Global IndianstoryThe future is now: Indian startups going strong in Metaverse space

The future is now: Indian startups going strong in Metaverse space

Written by: Charu Thakur

(September 5, 2022) What was originally planned as a computer-generated graphic novel turned into a science fiction paperback in 1992 where author Neal Stephenson first introduced the word Metaverse. And now almost three decades later, the concept has caught up with the world so much that startups have started popping up in the space. Interestingly, the global metaverse market, which reached $47.69 billion in 2020, is expected to register $828.95 billion by 2028. And Indian startups are not far behind in playing a pivotal role in the metaverse space.

Global Indian turns the spotlight on a handful of such startups that are making a mark for themselves in the space.

OneRare

Food does have a language of its own and connects people like nothing else, and husband-wife-entrepreneur-duo Gaurav Gupta and Supreet Raju knew it was time to bring the F&B industry to Web3 with OneRare. It was during the lockdown that the couple decided to dip their toes into the world of food metaverse or ‘Foodverse’ by creating virtual experiences, food NFTs and games, and interactions with foodies from across the globe.

“Food is what connects us and the metaverse only brings us closer together in a unique way in which we can share our culture and our food. Now with the launch of the Foodverse, there is no reason why brands and consumers can’t come together in this safe, virtual setting,” Supreet said in a statement.

Metaverse | Onerare | Global Indian

So how does it work? Designed like the real world, the Foodverse indicates geographical locations like forest, beaches and the lakeside, and one can explore the world at their own will. Moreover, it features zones where users can discover celebrity chefs, food brands and virtual restaurants, and can even claim dish NFTs by collecting ingredients and following recipes to mint exclusive NFT artworks. Interestingly, the dishes include global cuisines, festive specials, keto and vegan-friendly recipes, as well as signature recipes from celebrity chefs and restaurants. “As we grow, users will also be able to swap these NFTs for real meals and deals – amalgamating our real and virtual lives,” Raju said in a statement.

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Wall.app

In 2021, when NFT market boomed and an increasing number of startups began innovating in the space, entrepreneurs Anuj Kodam and Amarnath JV felt that something was amiss. Despite the hullabaloo, they couldn’t find any reliable platforms that provided easy access to trends, analytics and on-chain data in the NFT market. That’s when the idea of Wall App germinated, which helps users discover and stay up-to-date with new NFT projects.

On Wall.app, users can look at NFT data on Ethereum in terms of volumes, price action, the number of sales, track leading NFT collections, get details on specific whale wallets that move markets, big sweeps in the sector, and other highlights,” Anuj told The Decrypting Story in an interview.

For Anuj, things started to shift when he stumbled upon Web3 in 2017 after he quit his job at Ola, and started spending time playing poker professionally. It was then that he realised the similarities between the lack of transparency in online poker platforms and lack of information on blockchain assets. That’s when he met Amarnath and started working on Wall.app.

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NextMeet

At a time when isolation and UI fatigue due to remote working was taking a toll on people, Hyderabad-based Pushpak Kypuram decided to shake things up with Next Meet – India’s first avatar-based immersive platform that enables virtual conferencing and networking in a 3D environment. In October 2020, he started incorporating interactive environments, spatial audio and 3D avatars to facilitate UI within its diversified ecosystem.

Events in the Metaverse are a synonym to
1) Saving Costs
2) Highly Immersive
3) Global Presence
4) Flexibility

Download the app now!https://t.co/QPN9yoSYKe
#thefuture #virtualengagement #nextmeet #web3 #immersive #virtualreality pic.twitter.com/5CAMTx94TE

— NextMeet (@NextMeet_Live) August 29, 2022

“I endorse virtual realities wherever possible. If one could get splendid views of the Himalayan mountain ranges and the next minute, don an avatar to walk in and out of an office, meet in a huddle room and even indulge in the proverbial water cooler talk – all virtually, then why not?,” Pushpak told International Institute of Information Technology.

Follow Next Meet on Twitter

LOKA

Fancy a multiplayer gamified virtual metaverse? Then LOKA is your answer – India’s first multiplayer gamified virtual metaverse based on 3D maps of real-world cities and locations where players can participate in live and concurrent experiences. Founded in 2020 by Krishnan Sunderarajan, LOKA provides gaming experiences that are powered by third-party apps – which means one can visit a theatre in the game and watch the latest movies on the Netflix app or attend yoga classes via the Cult Fit app or order pizza which will be delivered to your actual address via Zomato.

Additionally, the platform also boasts of elements like ambience, background noise and non-player characters.

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Published on 05, Sep 2022

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Khyati Trehan’s Oscar ‘22 creative aside, her 3D projects are the talk of the artsy world

(April 29, 2022) The 94th Oscar Academy Awards, the greatest galas of 2022, had an august array of creative spirits. Among them was an Indian graphic designer whose 3D artwork was among eight creatives invited to contribute to the Oscars. 3D artist Khyati Trehan, a well-known fluid digital artist was no doubt thrilled to be selected, even wishing she had been invited to the ceremony. However, her body of work earlier has included working with the biggest names in the industry - New York Times, Apple, WeWork, Adobe, etc. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Khyati Trehan (@khyatitrehan) “I am still in disbelief,” shares Khyati laughing, during an interview with Global Indian. Expressing her love for 3D graphics, Khyati adds, “While working on a project in college, looking for an image, I realised I was spending more time on searching for a photograph, than designing. I started exploring possibilities of making all the pictures, rather than hoping that someone had clicked an image suiting my requirements. That’s how I discovered 3D. It seemed like magic,” recalls the Forbes 30 under 30 2022. Freedom to learn Born in Jalandhar, Khyati moved to Delhi with her parents

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A post shared by Khyati Trehan (@khyatitrehan)

“I am still in disbelief,” shares Khyati laughing, during an interview with Global Indian. Expressing her love for 3D graphics, Khyati adds, “While working on a project in college, looking for an image, I realised I was spending more time on searching for a photograph, than designing. I started exploring possibilities of making all the pictures, rather than hoping that someone had clicked an image suiting my requirements. That’s how I discovered 3D. It seemed like magic,” recalls the Forbes 30 under 30 2022.

Freedom to learn

Born in Jalandhar, Khyati moved to Delhi with her parents at a young age. As the family welcomed another daughter, it was struck with tragedy when Khyati’s father passed away in an accident when she was nine. “My mother, a college teacher in genetics and embryology before marriage, had to leave her job to look after the family,” shares the graphic designer, adding, “After my father passed away, she raised us, and it was a difficult period,” she remembers. Eventually, Khyati’s mother entered the world of haute couture, managing luxury fashion brands.

[caption id="attachment_23835" align="aligncenter" width="593"] Khyati with her mother and sister, Kavya[/caption]

Raised by a single parent, Khyati has a special bond with her sister Kavya, and her mother. “We spent a lot of time together. There was a lot of feminine energy. Yet, as a family of three women, I came across misogyny way sooner - People who worked for us wouldn’t take us seriously without a paternal figure,” recalls Khyati, adding, “My mother is a great parent, more of a friend to me and my sister. Frankly, a lot of my work and who I am today is defined by being raised by a single parent.”

An alumnus of a remarkably interesting school in Delhi, Mirambika - Free Progress School, the 3D designer had a unique childhood. “Mirambika is based on the integral philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. We were given a lot of freedom and exposed to all kind of subjects. It was a great place to understand my skillset,” shares the once shy girl. “My sister is the opposite. Yet, I was aggressively protective of her. In fact, I named her,” she laughs.

The world of 3D

Mirambika helped Khyati realise her true potential. After school, the artist toyed with the idea of studying economics or languages. “I wasn’t interested in designing. People around me told me about this whole world of design and 3D,” the graphic designer adds.

[caption id="attachment_23836" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Khyati's art, Are Viruses Alive, for New York Times[/caption]

She fell in love with a new world of shapes, colours and design after joining National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad). "NID was a whole new world. A focus on craft - we were asked to draw to help us see things in a certain way. A mindset change, and gaining skills to become a designer, the most amazing was being surrounded by creative people,” says the 3D designer Khyati, who also met her now-husband Sanchit Sawaria during her NID days.

After NID, a few stints at graphic designing companies in Delhi led her to a big change in 2017 - she shifted to Berlin to work at one of the leading European online platforms for fashion and lifestyle, Zalando. “Design is one of those industries that allows one to have different careers. So, if I am working for hospitality, I get to learn how to run a hotel, and if I switch to designing for a musician I might hang out with the artist and learn about his craft. I needed to be versatile, and I absolutely loved it," the graphic designer smiles. The same year Khyati was named as one of Print Magazine’s 15 new visual artists under 30.

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A post shared by Khyati Trehan (@khyatitrehan)

In 2019, Khyati joined award-winning global design and innovation firm IDEO. The sky was the limit as she worked on projects with NYT, New Yorker Magazine, Apple, Adobe, Absolut, Instagram and Snapchat. The successful graphic designer won several awards and recognitions too - Artistry Creator of the Year at Adweek’s Creator Visionary Awards, ADC Young Guns 19 – 2021, etc.

Back to India and straight to Oscars

Having worked without a break for eight straight years, and with the pandemic, the 3D designer decided to return home, and spend some quality time with my loved ones,” the graphic designer adds.

That was when an email from the Academy popped up asking if she was interested in participating on a project. The theme focused on the intersection of storytelling and technology, inviting eight artists from around the world to each create a representation of the Oscar statue inspired by their personal appreciation of movies and ‘how do movies transform and inspire?’

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A post shared by Khyati Trehan (@khyatitrehan)

“My concept was of the Oscar statue as a movie viewer amidst the action,” shares the Forbes 30 under 30, and she immediately got a “go ahead.” “It was a dream project and I drew inspiration from the immersive power of movies. I wanted to create an overwhelming sense of feeling,” she shares, adding, “I just wished they has called us to the US for the ceremony when my design was selected,” laughs the artist, who has many interesting projects on the anvil.

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Reading Time: 7 mins

Akshita Bhanj Deo: Building sustainable tourism with social impact

(August 31, 2023) Akshita Bhanj Deo and her sister are the directors of the 200-year-old Belgadia Palace in Mayurbhanj. Together, they're working to build sustainable tourism with social impact. Akshita is also the manager of Dasra, which launched GivingPi, Inda's first invite-only family philanthropy network, which has raised $300 million and impacted over 100 million Indians, with members that include Nikhil Kamath, Co-Founder, Zerodha and True Beacon, Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and Nisaba Godrej, Executive Chairperson, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. Born into the fading glory of India's royals, among palaces falling to ruin, Princess Akshita Bhanj Deo sometimes compares her life to Downton Abbey. A descendant of the Bhanja Dynasty, her great grandfather is the late King Tribhuvan of Nepal. Raised in Kolkata, she studied at the prestigious La Martiniere for Girls and then at United World College of Southeast Asia Singapore. She was an athlete in school and college and a national-level equestrian, participating in dressage and jumping. After school, she went to college as a Davis scholar at Bard College in the US, where she studied Political Science and Human Rights with a concentration in Media in conflict areas. After college, she moved to New York

ollege, she moved to New York City to hone her skills in communications, brand management and entrepreneurship while working at the International Rescue Committee.

[caption id="attachment_44289" align="aligncenter" width="683"] Akshita Bhanj Deo, one of the directors of the 200-year-old Belgadia Palace in Mayurbhanj with her sister, Mrinalika.[/caption]

Royal Call

Currently she is a TedX speaker and a manager at Dasra, Akshita is working to build a conversation around strategic philanthropy in India through GivingPi. In 2019, she moved full-time to Mayurbhanj, where she developed an interest in building social enterprises and refurbishing the historic Belgadia Palace on a startup model. "My sister Mrinalika and I restored our 18^th century ancestral home (The Belgadia Palace) to have tourism be a catalyst for sustainable development in Odisha's largest district Mayurbhanj,” she says, in an exclusive with Global Indian. The idea was to use the property as a platform to divert funds into the district's small and medium-sized enterprises and attract investment, by serving as a point of local contact between non-profits, the media, and entrepreneurs. Raising funds from guests who visited the palace, the sisters started the Mayurbhanj Foundation to help the local community in terms of healthcare, education, arts and culture, livelihoods, and sports. They hope to positively impact at least 10,000 people by 2025.

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A post shared by Ancestry (@theancestrystore)

Partnering for Success

They have tie-ups with local communities to promote business and provide an alternative livelihood from eco-tourism by giving them access to market linkages with travellers. These include Project Chhauni (Arts), NGO Sangram (Livelihoods), Mayurbhanj Art Foundation (Arts and Culture), ORMAS Sabai grass SHGs (Livelihoods) and Thakurmunda Sports Academy (Sports). Since they opened in August 2019, they have had 1000 guests in 2.5 years and have conducted over 500 property tours on heritage conservation and heritage. With over 100 meet-and-greets with Dokra and Sabai Grass artists with ORMAS and 100 Mayurbhanj Chhau dance performances with their local NGO partner Project Chhauni, they have had three artist residencies, one international from an artist duo from New Zealand and one national with an emerging photographer from Bhatinda and a partnership with Frequencies Foundation and one with the BEADS Studio in Bhubaneshwar. They had two volunteer-led trips to empower the local community students with Living to Change and Youth for sustainability and one grant tie-up with the Mehrangarh Fort Museum and Trust supported by the Tata Trusts heritage conservation initiative. “We have also been actively supporting the local sports groups in Mayurbhanj and have tied up with NGO Sangram to support tribal youth. We run fundraising drives to deliver sports equipment and kits to the youth and hold workshops on conservation and livelihood capacity training since many live on the fringes of the Simlipal Elephant and Tiger Reserve and biosphere which witnessed the tragic forest fires this year,” Akshita adds.

Giving Back

Akshita manages Dasra, which launched GivingPi in July 2022, India’s first and exclusive family philanthropy network, an independent initiative under the aegis of Dasra and has managed to positively impact over 100 million Indians with the $300 million raised. GivingPi's Founders Circle members include Nikhil Kamath, Co-Founder, Zerodha and True Beacon, Nisaba Godrej, Executive Chairperson, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd., Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, Sunny (Gurpreet) Singh, Founder, RoundGlass and Tara Singh Vachani, VP, Max India Ltd. "Public healthcare is a critical need in a developing district, especially in a state like Odisha which is so prone to natural disasters. So I worked for three years at the Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence in various roles from communications to special projects and one of the verticals the institute was focussing on was healthcare," Akshita adds.

Entrepreneurial Journey

Having dabbled with different activities, she admits that getting a set of skilled team members to bring to a hospitality venture and retaining them as a boutique heritage hotel which is family run is a challenge. “To find the entrepreneurial minds who are open to growth and change and can be community ambassadors in rural areas is challenging but we try to bring in speakers and external collaborators who can help us train, build and skill a new young India. Invest in the best team and earnest professionals - you cannot be everything, all at once, but the strength of a team is unstoppable,” she opines. When she is not working, she indulges in sports, fitness, and being part of artistic or creative talks and dialogues. “I love to travel and have just got back from Vietnam and Nepal and can safely say that Asia is exploding with hidden spots to discover.” Looking ahead, she hopes to scale the Mayurbhanj Foundation to be self-sustainable and have a corpus that can provide jobs and help skill tribal youth every year. This is in addition to main streaming tribal culture, art, and ambassadors to be part of the global narrative on Indian Craftsmanship.

Follow Akshita M Bhanj Deo on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn

Sriram Krishnan: The Indian American helping Elon Musk revamp Twitter

(November 5, 2022) In less than a week, much drama has unfolded at the Twitter headquarters, ever since Elon Musk took over as the 'Chief Twit' of the microblogging site. While the world was still letting that feeling "sink in", the 51-year-old began making some drastic changes. From firing the once bigwigs of Twitter like Parag Agrawal and Ned Segal to levying a monthly fee of $8 on Twitter users for a blue tick, Musk is busy revamping Twitter. And he has now roped in Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-American, to help him overhaul the company. According to New York Times, Sriram was holding the fort at Twitter's San Fransisco headquarters on October 30, while Elon Musk was in New York. The next day, Sriram posted a picture of the Twitter office, and affirmed that he was "helping out" Elon Musk "temporarily." He added, "I believe this is a hugely important company and can have a great impact on the world and Elon is the person to make it happen." Now that the word is out: I’m helping out @elonmusk with Twitter temporarily with some other great people. I ( and a16z) believe this is a hugely important company and can

itter-tweet">

Now that the word is out: I’m helping out @elonmusk with Twitter temporarily with some other great people.

I ( and a16z) believe this is a hugely important company and can have great impact on the world and Elon is the person to make it happen. pic.twitter.com/weGwEp8oga

— Sriram Krishnan - sriramk.eth (@sriramk) October 30, 2022

Sriram, who once lead the product team at Twitter, is now a general partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also called a 16z, which invested in Elon Musk's buyout of Twitter.

Chennai to the US

Born to a father who worked in the insurance sector and a homemaker mother in Chennai, Sriram comes from a "typical middle-class Indian family". He aspired to be an engineer, and hence enrolled at SRM Engineering College in Anna University in 2001 to pursue his bachelor's in Information Technology. Like many young Indians, he too had an American dream and moved to the US in 2005 at the age of 21 to work for Microsoft.

[caption id="attachment_31407" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Sriram Krishnan | Global Indian | Indian American Sriram Krishnan is an Indian American investor and technologist[/caption]

Dipping his toes in the world of technology

It was in 2003 that he met his now wife Aarthi Ramamurthy when the two were studying software engineering. They had met earlier in a Yahoo chatroom set up for a coding project. Interestingly, both of them were hired by Indian American tech executive S Somasegar for Microsoft, where Sriram "touched numerous projects related to Windows Azure", according to the Andreessen Horowitz website. After gaining enough experience, Sriram shifted gears and moved to Facebook in 2013, where he built Facebook Audience Network, one of the largest networks in display advertising. Three years later, it was time to move to Snap Inc, where he created and oversaw various mobile ad products, including Snap's Direct Response ads business.

[caption id="attachment_31406" align="aligncenter" width="433"] Sriram Krishnan | Aarthi Ramamurthy | Global Indian Sriram Krishnan with his wife Aarthi Ramamurthy[/caption]

Then, in 2017, he landed a job at Twitter to lead the consumer product teams. "Drove Twitter user growth to >20% YoY growth in ~2 years and launched several products including a redesigned events experience. Headed up core product teams including home timeline, onboarding/new user experience, search, discovery, etc," reads his LinkedIn profile.

Venture Capital Firm and a Podcast

In early 2021, Sriram joined venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which is a significant investor in Clubhouse, a social audio app released in 2020. The same year, Sriram and Aarthi launched a Clubhouse talk show The Good Time Show that "focuses on organic conversations on anything from startups to venture capitalism and cryptocurrencies." It was an early appearance by Elon Musk on The Good Time Show that made Clubhouse popular, exceeding the limit of 5000 simultaneous users. If NYT is to be believed, Krishnan and Musk had met earlier during a visit to the SpaceX headquarters in California.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiOIjAlmWIo

Krishnan, who calls himself an "investor, technologist and engineer" is interested in the "intersection of consumer tech and crypto". The San Francisco resident, who has a two-year-old daughter with wife Aarthi, has joined hands with Elon to help him revamp Twitter.

Follow Sriram Krishnan on Linkedin

Reading Time: 4 min

Meet Amar Singh, the Indian-origin Sikh named Australian of the Year

(November 17, 2022) "A co-worker once told me I looked like a terrorist. While simply going about my daily life, strangers on the street have asked me if I’m carrying a bomb, or what I’m hiding under my turban. It saddened me that my turban, my spiritual crown, the most sacred object on my body, had become an object of fear. My experiences of discrimination were far from the accepting multicultural Australian society I had known and loved since I arrived here (Australia) as a fifteen-year-old," Amar Singh writes on the website of Turbans for Australia, a Sikh-led charity organisation that helps Australians in need. The organisation was Amar's answer to hate as he wanted Australians to see Sikhs as people who could be trusted and turned to in times of need. Seven years later, the Sikh volunteer has been honoured with the 2023 New South Wales Australian of the Year Award for supporting the community during floods, bushfires, drought, and the pandemic. [caption id="attachment_31809" align="aligncenter" width="633"] Amar Singh is the founder of Turbans 4 Australia[/caption] Calling Singh New South Wales' local hero, the government's statement read, "The 41-year-old believes helping others should not be limited by religion, language or

Global Indian" width="633" height="633" /> Amar Singh is the founder of Turbans 4 Australia[/caption]

Calling Singh New South Wales' local hero, the government's statement read, "The 41-year-old believes helping others should not be limited by religion, language or cultural background. He founded a charity after experiencing racial slurs and insults because of his Sikh turban and beard, and wanted to show people they didn’t need to be afraid and began helping struggling Australians."

