Hey folks!

Zepto is about to raise $310 million in new funding. And that’s going to push its valuation up to nearly 1.5 times what it was just two months ago. Insane! We know.

So, what’s behind this surge of cash for the quick commerce star? Is it a game changer or just another trend? If you have these questions too, we’ve made a video that explains it all. Click 👉🏽 here to check it out.

With that out of the way, let’s skip to the rest of the edition.

Can you imagine junk food stepping up to promote the Indian government’s mission to boost awareness about millets? Sounds crazy, right?

India has caught onto the magic of superfoods like jowar, bajra and ragi. These ancient grains pack a punch with a lower glycemic index than our usual staples like rice and wheat. And that’s a big deal since India is known as the diabetes capital of the world. In case you’re wondering, the glycemic index measures how much a food spikes your blood sugar levels. Plus, millets are eco-friendly too. They require just 20% of the water that rice cultivation guzzles down.

With all these perks, it’s no surprise that India even got the UN (United Nations) to declare 2023 as the “International Year of Millets”.

And now, creative minds across the country are finding fun ways to get the message out, especially to kids and young folks.

This week for instance, Sharandeep Singh, aka Burger Chachu (Burger Uncle), teamed up with Agra’s Hotel Grand Mercure to craft the world’s largest burger, which is an eye-popping 112 kilos!

But here’s the kicker. This vegetarian burger has its buns made from… you guessed it… jowar, bajra and ragi. They didn’t just make a massive burger, they made a statement.

And the best part? They handed out slices to 200 kids, showing them that even something as “non-traditional” as a burger can be healthy.

We bet the kids relished every bite. After all, it’s not every day you get a taste of creativity like that, eh?

Here's a soundtrack to put you in the mood 🎵

Karukara by Avial

Now, let’s get cracking!

What caught our eye this week 👀

Art that pays ― How art is helping rich Americans get big loans

Banks in the US are tapping into a unique lending trend. They’re handing out loans against paintings as collateral. Yes, you read that right!

Despite a dip in art prices, art lending is thriving.

That’s because, during the pandemic, people couldn’t spend money on travel and experiences. So at least the rich folks had some extra cash to spend on stuff like real estate whose prices were down. They invested in new homes and needed art to decorate them. And this surge in demand from a small subset of affluent folks drove art prices up.

For example, Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe painting sold for a staggering $195 million in 2022, setting a record for the most expensive American artwork. And Ernie Barnes’ ‘Sugar Shack’ which featured in Good Times, a 1974 sitcom, fetched $15 million. That’s a staggering 76 times what Christie’s auction house had originally expected it to sell for!

But things have shifted since the peak of the pandemic. The US Federal Reserve has been steadily raising interest rates to cool down inflation, which essentially means there’s too much money floating around. This move has made loans pricier.

So banks are now turning to the wealthy to attract more business by highlighting the perks of art lending. This means that rich folks can use their high-value art as collateral to borrow money. It’s a smart way to fund home improvements or business ventures. Plus, art lending is a handy tool for estate planning in the US. When someone passes away, their estate often faces taxes before assets are distributed. And if cash is tight but the estate includes valuable art, borrowing against it can help cover those taxes.

Art lending also offers benefits over traditional loans. The interest rates can be lower and the value of art tends to be more stable than other volatile assets like stocks. So, borrowers can typically secure about 50% of their artwork’s value.

That’s why art-backed loans are on the rise. In 2023, the market hit about $32 billion and is expected to touch the $40 billion mark by 2025, even though art prices are dropping. Auction houses like Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips in fact, are getting less than half of what they did in 2022 for artwork.

So since selling art isn’t as profitable right now, rich folks are opting to use their art as collateral for loans. That’s how even in a weak art market, art lending is proving to be a smart move, helping the wealthy stay liquid while waiting for their art’s value to bounce back.

It’s an interesting win-win strategy that keeps their assets working for them!

Infographic 📊️

This didn’t make the cut ✂️

On Tuesday, we talked about the search engine wars heating up. Thanks to the latest antitrust lawsuit that might finally take a swing at Google’s search engine monopoly. Google has been accused of using some pretty shady tactics to keep competitors out of the game, and if the lawsuit goes south for the Big Tech giant, it could mean big changes. Maybe even a breakup!

But it’s not just Google itself that could take a hit from this. There’s another major casualty in the mix. We’re talking about Mozilla.

