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If you’re sipping on water at the time of reading this article, we suggest you gently set your tumbler down because there’s a good chance it could slip out of your hands and drop on the floor with a dramatic clatter. Popular brokerage platform <keyword id="759851" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zerodha" source="Orion">Zerodha</keyword>’s founder and CEO <keyword id="1430802" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nithin-kamath" source="Orion">Nithin Kamath</keyword> recently shared a deeply disturbing and unsettling video of the insides of a drinking water pipeline. The walls of the pipes were practically invisible, mostly because of the layers upon years of various substances deposited on them. <div type="twitter" handle="Nithin0dha" handlename="Nithin0dha" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1805499794418176109"></div>It is normal for water to have some impurities — that’s why most of us have water filters, right? However, the water flowing through those particular pipes didn’t look safe in the least. Not to mention, the greenish-brown grime deposited did make our stomachs turn and eye the water next to us suspiciously. The footage also showed what might have been contamination from a sewage pipeline. It remains unclear what the solution to this issue is, we could say that identifying the urgent need for better and cleaner water pipelines is the first step. The videos were captured by robots developed by <keyword id="22198104" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Solinas" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Solinas" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Solinas">Solinas</keyword>, a Chennai-based startup born from an <keyword id="19953789" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IIT-Madras" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="IIT Madras" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="IIT Madras">IIT Madras</keyword> student project. Solinas tackles these challenges head-on with advanced robotics and AI. Their approach utilises robots like Endobot to navigate water lines, identifying leaks, contamination, and other issues invisible to the naked eye. This strategy not only improves efficiency but also saves money through early detection and prevention. But the impact of companies like Solinas goes beyond mere efficiency. Their robots are transforming a dangerous profession: manual scavenging. By developing robots specifically designed for cleaning manholes and septic tanks, Solinas eliminates the need for human contact with sewage, protecting <keyword id="20027370" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanitation-workers" source="keywords">sanitation workers</keyword> from potential health risks. As per reports, Solinas has provided clean water to over 100,000 households, empowered sanitation workers, and saved millions of litres of water daily. Partnering with <keyword id="20761769" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rainmatter" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Rainmatter" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Rainmatter">Rainmatter</keyword>, a venture capital firm focused on sustainable solutions, Solinas aims to make an even bigger splash. Their joint mission: reducing water leakage and contamination by 20% while eliminating manual sewage cleaning altogether. By leveraging robotics and AI, they are ensuring cleaner water, safer working conditions, and a more sustainable future. Solinas says it has already implemented comprehensive solutions in over 30 cities, serving a diverse clientele including global corporations and government bodies. Their technology has even been recognized by Indian ministries, and Solinas is setting ambitious goals to become the nation's first WASH sector unicorn.

Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath shares disturbing video of drinking water pipes contaminated with grime and sewage

<ul><li>Founded in 2022 by INSEAD alumni <keyword id="7467536" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="annu-talreja" source="Orion">Annu Talreja</keyword>, founders <keyword id="15710343" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="piyush-chitkara-and-jagmohan-garg" source="Orion">Piyush Chitkara and Jagmohan Garg</keyword>, <keyword id="4509029" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="accacia" source="Orion">Accacia</keyword> is an AI-enabled SAAS platform providing decarbonisation strategies. </li><li>According to a World Economic Forum report, real estate contributes to 40% of global carbon emissions. </li><li>Accacia will use the capital to expand its presence across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the US and Canada over the next year. </li></ul>Accacia, a platform focused on providing decarbonisation strategies to real estate and infrastructure sectors, closed $2.5 million in seed funding led by Accel and B Capital. Blume Ventures, Good Capital, Zerodha’s Rainmatter Fund and Canada-based <keyword id="15710342" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="loyal-vc" source="Orion">Loyal VC</keyword>, and several leading angel investors also participated in the round. Accacia is an AI-enabled SAAS platform that provides real estate developers, asset managers and financial institutions the key metrics and decisions they need to decarbonize their portfolio. It was founded in 2022 by INSEAD alumni Annu Talreja, along with Piyush Chitkara and <keyword id="1921066" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="jagmohan-garg" source="Orion">Jagmohan Garg</keyword>. “Real estate sector lacks robust tools to measure climate risks and define decarbonisation strategies. We are working with large asset managers, developers, and real estate operators to help them with tools they need to define and monitor their path to net zero,” said Annu Talreja, founder and CEO at Accacia. According to a World Economic Forum <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/11/how-we-can-decarbonize-the-real-estate-sector/">report</a>, real estate contributes to nearly 40% of global carbon emissions. Unsustainable or ‘brown’ buildings are facing devaluation, making real estate review its future outlook. “Brown buildings–and their notoriously sizable carbon footprints–face aggregated devaluation in the real estate sector and are now starting to trade at discounts,” <keyword id="4357285" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="christian-ulbrich" source="Orion">Christian Ulbrich</keyword>, global CEO and president at JLL said. Decarbonisation of real estate is one of today’s biggest and most critical opportunities – a staggering $18 trillion of investment is required over the next decade to get the real estate industry to net zero, says Accacia in a statement. “Only 3,000 of roughly 40,000 listed companies currently report their emissions, making climate reporting and decarbonisation a massive opportunity. At Accel, we firmly believe that SAAS is the solution to scale-up net-zero efforts across sectors,” said <keyword id="1019443" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="prashanth-prakash" source="Orion">Prashanth Prakash</keyword>, partner at Accel. Accacia has deployed its solutions to over 20 million square feet of institutional real estate across Asia. The company will use the capital to expand its presence across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the US and Canada over the next year. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/unlimited-wifi-plans-for-home-check-the-full-list/articleshow/90908792.cms">Unlimited wifi plans for home — check the full list below</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/droneacharya-aerial-innovations-ipo-set-to-open-next-week-on-december-13-2022/articleshow/96005315.cms">DroneAcharya AI IPO set to open next week on December 13; GMP at ₹25 per share</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/kolkata-hyderabad-and-pune-remain-indias-most-affordable-residential-cities-jll/articleshow/96001910.cms">Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune remain India’s most affordable residential cities: JLL</a>