"Every week, Turbans 4 Australia package and distribute up to 450 food and grocery hampers to people experiencing food insecurity in Western Sydney. Turbans 4 Australia has delivered hay to farmers experiencing drought; supplies to flood victims in Lismore and bushfire-impacted people on the South Coast; and food hampers to the isolated and vulnerable during COVID-19 lockdowns," it added.

Singh was just a teenager when he came to Australia and was passionate about community service from a young age. While he did his bit on a smaller scale, it was after the 9/11 attack that according to Amar "the first victim of a hate crime was an American Sikh." But after experiencing ethnic slurs, he wanted to change Australians' perspective on Sikhs. "I wanted to do so by following the teachings of my faith, particularly our strong tradition of helping those in need regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity or social status," he writes on the website. And he knew the best way to teach others about the Sikh community and his faith was through charity work.

[caption id="attachment_31810" align="aligncenter" width="708"] Indian Origin | Amar Singh | Global Indian Amar Singh won the NSW Australian of the Year Award[/caption]

In the last seven years, Turbans 4 Australia has helped people during natural disasters like floods, bushfires, and cyclones, along with people facing homelessness, domestic violence, poverty, unemployment, and isolation.

Moreover, Singh organised Turban Fests across Australia to create awareness about the Sikh community. " By tying turbans on people’s heads, we create an opportunity to chat without fellow Australians and show them that our turbans and beards are nothing to fear. We’ve staged traditional Bhangra dance performances and demonstrated the Sikh martial art of Gatka at venues throughout the nation, including official Australia Day celebrations in Sydney and Melbourne, the Cancer Council’s Relay for Life, and numerous multicultural events," he adds.

Singh's mission is to help Australians in need along with breaking down the barriers of fear and misunderstanding by promoting multiculturalism. "With a charity van running in Queensland’s Brisbane and a new warehouse coming up in Victoria’s northern suburb of Thomastown, I can proudly say that ours is a national charity and as a humbled Sikh I hope that our team will continue to promote charity, compassion and multiculturalism for many years to come," the Global Indian told sbs.com.au.

Follow Amar Singh on Linkedin
Follow Turbans 4 Australia on Instagram

Reading Time: 4 min

2023 recap: The Global Indian stories we loved this year

(December 31, 2023) This week, we have taken you through some of the biggest events of the year, and turned the spotlight, as 2023 draws to a close, on the Global Indians who have shone on the world stage. It has been an exciting time for all of us here at Team Global Indian in our constant search for stories that we hope have inspired and made an impact. It has been a good year for us, we’re thrilled to look back on it. Our numbers have grown, with a new crop of writers giving us a diverse mix of stories, from courageous activists, to conservationists, Ambassadors, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists and chefs. It’s a mixed bag for sure, but the one thing they have in common is a remarkable story to tell. So, as we step into the new year, I would like to leave you with some of our best offerings through the years - the big names, the newsmakers, and my own favourite reads. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as we did writing them. May 2024 bring you inspiration, purpose and great success, dear readers. Thank you for going on this journey with us, we

journey with us, we couldn’t have done it without you.

Global Indian Stories we loved this year

Akshita Bhanj Deo: Building sustainable tourism with social impact

Maharajakumari Akshita Bhanj Deo definitely makes my top five for the year. A descendant of Nepal's Bhanja Dynasty, Akshita and her sister are the directors of the 200-year-old Belgadia Palace in Mayurbhanj, which they painstakingly restored and now operate as a beacon of sustainable tourism.

Global Indian

Greenhouse-in-a-box: How Kheyti brings smart tech to small farmers

Small-holding farms produce a third of our food, but those who farm them are among the poorest people on the planet and the most affected by climate change. It was to address this inequality that the start-up, Kheyti, was founded in 2015 by Ayush Sharma, 37, Saumya Sahay, 33, and Kaushik Kappagantulu, 36. Their “greenhouse-in-a-box” is an affordable, modular greenhouse that uses 90% less water than standard greenhouses, grows seven times more food, and gives farmers a steady, dependable income.

