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Bengaluru or Mumbai–which city offers the best lifestyle for tech workers?

At TechSparks 2023,  Aakrit Vaish, CEO and Co-founder of AI chatbot company Haptik, decided to settle this ongoing debate once and for all. According to him, India’s financial capital Mumbai can offer the best lifestyle for people working in the tech ecosystem.

From Karan Virwani, CEO of WeWork India, highlighting how India has become a key technology talent hub to Vani Kola, Founder and Managing Director at Kalaari Capital, speaking about the essential strategies for early-stage startups, Day One of TechSparks 2023 saw innovators chronicling India’s resilient entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

In other news on Thursday, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said that the Electric Vehicles Policy 2.0 will look at incentivising retrofitting of vehicles considering its high cost. The Delhi Electric Vehicles Policy-2020 expired on August 8 this year and the government had said that the subsidy being given under it would continue till a new policy gets drafted.

Tiger Global-backed ecommerce platform DealShare has reportedly decided to shut down its business-to-business (B2B) unit over the next few months as the vertical failed to yield desired results. The decision is said to be impacting around 150 employees. 

In top global news, it is the end of an era as media baron Rupert Murdoch steps down as the chairman of Fox Corp and News Corp. In his seven-decade long career, Murdoch created a media empire spanning from Australia to the United States.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• What to expect on Day 2 of TechSparks
• Meet the startups in YourStory’s Tech 30
• Bhavish Aggarwal on Ola’s IPO, AI plans

Here’s your trivia for today: What is the oldest living thing on land on Earth?

TechSparks 

What to expect on Day 2 of TechSparks

From a special track on electric vehicles (EVs) to a one-on-one chat with Sivasubramanian Ramann, CMD at the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Day Two of TechSparks 2023 promises an incredible line-up of speakers as well as masterclasses and panel discussions.

Agenda:

• Key speakers on Day Two include Hemalatha Annamalai, Founder of Ampere Vehicles (acquired by Greaves Cotton), Punit K Goyal, Co-founder and Chief of Fundraising, BluSmart, and Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, Founder and Managing Partner, Stride Ventures. 
• In a panel discussion with Bala Srinivasa, Managing Director at Arkam Ventures,  Arpit Dave (SmartStaff), Sonam Motwani (karkhana.io), Siddharth Dialani (BharatAgri), and Madhusudhan E (KreditBee) will deliberate on ‘Building for Bharat’ and bringing millions of Indians in Tier II, III and IV cities into the formal economy.
• The Pitch Fest at TechSparks 2023 will bring together a fresh crop of the city’s most innovative and inspiring startups that will pitch to the biggest gathering of investors and thought leaders. 

<Funding Alert>

Startup: Everest Fleet

Amount: Rs 50 Cr

Round: Private Equity

Startup: EaseMyAI 

Amount: Rs 3 Cr

Round: Seed

Startup: KathaVersse Media Network

Amount: $400K

Round: Seed 

Startups

Meet YourStory’s Tech30

For the last 15 years, YourStory has played a pivotal role in highlighting and presenting emerging entrepreneurs across fields. This year too, we are proud to present Tech30—a list of India’s 30 most promising startups that have the potential to be major disruptors in the time to come.

Download the Tech30 2023 report here.

Innovators:

• This year, AI/ML startups ruled the roost with nearly one-third of the winners building in that space, highlighting the continued adoption of new technologies.
• Add to that, 28 out of 30 companies have a B2B component in their operations, with 10 operating on a pure B2B model. 
• While Bengaluru continues to be the most important startup hub in India, Tier II and III towns are also fairly well-represented on the list.

Mobility

Ola’s IPO, AI plans take shape

Ride-hailing firm Ola, and its sister company Ola Electric, will both likely become public entities by next year, Founder Bhavish Aggarwal said at TechSparks 2023. 

Aggarwal noted that Ola Electric is receiving a lot of interest from public market investors—an encouraging sign for the company that is looking to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI by the end of October.

Key takeaways:

• Krutrim Si Designs Pvt Ltd, Aggarwal’s new AI venture, was at the top of his mind as he spoke about how AI’s ubiquity could only serve India if it was created for the Indian context.
• As for its domestic cell manufacturing ambitions, Ola wants to set up a four-wheeler factory in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri, and convert it into an EV hub that already houses its battery production unit and scooter facility, along with its EV car production line.
• According to Aggarwal, climate-tech, spacetech, biotech, and AI-based technologies, including semiconductors, will offer unique startup opportunities.

News & updates

• Cybersecurity: Cisco Systems has agreed to buy cybersecurity firm Splunk for about $28 billion in its biggest-ever deal to bolster its software business and capitalise on the rising use of artificial intelligence, the companies said on Thursday.
• IT services: Wipro said that Jatin Dalal has resigned as chief financial officer to pursue other opportunities after more than two decades with the IT services company. Dalal will be replaced by Aparna Iyer, also a 20-year veteran who was most recently senior vice president and CFO of Wipro’s cloud services unit, the company stated.
• Rising star: On Thursday, Vietnamese electric-vehicle maker VinFast reported a 131.2% rise in revenue in its first quarterly report since going public in August on higher deliveries to domestic customers.

What is the oldest living thing on land on Earth?

Answer: The Great Basin Bristlecone Pine. Pinus longaeva is a species of pine tree found in the US in the states of Utah, Nevada, and California. One of these trees has been measured to be over 4,850 years old.

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