Arvind's Newsletter

1.VC funding plunges 40% YoY in October to $625 million as down cycle continues

Investors continue to sit on money as they adopt a wait-and-watch approach. However, early-stage remains top priority for many investors.

Overall, Year-To-Date (YTD), startups have raised a total equity of $6.5 billion as against $24.3 billion in the full year of 2022.

“Late-stage investment like Series-B onwards has seen a significant slowdown and I think it is still hard for entrepreneurs, however, I would say that founders are beginning to find more investor matches now than they were 12 months back. Recovery will not be an overnight one, it will be slow and steady” Said Alok Goyal, Partner at Stellaris Venture Partners in an interaction with Moneycontrol.

2.Indian digital ads surge in world’s fastest growing online economy

Growth in digital advertising is rocketing in India, as marketers bet that video streaming, influencers and online shopping will win over more consumers in the world’s most populous nation. Online advertising is set to become one of the fastest-growing segments of India’s rapidly expanding digital economy, according to forecasts by technology research company Omdia.

India is predicted to be the world’s fastest growing digital economy between now and 2027, recording compound annual growth of 9.6 per cent, according to Omdia forecasts based on metrics including internet connections,devices, entertainment subscriptions, payments, and enterprise IT spending. The country is also predicted to see the world’s fastest growth in revenue for online advertising over the period, at a compound annual rate of 12.7 per cent.

This predicted increase in digital advertising comes as India’s 1.4bn strong population, more than half of which is under 30 years old, spends ever more time online.

3.US lends $553 mn to majority Adani-owned port in Sri Lanka

The US will lend $553mn for the development of a container terminal in Sri Lanka operated by Indian tycoon Gautam Adani as Washington works to counter China’s influence in the country. 

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone holds a 51 per cent stake in Colombo’s west container terminal, which it is developing with Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

The deal is an example of how countries such as the US and India are responding to a debt crisis in Sri Lanka, which last year became the first Asia-Pacific country in more than two decades to default on its foreign debts. China is the largest bilateral creditor to Sri Lanka, which has over the past decade become a major participant in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Read  more at:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/shipping-/-transport/us-invests-553-million-in-adanis-sri-lanka-port-to-curb-chinas-influence/articleshow/105055458.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

4.The investment firm BlackRock backed a direct air-capture (DAC) company to the tune of $550 million.

 DAC involves sucking carbon dioxide from the air, either to be buried or turned into usable products. Occidental Petroleum Corp is building the world’s largest DAC plant in West Texas, the first of roughly 100 facilities it plans to launch, as it and BlackRock bet the technology will play a significant role in preventing global warming. 

The West Texas plant is a “crucial test” for a technology that the International Energy Agency says is key to reducing the impact of climate change but which has so far been uneconomic, Reuters reported.

5.A man with Parkinson’s disease regained the ability to walk thanks to a spinal implant

The mobility of a man with advanced Parkinson's disease has been restored using an electrical implant placed on his lower spine, according to a study published yesterday. Experts caution the technology, if  in expanded clinical trials, would not be commercially available for five to 10 years.

The patient, Marc Gauthier, was diagnosed with Parkinson's over 30 years ago. The disease led to significant mobility issues, where he reported falling up to six times a day. Two years ago, researchers inserted a neuroprosthetic device in his lower spine to send signals to areas of his body showing weakness. The procedure corrected Gauthier's irregular manner of walking and allowed him to go for miles at a time without falling.

Parkinson's is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world, afflicting over 6 million individuals. The disease stems from the premature decay of dopamine-producing neurons in the midbrain (watch overview below). Treatments typically involve mimicking dopamine in the relevant neural region, though their efficacy declines over time