A clash of retail and e-pharmacies; Fruitful harvesting sans waste

Hello,

’Tis the season of IPOs.

FirstCry parent Brainbees Solutions has received SEBI’s nod for its IPO. The company's initial public offering comprises a fresh issue of equity shares up to Rs 1,816 crore and an offer for sale by selling shareholders of up to 5.44 crore shares, the company said in a statement.

While the action is heating up in the public markets, the private markets are not too far behind. 

Beauty and personal care unicorn Purplle has secured Rs 1,000 crore in a funding round led by a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, with participation from other investors. Purplle said that it is operationally profitable and expects to grow its online platform while scaling offline stores.

In other positive news, NoBroker sees an exponential growth trajectory.

NoBroker witnessed a sharp increase in revenue from operations in FY23. The Bengaluru-based company reported Rs 608.8 crore in revenue from operations in FY23—an 86.8% increase from the Rs 325.9 crore earned in FY22, its recent financial statements revealed.

The EV sector is growing at a scorching pace too.

Ola Electric announced a remarkable 107% year-on-year growth in June 2024 for its EV two-wheeler registrations compared with June 2023. Q1 FY25 also saw significant growth for Ola Electric, with a 57% increase over Q1 FY24, totalling over 1.08 lakh registrations by the end of June 2024.

And lastly, we’re one step closer to becoming a multi-planetary species.

A team of scientists discovered a plant that could possibly survive and grow in the harsh climate of Mars. The desert moss, which is found in Antarctica and the Mojave desert, might become pivotal to establishing life on the red planet.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• A clash of retail and e-pharmacies
• Fruitful harvesting sans waste
• Solar-powered energy solutions

Here’s your trivia for today: Which player took the most wickets in T20 World Cup tournaments?

Explainer

A clash of retail and e-pharmacies

On June 25, the Madras High Court overturned an earlier November 2018 ruling by a single-judge bench that restricted online pharmacies from delivering medicines to customers. 

This decision is just the latest chapter of a long legal back and forth between conventional and online pharmacies. But why are brick-and-mortar and online pharmacies at odds with each other?

A legal rollercoaster:

• The overturned ruling followed a plea from the Chennai-based Tamil Nadu Chemists and Druggists Association that placed an interim injunction restraining online sales of medicines, highlighting concerns about unfair discounts, unlicensed and unregulated drugs, counterfeiting concerns and data privacy risks.
• The association also stated that permitting the sale of drugs online defeats the purpose of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, of 1940 which regulated the manufacture and sale of drugs under prescribed storage conditions by qualified pharmacists. 
• More people are opting for online pharmacies, owing to greater convenience for those in remote areas or those unable to visit physical stores, transparent tracking systems and easy-to-access prescription records. 

Funding Alert

Startup: Purplle

Amount: Rs 1,000 Cr

Round: Unspecified

Startup: Comet

Amount: $5M

Round: Series A

Startup: Pepul

Amount: $4M

Round: Pre-series A

Startup

Fruitful harvesting sans waste

The fruit vendor supply chains in India are fragmented and inefficient due to numerous intermediaries, lack of refrigerated transport, lack of high-quality cold storage facilities, and limited processing capabilities, leading to high post-harvest losses. 

To tackle these challenges, Delhi-NCR-based Fresh From Farm takes charge of end-to-end solutions for fruit retailers. Started by Rohit Nagdewani in 2021, the B2B2C platform oversees procurement, handling, sorting, and distribution to enable them to focus solely on driving sales.

Streamlined agritech solutions:

• Fresh From Farm, which has a team of 65 members, sources fruits directly from farms, processes them at a central location in Delhi-NCR, and delivers sorted and graded fruits to fruit vendors. 
• The startup uses data-driven demand prediction to forecast precise fruit requirements, consolidates demand to streamline logistics, and handles sourcing, grading, and sorting.
• Bootstrapped at about Rs 50 lakh, the company caters to about 400-500 vendors daily in Delhi-NCR at present.

Women Entrepreneurs

Solar-powered energy solutions

During her Master’s at Purdue University in the US, Radhika Choudary worked on a research project on fuel cells powered by solar energy, which sparked her interest in the field of renewable energy.

Years later, a chance meeting with Saurabh Marda and the discovery of a shared passion for clean energy led them to team up to start Freyr Energy. Based in Hyderabad, the startup offers solar solutions to homes and businesses.

Igniting change:

• Freyr Energy provides rooftop solar systems for residential and commercial buildings, depending on the household or commercial location’s energy consumption needs. The company also provides maintenance facilities as required.
• With an installed solar capacity of 60+ MW, Freyr Energy is helping homes and businesses generate more than 9.12 lakh units annually.
• The company has also collaborated with banks and non-banking financial companies to offer zero-cost EMI options for customers who may not prefer to take the initial investment or may not have enough funds available to install solar panels.

News & updates

• Split up: Boeing agreed to buy back Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion in stock and Airbus moved to take on the supplier's loss-making Europe-focused activities, sending shares in all three companies higher in a rare transatlantic break-up.
• Walkout: The National Samsung Electronics Union, the largest union at Samsung Electronics Co, said it will stage a three-day walkout beginning July 8, adding to the challenges for South Korea’s largest company as it seeks to recover from setbacks in its semiconductor business.
• Clean energy: Google will partner with BlackRock to develop a 1 gigawatt pipeline of new solar capacity in Taiwan, the US tech giant announced Monday, as it seeks to boost energy capacity and cut carbon emissions amid the artificial intelligence boom.

Which player took the most wickets in T20 World Cup tournaments?

Answer: Former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan - 41 wickets in 31 matches

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