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It was a tense Friday for some 7,500 Twitter employees as the company began its mass layoffs. 

In India, job cuts have reportedly affected all verticals, including engineering and the entire marketing and communications department. Sacked employees used the hashtag #OneTeam to share their fond memories of working at Twitter. 

But November has started on a better note for Indian startups—there’s been a steady rise in capital inflow into them, driven largely by private equity players such as General Atlantic and Premji Invest. This week witnessed total funding of $212 million across 18 deals. In comparison, last week saw total venture funding of $114 million.

In more good news for India’s startup ecosystem, there’s only 5 days to go for TechSparks 2022! 

Click here to find out what’s in store this year. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Prateek Kuhad–The Way That Lovers Do
• Finding the right match for e-bikes
• The art of ink

Here’s your trivia for today: Mozilla Firefox originally launched under what name?

Music 

Prateek Kuhad: The Way That Lovers Do

On October 29, Prateek Kuhad kicked off The Way That Lovers Do tour in Mumbai—named after the eponymous album that was released earlier this year. The Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) venue was not only packed with young couples, but the opening night attracted a much wider and mixed audience—even folks in their mid-30s. 

While the music was mesmerising, bad management was a huge let down. 

Cold/Mess:

• Standing outside Jio World Garden, the singer strummed his guitar to Tune kaha, maine sun liya (You said, and I listened). 
• Apart from poor security management, lack of internet access led to delays in payments. 
• Prateek’s Kho Gaye Hum Kaha (Where are we lost)—a duet with singer and composer Jasleen Kaur Royal—was featured in the movie Baar Baar Dekho. 

<Top Deals of the Week>

Startup: Amagi 

Amount: $100M

Startup: Hygenco

Amount: $25M

Startup: The Sleep Company

Amount: Rs 177 Crore

Electric vehicles

Finding the right match for e-bikes

Pune-based electric vehicles startup EMotorad offers eco-friendly e-bikes for adventure seekers, daily commuters, or casual riders. The startup utilises local sourcing and manufacturing capabilities in India to bring premium electric cycles to the Indian market.

The pivot:

• Started at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, EMotorad faced several logistical and supply chain issues. 
• In October this year, the EV brand raised Rs 24 crore in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Green Frontier Capital—an investment firm that specialises in climate investment, LetsVenture, and Ivy Growth Associates.  
• EMotorad has sold over 35,000 units globally. While the startup’s primary business model is B2C, it also has partnerships with B2B retailers. 

Artists

The art of ink

Celebrity tattoo artist Sunny Bhanushali founded the Aliens Tattoo Art School in 2018, a first-of-its-kind school with a structured course on tattoo art. Today, each batch accommodates 220 aspirants and, so far, Aliens Tattoo Art School has trained more than 2,000 across courses – workshops, long-term, short-term, online and offline.  

The journey:

• Born and raised in Thane’s Dombivli, Sunny has worked different jobs throughout his career.
• It took Sunny a year’s time and six months’ savings to finally lay his hands on a tattoo kit and paint his first tattoo on himself.
• A pioneer in photo-realistic and hyper-realistic tattoos in the country, Sunny has a marquee list of clients, including cricketers Hardik and Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, choreographer Suresh Mukund, actor Roshni Chopra, and Miss India World 2018 Anukreethy Vas, among many others. 

News & updates

• Big tech: Telecom operators are pushing the European Union to implement new laws that would make Big Tech pay for network costs, following Australia’s example, Reuters reports citing sources.
• Not so sweet: On Thursday evening under clear skies, 500 lighted drones were flown in a synchronised show against the Manhattan skyline to mark 10 years of Candy Crush, the wildly popular cellphone game. However, not everyone was amused, with some arguing it threatened birds and ‘spoiled’ the skyline
• Save the planet: Rich countries must sign a “historic pact” with the poor on the climate, or “we will be doomed”, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has warned, as a deepening gulf between the developed and developing world has put climate talks on the brink.

Mozilla Firefox originally launched under what name?

Answer: Mozilla Phoenix. The name was dropped in April 2003 following a trademark dispute with BIOS-maker Phoenix Technologies.

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