Real estate decarbonisation startup Accacia raises $2.5 million in seed round

<ul><li><keyword id="2828841" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rainmatter">Rainmatter</keyword>, <keyword id="759851" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zerodha">Zerodha</keyword>’s investment fund, and fintech incubator has invested ₹10 crore in ERPNext – an enterprise resource planning platform. </li><li>The Enterprise Resource Planning startup offers businesses services like inventory management, payroll management, sales and support CRM, ticketing, HR, and employee wellness. </li><li>ERPNext claims to be the biggest Free and Open Source (FOSS) project out of India. </li></ul>Rainmatter, Zerodha’s investment fund, and fintech incubator has invested ₹10 crore in ERPNext – an enterprise resource planning platform. Founded by Rushabh Mehta in 2010, the Enterprise Resource Planning startup offers businesses services like inventory management, payroll management, sales and support CRM, ticketing, HR, and employee wellness. ERPNext claims to be the biggest Free and Open Source (FOSS) project out of India. “This is a strong signal of the arrival of ERPNext as an alternative to the large, expensive and proprietary ERP products. ERPNext is powerful, scalable and 100% Open Source and with the investment we will continue investing in the product and the community,” said Rushabh Mehta, Founder &amp; CEO, ERPNext. Zerodha along with the ERP team has also made way for FOSS United, a non-profit foundation to promote FOSS projects like ERPNext to be built in India. Zerodha’s investment strategy Established by Zerodha’s founders in April 2019, Rainmatter invests anywhere between $100k -$1 million for a small equity stake in <keyword id="3329141" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="fintech-startups">fintech startups</keyword>. In September, Rainmatter Capital led an angel funding round of ₹2.7 crore in an ‘online curiosity platform’ – Qshala. Rainmatter has also invested in <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups">startups</keyword> like Kunal Shah’s CRED. Rainmatter has startups like Smallcase, Balance, Streak currently enrolled in its incubator. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/google-is-reportedly-in-talks-to-acquire-twitter-backed-indian-social-media-startup-sharechat/articleshow/79381248.cms">Google reportedly sets its eyes on Twitter-backed Indian social media startup Sharechat</a>

Zerodha’s investment fund pumps in ₹10 crore in an enterprise resource planning platform ERPNext

<ul><li>The startup, founded in 2019 by Satish Mugulavalli and Srinivas Katta, is incubated at IndusLaw.</li><li><keyword id="11228730" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="RuleZero">RuleZero</keyword> is also a marketplace, which connects with other legal or fintech product and service providers.</li><li>The round also saw participation from law firm IndusLaw and Reddy Futures LLP amongst others.</li></ul>Legal services and fintech platform RuleZero has raised ₹10 crore in a seed funding round led by <keyword id="7796657" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rainmatter-Capital">Rainmatter Capital</keyword>. The round also saw participation from Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, law firm IndusLaw and Reddy Futures LLP amongst others. Rainmatter Capital is an incubator backed by stock trading platform <keyword id="759851" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zerodha">Zerodha</keyword>. The startup, founded in 2019 by Satish Mugulavalli and Srinivas Katta, is incubated at IndusLaw. The startup manages ownership data of a company, automates share issuance processes and provides tools to track cap tables and manage transactions. RuleZero is also a marketplace, which connects with other legal or fintech product and service providers. Katta said in a press statement that “manual processes, limited number of skilled professionals and the absence of a single source of truth has resulted in private companies suffering from compliance issues, limited liquidity, high financing costs and delays.” He claims that RuleZero is solving this issue. Mugulavalli has been an entrepreneur with many startups in Silicon Valley and India and was most recently a partner at YourNest Venture Capital, an investment firm. Katta, a corporate lawyer, is one of the founding partners of IndusLaw. Nithin Kamath, founder and chief executive of Zerodha said that Rainmatter Capital is “constantly looking out for innovative tech companies that are working on enabling and encouraging financial transactions.” <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zerodha-fund-mindtree-co-founder-and-others-invest-in-an-online-curiosity-platform-for-kids/articleshow/78013616.cms">In September last year</a>, Rainmatter Capital had invested in online learning platform Qshala. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/this-ev-startup-mobycy-went-from-solving-last-mile-commute-to-delivery/articleshow/82513392.cms">It took one pivot and five years for this EV startup founder to hit the sweet spot for business in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/clubhouse-android-download-release-date-beta-version/articleshow/82515109.cms">Clubhouse for Android finally launched as downloads and hype take a plunge</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/bandhan-bank-share-price-falls-after-reporting-an-80-fall-in-its-net-profit/articleshow/82516642.cms">Bandhan Bank falls 4% after reporting an 80% fall in its net profit – positive market trends help it bounce back into the green</a>

