singh, co-founder and CEO of Sugar Cosmetics; Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs; Amit Agarwal, co-founder and CEO of NoBroker; Tarun Mehta, co-founder and CEO of Ather Energy; Deep Kalra, founder and chairman of MakeMyTrip; Ruchi Kalra, co-founder and CEO of Oxyzo; Kamal Sagar, co-founder and CEO of Total Environment; Srikanth Iyer, co-founder and CEO of Homelane; Shan Kadavil, founder and CEO of Fresh to Home; Kunal Shah, founder and CEO of CRED; Srikanth Velamakanni, co-founder and CEO of Fractal; Ronnie Screwvala, co-founder and chairperson of UpGrad; Gaurav Munjal, co-founder and CEO of Unacademy; and Smita Deorah, co-founder and co-CEO of LEAD.Even if you've listened to many of these episodes, I think you might enjoy this intense supercut.Meanwhile, we're working hard at our next podcast. Which I should be able to introduce to you very shortly. I'm excited!I'm Rohin Dharmakumar, your host. And here's part 1 of final, final supercut.-----------While you're still here you can sign up for the First Principles Newsletter here and continue to be part of the First Principles community.

What makes Ather Energy a pioneer in the Indian EV market? What factors are driving the growth of the EV market in India? How does Ather Energy contribute to the development of EV infrastructure in India? Before Ather Energy, the Indian EV industry faced challenges such as fragmented innovation and limited consumer confidence. The founding of Ather Energy initiated a transformative shift. Their visionary leadership and pioneering electric scooters have since reshaped perceptions, fostering a new era of sustainable urban mobility. Today, their comprehensive infrastructure and commitment to excellence position them among the top 5 of the EV industry. Tune into our latest episode for an insightful conversation on the landscape of electric vehicles in India. Resource List - Ather Energy - Official Website: https://www.atherenergy.com/ The Future of Electric Vehicles and Material Resources: A Foresight Brief: https://www.unep.org/ietc/resources/report/future-electric-vehicles-and-material-resources-foresight-brief Electric Vehicle Industry in India: Investment Outlook and Market Profile: https://www.india-briefing.com/news/electric-vehicle-industry-in-india-why-foreign-investors-should-pay-attention-21872.html/ Benefits of Electric Vehicles: https://e-amrit.niti.gov.in/benefits-of-electric-vehicles Electric vehicles - IEA: https://www.iea.org/energy-system/transport/electric-vehicles Ather Energy: Powering the Electric Revolution in India: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/349509 Ather Energy: The Startup That's Driving India's Electric Vehicle Revolution: https://www.forbes.com/sites/anuraghunathan/2021/06/14/ather-energy-the-startup-thats-driving-indias-electric-vehicle-revolution/?sh=5d4d1d9f1d6f

In this episode of Market Minutes, Harshita talks about the key factors to watch out for today before domestic equity market open. Markets may react to positive cues from Wall Street and Asian peers. Hero MotoCorp in focus as the country's largest two-wheeler maker will be buying additional stake from existing shareholders in associate company Ather Energy for Rs 140 crore. Texmaco Rail Engineering bags order worth 1,374 crore from Ministry of Railways for manufacture and supply of 3,400 BOXNS wagons. Catch the global market set up, and also hear from Peter Cardillo, Chief Market Economist at Spartan Capital Securities in the Voice of the Day segment. Market Minutes is a morning podcast that puts the spotlight on hot stocks, key data points, and developing trends.

India's EV landscape is changing, with startups emerging across the value chain – from all-electric cabs to e-bikes and innovative purchase options. But first, some headlines: Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta Platforms knowingly employed methods that lured children on to these platforms, The New York Times reported on Nov. 25, citing un-redacted court documents from a federal lawsuit in the US, filed last month by California, Colorado and 31 other states in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Apple contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology will invest more than $1.5 billion in an Indian construction project to fulfill “operational needs,” CNBC reports, citing company filings in Taiwan yesterday. Tata Consultancy Services has launched its AWS generative AI practice, with an extensive catalog of use-cases for the technology, the company said in a press release yesterday. One thing today India's consumer EV landscape is changing. Startups are emerging offering new products like e-bikes and slow-speed scooters that don't require users to obtain a driving licence, and new purchase options are also being innovated to reduce the upfront cost of these vehicles to make them more competitive with their petrol burning counterparts. Yulu Bikes, for example, has started directly selling a consumer version of its low-speed moped Miracle, which it calls Yulu Wynn and which is being manufactured by Bajaj Auto. With a top speed of only 25kmph, one doesn't need a license to use this scooter on Indian roads.  Yulu Wynn costs about Rs. 55,000 to buy, and then you will also have to sign up for one of Yulu's subscription plans to use the scooter. The purchase price doesn't include the battery or the software, which are included in the subscription plans, and you get access to the company's Yuma battery swapping network.  This is similar to how Ather Energy or Tata Nexon users pay to use premium features on those vehicles, Amit Gupta, Yulu's co-founder and CEO told me recently. And you can find that detailed conversation on Forbes India's website.  Kunal Khattar, a prolific VC investor in the EV space, points out that if we find ways to take out the cost of the battery, then that's practically half the cost of the electric vehicle. So models more like Yulu's will surely emerge, where a bank might finance the battery and the consumer gets an affordable subscription plan. Yesterday, TechCrunch reported that EMotorad Ventures, an electric bicycle maker in Pune, has raised $20 million in a Series B round. EMotorad's electric bicycle models feature self-diagnostics, removable batteries, dual disc brakes, portable chargers, and retractable aluminum frames.  TechCrunch reports that the company offers a 48-hour resolution of customer complaints. Founded in 2020 by Kunal Gupta, Rajib Gangopadhyay, Aditya Oza and Sumedh Battewar, EMotorad today exports its e-bikes to more than 18 countries through white labeling and selling its own brand in the US, Europe, Australia, Japan, and some Middle Eastern markets. Of its 14 e-bike models, seven or eight are available in India and the rest are sold overseas, priced between $600 to $1,200 in the US, according to TechCrunch. Emotorad has raised more than $22.5 million in total funding, from investors including Singapore's Panthera Growth Partners, Alteria Capital, xto10x Technologies, and Green Frontier Capital. Economic Times reported yesterday that Gensol will make electric “reverse trikes,” which have two wheels in the front and one in the back, starting February, citing co-founder Anmol Singh Jaggi, who is also the managing director of Gensol, a solar engineering procurement and construction company. Jaggi expects to soon start production at a factory in Chakan, India's biggest auto manufacturing hub, with capacity to turn out 30,000 vehicles. So cheaper Blusmart rides may be on offer next year.

Order 'Build, Don't Talk' (in English) here: https://amzn.eu/d/eCfijRuOrder 'Build Don't Talk' (in Hindi) here: https://amzn.eu/d/4wZISO0--------------Subscribe To Our Other YouTube Channels:-https://www.youtube.com/@rajshamaniclipshttps://www.youtube.com/@RajShamani.Shorts---------------In this podcast, Raj engages in a conversation with Tarun Mehta, the Co-founder and CEO of Ather Energy. Tarun, with passion and conviction, shares the tale of Ather's journey, highlighting the development of a robust charging infrastructure with 1,500 stations across the country. Tarun proudly emphasizes that India leads the global electric scooter market, outpacing even China. The CEO reveals the unique selling points of Ather providing compelling reasons to choose electric vehicles (EVs).The podcast pivots towards a discussion on the challenges faced by Indian companies in becoming global brands. Tarun sheds light on the historical context of India's economic and industrial development. He emphasizes the significance of building institutions and a long-term vision for sustainable success. They also discuss India's inclination towards imitation over innovation. Drawing parallels with global tech giants like Apple and HP, they explore why India lags in the creation of world-class products. Tarun and Raj examine the importance of thinking long-term & building institutions. Tarun shares the intriguing story of Ather Energy's early investments, with angel investors and Sachin Bansal's pivotal role. He explains how Sachin Bansal's belief in the company translated into a substantial investment, defining Ather's growth trajectory. Tarun's narrative unfolds with Ather's journey from its initial funding stages to achieving gross margin profitability.Tarun also shares his approach to brand building. He emphasizes trust, quality, and a commitment to delivering on promises. Tarun endorses the importance of selling a dream that people can believe in and the value of a brand's consistency over time. Make sure you watch this podcast till the end for some brilliant insights!Follow Tarun Mehta OnInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarunsmehta/Linkedin: https://in.linkedin.com/in/tarunsmehta-------------

In this episode of Market Minutes, Shailaja Mohapatra talks about a Zerodha's entry into the asset management space, Hero MotoCorp's additional investment in Ather Energy and Vishnu Prakash R Punglia listing expectations. Catch Shrey Jain of SAS Online in Voice of the Day segment. Market Minutes is a morning podcast that puts the spotlight on hot stocks, keys data points and developing trends.

