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In today’s newsletter:

• India takes a moonwalk
• Mamaearth eyes $150M pre-IPO funding
• Inside TVS' Rs 250 crore premium EV bet 

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"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

In a moment that echoes the iconic words of Neil Armstrong, history has been rewritten today as India took a triumphant stroll on the lunar landscape!

Chandrayaan-3's rover Pragyan, which was inside the Vikram lander that made a historic touchdown on the Moon yesterday, has rolled onto the Moon's surface.

"The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon!" said ISRO in a tweet this morning.

Also read: Chandrayaan-3 sends images of Moon after lunar landing: See pics

This evening, ISRO updated that the mobility operations of Pragyan have commenced. 

• The payloads on the Vikram lander and a payload on the propulsion module have been turned on, ISRO informed

After the Vikram lander touched the lunar surface, ISRO had to wait for several hours for the dust to settle around the landing spot.

• Late yesterday evening, the ramp on which the rover rolled down to the lunar surface was deployed

• At around 9.30 pm, the Pragyan rover was in the process of rolling down

Also read: Work of a generation of ISRO's leadership and scientists, says its chief Somanath on Chandrayaan-3 success

Pragyan will conduct two important experiments related to the elemental composition of the Moon's surface.

• First, it will use a laser beam to derive the chemical composition of the Moon's surface, which will help us to better understand the elements present there

• Second, it will determine the elemental composition of the lunar soil around the landing site

Dig deeper

India's startup ecosystem has been waiting for a deal from SoftBank for more than 15 months.

• We have also been waiting for a unicorn to IPO for almost a year

However, it looks like both dry spells could break soon, and in one fell swoop, as Mamaearth eyes a pre-IPO round with SoftBank as a potential investor.

Mamaearth is looking to raise $120-150 million in a pre-IPO round at a valuation of about $1.5 billion, sources told us.

• The unicorn has held talks with investors such as Singapore's GIC, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), and Fidelity Investments, besides SoftBank

The round would mostly comprise secondary transactions, allowing some of Mamaearth's early investors to partially exit before the IPO.

• Mamaearth's founders, Ghazal and Varun Alagh, are not diluting their stakes in this round

Mamaearth is hopeful of conducting an IPO later this year, and the company has begun preparations for it in full swing, according to sources.

• It is eyeing a market capitalisation of $1.7-2 billion, which is a 40-60% premium over its last valuation of $1.2 billion

Go deeper

TVS Motors wants to snatch the dominant market share enjoyed by its peer Ola Electric with a Rs 250 crore premium electric vehicle (EV) bet. Can they succeed?

TVS Motors launched their second electric two-wheeler, with an investment of Rs 250 crore, and it is priced at Rs 2,49,900.

Currently, the electric scooter market is dominated by Ola Electric, followed by TVS, Hero, and Ather. TVS, which started in 2020 with its affordable electric scooter called iQube, has captured a market share of 20% in just three years. The fight for the top spot is now on.

"We will be the company that will have the complete offering within the EV ecosystem and address the customer's needs," said Sudarshan Venu, MD of TVS Motors. 

The company aims to offer a comprehensive ecosystem, which includes additional three-wheelers, two-wheelers, and potential delivery bikes for e-commerce companies.

The company plans to expand in India, but it also wants to be a global player in the EV market.

• It is looking to export its vehicles to other countries, such as Nepal, Bangladesh, and even Europe

Find out more

“Life is like a snowball. The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill."

It's an iconic quote about big opportunities from Warren Buffett, which Lalit Keshre, the founder of Groww, also used to describe India's current state. In his words, India is "that really long hill" with a lot of wet snow.

But what is this snow he speaks of? What is behind India's compounding growth, and which points does Keshre believe need to be reinforced in the minds of the public?

Keshre, who hails from the village of Lepa in Madhya Pradesh, talks about the steep transformation that India has seen in the last two decades.

Read the full opinion piece

• Nvidia’s record Q2 earnings prove that it is one of the biggest winners of the current generative AI boom. The company’s stock surge has also made CEO Jensen Huang $4.2 billion richer.

• India's AI talent pool has grown 14x in 8 years, making it a top 5 AI talent hub.

• Coforge announced the launch of a new artificial intelligence platform, Quasar, which is designed to build enterprise AI capabilities.

Tennis legend Rafael Nadal is known for his never-give-up attitude and his dedication to excellence. Now, he's teaming up with Infosys — the Spaniard’s first-ever collaboration with a digital services company.

• Infosys is no stranger to the sport, as it is the digital innovation partner for the ATP Tour, Roland-Garros, Australian Open, as well as the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

As part of the collaboration, Infosys and Nadal's team will build an AI-powered match analysis tool that Nadal's team can use to track insights from his live matches.

Find out more

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