BUSINESS
India is setting the benchmark for innovation and unique products: Ajit Mohan
Mohan added that a decade ago, India used to refer to successful Western models that could be replicated in India. "You had a model that worked elsewhere; you could replicate it and make it work here in India," he said.
MCMINIS
What is "spray and pray" in VC investing?
BUSINESS
YC-backed edtech startup Skill-Lync acquires Binny Bansal-backed Crio
In a statement, Skill-Lync also said the founders of Crio will continue to focus on and run Crio’s business and growth, after the acquisition. The company, however, did not disclose the deal size.
BUSINESS
At 22, this engineer creates software to check call drops in crowded places
Have you ever been in a crowded, public place, trying to connect a crucial phone call, but kept experiencing call drops? Niranjan Akella, a 22-year-old engineering graduate, is trying to solve this pesky problem with a software.
TRENDS
Edtechs focus on cutting monthly spends as demand, funding fall
Spending on the advertising and marketing front and offers like free trials, especially in the early days, are hurting companies. The higher education and upskilling space seems to be faring better.
BUSINESS
White Venture Capital to back executives, former founders to build startups
White Venture’s ‘Call to Adventure’ programme will fund executives to build startups and pay salaries to entrepreneurs while they are at it
BUSINESS
K-12 edtech firm Practically lays off staffers, holds salaries citing funds crunch
So far this year, Indian edtech companies have laid off over 7,000 employees, citing financial headwinds
BUSINESS
Byju’s gears up for $1-billion listing of subsidiary Aakash in India next fiscal
The size of the IPO could be in the range of a billion dollars, valuing Aakash at $3.5-$4 Billion. While it expects to file papers with the market regulator in January next year, it plans to list by June 2024, or the first half of FY24.
BUSINESS
Byju's gives in, rolls back decision to shut Kerala operations
According to a post shared on Facebook, the world’s most valued edtech company has also agreed to take back employees who were asked to resign last month, in a meeting on November 2.
BUSINESS
BITS Pilani allows students a year off to build startups
With this move, BITS is also taking on the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), which continue to dominate the startup and unicorn ecosystems in the country
BUSINESS
Startups limit hiring senior staffers, gig workers get a pay hike
Payments to gig workers have also seen a growth of over 150 percent since October 2021. The report highlighted that many companies have started to employ a gig workforce over their permanent employees as well
BUSINESS
You are not just 5% of my company, you are 5% of me: Byju Raveendran to laid-off employees
Raveendran also said that the company will prioritise rehiring of the laid off employees as it restructures and hires again for ‘newly created relevant roles.’
BUSINESS
Green shoots? Agritech startups brave funding winter as investments nearly double compared to last fiscal
Agritech continues to attract investors who say the nascent sector has potential to grow on rising demand for quality food amid tailwinds like climate change and food security concerns.
BUSINESS
CCI order against Google a win for Indian app developers, battle still goes on: Indus OS' Rakesh Deshmukh
"The CCI order gives a window of opportunity for Indian app developers. But Google has still not provided a level playing field to players like us. We will continue fighting this battle," says Deshmukh.
BUSINESS
Vedantu strengthens offline test prep foray with $40 mn Deeksha buy
Vamsi Krishna, co-founder of Vedantu said the edtech unicorn will work with Deeksha to scale in the three states where the latter has an offline footprint, and in time move to other cities. He added that Deeksha will continue to operate as a separate brand.
BUSINESS
Lightspeed-backed edtech startup FrontRow lays off 130 more employees
“We have scaled down our team massively and are rethinking our acquisition channels and our go-to market from scratch. We have a 40 people team now who are committed to it and we still plan to build in the segment,” cofounder told Moneycontrol.
BUSINESS
Edtech startup Adda247 raises $35 million led by WestBridge Capital, Google
The company has said it will invest the raised fund in enhancing its tech and product profile, expanding its student counseling team, and hiring for some key leadership roles. Interestingly, Adda247 said it also aims to explore a few strategic acquisitions in the coming months.
MCMINIS
Who are HCIs?
BUSINESS
D2C startup Good Health Company raises $10 million in funding led by Left Lane Capital
In a statement, the Hyderabad-based company said it plans to use the fresh funds to introduce more product categories, focus on product innovation and expand the existing team, in the next few months.
BUSINESS
School edtech unicorn LEAD promotes senior leadership
The edtech unicorn in a statement said Gurani, in his new role, will also drive customer success and revenue generation at LEAD. Similarly, in his expanded mandate, Naik will lead supply chain and procurement excellence, in addition to leading financial operations at the firm.
BUSINESS
Agritech platform Falca raises over $3 mn led by Inflection Point Ventures
In a statement, Falca said it will use the new fund to scale the services beyond the current geographies, hire talent, and focus on building tech infrastructure for the platform.
BUSINESS
Early-stage venture capital firm SphitiCap launches $500 million maiden fund
In a statement, the VC firm said its maiden fund will invest in cleantech, fintech, deeptech, agritech, proptech, SaaS, digital media, direct to consumer, spacetech, defence, and logistics and supply chain.
BUSINESS
Everyone taught Tanisha: Why the same topper’s face appears on multiple coaching centre ads
From straightforward pitches, to offers of cash and cars, and even blackmail, coaching centres caught in the vortex of intense rivalry are trying every trick to lure the brightest students so that they can leverage the association with the toppers later
BUSINESS
Rising venture debt market in India: A strategic shift or a short-term frenzy?
Volatility in equity markets and the fact that startups are unable to find the desired valuation in the last 6-8 months are making venture debt a more viable option across late and growth stages.
