TechCrunch Mobility: How do you issue a ticket to a robotaxi? | TechCrunch

There is a fruit that almost every Nepali child has grown up with, tart, chewy, and unmistakably familiar. Lapsi, the Nepali hog plum, has long been a staple of snacking culture across the country—its sharp sourness transformed into candies, pickles, and chatpate street bites. But for all its cultural significance, lapsi had never truly crossed borders. It had never sat on a shelf in a boutique chocolate shop in Europe or been gifted in a premium box to someone in North America who had never heard of Nepal’s hills and forests. That is, until Lekbesy came along. Founded by Dikshya Paudel and her partner, Vivek Rana, Lekbesy is the brand name of the parent company, Namuna Agro Products, a food-processing startup that aims to turn native fruits and vegetables from Nepal into internationally recognised products while preserving their identity. In Nepali, Lek besi loosely translates as ‘spanning from the mountains to the Terai, from Nepal’s highest altitudes to its southern plains.’ Before there was Lekbesy, there was a problem Paudel could not ignore. As an education fellow with Teach For Nepal in Sindhupalchowk, she saw how difficult life was for many women in the district—struggling with gender-based violence, economic vulnerability and a steady drift of young people migrating overseas for work. An idea began to form: provide opportunities for women to work in their own villages, using the resources in their backyards. “I thought that maybe we could create something where