Zerodha-backed Rainmatter Capital, Kris Gopalakrishnan and others invest in legal startup RuleZero

<ul><li>Zerodha-backed incubator and fund <keyword id="7796657" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rainmatter-Capital">Rainmatter Capital</keyword> has led an angel funding round of ₹2.7 crore in an ‘online curiosity platform’ – <keyword id="9908041" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="qshala">Qshala</keyword>.</li><li>Qshala is an <keyword id="23248" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Online-learning">online learning</keyword> platform that uses quizzes to help students learn.</li><li>The startup was founded in 2014 and also holds a Limca record for conducting quizzes across continents – including Antarctica.</li></ul>Zerodha-backed incubator and fund Rainmatter Capital has led an angel funding round of ₹2.7 crore in an ‘online curiosity platform’ – Qshala. The round also saw participation from investors like Mindtree co-founder Kalyan Banerjee and other CXOs. Qshala is an online learning platform that uses quizzes to help students learn and answer the various ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions on their minds. The startup said that its principles are on the same lines as that of the National Education Policy, which urges children to learn more and beyond their school curriculum. “Our team members undertake extensive research to create content for the QShala programs in fun induced formats like quizzes, focused sessions, and interactive programs to help sharpen life skills. Our programs start with children from class 1 onwards, and our goal is to expand our footprint to many more cities across the country and the world to cover children in the age groups of 8 to 16 years,” said Raghav Chakravarthy, Co-founder, QShala. Both Chakravarthy and his co-founder Sachin Ravi have been taking part in quizzes from an early age and met at law school. The startup was founded in 2014 and also holds a <a href="https://www.qshala.com/">Limca record</a> for being the “first company in the world to conduct a quiz in all 7 continents in the world including the Antarctic”. “It is important for children to develop critical and lateral thinking from a young age much beyond their classroom framework in today’s world. We are rapidly moving towards subjective learning where they would need to build a skill set actually required for employability in the future,” said Nithin Kamath, Founder &amp; CEO, <keyword id="759851" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zerodha">Zerodha</keyword>, about the investment. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/why-the-latest-surge-in-covid-19-infections-in-india-may-cause-more-deaths/articleshow/78011731.cms">What India’s rising COVID-19 infections don’t⁠ reveal — the lack of health infrastructure in remote areas</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/india-launches-15-challenges-for-indian-startups-and-msmes-to-solve-for-a-grant-of-50-lakh-each/articleshow/78011599.cms">India launches 15 challenges for Indian startups and MSMEs to solve for a grant of ₹50 lakh each</a>

Zerodha's fund, Mindtree co-founder and others invest in an 'online curiosity' platform for kids

<ul><li>The funds raised will be allocated towards developing <keyword id="6355118" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="technology" source="Orion">technology</keyword>, implementing skill-based matchmaking and introducing coaching products. </li><li>Ongoing technology development focuses on providing users with an experience that works to improve the on-field experience. </li><li>The fully-integrated technology platform is set to introduce interactive elements such as real-time scorekeeping and engaging video highlights. </li></ul><keyword id="53244" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="game-theory" source="Orion">Game Theory</keyword>, a brand focused on enhancing real sports engagement and accessibility through technology, has secured $2 million (₹16.6 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round. Industry players like Nithin Kamath’s Rainmatter, Rohan Bopanna, WEH Ventures, Prequate Advisory, and prominent angel investors, including Balakrishna Adiga, have invested in the company. The funds raised will be allocated towards further developing technology, implementing skill-based matchmaking, introducing coaching products, and expanding the network of smart sporting facilities nationwide. Game Theory's integration of technology at the user and facility levels aims to enhance accessibility and engagement in casual sports. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Addressing challenges in sports participation" comment="Subhead" text="Addressing challenges in sports participation">Addressing challenges in sports participation</cmsannotation> Game Theory says that this funding signifies a significant moment positioning the brand to work toward its vision of enhancing the sports experience. Their approach addresses common challenges in traditional sports participation, such as finding like-minded players and dealing with logistical issues. Ongoing technology development focuses on providing users with an experience that encourages consistent participation while improving the on-court or on-field experience. This includes features like automated scoring, game highlights, and advanced sports statistics achieved through computer vision and artificial intelligence. Says Sudeep Kulkarni, founder, Game Theory, "At Game Theory, our mission is get people of all levels playing, by fostering a vibrant community that finds joy and camaraderie in sport. This funding milestone brings us one step closer to achieving that mission. Our technology will soon help people bring the “ultimate joy” of playing sports back into their lives". He adds that their fully-integrated technology platform, featuring several innovations, is set to introduce interactive elements such as real-time scorekeeping, engaging video highlights, professional sports-style statistics, and on-court matchmaking to enhance the overall user experience. Says Nithin Kamath, Founder, Rainmatter, "One of the best ways to stay fit is to pick up and play a sport regularly. The problem is it's hard to find locations to play regularly and match with similar skilled individuals. Game Theory is solving this problem by making sports accessible to Indians.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="About Game Theory" comment="Subhead" text="About Game Theory">About Game Theory</cmsannotation> Game Theory is building an ecosystem where you can find well-matched players and enjoy quality games hassle-free with the help of an app. Also, by blending insights from the gaming industry and cutting-edge technology, they're making pro-sports tech more accessible, offering personalised experiences similar to esports. Game Theory profiles feature highlights, badges, <keyword id="6793539" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="trophies" source="Orion">trophies</keyword>, and active skill-based communities. You can challenge others, participate in amateur leagues, or form teams. The platform also allows you to watch friends' league <keyword id="36072" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="matches" source="Orion">matches</keyword> and reconnect with old schoolmates for sports.

