One quick thing: Karnataka woos Tier-2 cities with innovation clusters 

In today’s newsletter: 

• PhysicsWallah defies gravity with bumper listing
• Agilitas, Akshayakalpa eye major funding
• ED raids hit Gameskraft, WinZO

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Edtech found its escape velocity — and the markets are still doing the math.

Edtech firm PhysicsWallah’s market debut didn’t just pop, it orbited past expectations.

• PW opened at Rs 145 against an issue price of Rs 109, beating grey-market calls that barely saw a 13% premium

• The stock soared to Rs 161.99 intraday before closing at Rs 156.49, still up 44% from its IPO price

A Rs 44,751-crore market cap on Day 1 underscored investor faith in its hybrid model, deep student reach, and tier-II/III momentum.

Strong listing aside, the road ahead needs precision — not just propulsion.

• Analysts flagged rising competition, regulatory overhang, and the challenge of converting millions of free learners into paying users

PW’s offline push — 303 centres and rising — brings scale, but also rental burn, execution risk, and margin pressure.

• With Rs 1,400+ crore in cumulative losses and a 10.8x price-to-sales tag, investors face “book-some, hold-some” dilemmas

While startups hunt margins, bankers have already found theirs.

• Four marquee IPOs — Lenskart, Groww, PhysicsWallah, Pine Labs — shelled out Rs 474 crore in merchant-banking fees

• Groww topped the payout charts at Rs 151 crore, followed by Lenskart (Rs 128 crore) and Pine Labs (Rs 104 crore)

PW’s own banker bill touched Rs 89.8 crore, part of a wave where digital IPOs routinely spend 4–11% of issue size on fees.

Dig deeper

From sneakers to smoothies — India’s consumer brands are lacing up for their next funding sprint.

What do cleats and curds have in common? A growth sprint that’s getting harder to ignore.

• Agilitas is close to raising Rs 450 crore from Nexus Venture Partners, while Akshayakalpa Organic is eyeing Rs 350 crore from Temasek-backed ABC Impact and Catamaran Ventures, we were told

The twin rounds mark a return of investor appetite in India’s homegrown consumer champions, from sportswear to dairy.

• The message is clear — purpose-led, product-strong brands are the new funding favourites

The sportswear challenger is bulking up its bench strength.

• Led by ex-Puma India MD Abhishek Ganguly, Agilitas is set to raise Rs 450 crore ($50 million) from Nexus Venture Partners, doubling down on new product lines and offline expansion

• The deal values the firm at about Rs 3,500 crore, adding to the Rs 650 crore already raised from investors like Virat Kohli and Spring Marketing Capital earlier this year

With brands like Lotto and One8, and its acquisition of Mochiko Shoes, Agilitas is stitching together an end-to-end sports ecosystem — from factory floor to retail shelf.

The organic dairy player’s milking investor confidence.

• Akshayakalpa Organic is in talks to raise Rs 350 crore ($40 million) led by Temasek’s ABC Impact, with participation from Catamaran Ventures, A91 Partners, and Rainmatter Foundation

• Of this, Rs 200 crore will go into expansion across Mumbai and Pune, and into new high-protein and ragi-based product lines

Valued at Rs 1,500 crore, the company is targeting Rs 550 crore in FY26 revenue — proof that India’s organic wave is no longer just froth, but full cream growth.

Troubles for real-money gaming companies deepen in India. 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the offices of online gaming operators Gameskraft and WinZO, conducting searches in Bengaluru, Delhi and Gurugram, sources told us.

• A total of 11 premises were searched, including five in Bengaluru, four in Delhi and two in Gurugram

FIRs filed by victims alleged that these gaming companies had manipulated the app's algorithm, putting gamers at a disadvantage, sources told us.

• The searches revealed the company’s promoters own crypto wallets, indicating possible laundering through cryptocurrencies, they added

The raids come after the government brought in a law banning online money games, although the legislation has not yet been implemented.

• Gameskraft and WinZO, however, had discontinued their real-money business in the country in August

Go deeper

• Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said no company would be unscathed if the AI boom collapses, as soaring valuations and heavy investment in the sector fuel concerns of a bubble.
  
  
• The Nasdaq Composite Index has posted its sharpest decline in eight months in November, pressured by heavy selling in major artificial-intelligence stocks and slipping behind the S&P 500 Index for the first time in three months.

Turns out controversy is the new promo tour.

Samay Raina’s Still Alive and Unfiltered shows are selling like they never heard of India's Got Latent, 40,000+ tickets gone, Rs 2,999 each, Bengaluru sold out, Mumbai close.

• Insiders peg the tour at Rs 6–10 crore.

Guess some never really get cancelled; they just take a sabbatical. Find out more

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