Blog

Hello Reader,

The first-ever iPhone went on sale in 2007 at $499 for a 4GB model and $599 for the 8GB one.

Now, 15 years later, one collector paid a little over $39,000 for a factory-sealed model of this first-edition iPhone—an undisputed piece of tech history.

It may not have all the bells and whistles of the recent models but the OG iPhone does have a headphone jack. 

In other news, Gurugram-based Droom has withdrawn its initial public offering. While 2021 saw a slew of startups hitting the bourses, this year, however, many are stalling their public listings, including OYO, PharmEasy, Ecom Express, FirstCry, and MobiKwik.

Meanwhile, here’s a look at all the wealth made and lost by 58 Covid billionaires—people whose wealth multiplied at an accelerated pace due to the pandemic. 

Spoiler alert: They are now losing money even faster!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Healthtech looks past teleconsultation
• Ather’s fundraising spree
• Shardeum targets emerging markets

Here’s your trivia for today: Who was the last astronaut to have walked on the moon?

Healthtech

Startups look past teleconsultation

As we overcome the effects of the pandemic, healthtech startups focused on teleconsultation find themselves increasingly isolated as consumer habits revert to pre-pandemic healthcare.

Several players like Practo, Mfine, Connect and Heal, MyHealthcare, Glamyo Health, MeraDoc, and ekincare are now looking towards allied services like corporate tie-ups and subscriptions to survive.

Shifting gears:

• Mfine created its own end-to-end workflow—right from consultation and lab testing to online medicine delivery and follow-up assessment.
• MeraDoc is looking at strategic partnerships with corporates like Flipkart and with insurance players for seamless claims.
• While focusing on elective surgeries, Glamyo Health is retaining teleconsultation services to help doctors with preliminary assessments.

Electric Vehicle

Ather’s fundraising spree

EV maker Ather Energy is raising capital fast! It has now secured Rs 400.6 crore ($48.7 million) from Caladium Investment and Herald Square Ventures as part of its Series E round.

This is the second funding raised by Ather in 2022. In May, the startup raised $128 million to keep in step with the launch of the new-generation model of its electric scooter 450X.

EV dreams:

• Ather recently installed its 580th public fast charging point as part of Ather Grid, which is present in 56 cities.
• It plans to install 820 more such points, taking the count to 1,400 by the end of FY23. 
• The company is increasing the production capacity at its Hosur factory from 1.20 lakh vehicles to four lakh vehicles per annum.

Blockchain

Shardeum targets emerging markets

With its sights set on expanding to various countries, Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible sharded blockchain, Shardeum, raised $18.2 million at a $200 million valuation.

“The idea is to hire more people and expand the team on the tech side of things, business side and the marketing side,” said founder Nischal Shetty.

Future of Web3:

• Nischal said the company planned to keep the finding distributed by limiting the amount offered by each investor. 
• He believes the market is going to favour a multi-blockchain ecosystem and predicts that L1 blockchains will experience greater demand in the coming years.
• The startup intends to keep the fees low possible to make Web3 accessible to people in emerging markets like Vietnam, India, Ukraine, Africa, etc.

News & updates

• Un-acquired: Britain’s competition regulator has ordered Meta to sell animated-images platform Giphy after a tribunal upheld its view that the acquisition could damage its rivals and remove a potential competitor in advertising. Meta said it would accept the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) order to unwind the 2020 deal.
• Realigning: Goldman Sachs has revealed the details of its latest reorganisation under chief executive David Solomon, pulling back from its celebrated foray into retail banking to focus more on its traditional strengths of serving big corporations and wealthy investors.
• Flying higher: Air India Ltd. is planning to triple its fleet of 113 aircraft over five years as the money-losing carrier prepares to transform the business following its takeover by India’s largest conglomerate, the Tata Group.
• The pink slip: Microsoft laid off more employees this week, becoming the latest tech company to show signs of concern about future demand. In July the software maker said it had plans to cut a number of positions, affecting less than 1% of its total workforce. 

Who was the last astronaut to have walked on the moon?

Answer: Harrison Schmitt, during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. 

We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail editorial@yourstory.com. 

If you don’t already get this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here. For past editions of the YourStory Buzz, you can check our Daily Capsule page here.