Terry Gou, the founder of Foxconn Technology Group, one of Apple's biggest contract manufacturers, which is also expanding its operations in India, is entering the contest to be Taiwan's next president as an independent candidate, with elections due in 2024. Gou is widely seen as an advocate of Taiwan's return to the “One China” framework and for cross-Strait talks to resume between China and Taiwan that broke down in 2016. While pundits don't expect him to win, a more pro-China government in Taiwan could have some implications for India from geopolitics to the country's nascent EV sector. Intel plans to release a new data centre chip next year, brand named Sierra Forrest, that will handle more than double the amount of computing work that can be done for each watt of power used, Reuters reports.  Asus yesterday refuted a report from earlier this week out of Taiwan that it would pull the plug on its Zenfone series of Android smartphones, 9To5Google reports. Terry Gou, the founder of Foxconn Technology Group, one of Apple's biggest contract manufacturers, which is also expanding its operations in India, is entering the contest to be Taiwan's next president as an independent candidate, with elections due in 2024. While the pundits don't expect the 73-year-old entrepreneur to win, with the current Vice President William Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party seen as the popular candidate, Gou's entry is significant due to his more conciliatory approach towards China. “The era of entrepreneur's rule” has begun, CNBC quoted him as saying at one of the election rally style gatherings he's been addressing lately. “I will definitely not allow Taiwan to become the next Ukraine,” he said at a press conference, Associated Press reported yesterday. Gou founded Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, in 1974 in Taipei, Taiwan. From making electrical components and parts for television sets, the company has grown to become one of the world's largest and most influential electronics manufacturers for customers including Apple, Microsoft and Sony. In 2022 about 70 percent of $215 billion equivalent of Foxconn's revenue came from China, according to the Wall Street Journal. In an opinion for Washington Post in July, Gou disagreed with what he described as the policy of the current Taiwanese government, under President Tsai Ing-Wen, to walk away from the One-China framework. In his view, Taiwan's long-term future rests with the Chinese. A more pro-China government in Taiwan has significance for India, from giving China greater ability to project its geopolitical power in the Indo-Pacific region to the potential impact on India's electronics supply chain. Foxconn entered India in 2006 and set up its first factory in the country at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. Today the company's operations range from assembling the latest iPhones to supplying parts for India's electric vehicle startups such as Ather Energy in Bengaluru. The company is investing billions of dollars in India, which is looking to establish its own semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem. Foxconn pulled out of a semiconductor fab partnership with India's Vedanta Group recently, citing delays, which is seen as a bit of a setback for India's ambitions in this sector, but the Taiwanese company has said it remains committed to growth in India.

Neon Tribe!Get ready for another gripping episode as we welcome Tarun Mehta, the founder of Ather Energy on the Neon Show! Tune in as we thoroughly delve into the inner workings of the two-wheeler and EV industry in India.In this week's episode, we learn about a truly one-of-a-kind backstory which began from deep within IIT Madras's engineering department! Get ready as you will find out exactly how Tesla inspired Ather and whether Ather would have still reached the same heights it has today, if Tesla never existed. Equipped with an abundance of knowledge on the EV industry, Tarun also shares his understanding of the market dynamics for EVs in India as well as the current state of the Indian scooter market.Curious as to why a career in software engineering is more rewarding than one in hardware engineering? Well, look no further as Tarun explains in detail why college students would prefer the former over the latter! Join us for all this and more as we candidly engage with the genius mind responsible for turning a 20 crore ARR business from five years ago into a colossal 1800 crores as of today!  

If you started listening to First Principles—The Ken's fortnightly leadership podcast—in 2023, then today's special episode might be something you'll love. We went back to guests from episodes 6 to 10 from 2022 and created a supercut episode highlighting some of the most interesting bits from conversations with these accomplished leaders.We'd urge you to listen to the full episodes, but this is a great place to start if you've been meaning to check out our older episodes but haven't gotten around to it.We begin with Harshil Mathur, the co-founder and CEO of Razorpay—a fintech giant offering loans, payroll services, and even bank accounts.Harshil talks about his journey into entrepreneurship, how Razorpay develops products, the importance of deliberately driving company culture, and much more. Episode 6: Razorpay CEO Harshil Mathur talks about deliberate culture, building to a need, and the principles of product developmentNext, we have Vineeta Singh, the co-founder and CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics—one of India's most popular and fastest-growing cosmetics brands.Vineeta talks about overcoming stereotypes as a female founder, the importance of passion when selecting your workplace, and why hustle, hunger, humour, and humility are key pillars of SUGAR's culture. Episode 7: Vineeta Singh of SUGAR Cosmetics talks about building products, educating consumers, and focusing on the long termAnd then, we have Amrish Rau, the CEO of Pine Labs—the payments solution provider whose point-of-sale terminals are visible in most Indian shops and stores.In 2016, Citrus Pay, an online payments provider Amrish co-founded, was acquired by rival PayU for $130 million in cash. It was one of the most significant acquisitions back then. But Amrish says it is also one of his biggest regrets. As a first-time founder, he decided to sell his company too quickly. Amrish tells us why.Episode 8: Amrish Rau of Pine Labs talks about the differences between being a founder and CEONext, we have Amit Agarwal, the co-founder and CEO of NoBroker—the 8-year-old Bengaluru-headquartered real estate platform that wants to disrupt the very concept of brokerage fees.Amit speaks about entering management consulting as a young MBA because it paid the most, starting a business that almost no investor wanted to fund, convincing notoriously value-minded Indians to pay a subscription fee before finding a rental apartment, and running a frugal organisation with a cockroach mentality.Episode 9: Amit Agarwal of NoBroker talks about his single-minded mission to disrupt brokerage, building a cockroach company, and why his office address is a secretAnd finally, we have Tarun Mehta, the co-founder and CEO of Ather Energy—India's best-known electric scooter maker. Tarun speaks about his journey to convince investors of his vision, doing hard things that defied common sense, building an organisation over decades, and why it takes at least three years to make a true impact at work.Episode 10: Tarun Mehta of Ather Energy talks about doing hard things, going down multi-year rabbit holes, building companies over 30-40 years, and being chief storytellerThe Ken is India's first subscriber-only business journalism platform. Check out our deeply reported long-form stories, insightful newsletters, original podcasts, and much more here: https://the-ken.com/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=podcasts&utm_campaign=podcast_ep

Join us today, as we revisit the conversations with our previous founder guests on - "How They Acquired Their First Customers?" Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:33 DUNZO 02:10 BukuWarung 04:01 Wakefit 05:54 FamPay 08:15 Ather Energy 10:11 Pratilipi 12:07 NoBroker 13:13 Perpule 14:25 Jupiter 15:45 Bewakoof 17:05 Bizongo 19:17 CoinSwitch

Serendipity usually plays a huge role in entrepreneurship. It played an outsized role in Tarun Mehta's journey to founding Ather Energy, easily India's best-known electric scooter maker.When Mehta graduated from IIT Madras, he wanted badly to become a consultant because it was where the money and aura was. But he didn't get a job as a consultant. Then he tried to get into Harvard Business School for an MBA, but that didn't pan out either.Instead, he ended up at Ashok Leyland, a maker of buses and trucks. It took four months after he joined for Mehta to be allocated a computer of his own. During that time, he'd walk around and find a computer belonging to someone who hadn't come to office. Or he'd walk through its sprawling Chennai campus and read books in its library. Of course, his salary wasn't high by any standards.The low salary and lack of any meaningful work allowed Mehta to drift back to the IIT Madras campus he'd graduated from. After convincing a professor of their desire to build battery packs, Mehta and his co-founder Swapnil Jain, moved to an empty hostel room to start building things.Building hard things.That's the origin story of Ather Energy, the company that started out wanting to build battery packs, but ended up doing multi-year deep dives to re-imagine virtually every part of an electric scooter. This stubbornness would bring Ather Energy to the brink of death five times.Today, Ather sells over 10,000 electric scooters in India. Next year, it wants to double that number. And then some more.Tarun speaks at length about his journey to convince investors of his vision; doing hard things that defied common sense; building an organisation over decades; and why it takes at least three years to make a true impact at work.If you'd rather (or perhaps also) read than listen, we have published the full transcript for this interview on our website. You can click here and read through it.If you have any questions, thoughts, suggestions, or tips, please email them to podcasts@the-ken.com. We might not be able to reply to all of them, but we do read every single one of them.

In the fourth episode of the Shoonya podcast, we have with us Mr. Tarun Mehta, CEO and co-founder of Ather Energy. Tarun grew up in Ahmedabad and graduated from IIT Madras in 2012 where he developed over a dozen prototypes. His core interest being electric vehicles led him to quit his job at Ashok Leyland and build Ather Energy. Today, Ather Energy is driving green transition in India by reimagining sustainable mobility starting with the electric two-wheeler market. Tarun has also served on the ‘Technical Advisory Group for Electric Mobility,' to the Government of India and led the Electric Vehicle group in the Champions of Change program organised by NITI Aayog. Tarun is listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 in 2018 and Fortune 40 under 40 list in 2017 & 2019 for the innovative product that is disrupting the Indian auto industry.This episode is hosted by Ms. Samhita Shiledar, Manager at RMI.Visit: www.shoonya.info

