Discontinuing Trivandrum ops to reduce redundancy: BYJU's spokesperson
Edtech giant BYJU’S has shut down its Thiruvananthapuram office in Kerala as part of an ongoing restructuring exercise.
In a statement to CNBC-TV18, a company spokesperson said, “In this ongoing organizational restructuring for profitable growth, BYJU'S is making every attempt to offer relevant relocation opportunities to the affected employees. In this regard, we are discontinuing our Trivandrum operations to reduce redundancy.”
The spokesperson added that BYJU’S has offered the aggrieved employees relocation ‘opportunities’ to shift their base to Bengaluru.
“We have provided them more than a month's time to decide on this matter. If they choose to not use this opportunity, we have made available a generous and progressive exit package to all employees impacted by the restructuring, including extended health insurance benefits, outplacement services and garden leave,” the spokesperson claimed.
“This package even includes an assured opportunity to be re-hired by Byju's within the next 12 months at any operational center across India," the spokesperson added.
BYJU’S statement came in response to Kerala’s labour minister V Sivankutty saying that the state government would launch a probe into BYJU’S after some of the employees met Sivankutty and apprised him of their situation. The employees alleged that the edtech giant was forcing more than 170 staffers to resign as it discontinued its operations.
Swiggy denies exodus of high-end cafes, restaurants from Dineout: Report
As reports surfaced that several high-end restaurants with multiple outlets in Delhi-NCR have delisted from Swiggy Dineout amid deep discounting concerns, reliable industry sources told IANS that most of those cafes and restaurants have also delisted themselves from other online food delivery platforms like Zomato.
The sources added that only 20 brands with nearly 400 outlets have delisted from Swiggy Dineout, and one of those brands even has nearly 250 dining outlets alone.
According to them, restaurants like Smoke House Deli, Social, The Beer Cafe and Mamagoto have deregistered themselves from most of the online food aggregator platforms, not just Swiggy.
A Swiggy spokesperson told IANS that Swiggy Dineout works with over 15,000 restaurant partners on the platform in over 20 cities and continuously engages with them to improve its offering and make this partnership viable for everyone.
"Restaurant partners on Swiggy Dineout have complete liberty to decide on how much discount they wish to offer to customers through their listing on the app," the spokesperson said.
"Thousands of partners continue to join us each month and list on Swiggy Dineout and only a handful of restaurant partners have expressed their desire to delist from the platform. We continue to engage with restaurant partners and NRAI representatives to revisit their choices," the food delivery platform told IANS.
FUNDING NEWS
Jashvik Capital marks the first close of its maiden $350M fund
Jashvik Capital, a growth private equity (PE) firm, has announced the first close of its maiden $350 million fund, which it had launched in July this year.
“India presents an attractive option for investors globally. We are likely to be the fastest growing large economy for at least the medium term, if not longer. The policy framework is stable and continually improving. Businesses are feeling confident about the future and willing to invest for growth. If we are buying in the next 1-2 years, we will likely see margin expansion by the time we look to exit. Finally, as India PE continues to mature, the quality and depth of liquidity options will continue to improve on a strong baseline. It is an exciting time for Indian private equity,” said Naresh Patwari, Founder, Jashvik Capital.
Jashvik Capital invests in profitable growth businesses in large addressable markets in healthcare/pharma and consumer sectors in India. The firm seeks to partner with exceptional founders and help them accelerate growth and make their businesses resilient and future ready, a statement said.
“India has a large number of small and medium sized businesses that are resilient, profitable and growing and that have stood the test of time. We have an opportunity to invest into these businesses and strengthen and scale them meaningfully” added Patwari.
Udaan raises $120M in convertible debt, plans IPO after a year
B2B ecommerce startup Udaan has raised $120 million in convertible notes and debt from shareholders and bondholders, according to an internal email sent by the company’s chief financial officer (CFO) Aditya Pande.
In the email which was reviewed by CNBC-TV18, Pande said, “With this round, Udaan has raised more than $350 million through convertible notes and debt in the past four quarters, making it one of the largest structured instrument fundraises in the country.”
Bengaluru-based Udaan's existing investors include Microsoft, Lightspeed Venture Partners, M&G Prudential, Kaiser Permanente, Nomura, TOR, Arena Investors, Samena Capital and Ishana Capital. However, the names of the investors in the fresh round were not disclosed in the email.
According to the email, Udaan has managed to improve unit economics by ~ 1,000 bps with efficiencies in both gross margins and operating costs. It further added that the company has reduced its burn by 60%. The company is also warming up to be IPO-ready in the next 12-18 months, Pande wrote in the email.
Fountain raises additional $100M, forays into India
Hiring platform Fountain has forayed into the Indian market after raising an additional $100 million post its Series C round, bringing its total funding to $185 million.
The latest funding round was led by B Capital Group, joined by SoftBank, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, DCM, Origin Ventures, Commerce Ventures, SemperVirens Venture Capital, Uncork Capital, and others.
