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Hello,

The Indian government collected Rs 1.87 lakh crore as Goods and Services Tax (GST) in April—an all-time high—up 11.6% from April 2022. It broke the previous high of Rs 1.68 lakh crore collection in April last year. 

In other news, US regulators seized First Republic Bank—the third failure of an American bank since March—and sold it to JPMorgan Chase after a last-ditch effort to persuade rival lenders to keep the ailing bank afloat failed.

In the deal, JPMorgan is getting about $92 billion in deposits, including the $30 billion it and other large banks put into First Republic Bank last month. The bank is taking on $173 billion in loans and $30 billion in securities.

Elsewhere, specifically in Japan, Jack Ma, Co-founder of Alibaba Group, will join Tokyo College, a research institute run by the prestigious University of Tokyo, as a visiting professor. He will carry out research in sustainable agriculture and food production.

ICYMI: Here’s a high-resolution image of Deimos, the smaller of Mars’s two moons, as captured by UAE Mars orbiter Hope. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Zypp gears up for Bengaluru
• Making cold supply chain efficient
• Century Plyboards’ business plans

Here’s your trivia for today: Which mammal has no vocal cords?

Electric mobility

Zypp gears up for Bengaluru

Zypp Electric was founded in 2017 as a bicycle rental platform. A year later, it pivoted to an EV-as-a-service model. The startup is now looking beyond Delhi-NCR to Bengaluru for expansion. For FY23, its revenue surged by over 5X, reaching a staggering Rs 125 crore, thanks to its partnerships with prominent logistics firms, including Blue Dart, DTDC, and Ecom Express, and delivery giants such as Zomato, Swiggy, and Zepto.

Expansion plans:

• By March 2024, Akash Gupta, Founder of Zypp, anticipates the startup will reach breakeven and become profitable by FY25. 
• Zypp has 12,000 e-bikes in operation—mostly in Delhi-NCR, its biggest market—with plans to significantly expand its presence in Bengaluru before branching out to other cities.
• The Gurugram-based startup has partnered with Taiwan’s Gogoro Inc to pilot its B2B offering. Zypp also plans to use Gogoro’s swapping network for its energy needs.

Startup

Making cold supply chain efficient

During the height of the pandemic in November 2020, Swarup Bose, Rajneesh Raman, and Arbind Jain got together to set up a firm to improve cold-chain infrastructure in India. From facilitating vaccine delivery, curbing food wastage, empowering regional transporters to building a last-mile delivery network, this is how Mumbai-based Celcius Logistics is solving cold-chain supply in India.

Logistic needs:

• It recently raised Rs 100 crore in a Series A funding round led by IvyCap Ventures. It secured Zepto, Zomato, Maersk, Baskin Robbins, Vadilal, Domino’s, Keventers, and Godrej Agro, among other clients.
• To date, it has transported over 125,000 tons of perishable cargo for sectors like dairy, fresh agricultural produce, pharma, fruits, seafood, and vaccines across over 350 cities in India.
• Celsius’ last mile service has expanded to over 200 partner vehicles across 11 cities, covering dark stores, retail, and D2C deliveries for ecommerce, pharma, frozen commodities, fresh produce, etc.

Corporate

Century Plyboards’ business plans

The second generation of management at Century Plyboards, the Kolkata-headquartered plywood and decorative wood brand, is keen to take the legacy forward via investments in technology and manufacturing. It has expanded its manufacturing facilities across the country as it expects demand for plywood and decorative wood products to remain strong.

Key takeaways: 

• A majority of its current manufacturing capacity is largely in West Bengal. The company is now expanding into Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh.
• The company has lined up Rs 1,700 crore for future capital expenditure. Before this, Century Plyboards had spent around Rs 900 crore in capex-related activity.
• Century Plyboards registered a revenue of Rs 3,027 crore for FY22 with a net profit of Rs 313.15 crore. In comparison, it posted a revenue of Rs 2,130 crore in FY21 with a net profit of Rs 191.2 crore.

News & updates

• Block spams: Starting May 1, the Telecom Regulator in India (TRAI) has implemented new rules to combat unwanted calls and messages and protect consumers from fraud and harassment, where all telecom companies will use AI spam filters in their call and SMS services. 
• Price slides: Bitcoin slipped as much as 3.6% and was trading at $28,504 on Monday after climbing for four consecutive months through April in the longest such winning run since 2021. Bitcoin’s 72% rebound in 2023 from last year’s crypto rout has stalled around the $30,000 level as traders await further catalysts.
• Strikes: The Writers Guild of America could call a work stoppage as early as Tuesday if it cannot reach a deal with Walt Disney Co and Netflix Inc. Writers say they have suffered financially during the streaming TV boom, in part due to shorter seasons and smaller residual payments. They are seeking pay increases and changes to industry practices they say force them to work more for less money.

Which mammal has no vocal cords?

Answer: Giraffe

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