This week in Indian Startup News: Ola Employees reveal hostile work culture, BYJU'S raises $250 Mn, Karnataka HC Allows Ola, Uber, Rapido To Continue Auto Services and Flipkart launched Flipverse. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 00:00 Introduction 00:06 Ola Employees reveal hostile work culture 01:27 BYJU'S raises $250 Mn 02:50 Bird's Eye Segment 03:48 Karnataka HC Allows Ola, Uber, Rapido To Continue Auto Services 04:07 Flipkart launched Flipverse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ola Employees reveal hostile work culture: 1. The current and former employees of Ola electric have referred to the company's work culture as “Hostile”. They have also revealed that Bhavish Agarwal's attitude towards his employees is worrying. 2. Some instances of this mistreatment include ripping a report that an employee wrote in half, because he forgot to include page numbers, shouting at people in the office because he wasn't satisfied with the quality of the paper, and sometimes referring to teams within the company as “useless”. 3. Addressing this issue, Bhavish said that not everyone is fit for the company's work culture. He doesn't want an easy journey for either himself or for Ola. BYJU'S raises $250 Mn: 1. BYJU's was looking to raise somewhere around 500 million dollars to 700 million dollars. So, the 250 million dollars round seems a bit low when compared to what they were targeting. 2. BYJU'S CEO Byju Raveendran also made a statement that the company's unit economics works and they are targeting profitability by the end of the ongoing financial year 2022-23. 3. To make this happen they will be taking a three-pronged approach and the focus on international markets will also be increased. They have consolidated their K-10 companies into a single business unit. Whereas Akash and Great learning will be operating separately. Funding this week: This week at least 13 Indian Startups raised more than $1 Million, in total raising $450 Mn. These are the top three- 1. BYJU'S raised $250 Million 2. Ather Energy raised $50 Mn 3. Progcap raised $50 Million Karnataka HC Allows Ola, Uber, Rapido To Continue Auto Services: 1. The Karnataka high court allowed Ola, Uber and Rapido to continue their auto services until the state government fixes their fares. 2. Apart from 5% GST, they can also charge users 10% of the base fare as convenience fee. 3. This is just a temporary direction until the government comes up with some fair set of rules and regulations and new base fares. Flipkart launched Flipverse: 1. Flipverse is an online shop where Flipkart's users will be able to buy products inside the metaverse. And this feature can be accessed literally by any of you guys right from the Flipkart app. 2. All you need to do is open Flipkart, navigate to Categories and tap on Firedrops. And you will enter the Flipverse.

Apple yesterday released a new iPad with its A14 chip, and an iPad Pro running on its M2 processor. Microsoft is laying off some staff, Wall Street Journal reports, and the company is planning a new data centre in India, according to Economic Times. Cloud startup funding in Europe, the US and Israel fell significantly in the September quarter, global VC firm Accel said in a report. And electric scooter maker Ather Energy has raised more money. Notes: Apple yesterday introduced a new iPad with an all-screen design featuring a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display. The new iPad runs on Apple's A14 Bionic chip, and the company promises all-day battery life. Apple yesterday also launched its new iPad Pro which is equipped with its most powerful processor, the M2 chip. The new iPads are available to order now, with availability in stores beginning Wednesday, Oct. 26. Microsoft laid off more employees this week, becoming the latest tech company to show signs of concern about future demand amid a global economic slowdown, Wall Street Journal reports. Meanwhile, Microsoft is planning to build a hyper scale data centre near the western Indian city of Pune, Economic Times reports. Facebook's parent Meta admitted defeat on Tuesday after Britain's competition regulators issued a final verdict ordering the company to sell Giphy, the animated image-making company it had acquired, CNBC reports. More than 40 European rivals to Google's shopping service urged EU antitrust regulators this week to use newly adopted tech rules to ensure that the internet search giant complies with a 2017 EU order to allow more competition on its search page, Reuters reports exclusively. Ather Energy, an electric scooter maker in Bangalore, has raised $50 million in a funding round led by its existing investor Caladium Investment, Economic Times reports, citing a company filing with the Registrar of Companies. Cloud startup funding in Europe, the US and Israel fell significantly in the September quarter, global VC firm Accel said in a report on its website yesterday. “If you look at the total capital raised by cloud companies in Europe, Israel and the US this year to date, there's not been a drastic change with total funding reaching $74 billion, just 12 percent lower than last year,” Accel's Philippe Botteri, Will Sheldon and Richard Kotite, said the report. “However, if you zoom in on Q3, the numbers show a very different picture with a sharp 42 percent decline,” they write, in the post, titled Accel 2022 Euroscape: Reset. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds

EV Infra of India In this podcast Shantanu Jog talks about the challenges of EV startup in India and how the EV culture is developing in India including the government schemes. - Shantanu Jog- Creative lead Ather Energy - Content Director- Ajay Choudhary - For more visit- https://www.niwwrd.in/ Niwwrd- https://www.instagram.com/niwwrd/

The electric two-wheelers are the best options to move toward a sustainable lifestyle. But how do we trust these products when there is no one telling us how safe they are? Especially after the incidents of electric scooters going up in flames. While all the brands decided to remain silent, Ather had something different in mind! Tune in to this episode of ‘The Advertiser's Guide To The Galaxy' with Karthik Srinivasan to find out how ‘Ather Energy' decided to address the burning issue using punchy humor and managed to communicate how ‘cool' their batteries are!Check out the Ad here: Ather Energy: Our batteries are cool. This video is even coolerUnion Carbide: Union Carbide - "Chick"Corning's Vision cookware:80s Commercials - Visions CookwareCheck out the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/C_uaFmq9X7ACheck out Karthik Srinivasan's blog here: https://beastoftraal.com/You can follow Karthik Srinivasan on social mediaLinkedIn : ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/karts/ )Twitter: ( https://twitter.com/beastoftraal )Instagram: ( https://www.instagram.com/beastoftraal )You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at https://shows.ivmpodcasts.com/featuredDo follow IVM Podcasts on social media.We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.Follow the show across platforms:Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavan, Gaana, Google Podcasts, Amazon MusicSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ather Energy, an electric scooter maker in Bengaluru, has released the next iteration of its popular 450X high-performance scooter. The Ather 450X-Gen3 has a bigger battery and more RAM. It will set you back by about Rs. 1,50,000. Shiprocket is expanding via Rs 200 crore stock-and-cash acquisition. And IIT Kanpur engineers have innovated a memory-muscle-based actuator that could improve India's space robotics efforts. Notes: Ather Energy, an electric scooter maker in Bengaluru, has released the next iteration of its popular 450X high-performance scooter. The new scooter, called Ather 450X Generation 3, is equipped with a bigger, more powerful 3.7 kWh battery that is 25 percent larger than the previous generation, the company said in a press release. The larger battery gives an ARAI-certified range of 146km and 105km based on Ather's TrueRange measurements. The scooter also has an upgraded dashboard, and more memory, at 2GB RAM, for applications to run. Showroom prices vary based on the city, from Rs. 1,37,612 in Ahmedabad to Rs. 1,57,402 in Hyderabad. The scooter is priced at Rs 1,55,657 in Bengaluru. The 450X-Gen3 is now in showrooms. Engineers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, have developed what they call a ‘bio-inspired artificial muscle' for next-generation space robots and medical prostheses. Encouraged by the industry demand and growth in the field of miniature, lightweight, non-magnetic gear-free actuators, shape memory alloy-based actuators have emerged with an excellent power-to-weight ratio as a suitable alternative to conventional actuators, the innovators, at the Smart Materials, Structures and Systems Lab, said in a press release. However, existing SMA actuators have limited scope in terms of higher force or torque output due to the relatively simple architecture of the actuation mechanism. To address this limitation, the engineers found a way to increase muscle force output per unit weight by about 70 percent. This will result in the creation of a new class of space robots which will help India's space technology efforts, they say. The team is led by Professor Bishakh Bhattacharya at the institute's department of mechanical engineering and includes Kanhaiya Lal Chaurasiya, senior project engineer, A Sri Harsha, and Yashaswi Sinha, project engineers. Their effort was backed by Portescap CSR funding, according to the press release. Shiprocket, which provides an online platform for SMEs and direct-to-consumer retailers to tap ecommerce channels, is acquiring Arvind Internet, better known for its brand Omuni, a similar business. The Rs. 200 crore transaction will be a combination of stock and cash. PharmEasy, an online pharmacy and medical services provider, is in talks to raise $200 million, but at a valuation that could be as much as 25 percent lower than last year's $5.1 billion, Reuters reports, citing two people with direct knowledge of the talks. The company, which offers online medicine deliveries and diagnostic test services, is in talks for raising money at a 15 percent lower valuation but has told its bankers to consider even a 25 percent reduction, if needed, to close the deal, according to Reuters. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds

In this week's episode of Think Fast, hosts Varun & Suchita begin by telling us about Ather Energy securing funding, Apple's latest hire- an ex-Ford employee, some more Elon Musk, First Cry delaying their IPO, and how White Hat Jr's employees quit on being called to the office. Further, Suchita deep dives into the rise of Athleisure and its foray into sub-segments like activewear, Tennis wear, and so on, the Sneakers market and how it's been growing and attracting not just the millennials but the older folks as well, how Jens and Emma Grede have been accelerating Celebrity led brands including the likes of the Kardashians, and Lady Gaga relaunching her own brand after a tryst with bad timing and decisions. Varun looks at a creator survey led by Patreon and its interesting insights, the peak of Start-up winter with brands like Swiggy, Zomato, and Meesho slowing down to conserve cash, and Instagram's foray into NFTs. Tune in for all this and more. Suchita Recommends a book: Anna: The Biography by Amy Odell(https://www.amazon.com/Anna-Biography-Amy-Odell/dp/1982122633)And a show: Bling Empire Season 2(https://www.netflix.com/watch/81039144?source=35)Varun recommends a show: The Lincoln Lawyer(https://www.netflix.com/watch/81335096?source=35&trackId=254743534)You can follow Varun Duggirala on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/varunduggi and on Instagram at https://instagram.com/varunduggiYou can follow Suchita Salwan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/suchitasalwan and on Instagram at https://instagram.com/suchitasalwanCheck out video episodes on the Think Fast YouTube Channel.(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbtHHMZ_01TyL3kXhJV4Ddg)You can follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.You can listen to this show and othe