The startup said that it will enable companies to find and hire the right people faster in India with its mobile-first, automated, and high-volume hiring solutions.
“We at Fountain are determined to support the Indian market for blue and gray-collar work,” said Om Prakash Muppirala, VP of Engineering and Head of Fountain India.
Fountain said it plans to invest a significant amount of its capital into high-volume hiring in the country, including the development of an AI/NLP-enabled chatbot, messaging, and automation-related products. The platform is currently in the process of setting up a remote-first Center of Excellence (CoE) based in the country, with functions such as R&D, support and operations, sales, and marketing.
The company said it aims to use the funds to further accelerate growth by rapidly expanding internationally to additional European and Asian countries, as well as offering the platform in multiple languages.
Northern Arc Capital raises $50M from FMO
Northern Arc Capital, a digital debt financing company has raised $50 million in bond issuance through FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank.
The NBFC said it will use half the proceeds to serve MSMEs and women entrepreneurs. The long term nature of the facility will help Northern Arc provide customized credit solutions to these customers both directly and through partners, a statement said.
“Through our latest partnership with Northern Arc, we can therefore support the business development across India, in line with our updated strategy towards 2030,” said Huib-Jan de Ruijter, Chief Investment Officer, FMO.
It will also deploy the capital to address three critical UN Sustainable Development Goals - SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequality).
WhatsApp chatbot startup WATI nets $23M in funding from Tiger Global
Customer engagement platform WATI (WhatsApp Team Inbox) has raised $23 million in a Series B funding round led by Tiger Global.
The Hong Kong and Malaysia-headquartered startup also saw participation in the round from existing investor Sequoia Capital, while DST Global Partners and Shopify came in as new investors. Shopify too invested in the Southeast Asia startup, making it the first in the region.
WATI plans to use the Series B funds to scale the teams, product enhancement, and expand the customer base in India and key markets, a statement said. The firm claims to have grown its Indian customer base by 60 percent. Over the next few quarters, India will remain a critical focus for WATI both in terms of deepening market reach and tapa, the statement added.
The company has clients such as Indonesia’s Gojek, Singapore’s, Indian startup Dukaan, along with Bytedance’s Tiktok, and Oppo.
Devtron gets $12M funding from Insight Partners and others
DevOps startup Devtron has secured $12 million in a fresh funding round led by the New York-based private equity firm Insight Partners, along with participation from Leo Capital and other angel investors.
The startup will use the new capital to scale its team, drive adoption of its platform and expand into new markets, it said in a statement.
"Since becoming open source, we have seen thousands of nimble startups across the globe installing Devtron every month along with many fast-growing startups as our commercial customers. It's an exciting time of growth and development of our market-defining product," said Prashant Ghildiyal, co-founder and CEO and Rajesh Razdan, co-founder and CBO, in a joint statement.
The firm added that companies using its platform have reduced their Kubernetes adaptation from a year to months. In some cases, companies have taken up Kubernetes within 15 days. Post-adoption companies have witnessed five-fold improvement in their deployment speed with more than 90 percent reduction in their change failure rate and 70 percent reduction in mean time to recovery.
BluSapphire raises $9.2M in Series A round from Barings PE India and others
Cybersecurity platform BluSapphire Cyber Systems has bagged $9.2 million in its Series A funding round led by Barings Private Equity India.
The round also saw participation from cross border VC firm Dallas Venture Capital, Binny Bansal backed xto10x, RPG Ventures & Merisis Venture Partners. ValueBridge Capital acted as the sole advisor for this transaction.
“Building resilience against sophisticated cyber-attacks is the key to business survival. BluSapphire operates with this vision. We are thankful for the continued trust placed in us by our loyal partners and clients, who have enabled our growth. The capital will help us continue to build and grow our SaaS platform rapidly across North America and India,” said Kiran Vangaveti, Founder and CEO, BluSapphire Cyber Systems.
IIM Kashipur andArtha Venture Fund lead Rs 17 lakh pre-seed round in Himshakti
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kashipur has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to partner with the Artha Access programme.
The association has announced its first deal with the Dehradun-based FMCG brand Himshakti which has raised Rs 17 lakh in its pre-seed round. The first round saw participation from angel investors Anand Kumar of Pier Counsel and Varun Agrawal of StarClinch.
Artha Access is an Artha Venture Fund (‘AVF’) programme through which AVF co-invests with accelerators like India Accelerator, Huddle, and IIM Calcutta Innovation Park
According to the company, Himshakti plans to use the funds towards marketing, sales, and improving the packaging quality of its products.
Edtech startup SoME closes 3rd round in angel funding
Bengaluru-based edtech startup The School of Meaningful Experiences (SoME) has closed its third round of angel funding led by existing investor Uday Singh, former Executive Chairman and Managing Director of SIS India and Mohan Alexander, an angel investor and finance veteran.
