The economics of World Cup; healing from sexual trauma

Hello,

From credit cards to cars. 

Fintech startup CRED has launched Garage, a vehicle management platform. The company says the new service will take the hassle out of owning a vehicle. Via Garage, users can access concierge service, timely reminders, document management, and insights on spending.

Elsewhere, Saregama has acquired a 51.8% stake for about Rs 174 crore in digital entertainment company Pocket Aces in hopes of expanding its presence in the music and video market of India. The company plans to acquire another ~41% stake in the next 15 months. 

In other news, Google's AI says you can melt eggs, raising concerns over the misinformation generated by AI. 

Oh, and if you are in the mood for some existential crisis on a Friday, here’s a video explaining why we could just be a dream of the Universe. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• The economics of World Cup
• Sexual trauma and healing
• The Pitch Fest at TechSparks

Here’s your trivia for today: Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford founded which British luxury car manufacturing company in 1913?

Sports

The economics of the ICC World Cup

India is hosting the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup after over a decade. While fans are excited and the national team looks ready, the economy is also expected to see a boost. 

Apart from flights and hotels, FMCG and food delivery are slated to profit from the 46 days of the tournament. 

Beyond cricket:

• The CapTable had earlier reported that prices of chartering aircraft are rising, and the last-minute demand for services, especially ahead of the India-Pakistan match on October 14, could further shoot up prices by ~20%. 
• Hotels and homestays in Ahmedabad, which is hosting the most-anticipated Indo-Pak match, are overbooked, with new rooms being added at 10X their usual rates.
• A report by brokerage firm Elara Securities indicates that platforms like Zomato, Swiggy, and other QSR brands, would gain significantly during match times, with large cricket-watching groups likely to influence high consumption of items like pizzas, burgers, fried chicken, biryani, and coke. 

<Funding Alert>

Startup: Third Wave Coffee Roasters

Amount: $35M

Round: Series C

Startup: Oorja

Amount: $1.5M

Round: Pre Series A

Startup: Decor Twist

Amount: $250,000

Round: Seed

Health

Healing from sexual trauma

Sexual trauma is often complex, and the path to recovery is fraught with several challenges—mental, physical, and emotional. It involves identifying stereotypes, understanding boundaries, and being aware of the dynamics of trauma and oppression. 

Guiding light:

• A 2021 study by the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health found that people with a history of sexual assault face the risk of brain damage and cognitive decline.
• According to sex and wellness therapists, the stigma, shame and resistance surrounding sex and sexuality in the country have led to several mental health conditions—including clinical depression, PTSD, panic disorder and substance abuse—being undiagnosed. 
• Trauma-informed psychotherapists and mental health professionals today also advocate somatic exercises, breathwork, trauma-centred movement, and arts-based therapy to help survivors identify, heal and recover from sexual trauma and lead fuller lives as adults. 

TechSparks

Meet the winners of TechSparks’ The Pitch Fest

Last week, across the three days of TechSparks 2023 in Bengaluru, 30 startups pitched their ideas at The Pitch Fest. 

These 30 were also highlighted in YourStory’s Tech 30 report–a list of the country’s most promising early-stage startups that have the potential to become major disruptors of tomorrow. 

And, to no one’s surprise, AI startups emerged at the top. 

Ideas of tomorrow:

• Startups pitched in front of a jury comprising Sampath P, Partner at Kalaari Capital; Nitin Chandalia, Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group; Aman M Tekriwal, Co-founder of Maxar.vc; Hemang Vaidya, Senior Associate (Investment), GVFL; Avinash Ramanathan, Vice President at Kalaari Capital; and Utkarsh B, former Chief Architect at Flipkart.
• About 650 people from the audience participated to vote and shortlist the top three startups. 
• Jaipur-based Verdant Impact, a full-stack animal husbandry platform offering farmers backward and forward linkage for the purchase and sale of livestock, was part of both jury’s and people’s choice at the event.

News & updates

• AI race: Amazon announced the general availability of Bedrock, its service that offers a choice of generative AI models from Amazon itself and third-party partners through an API. Bedrock, which was unveiled in early April, allows AWS customers to build apps on top of generative AI models and customise them with their proprietary data.
• Gold rush: Market intelligence platform AlphaSense has raised $150 million in a fresh round of funding that boosted its valuation to $2.5 billion, underscoring strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) startups. The series E financing round was led by technology investment firm BOND and joined by existing investors including Alphabet's CapitalG, Viking Global Investors, and Goldman Sachs 
• Layoffs: Epic Games Inc is laying off about 900 employees, or 16% of its workforce,  a person familiar with the matter reportedly told Bloomberg. The job cuts were announced in a memo to staff.

Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford founded which British luxury car manufacturing company in 1913?

Answer: Aston Martin. 

In 1913, Aston Martin began as Bamford & Martin, when owners Robert Bambord and Lionel Martin became partners to sell and manufacture cars in London.

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