Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YourStory, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 166th edition of the quiz, we present issues tackled by real-life entrepreneurs in their startup journeys.

What would you do if you were in their shoes? At the end of the quiz, you will find out what the entrepreneurs and innovators themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?

Check out YourStory’s Book Review section as well, with takeaways from over 355 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparks section on creativity in the arts.

Q1: Climate change

Climate finance has become an urgent necessity for organisations in their initiatives to tackle climate change.  How can such climate finance be made accessible, scalable and easy to adopt?

Q2: Women’s health

Women looking for healthcare solutions are often unable to find the correct fit when it comes to experts like gynecologists, nutritionists or therapists. How can they find the right expertise in such cases, and the relevant programmes?

Q3: Fintech security

Fintech players have mushroomed in recent years, but the risk of payment fraud is increasing as well. Newer technologies can also increase the threat level. How can these challenges be tackled?

Q4: Retail and delivery

Small retailers rely largely on phone calls and WhatsApp messages to manage their orders. This results in slow deliveries as compared to larger ecommerce players. How can this performance be improved?

Q5: Motor functions

Millions of people suffer from motor function loss due to conditions such as stroke, cerebral palsy, ageing, and accidents. How can their ability to perform everyday tasks be improved?

Answers!

Congratulations on having come this far! But there’s more to come – answers to these five questions (below), as well as links to articles with more details on the entrepreneurs’ solutions. Happy reading, happy learning—and happy creating!

A1: Climate change

Anirudh Gupta and Siddhanth Jayaram have founded Climes, a climate tech startup that has developed a digital finance engine to facilitate the flow of capital into climate projects. Climes Carbon Counter is a data-driven carbon accounting tool geared to help logistics and transportation providers calculate their carbon footprint.

It also has a carbon financing feature that helps brands purchase and distribute carbon credits both physically and digitally. Read more here about how Climes has worked with the likes of travel tech platform MakeMyTrip, sustainable footwear startup Neeman’s, and snacking brand Nutty Gritties.

A2: Women’s health

Swarnima Bhattacharya co-founded Gytree as a femtech startup that offers products, services, and programmes to address diverse aspects of women’s health. “We have consciously built it as an ecosystem for women’s health across life stages,” she explains.

Gytree has 100 empanelled experts, and offers several programmes to address nutrition, weight management, midlife challenges, diabetes management, and psychological assessment. Read more here about how it has a referral network, and works with corporates for the healthcare of their women employees.

A3: Fintech security

“A great number of fintechs are still in the stages of developing their infrastructure and security measures, therefore appealing to hackers,” cautions Shams Tabrej, CEO of Ezeepay. Advanced technologies like peer-to-peer payment systems and cryptocurrency have increased the threat level.

“The best method to reduce fraud drastically is through implementing multi-factor authentication,” he advises. Read more here about how AI and ML tools can help detect fraudulent activities in real-time, and why fintech players need to regularly educate customers about phishing scams and weak passwords.

A4: Retail and delivery

Alok Chawla, Neeta Rijwani, and Virendra Kumar launched Kiko Live as a SaaS solution to help small retailers build, manage, and grow their home delivery businesses. They can create digital storefronts in as little as 24 hours.

The platform supports sellers with a product repository, a user-friendly interface, and hyperlocal logistics solutions for quick deliveries. Read more here about how it reduces operational complexity by acting as a consolidator, connecting stores and third-party delivery partners.

A5: Motor functions

Subtlebotic, founded by Sivasanthosh A, has developed a product called Limb Assist to restore limb mobility for individuals who have lost motor functions. The lightweight, external wearable motor system provides support to the fingers for fine motor functions.

Limb Assist helps users grip and carry objects such as cups, plates, tools, and bags. Read more here about how it also helps with typing, writing, buttoning clothes, and fastening zippers.

YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).

Fibroheal Woundcare on Sunday said it had raised Rs 6.3 crore in a pre-Series A funding round from existing promoters and a new set of investors, including leading surgeons, medical professionals, and bankers.

The company also has an additional commitment of another Rs 10 crore from existing and some new investors.

The silk proteins-based medical devices startup intends to use the newly raised funds to scale up its go-to-market strategy, recruit more people, and invest in its product pipeline in the medical devices segment.

