AI, agriculture, delivery: test your business creativity with Edition 171 of our weekly quiz!
This insightful feature from YourStory tests and strengthens your business acumen! Here are 5 questions to kick off this 171st quiz. Ready?
Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YourStory, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 171st edition of the quiz, we present issues tackled by real-life entrepreneurs in their startup journeys.
What would you do if you were in their shoes? At the end of the quiz, you will find out what the entrepreneurs and innovators themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?
Check out YourStory’s Book Review section as well, with takeaways from over 355 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparks section on creativity in the arts.
Q1: Agricultural markets
Many small farmers face challenges selling their produce due to a lack of market information, inefficient supply chains, and inadequate pricing power. How can this problem be tackled?
Q2: Construction materials
The construction materials industry is highly fragmented, and manufacturers and retailers face challenges in opaque value chains and order fulfilment delays. How can technology help here?
Q3: Delivery solutions
AI and edge computing can improve delivery times in sectors like healthcare, ecommerce, and quick commerce. What other technologies can move the needle here?
Q4: Women’s education
In traditional societies, patriarchal restrictions and inadequate resources limit the educational aspirations of women. How can schools and the broader ecosystem be made more progressive in this regard?
Q5: Video content
There is a surge in demand for dynamic video content across industries. However, traditional video editing tools are often too complex for the average user or fail to deliver results in real-time. How can this problem be tackled?
Answers!
Congratulations on having come this far! But there’s more to come – answers to these five questions (below), as well as links to articles with more details on the entrepreneurs’ solutions. Happy reading, happy learning – and happy creating!
A1: Agricultural markets
Founded by Mahesh Kedari, Yogesh Kedari, Preetesh Dutt, and Santosh Shitole, agritech startup Mulyam offers aggregation solutions for farmers to reach wholesale markets in distant locations. By bridging the market accessibility gap, farmers can achieve better price realisation.
It also has an AI-enabled decision support system to help farmers and buyers make informed business decisions. Read more here about how the company recorded a GMV of Rs 35 crore in FY23 and is projected to exceed Rs 125 crore in FY25.
A2: Construction materials
Spearheaded by Mayank Bhawsinghka and Manish Maheshwar, Nirmaan is a B2B managed marketplace focused on the construction materials sector. The Kolkata-based firm aims to transform the market by leveraging technology to connect manufacturers with retailers.
It addresses manufacturers’ challenges like opaque value chains, limited market reach, and inefficient communication with retailers, and helps retailers with product discovery and order fulfilment. Read more here about how it has served more than 1,000 unique retailers within an 80-km radius, and raised funds from Equanimity Investments.
A3: Delivery solutions
Founded in 2019 by Kishan Tiwari and Rimanshu Pandey, TSAW Drones offers on-demand delivery for sectors like healthcare, ecommerce and quick commerce. It has developed Level 5 autonomous drones for last-mile logistics, and agricultural drone solutions to support precision farming.
“We don’t just build drones—we manage the entire process, from manufacturing to delivery,” Tiwari says. Read more here about how it showcased its potential for COVID-19 vaccine delivery, and is currently active in Hyderabad, Telangana, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh.
A4: Women’s education
Founded by Khushboo Awasthi, the two organisations ShikshaLokam and Mantra4Change empower women and help fulfill their aspirations. Mantra4Change improves existing schools that cater to children from poor socio-economic backgrounds.
“If we can mobilise mothers, parents, self-help groups, panchayats and local youth, we can create a ripple effect of positive change that will scale and sustain,” Awasthi says. Read more here about how ShikshaLokam nurtures co-creation ecosystems for NGOs via shared technology capabilities that facilitate data-driven decision-making.
A5: Video content
Founded by RS Raghavan, Vmaker AI makes video creation and editing intuitive. It has AI-driven features like auto-captioning, background removal, noise reduction, and scene analysis.
The platform also offers cloud collaboration, enabling marketing and educational teams to work together seamlessly on projects. Read more here about its user-friendly interface and an expansive library of templates that reduce learning curves.
YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).
Edited by Affirunisa Kankudti