ISRO’s vision for galaxy far, far away; Nithin Kamath's comeback trail

Hello,

An exciting start for YourStory TechSparks 2024!

The 15th edition of India’s most influential startup-tech summit saw ISRO chief Dr S Somanath outlining India’s space tech journey; Sharad Sanghi, Founder of Neysa, talking about the country’s AI push; and Nithin Kamath, Co-founder of Zerodha, revealing the challenges of running a stock broking company.

But wait, there’s more to come!

Day 2 of TechSparks will feature Phani Kishan Addepallu, Co-founder and CGO of Swiggy, and Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Food Marketplace, Swiggy, who will talk about the foodtech startup’s IPO journey. 

Naveen Tewari, Founder and CEO of InMobi Group, will share InMobi’s journey from B2B to over 300 million mobile screens. Here’s the full agenda.

The day will also see the launch of the coveted Tech30 startups, which YourStory believes are poised to become major players in transforming Bharat 3.0.

Meanwhile, Zomato finally has a competitor at the bourses. 

Foodtech rival Swiggy has filed its IPO papers for a fresh issue of Rs 3,750 crore along with an offer-for-sale of 18.52 crore shares from selling stockholders, according to its draft red herring prospectus.

In other news, changes are afoot at OpenAI. 

The company is reportedly moving towards becoming a for-profit entity, a significant shift from its original non-profit structure. This decision comes in the wake of several high-profile exits, including CTO Mira Murati, and is part of a broader strategy to secure $6.5 billion in new funding.

Lots of drama to unfold in the world of AI. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• ISRO spearheading India to space
• Nithin Kamath's comeback trail
• Inside AI startup Neysa

Here’s your trivia for today: What household device uses the rare synthetic element Americium?

TechSparks

ISRO spearheading India to space

AI is set to change the space tech sector, marking a shift from conventional models to new AI-driven models, said Dr S Somanath, Chairman, ISRO. 

“AI is everywhere, why not in space?...Most of our work today is slowly shifting from the conventional approaches to AI-driven models, especially related to satellite imaging, data collection, analytics, etc,” said the ISRO chief, delivering the keynote at the 15th edition of YourStory’s flagship event, TechSparks 2024.  

To the cosmos:

• He added that AI-based solutions are being used for space tech applications, though the use of AI in engineering design is becoming stronger by the day. 
• Dr Somanath said that the combination of the Indian Space Policy announced in 2023, which allows FDI in the sector, apart from the National Geospatial Policy 2022, has helped the sector grow.
• ISRO is also transferring the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) technology to the private industry, and is likely to make a final announcement—opening up the building and launch of the SSLV rocket—at a cost.

TechSparks

Nithin Kamath's comeback trail

Nithin Kamath is a trailblazer. As the pioneer of India's online broking industry, Kamath's Zerodha has disrupted many a legacy institution in the last decade-and-a-half, as it scaled to reach a staggering turnover of Rs 8,320 crore, with profits of Rs 4,700 crore in FY24. But this year has been a lot more than just money or business for the mild-mannered Kamath. 

Key takeaways:

• In what was his “first real audience interaction” in nine months since he suffered a stroke earlier in January, Kamath dwelled on life, loss and other existential questions besides sharing his thoughts on building a rock-solid fintech business.
• Zerodha currently manages securities worth a mammoth Rs 5.66 lakh crore, which equals 10 crore rows of holding.
• Most recently, Kamath cautioned that discount trading platforms like Zerodha and others, which could see a potential drop in revenues once SEBI's new regulations around F&O trading kick in from October 1, 2024.

TechSparks

Inside AI startup Neysa

Platform-as-a-service startup Neysa, which offers AI workflow infrastructure services, is set to launch a credit facility for startups next month. The Mumbai-based company plans to officially announce this initiative at the Nvidia AI Summit in Mumbai in October. 

Founded in 2023, Neysa deploys and scales up customer machine learning projects through three offerings—Nebula, Palvera, and Aegis. 

New start:

• While these solutions mainly cater to enterprises, the upcoming credit offering will extend their accessibility to smaller companies and early-stage startups. 
• Neysa is nearing the close of its Series A funding, said the company's CEO and Founder Sharad Sanghi.  “We just launched our service two months back, and we have seen success. We raised a seed funding round of $20 million in March,” he added.
• Sanghi revealed that Neysa has received an infusion from NTT’s venture capital arm to fund its plans to go to markets such as Japan, the Middle East, and Europe. 

News & updates

• Share buyback: IT services firm Accenture unveiled a $4-billion share buyback and reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue thanks to demand from companies looking to adopt GenAI technology.
• Chip rally: Micron Technology surged 15% on Thursday in pre-market trading, leading a rally in chip stocks after its strong revenue forecast signalled robust demand for semiconductors used to power GenAI technology.
• Weekend warrior: A study of nearly 90,000 people enrolled in the UK Biobank project found that people who fit a week’s worth of exercise into one or two days had a lower risk of developing more than 200 diseases compared to inactive people.

What household device uses the rare synthetic element Americium?

Answer: Smoke detector.

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