Shaik Abdul Mujeeb is a common man in India who chose an uncommon profession of collecting weeds from water bodies and making handicrafts out of them. Ultimately, it is all about providing occupation to poor women in the Southern region of India.
On his way to college in Andhra Pradesh, Abdul noticed the enormous growth of water hyacinth in lakes. Later, he observed many ponds and lakes too were filled with these hyacinth weeds.
Abdul is very much aware of the damage caused by these weeds. Lakhs of rupees are spent every year by the government to clear these weeds, as these weeds are known to block the exit points of the water bodies. In a span of 45 days, they decay and contaminate the water making aquatic life a bit difficult to survive.
Shaik Abdul Mujeeb’s journey started by collecting these plants, cut their stems, drying them in the sun and making hats out of them. During this process, he learned that a similar practice was going on in Assam too. Seeking help from the Manager of NEDFi, he visited some places in Assam and learned the art of making various handicrafts.
In October 2014, he started a social enterprise and named it Allika that provides sustainable lifestyles to poor women who beautifully handcraft various products from water hyacinths.
Allika was started initially with six women, and now is supporting 70 women. It trains them to create handicrafts from water hyacinths. A wide range of products can be created like handbags, caps, hats, baskets, home decors, dining mats and much more. These products have a shelf life of about 10 years.
‘Allika’ also provides an opportunity to generate income for 30 men who are employed to collect weeds from various locations of Andhra Pradesh. These people especially women raised their standard of living and also provide education to their children.
“We make sales through our Facebook page and some exhibitions in our city. We still need to meet the demand and we are trying to expand and make new products,” says Abdul.
Abdul shared his future plans saying that he wants to put the entire plant of water hyacinth to use. It’s roots and leaves to be used for organic manure. And also make sanitary pads from the fiber of the water hyacinth.
MobiKwik is venturing into the stock broking sector with the launch of its subsidiary, MobiKwik Securities Broking Private Limited (MSBPL), following approval from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on March 3, 2025. This move aims to diversify MobiKwik’s offerings beyond its core digital payments services and compete with established players like Zerodha and Groww.
MSBPL will provide a range of brokerage services, including trading in shares, securities, commodities, and derivatives. The subsidiary has an initial capital of Rs 1 lakh, with plans for an additional Rs 2 crore investment to support its operations.
As MobiKwik enters this competitive market, it brings a substantial user base of 172 million and a merchant network of 5 million. Despite recent financial challenges, including a reported loss of Rs 55.2 crore in Q3 FY25, the company aims to leverage its existing infrastructure and user engagement to capture a share of the growing investment technology market, projected to reach $74 billion by 2030.
This strategic expansion aligns with MobiKwik’s broader goals of enhancing its financial service
Nazara Technologies has sold its entire 71.54% stake in Sports Unity Private Limited, the company behind the multiplayer quiz game ‘Qunami’, for INR 7.15 lakh. This divestment, effective March 25, 2025, signifies a strategic shift for Nazara, which had previously acquired a controlling interest in Sports Unity in 2019 for INR 7.5 crore.
The decision to offload the stake comes as Sports Unity has faced financial difficulties, reporting no active business operations and a negative net worth of INR 0.45 crore at the end of FY24. This move aligns with Nazara’s broader strategy to streamline its operations and concentrate on more profitable ventures within the gaming sector.
This sale follows Nazara’s recent divestment of a 94.85% stake in another subsidiary, Open Play, to Moonshine Technologies for INR 104.33 crore. Despite reporting record quarterly revenue of INR 544.7 crore in Q3 FY25, Nazara experienced a 53.5% decline in net profit year-over-year.
Nazara continues to focus on enhancing its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and investments in high-potential gaming platforms while navigating the competitive landscape of the gaming industry.
Hypergro.ai, a Bengaluru-based marketing technology startup, has raised Rs 7 crore in seed funding led by Silverneedle Ventures, with participation from Huddle, TDV Partners, HME Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, FiiRE, and angel investors. Founded in 2022 by Rituraj Biswas, Neha Soman, Abhijeet Kumar, and Arijit Mukhopadhyay, the company aims to revolutionize digital marketing by addressing challenges like high Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) and low Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
The startup leverages AI to create hyper-personalized video ads using user-generated content (UGC). The fresh capital will be used to enhance Hypergro.ai’s AI capabilities, expand operations, and build a specialized team focusing on data analysis, predictive algorithms, and automation.
Since its inception, Hypergro.ai has collaborated with over 70 brands, including several from Shark Tank India. The company’s innovative approach has led to its selection for Google’s Startups Accelerator: AI First (India) program in July 2024, providing access to critical training, mentorship, and state-of-the-art AI tools.
Hypergro.ai’s platform now supports a community of over 300,000 creators across India and has partnered with more than 100 brands, significantly enhancing its AI model’s accuracy and improving revenue generation for clients. As it continues to expand and refine its AI-powered marketing solutions, Hypergro.ai is set to transform the digital advertising landscape, offering businesses more effective and efficient customer acquisition and engagement strategies.