Inclusion, AI, sustainability: Test your business creativity with Edition 214 of our weekly quiz
This insightful feature from YourStory tests and strengthens your business acumen! Here are 5 questions to kick off this 214th 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 214th 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: Banking and finance
Many banks have capital but limited reach in under-served markets. On the other hand, fintechs have customers but lack funds. Where is the entrepreneurial opportunity for collaboration here?
Q2: Dentistry
Many dentists continue to use approaches based on manual craftsmanship for tasks like intra-oral impressions. How can efficiency and quality be enhanced here?
Q3: Air pollution
Many people have air conditioners for comfort, but still suffer from issues of air pollution. What is a good way to bridge this gap?
Q4: Accessible healthcare
In many remote areas, healthcare is far from being accessible, with patients having to travel long distances for basic health checkups. How can technology help here?
Q5: Climate change
It is easy to complain about climate change and its adverse impacts, but harder to spot specific problems and develop solutions tackling them. Where are the entrepreneurial opportunities here?
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: Banking and finance
Founded by Kushal Rastogi and Parthesh Shah, Knight Fintech builds digital infrastructure for India's lending ecosystem, with co-lending, digital lending, and treasury management solutions. Its platform connects banks, NBFCs, and fintechs for loan origination, underwriting, and servicing.
It has full-stack solutions for using cloud-based, API-driven, and AI-powered technology. Read more here about how its offerings like Knight Utopia (loan lifecycle synchronisation) and Knight Aurix (mobile lending) are used by 85 financial institutions, including NABARD and ICICI Securities.
A2: Dentistry
Founded by Sameer Merchant, Laxmi Dental has leveraged technology to evolve from a small lab in Mumbai into a digital powerhouse. Its solutions include CAD/CAM software, intra-oral scanners, 3D printing and AI-powered diagnostics.
“Dentistry isn’t about replacing people with machines. It’s about giving talented professionals the best tools to deliver better outcomes,” Merchant explains. Read more here about how it now employs over 1,800 professionals serving 22,000+ clinics across India, in addition to operations across 95 countries.
A3: Air pollution
Founded by Ravi Kaushik, Airth Research turns air conditioners into affordable air purifiers. “My goal is to make clean air affordable for everyone,” he says.
Its offerings like FiltRIX can convert any air conditioner—split, window, or commercial—into a high-efficiency purifier. Read more here about its 100 active B2B clients that include Dell, DLF Camellias, and The Beacon School, Matrix Partners, and its more than 60,000 retail users across India.
A4: Accessible healthcare
Co-founded by Abhilash Chakraverty, Larkai Healthcare has developed solutions like portable patient monitors that helps small hospitals and clinics turn regular beds into mini ICUs. Its aim is to make healthcare accessible, affordable, and connected.
The startup has developed AI- and IoT-powered medical devices that digitise patient data and enable remote monitoring, bringing specialist-level care to small towns and rural hospitals. Read more here about its AI-powered platform, and its business model based on hardware sales and SaaS subscriptions.
A5: Climate change
Founded by Prachi Shevgaonkar, Cool The Globe is a mobile app that helps individuals and organisations translate intent into measurable climate action and habits. Sonal Shukla’s ‘econscious’ startup tackles plastic waste through door-to-door collection and recycling into home décor, corporate gifts, and public-utility products.
Richa Malik launched The Happy Turtle to promotes a plastic-free, circular lifestyle through reusable everyday products such as bamboo toothbrushes and steel straws. Read more here about other inspiring ventures like Trupti Jain’s Naireeta Services, with an all-women team to develop Bhungroo, a patented rainwater-harvesting and storage system.
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).