Welcome to #69 episode of The Startup Operator Roundup. Today we have Roshan Cariappa and Gunjan Saha discussing -  Topics 1. Ather Energy raises $128 mn 2. GoKwik raises $35 mn deal in Series B 3. Razorpay announces $75 mn ESOP buyback 4. Swiggy to acquire Dineout from Times Internet  Click here to get regular updates on WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/ZUZQQGKCZTADL1 Hit the like button if enjoyed this roundup, and do not forget to share among your operator friends! Listen to our interviews and conversations with investors, operators, and founders on your favourite podcast platforms. #startups #unicorns  #technology #roundup #podcast #news --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

This week in Indian Startup News, 800 Whitehat Jr Employees resign, Swiggy shuts down supr daily, OYO IPO under trouble, Ola's chief marketing officer resigns. In funding and acquisition news, Great Learning Acquires Northwest Executive Education, OYO Acquires Croatia-Based Hospitality Service Provider Direct Booker, Ather Energy raises $128 Million, SirionLabs raises $85 Million and more. 800 Whitehat Jr Employees resign: At least 800 Whitehat Jr Employees have resigned in last two months as company asked all these employees to come to office from April 18. According to these employees, 1 month notice period is very less to move to a new city to join office and also company isn't giving a salary hike to these employees. Swiggy shuts down Supr Daily: Swiggy has shut down it's subscription based service Supr Daily in five out of six cities. It will continue in Bengaluru for now. Supr Daily was a daily delivery service for stuff like Milk, Bread and Eggs. Company has decided to shut it down to focus on its core business of food delivery and Grocery Delivery. OYO IPO under trouble: Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has reached out to SEBI asking to cancel OYO's upcoming IPO. According to FHRAI, Oyo is continuously running in losses, and it's IPO will make founders and management rich, while making common public poor. OYO has filed its DRHP in Sept 2021, and company is expected to go public in 2023. Ola's chief marketing officer resigns: Ola's chief marketing officer Varun Dubey has resigned from the company amidst other high profile exits like CTO Dinesh Radhakrishnan, CEO of Ola Cars Arun Sirdeshmukh, its Chief Financial Officer Swayam Saurabh, Chief Operating Officer Gaurav Porwal, HR head Rohit Munjal and General Counsel Sandeep Chowdhury. Great Learning Acquires Northwest Executive Education: Byju's-owned upskilling platform Great Learning has acquired Singapore-based Northwest Executive Education for a $100 million cash and stock deal. This acquisition will allow Great Learning to expand it upskilling offerings to senior employee segment as well. OYO Acquires Direct Booker: Travel and hospitality platform OYO has acquired Europe based company ‘Direct Booker' for $5.5 million. Direct Booker's portfolio primarily consists of vacation rental homes and this acquisition will strengthen OYO's presence in Europe broadly and Croatia specifically. Ather Energy raises $128 Million: EV startup Ather energy has raised $128 Million in it's series E round led by National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and Hero MotoCorp. The company plans to use the funds raised to expand its manufacturing facilities, invest in research and development, charging infrastructure and to grow its retail network. SirionLabs raises $85 Million: SaaS Platform Sirionlabs has raised $85 Million in its series D round. SirionLabs is focussed on contract lifecycle management and the company will use the fresh capital to boost product innovation and expand its enterprise customer base.

SoftBank's Vision Funds lost more than $27 billion in the last fiscal year, by far their worst performance on record, CNN reports. CEO Masayoshi Son said he will now play defence and be more selective about investments. Google teased its Pixel watch at its I/O conference, planned for a launch around September. Sachin Bansal adds Vidit Aatrey to Navi's board. And Ather has raised more money. Notes: SoftBank's Vision Funds lost more than $27 billion in the last fiscal year, by far their worst performance on record, CNN reports after the Japanese company reported earnings on May 12. The world's biggest tech investor said Thursday that the funds had recorded a loss of 3.5 trillion yen ($27.5 billion) in the year ended March. That was a significant reversal from the unit's performance from last year, when it had logged a healthy profit, according to CNN. At an earnings presentation in Tokyo, CEO Masayoshi Son acknowledged the losses and pledged to start taking a more conservative approach. "We, SoftBank, should be taking defence," he said, with the word Defense emblazoned on one of the slides of a presentation as well. Going forward, SoftBank will be more selective about which deals to take on, roll out stricter criteria for new investments, and focus on improving returns from its portfolio companies, he added. Google announced its long-awaited Pixel Watch on Wednesday, furthering the tech giant's expansion into hardware, CNET reports. The company teased its first smartwatch during its Google I/O conference but plans to reveal more details closer to the device's fall launch. Fall in the US starts towards the end of September. The watch has a domed circular design, runs on Google's Wear OS smartwatch software and includes some Fitbit health-tracking features. Google didn't announce a price but said it will be sold as a premium product, according to CNET. Ather Energy, one of India's leading electric two-wheeler companies, has raised $128 million in its Series E funding round, with investors including National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited's Strategic Opportunities Fund, Hero MotoCorp, and others. Ather Energy plans to use the funding to expand manufacturing facilities, invest in research and development, charging infrastructure and expand its retail network. The company registered its highest ever monthly sales, in April 2022, delivering 3,779 units to customers. Booking orders for Ather Energy's flagship product, the Ather 450X is growing at 25 percent quarter-on-quarter. Ather Energy is present in 32 cities with 38 showrooms and aims to expand to 150 in 100 cities by 2023. Navi Technologies Limited, Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal's financial services company, has appointed Vidit Aatrey, co-founder and CEO of Meesho as an independent director on its board of directors, effective April 9, 2022. Aatrey joins three other independent directors, Abhijit Bose, Shripad Nadkarni and Usha Narayanan. Navi's board now comprises seven members, including Bansal, co-founder Ankit Agrawal and Anand Sinha, a former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, the company said in a press release. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds

Pixxel, a space-technology startup in Bengaluru, has launched its first commercial imaging satellite to space. The company launched its first full-fledged commercial satellite, named Shakuntala (Technology Demonstrator-2) onboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket on April 1, according to a press release. Weighing less than 15 kg, Shakuntala (TD-2) is capable of capturing orbital images in more than 150 bands of colour from the visible and infrared spectrum with a resolution of 10-meters per pixel — far exceeding the specificity of 30-meter per pixel hyperspectral cameras on satellites from NASA, ESA, and ISRO, according to Pixxel's release. This launch also comes on the heels of Pixxel's $25 million Series A funding from Radical Ventures, Seraphim Space Capital, Relativity Space co-founder Jordan Noone, Lightspeed Partners, Blume Ventures, and Sparta LLC among others. More than 50 customers have also signed pre-launch agreements with Pixxel from sectors including agriculture, oil and gas, mining, and climate monitoring. Infosys, India's second-biggest IT services company, will release its fiscal fourth-quarter results on April 13, for the year ended March 31, 2022 (FY22). The Bangalore headquartered company's results are expected after markets in Mumbai, at around 4 p.m. IST, on the day. Expectations are high that Infosys will continue to accelerate its growth on the back of the strong demand for digital transformation projects as its customers around the world invest more in shifting workloads to the cloud, and embrace technology for a secure, hybrid workplace. In January, Infosys projected that it expects full-year revenues to increase by between 19.5 percent and 20 percent for FY22. Larger rival Accenture projected last month that it expects to grow revenues for its current fiscal year that ends on August 31, in the range of 24-26 percent, in local currency. Ather Energy, an electric scooter maker in Bangalore, sold 2,591 scooters in March, posting a 120 percent increase from the same period last year, according to the company's monthly sales report. Ather is also expanding its sales network, having added four new showrooms, including in Guwahati, Vijayawada, Tirupathi, and the third one in Bangalore. The company has previously said that it is currently fulfilling only a fraction of its orders due to a component shortage. It has also recently tied up with contract manufacturer Foxconn, to help ramp up production of its Ather 450 series of scooters. Atlassian, which makes cloud software for collaboration, expects to expand its venture fund to support more SaaS startups that are looking to work with its products and platform, including in India, the Nasdaq-listed Australian company said in a press release last week. Atlassian has a global R&D centre in Bangalore with more than 1,000 engineers. Over the last 18 months, the company has committed $110 million to Atlassian Ventures, and invested in 30 startups, according to the release. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds

