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The Ather and Ola Electric rivalry will continue into the IPO arena. 

In this battle, there can only be one winner. Going by past records, Ather may have cause for concern. 

The company has been struggling to keep up with Ola Electric for the past two years. In FY24, Ather Energy’s operating revenue was at Rs 1,754 crore—just one-third of Ola Electric’s revenue—which exceeded Rs 5,000 crore.

The question to consider is: will this IPO be the catalyst for Ather to regain lost ground in the EV market?

Elsewhere, between Apple, Samsung and Huawei, the tech sector has been especially busy this week. 

ICYMI: Here’s everything you need to know about the Apple event and iPhone 16. TLDR—AI, finally. 

For a company that has the tech world grasped tight in its iron grip, Apple has certainly been slow on the uptake with artificial intelligence.

The lack of AI features was a point of contention for consumers in China, a key market for Apple. Meanwhile, Huawei unveiled its $2,800 trifold phone, dubbed Mate XT, mere hours after the Apple event, cementing itself as a potential challenger.

Closer home, Samsung’s turmoil is of a different kind, with production at a key plant in southern India disrupted for a second day as hundreds of employees went on a strike for higher wages.

Lastly, some sombre news for Star Wars fans: James Earl Jones, the iconic voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars saga, became one with the Force. He was 93.

Celebrities and fans across the world paid tributes to the veteran actor, who also voiced Mufasa in The Lion King and reprised roles in films like Coming To America and Conan the Barbarian, among others. 

In the words of Luke Skywalker, “No one’s ever really gone”.

And cinema’s most memorable villain will definitely never be forgotten.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Inside Swiggy’s IPO plans
• Drone skills for efficient farming
• Breastfeeding journey with Nari Care

Here’s your trivia for today: Which is the only actor who’s appeared in every mainline Star Wars movie to date?

Foodtech

Inside Swiggy’s IPO plans

Food delivery company Swiggy is set to increase the size of its IPO by raising additional capital through a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 5,000 crore (about $600 million). 

YourStory had earlier reported that Swiggy is likely to file its DRHP with markets regulator SEBI by as early as the first week of September, marking the second-largest IPO of a venture capital-backed company in India.

Getting ready:

• According to an internal set of documents, Swiggy will make an issue of fresh shares worth Rs 5,000 crore, an increase of Rs 1,250 crore or $150 million from its earlier plans to raise Rs 3,750 crore (around $450 million).
• The food delivery and quick commerce platform had plans to raise $1.28 billion (Rs 10,400 crore) through the IPO. It will hold an EGM on October 3, 2024. If the board approves the proposal, the total IPO size will be $1.4 billion.
• Swiggy Instamart expanded its reach and brought its total operational cities to 43. It plans to deepen its presence in Tier II and III markets by expanding its dark store network.

Funding Alert

Startup: AppsForBharat

Amount: $18M

Round: Series B

Startup: Nestasia

Amount: $8.35M

Round: Fresh

Startup: Clean Electric Private Limited

Amount: Rs 48.5 Cr

Round: Series A

Startup

Drone skills for efficient farming

AVPL International, founded by Preet Sandhuu, offers a comprehensive suite of services, including Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS), drone manufacturing, drone and skill training, and also operates a chain of agri-input retail outlets across India.  

Its flagship drone, VIRAJ UAS, is designed for various applications, including seed broadcasting, chemical spraying, and remote pilot training. 

Making opportunities:

• The Gurugram startup, which has started a drone assembly unit, aims to sell 500 drones by FY24-25. It is also set for its IPO by the end of this year with an estimated valuation of Rs 1,200 crore.
• AVPL has a dedicated team that connects with gram panchayats, BDOs, and other government bodies at the village level and helps farmers and rural youth get trained in remote pilot training, drone organisation training, agriculture drone operator training, and dual certification for drone operators.
• The startup, in collaboration with the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited, has introduced drone spray operations across 50 lakh acres, spanning eight key Indian states.

Women Entrepreneurs

Breastfeeding journey with Nari Care

For Gayathri Kanumuri, everything seemed fine while she was in the hospital after delivering her baby in 2020. However, breastfeeding after returning home turned out to be challenging. Her experiences resonated with many new mothers. The lack of a proper support system for breastfeeding mothers in India led Kanumuri to launch Nari Care.

Helping new moms:

• Nari Care offers a one-month plan where mothers get a one-on-one consultation with a lactation consultant, a two-hour breastfeeding course, and one month of text support through a WhatsApp breastfeeding support group.
• This allows them to ask questions directly to the expert while also forming a supportive community where they can learn from each other’s experiences. 
• The startup has partnered with brands like Spectra, Medela, Dr. Brown’s, and Comotomo to offer breastfeeding products like pumps and sterilisers to its clients. 

News & updates

• Fines: The European Court of Justice ruled against Apple in the tech giant’s 10-year court battle over its tax affairs in Ireland. The case stems back to 2016 when the European Commission ordered Ireland to recover up to $14.4 billion in back taxes from Apple. Google, too, lost its fight against a $2.7 billion fine levied by EU antitrust regulators seven years ago for various anti-competitive practices.
• Factory: Electronic components maker Jabil, a supplier to Apple, will set up a manufacturing plant near Trichy, Tamil Nadu, with an investment of about $238.2 million, as part of an agreement signed in Chicago that will create close to 5,000 jobs.
• Spacewalks: SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission launched on Tuesday on a Falcon 9 rocket, which carried the Dragon capsule “Resilience” into orbit. The mission is a bold and risky trek into Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts by a four-person crew of civilians who will also aim to conduct the first commercial spacewalk.

Which is the only actor who’s appeared in every mainline Star Wars movie to date?

Answer: Anthony Daniels. He has reprised the role of C-3PO in all nine movies of the Skywalker Saga. 

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