Inside TechSparks Mumbai Pitch Fest; A refreshing take on vegetarian food

Hello,

Troubles at BYJU'S and Paytm don’t seem to end. 

On Saturday Founder Byju Raveendran said the edtech company cannot pay salaries to employees as the recent funds raised through a rights issue are inaccessible due to a legal dispute with certain investors. 

In a letter to staff, Raveendran said, "This was supposed to be a happy correspondence. After all, we now have funds to meet our short-term needs and clear our liabilities. However, I regret to inform you that we will still be unable to process your salaries."

Meanwhile, shares of One97 Communications Ltd, the parent company of Paytm, declined more than 2.50% in Saturday's special trading session, after the Financial Intelligence Unit slapped a penalty of Rs 5.49 crore on Paytm Payments Bank. 

The company's stock fell by 2.56% to settle at Rs 414.55 apiece on the BSE and declined by 2.13% to Rs 414.40 per share on the NSE

Elsewhere, Google's decision to remove some apps in India from its app store "cannot be permitted", Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. 

His comments come a day after Google removed these apps from its Play Store saying the companies were not abiding by its in-app payment guidelines. 

Lastly, check out why North Devon in England is ideal for adventure activities.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Smart ideas light up Pitch Fest
• A refreshing take on vegetarian food
• Self-expression through poetry

Here’s your trivia for today: Which planet is made up of gas rather than rocks?

TechSparks

Smart ideas light up Pitch Fest

The latest edition of YourStory's Pitch Fest saw startups coming up with solutions for transportation problems with hyperloop infrastructure, commercial electric vehicles, and flying electric taxis. The ultimate showdown of startups also saw cutting-edge solutions such as diagnostics devices for pets and AI-based hiring solutions. 

The fourth edition of Pitch Fest took place at the bustling financial capital of Mumbai during YourStory's flagship tech-startup event TechSparks 2024.

Key takeaways:

• The startups were evaluated by a panel of experienced founders and investors, including Shalini Chhabra, MD at 3i Partners; Yagnesh Sanghrajka, Founder and CFO at 100X.VC; and Manisha Raisinghani, Founder of SiftHub.
• The jury's choice was Speedloop Auto, which creates three-wheeler commercial EVs with a front-loading storage area, aiming to provide rider comfort and address driver safety issues.
• The audience favourite was Quintrans, India's first private hyperloop company taking on traffic congestion and long-distance travel with its vision of an 11,000-km hyperloop tube network.

Wine and Food

A refreshing take on vegetarian food

People choose a vegetarian lifestyle for several reasons—vegetarian diets tend to have fewer calories, lower levels of saturated fat and cholesterol and more fibre. Despite the staggering number of people who choose a vegetarian lifestyle in India, very few restaurants offer meals that cater to their sensibilities.

For Bengaluru-based Moglu, vegetables are really the focal point. Co-founded by Ankita Shree and Kiran Narayanan in 2024, the restaurant is a celebration of vegetarianism.

Details:

• Shree and Narayanan describe their menu as borderless, having dishes that pay homage to South Indian classics like the moorukutan, to a revisioned American classic, the hamburger with barbequed lion’s mane mushroom as the main source of protein.
• Moglu also does a refreshing take on the Limoncello–an Italian lemon liqueur. The drink feels like a whisper to the original classic.
• While the seating is limited, it is a mix of booths and tables, giving room to seat groups that are both large and small. This lends the restaurant a cosy atmosphere, perfect for intimate gatherings.

Arts

Self-expression through poetry

Creative writer Ruby Naaz dedicates her entire Saturdays to crafting poetry for park-goers, all without charge. She is on a mission to re-ignite self-expression as meaningful conversations have taken a back seat.

Starting in 2023, she has written poems for over 200 people at Cubbon Park in Bengaluru in the past six months.

Love for writing:

• On one July day in 2023, Naaz—a regular visitor at Cubbon Park—decided to bring her typewriter to the park, and its vintage charm caught the onlookers’ attention.
• She intends to create a safe space for people to express their thoughts freely. These poems—written in just a few minutes of the conversation—compel strangers to return to her to relive the experience.
• Art has been a potent form of self-expression for ages, Naaz says. Art gives space and freedom to people to showcase their emotions and become vulnerable in whatever they wish to express.

News & updates

• Billionaire: Sam Altman became the face of the AI craze as CEO of OpenAI. But his wealth goes far beyond the startup behind ChatGPT. The 38-year-old is worth at least $2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That figure doesn’t include any stake in OpenAI, recently valued at $86 billion. 
• Top value: Nvidia's stock market value closed above $2 trillion for the first time after an upbeat report from Dell Technologies reignited Wall Street's AI-fueled rally. Nvidia's stock added 4% after Dell gave an upbeat forecast, pointing to a surge in orders for its AI-optimised servers.
• New plans: Days after US regulators gave Boeing Co. a 90-day ultimatum to address quality lapses in its jets, the planemaker confirmed it is in preliminary talks to acquire Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc., the supplier at the centre of a spate of recent quality issues affecting the 737 Max airliner. 

Which planet is made up of gas rather than rocks?

Answer: Jupiter.

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