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
LeverageEdu launches financial services arm to disburse education loans
LeverageEdu is looking to double down on foreign remittances, a segment which it claims to be underpenetrated as its peers are vertically aligned on student lending.
BUSINESS
Tiger Global-backed Spinny launches ESOP plan for all employees
All of Spinny’s employees irrespective of role and designation, including blue-collar workers, would be eligible to receive stocks through the Spinny Stock Option Plan for All
BUSINESS
Winter is here! PE/VC funding to Indian startups slowed more than 20% in first 9 months of 2022
With the pandemic receding and inflation rising, central banks have been rolling back excess liquidity from the banking system and are raising rates to tame inflation, resulting in money becoming expensive. Investors (both private and public market) have thus cut back on their investments this year
BUSINESS
Venture Catalysts-backed Elev8 Venture Partners launches $200 mn India-focused fund
Elev8 becomes the 12th India-focused VC firm to raise large multi-million dollar funds. In 2022, India-focused VCs have raised over $6.5 billion.
BUSINESS
Indian startups stare at two years of funding winter even as investors sit on a $9 billion dry powder
Rising inflation, geopolitical situation and looming recession in the US and Europe deter investors. However, early-stage deals would rebound faster and niche and emerging sectors would gain prominence over the next 12-18 months.
BUSINESS
Razorpay buys customer loyalty and rewards platform PoshVine in 7th acquisition
The acquisition of PoshVine would enable Razorpay to encourage more interaction between merchants, banks, and consumers by driving additional channels for rewards and driving additional spending digitally.
BUSINESS
SoftBank-backed Unacademy cuts monthly burn down to a fourth, eyes breakeven by January
Unacademy has slashed its monthly burn to Rs 50-60 crore from more than Rs 200 crore previously, sources said requesting anonymity. This has come on the back of various measures that it undertook as funding slowed down and investors turned cautious.
BUSINESS
A difficult candidate test, broken job promises and refund dispute: Unacademy’s Relevel comes under fire
With the growth engine sputtering, funding slowing down and the spectre of regulation looming large, there are many curveballs that Unacademy and its peers will have to grapple with in the coming months. At a time like this, Gaurav Munjal has been extremely bullish on Relevel
BUSINESS
Eight Road Ventures, B Capital lead $15 mn Series A round in math learning platform Bhanzu
Bhanzu said it will be using the funds to expand its business globally across multiple geographies. It will also enhance its tech infrastructure to create better learning experiences and will increase its workforce, and strengthen its curriculum.
BUSINESS
PhysicsWallah's Alakh Pandey, Zepto's Kaivalya Vohra join Hurun India's Rich List of 2022
Vohra, 19, has in fact become the youngest Indian and the first teenager to have personal wealth of at least Rs 1,000 crore, thanks to an over 50 percent rise in the valuation of Zepto, which he founded with Aadit Palicha in 2020, the report titled IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2022, showed. Palicha, 20, has also made it to the list.
BUSINESS
Byju’s becomes the world’s most-expensive edtech after FY21 revenue decline
Byju’s’ FY21 revenue released last week showed that the company has a revenue multiple of over 40 for the year as it was valued at about $13 billion as of March 2021.
BUSINESS
Kunal Shah's Cred to invest $10 mn in LiquiLoans to strengthen P2P lending capabilities
The investment will enhance Cred's partnership with LiquiLoans, which enables Cred's users to participate in P2P lending opportunities through the Cred Mint product.
BUSINESS
MC Explains | Byju’s: How does it earn money and where does it spend?
This year, the company thus changed it to ‘sale of edutech products.’ Byju’s got Rs 1,848.74 crore from sale of edutech products that comprises tech embedded devices, tablets, SD cards and laptops. Sale of edutech products still accounts for the most of Byju’s revenue.
BUSINESS
Byju’s has a week left to pay Blackstone Rs 2,000 crore for Aakash deal
If Byju’s fails to complete the payment by September 23, the company will have to seek an extension from the RBI for closing the transaction, according to lawyers Moneycontrol spoke with.
BUSINESS
Byju’s logs in surprise fall in FY21 revenue, losses widen 20 times
The company's revenue fell 3 percent year on year to Rs 2,428 crore on a consolidated basis, down from Rs 2,704 crore the previous year, according to the FY21 results. Byju's reported a Rs 4,500 crore loss in FY21, nearly 17 times the Rs 262 crore loss in FY20 (2019-20).
MCMINIS
What is unit economics and why do startups focus on it so much?
BUSINESS
Amazon India marketplace net loss narrows as revenue rises over 30%
Amazon Seller Services had reported a sharp rise of almost 50 percent in its revenue, even in FY21, thanks to the stay-at-home Covid restrictions that led to buyers shopping online.
BUSINESS
Threat calls to employees, stranded students, helpless parents: A bitter lesson in Lido Learning's bankruptcy
Financial creditors of the once celebrated edtech startup may have to take over 80 percent haircut on their dues while shareholders, parents and employees may get nothing
BUSINESS
Bengaluru floods: Residents may have to cough up crores to fix drowned homes, cars
With the ground floor submerged, it will take about three months for the homes to be fixed, while many of the cars may have to be written off for good.
BUSINESS
Lido Learning files for bankruptcy, 6 months after asking over 1,200 staffers to quit
Ronnie Screwvala-backed edtech startup failed to pay back debts and defaulted on payments to former employees
BUSINESS
1mg joins unicorn club with $40 million funding led by Tata Digital
The premium was over 5x of 1mg's previous fundraise, which had valued the startup at $240 million. The latest round values Tata 1mg between $1.25 and $1.30 billion
TRENDS
Bengaluru Rains: Startup CEO forced to take tractor to reach office amid crumbling infra
The city, which houses thousands of tech startups and at least 40 of the country’s 105 unicorns, saw its wettest day in about eight years on September 5. The city recorded 131.6 mm of rain in the past 24 hours, according to the IMD
BUSINESS
Tiger Global coming at early-stage investing is good for us: Fundamentum's Sanjeev Aggarwal and Ashish Kumar
Nandan Nilekani's Fundamentum Partnership stayed away from any new investment in 2021 as the firm couldn't find companies where it thought it would be able to generate returns.
