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Hello,

It’s not even been a month into 2024 and we already have a unicorn.

Krutrim, Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal’s LLM startup, raised $50 million from Matrix Partners India and others at a valuation of $1 billion. It is one of the fastest companies to enter the unicorn club, achieving the valuation just 40 days after the product launch.

Meanwhile, the 75th Republic Day parade was unlike any other.

The parade featured an unprecedented display of women empowerment and gender inclusivity in all spheres of India’s economy, including the country’s armed forces.

The day saw all-women tri-service contingents marching down the Kartavaya Path. The Central Armed Police Forces contingents also made history by being exclusively composed of women personnel.

In other news, Zee Entertainment has withdrawn from a $1.4 billion licensing agreement with Disney Star for TV broadcast rights for cricket matches as a consequence of the collapse of its merger deal with Sony. It reportedly failed to make the initial payment of approximately $200 million. 

ICYMI: Take a look at the history of sarees.

Lastly, meet Foxconn chief Young Liu, a Taiwanese national, who has been honoured with Padma Bhushan.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• What women want from Budget 2024
• MSME concerns for Budget 2024
• Coming together to save a life

Here’s your trivia for today: Which was the first book to be printed? 

Union Budget

What women want from Budget 2024

According to Women in India’s Startup Ecosystem Report (WISER), women accounted for 35% of the startup workforce in 2022. Last year’s Union Budget took measures to boost women’s micro-entrepreneurship.

HerStory spoke to women from the Indian startup ecosystem about their expectations and the way forward.

Expectations:

• The 2024 Budget should look at incentivising domestic as well as foreign investors for gender-lens investing in India, says Hardika Shah, Founder and CEO, Kinara Capital.
• The GYAN (Gareeb, Yuva, Annadata & Nari) formula signals a commitment to women, and I expect a significant rise in allocation for health, safety, education, and a dedicated fund for women entrepreneurs—Swati Bhargava, Co-founder, CashKaro and EarnKaro.
• The female workforce, especially female entrepreneurs, expect the Centre to give extra incentives and Production Linked Incentives (PLI) schemes to support them, says Dr Garima Sawhney, Co-founder, Pristyn Care.

Top Deals of the Week

Startup: SK Finance

Amount: Rs 1,328 Cr

Round: Equity

Startup: Vivifi India Finance

Amount: $75M

Round: Debt and equity

Startup: Krutrim

Amount: $50M

Round: Equity

Union Budget

MSME concerns for Budget 2024

Indian MSMEs have high expectations from Union Budget 2024, including policies for streamlining business operations, PLI schemes, incentives, and credit lines, among many others.

Bucket list:

• “More PLI opportunities in the power sector, waste management and recycling sector, alternative products for the infra sector, electronics manufacturing sector, and health sector will support the inclusive growth of the future,” says Amit Kumar, Founder of MSMEx.
• Dinesh Gulati, COO of IndiaMART, believes that digitalisation is critical to integrating unregistered MSMEs, aided by portals like UDYAM, eShram, and ASEEM portals.
• Kapil Bhatia, Founder and CEO of UNIREC, wishes to see encouragement and incentives for the expansion of sustainable firms to continue businesses’ transition to become more environmentally conscious. 

Animal Rights

Coming together to save a life

Before entering The Velveteen Rabbit, a popular restobar in Chennai, one has to say hello to the in-house pupper Jack Daniels, or JD as he’s fondly called, and get kissed on the face.

In November last year, the two-year-old indie was run over by a speeding vehicle and suffered multiple fractures. Patrons of the restobar didn’t think twice before rallying together to save his life and help him get back on his feet. 

Humanity:

• Two years ago, the dog had taken refuge at Sharath’s home after being injured by a speeding vehicle. Sharath handed over JD to The Velveteen Rabbit, who then became the dog’s guardian. 
• Around 35 people—many of them regulars at the bar—raised Rs 75,00 to pay for JD’s treatment and recovery in the safety of a shelter that specialises in the care of disabled canines.  
• People who contributed to saving JD’s life are now talking about setting up a charity box for street animals or a QR code for donations to an animal welfare organisation—to be put up at bars, cafés and libraries. 

News & updates

• Shuffle: JPMorgan Chase said several executives considered frontrunners to one day take over for CEO Jamie Dimon had new or expanded roles. Jennifer Piepszak, co-head of JPMorgan’s giant consumer bank, will now become co-head of the firm’s commercial and investment bank along with Troy Rohrbaugh.
• More layoffs: Salesforce is laying off about 700 employees, or roughly 1% of its global workforce in the latest round of job cuts to hit the tech industry. However, Salesforce still has 1,000 jobs open across the company, implying that the move could be more of a routine adjusting of the company’s workforce.
• Contamination: Elon Musk’s brain implant company Neuralink was fined for violating US Department of Transportation rules regarding the movement of hazardous materials. Inspectors also found improper packaging of hazardous waste, including the flammable liquid Xylene, which can cause headaches, dizziness, confusion, loss of muscle coordination, and even death.

Which was the first book to be printed?

Answer: Diamond Sutra. It was printed in China in 868 CE using the Dunhuang block print technique.

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