Sports tech start-up Game Theory raises $2 million in pre-Series A funding

<ul><li>The investors include <keyword id="131825" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="natco-pharma" source="Orion">Natco Pharma</keyword> &amp; Rainmatter Health and are supported by Zerodha founders and existing investor, Alkemi Growth Capital.</li><li>The funds will be utilised to expand retail presence in India and overseas with an omni-channel approach.</li><li>Currently, the brand is available in over 15,000 physical retail stores across 70+ cities in India. </li></ul><keyword id="2806972" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pee-safe" source="Orion">Pee Safe</keyword>, a hygiene and wellness brand owned by Redcliffe Hygiene, has secured $3 million (approximately ₹25 crore) in funding for its Series B round. The total target for this funding round is $6 million (₹50 crore). The present funding comes from Natco Pharma and Rainmatter Health. It is supported by Zerodha founders, Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath. Alkemi Growth Capital, an existing investor, also participated. Pee Safe had raised Series A funding of ₹30 crore from Alkemi Growth Capital in October 2019. Pee Safe, founded in 2013, initially offered a <keyword id="100487" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="toilet-seat" source="Orion">toilet seat</keyword> sanitiser. Over the years, it has expanded its product range to cover personal hygiene needs from puberty to menopause, including products like reusable pads, tampons, menstrual cups, and more. Pee Safe is known for its focus on intimate wellness and personal hygiene. Says Vikas Bagaria, Founder and CEO of Pee Safe, "This funding will accelerate our expansion efforts and establish us as the leading brand in the rapidly growing intimate wellness sector, which boasts a remarkable CAGR of 16%. Over the past five years, Pee Safe has achieved a remarkable growth rate of 100% CAGR, surpassing market expectations." Earlier this year, the company promoted Rithish Kumar, one of its early founding members, to the position of Co-founder. Kumar said that the newly acquired funds will be utilised to expand our retail presence in India, expand overseas with an omni-channel approach and allocate additional resources to marketing and awareness initiatives. “Currently, we are available in over 15,000 physical retail stores across 70+ cities in India and maintain a strong online presence on major e-commerce platforms, in addition to our own online platforms. We also export to 20 countries in 5 continents,” says Kumar. Pee Safe was established to address a critical concern for women's health – the risk of urinary tract infections (UTI) resulting from unsanitary toilet seats and the limited access to clean public restrooms. The company introduced its first product, a toilet seat sanitiser spray, in 2013, which marked the beginning of their journey. Since then, Pee Safe has expanded its product portfolio, now offering a diverse range of over 25 products. These products primarily focus on hygiene, menstrual care, and grooming, aligning with the company's commitment to enhancing personal well-being. Pee Safe says it has served over six million customers, including more than 700,000 registered customers on their website. The company has also made a significant difference in the lives of over 200,000 menstruators from underprivileged backgrounds through their awareness campaigns and generous donations of over a million menstrual care products.

