OYO turns cash flow positive for the first time in Q4’23
Hospitality and travel tech company OYO said that it has turned cash flow positive in the fourth quarter of FY 2023, in a presentation to employees, a copy of which CNBC-TV18 has viewed.
The company is anticipated to end the quarter with nearly Rs 90 crore surplus cash flow. Founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal revealed to employees in the internal townhall that the firm has marked first financial year of adjusted EBITDA profitability since its inception and are expected to clock adjusted EBITDA of nearly Rs 800 crore for FY24.
The company tripled its adjusted EBITDA in H2FY23 to around Rs 185 crore, a jump from when Oyo reported a negative adjusted EBITDA of Rs 190 crore in H2FY22.
BrightCHAMPS forays into B2B space with Metamorphosis’ acquisition
Edtech startup BrightCHAMPS has acquired ISB incubated Metamorphosis in a cash and stock deal.
With the acquisition, BrightChamps, which has been operating in the B2C space, has marked its foray into the B2B segment. This is the third acquisition for the firm in the past 15 months.
Metamorphosis founder Pavan Allena will lead BrightChamps B2B vertical under its chief financial officer Amit Kumar. It will focus on enabling National Education Policy (NEP) compliance for schools across life skills courses the company offers, a statement said.
Stack Identity gets $4 million in seed round
Stack Identity, a Silicon Valley-based startup that automating identity and access management (IAM) governance to identify and eliminate cloud data threat vectors, has raised $4 million in seed funding round co-led by US-based WestWave Capital and Benhamou Global Ventures.
The firm will use funds to further invest in solving the challenge of automating cloud security as enterprises accelerate the development of data-centric and AI powered applications.
Stack Identity will also use the capital to scale product development, strengthen go-to-market strategies and expand customer reach, including SMBs, mid-market and enterprises.
Leo Capital leads $1.14 million seed round in QuickReply.ai
QuickReply.ai, a WhatsApp marketing and automation platform, has secured $1.14 million in a seed funding round led by Leo and saw participation from Pentathlon Ventures, GSF and entrepreneurs and angel investors.
The firm plans to deploy the capital largely towards talent acquisition, product development, bolstering its tech infrastructure, and research & development.
The startup is also looking to allocate funds towards marketing and global expansion to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Europe, over the next two years.
Aksum raises $1 million from Inflection Point Ventures
Aksum, a B2B SCaaS platform has raised $1 million in a mix of equity & debt in its Pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures.
The funds will be used to enhance and reinforce the technology framework of the company and also expand its reach to new geographic locations, a statement said.
The company claims to be on track to achieve a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of over Rs 250 Crore in the financial year 2023-24.
NRIHelpLine bags funding from angel investors
Non-Resident Indian (NRI) community-focused realty platform NRIHelpLine has raised an undisclosed amount in its seed funding round from a host of angel investors.
With the fresh capital, the startup is targeting the 100 million NRI diaspora with $100 billion in remittances.
The company is also planning to on-board real estate inventory in 6 Indian states and 29 cities for primary real estate sales in the first phase and secondary sales of real estate, a statement said.
RED.Health launches air ambulance services across 550+ cities in India
RED.Health, a medical emergency response platform has expanded its offerings to launch Air Ambulance services, to provide state-of-the-art medical emergency services with technology across 550+ cities in India.
The company said it has a fleet of 8 specialised aircrafts that can evacuate patients from any terrain or geography of the nation timely and efficiently. All the ambulances are equipped with defined SOPs, clinical pathways, medico-legal framework, and a team of qualified critical care professionals.
Razorpay joins ONDC to offer payment reconciliation services to buyers, sellers
Fintech player Razorpay has announced that it is joining the ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) ecosystem. The firm said it has become the first payment gateway to launch payment reconciliation services for buyers, sellers, and logistic partners.
Through this solution, Razorpay aims to provide a seamless and efficient way for Network Participants (NPs) to settle funds and process transactions on ONDC.
By routing settlement information for transactions and providing support for documentation and dispute resolution, Razorpay's solution helps to ensure that transactions are validated and secure, it added.
FunctionUp launches Data Science programme for professionals to crack US remote jobs
FunctionUp, an upskilling edtech platform has launched a Data Science programme, specifically designed to prepare students for US-based remote jobs.
The programme offers live classes with industry experts, personalised doubt-clearing sessions, and high-level projects, according to an official release, as per a statement.
FunctionUp claims that students will have the opportunity to work on more than 10 industry-grade major projects and over 40 minor projects, including projects on generative AI modules such as ChatGPT 4, Financial Fraud Detection, and Autonomous Driving Cars.
Swiggy and Apna to make 10,000 local gig jobs available in tier 2 cities in 2023 for Instamart
Swiggy has partnered with jobs and professional networking platform Apna to create 10,000 gig working jobs for its quick commerce grocery service Instamart in 2023.
The company said in a statement that with this they aim to strengthen its delivery fleet in tier 2 and 3 cities across the country. Swiggy Instamart is currently present in over 25 cities in India.
Approximately 23.5 million delivery workers will be employed in the country by 2029-30, according to industry reports.
GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS
Amazon to shut down Halo division, lays off some staff
Amazon said it was shutting down its Halo division that sells health and sleep trackers as the technology giant kicks off wider company layoffs.
The company said it will stop supporting Halo services from July 31, and will fully refund Halo devices purchases made in the preceding 12 months.
"We notified impacted employees in the U.S. and Canada today," the company said in a blog post.
Meta wins back Wall Street with AI promises
Meta Platforms is a Wall Street darling again. The company's shares continued their winning streak on Thursday, surging 12% after Meta's focus on AI and cost-cutting cheered investors whose enthusiasm has already helped the social media behemoth nearly double in value this year.
Meta is set to add around $60 billion to its market valuation, if premarket gains hold. The rally also lifted other tech companies from Snap and Pinterest to Amazon by as much as 3.3%.
Meta beat expectations for first-quarter profit and revenue, which rose for the first time in nearly a year, the latest sign that American tech giants were digging themselves out of a slump that has sparked tens of thousands of layoffs.
Microsoft hits back at UK after Activision acquisition blocked
Microsoft's president Brad Smith said the UK regulator's decision to prevent its acquisition of 'Call of Duty' maker Activision Blizzard "had shaken confidence" in Britain as a destination for tech businesses.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which operates independently from government, blocked the deal on Wednesday, saying it could hit competition in the nascent cloud gaming market.
Microsoft hit back, saying it was "probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain" and sent the wrong message to the global tech industry about the UK.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Reuters, Smith's comments were "not borne out by the facts".
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