Ex-Puma MD Abhishek Ganguly’s new venture; Construction as easy as building legos

Less than a week to go for TechSparks!

This year, YourStory’s flagship startup-tech conference is starting in Bengaluru on September 21, diving into the hottest topics that are shaping The Great Indian Techade. From a trillion-dollar SaaS market, what is driving the EV space to the potential of emerging technologies like AI, ML, Web3, and others—meet the experts innovating the next stage of disruption.

In other news, the festive season is upon us, and Flipkart is getting all decked up for its annual sale. The ecommerce giant has been onboarding new sellers, already surpassing 1.4 million sellers, in anticipation of its Big Billion Days sale. 

Elsewhere, India may soon get a new EV policy, revealed Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, to attract more foreign EV makers to boost the domestic industry. This is after he announced that Tesla plans to source components worth $1.7-1.9 billion from India this year.

Lastly, layoffs continue at Google as the tech giant trims its global recruiting team by hundreds, reported Reuters. While this isn’t part of a wide-scale layoff, the company continues to slow hiring. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Ex-Puma MD Abhishek Ganguly’s new venture
• Construction as easy as assembling legos
• Reuniting lost children with families

Here’s your trivia for today: How long does it take for the Sun to orbit the Milky Way galaxy?

Mergers and acquisitions

Ex-Puma MD Abhishek Ganguly’s new venture

Former Puma MD Abhishek Ganguly’s new venture Agilitas Sports has finally revealed its first steps. Launched in February, Agilitas announced its big entry into the sports clothing and footwear market on Thursday with the acquisition of B2B footwear manufacturing firm Mochiko Shoes.

New opportunity:

•  Mochiko is a popular supplier to international brands, including Adidas, Puma, New Balance, Skechers, Reebok, Asics, Crocs, Decathlon, Clarks, and US Polo, among others.
• Ganguly, whose 18-year-old stint with Puma came to an end this year, is credited with building a strong India template for the global brand. 
• In May, Agilitas raised Rs 430 crore, of which Rs 400 crore came from the investment management and advisory partnership Convergent Finance LLP, headed by former Fairfax India executive Harsha Raghavan.

SMB

Construction as easy as assembling legos

To deal with the problem of steel and plywood formworks in construction, Nova Formwork’s Vikas Mittal introduced plastic formworks in 2015, making construction a simpler process. The company’s products are easily assembled and removed—almost like lego blocks. 

Building blocks:

• Nova Formwork operates two manufacturing units in Bengaluru and Delhi with a team of 200 people.
• Mittal says the company has no direct rivals in India but has competition in Slovenia, Indonesia, and China.
• Its revenue grew from Rs 22 crore in FY21 to Rs 41 crore in FY22. Most recently, it registered Rs 62.5 crore in revenue in FY23. 

Inspiration

Reuniting lost children with families

Around 730 lost children in Varanasi have been reunited with their families since last July. The feat was made possible with Mission Muskaan, which was started in July 2022 and is supervised by IAS officer Himanshu Nagpal.

Spreading happiness:

• Nagpal has 12 teams comprising 60 officers from departments such as child development, social welfare, anti-human trafficking, and the police. 
• These teams visit railway and bus stations, flyovers, ghats, circles, and temples twice or thrice a week to identify and rescue children.
• Until the time the children are reunited with their families, they are housed in 20 child welfare homes, wherein they are provided with education, food, and shelter.

News & updates

• Green shipping: Shipping giant Maersk unveiled its first container vessel moved with green methanol, a landmark moment for one of the world’s most polluting industries. The new vessel emits 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide less per day compared to diesel-based ships.
• Studying UFOs: A NASA report recommended that the US space agency increase its efforts to gather information on unidentified objects in the sky—labelled "unidentified anomalous phenomenon" or UAP by the government—and play a larger role in helping the Pentagon detect them.
• Radiation trouble: Belgium will review potential health risks linked to Apple's iPhone 12, raising the prospect that more European countries might ban the model after France ordered a halt to sales due to breaches of radiation exposure limits.

How long does it take for the Sun to orbit the Milky Way galaxy?

Answer: 230 million years. The Sun moves at an average velocity of 828,000 km/hr and takes about 230 million years to make one complete orbit around the Milky Way.

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