🔌 Commercial sector leading EV adoption

Start Your Day with YS Buzz: Your 8 AM Snapshot of Today's Top Startup News! 12 March 2024 [View in Browser]( Hello, BYJU’S is in troubled waters. Once the poster boy of India’s edtech ecosystem, [BYJU’S]( has now shut down all its offices in the country, except its headquarters in Bengaluru, in the latest cost-cutting move. The embattled edtech company has asked all its 20,000 employees to work from home as it has given up all the office spaces temporarily to save on monthly rent, reported The CapTable. In other news, [SIDBI]( has secured approval from South Korea’s Green Climate Fund for its first-ever green climate project, the Avaana Sustainability Fund, to invest $120 million in climate-focused firms. Meanwhile, hyperlocal ecommerce startup [magicpin]( has ventured into the logistics aggregation segment with the launch of Velocity—a delivery-as-a-service tech solution—which promises hyperlocal deliveries within 30 minutes, among other features. Elsewhere, [Bitcoin]( prices rallied Monday to hit a fresh record high above $72,000 after Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority said it would allow exchanges to list cryptocurrency-linked exchange-traded products for the first time. [ICYMI:]( Did you know caffeine intoxication can be dangerous? It’s rare but real. In today’s newsletter, we will talk about - Increasing EV adoption in India - How to foster inclusion at workplace - Factors hindering women's career growth Here’s your trivia for today: Which country's flag has an eagle and a snake on it? --------------------------------------------------------------- TechSparks Increasing EV adoption in India Electric Co-founder and CEO Akash Gupta predicts that by 2028, electric vehicles will make up 50% of the commercial logistics force. EV boom: - Speaking at TechSparks' Mumbai edition, Gupta estimates it will take electric cars for personal mobility about 10 years to see meaningful uptake. - He believes the commercial sector will continue to lead EV adoption in India, and drive more penetration than the personal mobility sector. - "Today, people know electric vehicles...they're writing to us because they want to work in a sunrise sector and they want to join the EV bandwagon," Gupta adds. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Funding Alert 1) BlackSoil NBFCt: Rs 100 Cr|Equity 2) Kimbal Technologies: $5M| Growth 3) Attron Automotive: Rs 4.75 Cr |Seed --------------------------------------------------------------- SheSparks How to foster inclusion at workplace efforts to promote diversity, women's representation in leadership roles remains low. On a panel at SheSparks 2024, Diversity Simplified's Tina Vinod, Capgemini's Sarika Naik, and HerKey's Neha Bagaria agreed that the true potential of inclusion can only be unlocked when it goes beyond tokenism. Levelling the playing field: - Capgemini’s Naik says that unconscious bias is a reality. Offering solutions to mitigate the bias, she says that it all starts from the top. - "I think for SMEs and startups, anybody who wants to win the war for talent has to be able to access diverse pools of talent. That's where diversity becomes extremely important,” explains Bagaria. - Vinod elucidated that tokenism can work positively in cases when representation on the Board has the potential to bring about significant changes in the outcomes and decisions the company makes. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Survey Factors hindering women's career growth About 70% of women believe that poor work-life balance is the main obstacle that prevents women from advancing in their careers, according to a survey by upskilling platform Hero Vired. "There is a need for continued efforts in fostering a supportive environment, addressing biases and providing avenues for professional development," said Akshay Munjal, Founder and CEO of Hero Vired Diversity and inclusion: - Feeling out of touch with technological advancements, skill degradation, and difficulties in finding suitable job opportunities are major roadblocks for women to progress in their careers. - On a positive note, the report found that about 77% of respondents have observed an increase in the representation of women in leadership positions compared to previous years. - About 85% of people believe that upskilling can empower women in the modern workplace, and approximately 65% of women are inclined to invest in upskilling and career development. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- From the CapTable How India's push for domestic aircraft maintenance finally took off For a country that is the fastest-growing aviation market in the world and is already the third-largest domestic market globally, India’s aviation sector has a scarcely believable Achilles heel. For all meaningful maintenance on India’s burgeoning fleet of commercial aircraft, they need to be sent overseas. In fact, 80-90% of these services are being done in markets such as Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), say experts. Take market leader IndiGo, for instance. Last year, its airline engineering head SC Gupta told the Ministry of Civil Aviation, or MoCA, that 90% of the firm’s expenditure on aeroplane maintenance, repair, and overhaul—known commonly in the industry as MRO—went to foreign firms. IndiGo alone, he said, allocates some $300 million towards MRO annually, meaning some $270 million flows out of the country. Incredibly, this is despite IndiGo being one of the few domestic airlines with MRO facilities of its own. With domestic airlines set to add hundreds of planes to their fleets in the coming years, however, the aviation sector is finally gearing up to address this glaring weak spot. On February 19, Air India owner Tata Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Karnataka government to set up an MRO facility in Bengaluru with an investment of Rs 1,300 crore. The agreement is one amongst a slew of developments in India’s aviation MRO space over the past year as companies look to gain a slice of the country’s rapidly growing MRO spends. Key Takeaways: - The Tata Group recently announced an investment of Rs 1,300 crore to build a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility for aircraft. - This is the most recent in a slew of developments in the space, with domestic MRO services largely limited to more low-margin tasks. - While 80-90% of MRO services for Indian planes are currently being done overseas, moves like Tata Group’s seek to add an element of self-reliance to India’s aviation sector. - Indeed, with India emerging as one of the largest aviation markets globally, India’s MRO sector is expected to double in value to $4bn by 2031 [Continue Reading]( --------------------------------------------------------------- News & Updates - [Public debut:]( Reddit Inc disclosed details of what will be one of 2024’s biggest IPOs, with the company and some existing shareholders seeking to raise as much as $748 million. Reddit and the holders are planning to sell 22 million shares for $31 to $34 each, the social media platform said in a filing. - [Stake sell:]( Rakesh Gangwal, Co-founder of IndiGo, sold a 5.8% stake worth $820.3 million in operator Interglobe Aviation via bulk deals. Morgan Stanley bought 2.1 million shares, according to the stock exchange data. - [Money, money:]( Telegram Founder Pavel Durov said the company expects to hit profitability next year with eyes on going public in the future. The chat app, which crossed 900 million users, is making “hundreds of millions of dollars” through ads and subscriptions, Durov told the Financial Times in an interview. Did you know? Which country's flag has an eagle and a snake on it? Answer: Mexico 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](