Google building cloud solutions in India; Never too old for therapy

Hello,

IIFL Fintech Fund has made its first exit.

The IIFL Group’s early-stage investment vehicle yielded 80% returns in 18 months since it invested in the SaaS platform TrustCheckr. Truecaller recently acquired the fraud detection platform to strengthen its B2B offerings.

Talking of transition, fashion brand Virgio has moved away from fast fashion to establishing a more eco-friendly and sustainable brand. Co-founder and CEO Amar Nagaram had earlier suggested in a LinkedIn post that the company was shutting down but later clarified that it would pivot to focus on circular fashion.

Meanwhile, as Zoho launched smart conference solution Cliq Rooms, CEO and Co-founder Sridhar Vembu noted that India was the fastest-growing market for the software-as-a-service (SaaS) company.

"I'm very bullish about our growth in India, despite a global backdrop that has been challenging due to demographic shifts even before recent events,” he noted.   

The growth in Indian enterprise was also recognised in a survey by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). It noted that 85% of MSMEs reported an increase in total sales and profit margins by up to 30% after integrating with ecommerce channels.

ICYMI: Global warming isn’t just affecting humans but also leading to the emergence of new species. Genetic analysis found that Atlantic puffins are now interbreeding in Norway as Arctic warming displaces the birds from their usual habitats.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Google building cloud solutions in India
• Never too old for therapy
• Indian spacetech turns global challenger

Here’s your trivia for today: Which was the first host nation of the cricket World Cup tournament to win the tournament?

Interview

Google building cloud solutions in India

As one of the leading global cloud services providers, Google Cloud has experienced substantial growth in recent years. India ranks among one of Google Cloud’s largest and most crucial markets. It is developing solutions tailored to the Indian market which can potentially have a global footprint. 

In an interview, Bikram Singh Bedi, Managing Director - Google Cloud, India Region, spoke about India’s growing cloud ecosystem, GenAI’s accelerating role in cloud adoption, and its collaborations with Indian startups.

Indian market:

• For Google, the large public cloud market offers the perfect ecosystem to build and test its solutions.
• India’s public cloud services market is expected to reach $17.8 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 23.4% for 2022-27, according to International Data Corporation. 
• Cloud adoption is across the board. In retail, for instance, the ONDC story emphasises the immense commerce potential in India—a global-scale opportunity, Bedi said.

Mental Health

Never too old for therapy

Adults over the age of 50 often dismiss their mental health concerns due to rigid mindsets and lack of awareness. How many of them are willing to seek therapy? How can clinical psychologist/therapists help? SocialStory spoke to people in the age group while experts weighed in.

Mental well-being:

• It’s 2023, and the perspective on mental health has not changed drastically, especially among older adults. 
• When Neeraj*, a 50-year-old media professional confided in his father that he may be going through depression, he suggested that he take strength from religious texts to tide over the “bad time”.
• Ritika Bhutani, Lead Clinical Psychologist and Supervisor at LISSUN, believes there is a lack of insight and understanding about mental health issues, particularly among older adults since they have been mostly exposed to the medical model of illness.

Funding Alert

Startup: Onsurity

Amount: $24M

Round: Series B

Startup: Pep

Amount: $2.5M

Round: Seed

Startup: Oyela

Amount: Rs 14.4 Cr

Round: Seed

Spacetech

Indian spacetech turns global challenger

In its infancy, India’s spacetech sector is growing at a rate of knots. A combination of talent, innovation, and government support is helping the country’s fledgling spacetech startups make a global mark, SatSure Co-founder and CTO Rashmit Singh Sukhmani said at TechSparks 2023.

Fly high:

• While the scientists at ISRO continue to win accolades for the nation, India’s private space tech sector is yet to garner the same recognition, Sukhmani said. 
• He believes that Indian spacetech appears primed for success—driven by the twin engines of innovation and talent.
• Having recently raised a $15 million funding round—no small feat in a sector that had only raised around $205 million between 2014 and July 2023—SatSure is now primed to enter more developed markets such as the US and Europe.

News & updates

• Overlap: An industry group representing several major US tech companies has opposed the Indian government’s proposal against dark patterns used to deceive online users, and said the move would adversely affect the state promise of enabling “ease of doing business” in the economy and bring “regulatory overlap” with existing laws.
• Conflict: The Bank of Israel will sell up to $30 billion in foreign reserves to support its domestic currency, which has fallen sharply following the Palestine-Israel conflict over the weekend. The Israeli shekel last weakened 1.63% to trade at 3.90 against the greenback, marking its weakest in seven years.
• Surprise: A proxy battle between Nelson Peltz and Disney is brewing for the second time this year. Peltz’s activist firm, Trian Fund Management, has increased its stake in Disney to about 30 million shares, valued at roughly $2.5 billion. The stake makes Trian one of the largest shareholders in Disney.

Which was the first host nation of the cricket World Cup tournament to win the tournament?

Answer: Sri Lanka. It co-hosted the 1996 World Cup with Pakistan.

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