Startup Digest: Curefoods buys franchise rights for Sbarro, CollegeDekho acquires Getmyuni and IELTSMaterial, Cars24 announces Rs 75 crore ESOP buyback

Edtech firm CollegeDekho has acquired its peer firms Getmyuni and IELTSMaterial for about Rs 50 crore in a mix of cash and equity deal. With this, CollegeDekho aims to hit a 4x revenue run rate growth over its last year’s numbers and scale further to maximise its growth this year.

Post the acquisition, Getmyuni will continue to operate independently and some of the leadership team will also join the board of the combined entity, the company said in a statement.

Also Read: Euler Motors lines up Rs 200 crore capex to enhance production capacity

CollegeDekho and Getmyuni will cater to almost 50 percent of all higher education traffic in the country. With this partnership, the firms aim to drive more than 25 crores annual student traffic and facilitate 30,000+ enrolments across almost 2000 partner colleges.

Acquiring IELTSMaterial will also enable CollegeDekho to scale its recently announced online learning vertical CollegeDekho Learn by adding English Testing Exam preparation capabilities for exams like IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, and OET which will further boost its fast-growing study abroad business, the firm added.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel has acquired a strategic stake in Aqilliz, a 'Blockchain as a Service Company'. However, it did not divulge the financial details of the deal.

Airtel aims to deploy Aqilliz's blockchain technologies at scale across its fast-growing adtech (Airtel Ads), digital entertainment (Wynk Music and Airtel Xstream) and digital marketplace (Airtel Thanks App) offerings.

"Bharti Airtel...has acquired a strategic stake in Aqilliz – a Blockchain as a Service Company under the Airtel Startup Accelerator Program, subject to applicable statutory approvals," the company said in a statement.

Singapore-based Aqilliz has developed a patented hybrid blockchain platform, Atom, integrating differential privacy and federated learning on a distributed digital ledger.

The firm added that this allows brands to create secure and consent-based solutions to engage with customers in a rapidly-evolving digital economy that's becoming increasingly decentralised.

E-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles Cars24, has announced its annual ESOP Buyback worth Rs 75 crore to reward its employees. The value of total ESOP buyback till the date of Cars24 stands at about Rs 113 crore. The company said it has consistently held annual ESOP buybacks for the last four years, for both existing and former employees.

"This announcement demonstrates our confidence in our business and the growth we are witnessing. Our annual ESOP buyback plan is an extension of our appreciation for our employees.

We want to recognize and reward them for their determination and drive to achieve the unthinkable by solving unique problems each day that haven't been solved before with respect to the used car market. For start-ups, ESOPs are a great way of attracting and retaining talent," said Ruchit Agarwal, co-founder and CFO, CARS24.

The unicorn had raised $400 million in a Series G round led by Alpha Wave Global in December 2021. This included a $100 million debt component that was sourced from investors like the Commercial Bank of Dubai and IFM Investors in Australia.

Conversational engagement firm Gupshup has partnered with contact verification firm Truecaller to empower enterprises with access to advanced business identity solutions. With this partnership, brands will enable a secure voice communication ecosystem to better engage with consumers and improve their overall calling experience, the company said in a statement.

Also Read: Bengaluru-based edtech startup Vedantu Innovations plans global foray before IPO

Gupshup and Truecaller will bring the Verified Business Caller Identity solution to businesses. The partnership will help brands deliver personalized voice calls to customers, with a logo, verified tick, call reason and green badge with Truecaller caller identification for more meaningful engagement between brands and consumers, it added.

“The Verified Business Caller Identity solution will help businesses add more credibility to their consumer communication. With contextual information provided through a verified identity, the scope of identity theft and phishing are significantly reduced”, said Ravi Sundararajan, Chief Operating Officer, Gupshup.

Gupshup recently acquired Knowlarity, a cloud communications leader in cloud telephony, contact center automation, AI-powered voice assistants and speech analytics solutions.

Electric three-wheeler start-up Euler Motors plans to invest Rs 200 crore in the next 12 months to ramp up its production capacity. The company plans to increase its production capacity to 3,000 vehicles units per month by mid-2022.

It currently operates out of its integrated R&D (research and development) and corporate office in Delhi that has a production capability of 4,000 vehicles per annum. The firm now plans to reach 35,000 units per annum by the end of FY23.

"Our investments in capacity expansion are an effort towards fulfilling the growing demand and expanding our market footprint across the country," Euler Motors founder and CEO Saurav Kumar said in a statement.

The company will invest Rs 200 crore in the next 12 months to develop advanced shop floors in order to drive up production capacity in its two existing facilities across Delhi-NCR. It will also set up an automated battery line for its patented liquid-cooled battery pack technology. Currently, Euler Motors sells HiLoad electric three-wheelers.

Crypto platform CoinSwitch has launched Recurring Buy Plan in a bid to enable users to beat market volatility and avoid making impulsive buying or selling decisions.

"The CoinSwitch Recurring Buy Plan will allow users to purchase Crypto in a planned manner and enable the user to avoid the impulse to time the market and make emotional trading decisions. It will also empower users to explore this new asset class in a more structured and disciplined manner," said Ashish Singhal, founder and CEO, CoinSwitch.

