Zeenat Aman: Social media queen at 72; Delhivery's net loss down by 57% in Q4

Hello,

This Friday was busy with executive appointments.

At Wipro, Sanjeev Jain became the new Chief Operating Officer, a month after the IT services major appointed Srini Pallia as its new CEO. 

Also, VC firm Amsterdam-headquartered Prosus and its South Africa-based parent group Naspers appointed Fabricio Bloisi as the CEO of Prosus and Naspers Group. 

Meanwhile, insurtech unicorn Go Digit’s IPO was oversubscribed 9.6 times on its final day, buoyed by qualified institutional buyers who subscribed 12.56 times their allotted share. 

ICYMI: Inside South Korea’s annual Space-out competition where you win by doing absolutely nothing. 

Lastly, dearest gentle readers, now that the first part of the latest season of Bridgerton is out on Netflix, Lady Whistledown recommends we take a stroll around the Regency-era Bath, as one waits to see how the ‘Polin’ season fares. 

Enticing, is it not?

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Zeenat Aman’s social media outing
• Delhivery's net loss down by 57% in Q4
• Women lead climate action

Here’s your trivia for today: What plant do scientists use to clean up radioactive waste?

Celebrity

Zeenat Aman’s social media outing

At 72, Zeenat Aman is defying the myth of ageing and enjoying new-found stardom on social media by connecting to an audience far younger than her. 

“I never thought I would reach so many people on this kind of platform. But it isn’t the same for all. The knife that cuts the apple can also carve a heart,” says Aman.

Finding fame again:

• “I think I am in a unique position to both share and learn from conversations on social media. I knocked my head on many a glass ceiling before being able to break through," Aman tells HerStory.
• Aman wants to carry forward her social media engagement with her followers and is planning AMA (ask me anything) sessions and InstaLives in the future.
• “There’s no blueprint to my social media posts, but it mostly involves choosing an image or discussing an idea with Zahaan and Cara (her son and daughter-in-law), writing the caption, and troubling the kids to upload it for me,” she laughs.

Top Deals of the Week

Startup: Meesho

Amount: $275M

Round: Secondary share sale

Startup: Annapurna Finance

Amount: Rs 600 Cr

Round: Secondary stake

Startup: Celcius

Amount: $40M

Round: Pre-Series B

Earnings

Delhivery's net loss down by 57% in Q4

Logistics service provider Delhivery reported a net loss of Rs 68.5 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2024—a significant improvement of 57% from the Rs 159 crore loss incurred in the corresponding period last year.

For the entire financial year, its loss after tax was down to Rs 249 crore from Rs 1,008 crore in FY23.

Key takeaways:

• Its EBITDA rose to Rs 127 crore gain in FY24 from an EBITDA loss of Rs 452 crore in FY23, Delhivery said.
• In Q4 FY24, the company’s revenue stood at Rs 2,076 crore—a 12% increase compared to Rs 1,860 crore it reported in the fourth quarter of last fiscal year.
• Delhivery also said it is setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary, Delhivery Robotics India, to manufacture drones and provide freight air transportation services.

Social Enterprise

Women lead climate action

Divya Hegde is building Baeru Environmental Services as India’s first ocean waste recovery startup. Baeru empowers women by including them in the waste management process while contributing to a circular economy.

“As part of the process, women are hired to work in facilities provided by the government where they earn a salary and are also paid money from the revenue generated in a payback model. Most of the women come from marginalised communities,” Hegde elaborates.

Waste management:

• Baeru partners with fishermen to bring plastics back from the ocean when they are out fishing. The waste is then cleaned and segregated by women from fishing communities.
• The startup is present in five districts of Karnataka—Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Bellary, and Chikamagaluru. It works with 40+ local bodies and has generated over 1,000 livelihoods.
• Baeru won the Transform Challenge by Unilever, EY, and FCDO, and is also incubated at NSRCEL–IIM-Bangalore. It is now looking at raising CSR funding. 

News & updates

• New deals: OpenAI has signed a deal for access to real-time content from Reddit’s data API, which means it can surface discussions from the site within ChatGPT and other new products. It’s an agreement similar to the one Reddit signed with Google earlier this year that was reportedly worth $60 million.
• Fly high: Xpeng AeroHT, an affiliate of Chinese EV maker Xpeng, aims to deliver its flying car to customers in 2026. Last year, Xpeng AeroHT introduced the Land Aircraft Carrier—a large truck with a flying two-seater passenger electric drone inside. The flying car can detach from the truck, and people can then get into the drone and fly it.
• Games: Microsoft plans to release the coming instalment of the “Call of Duty” video game on its subscription service, in a departure from its longtime practice of only selling the title independently. The move is expected to be announced at the company's annual Xbox showcase, scheduled for June 9.

What plant do scientists use to clean up radioactive waste?

Answer: Sunflowers.

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