With this, the venture claims to have strategically raised half a million dollars through angel funding. The firm will use the fresh capital to strengthen its outreach programmes, expand the team as well as introduce innovative communication programmes for working professionals, managers, CXOs and entrepreneurs.
“Our plan now is to foray beyond the metros and tap into the tier 2 and tier 3 markets across India to create future leaders who can communicate and collaborate with confidence,” said Rakesh Godhwani, Founder and CEO, SoME.
Wellbeing Nutrition looking to raises $10M in funding
Wellbeing Nutrition, a plant-based nutrition company is looking to raise $8-10 million in funding this quarter. As per a statement, the brand has received interest from some of the leading VC funds and a few strategic investors globally.
The firm said it will use fresh capital to scale operations, build a senior global team and increase manufacturing capacity with new facilities in the USA and India, along with strengthening their R&D and research team while also building new categories.
The brand added that it its expected ARR is at Rs 150 crore and claims to be clocking a 400 percent growth in net revenue over the previous year.
OTHER STARTUP NEWS
JioMart on WhatsApp a big opportunity for us: Zuckerberg
As Meta doubles down on its monetisation drive across its family of apps, its Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that JioMart on WhatsApp in India is going to be a big opportunity for the paid messaging market.
During the company's Q3 earnings call, Zuckerberg said that paid messaging is another opportunity that we are starting to tap into.
"We launched JioMart on WhatsApp in India, and it's our first end-to-end shopping experience that shows the potential for chat-based commerce through messaging," Zuckerberg told analysts.
"So between click-to-messaging and paid messaging, I am confident that this is going to be a big opportunity," he added.
In August, Meta and Jio Platforms launched an end-to-end shopping experience, where users can shop from e-commerce platform JioMart via using WhatsApp chat.
The new experience will enable the customers to browse the JioMart catalog, add products to the cart and make purchases all within WhatsApp.
Zuckerberg said that the company is putting the foundation in place now to scale the paid messaging ambition.
Microsoft expands cyber programme to boost skilling in India
Microsoft has announced to expand its CyberShikshaa programme in association with the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), Tata STRIVE and the ICT Academy, in a bid to reduce the skill gap in the field of cyber security.
The programme aims to reach 45,000 women and underserved youth with technical skills over the next three years for careers in cyber security and provide internship or job opportunities to 10,000 learners in the next three years.
"With the continuous training and subsequent employment of women through CyberShikshaa, Microsoft and its partners are committed to building the next generation of security leaders and ensuring a vibrant and diverse cybersecurity workforce in India," Dr Rohini Srivathsa, National Technology Officer, Microsoft India.
Till date, Microsoft has trained 1,100 women out of which 800 are currently employed in the cybersecurity space. The tech giant has also trained 5,000 underserved youth members under the Cybersecurity Beginners modules.
In its fifth year, CyberShikshaa will focus on scaling the program, leveraging industry partnerships, and conducting specialised training for careers in the banking sector, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) industry, a statement said.
Shiprocket enables inter-city logistics for small merchants on ONDC
Logistics solution provider Shiprocket has gone live on ONDC, enabling first ever inter-city logistics on the government-backed e-commerce network.
As per the firm, the first successful transaction was fulfilled on October 22. The company said it will enable sellers on ONDC to select a trusted delivery partner to pick up their products from 24,000 pincodes, with both cash-on-delivery as well prepaid shipping facilities available to the customers.
“Our mission is to reach every independent retailer in the country and enable them with state of the art technology that can help them better manage their delivery and customer experience and be able to compete on even keel with the larger platforms that are out there,” said Saahil Goel, Co-Founder, Shiprocket.
Small and medium logistics providers, operating in towns and cities, can now offer their services through Shiprocket on the ONDC network. ONDC and Shiprocket are also working to enable warehousing-as-a-service on ONDC. This will allow small and medium businesses to provide same-day shipping services to their customers.
SUGAR Cosmetics appoints former Marico head of finance Amit Aggarwal as new CFO
D2C beauty brand SUGAR Cosmetic has roped in former Marico head of finance Amit Aggarwal as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to oversee the company's financial operations.
According to a statement, apart from strengthening the core leadership team by focusing on corporate governance and risk management, Aggarwal will additionally look into growth initiatives while leading the finance controlling, legal, tax, customs, business risk, and compliance teams.
Prior to joining SUGAR, Amit was leading the Finance team at Marico Limited as their head of finance - India Business. With over two decades of experience, he has also been associated with large multinational companies such as Nestle India, and Price Waterhouse Cooper.
“"We are delighted to welcome Amit as our chief financial officer. His vast experience and ability in handling financial decisions will help us grow responsibly towards our goal of an eventual IPO. We look forward to him working closely with our numerous business units to implement the company's vision of balancing aggressive expansion with an eye on profitability,” said Vineeta Singh, co-founder and CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics.
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