In a bid to democratise education, cash-strapped edtech firm Byju's has significantly reduced the prices of its products. The annual subscription fee for the Byju's Learning App now stands at Rs 12,000 (inclusive of taxes) per year, while Byju's Classes and Byju's Tuition Centres (BTC) are priced at Rs 24,000 and Rs 36,000 respectively for a full year of classes, according to the sources.
An initiative of Nandan Nilekani's EkStep Foundation, people+ai on Tuesday unveiled its vision for the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India, dubbed 'Adbhut India' (Amazing India). It aims to harness AI as a powerful tool to enhance the lives of all Indians. The event marked the rollout of several initiatives by people+ai that are focused on discovering, demonstrating, and disseminating population-scale AI use cases for India.
Cash-strapped edtech firm Byju's is likely to pay its employees the April salaries this week, according to sources. The company is grappling with the issue of delays in paying salaries to employees. "There has been a delay in salary. It is expected to be now paid sometime this week," said a person.
The fresh meat and seafood delivery startup Licious plans to set up 500 stores nationwide within the next five years as part of an omnichannel strategy. The aim is to attract new users in the offline channel and encourage them to transact online as well. The move would also help the company in its efforts to achieve profitability and go for an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 24 months, according to the sources.
Food delivery major Swiggy has received approval from its shareholders for a $1.25 billion initial public offering (IPO), according to filings made with the Registrar of Companies sourced by Tofler. The Bengaluru-based firm plans to raise as much as Rs 3,750 crore (around $450 million) via a fresh issue and up to Rs 6,664 crore (around $800 million) through an offer-for-sale (OFS) component, the filings stated.
'Despite the animosity shown by some of the investors in pursuing uncalled for legal actions, we continue to show good faith towards all our shareholders.'
The blast at The Rameshwaram Caf has caused distress and concern among the startup and information technology (IT) community, raising questions related to safety and security. Approximately 10 people were reportedly injured in a low-intensity bomb blast at The Rameshwaram Caf, a popular restaurant in Bengaluru's Brookfield. The surrounding area is a major hub for the Indian technology (tech) industry, housing many startups and top IT companies such as IBM, SAP, Accenture, International Tech Park Bangalore, and Prestige Technostar.
Uber Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dara Khosrowshahi sees India as one of the toughest markets and a standard to succeed in any other part of the world. One of the biggest challenges for the ride-hailing firm, according to Khosrowshahi, is the expectation of Indian consumers for more services at lower spending. "India is one of the toughest markets out there.
The third quarter (Q3) of 2023-24 (FY24) has proven to be pivotal, witnessing some startups turning profitable and others enhancing their performance as their businesses finally begin to deliver. Startups like Delhivery, Zomato, PolicyBazaar, Mamaearth, and Nykaa have either become profitable or improved their profit margins in Q3FY24. A renewed focus on profitability, supported by operational efficiencies, expense rein-in, and robust demand during the festival season, has empowered companies to strengthen their performance.
Fintech major PhonePe on Wednesday announced the launch of its homegrown Indus Appstore specifically for the Indian market, in a bid to compete with global incumbents like Google Play Store and Apple's App Store. The Indus Appstore is PhonePe's attempt at creating a more competitive and localised mobile app store economy for India, which is already the world's largest market for mobile apps.
Ahead of Friday's extraordinary general meeting (EGM), Byju Raveendran, chief executive officer (CEO) of Byju's, told shareholders that he is committed to restructuring the board of the embattled educational technology (edtech) firm. He also committed to appointing two non-executive directors to the board by the mutual consent of the founder and shareholders. The development comes at a time when a consortium of key shareholders, holding over 30 per cent stake in Byju's, issued a notice to the embattled edtech firm this month, calling for an EGM to address "persistent issues", including a proposed change of management at the firm.
A consortium of shareholders with over 30 per cent stake in cash-strapped Byju's might approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking a management change, if the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) scheduled for Friday failed to yield an 'amicable settlement' or faced further delays, sources said. Earlier this month, these shareholders had issued a notice calling for an EGM to address "persistent issues", including a change in management. They will vote for a revamp of the existing board, an exercise which would include asking Byju Raveendran to step down as chief executive officer (CEO) and relinquish his operational role, according to sources.
Swiggy is planning to file its draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for its initial public offering (IPO) in the next two weeks, aiming for an $11 billion IPO valuation target. The Bengaluru-based firm plans to raise an estimated $1 billion (Rs 8,300 crore) through the IPO this year. The company is targeting a valuation in the range of $10-11 billion, and it currently has approximately $800 million in cash from the previous funding round, according to sources.
Byju Raveendran, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Byju's, along with its nearly 51 investors, are responsible for the beleaguered edtech firm's current predicaments, said Ronnie Screwvala, executive chairman and co-founder of edtech platform UpGrad. Speaking at the second edition of the ASU+GSV & Emeritus Summit in Gurugram, he emphasised that "one rotten apple" should not affect the entire edtech sector.
Leading up to Valentine's Day on February 14, quick-commerce platforms like Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart have witnessed a phenomenal uptick in the sales of products related to the occasion, such as roses and chocolates. Meanwhile, e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart have gone live with their respective Valentine's Day sale events, offering generous discounts on products. Sales of chocolates and roses on Zomato-owned Blinkit shattered previous records at the beginning of this year's Valentine's Day week, on February 7, which is celebrated as Rose Day.
'What has happened at Byju's is no surprise to anyone.'
Layoffs, corporate restructuring, governance and most importantly profitability: The 14 Indian startups that plan IPOs this year are pulling out all the stops to ensure successful market debuts.
Byju Raveendran, the founder and chief executive officer of the beleaguered edtech firm Byju's, said the company credited all pending January salaries to employees over the past few days. This was communicated to the employees in another letter sent on February 4. Byju's has about 15,000 employees. "I know you were told that you would get your salaries by Monday.
In 2024 so far, 20 startups have already visited the campus with 80 placements.
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances