The weekly Lateral Sparks quiz from YourStory tests knowledge across various fields, business acumen, and the ability to think outside the box. In this 258th edition of the quiz, cases faced by real entrepreneurs during their startup journey are presented. Participants are asked to consider the situations and decide what they would do in place of these innovators, after which the founders' actual actions are revealed.
The quiz also offers an opportunity to review the YourStory book reviews section, which compiles insights from over 355 publications on creativity and entrepreneurship, as well as the weekly PhotoSparks section dedicated to artistic creativity.
The quiz examines several current issues. For instance, difficulties with satellite servicing and space debris removal threaten the space ambitions of many countries. The need to reduce energy consumption and chemical costs when treating wastewater at plants for reuse is also raised. Furthermore, the problem of using industrial raw materials derived from fossil fuels, which is not environmentally sustainable in the long term, is discussed.
Other challenges include automating routine and physically demanding tasks in factories and commercial premises. Another topic is increasing the value of enterprise software that can understand not only the task being performed but also the context, such as in marketing.
Cosmoserve Space, founded by Chiranjivi Pandindre, has created a facility for designing, building, testing, and operating satellite servicing and space debris recovery systems. Of approximately 28,000 satellites in orbit, about 10,000 are considered non-operational or dead. The company also engages in satellite servicing, including in-orbit repair and refueling, and recently attracted funding from Rebright Partners, Aranya Holdings, and Naandi Ventures.
Bariflo Cybernetics, founded by Mitrundhaj Sahu, integrates sensors, AI-based software, and automation to improve wastewater treatment processes. By using IoT sensors to monitor parameters such as pH, total dissolved solids, and flow rate, AI models determine the necessary chemical dosage and treatment stages. This technology has the potential to reduce energy consumption by approximately 25% and increase chemical efficiency.
altM, founded by Apurva Garg and Yugal Raj Jain, uses biomass, such as sugarcane bagasse and rice straw, to produce industrial chemicals. This helps the manufacturing sector move away from fossil fuel-derived raw materials in industries like textiles, construction, and packaging. Garg notes: 'We are creating a new source of industrial carbon from agricultural waste' and announced a recent funding round from Rainmatter by Zerodha, Mela Ventures, Omnivore, and Spectrum Impact.
Peppermint Robotics, founded by Runal Dahivade, manufactures autonomous cleaning robots. These robots are used in factories, hospitals, airports, shopping malls, warehouses, hotels, and universities, being particularly effective in physically demanding environments such as healthcare and hospitality. The company recently received funding from pi Ventures, Crane Venture Partners, and Asiana Fund.
Kartik Venkateswaran, co-founder of Zocket, emphasizes that 'Every brand now has access to the same AI. But it doesn't have the same understanding of its customers.' The startup helps companies transform their own data and results into a continuously learning AI, enabling context-rich and agentic marketing through tools like Brand Brain, integrating consumer analytics and performance signals into a unified contextual layer for specialized AI marketing capabilities.