Pee Safe raises $3 million from partial Series B round for expansion push

<ul><li>The startup closed its pre-seed round at a total of $1.3 million. </li><li>Tesla’s investor Tim Draper was also an early participant in the company’s pre-seed funding round. </li><li>The funds will be utilised to execute the go-to-market strategy of the company’s first ‘upliance’- delishUp.</li></ul>Bengaluru-based consumer hardware startup Up, previously known as React Labs, has raised $500,000 from Rainmatter led by <keyword id="759851" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="zerodha" source="Orion">Zerodha</keyword> founder <keyword id="1430802" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="nithin-kamath" source="Orion">Nithin Kamath</keyword>, in a pre-seed funding round. It raised a total of $1.3 million in the pre-seed funding round. Apart from Kamath, the startup received investments from co-founders of Ather Energy, Unacademy and the Stanford Angels &amp; Entrepreneurs India. Tesla’s investor Tim Draper was also an early participant in the company’s pre-seed funding round. Founded by Mahek Mody and Mohit Sharma, the startup has designed a smart ‘upliance’, delishUp. The device features a touch screen with unlimited in-built guided recipes, coupled with a jar which heats and cooks, and offers controlled chopping, stirring and other culinary functions. The recently raised funds will be utilized to execute the go-to-market strategy of its Made in India device, delishUp. The startup aims to make cooking healthy, easy and accessible for millennials and Gen-Z. “Everyone knows the best way to manage your health is to eat home cooked food, and with this new funding we are looking forward to taking delishUp to consumers across the country. Most other services available in the market focus on the exercise or ‘calories out’ options, but nearly none of them are offering users the superpower to take control of ‘calories in’,” said Mahek Mody, co-founder and CEO at Up. The device has been tested in over 250 Indian homes and kitchens and will begin deliveries in December this year. Consumers from the brand’s beta testing program also turned into mini-angel investors, the company said. With this device, the company claims that people with no experience in the kitchen can also cook without any hassle. The company says that the recipes on the ‘upliance’ have been designed in-house, taking into account ingredients that are easily available and their nutrition. It also has the macros and calories calculated for all meals. The connected features offer unlimited recipes, and added functions like grocery shopping, menu planning and more. “The next generation of smart and connected innovation will be designed to elevate the quality of our domestic lives. The next generation of smart and connected devices for the world will be built in countries like India and by the upcoming generation of hardware startups,” said <keyword id="11216628" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="siri-srinivas" source="Orion">Siri Srinivas</keyword>, principal investor, <keyword id="2399647" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="draper-associates" source="Orion">Draper Associates</keyword>. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/rocket-startup-astra-lays-off-16-of-its-workforce/articleshow/95429015.cms">Rocket startup Astra lays off 16% of its workforce</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-motors-shares-tank-4-8-on-q2-miss-jlrs-recovery-delays/articleshow/95427722.cms">Tata Motors shares tank 4.8% on Q2 miss, JLR’s recovery delays</a>

Tesla investor, Zerodha founder invest in a smart ‘upliance’ that can chop, stir and cook

<ul><li>A start-up named ‘<keyword id="1081249" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="climes" source="Orion">Climes</keyword>’ helps brands like TEDx, MakeMyTrip, Zingbus and Wedding Brigade reduce their carbon footprint.</li><li>Its fintech-enabled marketplace incentivises the movement of capital from individuals at points of consumption.</li><li>The company claims to have neutralised around 46,000+ kg of carbon emissions across five large-scale events, including weddings.</li></ul>At a time when the start-up ecosystem crawls through a harsh funding winter, sustainable investing has continued to thrive and promote innovative green start-ups. Climes — a company that helps brands like TEDx, MakeMyTrip, Zingbus and Wedding Brigade reduce their carbon footprint — raised a million dollars on Tuesday, July 5. The $1.2 million round saw participation from Sequoia Capital India, Kalaari Capital, Avaana Capital, and even the <keyword id="759851" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zerodha" source="Orion">Zerodha</keyword> cofounder Nithin Kamath. Climes — founded by former Airbus executive Anirudh Gupta and former investment professional at Kalaari Capital Siddhanth Jayaram — aims to minimise the effects of climate change by letting individuals take “climate action in a click of a button”. Satyen Kothari of Cube Wealth, Anshuman Bapna of Terra.do, Keshav Reddy of Reddy Futures, Akshay Singhal from Log9 Materials and Smart Joules from Arjun Gupta also participated in the current round. “Finance is the single biggest lever to solve climate change. Fantastic projects and solutions for carbon mitigation exist all around us. However, the finance needed to scale these projects is simply not flowing fast enough,” said the co-founders, Anirudh and Siddhanth. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How does ‘Climes’ work?" comment="subhead" text="How does ‘Climes’ work?">How does ‘Climes’ work?</cmsannotation> Climes is a fintech-enabled marketplace that incentivises the movement of capital from individuals at points of consumption to UN-approved carbon solution project developers on the ground in India. “We partner with consumer brands that want to go climate-friendly. Every time you [customer] order or buy something from them, you get to see emissions specific to your order. And you can choose to take climate action at checkout,” the company’s website read. The customers can simply pay marginally extra on their order to get some Clime coins, which the company allocates to different verified climatic projects. The platform claims the projects it works with have an impact on sanitisation and conservation, and empower local communities as well. <div type="image" title="A company vows to turn our travels, weddings, and food carbon neutral! Bags a million dollars" msid="92677877" hostid="261" sizebytes="37706"></div> For example, a user can pay an additional ₹2 to neutralise their carbon footprint of 2 kg, produced during a bus ride from Mumbai to Pune. The company charges ₹1 for every 1kg of carbon footprint. “The ideal solution towards climate change problems is to reduce consumption which may not be possible at all times. Making people aware of their carbon footprint and then making it available to offset may be a good mid-way path. We are excited to be a part of their journey and learn ourselves along the way,” says Nithin Kamath, Founder and CEO, Zerodha and Rainmatter. <div type="image" title="A company vows to turn our travels, weddings, and food carbon neutral! Bags a million dollars" msid="92677895" hostid="261" sizebytes="84897"></div> Vani Kola, Managing Director of Kalaari Capital, said, “The rising awareness of the need for carbon-neutral lifestyle and climate costs require urgent new solutions. Entrepreneurs offering solutions with climate sensitiveness can create key differentiating propositions… Climes’ solution makes it possible for brands to embark on that transition by allowing customers to carbon-neutralise every transaction.” Climes plans to use this capital for two aspects: First, integrate its technology with other customer-facing brands in the fashion, food, travel, beauty and personal care industry. Second, to expand its tech-stack to onboard high-quality climate solutions within India, as well as measure and report impact transparently. The company claims to have neutralised 26,000+ kg of carbon emissions across three weddings so far, in addition to 15,000+ kgs of carbon emissions in Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) 2022 and 5,000+ kg of carbon emissions at TedxSusMafia 2.0. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/no-service-charge-on-restaurant-bill-will-impact-waiters-servers-kitchen-staff/articleshow/92668785.cms">Remember to tip your waiter, there is no more service charge on your bill</a> <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-motors-kotak-mahindra-bank-indusind-bank-among-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-july-5/slidelist/92665853.cms">Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank among stocks to watch out for on July 5</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/indianoil-delivers-cooing-gas-via-boats-in-flood-hit-assam/articleshow/92667303.cms">IndianOil delivers cooking gas via boats in flood-hit Assam</a>

