Sixit Bhatta – The Post-Mortem of Tootle and Nepal’s Sovereign AI Future

RSS Feed Description: Why did the startup that pioneered ride-sharing in Nepal fail to survive the industry it helped create? Sixit Bhatta , founder of Tootle , joins host Rupesh Shrestha for an honest look at the "track" he opened in 2073 BS and the reasons behind its eventual demise. Bhatta admits that while he succeeded as an innovator, he ultimately lost the "battle of capital" required to scale in a hyper-competitive market. Looking forward, Bhatta outlines a bold vision for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Nepal. He argues that the global economy is shifting toward "data, compute, and energy," and that Nepal’s surplus hydropower is the secret weapon for building a sovereign AI infrastructure. From drug discovery to urban planning, Bhatta explains how the right policy moves today could help Nepal achieve a century of progress in just ten years . Key Topics: The Death of Tootle: Lessons on why first-movers often fail when they cannot bridge the gap between innovation and massive capital investment. Nepal’s Comparative Advantage: Using clean energy to power global data centers and move the country from an exporter of raw materials to a partner in global innovation. The "Access to Intelligence" Divide: Addressing the $20-a-month gap in AI tools and why Nepal must create its own digital infrastructure to remain competitive. Research-First Era: Why the next decade of entrepreneurship will be led by scientists and researchers rather than just "dorm room coders".