Brightchamps buys Singapore-based Schola for $15M
Binny Bansal-backed edtech firm Brightchamps has acquired Schola, a Singapore-based live-learning platform for kids, for USD 15 million in a cash and stock deal.
Founded in 2019 by Aditya Gupta and Nhu Tran Le Thanh, Schola provides a variety of courses in a live, one-on-one class model for children between the ages of 4 and 15.
These courses include communication and public speaking, among others. The startup currently operates in 12 countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and others.
Also read: Servify secures $65 million in series D and Mojocare gets $20.6 million in series A funding
“Given Schola’s profitability and sustainable growth approach with low cash-burn, we already know that there is great synergy between the two companies’ operating models. I am confident that with Aditya and Nhu at the forefront, not only will Schola deepen our presence in the 30+ countries we’re already operational in, but will also help us introduce BrightCHAMPS to many other parts of the world.”
The acquisition comes a couple of months after Brightchamps earmarked USD 100 million for mergers and acquisitions for FY23.
Parliamentary panel summons Twitter to hear views on data security, privacy
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology has summoned officials of Twitter for a hearing, a day after a former executive claimed that the Indian government allegedly placed an “agent” at the microblogging site.
The committee has called representatives of Twitter India on August 26 to hear their views on the subject of “Citizens' Data Security and Privacy”.
In a complaint to US government bodies, Twitter's former head of security Pieter Zatko accused the Indian government of forcing Twitter to hire one of its “agents” as a full- time employee, possibly securing access to “vast amounts of sensitive data”. The complaint added the government agent could have been able to access sensitive data at Twitter because of its architectural flaws.
The larger complaint document, first made public by the Washington Post newspaper, talked about Twitter’s security vulnerabilities, which allegedly left it susceptible to hacks. Apart from Twitter, the committee has also asked representatives of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to be present during the meeting.
Tinder-owner Match ups antitrust pressure on Apple in India with new case: Report
Tinder-owner Match Group has filed an antitrust case against Apple with the Competition Commission of India (CCI), accusing it of "monopolistic conduct" that forces developers to pay high commissions for in-app purchases, a legal filing seen by Reuters shows.
Apple is fending off a raft of antitrust challenges around the globe and Match's July filing adds to two other cases in India though Match is the first foreign company to mount such a challenge against the iPhone maker in the country.
In the previously unreported India filing, Match argues Apple's conduct restricts innovation and development of app developers that offer digital services by enforcing the use of its proprietary in-app purchase system and "excessive" 30 percent commission.
Match argues in its India filing that users in other countries often prefer to use payment methods which Apple does not permit, and in India a state-backed online transfer system was preferred.
CCI in December started investigating allegations from a local non-profit group that alleged Apple's in-app purchase system hurts competition by raising costs for app developers and customers, while also acting as a barrier to market entry.
The investigation will now cover each of the three separate cases that have been filed against Apple, sources told Reuters.
ED probes fintechs and NBFCs, finds Rs 800 Cr crime proceeds: Report
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has allegedly found proceeds of crime of over Rs 800 crore as part of a long-drawn money laundering probe against 365 fintechs and their NBFC partners, according to an Economic Times report.
Loans of over 4,000 crores were disbursed by these fintech firms, which then sought to recover the amounts lent through telecallers. The companies mostly used defunct NBFCs, which allegedly lent their RBI-issued licence for a share of profit ranging from 0.5 percent to 1 percent. In most of these cases, the investigation has found that the platforms were backed by Chinese money, the report added.
Of the loans disbursed, over Rs 700 crore was recovered upfront by these fintechs under the guise of processing fees and over Rs 85 crore in the form of interest and penalty charges, said the ET report.
Basix partners MasterCard to launch an agritech platform for farmers
BASIX Social Enterprise Group has partnered with Mastercard to launch an agritech platform called Basix Farmers’ Market (BFM).
As per a statement, the collaboration is in line with the Indian government’s vision to integrate farmers into the digital economy.
BFM will leverage Mastercard’s technology capabilities, and BASIX’s deep industry expertise in agriculture to improve the lives of small and marginal farmers.
The digital platform will be used to address the fundamental challenges for small farmers related to price discovery, market reach, payments, and credit access leveraging technology from Mastercard and sector expertise of BASIX, it added.
Through the collaboration, both the companies aim to connect 10 lakh farmers with technology to their benefit, including the new cohort of 200 Farmer Produce Organisations (FPO), being promoted under SMART Project partnering with Maharashtra State Rural Livelihood Mission.
Biryani by Kilo aims to achieve Rs 300 Cr revenue in FY’22-23
Cloud kitchen brand Biryani by Kilo (BBK) has said that it is projected to reach Rs 300 crore revenue mark in the current fiscal. The firm also said that it is aiming to achieve 35-40 percent of the business through its retail stores by year end.
The company currently operates 100+ outlets across 45+ cities and claims to process around 4-5 million orders in a year currently, with an average order value of Rs 725.
“We are poised to be Rs. 1000 Cr. Company in next 2-3 years with Pan India Presence. Also we are looking to expand internationally from Next year taking India Heritage Biryanis to the Far East & Middle East. These are exciting times and we are here to make the most of it.,” said Vishal Jindal, Founder and Co-CEO, BBK.