A company vows to turn our travels, weddings, and food carbon neutral! Bags a million dollars

<ul><li><keyword id="10229031" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indiagold" source="Orion">Indiagold</keyword> claims to offer gold-backed loans, gold savings and gold locker services to over a million users in India.</li><li>PayU is also an investor in state-run NPCI and payments platform Dot.Pe and more.</li><li>Indiagold will use the $12 million funding to scale its business and roll out operations nationally.</li></ul>Indiagold, a fintech startup that offers gold loans, has raised $12 million funding to scale its business and roll out operations nationally. The Series A round was led by financial services platform PayU and Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), which is a fund managed by Falcon Edge Capital. Better Tomorrow Ventures, 3one4 Capital, Rainmatter Capital and existing investor Leo Capital also participated in the round. “Empowering disruptive fintech entrepreneurs through early-stage investments is a key element of PayU’s growth strategy. By supporting businesses that complement our existing portfolio, we aim to achieve our vision of developing a fintech ecosystem that will meet the financial services needs of millions of Indians,” said Vijay Agicha, global head of strategy and growth at PayU. PayU is also an investor in state-run National Payments Corporation of India (<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/npci-sells-4-6-to-19-fintech-payment-cos/articleshow/79436732.cms">NPCI</a>) payments platform <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/google-payu-and-info-edge-ventures-invest-200-crore-in-online-to-offline-commerce-platform-dotpe/articleshow/81704999.cms">DotPe</a>. It also acquired loan company<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/payu-enhances-lending-venture-with-paysense-acquisition-2020-1"> PaySense</a> last year. Launched in 2020 by Nitin Misra and Deepak Abbot, Indiagold offers gold-backed loans, gold savings and gold locker services. The company aims to digitise lending against gold in India. The company claims to be building a “doorstep” <keyword id="130134" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gold-loan" source="Orion">gold loan</keyword> business that is powered by a technology stack, artificial intelligence (AI)-based gold assessment capabilities and faster gold release as well as a transparent repayment policy. Co-founders Misra and Abbot, in a joint statement, highlighted that India offers a larger $650 billion addressable gold loan market, but it is highly fragmented and currently dominated by the informal segment. The company further claimed that 70% of gold loans demand in India are currently catered by the informal sector. Misra and Abbot have previously worked at digital payments giant Paytm. Misra has also been associated with GE Capital, NIIT, Airtel and Samsung. Abbot has worked with CyberMedia, Times Internet, Satyam Computers, Zapak Digital Entertainment and Get Smart App. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/mukesh-ambanis-reliance-life-sciences-gets-approval-to-conduct-trials-for-its-covid-19-vaccine/articleshow/85677741.cms">Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Life Sciences' COVID-19 vaccine — here's all we know so far</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/infosys-wipro-adani-green-and-other-top-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-august-27/slidelist/85676193.cms">Infosys, Wipro, Adani Green and other top stocks to watch out for on August 27</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/google-backed-dunzo-earned-nearly-600-crore-from-8-cities-in-fy21-ceo-says-theyll-start-expanding-now/articleshow/85656919.cms">Google-backed Dunzo earned nearly ₹600 crore from 8 cities in FY21, CEO says they'll start expanding now</a>

