| September 16, 2022 |  | | Hello Reader,
Breaking news: Roger Federer is retiring from professional tennis.
Barely a month after Serena Williams announced her retirement, 41-year-old Federer took to Twitter to announce that next week’s Laver Cup in London will be his last ATP event.
One of the most successful tennis players of all time, Federer has won 103 ATP singles titles, including 20 Grand Slams over the 24 years of his illustrious career.
Meanwhile, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard is giving up all his shares worth $3 billion to help fight climate change. "Earth is now our only shareholder,” wrote Chouinard in an open letter on the company’s website.
ICYMI: Here’s how your brain classifies memories.
Turns out, it all depends on one molecule.
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about -
Ethereum transitions to PoS -
Building an EV charging infra -
upGrad acquires Centum Learning Here’s your trivia for today: When did the first Filmfare Awards function take place? | | |
| Blockchain | | Ethereum transitions to PoS |  | | Cutting 99% of its carbon footprint, the Ethereum blockchain made history by successfully completing 'The Merge'—a transition from a Proof of Work (PoW) system to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network.
While transaction speeds won't reduce overnight, The Merge is set to make Ethereum faster, more scalable, and more decentralised and paves the way for further upgrades.
The Merge's impact: -
Node operators will now need to stake 32 Ether (ETH) to become network validators and earn rewards.
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Layer-2 solutions built on Ethereum—such as Polygon, Optimism, Arbitrum, Loopring, and Boba Network—will become more energy efficient.
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The Merge is aimed at making Ethereum the most widely-adopted chain and is a precursor to sharding—dividing the network into subsets of nodes to improve efficiency. | | Read More | | | | | | |
| $40M | | EPACK Durable Second | | | | | | | $2.4M | | Ximkart Undisclosed | | | |
| Startup | | Building an EV charging infra
|  | | Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more mainstream, with more than a million units running on Indian roads. This calls for the need to develop a robust charging infrastructure.
Bengaluru-based charging aggregator platform ElectricPe offers a B2C EV charging and demand generation app where EV users can quickly identify, access, and pay for EV charging points.
‘BookMyShow of EV charging’: -
The startup shows the pricing per unit of all nearby third-party charging/ swapping points.
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ElectricPe has tied up with Hero Electric, NoBroker, ElectricOne, and JWS Group to set up charging points across India.
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Users can also make a request on the app for charging points to be established in their area. | | Read More | | | | |
| Edtech | | upGrad acquires Centum Learning |  | | Continuing its spree of acquisitions, edtech unicorn upGrad has acquired corporate training solutions provider Centum Learning in a share swap deal.
The startup has over 3,000 learning and development (L&D) specialists on the platform and has trained more than two million people.
upGrad's growth strategy : -
In August 2022, upGrad acquired Exampur, an online learning startup for competitive examinations, in a cash-and-share swap deal. -
It has also acquired Delhi-based edtech startup Harappa Education and Bengaluru-based recruitment and staffing firm WOLVES. -
The edtech unicorn also launched five new offline experience centres in Delhi, Jabalpur, Kolhapur, Kottayam, and Patna. | | Read More | | | | |
| News & Updates | | | -
Going green: Samsung announced that it will invest more than $5 billion in its carbon-neutral projects and environmental technologies through 2030, aiming to make its global operations and products net zero carbon emission by 2050. -
Shifting gears: Tesla is reevaluating the way it sells electric cars in China, its second-largest market, and considering closing some showrooms in flashy malls in cities like Beijing where traffic plunged during COVID restrictions. -
Beefing up: Adobe has agreed to buy software design startup Figma to help it expand tools for creative professionals. The $20 billion deal announced by Adobe, which is a mix of half cash and half stock, would mark the biggest ever takeover of a private software company. -
Expanding: Shein, the online retailer that has turbocharged the global fast-fashion industry, is planning to deepen its foothold in the US as its sales to American shoppers continue to soar. | | |
| Here's what else we have for you | | | | ML mentorship, opportunity to learn and grow ideas | | In association with Amazon Web Services | | Are you a ML Founder looking for mentorship by industry leaders, access to investors and experts to pitch your idea? Finding the right guidance to build a product-market fit and developing your sales and marketing? Do you want to know what are the best ways to raise funds? Get this and much more, by being a part of this year’s ML Elevate 2022. | | Apply here | | | | Leveraging the benefit of diversification with Axis Equity Hybrid Fund | | In association with Axis Mutual Fund | | Given the current market volatility, Aggressive Hybrid Funds have been rising in popularity. Ideal for investors who want to invest in equities but have a moderate risk appetite, these funds leverage a combination of two asset classes. In an interesting conversation with Ashish Naik, Equity Fund Manager, Axis Mutual Fund, we not only decode the Aggressive Equity Hybrid Fund category but also discuss the key attributes of Axis Equity Hybrid Fund | | Read More | | | | Revolutionise the assistive tech space by participating in Prosus Social Impact Challenge for Accessibility 2022 | | In association with Prosus SICA | | Is your organisation trying to make a mark in the assistive tech space? Participate in the Prosus Social Impact Challenge for Accessibility (SICA). Top 3 startups get unconditional grants of up to INR 55 lakhs apart from access to a global mentorship program and technical support. | | Know More | | | | The 3S’s of success for startups with Google Cloud: Scalability, security and stability | | In association with Google Cloud | | While cloud hosting is an ideal solution startup, it is also imperative to choose the right technology partner who can understand specific business or industry needs and offer the right hosting solution and provide tech support at every stage of the growth journey. Come be a part of Google Cloud event ‘From startup to scale up’ that will feature in-depth discussions on the 3S’s of success for startups. Register Now. | | Read More | | |
| What you should watch out for | | | -
Baba Ramdev may announce Patanjali Group’s IPO plan.
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Eight cheetahs will arrive at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park from Namibia.
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Apple iPhone 14 series to go on sale from today. | | |
