BUSINESS
VC Chiratae Ventures raises $100 million in first close of maiden growth fund
Chiratae Growth Fund I, which was initially launched with a corpus of Rs 750 crore with a greenshoe of Rs 300 crore, was oversubscribed and thus, the fund raised Rs 759 crore in its first close. Chiratae Ventures would look to invest in about 15-20 companies with the fund
BUSINESS
Unacademy lays off 10% of workforce as funding winter for edtech worsens
The layoffs would happen across verticals, some of which would also be shut or scaled down, Munjal told employees in an internal email, a copy of which was seen by Moneycontrol.
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
PhysicsWallah’s profit grows manifold in FY22 as revenue jumps 10x
PhysicsWallah reported a net profit of Rs 97.8 crore for FY22, up nearly 14 times from its FY21 profit of Rs 6.93 crore. Its revenue from operations grew nearly 10-fold during the period to Rs 232.5 crore from Rs 24.6 crore in FY21
BUSINESS
Corporate Crossings: Sequoia India hires Mohit Abraham as legal head from Travis Kalanick’s startup
Abraham's appointment as Sequoia Capital India's chief legal officer comes at a time when the company is embroiled in a legal tussle with its former general counsel, Sandeep Kapoor.
BUSINESS
Slice-backer 8i Ventures marks first close of its second fund at $25 million
8i Ventures Fund-II will have a portfolio of 15-20 companies that 'we will invest in over the next three years', founding partner Vikram Chachra has said
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
Byju's said to have served 'performance notices' to over 5,000 employees
As Byju’s shifts focus to profitability over growth, it is rationalising costs and scrambling to push sales in a bid to meet revenue projections.
BUSINESS
Slice bets on card-linked bank accounts to stay afloat as RBI Nov deadline for digital lending norms nears
In a mail to customers, Slice said that the card will be temporarily suspended in November to transition to the new system
BUSINESS
Byju's turns to wholly-owned Aakash for unsecured Rs 300 crore loan for 'principal business activities'
Byju’s has raisied an unsecured loan from its wholly-owned subsidiary at a time when the company is aggressively looking to cut costs amid a prolonged funding winter for the edtech sector
BUSINESS
Byju's employees meet Kerala minister after 170 staff are 'asked to resign'
The alleged forced resignations come a couple of weeks after the edtech giant said it will layoff 5 percent of its workforce, or close to 2,500 employees, to cut costs as it aims to achieve company-level profitability by March 2023
BUSINESS
What is valuation markdown for startups?
Investors gauge private firms on their businesses, growth abilities, and macro environment to identify their ‘true’ value
BUSINESS
Unacademy’s losses nearly double to Rs 2,848 crore in FY22 on higher ESOP costs
Unacademy, however, reported an over 80 percent rise in operating revenue to Rs 719 crore from Rs 398 crore a year earlier. Its total income surged to Rs 845 crore in FY22 from Rs 464 crore a year earlier, thanks to a 2X rise in its other income to Rs 125 crore
BUSINESS
Walmart-backed PhonePe taps General Atlantic for funding at a valuation of $12 billion
If PhonePe’s massive round goes through, it will make the startup India’s most valued fintech, amid a rout in startup funding
BUSINESS
Tracxn Listing Day | Goal is to build an iconic data providing company from India, like how Infosys is an iconic software company from India: Founders Abhishek Goyal and Neha Singh
Tracxn Technologies, a private markets information provider, is all set to list later today, in what will be the first listing of a venture capital-backed software-as-a-service company in India this year.
BUSINESS
Scaler eyes operational profitability by December as edtech valuations take beating amid widening losses
Scaler's growth projections and profitability expectations come at a time when edtech startups in the country are aggressively conserving cash as funding to the sector has dried up
BUSINESS
Byju’s standalone business turns loss-making in FY21 as revenue drops 30%
As in the case of its consolidated numbers, Byju’s had to readjust its standalone numbers, too, owing to a change in its revenue recognition system as advised by auditor Deloitte
BUSINESS
AI platform 6Sense lays off 150 employees globally, including several from India
The layoffs happened over last three to four days, across content, design, video editing, product, sales, marketing and engineering teams. Employees were told about it on a 15-minute Zoom call which had their respective managers and someone from the HR (Human Resources) team.
BUSINESS
Downsize teams, raise funding without over-negotiating on valuations: InfoEdge Ventures to portfolio cos
InfoEdge Ventures also suggested its portfolio founders to focus on their core businesses and asked them to improve their product market fit. "Stop doing non-essential stuff," the VC said.
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
Fireside Ventures is latest India-dedicated VC to raise its largest-ever $225-million fund
Fireside Ventures is the latest VC firm to raise a large India-dedicated fund, joining the likes of Sequoia Capital, Accel, Elevation Capital and Matrix Partners
BUSINESS
Byju’s lacklustre FY21 results put spotlight on edtech valuations in India
According to an industry expert, growth-stage companies should not value themselves at more than 10 times their forward revenue multiple. Many edtech unicorns have raised had raised multi-million dollar rounds in 2021 at sky-high valuations.
BUSINESS
KKR-backed home interior platform Livspace earmarks $100 million for asset acquisitions
The investments will help the company grow faster across international markets including India, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Middle East. Livspace will use its internal accruals, Anuj Srivastava, Co-founder and CEO of Livspace, told Moneycontrol
BUSINESS
I almost joined McKinsey before starting Bhanzu: Meet Neelkantha Bhanu, the world’s fastest human calculator
Bhanu’s long-term goal is to eradicate math phobia globally and the mid-term objective is to establish his startup as the biggest math-learning entity