Mozilla is actually a non-profit foundation born out of a community-driven open-source project in 1998. It was created to give users more choice and control online. That’s exactly why its for-profit arm, Mozilla Corporation, launched Firefox in 2002 to challenge Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE). With features like tabbed browsing and pop-up blocking, Firefox quickly became a favourite, snatching away nearly a third of the browser market share at its peak in 2010, from IE’s 95% dominance back in 2004.

But as the browser wars intensified and Google Chrome took the lead, Mozilla had to look for new revenue streams to survive. They tried things like VPN (Virtual Private Network) services and email masking, but those ventures didn’t quite take off.

And to stay afloat, Mozilla had to lean heavily on Google. For context, a whopping 86% of Mozilla’s 2022 revenue came from a single source — Google. The tech giant pays Mozilla to keep Google Search as the default search engine on Firefox. In 2022 alone, that amounted to $510 million out of Mozilla’s total $593 million in revenue.

Now, if this revenue stream were to vanish because of an unfavourable ruling against Google in the antitrust case, Mozilla might have to cosy up to a rival like Microsoft’s Bing or scramble to diversify its services.

But diversifying isn’t easy, especially without that massive Google paycheque to fund new initiatives. It’s a classic chicken-and-egg dilemma.

Can Mozilla weather the storm? You tell us.

This Day in Financial History 📜

15th of August, 1972 ― The birth of Indian PIN (Postal Index Number) codes

Ever wondered how letters, money and parcels were sent in India before the PIN code system? Trust us, it was a real headache.

With over 23,000 post offices in independent India and a rapidly growing network, sorting mail was a herculean task. Postal mail sorters had to manually remember every post office, sub-office and area. And if that wasn’t challenging enough, some places shared the same name across different states. Take Ashoknagar, for example. It exists in both Karnataka’s Mangaluru city and is also a town in West Bengal. Incomplete addresses only added to the confusion, leading to delays and a higher risk of undelivered mail.

That’s why, on this day, India introduced the PIN code system. This simple 6-digit code transformed the postal service. The first digit indicates the region (Northern, Eastern, Western, Southern) or the number 9 for the Army Postal Service. The second digit points to the sub-region, the third to the sorting district, and the last three digits to the specific post office.

The mastermind behind this — Shriram Bhikaji Velankar, was probably inspired by similar systems in other countries like Germany, Singapore and the US. He was a senior member of the Posts and Telegraphs Board and also held a position in the Union Ministry of Communications.

Fun fact: The UK didn’t get its postal codes until 1974, two years after India.

The introduction of PIN codes didn’t just speed up the sorting process but also slashed the chances of letters going undelivered. The Post Office even started rejecting letters without PIN codes, stamping them with a clear message ― ‘PIN before you post’. To spread the word further, it rolled out special postage stamps promoting PIN code awareness.

And you could say that this push for PIN codes killed two birds with one stone. Not only did it streamline mail delivery, but it also strengthened India’s economic fabric.

That’s because the Post Office, with its vast network of postmasters, was one of the first Indian organisations to encourage the habit of saving among Indians. With a more reliable mail system in place, it could easily spread awareness about postal savings and life insurance, marketing new savings products through postage stamps. A higher rate of successful deliveries also meant a broader reach, making PIN codes a crucial tool for both logistics and financial literacy in India.

Even today, PIN codes are far from obsolete. Whether it’s India Post or private logistics companies, PIN codes make sure that your online orders land at the right doorstep.

So yeah, it just goes to show how even after all these years, PIN codes are still going strong, keeping India’s economy ticking along!

Readers Recommend 🗒️

This week, our reader Chikki recommends reading Anxious People, a book by Fredrik Backman. Well, if you’re not much of a reader you could watch it as a Netflix series too.

It’s a story about a bank robbery gone wrong, where the robber escapes from the bank, inadvertently taking nine people hostage at an apartment. The situation evolves from a botched robbery to a tense hostage scenario, with the story exploring the dynamics and interactions among the people involved.

Thanks for the rec, Chikki!

Finshots Weekly Quiz 🧩

It’s time to announce the winner of our previous weekly quiz. And the winner is… 🥁

Suraj Sadashiv Serigar! Congratulations. Keep an eye on your inbox and we’ll get in touch with you soon to send over your Finshots merch. And for the rest of you, we've moved the quiz to our weekly wrapup. So make sure you answer all the questions correctly by 12 noon on August 24, 2024 (Saturday) and tune in here next week to check if you got lucky.

Anyway, that’s it from us this week.

Until then, don’t forget to tell us what you thought of today’s newsletter. And send us your book, music, business movies, documentaries or podcast recommendations. We’ll feature them in the newsletter! Just hit reply to this email (or if you’re reading this on the web, drop us a message: morning@finshots.in).

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