Breaking: SoftBank-backed edtech company Unacademy expects its revenue from core business (online test preparation) to decline 15% in 2023, even as it sees a 26% growth on a company level.

One quick thing: Nykaa’s parent firm has named Rajesh Uppalapati as CTO and P Ganesh as CFO following the departure of some key executives.

• It has also made a series of hires across various teams including technology, legal, audit & risk, consumer, and marketing. Find out more

In today’s newsletter:

• Upstox pips Zerodha’s growth
• Inside the layoffs at Koo
• CCI to review Google's 3rd-party billing policy

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Zerodha is set to become one of India's most profitable new-age tech firms in FY23 (2022-23), with revenue projections of about Rs 5,500 crore. 

But its biggest rival in the country, Tiger Global-backed Upstox, has grown faster than Zerodha for the third consecutive fiscal year, albeit on a smaller base.

Upstox registered a 44% growth in its revenue in FY23, according to its founder and CEO Ravi Kumar. 

With this, Upstox's operating revenue is expected to surpass the Rs 1,100 crore mark for FY23, and the company has achieved break-even for the year.

• Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath claimed that the bootstrapped company’s broking revenue grew about 20% in FY23, however, on a base of Rs 4,900 crore
  
  
• Zerodha, on the other hand, will have a profit of Rs 2,400 crore, according to Kamath

Kumar also said that Upstox has surpassed 10 million clients in FY23 and is currently the second-largest broker in India, according to the National Stock Exchange.

Caveat: Groww has more clients, but unlike Zerodha and Upstox, a large portion of them are mutual fund clients.

Kumar expressed confidence in Upstox's growth prospects for FY24 (2023-24), despite macroeconomic challenges. He cited the recent launch of new products as a key driver for attracting more active clients to the platform.

In contrast, Kamath expects Zerodha's revenue and profit to decrease by 30-40% in FY24.

Go deeper.

To avoid creating chaos with the news of layoffs, some new-age companies are quietly terminating employees. Koo, a company that positions itself as a competitor to Twitter, is among those adopting this discreet approach.

Over the past year or so, the microblogging platform has been forcing its employees to resign voluntarily instead of simply notifying them via email that they have been terminated.

• Koo maintains that it is well capitalised and that the layoffs were just an attempt to extend its cash runway. 

Former employees, on the other hand, told us that the company's top management fired 'low-performing employees' due to a cash crunch, and that they would not be let go if Koo had the money to retain them.   

“…We have followed best practices to let go of our colleagues by first informing them over calls about our decision and then giving them the option to resign instead of showing it as a termination because that doesn't reflect well on them. Asking someone to leave over an e-mail without having a conversation is very cold and not our culture,” a Koo spokesperson said.

The company provided employees with one-month severance pay according to their notice period and extended outplacement services. Additionally, the company offered insurance coverage for both the employees and their families beyond their employment. 

Initially, affected employees were allowed to keep their work laptops, but later on, Koo replaced their Apple MacBooks with older HP and Dell systems as a cost-cutting measure.

“In the event of separation, the laptops are usually taken back by companies but we have allowed employees to retain their laptops to help them. In a few instances, there were specialised machines which were still useful for the company and our existing employees and hence were replaced,” Koo said.

Go deeper

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) will now decide the fate of Google's upcoming third-party billing system for developers in India.

The Delhi High Court has instructed the CCI to hear a plea made by startup think tank Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) regarding Google's alternative billing system for in-app purchases. 

• The CCI has been given a deadline of April 26 to make a decision on this matter

In February, Google announced that starting from April 26th, app developers in India will be allowed to offer consumers a third-party billing system, also known as a user choice billing system, in addition to its own payment system. This decision was made in response to antitrust directives from CCI.

• As per the new policy, developers will have to shell out a 6-26% service fee instead of the regular 10-30% fee for in-app purchases, if a user pays through the user choice billing system.

ADIF, which counts Matrimony.com, Paytm, and MapmyIndia among its members, had termed this move as a violation of the "CCI order and Competition Act" and asked the antitrust watchdog to urgently investigate this system or put it on stay until it considers the case.  

• CCI, however, refrained from considering the plea due to a lack of adequate number of members (lack of quorum)

Later, ADIF filed a petition with the Delhi HC, requesting that CCI invoke the 'doctrine of necessity' (which allows certain activities not permitted in the regular course) to investigate the user choice billing system.

Meanwhile, Google is currently pursuing its appeal in NCLAT against CCI's Rs 936.44 crore fine for alleged abuse of its dominant position with regard to its Play Store policies.

Royal Challengers Bangalore isn't the only thing stumbling at the last mile. The city's public transportation system is not far behind.

Bengaluru, unlike cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, does not have shared auto-rickshaws, which is a major reason for poor last-mile connectivity and why public transportation is not the preferred mode of commute in the city. The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), which has a monopoly, is not in favour of the idea of shared autos.

Why is Bengaluru's last-mile connectivity a mess?

• No shared e-rickshaws in the city
  
  
• Regular auto rickshaws refuse to use metres
  
  
• Broken pavements and poorly lit-streets
  
  
• BMTC has no minibuses to operate on narrow and congested roads

Go deeper

On April 24, 1981, Apple Computer unveiled the Apple IIc, a portable computer that had the same capabilities as the standard IIe model. It had 128 kilobytes of RAM and a 5 1/4-inch floppy disk drive.

• Standard Chartered forecasts bitcoin hitting $100,000 by 2024-end, citing factors like the end of the "crypto winter", recent banking sector turmoil, stabilisation of risk assets, and improved crypto mining profitability.

• The Bank of Korea has been authorised to intensify its monitoring of cryptocurrency issuers and service providers as discussions on virtual asset legislation continue in South Korea.

It's a special day for cricket lovers as Sachin Tendulkar, the God of Cricket, celebrates his 50th birthday. 

As one of the most celebrated batsmen in cricket history, Tendulkar's 24-year career was marked with innumerable records, feats, and moments of brilliance that continue to inspire the next generation of cricketers.

In a candid conversation with Network18, Tendulkar looks back on his incredible career and also speaks about life after retirement, next-generation cricketers, and more! 

Watch the full interview

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