BYJU's disqualifies US lender for 'predatory' tactics and stops servicing $1.2 billion loan

Edtech major BYJU'S has filed a lawsuit in a New York court challenging the acceleration of the $ 1.2 billion term loan B (TLB) it raised in November 2021.

In what is possibly the first action of its kind by an Indian company, BYJU’s has also issued a notice to one of its creditors, Redwood, disqualifying it as a lender.

“It is important to note that BYJU'S had so far demonstrated remarkable restraint by refraining from utilising the disqualification clause, instead striving for months to achieve an amicable resolution with the hawkish trader-lenders,” the edtech has said.

Sequoia Capital splits into three entities; India Biz Rebrands to Peak XV Partners

Sequoia India & Southeast Asia is now known as Peak XV Partners, marking a significant shift in the firm's identity and strategic focus. The VC giant that manages over $85 billion globally will split into Sequoia Capital representing the U.S. and Europe, HongShan in China and Peak XV Partners in India and Southeast Asia.

It has been an early investor in tech companies like Airbnb, WhatsApp, Zoom and ByteDance among others. The firm plans to complete the separation by March 2024.

Peak XV Partners will now function as a fully independent venture capital firm, maintaining its commitment to managing a substantial $9.2 billion across 13 funds. Additionally, the firm said it will leverage an impressive $2.5 billion of uninvested capital to pursue new investment opportunities.

GoKwik acquires chat commerce startup Tellephant

Ecommerce enabler GoKwik has acquired omnichannel communications specialist Tellephant for an undisclosed amount to tap WhatsApp commerce.

With this acquisition, GoKwik has now launched its third product KwikChat, a one-stop solution on Whatsapp catering to multiple use cases across the e-commerce funnel. Brands can use KwikChat to power their end-to-end conversational commerce backed by GoKwik’s seamless checkout experience and return-to-origin (RTO) intelligence, a statement said.

The company claims to have witnessed over 200 percent jump in Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) through KwikChat. Over 300 Direct-to-consumer (D2C) players like FireBoltt, Pilgrim, Foxtale, Portronics, among others are using KwikChat as their WhatsApp solution.

DS Group buys LuvIt chocolate maker The Good Stuff

Dharampal Satyapal Group (DS Group) has acquired The Good Stuff, the company that sells chocolates and confectionery under the LuvIt brand.

Goldman Sachs and Japanese conglomerate Mitsui, through associated entities, came on board as investors of The Good Stuff, having put in more than Rs 500 crore in the company.

This acquisition is in line with the DS group’s plans to grow its confectionery portfolio, while widening distribution across grocery and other retail outlets, a statement said. The deal will also strengthen the group’s presence in southern India.

River gets $15 million in funding from Dubai-based Al Futtaim Group

EV startup River has bagged $15 million in a funding round led by Dubai-based Al Futtaim Group. Other investors including Lowercarbon Capital, Toyota Ventures, Maniv Mobility, and Trucks VC also participated in the investment round.

The fresh capital infusion will help the company boost its manufacturing capabilities and also in the upcoming market launch of its maiden product – Indie, a statement said. It will also bolster River's growth, priming its manufacturing and distribution networks for an August delivery kick-off, it added.

This is the third fund raised by the startup, following a $2 million seed round in March 2021 and a $11 million Series A round in July 2022.

Matrix India leads $3.5 million seed round in GenWise

GenWise, a lifestyle app for the elderly, has bagged $3.5 million in a seed funding round led by Matrix Partners India.

The round also saw participation from investors including DBR Ventures, the Family Office of Jagran Group and Climber Capital. Angel investors including Cred’s Kunal Shah, BharatPe’s Suhail Sameer and RentoMojo’s Achal Mittal, also invested in the round.

Matrix’s investment comes a week after the venture capitalist announced the close of its fourth fund with a corpus of $550 million as against the initial plan of raising $450 million to invest in early-stage startups in India. This is Matrix’s largest India-dedicated fund till date.

Togai raises $3.1 million from Together Fund and others

Togai, a B2B Software as a Service (SaaS) metering and pricing platform, has bagged $3.1 million in a seed funding round, led by Together Fund, with participation from BoldCap, Core91, and angel investors, including Prasanna Shankar, the Co-Founder of Rippling.

The startup intends to use the funds for product development and expanding into new geographies. Togai enables businesses to roll out pricing changes within a matter of hours, circumventing the need for time consuming engineering efforts.

The company’s business to business (B2B) plug-and-play model is open to public access. Its monetization marketplace, currently in beta, hosts over 10 apps and integrations.

PolicyBoss raises undisclosed sum in Series B funding round

PolicyBoss, an insurtech startup has closed its series B round with an undisclosed investment with a consortium of investors including India SME Investments and existing investor TPG Growth.

The round also saw participation from angel investors Madhav Mirani, co-founder of Ugam Solutions, and Jitendra Gupta.

PolicyBoss said it will invest the fresh capital to strengthen its technology, deepen last mile presence and diversify its product offerings. Post this fund raise, the company said it has a liquid balance sheet size of over Rs 140 crore.

D2C brand Koparo raises $1.5 million in Pre-Series A round

Koparo, a sustainable home and personal hygiene brand has netted $1.5 million in a Pre Series A funding round led by Saama Capital.