Changing the taste of India: Wharton grad Revant Himatsingka educates Indians on junk food

Revant Himatsingka tells you what you eat - or the truth behind it. His approach is fairly simple: He simply advises you to read the labels on the back of everything you eat. Himatsingka caused such a sensation when he took on Maggi ketchup, that they took cognizance of his campaign and promised to reduce sugar content by 22%.

Sakshi Dhoni: From film production to life with M.S. Dhoni

Sakshi Dhoni talks about life as the wife of one of India's greatest cricketing heroes, M.S. Dhoni, their latest venture into film production, their love for Chennai and her pets, in this tell-all interview.

Gender equality proponent Ambassador Geeta Rao Gupta’s journey is empowering millions

In a career spanning over four decades, Ambassador Rao Gupta has served as the former president of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and was previously appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as the deputy executive director for UNICEF, where she served from 2011 to 2016. During her recent visit to India, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large talks about how the young girl with big dreams in New Delhi was nominated by the President of the United States, Joe Biden to become the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.

Meet Dr. Archana Sharma, the Indian scientist involved in the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN

Get a front row seat to one of the biggest modern breakthroughs in particle physics, the discovery of the Higgs Boson, through Dr Archana Sharma, the only Indian scientist at CERN.

Into the Wild with Dr. Koustubh Sharma: Behind the scenes of snow leopard conservation

Wander through the perilous, snowy wilderness of the Central Asian mountains in search of the elusive snow leopard, with Dr Koustubh Sharma, one of the world's leading reseachers and conservationists of the snow leopard.

The unbreakable sailor: Cdr Abhilash Tomy’s epic tale of courage, conviction, and second chances

This year, Commander Abhilash Tomy sailed around the world to win gold at the Golden Globe Race, touted as one of the most challenging sporting events in history. Five years ago, as he participated in the very same race, his yacht capsized, leaving him stranded in the ocean with a broken spine. Going back at all is an act of immense courage, and his is a story worth celebrating.

Capt Aarohi Pandit: Crossing the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean solo as the world’s youngest pilot

As Tomy travelled the oceans, Aarohi Pandit took to the skies. At 23, she made history as the first Indian woman to accomplish a solo flight across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. A nerve-racking flight of six hours and thirty minutes in an ultralight glider from Reykjavík in Iceland to Greenland, that made her think about the blurry line between life and death, made her the first woman in the world to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an ultralight aircraft.

Sujay Sanan: Cape Town-based Indian artist’s work finds place in South Africa’s new 5 rand coin

It was in late 2019 when an email from SA Mint, the subsidiary of South Africa Reserve Bank, left Cape Town-based Indian artist a little perplexed. He hesitated to respond, unable to fathom why the bank was summoning him for a meeting. It was only after the gentle coaxing of his then partner and now wife that he reluctantly obliged. Days later, he found himself in the lobby of a downtown hotel where he was ushered into a room enveloped in an air of secrecy. Before him was a folder labeled ‘Top Secret’... we won't keep the secret from you but read on to see how Sujay Sanan went on the journey of a lifetime and eventually found his drawing on the southern right whale on South Africa's coinage.

From Kerala to the Met Gala: Neytt by Extraweave merges tradition with innovation

Go behind the scenes on the factory floor at Neytt by Extraweave, founded by Sivan Santhosh, and see how they created the the stunning, sustainable, custom-designed, handpainted white carpet at the Met Gala 2023, which paid tribute to the fashion icon Karl Lagerfield.

Rupee Beer: Van and Sumit’s flavourful journey to introduce Indian craft beer to the world

What began as a trial in their family’s Indian restaurant in the US state of Maine, Vanit (Van) and Sumit Sharma’s Rupee Beer has evolved into a prominent brew. Now available in twelve states in the US, their brew is not just a lager, but was specially crafted by a world-renowned master beer brewer to pair and complement Indian cuisine. Starting out during the COVID-19 pandemic, and choosing an iconic name for their brand, the brothers have set out to honour their Indian heritage, commemorate their family’s entrepreneurial legacy and to showcase the magnificence of the Indian culture to a global audience.

Global Indian