BUSINESS
SoftBank-backed Unacademy explores merger with Byju’s-owned Aakash
The deal, if it happens, will be a mix of cash and stock, with the merged entity exploring an IPO instead of Aakash alone seeking a public listing
BUSINESS
Exclusive: PhysicsWallah in talks to raise around $250 million; eyes $3.3-bn valuation
India’s only profitable edtech start-up is trying to raise funds not because it needs the money, but to increase its valuation and for potential M&A deals.
BUSINESS
SVB impact: Venture debt firms and investors set up emergency lines of credit for startups
Debt firms and VCs are offering specific credit lines, term loans, EMI and revenue-based financing model fusion for helping startups complete their working capital and payroll commitments.
BUSINESS
Truecaller opens largest office space outside Sweden in Bengaluru, eyes 2x growth in user base by 2026
India is Truecaller's biggest market as the company has about 248 million monthly active users in the country currently, while globally, it has a user base of 338 million monthly active users.
BUSINESS
Lenskart raises $500 mn from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority at flat $4.5 bn valuation
Lenskart will use the funds to deepen its penetration in India and scale its international presence in Asia and the Middle East, the company said. Lenskart claimed to have over 2,000 stores of which 1,500 were in India with the rest in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
BUSINESS
India’s unicorn drought lasts for nearly 6 months as tech valuations plunge globally
This is the longest drought since August 2016, when it lasted 17 months
BUSINESS
YCombinator-backed Indian start-ups are collateral damage in Silicon Valley Bank collapse
Startups funded by American incubator YC, which makes Indian companies flip their corporate entities to the US, are scrambling for working capital as California regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank.
BUSINESS
Women-led startups keep funding winter at bay, raise over $4 bn in 2022
While the share of funds raised by women-founded startups has increased over the years, it still remains a small fraction of the overall funding.
BUSINESS
Digital lending platform Mintifi raises $110 million in Series D from Premji Invest, others
Mintifi’s fundraise comes at a time when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Ministry of electronics and information technology (MeITY) have cracked down on digital lending applications due to concerns over “national security.”
BUSINESS
Lending-focused startups corner a third of funding this year as pure tech deals dry up
Firms with lending as one of their key offerings have raised close to $850 million in the first two months of 2023, with PhonePe garnering half of the amount.
BUSINESS
Funding to Indian startups falls 77% in no respite for the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem
In February 2023, the country’s startup ecosystem, currently the third-largest in the world, saw only 91 deals worth $1.32 billion, against 308 deals worth $4.77 billion in the year-ago period
BUSINESS
SoftBank-backed Emeritus expects to be profitable in FY24 on bookings basis
Emeritus co-founders Ashwin Damera and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu expect their revenue to grow about 40 percent in 2022-23.
BUSINESS
India is the most important market for us, edtech-focused GSV Ventures’ founder Michael Moe says
Moe's optimism about India's edtech sector contrasts sharply with the sector's overall sentiment, as investors have stayed away from it in the last ten months.
BUSINESS
ChatGPT, AI platforms next big thing in learning, education: Deborah Quazzo of GSV Ventures
Quazzo’s comments on ChatGPT attain significance as the AI tool that can perform tasks ranging from answering questions to writing fiction and non-fiction has got educationists divided over whether it is useful or “dangerous” for learning.
BUSINESS
Admission services platform AdmitKard raises Rs 50 crore from GSV Ventures
AdmitKard plans to use the funds to expand to more services, hire more people across departments and become an end-to-end admission services provider by launching services such as financing and scholarships, the company’s co-founder Piyush Bhartiya, co-founder, AdmitKard told Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the summit
BUSINESS
Digital lending platform Mintifi to raise $60 mn at $350 mn pre-money valuation
Mintifi’s deliberations are still ongoing and fairly at an early-stage, with the company being involved with at least four investors. The final funding amount and the valuation can go a notch higher as well.
BUSINESS
Fintech unicorns slip deeper into losses in FY22 as ad spending soars
The losses of five fintech unicornrs widened 1.2-5.5 times in FY 22 over FY 21, with PhonePe reporting the biggest loss of Rs 2,013 crore
BUSINESS
PeerCapital raises Rs 300 crore for first fund, adding to early-stage VC dry powder
The fund, which marked the first close in mid-2022, will have a corpus of Rs 600 crore, or about $75 million. Managing partner Karthik Prabhakar tells Moneycontrol, the firm will target e-commerce and marketplaces, gaming, creators economy as well as health tech
BUSINESS
Only six of India's 51 unicorns that have filed results were profitable in FY22
OfBusiness and Infra.Market were the only two unicorns having a profit of more than Rs 100 crore for FY22
BUSINESS
Indian unicorns sitting on lofty valuations with higher revenue multiples than global peers
Nearly half of the country’s 107 unicorns that have filed their financial reports for FY22 have a last-twelve-months average revenue multiple of around 30, according to data compiled by Moneycontrol, higher than most geographies, where such multiples are in the range of 15-20 for high-growth companies, investors and bankers said.
BUSINESS
GoMechanic crisis: Startup funding due diligence to get stricter and longer
As the final verdict on GoMechanic awaits, the VC ecosystem is rethinking its ways. Founders will find their funding getting delayed and there will be more questioning. Even early-stage investments may take longer time now, investors said.
BUSINESS
Zomato, excluding Blinkit, turns adjusted EBITDA positive for January 2023
While Zomato’s adjusted EBITDA for Q3 for the food delivery business, zoomed 10x to Rs 23 crore from Rs 2 crore in Q2 FY23 (2022-23), the company burnt Rs 53 crore in the Oct-Dec quarter on its business-to-business (B2B) supplies platform Hyperpure, which weighed on the overall adjusted EBITDA (excluding Blinkit)
BUSINESS
Unacademy to not do cash appraisals in 2023, will instead compensate with stock options
Unacademy's move comes at a time when the SoftBank-backed firm has aggressively been cutting down costs, in a bid to focus on profitability with growth in its core business slowing amid a slowdown in funding.
BUSINESS
Byju's lays off at least 1,000 more employees as sales falter, funding winter worsens
None of the employees were told about the layoffs over mail, as emails tend to get leaked, sources said. Byju's rather told employees over normal and WhatsaApp calls to join a call over Google Meet and were informed about the layoffs there, sources said