Bharat Electronics and Airports Authority of India have entered into an agreement for the joint, indigenous development of systems for air traffic management and surface movement of aircraft at airports in the country, which were hitherto being imported. IBM has announced a collaboration with the Department of School Education, in the northeastern state of Nagaland, to introduce the IBM STEM for Girls programme. Police in Britain have arrested seven people over suspected connections to the Lapsus$ hacking group, which has in recent weeks targeted tech giants including Samsung, Nvidia, Microsoft and Okta, TechCrunch reports.“The City of London Police has been conducting an investigation with its partners into members of a hacking group. Seven people between the ages of 16 and 21 have been arrested in connection with this investigation and have all been released under investigation. Our enquiries remain ongoing,” the London Police said in a statement to TechCrunch. Bharat Electronics Limited and the Airports Authority of India have entered into an agreement for the joint, indigenous development of systems for air traffic management and surface movement of aircraft at airports in the country, which were hitherto being imported, BEL said in a press release. Under this Agreement, BEL and AAI will jointly develop a Civil Air Traffic Management System with Advanced-Surface Movement Guidance and Control System, a complex ground surveillance system that manages air traffic at airports and in Indian Civil Airspace for the safe operation of flights from take-off to landing. IBM has announced a collaboration with the Department of School Education, in the northeastern state of Nagaland, to introduce the IBM STEM for Girls program in more than 250 secondary and higher secondary schools across 15 districts in the State, the company said in a press release. This program will help more than 12,000 girls studying between eighth and 10th grade. Netcore Cloud, a SaaS company in the area of customer communication, engagement, and retention, has invested close to $100 million to acquire a majority stake in Unbxd Inc., a US-based, search-personalisation technology company, according to a press release. It will also be infusing additional funding into Unbxd to propel the company's growth in developed markets. Bolt, an EV Infrastructure Provider, has installed 10,000 charging stations in India in the past six months, the company said in a press release. The company wants to install a million charging stations in 500 cities across India and other emerging markets. Bolt is on track to deploy 100,000 charging points in the next six months in cities including Jaipur, Nagpur, Nashik, Chandigarh, Surat, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar and Vijayawada. Ather Energy, an electric scooter maker in Bangalore, has partnered with HDFC Bank and IDFC First bank to provide easy financing options to its consumers, the company said in a press release. These partnerships will allow Ather Energy customers to get instant loans from HDFC and IDFC First banks at low interest rates and with a maximum LTV (Loan-to-value). Ather Energy customers have preferred a 95 percent LTV option while choosing a financing option, with 2-3 years being the most preferred duration to repay the loan, according to the press release. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds

Welcome to #61 episode of The Startup Operator Roundup. Today we have Roshan Cariappa and Gunjan Saha discussing - 1. RBI's ban on PayTM payments bank 2. IPOs: EbixCash and Navi Technologies 3. Edtech News: Byju's fundraise & Unacademy opens store 4. Ather Energy partners with Foxconn India and more! Episodes mentioned: Atlan: https://youtu.be/bs93nW1PMik Kuku FM: https://youtu.be/fQ5brqhTT58 Click here to get regular updates on WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/ZUZQQGKCZTADL1 Hit the like button if enjoyed this roundup, and do not forget to share among your operator friends! Listen to our interviews and conversations with investors, operators, and founders on your favourite podcast platforms. #startups #unicorns #technology #roundup #podcast #news --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Amazon is allegedly employing suppliers in China with links to forced labour, according to a report from the Tech Transparency Project, a research group owned by the nonprofit watchdog organisation Campaign for Accountability. The report accuses Amazon of continuing to work with these suppliers, despite evidence of their association with Uyghur labour camps in China, and in one case, continuing to buy from a supplier that has been sanctioned by the US government for employing forced labour in China. In China, programmes euphemistically called “labour transfers” move workers from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, a predominantly Muslim area in western China, to factories in other parts of the country, according to the Tech Transparency Project (TTP). Three Amazon suppliers are reported to have used forced labour directly: Luxshare Precision Industry, AcBel Polytech, and Lens Technology. Another two, GoerTek and Hefei BOE Optoelectronics, are themselves supplied by factories that have been implicated in forced labour, according to TTP. Better.com, the online mortgage lender, whose CEO callously laid off 900 people over a zoom call three months ago, is about to lay off roughly half of its staff of about 8,000 this week, TechCrunch reports, citing sources within the company. This new round of layoffs is expected to happen tomorrow. The majority of its staff are in sales and operations roles, but the layoff is believed to be impacting the whole company and will directly affect approximately 4,000 people. Better.com has employees around the world, including in the US and India, according to TechCrunch. Electric two-wheelers are on the cusp of mass adoption in India, data from the Federation of Automobiles Dealers Association shows (FADA). Sales of electric two-wheelers jumped 433 percent to 32,443 units in February 2022, compared with 6,083 for the year-earlier period. Electric passenger vehicles also rose, by about 300 percent, to more than 2,350 units. Hero Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Ampere Vehicles and Ather Energy all saw big jumps in their sales. And Ola Electric saw sales of more than 3,900 electric scooters, according to FADA. Eruditus, an ed-tech startup focused on executive education, has closed a $350 million debt financing from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to fund its acquisition plans overseas, Economic Times reports, citing co-founder Ashwin Damera. Eruditus, which is backed by investors including SoftBank Group, is in talks for strategic acquisitions and plans to spend as much as $1 billion on these purchases, according to ET. The company plans to grow its gross annual bookings by 90 percent to around $950 million in the fiscal year 2023, as against an estimated $500 million in this fiscal year ending March 31. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds

Mindtree's founders have closed the inaugural fund at their early-stage venture capital firm Mela Ventures at Rs. 320 crore, well exceeding their initial target of Rs. 200 crore, Economic Times reports. EV company Ather Energy sold 2,042 scooters in February this year, a 140 percent increase over the same month in 2021. Plus, Sony has released a new wireless headphone for bass enthusiasts. Notes: Mindtree founders' VC firm closes first fund at 320 crore rupees Mindtree's founders have closed the inaugural fund at their early-stage venture capital firm Mela Ventures at Rs. 320 crore, well exceeding their initial target of Rs. 200 crore, Economic Times reports. Krishnakumar Natarajan and Parthasarathy NS started Mela after leaving Mindtree, their Bangalore based IT services company which was acquired by Larsen & Toubro Group. They will back companies in the business-to-business segment. Mela achieved the first close in August 2020 when it secured Rs. 130 crore from investors. The fund of funds from India's Small Industries Development Bank contributed a significant portion of Mela's first fund, while the rest came from investors including Nippon India Digital Fund, several family offices and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, according to ET. EV company Ather can't keep up with demand Ather Energy sold 2,042 scooters in February this year, a 140 percent increase over the same month in 2021, the company said in a newsletter. The company could have sold many more if it had been able to make them faster, according to the newsletter. Ather says that February's sales represent a fraction of the Bangalore-based electric scooter maker's pending pre-orders. Bizongo sees jump in revenue as textile units adopt its tech Bizongo, which provides an online platform for small manufacturers to digitalise their operations, saw its revenues increase 20-times to Rs. 600 crore in the last 11 months, on an annualised basis, as its solutions saw rapid adoption by the textile hubs of the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, the Bangalore startup said in a press release yesterday. A substantial part of the growth is driven by the digitalised and automated supply chain financing solution provided to manufacturers to help them with their credit and working capital needs. Bizongo has been helping MSMEs with collateral-free and minimum documentation working capital lines, according to the press release. Student loan startup Kuhoo raises $20 mln in seed funding Kuhoo, a fintech startup providing student loans, has raised $20 million in seed funding from WestBridge Capital. The Mumbai-based company founded by Prashant Bhonsle, a former banker, aims to provide online loans to students aspiring to study in universities in India and abroad. The company's products will cover engineering, MBA, executive education, online courses, coaching classes, and even-new age courses, it said in a press release. Sony releases WH-XB910 with more bass Sony India has launched a new overhead wireless headphones WH-XB910 featuring the company's EXTRA BASS technology, the company said in a press release on February 28th. The headphones are equipped with 40 mm drivers and they offer club-like bass, improved noise cancellation with dual-sensor noise technology, adaptive sound control, and up to 30 hours of battery life. The headphones are now on sale and will set you back by about Rs 15,000. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds

This week in Indian startup news, BharatPe vs Ashneer Grover controversy, Navi Technologies planning an IPO, Ather Energy planning to launch a new electric scooter, and Razorpay's first international acquisition. In funding news, ElasticRun raises $300 million to become a unicorn, Livspace raises $180 million to become a unicorn, Xpressbees raises $300 million to become a unicorn, Airmeet raises $35 million, Mintifi raises $40 million, Xto10X raises $25 million, Bugworks Research raises $18 million, Karbon Card raises $15 million, and Sprinto raises $10 million. BharatPe vs Ashneer Grover controversy: BharatPe has hired PwC to audit their books and there are already reports of financial fraud. Ashneer Grover on the other hand has denied all the allegations from the leaked audio clip to financial fraud. He now is asking the board to either pay him ₹4,000 crore for his 9.5% stake in the company if they want him gone or let him run the company. Navi Technologies planning an IPO: Sachin Bansal's latest fintech and insurtech venture Navi Technologies is gearing up for an IPO within four years of its launch. Navi Technologies provides loans and insurance to their customers and they've also launched their own mutual fund to offer more investment opportunities to their customers. Ather Energy planning to launch new electric scooter: While Ola continues to face production delays, their rival Ather Energy is gearing up to up the ante as they plan to launch a new variant of their electric scooter with a bigger battery with a longer range within the next six months. Ather's new electric scooter is expected to have a 110-115 km range – which could give Ola a run for their money. Razorpay's first international acquisition: Indian fintech giant Razorpay has acquired a majority stake in Curlec, a Malaysian recurring payments solution for businesses - marking their first international acquisition. ElasticRun raises $300 million to become a unicorn: Pune-based B2B e-commerce startup ElasticRun has raised $300 million in a round led by Softbank Vision Fund 2 at a $1.5 billion valuation – making them a unicorn. Livspace raises $180 million to become a unicorn: Home decor and renovation platform Livspace has raised $180 million in a round led by KKR at a $1.2 billion valuation – making them a unicorn. Xpressbees raises $300 million to become a unicorn: Pune-based logistics service provider Xpressbees has raised $300 million in a round led by Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth, ChrysCapital at a $1.2 billion valuation – making them India's 8th unicorn of 2022. Airmeet raises $35 million: Virtual events platform Airmeet has raised $35 million in a round led by Prosus Ventures and Sistema Asia Fund to add new experiences on their virtual events platform by investing in R&D and to expand their international business. Mintifi raises $40 million: B2B lending startup Mintifi has raised $40 million in a round led by Norwest Venture Partners and Elevation Capital to expand their lending product portfolio by adding products like BNPL solutions for SMEs. Xto10X raises $25 million: Binny Bansal's scaling platform for startups Xto10X has raised $25 million to help develop learning programmes, software tools and operating capabilities - that will enable startups to scale their operations. Bugworks Research raises $18 million: A clinical-stage biopharmaceutical startup Bugworks Research has raised $18 million in a round led by Lightrock India to support the development of its broad-spectrum antibacterial agent. Karbon Card raises $15 million: Karbon Card, which offers corporate cards to businesses and startups, has raised $15 million to offer complete neobanking services to businesses. Sprinto raises $10 million: SaaS-based compliance automation startup Sprinto has raised $10 million in a round led by Elevation Capital to open their first office in the US.

