1) The funding boon
Devika Chandrasekharan and Devan Chandrasekharan, co-founders, Fuselage Innovations which uses Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to address critical challenges like post-natural disaster management, especially for farmers. Image: Courtesy Fuselage Innovations
India’s newly launched Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme could become a game-changer for agritech startups. With Rs1 lakh crore earmarked for strengthening private-sector R&D across strategic sectors, founders hope this will address the industry’s biggest pain points—lack of capital, fragmented digital infrastructure, and slow tech adoption. For India to realise its ambitions in agricultural science, experts say what’s needed now is outcome-driven incentives, simpler funding access, and collaborative ecosystems. If implemented correctly, the RDI scheme could foster a golden decade for agritech, where soil data, AI-driven crop insights, and climate resilience converge at scale.
2) House of cards
When a venture-backed startup announces a large investment or fundraising round, there is scant requirement for verification or documentation. Illustration: Nicolas ortega for Forbes
Infinite Reality recently proclaimed itself to be worth a staggering $15.5 billion, despite generating just $75 million in revenue in 2024 —a revenue multiple that is eye-watering even by AI startups’ standards. The Florida-based startup has quietly acquired a string of companies—Napster, Drone Racing League, ReKTGlobal—through all‑stock deals, each reportedly inflating its valuation further. Yet behind the glossy numbers lies a trail of lawsuits, delinquent vendor payments, and SEC scrutiny over unverifiable funding claims and cozy, undisclosed investors. Analysts in the metaverse and Web3 space say they’ve never encountered the company as either a vendor or a partner, raising questions about its real-world footprint. Here’s an interesting investigation.
3) The catalyst
“She won’t stop until she’s happy about where women’s sports can go,” says Magic Johnson, who invested in Michele Kang’s NWSL team, the Washington Spirit, “and she’s achieved the goal of taking it there.” Image: Levon Biss for Forbes
Once a healthcare IT entrepreneur with a meticulously plotted career, Michele Kang has emerged as one of the most transformative figures in women’s football. Kang was drawn to the potential of women’s sports after attending a Capitol Hill celebration following the US team’s 2019 World Cup win. She took control of the Washington Spirit in 2022 for $35 million—a bold move that sparked a valuation surge to $130 million within two years—and has since acquired Olympique Lyon Féminin and London City Lionesses. Behind her strategy is a clear thesis: Women’s sports—especially football—deserves parity in resources, infrastructure, and valuation. With marquee media deals, brand partnerships, and attendance surging in her franchises, Kang is betting big that women’s sports can go mainstream.
Discover
1) Challenging Musk and Bezos
Abel Avellan hopes his network of satellites will bring fast, reliable internet to billions of people in less-developed nations Image: Jamel Toppin for Forbes
There is a venture in the arena of delivering high-speed satellite internet directly to users’ smartphones. Abel Avellan, a Venezuelan-born entrepreneur, is quietly taking on SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper with AST SpaceMobile. With partnerships spanning Vodafone, Rakuten, AT&T, and Deutsche Bank, and projected revenues of $370 million by 2026, Avellan is betting big on emerging markets where over 2.6 billion users lack reliable connectivity. While SpaceX still commands scale and regulatory sway, AST’s lower capital expenditure model and unique hardware architecture could disrupt the billion-dollar satellite internet market. It’s a high-stakes race.
2) Fame to trademark
Image: Akshay: Sujit Jaiswal/AFP; Rajinikanth: courtesy Kabali; Dhoni: Francis Mascarenhas / Reuters; Jackie: Prodip Guha/Getty Images; Sachin: Visionhaus/Getty Images
In an age where fan-given sobriquets like Master Blaster and Captain Cool are nearly inseparable from their stars, Indian celebrities are turning the tables, seeking legal ownership of these nicknames. From Sachin Tendulkar to Akshay Kumar and, most recently, MS Dhoni, high-profile figures have filed trademark applications for their public monikers—sometimes even for fan-coined names—to protect against unauthorised commercial use. Legal challenges abound: One opposition argues that Captain Cool predates Dhoni and lacks distinctiveness. In contrast, others point to its early public use in other contexts, which betrays the difficulty in converting fandom into an enforceable IP. As celebrity culture increasingly becomes a commercial identity, the fine print of IP law is now centre stage in defining who owns not just a name but a legacy.
3) Redefining aspiration
Premiumization in India isn’t about a select few splurging on ultra-luxury goods, it’s about a broad wave of consumers upgrading their everyday lives. Image: Shutterstock
India’s new middle class isn’t splurging; they’re upgrading their everyday essentials: premium skincare, better housing, and boutique coffee instead of instant. A report by ESSEC Business School indicates that by 2030, private consumption is expected to reach $5.7 trillion, with nearly $2 trillion driven by mass-market consumers upgrading from basic to premium offerings. But that Indian bottom line never changed: Indian buyers are aspirational yet pragmatic. They want the global touch without losing local context. In India, premium may mean a coffee shop ambience, curated skincare, or a four-star boutique, but India never loses sight of the balance between price and value. Here’s what the winning brands are doing to stand out today.
4) Preserving legacy
Image by : AstaGuru Auction House
In a striking outcome at AstaGuru’s late‑June “Collectors’ Choice” auction, 35 handwritten letters by Rabindranath Tagore—accompanied by 14 envelopes—sold for ₹5.9 crore, marking the second-highest value ever fetched for a Tagore creation at auction. Auction house executives note that such manuscript collections rarely surface in India’s art market due to private ownership and heritage restrictions, making this sale both rare and historically resonant. It’s a powerful reminder: in preserving letters like these, we preserve the legacy of a thinker whose life and art remain deeply entwined.
