Parvathi Benu

3 weeks ago | the-captable.com | Parvathi Benu

KiranaPro is having the kind of month that startup founders have nightmares about. First came news of a hack that allegedly wiped out all the company’s data. Then the founder started pointing fingers at a former employee. Meanwhile, current and former employees are saying they haven’t seen their paychecks in months.

3 weeks ago | the-captable.com | Parvathi Benu

Key TakeawaysThe e-Rupee is being tested for direct benefit transfers (DBTs) to farmers, specifically linked to carbon credit generation and Kisan Credit Card loans for tenant farmers in select areasDespite a 4x jump in circulation value to Rs 1,016 crore in FY25, e-Rupee is still largely confined to government pilots and employee allowancesThe central bank is exploring cross-border use cases for CBDCs, aiming to cut forex costs and settlement time.

4 weeks ago | the-captable.com | Parvathi Benu

This week, IBM joined the growing list of global corporations laying off employees, allegedly due to the rise of Artificial Intelligence. According to multiple reports, the tech giant cut around 8,000 jobs worldwide, primarily in its human resources department. This comes on the heels of similar moves by Microsoft, which laid off 6,000 people, and Alphabet, which cut 12,000 jobs globally. The signs of AI disrupting the job market have been visible for some time, and things are only snowballing.

1 month ago | the-captable.com | Parvathi Benu

Key Takeaways Networks of professors are selling inventorship slots on patents and research paper authorship to their fellow academics These are often offered for a pittance, with these schemes openly advertised via WhatsApp, email, and Telegram groups—often by the professors themselves The racket thrives under pressure from institutional rankings like NIRF and promotion criteria tied to publishing research With little oversight and low costs, academic credibility in India is being quietly...

1 month ago | the-captable.com | Parvathi Benu

Key TakeawaysAgri-fintech is booming even as agritech funding dips, with players like Samunnati and SarvaGram raising hundreds of crores. There is a catch, however, with these businesses largely lending to agribusinesses, not farmers. Indeed, most loans bypass individual farmers, who remain reliant on banks or moneylenders. Lending to collectives or peers is safer and more scalable, say founders.