Also in this letter:
■ Startup employees look outside for jobs
■ Explained: Cyberattackers’ new tool
■ Startups drive job growth for freshers: report
FAME 3 likely to be rolled out soon with Rs 10,000-crore outlay
The third edition of the electric vehicle incentive scheme FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) is likely to be rolled out within 100 days of the new government taking charge next month, a senior official told us.
Scheme details: With an outlay of about Rs 10,000 crore, the scheme will offer financial incentives to electric two- and three-wheelers as well as government-owned buses, the official said.
However, a final decision on whether electric cars, including for institutional buyers such as taxi aggregators, will be considered for FAME 3 is yet to be taken.
In detail: According to the proposal being considered, FAME 3 is initially expected to be valid for sales made over a two-year period, instead of five years under FAME 2.
“Since it (FAME-3) will be a new scheme, all companies seeking incentives on sale of electric vehicles would have to apply for fresh certification,” the official said.
Catch up quick: FAME 3 will take forward the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS), which was introduced when FAME 2 ended on March 31 as a temporary plan till the general elections were over.
Under EMPS, the government extends incentives of up to Rs 10,000 per electric 2-wheeler (from Rs 22,500 in FAME 2), and up to Rs 50,000 per electric three-wheeler (from Rs 1,11,505 earlier).
Both categories get incentives of Rs 5,000 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
ETtech Done Deals
Saurav Kumar, founder & CEO, Euler Motors
Euler Motors raises Rs 200 crore from Piramal Alternatives, others: Electric three-wheeler maker Euler Motors raised Rs 200 crore ($24 million) as part of an extended funding round led by Piramal Alternatives India Access Fund. Existing investors British International Investment (BII) and Blume Ventures also joined the round. The firm has so far raised Rs 570 crore in the latest round of funding.
FarMart bags Rs 24 crore in funding: Agritech startup FarMart said it has raised Rs 24 crore from Switzerland-based asset manager ResponsAbility Investments. The Mumbai-based firm, which runs a food supply platform, had previously raised $48 million (about Rs 400 crore) from investors including General Catalyst, Matrix Partners India and Omidyar Network India, according to data from Tracxn.
BharatX expands into healthcare finance with acquisition of Zenifi: Y Combinator-backed fintech startup BharatX has acquired healthcare finance firm Zenifi, marking its entry in the medical lending segment. As part of the deal, Zenifi CEO Padam Kataria will join BharatX as the head of its healthcare business to build that vertical, the companies said in a joint statement.
67% startup employees prefer moving to established firms: CIEL HR survey
Startup employees are favouring opportunities in established and traditional sector companies, due to a prolonged funding winter and a flurry of layoffs, as per a report.
Now hiring: A survey of 130,896 employees across 70 startups in India by executive search firm Ciel HR Services found an attitude shift in favour of more traditional roles.
- Nearly 67% of the surveyed workforce is open to transition to established firms
- 30% of respondents are lured by the promise of better pay
- For 25% of participants, a lack of work-life balance was a significant factor
- The survey also shows that 65% of the startups plan to ramp up hiring in the next six months.
Tell me more: The survey also revealed that attrition continues to be a challenge for the sector, marked by an average median tenure of 2.3 years, considerably lower than that of other industries.
Explainer: Why cyberattackers are using Rust programming language
Cyberattackers are increasingly using Rust, a programming language, to create ransomware like BlackCat, Hiva, Luna, RansomExx and Agenda. About 10-15% of current ransomware attacks are coded in Rust. Let’s understand more about it.
What is Rust? A powerful programming language launched in 2015 by the Rust Foundation, it is supported by tech giants like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Huawei, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla. It has been “the most desired programming language” for eight years in a row with more than 80% of developers wanting to use it.
Rising popularity: Rust’s appeal lies in its ability to provide safety, productivity and performance over languages like C++ and Python. It also offers zero-cost abstractions, allowing developers to write efficient and thread-safe code.
Tell me more: The programme evades traditional detection and also complicates reverse engineering. Rust-based threats like Rustruck show their potential to cyber attackers with their stability and absence of memory leaks.
Startups are driving job growth for freshers: Foundit Insights Tracker
Technological advances and a vast talent pool have fueled India’s startup ecosystem, creating numerous job opportunities for freshers, according to a report by talent platform Foundit.
Hiring trends: The hiring index rose from 276 in March 2024 to 300 in April 2024 — a 9% year-on-year increase. Startups have significantly contributed to the rise in hiring for freshers, the report found. Since last year, the number of startups in the country has risen by 37%, leading to a 14% rise in the number of jobs provided by them. Of these, 53% of openings were for freshers.
Role insights: IT services saw job offers growing from 20% to 23%, while sales vacancies surged from 9% to 23%. However, consulting, marketing and IT roles jobs saw declines. Also, startups in the internet, BFSI/fintech and media and entertainment sectors experienced a decrease in hiring, but education/e-learning growth remains the same.
Today’s ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Megha Mishra in Mumbai and Riya Chowdhury in Bengaluru.