Last fortnight, Ather Energy raised $60M in its newest round, as Tesla got courted by Indian states to set up a manufacturing plant Article Link: https://ajuniorvc.com/electric-vehicles-future-ather-ola-bajaj-india-startup-tech-tesla/ More info on: https://ajuniorvc.com/

For this episode, CHRO of Ather Energy had joined us to discuss some of the major concerns in 2022 and also all the aspects of bringing employees back to the offices this year. Sunitha, besides being a CHRO, is also an author and talks about various aspects of leadership.

In August last year, when the government announced the sale of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers without a factory-fitted battery, industry and consumer alike were left a little perplexed. Fast forward to now, we realise that the government was acting with a forethought. And in October this year, the Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari told a conclave that 80% of two-wheelers and 30% of private vehicles will be electric by 2030. Battery price makes up as much as 50% of an electric vehicle's cost. An emerging trend to tackle the problem of high cost of EV adoption is battery swapping technology. Reliance BP Mobility signed an agreement with Mahindra and Mahindra earlier this month, which among other things, will explore battery swapping. The deal came at a time when two of India's biggest state-owned fuel retailers, Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum, announced their plans to offer charging stations at 17,000 petrol pumps.   But some believe that battery swapping is the better alternative to battery charging for a country like India. The biggest worry for any EV buyer is range anxiety or the worry that the battery will run out of power before a charging point is reached. And also the time taken in charging them. Battery swapping is designed to eliminate range anxiety as it is easier to set up a dense network of swapping stations even in urban areas. Not just this, electric charging takes time and Indian cities do not have physical spaces that can accommodate hundreds of vehicles when EVs become mainstream. Swapping addresses that problem too. Bengaluru-based scooter rental startup Bounce has launched an electric scooter without a battery pack that's priced at just Rs 45,000. This model comes with a subscription to the company's battery-as-a-service product. Customers can stop at any battery swapping station in Bounce's network and instantly replace their depleted batteries with fully-charged ready-to-go batteries.    Bounce co-founder and CEO Vivekananda discussed with us the merits of battery swapping as compared to charging With big players like Reliance Industries, BP and Mahindra moving into this space in India, we can expect standardisation to evolve soon. Further, several states including Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra are providing incentives and subsidies to set up battery swapping stations.  In China and in the US, some companies have already set up automated swapping stations for cars, which is particularly useful for commercial fleet operators. As for Bounce, it is competing with companies like Ather Energy and Ola Electric, both of which depend on charging networks. Bounce's first electric scooter will hence serve as a test case for the promise the battery swapping technology holds.  Just like the e-rickshaws, we may see the proliferation of electronic scooters and three-wheelers in the days to come. And the battery swapping technology will only make the transition smoother.  Watch video

Link to the test assignment mentioned in the news video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w86xLBBJ7clLGOjfc-Vw-JCf4nHIypnc/view?usp=sharing This week in Indian startup news, India's first crypto unicorn CoinDCX is planning for IPO, Snapdeal to file for IPO, Ather Energy to set up a new manufacturing facility and CRED acquires Happay. In funding news, Slice raises $220 million to become India's 39th unicorn this year, Curefit raises $145 million to become India's 40th unicorn this year and Simpl raises $40 million. India's first crypto unicorn CoinDCX is planning for IPO: India's first crypto unicorn CoinDCX is planning to go public once the government's regulations are in place. With more than 100 million crypto investors in India, everyone is waiting for the government's regulations on cryptocurrencies. CoinDCX believes that their IPO will bring a lot of confidence in India's crypto market. Snapdeal to file for IPO: Indian e-commerce startup Snapdeal is planning to raise $250 million from the public at a $1.5 billion valuation. They were previously planning to raise funds at a $2.5 billion valuation but seems to have valued their startup cautiously after an unsuccessful IPO by Paytm. Ather Energy to set up a new manufacturing facility: EV startup Ather Energy is setting up their second manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu to expand their capacity from 1.2 lakh to 4 lakh scooters per year – due to the rising demand for their electric scooters in the market. Their sales have been growing at 20% year on year due to which their first manufacturing facility is already at full capacity. CRED acquires Happay: Fintech startup CRED, which rewards you for paying your credit card bills, has acquired corporate expense management platform Happay - in a deal estimated to be around $180 million. This acquisition will give CRED access to Happay's 1 million users and 6,000 businesses - while allowing CRED users to get access to Happay's expense management platform. Slice raises $220 million to become India's 39th unicorn this year: Fintech startup Slice, which calls itself India's best credit card challenger has raised $220 million in a round led by Tiger Global and Insight Partners – valuing them at over $1 billion and making them India's 39th unicorn this year. Curefit raises $145 million to become India's 40th unicorn this year: Curefit has raised $145 million in a round led by Zomato - valuing them at $1.25 billion and making them India's 40th unicorn this year. Simpl raises $40 million: Buy now, pay later platform Simpl has raised $40 million in a round led by Valar Ventures and IA Ventures to help enhance their customer and merchant experience by building a loyalty program and to bring Simpl solutions to offline neighbourhood stores.

Tarun Mehta , Co-Founder & CEO Ather Energy chats with Amit Somani, Managing Partner Prime Venture Partners.Listen to the podcast to learn about01:50 - Ather Energy's Founding Story07:45 - Customer Discovery: Loved the Tech Hated the Product09:30 - How to think about Entrepreneurship as a Student15:00 - Opportunities for Entrepreneurs in the EV space18:40 - Working with the Government24:30 - Supply Chain in India: IC Vs EV31:15 - Working with Coaches & Advisors as a Founder Click here to read the full transcriptNext, listen to an entrepreneur on how to build large global businesses from small Indian cities. Rohith Bhat is a  parallel entrepreneur who started three companies: Robosoft Technologies, Global Delight and 99Games. Robosoft Technologies started in 1996 and had Apple Inc. as the first customer.  Robosoft was acquired by  TechnoPro of Japan in 2021 for $100m+. Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this.Follow Prime Venture Partners:Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_inLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Diwali just got over, and following the fatal trend of smog in the nation's capital for the past five years, it is here again.It is alarming to recognize that India is home to 7 of the top 10 cities globally, notorious for its air pollution levels.With increasing incomes, more and more people can afford cars, increasing the severity of the already worse air pollution scenario due to fossil fuels.All this emphasizes the need for greener transportation alternatives. Despite the bad news, we have several large companies and startups leading the way to clean modes of travel, be it the prominent players like Tata Motors, MG, and Hyundai or the startups like Ola Electric, Ather Energy, Yulu, and Blu Smart, among others.In today's episode, we've brought Arpit Agarwal, Director at Blume Ventures, to talk about the current scenario of EV startups in India. During the episode, Arpit talks about the various challenges and opportunities for EVs in India, some of Blume's portfolio companies, how they contribute to India's EVs revolution, and much more.Notes - 02:40 - Future of EVs in general06:01 - Adoption by TCO positive segments07:25 - 5-year use case of an electric scooter10:13 - Key challenge in EV market17:22 - Challenge with charging stations24:30 - Opportunities for EV in India under various sub-segments32:53 - Large players engaging with the EV ecosystem34:12 - Funding & duration of developing an EV from scratch37:28 - Future of mobility C.A.S.E.

