'Which fund manager in the world will put money into a company that hasn't filed its annual account?'
Unacademy is conducting another round of job cuts and laying off 350 employees or 10 per cent of its workforce of 3,500, as the SoftBank-backed edtech firm targets profitability and reduces costs, according to an internal note sent by Gaurav Munjal, co-founder and CEO of Unacademy group, to the staff. Munjal said the restructuring exercise would affect about 10 per cent of employees across the group. "I am deeply saddened to share that we will have to say goodbye to some of our extremely talented Unacademy employees," said Munjal in the letter addressed to employees and reviewed by Business Standard.
Don't look for a volunteering job for money, but as an investment for life, advises management consultant Virender Kapoor.
The turmoil, if you read the headlines, is about the so-called funding winter. Deep down, though, the question is one of the common direction in which founders and investors need to pull, points out Suveen Sinha.
Bajaj sold his 18-month-old start-up WhiteHat Jr to Byju Raveendran for $300 million in an all-cash deal - over the video conferencing platform Zoom. The deal is the biggest in the Indian edtech sector by far.
Pharmaceuticals, along with software and services, also added the most new entrants on the rich list 2018.
Forty Indians entered the billionaires' club in the pandemic-stricken 2020 to take the number of those in the coveted list to 177 people, a report said on Tuesday. Mukesh Ambani continued to be the wealthiest Indian with a networth of $83 billion. The head of Reliance Industries witnessed a 24 per cent jump in fortunes and climbed up one spot to be the eighth richest globally, as per the Hurun Global Rich List. Gautam Adani from Gujarat, who has had a spectacular rise in fortunes in the last few years, saw his wealth almost doubling to $32 billion in 2020 and climbed 20 places to be the 48th richest person globally and the second wealthiest Indian.
'We have gone through more than what any company will go through.'
The PE biggie has committed to pumping money into Jio Platforms, Byju's and Reliance Retail so far this year - all marquee names in their respective sectors.
Byju's has quietly moved into other global markets such as the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It recently launched operations in Latin America.
It's also among the top five most valuable Internet companies in India, reports Yuvraj Malik.
The firm has raised $204 million from nine investors such as Sequoia Capital, Light Speed Ventures, and Aarin Capital, and hopes to hit the $ 1 billion valuation mark this year.
While BlackRock is an existing investor in Byju's, T Rowe joined as a new investor.
This is the first investment in Asia from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which was founded by Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan
Venture Intelligence data shows that during January to July 2020, investors infused $998 million in 31 deals. The total number of deals reported in 2019 was 42 worth $404 million.
Byju's acquires licences of hundreds of characters from Disney; to use cartoon characters to teach math, science.
'There is no doubt at all that Jio's disruption of the mobile broadband market was a turning point for India's digital economy.'
The Chinese government is imposing severe restrictions on their tech companies - whether it is on data security, marketing practices or floating an IPO. Should this be music to the ears of Indian start-ups and home-grown private equity (PE) funds? Ask Indian start-ups and the answer is a resounding "yes".
Next month, the edtech start-up, that teaches coding to kids online, is launching operations in five new markets - the UK, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.
Byju's, says Anita Kishore, has given the founders of the businesses it has acquired the independence to operate separately and maintain their core culture.
In the past few days, many companies, including fashion e-tailer Nykaa, food delivery platform Zomato, logistics and delivery firm Delhivery, insurance discovery platform PolicyBazaar, eyewear retail chain Lenskart, and edtech and online tutoring firm Byju's, have openly spoken about their IPO plans.
Byju's has emerged as the leader in the Indian education-tech sector. They are pioneering technology shaping the future of learning for millions of school students in India.
Over 10 Indian start-ups with total valuations of $84 billion (some are planning fresh fund-raising) are bracing to launch initial public offerings (IPOs) in the next 36 months. While the size of their IPOs is under discussion, estimates are that they would together raise a minimum of over $8-10 billion during the initial listing.
'Kids like something when it is interesting, focused, and offers scope for self-exploration.' 'We teach them how to learn, not force them,' Byju Raveendran tells Bibhu Ranjan Mishra.
A slew of Indian firms, including Flipkart, Byju's and Zomato, is building a path to profitability and diversifying into newer business segments ahead of mega-IPO plans.
'We want to be in kids' learning like what Disney is to kids' entertainment.'
While Pokemon Go prompted people to get out of their chairs and take a walk, Trakinvest became a potential hiring platform for brokerage firms. Anita Babu on gamification in 2017.
'In the end, investing is about people.' 'If you get the right people, they make things happen,' Mengistu Alemayehu tells Shyamal Majumdar.
'I always say I am a teacher by choice and an entrepreneur by chance.'
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