Zoop partners with Haptik to launche WhatsApp food delivery for railway passengers
WhatsApp chatbot solution provider, Jio Haptik has partnered with Zoop, IRCTC partner for food delivery on trains to enable railway passengers with seamless food ordering and delivery on train journeys.
The new WhatsApp-based self-service food delivery platform allows passengers to place food orders and get their deliveries straight to their seats with real-time order tracking, feedback, and support. Travelers can simply use their PNR numbers to order food at selected restaurants at planned train stops.
“Tens of millions of people travel on trains each day and Haptik, in partnership with Zoop, is helping passengers order their favorite meals and get delivery straight to their seats,” Swapan Rajdev, co-founder and CTO, Haptik, said.
Within weeks of launch, Haptik’s WhatsApp chatbot solution claims to have witnessed exponential growth in daily conversations and is set to scale higher.
WE Hub and Tide join hands to power women entrepreneurs
WE Hub, an incubator for women entrepreneurs, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UK-based SME-focused fintech platform Tide, to power women-led small businesses in India.
The Women in Business programme is aimed at digitally transforming businesses in Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions. Through this partnership, women entrepreneurs will have access to Tide’s comprehensive financial admin and advisory services, which will facilitate their inclusion in the formal economy by ensuring timely and adequate access to financial services, the firm said in a statement.
The core focus areas will include counselling and educating women small business owners on Regulation and Compliance, Accounting and Financial Planning, Filing Tax Returns, Loan Application Support, Marketing and Sales, in addition to facilitating Peer Training and Networking. Additionally, women entrepreneurs in Telangana can also use a free co-working office space on Tide premises, when starting out, the statement added.
GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS
Twitter backs spam account methodology in response to SEC letter
Twitter has reiterated that spam accounts on its platform represent fewer than 5 percent of its total users, in response to the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) letter in June seeking details on its methodology.
"Twitter believes that it already adequately discloses the methodology that it uses in calculating these figures," the company said in a letter dated June 22 to the regulator, according to its filing seen by Reuters.
This comes ahead of a highly watched legal showdown between Twitter and Elon Musk who wants to back out of his deal to buy the company for USD 44 billion, arguing Twitter misled the billionaire about the number of bot and spam accounts on its platform.
NFTs worth $100M stolen in past year: Elliptic Report
Thieves stole over USD 100 million worth of non-fungible tokens in the year to July, blockchain research firm Elliptic said, as the fast-emerging digital asset became a new front in crypto's hacking problem.
Scams remain rife in the NFT market even as it declines, with July seeing the highest number of NFTs reported stolen on record, London-based Elliptic said in a report. Security compromises via social media have surged, accounting for 23 percent of NFT thefts in 2022, it said.
Thieves received on averaged USD 300,000 per scam, Elliptic said. The true scale of NFT thefts is likely to be even higher, given that not all crimes are publicly reported, it added.
Elliptic put the amount of money-laundering in NFT-based platforms at just USD 8 million. But almost USD 329 million worth of funds in the NFT market came from services such as so-called cryptocurrency mixers, which are designed to hide the funds' origin, Elliptic said.
Privacy complaint targets Google over unsolicited ad emails
Google has breached a European Union court ruling by sending unsolicited advertising emails directly to the inbox of Gmail users, Austrian advocacy group noyb.eu said in a complaint filed with France's data protection watchdog.
The Alphabet unit, whose revenues mainly come from online advertising, should ask Gmail users for their prior consent before sending them any direct marketing emails, noyb.eu said, citing a 2021 decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJUE).
While Google's ad emails may look like normal ones, they include the word "Ad" in green letters on the left-hand side, below the subject of the email, noyb.eu said in its complaint. Also, they do not include a date, the advocacy group added.
Meta reaches $37.5M settlement of Facebook location tracking lawsuit
Meta has reached a USD 37.5 million settlement of a lawsuit accusing the parent of Facebook of violating users' privacy by tracking their movements through their smartphones without permission, Reuters reported.
A preliminary settlement of the proposed class action was filed on Monday in San Francisco federal court, and requires a judge's approval.
It resolved claims that Facebook violated California law and its own privacy policy by gathering data from users who turned off Location Services on their mobile devices.
The users said that while they did not want to share their locations with Facebook, the company nevertheless inferred where they were from their IP (internet protocol) addresses, and used that information to send them targeted advertising. Meta denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.
Celsius crypto lender, now bankrupt, sues ex-money manager over alleged theft
Celsius has sued a former investment manager, accusing him of losing or stealing tens of millions of dollars in assets before the crypto lender went bankrupt last month, Reuters reported.
In a complaint filed in Manhattan bankruptcy court, Celsius accused Jason Stone and his company KeyFi of "gross negligence" and "extraordinarily inept" crypto investing, after Stone falsely portrayed himself as a pioneer in the field.
The lawsuit was filed six weeks after KeyFi sued Celsius in a New York state court in Manhattan. It claimed that Celsius ran a Ponzi scheme, mismanaged customer deposits, failed to hedge investments, and cheated Stone out of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars of compensation.
Stone worked with Celsius for about seven months ending in March 2021, court papers show. In an emailed statement, Stone's lawyer Kyle Roche said KeyFi's compensation, including NFTs, had been authorized by Celsius Chief Executive Alex Mashinsky.
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