How does Ather Energy CEO Tarun Mehta see the EV two-wheeler space evolving in the coming months, and how is his company scaling up capacity to benefit from it? How did Ather Energy achieve $100-million annual run rate in less than a year to become possibly India's biggest EV two-wheeler maker by revenue? How close is the company to breaking even? In this exclusive interview Mehta discusses all these and more with Business Standard's Surajeet Das Gupta. Highlights of the Q&A:   You being one of the first to be in the two-wheeler EV space, where do you see this segment going forward?   ·        Initial goal: Sway a Honda Activa buyer towards EV ·        EV prices are comparable to petrol alternatives ·        EV space to grow at 14-15% m-o-m for the next three to five years ·        Majority of scooters in India are likely to be electric in the next four years   What are your expansion plans?   ·        Ather Energy growing over 20% m-o-m since Nov 2020 ·        Suppliers asked to quadruple their capacities ·        Expanding on new production line and ramping up capacities across the board ·        Presently 23 experience centres in India ·        Estimated 120 to 150 retail outlets by end of 2022   How many cities do you plan to have presence in?   ·        Ather Energy is present in 24 cities in India ·        Estimated to have presence in more than 100 cities by next Diwali ·        Around 140 outlets by the same time ·        Aim: Scale up monthly production to 25,000 to 30,000 units   For this kind of ramp up, you will require more investment. While all kinds of startups have got some fancy valuations, the valuation of two-wheelers and asset-rich companies they have not really gone up. How are you addressing this?   ·        Product businesses require time and effort to set up ·        Ather is the first hardware startup in India to cross the $100 million run rate in a year ·        Ather is the largest EV two-wheeler company in India by revenue   With this kind of pace when do you think you can break even?   ·        In the next couple of years, Ather expects to reach positive EBITDA ·        This doesn't account for the expansion triggered by new product lines in international markets   When you say $100 million run rate, what are you expecting in terms of actual revenues?   ·        Ather retail revenue for Oct 2021 – Rs 64-crore ·        Retail revenue to cross Rs 100-crore in the next 3/4 months   Ola have, in many ways, attempted to disrupt the two-wheeler market and looking at a capacity of 10 million, which is almost half of entire two-wheeler market in India. How do you see that as a competition for Ather?   ·        Ola's announcement helped EV sales to increase by 60% in last 2/3 months ·        Response more from Tier-II and Tier-III cities ·        Announcements help people to be aware and excited about electric mobility ·        Competition improves supply chain and business viability Competition brings down prices and production timelines 

Facing flak from various quarters, the Haryana government amended its draft bill which sought to reserve 75% of private jobs for its residents. It brought down the salary ceiling to Rs 30,000 from the proposed Rs 50,000 and slashed the residency requirement from 15 years to five. The move allayed some concerns of private sector giants in Gurugram as most of their employees earn way beyond Rs 30,000. But what about the smaller industries, whose workers get less than Rs 30,000 and are from neighbouring states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar?   The RBI has launched a Retail Direct scheme, called RBI-RD, allowing retail investors to directly invest in govt securities. While this is being seen as a process towards making gilt investing hassle-free, analysts are a little cautious on the road ahead as equity investing remains the flavour on the Street.   How does Ather Energy CEO Tarun Mehta see the EV two-wheeler space evolving in the coming months, and how is his company scaling up capacity to benefit from it? How did Ather Energy achieve $100-million annual run rate in less than a year to become possibly India's biggest EV two-wheeler maker by revenue? How close is the company to breaking even? In this exclusive interview Mehta discusses all these and more with Business Standard's Surajeet Das Gupta.   India's UPI system has pushed digital payments in a big way and we keep hearing every month about record transactions – both in value and volume terms – on this medium. But that system of payments requires a smartphone. Taking this a notch higher, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August 2021 launched e-RUPI vouchers to transfer the benefits of government welfare programmes. A person- and purpose-specific contactless digital payment system, these vouchers do not require beneficiaries to own a smartphone. But how does e-RUPI work? How would somebody using a simple feature phone use it for receiving funds and making payments?   Listen to these and more in today's Business Standard Morning Show podcast.

From established names like Tata Motors to new-age technology companies like Ather Energy and Ola, the automobile sector is shifting its focus to electric vehicles in view of an unprecedented rise in pollution levels and the climate change crisis therefore. The first breed of EVs to come out in the market are battery electric vehicles. Though good, these vehicles are not an alternative to the internal combustion engine, or ICE-based, vehicles simply because they have a limited range-per-charge capacity and are dependent on external charging systems. On that note, the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles, or FCEVs as they are called, make a better alternative to ICEs-based vehicles.  How? Let's find out What is a Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle? The FCEV is a type of electric vehicle that does not require external charging, but a fuel like Hydrogen to generate current required by the electric vehicle for mobility and to charge the built-in batteries for auxiliary functions. Much like the ICE-based vehicles, the FCEVs will require fuel but a green one that does not pollute the environment. How do FCEVs work: The FCEVs are electric vehicles that derive energy from a fuel cell powered by hydrogen, instead of drawing it only from a battery. Unlike conventional electric vehicles, where the battery is the primary source for vehicle traction, FCEVs use electricity generated by hydrogen-powered fuel cells and need the battery for auxiliary functions like starting the vehicle or storing energy generated from regenerative braking. Therefore, the FCEVs do not require plug-in capability to charge the battery but need hydrogen as a fuel to operate. Are FCEVs available in India? FCEVs are currently not available in India, but they have been tested here. Earlier in 2021, the country's largest power generator, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), had asked the automobile industry to procure such vehicles for pilot projects. News reports suggest that international automobile makers Toyota and Hyundai Motor, and India's Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and KPIT Technologies had shown interest in the initiative.

The government should have a relook at its recently announced automobile PLI scheme. Consider this: We Indians predominantly travel on two wheels. Two-wheelers accounted for 81 per cent of the domestic automobile market in 2019-20. In fact, India is the world's largest market for two-wheelers. Domestic market share in 2019-20: Passenger Vehicles: 13% Commercial Vehicles: 3% Three-wheelers: 3% Two-wheelers: 81% According to SIAM data, while the share of two-wheelers in the domestic automobile market in 2019-20 was 81%, passenger vehicles accounted for 13%, and three-wheelers and commercial vehicles 3% each. So, if we were looking to shift our vehicle fleet to EVs anytime soon, electric two-wheelers would have to play a large role. This is why it's bad news that the government's productivity-linked incentive scheme for the auto sector has little for pure-play electric two-wheeler firms, including start-ups. Shortcomings in automobile PLI scheme: The policy has left pure-play electric two-wheeler firms disappointed The policy is structured only for the big players The policy leaves start-ups out of its ambit Only large auto firms or new entrants with financial muscle will benefit In particular, executives from the companies concerned say that the policy, structured mainly for the big players, leaves start-ups out of its ambit. They claim that the stiff criteria regarding annual revenues and fixed asset block for eligibility mean that the policy's benefits will only be enjoyed by large existing auto companies or a new entrant that has financial muscle.   To be eligible as automotive champions, automobile OEMs must have a minimum revenue of 10,000 crore rupees with a fixed asset block of 3,000 crore rupees. Two-wheeler firms also have to invest 1,000 crore rupees in five years. Two-wheeler EV firms ineligible for PLI scheme: Hero Electric Ather Energy Okinawa Autotech That leaves pure-play electric two-wheeler firms out in the cold. For example, market leader Hero Electric, along with Ather Energy and Okinawa Autotech, is ineligible for the PLI scheme. They will have to make do with just the FAME and state-led incentive schemes.   Fame stands for "Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles", and is the name of a scheme whose first phase began in 2015. According to sources, Ola Electric may be considered a "new player" under the PLI scheme. It has invested 2,400 crore rupees into the sector and has just launched its scooters. Incentive slabs for Champion OEM and New Non-Automotive Investors Determined sales value (Rs cr) 4,000 Incentives as % of determined sales value: 13% to 16%   Cumulative determined sales value of Rs 10,000 crore over 5 years: Additional 2% YoY growth of minimum 10% in determined sales value has to be achieved to receive incentives Let's take a look at the incentive slabs for Champion OEM and New Non-Automotive Investors. Their determined sales value has to be Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000. The incentives would be 13% to 16% of their determined sales value. A cumulative determined sales value of Rs 10,000 crore over 5 years would get another 2%. A minimum of 10% year-on-year growth has to be achieved in determined sales value to receive incentives. For the cost-conscious Indian customer, two-wheelers will always be a viable mode of transport. Consider the following... Recently, Ola Electric said that it sold e-scooters worth over 1,100 crore rupees in just two days, during its sale of the Ola S1 and S1 Pro scooters. The company said that this was unprecedented not just in the automobile industry, but also represented one of the highest sales in a day, by value, for a single product in Indian e-commerce history. Clearly, there is demand for electric two-wheelers, and the government should keep that in mind while framing its policies.

Tarun took the aspirational middle-class education route. Being a good student in high school, he prepared for Engineering Entrance and got a decent rank to get into IIT. Growing up, he had no exposure to how businesses worked. This changed when out of curiosity he joined his institute's entrepreneurship cell and gradually developed an interest in building products. But it was not something he imagined he would do in the near future. A few months later, he got in touch with his batchmate Swapnil who shared a similar experience. In college, the two would often have long discussions around sustainable energy and had worked on many projects together. Brainstorming business ideas and analyzing the worst-case scenario, the two developed the conviction to quit their jobs and build something they were passionate about. Tarun had been fascinated by the Electric vehicle space and figured as the sector grows there would be a dire need for good charging infrastructure. Thus, Ather Energy was born. Inside a student hostel in Madras, far away from the Indian startup hub, by 2 graduates who had no knowledge of Electronics. For more details visit: ajuniorvc.com/podcast

Siddhartha Lal has resurrected Eicher Motors and Royal Enfield to make it a cult. But dipping sales and the recent shareholder blowback has halted its cruise. Auto industry veteran Avik Chattopadhyay and ET's Ketan Thakkar discuss whether the company will ride into the electric age, or face disruption. Credits: Royal Enfield, TV-18, ET Now, Auto X, Jay Leno's Garage, Economic Times, NDTV, Ather Energy, ZigWheels, AC/DC, T-Series, Silly Monks Music, Vgrooves.

