Startup Digest: Peak XV plans investment markdown in BYJU’s, Myntra to cut 50 jobs as part of restructuring, more

Ecommerce fashion major Myntra has initiated a restructuring exercise in which approximately 50 employees are expected to be laid off.

Some of the impacted employees might get placed within the Flipkart Group as the reshuffle is still going on. As a result, the number is expected to be less than 50, a Myntra spokesperson told CNBC-TV18.

These layoffs will impact roles across verticals, however, staff in the in-house brands vertical would be most affected, sources confirm. The development comes as result in Myntra’s strategy change as the company shifts its focus on a few private labels instead of scaling its in-house brands in the apparel segment.

Homegrown quick-grocery delivery provider Dunzo has received a legal notice from at least seven companies since March this year.

According to Moneycontrol, Dunzo had received legal notices from Google India, Nilenso, Clover Ventures, Facebook India Online Services Private Limited, Cupshup, Koo and Glance.

Overall, Dunzo's outstanding vendor debts total approximately Rs 11.4 crore, nearly double the Rs 5-6 crore previously estimated.

Omnichannel retail SaaS solution platform Vinculum Group has received the first tranche of its Series C funding round, after raising an undisclosed amount from logistics unicorn Delhivery.

The funding round was a mix of equity and debt. Delhivery was the corporate anchor investor in the round which also saw participation from early investor Accel Partners. Recur Club provided debt financing as part of the funding. Additionally, the founders of Vinculum, also increased their stake in the company, the details of which however remained undisclosed.

The startup will use fresh funds for product development, hiring talent as well as expanding its presence globally, it said in a statement.

Homegrown brewery startup Grano69 Beverages has bagged Rs 8.5 crore from Mumbai Angels. The round also saw the participation from Hyderabad Angels, Finnvolve, Speed Fund, AngelList India, and Friends and Family.

The existing investors include Dauble PTE and Dev Punj. The funds will be utilised to expand the brand’s presence in new territories and increase its current production capacity, a statement said.

Proost beers are currently available in 1500 retail outlets across four states - Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Punjab. With this expansion, the company aims to expand its total production capacity to 1,50,000 cases per month.

Plotch.ai, a firm that helps build tech infrastructure for other enterprises to join ONDC, has raised an undisclosed capital in its pre-seed funding round led by Antler India.

This round also saw participation from Peak XV, Global Founders Capital, and Apoletto.

As per the startup, the will be used to enhance its ONDC product suite and build cutting edge capabilities as the leading Technology Services Provider (TSP) in the ONDC ecosystem.

Government-owned lender Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has anchored a debt fund managed by financier Vivriti Asset Management, in one of its largest allocations to a fund so far, with an aggregate target corpus of Rs 700 crores in two phases.

The fund will help in providing necessary debt capital to microenterprises and building bond markets for issuers rated BBB and lower category. It aims to impact 8,000 microenterprises and 80,000 women entrepreneurs, a statement said.

The fund is expected to make 20 – 25 investments in MFIs/ NBFCs and Fintechs rated in below BBB or lower category, and through it will extend financial support to 4,000 microenterprises and 40,000 women entrepreneurs.

Fintech unicorn Razorpay has launched a MoneySaver Export Account to help Indian exporters open bank accounts in any country of their choice.

The exporters can open a ‘smart account’ the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia and receive payments locally via bank transfers on the fintech's platform.

With this new launch, the company expects its International Payments product suite to contribute to over 20 percent of Razorpay’s overall payments revenue by 2025.

Online food-delivery platform Swiggy and private sector HDFC Bank have announced the launch of the Swiggy HDFC Bank co-branded credit card.

The co-branded credit card, the first ever from Swiggy, will be hosted on Mastercard's payment network. The credit card will provide cardholders rewards and benefits across various online platforms, including Swiggy, according to the company.

The credit card users will be able to unlock a wide range of benefits including a 10 per cent cashback on Swiggy spends across food delivery, quick commerce grocery delivery, dining out, and more.

Fidelity International, a global investment and retirement savings business is expanding its presence in India and opened an office in Bengaluru after offices in Gurugram and Mumbai.

The new office will bolster Fidelity International’s presence in the country, as well as provide access to a new pool of skilled talent.

The company has started hiring for the new Bengaluru office and will build its local presence over the next year and a half for skills and capabilities across business functions.

Arya.ag, a grain commerce platform, has announced the appointment of Jatinder Alagh as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

Alagh will help in Arya.ag enhance its user experience, optimise processes and drive innovation for leveraging advanced technologies, furthering the organisational aim to empower all stakeholders in the ecosystem.

“We are confident that his extensive experience and strong engineering background will empower him to lead the tech team effectively as we build India's most comprehensive integrated digital platform,” said Prasanna Rao, Co-Founder & CEO, Arya.ag.

Alphabet's second-quarter profit exceeded Wall Street expectations and the Google parent announced that its long-time CFO, Ruth Porat, would assume a new role while the company sought a new finance chief.

Alphabet's results were helped by steady demand for its cloud services and a rebound in advertising. The shares jumped 8% in after-hours trading.

Alphabet reported net profit of $1.44 per share for the April-June period, compared with estimates of $1.34 per share. Revenue for the quarter stood at $74.6 billion, compared with estimates of $72.82 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

Microsoft has laid out an aggressive spending plan to meet demand for its new artificial intelligence services after surpassing Wall Street estimates for fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and profit.

Revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30 rose to $56.2 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $55.5 billion according to Refinitiv. Net income was $2.69 per share, above the $2.55 average estimate.

Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud unit, which houses the Azure cloud computing platform, increased its revenue to $24 billion slightly topped expectations according to Refinitiv data. Azure revenue rose 26%, beating a 25.2% growth estimate from Visible Alpha.

Photo messaging app-owner Snap gave weaker third quarter guidance than analysts had expected as it works to compete with tech giants for advertising dollars, sending its shares down 18 percent.

Santa Monica, California-based Snap said it estimates third quarter revenue will be between $1.07 billion to $1.13 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue of $1.13 billion, at the top end of the guidance range.

Similarly, Wall Street forecast 406.2 million users in the third quarter, according to IBES data from Refinitiv, but Snap said it expects between 405 million to 406 million daily active users.

Jack Ma-backed Ant Group is planning a restructuring that will break off some non-core operations of its China financial-related business, Bloomberg News reported.

The Alibaba Group affiliate is looking at excluding its blockchain, database management services and international businesses from a main entity that will be used to apply for a financial holding license in China, the report said.

Once the restructuring is complete and Ant secures the license, it can prepare for a public listing in Hong Kong instead of reviving the dual Shanghai-Hong Kong listing plan that was suspended by Chinese authorities in 2020.

Britain's anti-trust regulator said Amazon's offer to change the way it treats third-party sellers using its Marketplace platform addresses competition concerns in its preliminary view published on Wednesday.

It will now consult on the commitments proposed by Amazon, it added.

Last year, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was investigating Amazon over suspected breaches of competition law, including how it chooses products which are placed within the "Buy Box" feature.

An Australian court ordered Meta to pay fines totalling A$20 million ($14 million) for collecting user data through a smartphone application advertised as a way to protect privacy without disclosing its actions.

Australia's Federal Court also ordered Meta, through its subsidiaries Facebook Israel and the now-discontinued app, Onavo, to pay A$400,000 in legal costs to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which brought the civil lawsuit.

The fine wraps up one strand of Meta's legal issues in Australia related to its handling of user information since a global scandal erupted over its use of data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica in the 2016 U.S. election.