“Woundcare is a fast growing segment of the health and wellness sector. Fibroheal is poised to become a major player in this sector with a differentiated technology based on ‘Natural Silk’, a committed leadership and a competent team,” said KK Narayanan, who also invested in this round. Narayanan previously built Metahelix Life Sciences which got acquired by Rallis India, and co-founded Kottaram Agrofoods (Soulfull Cereals) which got acquired by Tata Consumer products.

The fundraise comes amidst significant growth in India’s wound care market, driven by a rise in chronic diseases, growing healthcare expenditures and awareness of wound care solutions, according to a 2024 report by research firm Mordor Intelligence.

Founded in 2017 by Vivek Mishra & Bharat Tandon, Fibroheal’s products are being used in more than 500 hospitals across India and has a presence in over 19 states. The company has also branched out to selling its products on various ecommerce platforms.

The company’s product line, which includes foams, mesh, and powders, among others, is used to heal different types of acute, chronic, traumatic, post-operative, non-healing or difficult-to-heal wounds like bed sores or infected C-section wounds, among others.

Fibroheal has previously raised money from existing promoters Telama Investments, CCAMP and KITVEN.

Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 825 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.

The 2024 edition of the Echoes of Earth festival in Bengaluru was titled Symphony of Seasons. Held recently at Embassy International Riding School, the festival featured a diverse range of electronic music along with art installations on environmental awareness (see our writeups on the earlier Bengaluru and Goa editions of the festival).

“In 2016, we were audacious with what we wanted to create here in Bangalore—a music festival that celebrated alternative music genres, featuring incredible yet emerging artists from around the world. We envisioned a space where music, culture, and sustainability could come together, creating an inclusive environment for all,” Roshan Netalkar, Festival Director of Echoes of Earth and Managing Director at Swordfish Events & Entertainment, tells YourStory.

“Fast forward to 2024, and it is humbling to see how far we have come, with over 40 global artists, 30 stunning installations, and 25 amazing partners—all made possible by a passionate community that believed in this vision,” he proudly adds.

The spectacular stage designs were conceived by Siddhartha Kararwal (Hornet Stage, Greater One-Horned Stage), Muzamil Sharif (Big Jaw Stage), and Grama Collective (Big Tree Stage). They provided stunning backdrops for the stage performers, with vivid contrasts from daytime to night.

“Between annual editions of the festival, we engage with communities through activities like educational workshops. This year, the workshops themselves were tied to seasons, along with nature walks in cities,” Netalkar adds.

The sprawling grounds of the festival were dotted with a range of installations themed on nature and its seasons. Featured artists included Aravani Art Project (Wild Yak), Bheem Styx (Egyptian Vulture), Alt-Native (Jeweled Flower Mantis), Yadhunandan N (Indian Wild Boar), and Amitha (Pharaoh Cuttlefish).

The festival was particularly welcoming to families, pets, and children, with educational workshops and even places to lie down or take a nap. There were ukulele and darbuka workshops, and a Kids Korner and jam sessions by Kadence Experience.

Spanning almost eight hours each day on the weekend, bands from eight countries performed across multiple stages. There were also 25 flea market exhibitors and 120 volunteers at the festival, according to the organisers.

Many of the performers shared insights on their creative process, special acts for the festival, interpretations of success, tips for aspiring artistes, the role of music education, and even the rise of GenAI and its impact on the music industry.

“There are many great music schools in India now which were not there before. Here, students meet other budding producers and learn about different genres,” Hamza Rahimtula observes.

He feels there also needs to be a focus on teaching children about the business of music. “I feel music business courses can empower the future generations. They need to be aware of how the industry works and how the money flows,” he adds.

The Excise Department collective cautions about the view that AI may replace human creativity. “We are living in an era of extreme death, genocide, absurdity, and irony. AI is only a shallow, superficial source of novelty entertainment,” they explain.

Shubh Saran, who fuses progressive rock with classical Indian music, describes how artistes create and perform based on their lived experiences and reflections. “In times of turmoil, we raise awareness and raise collective empathy by taking risks and creating authentic artwork,” he explains.

Tarun Nayar of Plant Biology affirms that music can bring us into ourselves and the present moment. “Music can create a vital connection between us humans and all other beings,” he observes.

“More than ever, we need to FEEL this connection, not just talk about it. This can happen especially through music,” Nayar signs off.

Now what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?

(All photographs were taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at Echoes of Earth 2024.)