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The most interesting news selected specially for you! 04 September 2024 [View in Browser]( Hello, We’ve come a long way from making Goa plans after watching Dil Chahta Hai. Indians are now increasingly choosing international destinations, with those taking two or more overseas trips growing 32% year-on-year, according to a MakeMyTrip report. The reasons are apparent—rise in disposable incomes, exposure to global cultures, and ease of flying. But beyond conventional destinations, travellers are willing to try more offbeat destinations. Search volume on the travel platform for Almaty, Kazakhstan and Baku, Azerbaijan have grown multifold. Is Instagram influencing how we travel? This points to a larger trend, as the travel and tourism industry’s contribution to global GDP is expected to cross $11 trillion in 2024, i.e. a record $1 out of every $10 spent globally will be on travel, noted the World Tourism and Travel Council. However, when it comes to road trips, the future of sustainable travel is…a little uncertain. The sale of electric vehicles, especially two-wheelers, is falling and commuters still prefer a gas guzzler for highways. Part of the problem is the charging stations. While India’s public EV charging infrastructure has expanded nearly ninefold in the last two years, the growth still falls short of the requirement to install about 400,000 chargers annually, according to [some estimates](. [ICYMI:]( Such issues didn’t deter a Mumbai engineer from driving on the Golden Quadrilateral on his EV. He covered 8,849 km in 70 days! But can the third iteration of the FAME EV subsidy scheme—expected to roll out later this month—charge up EV adoption across the country? Only time will tell. In today’s newsletter, we will talk about - MoEngage’s AI-driven brand playbook - Tech for social impact Here’s your trivia for today: Where is the windiest place on Earth? --------------------------------------------------------------- Startup MoEngage’s AI-driven brand playbook of the usual email broadcasts and messages, imagine getting customised messages from brands that relate to your preferences and interests as a consumer. While any AI writing tool can generate generic text, Merlin AI—a product of customer engagement platform MoEngage—claims to do better. The tool continuously analyses previous marketing campaigns to understand how a particular customer has interacted with the brand and creates relevant messaging. Smart marketing: - Merlin is a self-learning generative AI engine that learns from previous campaign data and historical performance records stored within the MoEngage platform. It evaluates metrics such as engagement patterns, conversion and click-through rate. - Besides Merlin, the company’s other recent launches include MoEngage for Financial Services, Warehouse Audiences, MoEngage Inform, and MoEngage Personalise. - The firm works with over 1,200 brands globally, including Samsung, Flipkart and Deutsche Telekom. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Funding Alert 1) BigEndian: $3M|Seed 2) Theater: $1.5M |Pre-Series A 3) Mytek Innovations: Rs 6 Cr|Debt --------------------------------------------------------------- Entrepreneurship Tech for social impact Tewari, a 17-year-old student from Bengaluru, recently won the Young Innovator of the Year Award at the SAHIT National Conference 2024: A Spotlight on Women Shaping India’s Future for two initiatives—Inaraa, a project that blends traditional tribal art with modern fashion, and Niyati, an AI-based platform that trains students in artificial intelligence. Innovation in fashion and AI: - The collaboration with a fashion platform like Inaraa exposes artisans to new markets and trends, which not only preserves traditional techniques but also allows artisans to adapt and evolve their craft in response to contemporary tastes, says Tewari. - Another initiative from Tewari, Mission Niyati, in partnership with CyberPeace, organises workshops on online safety and educates people in villages on cyber crime. - Tewari is also working on creating a platform that features AI tools and instructional videos. The platform, currently in beta testing, provides students, especially those from underrepresented communities, with free tools and resources to enhance their AI skills. [Know More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Application open for Tech30 you a visionary founder at the helm of a startup poised to redefine industries? Look no further than Tech30, the ultimate platform to showcase your innovation. Tech30 is more than just a recognition; it's a catalyst for the future. We're on a mission to bring together India's brightest tech minds to unravel the next big thing. If you're building groundbreaking solutions that have the potential to reshape our world, Tech30 is your launchpad. Join us as we celebrate the pioneers driving India's tech revolution. [Apply for Tech 30]( --------------------------------------------------------------- From the CapTable Meesho’s attempts to escape its low-cost legacy Anshad Aboobacker, a Tirupur-based kidswear seller, hasn’t been very active on Meesho over the past year. While at one point Aboobacker relied on the e-commerce platform for most of his sales, that changed around two years ago. From a peak of 140 units a day, he now sells only around 40 units through Meesho on a good day. Instead, he shifted his focus to Flipkart. While Flipkart, unlike Meesho, charges sellers a commission, Aboobacker says he receives more than 400 orders a day from Flipkart. Three months ago, though, an account manager at Meesho made him an offer that was hard to ignore. “Meesho told me they have a programme called ROI (return on investment) Assurance,” he explains. “I have to invest more in Meesho’s ads for certain product catalogues, but they guaranteed I will see sales of 7-8X of the ad spend.” Aboobacker, who had stopped spending on Meesho ads altogether, was asked to put in Rs 25,000. In return, he would either see sales of 7-8X—so, at least Rs 1,75,000—or be refunded a portion of his ad spends based on his sales volumes. For instance, if he saw Rs 1 lakh in sales, the platform would refund half his ad outlay. Key takeaways: - Despite seeing significant revenue growth and curbing its losses, Meesho continues to be seen as a low-cost, low-trust platform - Sellers, too, were growing disillusioned with advertising on the platform, claiming to see better return on investment (ROI) on Amazon and Flipkart - The company has introduced seller programmes such as ROI Assurance and Meesho Gold to win back seller trust and expand beyond just low-cost offerings - Meesho's goal isn’t to become a premium platform like Myntra. While it wants to shed the “cheap” tag, it still wants to be seen as value for money [Continue Reading]( --------------------------------------------------------------- News & Updates - [The fall:]( Intel was one of the first two tech companies to join the Dow Jones Industrial Average during 1999's dot-com era, along with Microsoft. Now, analysts and investors believe it is likely to be removed from the Dow, pointing to a near 60% decline in the company's shares this year that has made it the worst performer on the index. - [Musk vs Brazil:]( Satellite internet provider Starlink has informed Brazil's telecom regulator, Anatel, that it will not comply with a court order to block the social media platform X in the country until its local accounts are unfrozen. The account freeze is linked to a separate issue involving unpaid fines that X was ordered to pay after failing to submit certain documents. - [Opportunity in adversity:]( A unit of Ryobi Holdings, a bus route operator in rural Japan, is setting up an AI-powered hedge fund specialising in forex to survive a sharp drop in the country’s population outside Tokyo. Grappling with greying customers and shrinking communities, it is trying to secure funds to maintain its bus fleet and grow. Here's what else we have for you How video banking enabled a new bank's success In association with AWS and VideoCX.io Dive deep into the world of video banking and its transformative effects on productivity, operational costs, and customer satisfaction. Join us as we discuss AU Small Finance Bank's standout features and its vision for the future of banking services. Tune in to our series, Shaping the future of India's BFSI sector with video conferencing, brought to you by VideoCX.io in collaboration with Amazon Web Services and YourStory. [Know More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Did you know? Where is the windiest place on Earth? Answer: Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica. The average annual wind speed there is 240 km/h. 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](. 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