Hello,
The rare earth magnet crunch is imminent.
Rare earth magnet (made from alloys of rare earth minerals) imports in India increased sharply in FY25, touching $291 million as opposed to an annual average of $249 million over the last four years, according to a report by the State Bank of India.
However, the report also named the main sectors that will be drastically affected by China’s recent export restrictions: transport equipment, basic metals, machinery, construction, electrical, and electronics.
Meanwhile, the Singrauli coalfields of Madhya Pradesh show promising reserves of rare earth elements (REE), Parliament was informed on Monday.
REEs are a group of metallic elements, like scandium and yttrium, that are used in areas such as clean energy, electronics, and mobility.
Elsewhere, Ola Krutrim has laid off more than 100 employees, months after it saw three of its senior executives leave the company, The Economic Times reported. The AI unicorn has reportedly let go of a large portion of its linguistics team as it looks to run a tighter ship.
Speaking of AI, OpenAI is reportedly preparing to launch GPT-5 as early as August. The new model represents the company’s attempts to simplify its complex product lineup, according to Ars Technica.
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- How to crack climate tech funding
- What led to Go Digit’s Q1 profit soaring
- Cruise planning for Indian travellers
Here’s your trivia for today: What is the name of the iconic default wallpaper used in Windows XP?
Interview
How to crack climate tech funding
Ostara Advisors is a specialist investment banking firm that looks at climate tech and sustainability funding deals as well as mergers and acquisitions.
Over the last 10 years, Ostara has facilitated marquee deals, including the country’s first merger in the electric vehicle segment, when Greaves Cotton Limited acquired EV maker Ampere Vehicles in 2018, and more recently, Routematic’s $40 million Series C fundraise in May this year. It is now gearing up to start its own fund.
Clean investments:
- “We’re exploring a fund size of around $10-20 million. The idea is to write $1-1.5 million cheques across 10-15 companies—primarily at the growth or early growth stage,” says Vasudha Madhavan, Founder and CEO of Ostara Advisors.
- There’s a massive gap in growth-stage funding in India when it comes to climate tech startups. Ostara has been trying to address that by often tapping into overseas investors who are more aligned.
- “We’re looking at a bunch of themes—solar, recycling, circular economy, industrial decarbonisation, battery tech, EV components, even air purification,” she adds.
Funding Alert
Startup: Navi Technologies
Amount: Rs 170 Cr
Round: Debt
Startup: Drizz
Amount: $2.7M
Round: Seed
Insurance
What led to Go Digit’s Q1 profit soaring
Go Digit General Insurance reported a 19.7% quarter-on-quarter increase in net profit for the quarter ended June 2025, as lower claims payouts and higher premium collections helped offset a decline in total income.
Gross premiums written rose 15.7% to Rs 2,981.80 crore from Rs 2,576.38 crore in Q4 FY25. Total income, however, fell 23.7% to Rs 2,179.46 crore from Rs 2,855.18 crore in the previous quarter.
Key takeaways:
- Claims paid during the quarter dropped sharply by a third to Rs 902.53 crore, down from Rs 1,353.61 crore in the previous quarter. The change in outstanding claims—claims incurred but not yet paid—rose 11.8%.
- The fire insurance segment emerged as a key profit contributor, recording a profit of Rs 35.38 crore in Q1 FY26 compared to a loss of Rs 67 crore in the previous quarter.
- During the earnings call, management attributed the turnaround in the fire segment to a few large corporate accounts acquired as leaders, combined with a cautious retention strategy to avoid concentration risk.
Startup
Cruise planning for Indian travellers
With rising disposable incomes, better port facilities, and exposure to global travel trends, cruises are becoming a popular holiday choice today. Responding to this trend and latent demand, Int2Cruises—a cruise booking platform founded in Singapore in 2022—launched its India operations in January last year.
The platform positions itself as an exclusive cruise online travel agency, offering a consolidated, tech-enabled experience. In the Indian market, it claims to offer an experience tailored specifically for Indian outbound cruise travellers.
News & updates
- Chip deal: Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the US automaker had signed a $16.5 billion deal to source chips from Samsung Electronics, a move expected to bolster the South Korean tech giant’s loss-making contract manufacturing business.
- AI alliance: China’s AI companies have announced two new industry alliances, aiming to develop a domestic ecosystem to reduce dependence on foreign tech as they seek to cope with US export restrictions on advanced Nvidia chipsets.
- Smart glasses: Alibaba on Monday unveiled a pair of smart glasses powered by its AI models, marking the Chinese firm’s first foray into the product category. The ecommerce giant said the Quark AI Glasses will be launched in China by the end of 2025.
What is the name of the iconic default wallpaper used in Windows XP?
Answer: Bliss. The popular photograph, showing green rolling hills under a bright blue sky with some white clouds, was taken in 1996 by Charles O’Rear.
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