This week in Indian Startup News, Former Paytm director claiming to be the co-founder of Paytm wants to stall their IPO, Ola's electric scooter S1 launched, Simple Energy launches world's longest-range electric scooter Simple One, Grofers' 10-minute express delivery reaches 10 cities, Dream Sports acquires Rolocule Games and Polygon acquires Hermez Network for $250 million. In funding news, Postman raises $225 million, Rapido raises $52 million, UpScalio raises $42.5 million and Smallcase raises $40 million. Ola's electric scooter S1 launched: Ola's much anticipated electric scooter S1 and S1 Pro are finally launched and they come with a range of 121 km and 181 km per charge. Ola's electric scooter can be charged 50% in just 18 minutes and they have priced Ola's S1 at Rs 99,999 and S1 Pro at Rs 1.29 lakh. Simple Energy launches the world's longest-range electric scooter Simple One: Alongside Ola, Simple Energy also launched their own electric scooter called Simple One – with a range of 236 km/charge, it claims to be the world's longest-range electric scooter. They have also priced it competitively with their counterparts Ola Electric and Ather Energy at Rs 1.10 lakh. Former Paytm director claiming to be the co-founder of Paytm wants to stall their IPO: Ashok Kumar Saxena, who claims to be a co-founder of Paytm and served as the director of the company from 2000 to 2004, has said that he was wrongfully removed from the fintech startup. Now, he doesn't just want to get the shares in the IPO-bound Paytm but also wants to be recognised as the co-founder. He is urging SEBI to stall Paytm's IPO until things are cleared up. Ixigo files for IPO: Online travel booking platform Ixigo is set to go public as they have filed for a Rs 1,600 crore IPO. Despite the travel industry being stuck by the pandemic, Ixigo managed to turn a profit of $1 million on the revenue of $18.5 million. Grofers' 10-minute express delivery reaches 10 cities: Online grocery delivery startup Grofers' has expanded its express delivery service to 10 cities and they plan on bringing down their average delivery time from 15 to just 10 minutes. Dream Sports acquires Rolocule Games: Dream Sports, the parent company of fantasy gaming startup unicorn Dream11, has acquired mobile games developer Rolocule Games to expand their portfolio of companies. Post-acquisition, Rolocule Games will be called Dream Game Studio and will continue to be headed by its founder Rohit Gupta. Polygon acquires Hermez Network for $250 million: In a first of its kind deal, Indian crypto startup Polygon has acquired another Ethereum-based crypto startup Hermez Network in a deal worth $250 million. For the first time ever, two blockchain networks – Polygon and Hermez Network will be merging together. Postman raises $225 million: Postman, a SaaS startup that helps developers to build APIs, has raised $225 million in a round led by Insight Partners at a valuation of $5.6 billion – making them India's most valuable SaaS startup. Rapido raises $52 million: Bike taxi aggregator Rapido has raised $52 million led by WestBridge to expand their market share in the bike-sharing space and grow their three-wheeler and hyperlocal delivery business. UpScalio raises $42.5 million: Thrasio-style startup UpScalio, which helps digital-first brands to scale their business, has raised $42.5 million in a round led by Presight Capital. Smallcase raises $40 million: Smallcase, a fintech startup that helps users to invest in stocks, has raised $40 million in a round led by Faering Capital.

Tesla's advanced driver assistance system, Autopilot, is being investigated by the US auto safety regulators after a series of crashes at emergency sites, according to multiple news reports. The investigation, by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, covers an estimated 765,000 Tesla Model Y, X, S and three vehicles from the 2014 model year onward. And in our tech conversation today, Ather Energy's Ravneet Phokela explains why the company is open sourcing its electric vehicle charging connector

This week in Indian Startup News, Zomato IPO date and Paytm IPO update, CCI could probe Zomato and Swiggy for anti-competitive behaviour, Ather Energy's plans to compete with Ola Electric, Flipkart's foray into social commerce, MPL to enter the US market and PlaySimple gets acquired for a whopping $360 million. In funding news, Pine Labs closes $600 million round, Digit Insurance raises $200 million, Licious raises $192 million and Furlenco raises $140 million. Zomato IPO date and Paytm IPO update: Zomato's IPO is all set to launch on July 14th – offering shares worth Rs 9,375 crore ($1.25 billion) for sale – valuing the food delivery giant at around $9 billion. However, since Zomato is a loss-making company – retail investors will only have access to 10% of these shares. Also, Paytm is expected to file for IPO later this month. CCI could probe Zomato and Swiggy for Anti-Competitive behaviour: National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) has asked the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to probe Zomato and Swiggy for anti-competitive behaviour – accusing them of deep discounting and data masking. Ather Energy's plans to compete with Ola Electric: While Ola Electric is busy doubling down on their electric scooter manufacturing facility, their competitor Ather Energy is also ramping up the capacity of their manufacturing facility from 110,000 to 500,000 units by the end of 2022. They have already set aside $87 million for their factory and are also expanding their charging network from 140 to 500 by the end of this year. Flipkart's foray into social commerce: E-commerce behemoth Flipkart has launched its own social e-commerce platform Shopsy to empower 25 million entrepreneurs by enabling them to set up their own businesses by 2023. MPL to enter the US market: After a successful run in India and foray in Indonesia, Mobile Premier League (MPL) is now expanding into the US to replicate their success through their paid games and competitions. PlaySimple gets acquired for a whopping $360 million: Swedish gaming firm Modern Times Group (MTG) has acquired Indian mobile gaming startup PlaySimple in a deal worth a whopping $360 million – making it one of the biggest exits in the Indian startup ecosystem. Pine Labs closes $600 million round: Digital payments and commerce platform Pine Labs has raised $600 million in a round led by Fidelity and BlackRock as they look to IPO in the next 18 months. Digit Insurance raises $200 million: Insurtech startup Digit Insurance has raised $200 million in a round led by Sequoia Capital India and IIFL Alternate Asset Managers at a valuation of $3.5 billion. Licious raises $192 million: Fresh meat and seafood delivery startup Licious has raised $192 million in a round led by Temasek and Multiples Private Equity. Furlenco raises $140 million: Online furniture rental startup Furlenco has raised $140 million in a round led by Zinnia Global Fund.

Show notes: In this episode, we imagine a future where India has completely shifted to electric vehicles. Just charge your vehicle's battery and you're all set to go. Imagine never having to worry about rising petrol prices; and never having to inhale the toxic smoke that petrol and diesel cars, bikes and buses spew into the air. By emitting less carbon dioxide, you're also helping the planet and securing your future. After all, electric vehicles are said to be the green transport of our future. What would it take for a country like India to get to this all-electric-vehicle future? And can this future be truly, truly green? Guests: Subject experts: Naveen Munjal, the managing director of Hero Electric. Dr. Jai Asundi, the executive director of the Centre for Study of science, technology and policy (CSTEP), a think tank based in Bangalore. Swagata Dey, a trained materials chemist and an environmental researcher, based in Delhi. People who drive or own electric vehicles, in order of appearance: Gauranga Biswas, an experienced driver who now drives a Tata Nexon EV. Abiramasundari, a chemistry researcher based in Ahmedabad. Has owned an e-scooter by Yo-Bikes since 2005. Sandhya Ramesh, science editor at the Print India. Owns and drives an e-scooter by Ather Energy since 2018. Rohit Gupta, co-founder of Buddhimed, a healthcare startup in Bangalore. He owns and drives a Tata Nexon EV. Imagined Tomorrow is created and hosted by Shreya Dasgupta. The episode was co-edited by Abhishek Madan. Intro and outro music is by Abhijit Shylanath. Get in touch via Twitter, or email imagined.tomorrow@gmail.com. Episode music: Interlude music by George-Sundancer, TattooedPreacher and Zen_Man from Pixabay. Episode artwork: Image by Pixaline from Pixabay Further reading and transcript: Head over to the website: https://imaginedtomorrow.com/

The Ather 450X has caught the imagination of consumers looking for a high-performance, connected two-wheeler in India's fast-changing electric vehicle market. With a new factory, the success of the new scooter, and expansion into several cities this year, Bengaluru's Ather Energy is ready to move into serious production mode. ‘Positive unit economics' have kicked in too, Ather's cofounders, CEO Tarun Mehta and CTO Swapnil Jain elaborate on everything going on at the EV maker

インドで2タイプ（450, 450X）の電動スクーターを販売している。 上位機種である450Xには、７インチのディスプレイが搭載されており、Googleマップによるナビゲーションシステム、音楽再生や通話機能もある。 背景として、WHOのレポートによるとインドの首都ニューデリーの大気汚染は世界ワースト1。 大気汚染の原因は、ディーゼルエンジンや石炭火力発電所、産業排出物、野焼きなどが挙げられる。 ★Ather Energy https://www.atherenergy.com/ ★Youtube紹介動画 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKzZfHmzcM8 ★AFERICAの記事 https://afelica.com/asia/india/ather-energy/ ★Cjnet japanの記事 https://japan.cnet.com/article/35092511/ ★だいじろうのTwitter（ご意見お待ちしてます！） https://twitter.com/daijirostartup #海外　#スタートアップ　#インド #電動バイク #スクーター #EV #排気ガス #環境汚染 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/daijirostartup/message