Fluid Ventures and M Venture Partners along with angels Rajesh Sawhney (Founder and CEO of GSF Accelerator), Sridhar Sankararaman (Multiples PE), and Ramesh Menon (Ex-Future Group, Hypercity), joined the funding round as new investors. The round also saw participation from existing investors DSG Consumer Partners.

As per the company, the funds raised will be deployed to build offline presence, invest in brand building, and drive product innovation. Koparo claimed that its revenues grew 10X in the last 12 months. The company had raised a seed round of $750,000 last year. It currently offers a portfolio of over 15 products and 30+ Stock Keeping Units (SKUs).

India will become a $1 trillion internet economy by 2030: Google, Bain & Temasek Report

India is embarking on its 'Digital Decade' propelled by a persistent transformation in consumer and merchant behaviour, bolstered by robust investor trust. This trajectory has paved the way for the country to achieve a substantial $1 trillion consumer internet economy by 2030, found a study.

According to the 'India e-Conomy Report' — jointly published by Google, Bain & Company, and Temasek — with over 700 million internet users in India, digital services have become an indispensable part of their lives. Among them are 350 million individuals who utilise digital payment platforms and 220 million who engage in online shopping.

As per the report, India is undergoing a "fundamental shift in income and consumption", directly leading to growth spanning B2B e-commerce, business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce, SaaS, online travel bookings, online media consumption, online food delivery, edtech, healthtech, and insurtech, among others.

Rebel Foods gives ESOPs to over 5,000 employees

Foodtech unicorn Rebel Foods has granted Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) to another 5,000 employees of its 350-plus kitchens and corporate offices.

With this, the total value of ESOPs held by the employees of Rebel Foods has now reached $65 million. This move will allow a chance for wealth creation for kitchen staff, riders, runners, administrative teams, and corporate staff across India, UAE, and the United Kingdom, the company said in a statement.

The development comes months after the startup laid off about 2 percent of its workforce in January. In December last year, it raised Rs 55 crore in debt.

Livpure records 50% growth in FY23

Home appliances and solutions brand Livpure has clocked 50 percent Year-On-Year growth in FY23. As per the company, 50 percent of its revenues have come through the digital channels.

The firm is targeting to become 2.5 times its current size in the next couple of years and plans to expand its retail presence and product portfolio. Livpure is also looking to incorporate national and regional modern trade partners to make its air coolers available on all leading e-commerce sites, a statement said.

“We now look forward to getting our distribution even deeper and ensuring our entire portfolio is available across multiple channels. We believe Livpure can double its revenue in the next couple of years, owing to tremendous growth opportunities in the overall water business and smart home segment,” said Rakesh Kaul, Managing Director, Livpure.

PhonePe Group launches account aggregator service

Fintech giant PhonePe, which recently received the Non-Banking Finance Companies – Account Aggregators (NBFC-AA) licence from Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has announced the launch of its AA services through its wholly-owned subsidiary PhonePe Technology Services Pvt Ltd (PTSPL).

PTSPL’s AA service will allow Indian consumers to consent to and share all their financial data, such as bank statements, insurance policies and tax filings with regulated financial institutions or Financial Information Users (FIUs) for several use cases such as applying for loans, buying new insurance, getting investment advice and more, the firm said in a statement.

As a part of the launch, PTSPL has already integrated with multiple Financial Information Providers (FIP) such as YES Bank, Federal Bank, AU Small Finance Bank, etc. Several other FIPs, including large banks, are likely to get integrated before the end of June.

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS

Apple launches new Vision Pro headset

Apple has launched the Vision Pro, an augmented reality headset, at its annual conference. The headset offers advanced features, controller-free navigation, and a seamless blend of augmented and virtual reality. It incorporates eye movements, hand gestures, and voice commands, and supports Bluetooth accessories.

Apple has assured users that they can stay connected to the real world while using the headset, and it includes features like pass through video technology and spatial audio. The Vision Pro has been a highly anticipated product for Apple and has received positive feedback so far, with Meta's Quest 2 headset as its primary competitor.

Spotify to layoff 200 workers in podcast division

Spotify said it would cut 200 jobs from its podcast unit in its second round of layoffs, as the company restructures the business after years of heavy investment.

The move affects about 2% of the music-streaming giant's workforce and aligns Spotify with the likes of Meta and Roku, which have also cut jobs for the second time in response to an uncertain economy.

Spotify cut 6% of its workforce earlier in 2023 and announced the departure of Dawn Ostroff, who helped shape its podcast business and guided it through controversies such as the backlash around Joe Rogan's show for allegedly spreading misinformation about COVID-19.

Binance, US affiliate hit by net outflows of $790 million

Investors have pulled around $780 million from crypto exchange Binance in the last 24 hours, data firm Nansen told after the world's biggest crypto exchange was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Binance's U.S. affiliate exchange registered net outflows of $13 million in the same period, Nansen said.

The SEC sued Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao and the operator of Binance.US over what it called a "web of deception" to evade U.S. laws.

Microsoft searching for solutions over UK block on Activision deal

The president of Microsoft said he was looking for solutions to try to get British approval for the software giant's $69 billion acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard.

British competition authorities blocked the biggest ever deal in gaming in April, in a shock decision which Microsoft has since appealed. President Brad Smith said he was hopeful the outcome could change.

"I'm in search of solutions," Microsoft President Brad Smith said at the techUK’s Tech Policy Leadership conference in London.

(Edited by : Keshav Singh Chundawat)