Brands
CERA launches innovative water-saving urinal
MUMBAI: CERA, India’s premium home solutions provider and one of India’s most trusted brands in sanitaryware, faucets and tiles, has launched futuristic and innovative water saving urinal – CERA CORE.
The core of the design idea of this urinal stems from the water scarcity which looms over many cities in India. CERA’s designers conceived the concept of a three-in-one product, viz, urinal with integrated washbasin and a sensor tap. The water used for washing the hand is channelised for surface cleaning and flushing of urinal. On an average 2 litres of water is used by a person per use—including flushing and washing. Compared to this, CERA CORE urinal uses just 400 millilitre of water, thus saving 1,600 millilitre per use.
Installation of this urinal in public washrooms will result in substantial saving of water—close to 6 lakh litres of water per annum, in a washroom visited by 1,000 persons per day, not to speak of other consequential savings like energy
CERA executive director and CEO Atul Sanghvi said, “CERA believes that there is a need for greater innovation in tackling water scarcity across the country. The concerns of most cities becoming water-scarce in the next few years should propel not just the conservationist in us but also the innovator. We believe CERA CORE urinal uses very simple innovation to solve an everyday water issue. CERA promises to take water scarcity very seriously and will aim for a greater range of sustainable products across its portfolios.”
Brands
UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
