APAC will lead the global fintech market
Hello,
Freshworks exceeded its own expectations.
The SaaS firm reported a 20% year-over-year increase in its revenue for the first quarter, driven by customer acquisition. The Nasdaq-listed firm also generated its first-ever quarterly adjusted operating profit of $3.9 million as a public company.
In other news, Zoom is gearing up to offer its cloud-based private branch exchange service ‘Zoom Phone’ to businesses operating in India, as the company has secured a pan-India telecom license.
Meanwhile, VC firm Chiratae Ventures announced the final close of its new growth fund at Rs 1,001 crore. The aim is to invest in mature startups that are on the way to high growth, with a clear plan for profitability.
Elsewhere, an Israeli start-up has successfully 3D printed ready-made fish fillets – grown in a lab and completely edible.
Oh, and here’s a deep dive into quantum computing – and why so much money is spent on R&D.
The answer is both exciting and terrifying…
In today’s newsletter we will talk about
- APAC will lead the global fintech market
- Accel renews the Atoms accelerator
- Conservation of Mizoram’s Biodiversity
Here’s your trivia for today: What was the original name of the international environmental organization Greenpeace Foundation?
Fintech
APAC will lead the global fintech market by 2030
With a projected CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 27%, Asia Pacific (APAC) is likely to overtake the US to become the world’s top fintech market by 2030, according to a new report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and QED Investors.
China, India and Indonesia, rather than Japan and South Korea, will drive most of the growth in APAC.
In front of the curve:
- India has the opportunity to skip the intermediate stages of fintech development that other developed financial markets have gone through, especially if it can benefit from supportive regulation, the report said.
- More than 1.3 billion Indians are enrolled in Aadhaar – the largest biometric identity system in the world – while UPI (unified payments interface) processed $1.25 trillion in transactions in FY21-2022
- After payments, B2B2X and B2b (serving small businesses) will lead the next part of the fintech journey.
Startup: Kiwi
Amount: $6 million
Round: pre-Seed
Startup: Solar Ladder
Amount: Rs 11 Cr
Round: Seed
Investor
Accel renews the startup accelerator Atoms
The latest iteration of venture capital firm Accel’s startup accelerator Atoms will focus on two themes – artificial intelligence and Industry 5.0.
Atoms is looking for startups using AI for business applications and companies building development tools for the AI ecosystem. At Industry 5.0, the program will engage with startups that build digital tools for traditional industries.
Start:
- The Atoms 3.0 program will offer personalized learning, sector-specific mentors and up to $500,000 in seed investment for each selected startup.
- It will also have a smaller number of startups in a batch of 4-5. Applications for this program will open at the end of May.
- In the last two cohorts, Atoms has invested in 24 startups, ranging from SaaS, B2B marketplaces, Web3, D2C, hardware and health and wellness, to hardware and e-commerce.
Startup
Conservation of Mizoram’s Biodiversity
Although Mizoram is home to various aromatic and medicinal plants, natural dyes, wildflowers and fruits, the state’s agricultural potential has been largely untapped.
Lalhlupuii (Mahlui) Ralte, who spent his childhood in various villages of Mizoram, wanted to preserve the rich biodiversity of the region. In 2018, she started Zo Bio Hub, a startup that helps farmers, especially women, grow indigenous plant species.
A golden opportunity:
- Zo Bio Hub’s first focus is to process aromatic plants into essential oils and offer them a larger market for distribution.
- Practices like Jhum (shifting) and monoculture cultivation have reduced soil fertility in the state.
- Ralte has enlisted 300 farmers to cultivate permaculture, of which 200 are women.
Image source: Shutterstock
News and updates
- Resale value: Apple has experienced a huge surge in demand in India, driven by a surge in sales of refurbished iPhones. The iPhone accounted for 11% of secondary smartphone sales in the country last year, up from 3% in 2021, making it the “fastest growing refurbished brand in India”, according to Counterpoint Research.
- New login tool: Google announced that Password is now rolling out to users globally, nearly a year after Google, Apple, Microsoft and the FIDO Alliance announced a partnership to make frictionless passwordless logins a reality across devices, operating systems and browsers.
- Strength test: An experimental Alzheimer’s drug, donanemab, developed by Eli Lilly and Co slowed cognitive decline by 35% in a carefully monitored late-stage study involving 1,182 people, raising hopes for an effective new treatment for the brain-wasting disease.
What was the original name of the international environmental organization Greenpeace Foundation?
Answer: Do not create a wave committee.
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