Hello,

“I am not feeling it anymore,” Prosus to PayU… probably. 

The investment firm is exploring potential divestments from its fintech arm, reported Bloomberg. Citing anonymous sources, the report added that the deal could be worth as much as $800 million.

In other news, Stride Ventures has raised $100 million in its first close of the firm’s third debt fund, halfway towards its target of $200 million. This first close was achieved within four months of receiving the licence for the fund.

Speaking of funding, edtech firm BYJU’S is set to close a massive $1 billion round in a month’s time, reported Moneycontrol. While around $700 million will be allegedly raised through equity, the remaining $300 million is set to be raised via structured instruments.

Meanwhile, here’s a look at how countries look at AI. 

Turns out, wealthier countries are more sceptical about AI products and services.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Charging infra for commercial EVs
• Indian art in lifestyle products
• What is Canton Network?

Here’s your trivia for today: How did John Jacob Astor, America’s first multimillionaire, make his fortune?

Startup

Charging infra for commercial EVs

The Energy Company co-founders Rahul Lamba, Prashant Rathee, and Pratik Somani saw that while the EV mobility space is gaining traction, batteries are the single most limiting factor for people to adopt clean mobility. In 2021, the trio established The Energy Company—a full-stack battery platform offering simple, fast, and adaptive EV battery solutions to B2B clients. 

Charge on:

• The co-founders say their solutions are as simple as smartphone charging.
• It is currently building a full-stack battery platform—Flexi for mobility—aimed at increasing EV adoption.
• The startup manufactures its battery pack in-house and plans to start commercialisation by August 2023.

MSME

Indian art in lifestyle products

Suman Sonthalia’s Aakriti Art creates a fusion of regional arts to make functional products. It employs a variety of traditional and folk-art forms to create distinctive designs and produces lifestyle products, including furniture, handicrafts, home décor and utility items, jewellery, etc. The products range in price from Rs 100 to Rs 3 lakh.

Shop fusion:

• The brand has 3,000 SKUs in its portfolio, including dining tables, racks, cabinets, sofas, loungers, mirrors, lampshades, ceramics, earrings, necklaces, and so on.  
• It showcases a fusion of regional arts from different states—Warli (Maharashtra), Madhubani (Bihar), Dhokra and Pattachitra (West Bengal), Kalamkari (Andhra Pradesh), Mandana (Rajasthan), and Gond (Chattisgarh).
• Suman Sonthalia, Founder of Aakriti Art, won the President’s National Award for Master Craftsperson in 2011.

Blockchain

What is Canton Network?

A group of firms, including Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Deloitte, and others, are teaming up to launch a new blockchain-based system. The system, called the Canton Network, aims to link various institutional applications while offering better privacy and controls than existing technology.

Key takeaways:

• The ‘network of networks’ allows previously siloed systems in financial markets to interoperate with the appropriate governance, privacy, permissions, and controls required for highly-regulated industries.
• It will utilise the Daml smart contract language, developed by Digital Asset to connect various applications. The project aims to give decentralised infrastructure to institutional clients while ensuring privacy.
• It will begin testing some of its capabilities in July.

News & updates

• Bowing out: Microsoft’s LinkedIn plans to shut its jobs app in China and cut about 716 jobs, as the US professional networking service further shrinks its presence in the country. LinkedIn, citing intense competition, will phase out the InCareer local jobs app by August. 
• Finally settled: Goldman Sachs Group agreed to pay $215 million to settle a long-running class-action lawsuit that alleged widespread bias against women in both pay and promotions. The settlement covers about 2,800 female associates and vice presidents.
• Second chance: On Tuesday, IBM announced WatsonX, an all-in-one artificial intelligence building tool for enterprises. The announcement comes about 15 months after the company sold its Watson Health unit for an undisclosed amount following years of struggling with profitability.

How did John Jacob Astor, America’s first multimillionaire, make his fortune?

Answer: In the fur trade. He used to import furs from Montreal to New York, and then shipped them to Europe.

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