Digital gold loan company Indiagold raises $12 million from PayU and others

<ul><li>Established as a free web-only platform in 2014, <keyword id="58252" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Varsity">Varsity</keyword> was launched also as an app one and a half years ago.</li><li>The app is closing in on a million downloads, and registers 85,000 page visits every day. </li><li>However, <keyword id="759851" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zerodha">Zerodha</keyword> has no plans ever to turn Varsity into a paid platform.</li></ul><keyword id="3227511" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="stock-brokerage">Stock brokerage</keyword> platform Zerodha has been silently building its content platform – Varsity, the self-declared unicorn’s <keyword id="189908" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="financial-literacy">financial literacy</keyword> platform. Launched as a free web-only platform in 2014, Varsity was also launched as an app one and a half years ago. And today, while the app is closing towards a million downloads, it also registers 85,000 page visits every day. Even with such great numbers coming in, Karthik Rangappa, VP, Education Services at Zerodha, says that the company has no plans ever to turn Varsity into a paid platform. “Varsity works on a single point agenda - to make Indians financially literate. We have been working towards this goal for the last 6 years. We continuously update the portal with new and relevant content and also respond to user-submitted queries on a regular basis,” he said. Varsity’s growth story <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Pageviews since lockdown </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10 million </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Number of user-submitted queries since lockdown </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">15,000 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Certificates issued till date on the app </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">45,000 </td></tr></tbody></table> While Zerodha itself has been witnessing great numbers since lockdown and a heightened interest in <keyword id="6368158" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="trading">trading</keyword> from millennials, Varsity isn’t far behind. Currently, Varsity covers and offers certification in 12 topics such as Business Valuations, Options trading, Futures trading, Personal finance among others. The goal remains to create awareness about trading with no vested interests. "A common theme through our ventures, be it Zerodha, Rainmatter, Varsity or True Beacon – has been democratizing participation in the financial ecosystem. Whether it was our decision to remove management fees from True Beacon or making Varsity free. The idea is to make participation in the financial ecosystem possible for a greater number of people as participants in equity markets in India is very low,” said Nikhil Kamath, Co-Founder and CIO True Beacon and Zerodha. Varsity users could become Zerodha users – but the startup doesn’t necessarily promote it Having such a large user base from a content platform, one would imagine that Zerodha would want to take advantage of it to push the users of Varsity to become Zerodha clients too. However, Rangappa said they never advertise and push products on Varsity. “We do have a nondescript 'open a Zerodha account' link at the bottom of the page, clicking on that leads them to the account opening page. Although several thousand users have clicked this link and opened accounts with us, this is not a metric to track for Varsity,” he said. Rangappa added that everything else that happens “is the second-order effect at play”. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/softbank-backed-true-balance-is-set-to-close-its-series-d-funding-round-founder-says-they-are-focussed-on-lending-in-india/articleshow/78765456.cms">SoftBank-backed True Balance is set to close its Series D funding round – founder says they are focussed on lending in India</a>

