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Shadowfax ventures into on-demand delivery.

Ecommerce service provider Shadowfax has launched Flash—its on-demand delivery service app—which facilitates instant delivery services within cities. With a promise of 30-minute deliveries, the newly launched app competes directly with Dunzo.

In other news, neobank Open and corporate payment solutions provider EnKash have received final approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as Payment Aggregators.

Also, social media unicorn ShareChat has laid off around 15% of its workforce to trim its costs. This is the third such drive that ShareChat has taken this year. In January, it let go of 20% of its employees, impacting 420 jobs. In February, it undertook more job cuts after scaling down its live commerce division.

And, it is the end of an era for electronics giant Toshiba as it was delisted on Wednesday after 74 years on the Tokyo exchange. 

A timeline of Toshiba’s fall from grace.  

ICYMI: Taters the cat starred in an ultra-high-definition video that NASA beamed to Earth from the depths of space. 

The 15-second clip, which was sent from a record-setting 19 million miles away via laser, shows the cat chasing a laser beam!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• The GenZ take on work culture in 2023
• Helping small brands sell big
• Aditya Birla Capital’s fintech strategy

Here’s your trivia for today: Which is the highest motorable road in the world?

Trends

The GenZ take on work culture in 2023

Despite the layoffs this year, many Gen Z workers did not hesitate to make unconventional decisions at work. As per a study published in Frontiers, Gen Z prioritises individual expression over labels.

“Gen Z champions work-life balance, workplace diversity, and mental wellbeing. With an individualistic approach, they prioritise self-awareness,” says Anup Tripathi, Assistant Professor of Sociology at FLAME University.

Generational shift:

• “In a paradigm shift, this generation prioritises ‘I’ because they have awareness of their needs, and are driven by the pursuit of self-actualisation. This is either fuelled by generational wealth/privilege or good quality education, or both,” Tripathi explains.
• Higher rates of anxiety, depression, and distress—Gen Z professionals are experiencing them more than other generations in the workplace, a study by Forbes found. 
• Deloitte, in a report, says diversity is the watchword for Gen Z. It is not just isolated to race and gender but also related to identity and orientation.

<Funding Alert>

Startup: Intract 

Amount: $3M

Round: Equity

Startup: Finhaat

Amount: $3M

Round: Seed

Startup: Alt Carbon

Amount: $550,000

Round: Pre-seed

Startup

Helping small brands sell big

Oyela, a network-driven collaborative commerce platform, helps small business owners on social media platforms with the tools, resources, and mentorship to expand their run-out-of-home businesses. The startup helps businesses set up and manage their digital storefronts by providing them with tools to collaborate with other sellers, streamline their operations, and enhance their social reach. 

Key offerings:

• The integration of the social media automation feature facilitates the export of products as posts on Instagram, automates customer interaction, and streamlines order collection. 
• The built-in AI system takes into account 14 behavioural and sales parameters of a seller to identify and block potentially fraudulent sellers or transactions.
• “As per our platform data, out of the last 100,000 orders, there were only 3,000 returns and refunds,” says CEO Rahul Gope.

Fintech

Aditya Birla Capital’s fintech strategy

Aditya Birla Capital (ABC), one of the marquee financial services companies in India, is refreshing its digital journey by launching a single platform to address all its customer requirements. ABC’s digital arm, InFiniTe, wants to provide an easy-to-use, single-experience zone for its customers where they can engage with the company face-to-face or virtually.

Digital strategy:

• “The InFiniTe platform is completely democratic as there are opportunities for the fintechs to come in and participate in the programme. It is essentially a matchmaking platform,” says Pankaj Gadgil, Head of Digital Platforms at ABC.
• In the first batch of InFiniTe programme, ABC shortlisted 20 fintech startups from a pool of 100.
• Through the InFiniTe platform, ABC expects the solutions developed by fintechs will enhance productivity, reduce cost, or even open a new business opportunity.

News & updates

• Patent rights: A US computer scientist on Wednesday lost his bid to register patents over inventions created by his artificial intelligence system in a landmark case in Britain about whether AI can own patent rights.
• PlayStation 5: Sony is seeing strong momentum for its PlayStation 5 console, a senior games executive said, with lifetime sales exceeding 50 million units and the company recording its best-ever Black Friday period sales for the device.
• Reshuffle: Alibaba has reshuffled its top ranks after the stellar performance of a competitor caused a stir at the tech giant. Eddie Wu, Alibaba Group CEO, will now also head the firm’s ecommerce business, replacing Trudy Dai, who has been with the company for over two decades

Which is the highest motorable road in the world?

Answer: Umling La Pass at 5,798.251 m (19,024 ft 0.73 in). It connects Ladakh with remote villages in the region. 

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