Through Recurring Buy Plan (RBP), users can set aside a fixed amount of money to purchase a Crypto asset every month over a long period of time, allowing them to focus on a long-term strategy rather than timing the market, the firm said in a statement.

Users will also have to ensure there is enough balance in their CoinSwitch Account for future/repeat orders. The upper limit of buy orders on the platform is Rs 2,50,000 and users can have a single or multiple RBP for a single Crypto.

Kitchen appliances brand, Wonderchef, has announced its foray into the homeware category with the launch of a wide range of products. The Range covers tableware, barware, cutlery, glasses, linen, serve ware, and dinnerware in bone china, fine bone china, and stoneware, it said in a statement. The company plans to invest Rs 100 crore over the next three years in the designs and marketing of this range.

"A dining experience is an emotional journey. We will fuel the aspirations of our customers with collections from over 50 chosen designers who are curating products, especially for Wonderchef. Bollywood superstar Kriti Sanon will be the face of the brand for homeware," said Ravi Saxena, MD, Wonderchef.

As per the firm, over 750 products are being launched this week and this number will go to 2,000 within the next two months. Select designs would also be made available on partner sites like Nykaa, Myntra, Amazon, and Flipkart.

Singapore has raised concerns with India about its ban of popular gaming app "Free Fire", owned by technology group Sea, in the first sign of diplomatic intervention after the move spooked investors, sources told Reuters.

After the ban, the market value of the New York-listed Southeast Asian firm dropped by $16 billion in a single day, and investors worry India could extend it to Sea's e-commerce app, Shopee, which recently launched in the country.

The sources, who include two Indian government officials, said Singapore had asked Indian authorities why the app had been targeted in a widening crackdown on Chinese apps, even though Sea has its headquarters in the wealthy city-state. Singapore had queried if the app "was banned unintentionally," said one of the Indian officials aware of the diplomatic initiative.

The concerns, raised with India's external affairs ministry, were routed to the information technology (IT) department which ordered the ban, the two Indian sources said. India blocked "Free Fire" this month among a group of 54 apps it believes were sending user data to servers in China, government sources told Reuters.

Fintech startup Simpl has partnered with SugarBox Networks to address the digital divide by empowering customers with access to native digital connectivity.

As a checkout conversion partner for SugarBox Networks, Simpl will increase cart conversions and reduce dependence on COD (cash on delivery) orders, empowering merchants to build trusted relationships with consumers.

“We are enabling merchants across product categories and end-customers across segments to unlock multiple benefits from a single unified platform. Over the years, Simpl has added new verticals to its existing product portfolio attuned to evolving customer expectations, changing merchant requirements, and dynamic market scenarios," said Nitya Sharma, Simpl's CEO, and co-founder.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth since going public and missed expectations. During its annual Singles' Day promotional event last November, the company recorded gross merchandise value growth of 8.5%, a record low.

International commerce reached 16.45 billion yuan, up 18%. Local consumer services, which includes the company's food delivery apps, generated 12.14 billion yuan, up 27% from a year ago, Reuters reported.

Ant Group, Alibaba's fintech affiliate, posted a profit of about 17.6 billion yuan for the quarter ended September, according to Alibaba's filings, compared with 19.7 billion yuan in the previous quarter and 15 billion yuan a year ago.

The group has been subjected to a sweeping restructuring by China, which derailed its $37 billion initial public offering in late 2020. Alibaba's shares were down about 3% in New York before the opening bell. They fell about 5% before the results were announced, tracking losses in global shares after Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine.

Net income attributable to shareholders slumped to 20.43 billion yuan in the third quarter from 79.43 billion yuan a year earlier. Revenue rose about 10% to 242.6 billion yuan ($38.37 billion). Analysts on average had an expected revenue of 246.37 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv data. On an adjusted basis, Alibaba earned 16.87 yuan per American Depositary Share, above expectations of 16.18 yuan.

EBay has forecast bleak first-quarter results, as the e-commerce platform tackles waning online demand, stiff competition and global supply chain disruptions, sending the company's shares down nearly 9% in extended trading, Reuters reported.

EBay, which is already grappling with declining active users, expects a further hit as ramping up investments put pressure on its margins. "The second quarter should mark the low point for margins during the year as we lap difficult comps and ramp up our pace of investment," finance chief Stephen Priest said in a post-earnings conference call.

EBay expects first-quarter adjusted profit in the range of $1.01 to $1.05 on revenue of $2.43 billion to $2.48 billion; both estimates came in below Wall Street's expectations. The company's 2022 revenue and profit forecasts were also below expectations.

Meanwhile, eBay posted an adjusted profit of $1.05 per share on revenue of $2.61 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, above analysts' average estimates, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Part of eBay's revenue comes from advertising on its platform which crossed $1 billion last year, the company said.

However, gross merchandise volume, the total dollar value of sales on eBay from which the company takes a percentage, fell 10% to $20.7 billion. Annual active buyers on eBay also declined 9% to 147 million in the quarter, the company said.

Google is dropping some Covid-related mandates for employees and restoring perks back to its headquarters as it prepares to bring workers back to the office. Google Real Estate and Workplsposition: form-data; name="headline_3"