BUSINESS
Exclusive | Unacademy halves Relevel team to 700 as placements drop amid job market slowdown
Interestingly, the slowdown in the job market doesn’t seem to have affected other recruitment platforms like Naukri. That company, run by Info Edge, said its recruitment business recorded 49 percent growth in new customers and billing growth was witnessed across IT and non-IT.
BUSINESS
Startups need to make money organically, not by putting ads: Nandan Nilekani
The Infosys chairman’s comments on profitability come at a time when venture capital and private equity firms, investment bankers and veterans are advising startups to prioritise profitability over growth
BUSINESS
Razorpay makes offline foray, acquires PoS player Ezetap
In its fifth acquisition in less than four years, Razorpay picks up an 80 percent stake in Ezetap Solutions Pte Ltd, the parent entity of Ezetap Solutions Pvt Ltd, which will see it go up against Pine Labs, MSwipe and BharatPe among others
BUSINESS
Remembering Rakesh Jhunjhunwala: Why the Big Bull was a bear when it came to startups, cryptocurrencies
"I wish startups focus more on a business model that produces cash rather than taking money at $2 billion, $3 billion in valuation. That is not the capital that will build great companies in the world. So capital is not very important, it’s your business model," Jhunjhunwala said
BUSINESS
Exclusive | Temasek invests $15 million in neobanking platform Fi as part of ongoing Series C round
According to sources aware of the fundraise, the total size of the round is expected to be around $90 million. Alpha Wave Global, which is leading the round has already invested $45 million.
BUSINESS
How’s funding been to India’s fintechs in 2022?
BUSINESS
SoftBank to cut workforce at Vision Fund units as Masayoshi Son turns cautious after record quarterly loss
While Son did not give any details on the headcount reduction, he said that it was imperative for the Japanese investment conglomerate to undertake layoffs in a bid to cut costs since the company reported big losses for two consecutive quarters.
BUSINESS
SoftBank-backed OfBusiness defers IPO plans by 3 months on weak market cues
CEO Asish Mohapatra also said the last round that OfBusiness raised in December 2021 was the company’s last private market fundraise
BUSINESS
SoftBank posts $23 billion loss in June quarter as tech valuations continue to fall
SoftBank’s Vision Fund investment unit, through which the Japanese conglomerate invests in companies, posted a net loss of as much as $23 billion hitting the companies profits for the quarter ended June
BUSINESS
upGrad raises $210 million at $2.25 billion valuation in round led by ETS Global, Bodhi Tree
upGrad's multi-million dollar fundraise and aggressive hiring plans come at a time when edtech companies in India including some of the highest-valued unicorns like Unacademy, Byju's and Vedantu are firing hundreds of employees amid a decline in demand for their services
BUSINESS
Nykaa buys Chiratae-backed digital content platform Little Black Book
Little Black Book's acquisition will enable Nykaa to strengthen its content delivery and drive discovery for brands, the company said in the filing.
BUSINESS
Swiggy, Unacademy, Meesho founders meet top public market investors in Bengaluru
The meeting comes at a time when many unicorns, over the last two years, had openly talked about getting publicly listed in the medium term
BUSINESS
Early-stage funding in Indian ed-tech bucks global trend, jumps 2.5x in 2022
Contenders are scrambling as the ed-tech incumbents are fumbling. But will their performance be any better?
BUSINESS
Edtech consortium's independent grievance body dismisses 'mis-selling' case against Byju's-owned Great Learning
The IGRB's order comes as a relief to Great Learning and Byju's group companies, which were under fire for mis-selling and mis-representation.
BUSINESS
Edtech unicorn Vedantu lays off another 100 employees
According to sources, permanent employees from sales and training teams were laid off over the last month.
BUSINESS
Account Aggregator ecosystem gets a boost as all PSU banks go live
The participation of major PSU banks is key to the success of AA’s framework as it will open a window for a huge pool of the banks’ customers to use the framework and allow easy access to financial services
BUSINESS
Notes from Kota: Meet the small businesses powering India’s $500-million coaching hub
The businesses that have come up in Kota over the past three decades provide direct and indirect livelihood to more than 200,000 people. The town is humming again after a temporary setback caused by COVID-19
BUSINESS
Avendus Future Leaders Fund buys part of Elevation Capital's stake in Xpressbees for Rs 195 crore
Avends Future Leaders, the investing arm of Avendus Group, has two funds and has invested in 11 companies to date including Xpressbees. The company had launched its first fund in 2019 and said that it has deployed it fully
BUSINESS
Exclusive | Unacademy suspends contracts of doubt-solving educators for 6 months in another cost-cutting move
Unacademy told the educators that it has made 'strategic changes' to its customised learning solutions and owing to the change, it will 'significantly' reduce doubt solving on its platform.
BUSINESS
Notes from Kota: Meet Nitin Vijay or NV sir, the real-life Jeetu Bhaiya of Kota
Jeetu Bhaiya, a character spun off by Netflix in its hit series on Kota, called Kota Factory, was inspired by Nitin Vijay. Vijay founded Motion Education, one of Kota’s most famous coaching centres, and he has a lot of advice and suggestions for IIT and medical aspirants.
BUSINESS
Notes from Kota | Teachers have last laugh, get fat hikes as poaching intensifies at India’s coaching capital
The total number of IIT aspirants this year is expected to top 22 lakh. But, with only 16,000 seats available across India’s 23 IITs, competition for every seat is intense. And since Kota churns out a large number of successful IIT aspirants every year, demand for the town’s classes and teachers has jumped post the pandemic.
BUSINESS
Notes from Kota | A day in the life of a teenage student in India's education capital
Rahul’s story is a microcosm of lakhs of students who flock to Kota every year, with dreams of cracking competitive examinations that will guarantee them a place in a leading engineering or medical institution.
BUSINESS
Notes from Kota: As edtechs slug it out, India’s coaching capital is the ultimate winner
In this special series, Moneycontrol goes to ground zero to find out how a small town in Rajasthan became one of India’s biggest education hubs.
BUSINESS
Exclusive | WestBridge Capital raises $1.5 billion in largest-ever commitment for Indian companies
Westbridge Capital joins a growing list of PE and venture capital (VC) firms to raise large funds for India-focused companies
