US regulators shut down SVB

Hello,

The Silicon Valley Bank crisis has taken a new turn.

On Friday, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation issued a closure order for the bank, appointing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. 

This move has served a body blow to the many Indian startups that had hoped to withdraw their funds from the bank ahead of a potential crash.

Trouble began on Wednesday when the bank’s parent company SVB Financial Group announced the sale of $21 billion of securities, adding that it was preparing to sell $1.75 billion worth of shares to bolster its finances. Widespread panic and questions around its insolvency resulted in several investors advising portfolio companies to move their money out of SVB accounts.

Now, things look bleak. 

Ahead of the closure, the FDIC created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara (DINB) in order to take control of all insured deposits of SVB. In a statement, it said insured deposits will be accessible to customers on Monday, March 13, while ‘uninsured depositors’ will get a ‘receivership certificate’ for amounts higher than $250,000. 

In other news, Meta is entering Twitter’s market—but in a different light. The Mark Zuckerberg-owned company is exploring a standalone decentralised social network for sharing text updates. The app will reportedly support ActivityPub, the decentralised social networking protocol that powers Twitter’s rival Mastodon and other federated apps. 

Oh, and are you ready for TechSparks Mumbai? Here are seven reasons why you should attend the premier edition of India’s most influential startup-tech event.

Lastly, with the 95th Academy Awards just around the corner, YS Life picks some of the niche films nominated this year that you need to watch, whether they win an Oscar or not.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Supr Daily is now InsanelyGood
• The female touch in India’s F&B
• Building a global healthcare chain

Here’s your trivia for today: Which company manufactured the first commercially-available headset with active noise cancellation?

Foodtech

SuprDaily is now InsanelyGood

Swiggy has rebranded its morning grocery delivery service SuprDaily to InsanelyGood, continuing the service in pilot mode in Bengaluru. InsanelyGood will offer more than 3,000 locally sourced and organic food items, including fruits and vegetables, grains, snacks, beverages, baby food, and kitchen essentials. 

Change is constant:

• The rebranded service will offer next-day delivery for a fee and do away with SuprDaily's subscription model.
• Orders placed before 11 pm will be fulfilled by 7 am the following day. It is not known if the firm's membership programme Swiggy One will apply to orders on InsanelyGood immediately.
• Swiggy acquired SuprDaily in 2018 and brought it under the company as a separate unit in September 2021, putting it in direct competition with Tata-owned Bigbasket, Dunzo Daily, Amazon Fresh, Country Delight, and Reliance-owned Milkbasket.

Interview

The female touch in India’s F&B

On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2023, YS Life had a freewheeling chat with some of the top Indian women in cuisine to understand more about their work, the state of affairs in the kitchen today, and if genuine change is underway in the industry. 

Let’s experiment:

• Not only women chefs are running successful ventures today, but each of them has built a strong identity and is widely recognised for their innovative concepts, not just on their home turf. 
• Today, women in the culinary industry are working equally or probably more than men, and there’s no fear. Things are changing massively and more women are becoming a part of the industry, says chef Anahita N. Dhondy. 
• Chef Vanshika Bhatia tries her best to hire more women in her kitchen. Not only does she think they work better, but they are also more receptive to feedback.

Inspiration

Building a global healthcare chain

If you visit Dubai, you cannot miss the bright green board with blue borders belonging to Aster Pharmacy and Aster Hospitals. However, Founder and Managing Director Dr Azad Moopen had no intention of setting up this Rs 10,000 crore business in the Middle East. 

Unexpected journey:

• In 1987, the NSE-listed company started its journey with a single-doctor clinic in Dubai. Today, Aster DM Healthcare provides medical care across seven geographies, including India.
• It includes 239 pharmacies in India, operated by Alfaone Retail Pharmacies under the brand license from Aster. Established in 1989, Aster Pharmacy has over 200 stores in the UAE. 
• Moopen believes that by combining his knowledge of healthcare, business acumen, and contacts, he can give back to society, and intends to focus over 80% of his time towards this.

News & updates

• Making in India: Apple and Foxconn were among the companies behind a landmark liberalisation of labour laws in Karnataka last month. Their successful lobbying for new legislation means two-shift production can take place in India, akin to the two companies’ practices in China.
• Plodding along: Artificial intelligence was supposed to be Google’s thing, having cultivated a reputation for making long-term bets on all kinds of far-off technologies. Yet OpenAI’s sudden success with ChatGPT has left Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. sprinting to catch up. 
• Battered markets: Bitcoin briefly fell 8% to below $20,000 on Friday, hitting a near-two-month low, after a stock market sell-off in the US and the collapse of crypto-focused lender Silvergate Capital. The cryptocurrency market saw more than $70 billion wiped off its value over the course of 24 hours.

Which company manufactured the first commercially-available headset with active noise cancellation?

Answer: Bose Corporation in 1989 with its Series I Aviation Headset.

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