Startups 🚀
This Week in Review ☕️ : The Top City for Startups globally | Transgender Swimmers | The Burger Wars of 2022 | Mount Everest to move base due to Climate Change | Swiss fast food chains are innovating
Quick Bites:
Sports 🏊♂️ : Transgender women to be banned from swimming competitions. The rule is only exempt for athletes who have completed their transition before age 12.
Ok, so let us get this straight. You've got to transition before puberty to be able to compete but most states are making it illegal to transition before puberty.. Ok guys, we've got a chicken and egg situation here🤷🏻♀️
"We have to protect competitive fairness at our events, especially the women's category," said FINA, The World Swimming's Governing Body
FINA said it was necessary to use sex as a criteria because of the "performance gap" that appears between males and females during puberty.
The policy was met with swift backlash by many LGBQTI+ groups, with some calling it "discriminatory and unscientific."
The Human Rights campaign called the decision "a blatant attack on transgender athletes".
PS. We love how conservative men are suddenly interested in female sports
Our Thoughts💡: So, a flawed, outdated rule has brought transgender swimmers more of what they try to escape- grief.
Not sure we want to live in a time where Lia Thomas can't swim but Bill Cosby walks.
Startups 🌎 : The top countries for startups.
According to the 2022 Global Startup Ecosystem Index, the UK has come in 2nd place, beaten only by the US.
The report noted fintech, leisure, sales and science as the dominant sectors in the UK.
Tbh, London was nowhere in the startup scene a decade ago. +80 unicorns in one single city is a HUGE accomplishment for a place that would've never made it on the innovation map!
Kudos to all Londoners who made this happen!! We see YOU! 🙌🏻
Key Highlights on Top Cities, according to Startup Blink:
💡The highest ranked city for startups globally, and by a massive margin, is San Francisco (No surprise there)
💡The 2nd is New York, which has held 2nd position since 2017
💡The 3rd ranked city is the first change in the top 10 this year- London. London is also the only non-US city in the global top 5
💡Los Angeles ranked #4 and Boston #5
Key Highlights on Top Countries:
💡Israel and Canada made it to 3rd and 4th place after the US and UK. They are now part of the "big 4" startup countries
💡Within Europe, only Sweden made it to the top five, with special focus on the social & leisure space
💡3 countries are new to the global top 25 list: Austria, Norway and Taiwan
💡South Africa remains to be the only African country in the global top 50
💡The countries that have left the top 100 Index this year are Uganda, Nepal, Ethiopia, Paraguay, and the Dominican Republic.
💡The index noted that momentum within European countries is on a decline
Food 🍔 : Calling all vegans! The special sauce to win the Burger Wars this year? Meat-free patties.
While every chain has their own version of the fast-food staple, 2022 dons a new accessory: A crispy, tender quinoa fillet.
Burger King is the latest chain to open 2 meat-free locations in Switzerland.
The concept stores in Basel and Geneva are created in partnership with plant-based brand 'The Vegetarian Butcher'.
“Due to popular demand, the fully vegetarian Burger King restaurants have now landed in Switzerland! And [..] there are even more reasons to #SacrificeNothing.”
As recent as last month, Burger King added vegan bacon made by French startup La Vie (backed by actress Natalie Portman) to its 550 locations across France.
This comes as Mark Cuban-backed vegan bacon made from seaweed just launched in restaurants across New York and San Fransisco, Veg News reports.
From the Shroom Burger at Shack Shack to Burger King's Impossible Whopper with crinkle-cut pickles and a sesame seed bun, fast-food chains are experimenting with plant-based flavors to capture a global audience.
Our Thoughts💡: Catch us in the hood with a Beyond Meat burger, Chickpea chick'n nuggets, some plant-based Fro-yo, Truffle fries and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (if you're of age, ofcourse )
Bc Diet starts next Monday
Climate Change ⛰ : Nepal to move world-famous Mount Everest Base Camp due to global warming.
Rising temperatures and increased human activity have caused the ice surrounding the camp to rapidly melt.
Plant Earth to Humans: You hear me now?! 🔊
According to Breezy Scroll News:
💡The new camp is being moved to a lower altitude by 200-400m
💡Shifting the camp would occur as soon as 2024
💡The emergence of open glacier cracks at the base has become problematic for climbers
💡The Everest camp is now at an altitude some 50m lower than it was in 1953 when Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary climbed the world's highest peak
Our Thoughts💡: While the Nepalese are busy moving mountains (quite, literally) to save the planet, people like Barack Obama are building multi-million dollar oceanfront mansions in Hawaii.
For someone who constantly rants about the climate, he sure likes buying real estate right by the water 🙈
Quicker Bites:
Beyoncé’s new single is finally here.
NASA rover finds litter on Mars, rekindling human space debris concerns.
Bide says he’s considering a federal gas tax holiday.
Gustavo Petro becomes Colombia's first leftist president.
CDC advisers unanimously recommend Covid vaccines for children under 5.
Fauci tests positive for Covid-19.
Emmanuel Macron loses absolute majority in legislative elections.
Russian tennis player avoids Wimbledon ban with change of nationality.
Lewis Hamilton needs painkillers to cope with 'micro-concussions'.