One quick thing: DRDO conducts first test flight of made-in-India Agni-5 missile

In today’s newsletter: 

• Byju's gives up...office spaces 
• Can Zepto take a bite out of Licious?
• Equity not grants, says SIDBI chief

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As the sword of Damocles hangs over the embattled edtech company Byju's, it is pulling out all the stops.

In the latest development, the company has vacated all office spaces across the country, retaining only its headquarters at IBC, Knowledge Park, Bengaluru due to a lack of funds.

The decision to shut down all offices in the country was part of the restructuring plan chartered by Byju's India CEO Arjun Mohan in September last year, sources told us.

“This has been in the works for over six months. The company has been shutting down offices across the country as soon as the lease for each expired," a person familiar with the matter told us.

Due to the office closures, Byju's has mandated a work-from-home policy for the foreseeable future. 

• This applies to most employees, with the exception of those at the headquarters and the roughly 300 Byju's Tuition Centres

Even within the headquarters, some departments like Sales have transitioned to remote work due to space reduction.

This comes amid a very public dispute with investors. 

• Funds raised through a recent rights issue offering are currently inaccessible, tied up in an escrow account due to an investor challenge against Byju Raveendran's leadership 

• This also comes at a time when the company has held back part of February salaries for about 75% of its employees
  

Go deeper

Picture credit: Microsoft Copilot

First, they gave Flipkart and Amazon a run for their money, and now they're eyeing a 'steak' in the meat delivery market. Quick-commerce companies are not holding back.

Zepto launched its own meat brand, Relish, last year. The business achieved Rs 150 crore in revenue within six months of launch.

• As per Zepto, Relish can become a Rs 1,000 crore business in 18-24 months

It's all about boosting their average order value (AOV) by offering a wider product assortment and ultimately, grabbing a larger market share

• Zepto aims to be a one-stop shop for all essentials, similar to DMart

While Zepto's optimism is high, the meat delivery market presents some hurdles.

Licious, the current leader in online meat delivery, has faced challenges recently. Their revenue has stagnated, and they've had to cut costs through layoffs. 

Industry experts say that Zepto might face similar struggles: 

• Meat purchases can be unpredictable, making inventory management a nightmare

• While Zepto might see initial customer interest, users often gravitate towards market leaders

Take a bigger bite

Picture credit: Kalaido

Move over free money, equity is the new name of the game!

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) chairman Sivasubramanian Ramann is urging incubators and universities to move away from the traditional model of handing out grants to startups. 

• Instead, he proposes a system where these entities invest in startups by taking an equity stake

Under the proposed plan, SIDBI would participate in a small share of the investment made by the incubators, replacing the traditional grant model. 

• However, there is still room for some grant funding, with equity being the primary mode of support

This shift has the potential to make incubators more financially independent and streamline the grant process. 

• The idea, while initially met with scepticism, is gaining traction, according to Ramann 

SIDBI is already working with 16 universities on the model and is in talks with other government bodies that traditionally provide grants.

Find out more

• Elon Musk said his AI firm xAI will open-source "Grok", a chatbot rivaling OpenAI's ChatGPT, this week.
  
  
• Nvidia faces a copyright infringement lawsuit from three authors alleging their books were used without permission to train the NeMo AI platform.

• Thomson Reuters, with an $8 billion war chest, is betting on AI to transform its business of supplying information to professionals.

The 96th Academy Awards ceremony was a nuclear blast of wins for Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer.  

• The biographical thriller not only scooped up the coveted Best Picture award, but also dominated the night with a total of seven Oscars, including Best Actor for Cillian Murphy's explosive performance and Best Director for Nolan himself
  
  
• Robert Downey Jr won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor

Oppenheimer is on a roll, having already cleaned house at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs for Best Film. 

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