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How An Automobile Engineer Is Helping To Fight Against COVID-19

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How An Automobile Engineer Is Helping To Fight Against COVID-19

The world is currently going through an unprecedented crisis in the modern times.  A highly infectious virus named COVID-19 has been spreading throughout the world with almost every country in the world reporting positive cases.  The virus attacks the respiratory system and the infected person exhibits flu-like symptoms and can be fatal to old people or people with weak immune systems.  The virus spread so quickly that healthcare professionals are unable to keep up with the influx of cases and hospitals are filled to the brim with no room to accommodate more cases in some countries.  In the midst of this, there is an acute shortage of medical masks which come under personal protective equipment (PPE) for doctors and nurses. A normal surgical mask does not help with keeping the virus at bay and healthcare professionals require an N95 mask.  An N95 mask or N95 respirator is a particulate-filtering facepiece respirator that meets the N95 standard of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health air filtration rating, meaning that it filters at least 95% of airborne particles.

The COVID-19 virus made its way to India and the central government sprung to action and imposed a nationwide lockdown for three weeks which began on March 24th,2020.  India also has a severe shortage of PPEs with many doctors and hospitals complaining about a lack of the masks. The shortage is partly due to the panic buying indulged by the public and also due to unavailability of masks.

Times like these always give way to extraordinary individuals who rise up to the occasion.  Abrar is one such individual who rose to the occasion. It all began when Abrar noticed the strain on the medical fraternity and the healthcare infrastructure due to lack of resources and PPEs.  This prompted Abrar into action and got him thinking about how to create a face shield at home with simple raw materials easily available. After some initial brainstorming and research on the internet, it took Abrar 24 hours to come up with a working design for a face shield.  

Abrar then put the prototype design on his Instagram handle and asked for feedback and support from his friends.  What began as a simple post ended up becoming something bigger as it garnered more and more attention, friends and strangers ended up contributing money to help Abrar produce more such face shields.  It took just one Instagram post for Abrar to collect two lakh rupees within 24 hours. Abrar has raised 3 lakh rupees so far which is roughly enough to produce 30,000 masks.

Abrar and a group of friends then came together to fine tune the design and with constant feedback from doctors, they were finally able to come up with a product that can be used by medical professionals.  However, increasing production comes with its own set of problems as it severely restricts logistics and manpower mobility due to the lockdown set in place. Abrar is however hopeful that he could obtain official passes which would let manpower to venture outside.

Abrar believes that public health care units are the highest priority when it comes to delivering his face shields.  The product received positive feedback and a lot of corporate companies working on essential services have contacted Abrar to buy the product for their on ground and field employees.  Abrar sells the product to corporates at double the cost of raw materials and the profit will be used to make more products to be given away for free to public healthcare units. Abrar wants to connect with representatives from each state to teach them how to make the face shield themselves and cater to their local markets and Bombay is already on board.  All communications happen via WhatsApp.

The team is currently working on two more designs which are costlier and involve higher quality raw materials.  Abrar is an automobile engineer based out of Bengaluru and works for Ather Energy and has a passion for racing bikes.  Abrar believes that more people need to be aware of how to make PPEs at home in order to help people who need it the most.

If you would like to be a part of this movement, you could contribute or get in touch with Abrar on his Instagram handle.  There is also a handy guide to make a face shield by yourself on a link on his profile.

https://www.instagram.com/abrar_bin_ayub/

 

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PixelSky Capital Unveils INR 400 Crore Secondaries Fund

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Bengaluru-based investment bank IndigoEdge, in partnership with entrepreneur Hitesh Ahuja, has launched PixelSky Capital, a secondaries fund targeting INR 400 crore. The fund will invest in eight late-stage tech and consumer companies expected to go public within three to four years, with cheque sizes of INR 40–50 crore each. PixelSky has already invested in beauty retailer Purplle and aims to close a second deal by June 2025.

 

The fund focuses on secondary transactions, allowing existing shareholders to sell stakes to new investors, providing liquidity ahead of IPOs. Founders have committed INR 10–15 crore, with additional capital coming from domestic family offices and startup founders. Final close is expected by March 2026.

 

Led by Hitesh Ahuja, who sold his foodtech startup Yumlane in 2023, and IndigoEdge cofounder Zerin Rahiman, PixelSky marks IndigoEdge’s expansion from advisory and proprietary investments into fund management. The firm has facilitated over 150 transactions worth around $3 billion and invested INR 25–30 crore as a limited partner in multiple VC funds. PixelSky is currently evaluating about 20 companies before finalizing its portfolio

 

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Meta’s Upcoming AR Glasses: A Sneak Peek

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Meta is developing its first true AR glasses, set to launch in 2027. Before the public release, employees will test the device starting in 2024. The company is also releasing new generations of Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2023 and 2025 with enhanced features like a “viewfinder” display.

Specifications and Features

The AR glasses are expected to feature OLED displays and Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets, offering sophisticated AR and AI capabilities. They will enable users to interact with virtual objects and project high-quality holograms of avatars onto the real world.

Design and Competition

Meta aims for a sleek design, potentially building on its Ray-Ban partnerships. The AR glasses market is competitive, with Apple and Google also investing heavily. Meta seeks to make its AR glasses a game-changer by offering a unique user experience.

Future Plans

In addition to AR glasses, Meta is expanding its VR offerings with new headsets like the Quest 3 and exploring other wearable technologies. The company is focused on reducing costs to make the AR glasses more consumer-friendly by launch.

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From Digital Wallet to Stock Market: MobiKwik Expands Its Horizons with New Brokerage Venture

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From Digital Wallet to Stock Market: MobiKwik Expands Its Horizons with New Brokerage Venture

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

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