Ensuring fair prices for organic farming; AI changing the education landscape

Hello,

OYO’s value is about to drop. 

After it withdrew its IPO application last month, the hospitality startup is now in talks to raise a fresh round of funding of about Rs 1,000 crore ($120 million) at a valuation of $2.5 billion—a steep fall of 72% from $9 billion in 2021—subject to approval at its EGM on Tuesday.

Now, some good news for the common man.

In the upcoming Union Budget, the government is considering lowering income tax rates for certain categories of individuals to help boost consumption in the country. The category of individuals that may see some tax relief are those earning over Rs 15 lakh annually, up to a certain amount, which is yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, venture debt firm VentureSoul Partners launched its maiden Rs 600 crore fund and received commitments from corporates and CXOs, with pharmaceutical company Micro Labs coming in as the anchor investor. 

And lastly, Coldplay is championing sustainability like no one else. After setting a new standard at its “Music of the Spheres” tour by reducing its carbon footprint drastically, the pop band is back with a new idea.

Coldplay now wants to make the most ecologically sustainable vinyl record yet for its newly announced album, Moon Music, slated to release on October 4. 

Winning our hearts! 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Ensuring fair prices for organic farming
• AI changing the education landscape
• Auxano Capital planning a second fund

Here’s your trivia for today: In which year did the comic book character Wonder Woman debut?

Social Impact

Making organic farming equitable

Over 16 years ago, telecom engineer Ananthoo and his friends set out to trace the journey of grapes, which cost Rs 45 a kilo in his neighbourhood in Chennai. When they finally traced the grapes to the farmer who cultivated them, he was selling the grapes for a mere Rs 3 per kilo. 

What they learnt that day led them to start the Organic Farmers Market (OFM), a pan-Indian agro-economic and clean consumption movement impacting the lives of over 300 farmers across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, and some parts of Himachal Pradesh.

Fair prices:

• Realising the stark imbalance in prices for farmers, OFM decided to transfer the agency of pricing onto the farmers, encouraging them to cultivate seasonal, organic produce alongside.
• The principles behind OFM have their roots in ‘Restore’, a store in Chennai started by Ananthoo and his friends, for farmers to access fair prices and a good market for their produce.
• Today, after 10 years of operation, OFM has a collective of 15 cooperative stores in southern India, where the organic produce from the farmers is sold at fair price.

Interview

Transforming the future of education

There are multiple ways to look at AI trends and how we can adopt them, believes Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda. If not adopted properly, it will be more likely a threat. If adopted well, it could be an opportunity.

Everybody needs to cultivate critical thinking with Gen AI, according to Maggioncalda, considering that working with teams, influencing people, leading and managing will never be the same due to the rapidly evolving landscape.

In focus:

• On average, one Indian enrols themselves for a course in Gen AI every minute on the Coursera platform, says Maggioncalda. The comparative figure globally is four people signing up for a Gen AI course every minute. 
• Maggioncalda believes that India is fast catching up with the United States, which leads when it comes to people opting for Gen AI courses.
• Coursera is also foraying further into the field with new AI upskilling courses, translations of courses into 22 languages, virtual tutors, AI course builders and AI-based anti-cheating tools.

Funding

Auxano Capital plans second fund

Auxano Capital, an early-stage VC firm, will expand the scope of its investment activity with a larger fund for thematic bets on the broader shifts in the Indian economy. Founded in 2016 by Brijesh Damodaran Nair and Ashish Padiyar, the VC firm already has a $25 million fund, from which it has been investing in early-stage startups.

Why it’s significant:

• The Gurugram-based VC has launched its second fund with a potential size of around $100 million to invest in startups potentially looking at an IPO.
• With the second fund, Auxano would also look at new opportunities in the Indian economy, including in deeptech, climate tech, manufacturing, and infrastructure, to name a few themes.
• Auxano Capital's portfolio startups include the likes of MProfit, Polymates, Superpro.ai, and Expertrons. It has also recorded exits from its first fund, including a full exit from MilkBasket and a partial exit from Wiom.

News & updates

• Security: A controversial EU legislative proposal to scan the private messages of citizens to detect child sexual abuse material is a risk to the future of web security, Meredith Whittaker, President of the not-for-profit foundation behind Signal, warned in a public blog post on Monday. 
• Soaring: Hyundai Motor Co's shares hit a record high as investors bet on the South Korean automaker's plan to list its India unit. Shares of Hyundai Motor rose as much as 6.3% on Monday to 285,000 KRW ($206.47) and closed up 3.9%, a record-high close, which lifted its market capitalisation to 58.3 trillion KRW.
• Notes: YouTube is introducing a new experimental feature that will allow viewers to add “Notes” to provide more context and information under videos. If the feature sounds similar, it’s because it follows the same concept as Community Notes on X (formerly Twitter).

In which year did the comic book character Wonder Woman debut?

Answer: 1941. Wonder Woman debuted in All-Star Comics #8 in October 1941.

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