The AI way to networking; The Great Indian discount broking bazaar

The most interesting news selected specially for you! 28 July 2024 [View in Browser]( POWERED BY Hello, In today's newsletter, we will talk about: - The AI way to networking - The Great Indian discount broking bazaar: Will SEBI play spoilsport? - Making recycling accessible and efficient - A mega incubator for TN startups - Upcycling plastic waste Here’s your trivia for today: Which finance minister presented the highest number of Union Budgets in independent India? --------------------------------------------------------------- Startup The AI way to networking Building relationships can often be challenging whether you are a business owner or climbing the corporate ladder. Cold emails are usually left unread, messages are ignored on LinkedIn, and meetings most often end with a handshake. To solve this, Aakash Anand teamed up with Sumit Jha and Palash Arneja in 2023 and built Unikon.ai as an AI/ML-based peer-to-peer networking platform, to help users connect with advisors or professionals for advice, and enable experts to share knowledge and earn. Nice to meet you: - The Gurugram startup focuses on making connections rewarding by enabling individuals who have “been there and done that” or “presently doing it” to offer advice. They can organise webinars or workshops and share expertise to earn income. - The platform offers four main features: UniShorts, UniKonnect, UniSeek, and UniShows. - Currently, the company operates in India and plans to launch in the US within three months. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- From the CapTable The Great Indian discount broking bazaar: Will SEBI play spoilsport? The growing popularity of investing has fuelled the country’s obsession with Futures & Options (F&Os), a far riskier asset class. F&Os let traders quickly make big bucks by speculating on future stock price movements. Also known as derivatives trading, F&Os have seen such exponential growth in the country that the total value of contracts traded reached a staggering $1.1 trillion in March 2024, surging nearly 4,000% from ~$27 billion in March 2019. However, while derivatives bring in massive profits for active traders and also improves price discovery for regular retail investors, these contracts involve significant leverage and can amplify losses too. In fact, 9 out of 10 derivative traders in India incur losses, according to SEBI’s findings. Key Takeaways: - SEBI wants to slow down India's F&O market and has brought in a new regulation that will curb some revenue streams for brokerage platforms - Discount brokers, which derive 80-85% of their revenues from F&O trades, which in turn, allows them to subsidise equity trades, will be hit more than full-service brokers - SEBI’s move will now compel them to relook their deep discounting model and potentially lead to a rise in brokerage fees for investors - Industry insiders say broker toplines could be hit even further than 50%, and some of the smaller and mid-sized ones might find it tough to survive [Continue Reading]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Environment Making recycling accessible, efficient ranks among the top 10 countries globally in municipal solid waste (MSW) generation, producing over 62 million tonnes (MT) waste annually, according to a report by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). However, only 43 MT of waste is collected, with 12 MT treated, while 31 MT is improperly discarded, posing significant environmental and public health risk. Founded in 2023, Delhi-based startup Scrapbuddy wants to change this by making recycling efficient and accessible. Go green: - Initially bootstrapped with Rs 10 lakh from personal savings, the startup has recycled over one million kilograms of PET scrap in Delhi-NCR. - Scrapbuddy offers a dual approach to waste collection through its website and mobile app. Users can schedule waste pickups at their doorstep for recyclable items, including plastic bottles, paper, polythene, cans, electronic items, vehicles, and old furniture. - To ensure smooth operations, the startup has onboarded around 250 informal waste pickers across 80 segregation centers in Delhi-NCR. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Incubator A mega incubator for Tamil Nadu startups Tamil Nadu government plans to launch a mega incubator for startups focused on design, marketing and sales, said Sivarajah Ramanathan, Mission Director, Startup TN. Established in 2021, Startup TN is the state government’s initiative to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in Tamil Nadu and establish the requisite ecosystem within the state. Close ties: - The state today has 8,952 startups, and the Tamil Nadu startup policy aims to take this number to over 15,000 by 2028. - Addressing the challenge of income inequality in the country, Ramanathan highlighted the Tamil Nadu government’s efforts to promote inclusivity in the startup ecosystem through initiatives like SC/ST equity fund; funding for women entrepreneurs, self-help groups, micro-enterprises, and women-led startups; and funding for transgender and differently-abled people. - He also spoke about the state government’s initiative to offer GST and incorporation support to enterprises and efforts to build startup hubs in cities such as Madurai, Thirunelveli, Cuddalore, Salem, Hosur, and Thanjavur. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Women entrepreneurs Upcycling plastic waste making inroads in the clean energy sector with biogas production in villages, Akansha Singh is now expanding her efforts to promote environmental preservation and upcycle single-use plastic through her venture, Swayambhu Innovative Solutions. Solutions to single-use plastic: - Swayambhu has formed a group of ragpickers in Haridwar, Rishikesh and Delhi, and appointed an aggregator to collect mostly single-use plastic, such as the kind used to package milk and vegetables. - The plastic is cleaned and sorted at Material Facilities Centres and processed into durable plastic sheets to manufacture various products, from benches to dustbins. - Swayambhu provides employment to more than 100 ragpickers and employs 25 people at its factory in Haridwar. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- News & Updates - [Quick fix:]( Microsoft has released a free tool to help people recover from the faulty CrowdStrike update that led to one of the biggest IT disasters to date. The tool is designed to enable IT admins to recover from the 'blue screen of death' boot loop that has left 8.5 million Windows machines out of action. - [Basic income:]( After three years of distributing $1,000 monthly to beneficiaries in Illinois and Texas, OpenResearch, a project backed by Sam Altman, found that recipients spend more to meet their basic needs and assist others, and don't drop out of the workforce—although they work slightly fewer hours. - [Closer look:]( The Competition Commission of India has reportedly sent nearly 100 queries to Reliance Industries and Walt Disney regarding their $8.5 billion merger of Indian media assets. The questions also include queries related to the details of sports rights, which increases the scrutiny of the deal. Did you know? Which finance minister presented the highest number of Union Budgets in independent India? Answer: Morarji Desai. He presented 10 Budgets, including an Interim Budget. We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail nslfeedback@yourstory.com. If you don’t already get this newsletter in your inbox, [sign up here](. For past editions of the YourStory Buzz, you can check our [Daily Capsule page here](. [Feedback]( [Unsubscribe]( [Newsletters](