Golden age for climate tech; A tale of India’s two gins

Hello,

Make in India FTW.

Google will start making the Pixel 8 series of smartphones in India from 2024 onwards. The internet major has also partnered with international contract manufacturers to make the phones in India.

This is after rival company Apple too announced plans to scale up its manufacturing in the country by over five times. In fact, its first made-in-India iPhones—the base 15 models—hit the markets just last month. 

Meanwhile, Softbank is set to offload a 1.1% stake in Zomato through its venture capital fund SVF Growth, Singapore. The stake sale in the food delivery company is expected to happen via the block route and will amount to $123 million, reported CNBC TV-18.

Speaking of Zomato, its subsidiary Blinkit reported a 3X increase in revenues—Rs 724 in FY23, up from Rs 236 crore in FY22. This was boosted by growth in marketplace commissions, advertising by brands and delivery services revenue.

However, its net loss widened to Rs 1,190 crore—a 16.5% increase from the previous fiscal year.

Elsewhere, your Netflix subscription may get even more expensive as the streaming giant announced it plans to increase prices in certain geographies. 

The company’s crackdown on password sharing too seems to be working as it added nearly 8.8 million subscribers in the third quarter—the biggest since the second quarter of 2020. For the July-September quarter, Netflix reported revenue of $8.5 billion, with profits of $1.67 billion. 

Lastly, a look at the 25 largest stock exchanges across the world.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Climate tech’s global impact
• A tale of India’s two gins
• Inside The Bear House

Here’s your trivia for today: Which was the first-ever website to be built on the World Wide Web?

Investment

Climate tech’s global impact

Green Frontier Capital—a US-headquartered early-stage VC fund solely focused on Indian climate tech startups—believes these new-age companies will play a key role in boosting the sustainability index in India and globally. 

Buoyed by the potential of climate tech startups in the country, the VC firm plans to double down on its activity here and create a dedicated fund for India at a potential size of $100 million.

Potential:

• Founded in 2021 by Sandiip Bhammer, a seasoned financial services professional with experience in investment banking and equity markets, Green Frontier has invested in 11 startups in India till now.
• The VC firm bets on agritech, foodtech, EV ecosystem, and sustainable lifestyle sectors. Its portfolio includes BluSmart Mobility, Battery Smart Swap Station, ElectricPe, Chupps, Zero Cow Factory, and Nutrifresh.
• Bhammer believes there is increased awareness and commitment towards sustainability, especially among the younger generation, and it could drive more businesses to adopt sustainable practices.

Wine and Food

A tale of India’s two gins

The excitement around gin is largely driven by young drinkers, stirring up somewhat of a ginaissance in the country. Now, several players are vying for the market’s attention, making it one of the most exciting alcohol categories in recent times. 

Take a swig of two gins with truly Indian origin stories—one from the rainiest place on earth and the other from the foothills of Uttarakhand.

The dry spirit:

• Through his venture Cherrapunji Gin, Mayukh Hazarika wants to offer a slice of Northeast India. It all begins with harvesting rainwater from a small village, Mawsynram, known to receive the highest amount of rainfall in the world.
• Kumaon & I Gin’s Ansh Khanna and Samarth Prasad developed a farm-to-bottle distillation process—one that involves the use of over 11 botanicals that are native to the region. 
• Its bottling process also involves the use of Himalayan natural spring water, as opposed to demineralised water—giving it a distinct profile and flavour.

MSME

Inside The Bear House

In India’s competitive fashion market, The Bear House—a bootstrapped Bengaluru-based men’s fashion brand—appears to be making notable strides. Amid intense competition, The Bear House boasts sales of 1.5 lakh shirts monthly. Known for its distinctive European flair, the company also introduces 100-115 new styles every month.

Fast fashion:

• The Bear House boasts an extensive portfolio of 1,210 styles and 8,000 SKUs spanning categories, including shirts, t-shirts, bottoms, and loungewear. 
• At present, The Bear House wants to venture into offline retail by launching four stores by 2025. It will open its first store in Bengaluru in June 2024.
• The brand sells mostly through ecommerce platforms like Myntra and Ajio, while it receives 20% of its sales from its website. The average price point ranges from Rs 1,600 to Rs 1,700.

News & updates

• Topping up: Tata Group is weighing putting in $1 billion of fresh capital into its super app venture. The injection is on top of the $2 billion that it invested in the venture earlier this year. Tata Digital will receive the new funding in the coming year should a deal proceed.
• Strict steps: Meta and TikTok have been given a week by the European Commission to provide details on measures taken to counter the spread of terrorist, violent content and hate speech on their platforms, a week after Elon Musk's X was told to do the same.
• Pink slips: Google cut dozens of jobs in its news division this week, downsizing at a particularly sensitive time for online platforms and publishers. An estimated 40-45 workers have lost their jobs, according to an Alphabet Workers Union spokesperson.

Which was the first-ever website to be built on the World Wide Web?

Answer: info.cern.ch. The first website at CERN—and in the world—was dedicated to the World Wide Web project, hosted on Tim Berners-Lee's NeXT computer. 

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