OYO's Ritesh Agarwal to buy back $2B stake; How Raw Pressery is fighting plastic pollution

Nothing has harmed the planet earth more than the 3 Ps - people, plastic and pollution. A large part of this waste can be attributed to single-use applications in the form of bottles, bags, wrappers, and sachets - the most fatal of them all being the plastic bottles. And with a growing economy, consumers and spending power, the production of more and more bottles is inevitable. But there's a way to reduce the impact of this on earth. At least, that's what Mumbai-based health food and beverage startup Raw Pressery is doing with its initiative RawCycle. Here's how the startup collected 1.2 million bottles from customers and recycled them into 1,500 t-shirts.

OYO Founder Ritesh Agarwal to buy back stake worth $2B

Ritesh Agarwal, the Founder and CEO of OYO Hotels and Home has signed a $2 billion round through RA Hospitality Holdings (Cayman), to further increase his stake (through the purchase of fresh equity as well as buyback of shares) in the hospitality unicorn. Factors like the company’s strong growth, improved margins and improvements in customer experience have led to this landmark agreement, which is one of the firsts in the country. 

Microsoft partners with Telangana govt to empower women entrepreneurs

This partnership between Microsoft and WE Hub will focus on designing and execution of learning activities and tools that will enable women to innovate and encourage girls to pursue a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Together, they will also provide a platform for deeper and better networking opportunities for women in various technology fields.

How Veri5Digital chose to build on Aadhaar and cracked India's identity conundrum

Veri5Digital was started by Saru Tumuluri in 2016, as an entrepreneur in residence (EIR) at Khosla Labs, in an attempt to build identity technology around Aadhaar’s digital signatures, KYC, and video KYCs. The company solves issues around KYC and identity using deep tech like artificial intelligence. In a conversation with YourStory, Saru talks about how the company continued to grow even after the Supreme Court verdict last September that stopped Aadhaar from becoming the primary form of identification for Indians. 

Here's why the internet is still going gaga over AI-based photo editor FaceApp

Parallel to #FaceAppChallenge, FaceApp is also receiving major backlash because of its privacy policy. While the Russian app responded with clarification on the privacy controversy, US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for an FBI investigation into FaceApp. However, FaceApp continues to grip social media. It has already crossed 100 million downloads, with a 4.5 rating on Play Store.

If you have a social entrepreneurship dream, IIM-Calcutta can help you realise it

IIM-Calcutta Innovation Park, the B-school’s incubator, was set up in 2015 to promote social entrepreneurship in East and Northeast India. Since then, it has incubated 40 startups that have generated 1,000 direct and 10,000 indirect jobs.

How Bosch DNA accelerator helps startups with engineering tech solutions

Engineering tech giant Bosch is working on the third cohort of startups for its accelerator programme. Key opportunities for startups in this space are smart communities, e-mobility and Industry 4.0, as explained by Aravind Raman, Head of Strategy and Business Development at Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions, India, in this interview.

Team Quebik’s innovation to solve traffic congestion at the Smart India Hackathon

Team Quebik from VIVA Institute of Technology, Maharashtra, developed an innovative technology, which converts traffic signals into a unified smart system. Leveraging the much-talked-about Internet of Things (IoT), they solved traffic congestion – which is a daily occurrence for the traffic-harassed citizen. 

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