Zerodha has a booming content platform within, but it has no plans to milk it

<ul><li>Without any <keyword id="441877" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="direct-marketing">direct marketing</keyword> and advertising costs, the platform has been investing on creating awareness about itself through knowledge sharing platforms like Varsity.</li><li>Currently, <keyword id="759851" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zerodha">Zerodha</keyword> facilitates over 5 million orders daily, which accounts for about 10-15% of the daily equity volume in India, according to the platform. </li><li>During the months of the lockdown, the company claims to have seen a 100% month-on-month growth.</li><li><keyword id="968035" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nikhil-Kamath">Nikhil Kamath</keyword>, Co-Founder and CIO Zerodha and <keyword id="8547049" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="True-Beacon">True Beacon</keyword>, tells us their magic growth mantra and vision for the Zerodha of the future.</li></ul> Back in 2010, when Nikhil Kamath along with his brother <keyword id="1430802" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nithin-Kamath">Nithin Kamath</keyword> founded Zerodha, an online brokerage platform, the duo spent almost nothing on advertising the platform. Since then, their strategy to target consumers has been simple, they have been growing the brand by focusing more on the product, making the end-user’s experience seamless and democratizing participation. Without any direct marketing and advertising costs, the platform has been investing on creating awareness about itself through knowledge sharing platforms like Varsity. The strategy seems to have worked well. Currently, Zerodha facilitates over 5 million orders daily, which accounts for about 10-15% of the daily equity volume in India, according to the platform. During the months of the lockdown, the company claims to have seen a 100% month-on-month growth. We recently caught up with Nikhil Kamath, so understand how the brand has been expanding its offering and how, with zero marketing and advertising spends, the brand has been succeeded in bringing more and more users to its platform. Excerpts: Q) While the Covid-19 lockdown brought about gloom for most organizations, Zerodha has been witnessing substantial growth. Tell us a bit about how the last few months have been and the factors that you feel have led to this growth. We, along with most online businesses, have been lucky through the corona cycle. Work from home has expedited the trend towards moving to mobile and doing most transactions online, which were prevalent pre-crisis. Zerodha, along with the rest of the broking industry has witnessed considerable growth, as a younger breed of millennial investor, is entering the financial markets. Falling interest rates and flattening real yields have also aided in this surge. Historically in a bull market, equity participation rises. But this time around we are witnessing very mature behavior. During a bear market valuations are low, and the market corrects itself, it is an excellent time to make long-term investments. Usually, that is the behavior of seasoned traders. Still, we are experiencing a surge from first-time investors who are looking for viable alternatives to investment than real estate and other forms of investments that have declining yields. The pandemic has heightened this trend as people have more time on their hands to educate themselves and make informed decisions. Q) With so many new people now entering the fray, what steps are you taking to educate them so that they can make informed decisions and trades? We continuously have been building our education ecosystem around the stock market and the <keyword id="2461546" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="FinTech">fintech</keyword> space. We do this through educational tools such as varsity, constant engagement on social media platforms and speaking engagements. <keyword id="3342240" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karthik-Rangappa">Karthik Rangappa</keyword>, who leads the Varsity programme at Zerodha, has been working towards vernacular languages to make the free educational tool accessible to those not well-versed in English. One of the companies we have invested in through our incubator, Finshots, simplifies financial concepts and macroeconomic concepts for the benefit of new participants in capital markets or even incumbents less familiar with business concepts. Q) You say you have zero ad spends. Walk us through the strategy you employed to grow the brand. Our belief to grow the brand is to make the end-users experience seamless and democratize participation. We do this in a couple of different ways. Continually evolving our product to create the end-user experience seamless is one. The most significant growth factor for us is a product that is continually changing. The other is to raise awareness and enable products in the wealth management and fintech space through our incubator, which has led to making the financial ecosystem more robust with companies such as Finshots to Small Case. The ethos behind us investing in startups is to ensure that more people understand the capital markets ecosystem and have a better user experience. To that end, we have varsity to educate and Rainmatter that builds products in the fintech and wealth management space. Q) In your line of business, trust plays a major role as investors are trusting you with their money. How are you building that trust in the minds of your consumers? Most of our new customers hear about both Zerodha and True Beacon through word of mouth and existing clientele. In marketing, testimonials are the highest trust evoking factor. Transparency has been at the forefront of our ethos from the beginning; we continue in our pursuit of simplifying and reducing the opacity around stock markets. For example, in our asset management company True Beacon, we don't have management fees or lock-in periods or even entry and exit fees, which is an industry practice. Instead, we only charge a performance fee that brings greater accountability, and hopefully will align fund management and client interests going forward. Q) Varsity has seen a good uptake among users. What are your plans for expanding on that offering? Yes, we have had great traction with Varsity since its inception and more so during the lockdown. We had over 8 million page views and over 9 lakh app install since March 23, 2020. The number of user-submitted queries have crossed 8,000. Karthik Rangappa, Head of Varsity at Zerodha’s current focus is to continue adding more quality content and cover a wider variety of topics related to capital markets. The slightly longer-term focus is to create a series of high-quality certificate programs. We are even open to the idea of collaborating with the academia (Domestic or International) for accreditation. Q) When you launched, one of your USP was pricing. But now in the discount broking segment, there are many other players too. How are you offering a differentiated product? Zerodha was originally founded with the idea of being a brokerage firm for traders built by traders, and we disrupted the existing pricing structure by introducing a deeply discounted flat fee-per-trade model. Deeply discounted flat fee -per trade model gave us a significant boost, but to stay ahead of the curve, we realized that technology could disrupt the existing models. Traders were using legacy platforms with poor user experiences. Building our proprietary technology to make a trade as seamless as possible kept us ahead of the curve. We continue to invest in technology to keep finding new ways of building investment and trading applications that make the use case for end-users, be it a seasoned trader or a first-time capital market participant, to simplify investments. Kailash Nadh, our CTO who specializes in building products for mass use has selectively built a resilient innovative team who continue to push the boundaries of what can be achieved. Q) You’ve spoken about how your childhood played a defining role in you having a unique outlook towards traditional marketing models. Tell me a bit more. From playing chess professionally as a teenager to all the other pursuits, I might have followed since. The one thing that has always remained relevant is creating a set of rules and staying disciplined within that. This, along with diversification and delaying gratification, has been essential life lessons that might apply to most spheres of life. Stoicism has been a guiding paradigm in my life and a skill that I had to develop as a professional trader. Trading at a very fundamental level is making decisions that would deal with obstacles in a volatile market, stoicism guides you to perceive and react to obstacles rationally and not make emotional decisions. Q) While you aren't advertising now, is there a scope of you doing some sort of advertising/marketing in the near future? Are you willing to explore something like influencer or content marketing in the future? We are not opposed to marketing. However, it should solve a challenge or have some value other than just brand recognition. Influencer marketing is a viable option, provided it teaches something to capital markets participants in an informative way. Q) What is your vision for Zerodha? It is our continuous endeavor to create a platform that can offer differentiated products. Given the high levels of under-penetration in India, there is a huge scope for growth in the capital markets ecosystem. On another front, we have started an asset management firm called True Beacon that caters to the other end of the spectrum than retail users. We have also launched an FPI that enables global investors and not just institutional players to participate in the Indian equity market - thereby encouraging the foreign inflow of investments in the Indian equity market. The response to the True Beacon domestic and global entity has been positive, and we will continue to roll out new products on that first catering to HNIs in India and abroad.

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