HomeStartup NewsSTARTUP DIGEST: Goyal to donate $90 mn to Zomato Future Foundation; Good Glamm Group to acquire Raymond Consumer Care & Musk may take over interim Twitter CEO

STARTUP DIGEST: Goyal to donate $90 mn to Zomato Future Foundation; Good Glamm Group to acquire Raymond Consumer Care & Musk may take over interim Twitter CEO

Startup Digest brings you a quick wrap of all the news that matters.

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By Aishwarya Anand  May 7, 2022, 1:28:34 PM IST (Updated)

STARTUP DIGEST: Goyal to donate $90 mn to Zomato Future Foundation; Good Glamm Group to acquire Raymond Consumer Care & Musk may take over interim Twitter CEO
Here are the top headlines from the startup space this week.


Delhivery IPO likely to open on May 11, issue size reduced to Rs 5,235 Cr

Logistics startup Delhivery’s IPO is likely to open for subscription on May 11 and close on May 13. The IPO for anchor investors will open on May 10.

Meanwhile, the firm has cut its total issue size to Rs 5,235 crore from Rs 7,460 crore planned earlier. It will now raise Rs 4,000 crore via the fresh issue and Rs 1,235 crore through an offer for sale (OFS).

Deepinder Goyal to donate entire $90 million ESOP proceeds to Zomato Future Foundation

Food tech giant Zomato’s co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal will be donating all his employee stock option plan (ESOP) proceeds worth Rs 700 crore to Zomato Future Foundation (ZFF), according to an internal communication sent by Goyal to Zomato’s employees.

“Right before we went public, I was granted some ESOPs by our investors/ board, basis my past performance and some of these ESOPs vested last month because there's a minimum one year vesting required as per law,” Goyal said in the letter. “At the average share price over the last month, these ESOPs are worth $90 million or Rs 700 crore. I am donating all the proceeds from these ESOPs (net of taxes) towards the Zomato Future Foundation,” Goyal added.

The Zomato Future Foundation will be covering the education of up to two children of all Zomato delivery partners, up to Rs 50,000 per child per annum on actuals, above a certain service quality benchmark, who have been on Zomato’s fleet for more than five years. The amount will increase to Rs 1,00,000 if the delivery partner completes 10 years with the company.

The foundation also covers, higher education scholarships, special program for girl children and educational and livelihood support for families of its delivery partners in the event of unfortunate circumstances such as accidents, Goyal added.

Good Glamm Group to acquire Raymond Consumer Care: Sources

The Good Glamm Group is set to acquire Raymond’s consumer business and the deal is likely to be announced in two weeks, sources told CNBC-TV18.

The cash-and-stock deal is pegged at around Rs 2,500-2,800 crore and will mark Good Glamm Group’s entry into the men’s personal care and sexual wellness category. Remember, Raymond Consumer Care houses the Park Avenue and KamaSutra brands.

Sources also said that the Raymond Group and promoters will hold a minority stake in the Good Glamm Group. The venture is also in talks to raise $250 million at a valuation of $2 billion.

Bodhi Tree to buy stake in Allen Career Institute for $600M

Bodhi Tree Systems, led by James Murdoch and Uday Shankar, will buy a strategic stake in Kota-based Allen Career Institute for $600 million (around Rs 4,590 crore).

Allen Career Institute's Managing Director Keshav Maheshwari said the majority of the investment will be utilised for the company's foray into the edtech space, followed by expansion of offline centres, both in India and overseas.

The transaction is expected to close within three months and is subject to closing conditions and requisite approvals.

Flipspaces acquires architect and interior design platform Renomania

Interior design tech startup, Flipspaces has acquired Renomania, a platform for end customers to comprehensively discover and engage with Architects, Interior Designers and Brands.

The acquisition is a 100 percent sale of the platform’s assets, database and all technology and related IP, the firm said in a statement.

Bhago Mobility Solutions acquires stake in Pastiche Energy Solutions

Bhago Mobility Solutions, a next-gen technology startup has announced its equity acquisition in Pastiche Energy Solutions.

The partnership aims to aggregate the strengths of both the companies towards the manufacturing of Solid State Batteries, Lithium batteries and Allied Products for applications such as Electric Mobility, Energy Storage, Defence, Aerospace, Telecommunications and others, it said in a statement.

Vedantu lays-off 200 tutors after re-evaluation of performance

Edtech unicorn Vedantu has laid off almost 200 contractual and full-time employees, becoming the latest startup to cut staff.

Of these 200, 120 were contract-based employees and 80 were full-time, a Vedantu spokesperson told CNBC-TV18. This constitutes 3.5 percent of Vedantu’s 6,000-strong workforce.

The startup stated that it hiring more than 1000 employees in various teams including 100+ for similar positions.

Ola Cars CEO Arun Sirdeshmukh resigns

Ola Cars CEO Arun Sirdeshmukh has resigned from his position less than a year after his appointment. He was appointed as the CEO of Ola's vehicle commerce business in October 2021.

The development comes as OLA’s chief financial officer (CFO) GR Arun Kumar took a wider role at the Softbank-backed company.

IIFL Finance and unicorn Open to launch neobank for MSMEs jointly

NBFC company IIFL Finance and fintech unicorn Open has announced a joint venture to launch a neobank that will cater to banking and credit requirements of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSMEs).

Initial capital of the joint venture company will be Rs 120 crore. The JV composition between IIFL Finance and Open is 51:49. The name of the joint venture would be IIFL Open Fintech Private Limited.

Amazon doubles cumulative export target from India to $20Bn by 2025

E-commerce giant Amazon expects cumulative exports from its platform in India to reach $20 billion by 2025, a senior company official said. In January 2020, the company had set a target to facilitate export worth $10 billion by 2025.

"In January 2020, we had taken a pledge to enable USD 10 billion in cumulative exports from India by 2025 with our global Selling program. Excited by the momentum in businesses joining the global selling program and by the growing demand for Made in India products across the world, I am super excited to announce that we are doubling down and raising our pledge to enable USD 20 billion in cumulative exports by 2025," Amazon senior vice president for India and emerging markets Amit Agarwal said.

Mobile Premier League launches Mayhem Studios to develop big budget games

Esports and skill gaming startup Mobile Premier League (MPL) has launched a gaming studio called Mayhem Studios to develop 'AAA mobile games' for domestic and global markets.

AAA Games are typically video game titles that have big budgets for both development and marketing purposes.

The Mayhem Studios will have a team of top-notch professionals in the area of animation, art, cinematics, design, engineering, UI and UX game design and game production, the company said.

Neobank Fi launches Mutual Fund investments, to roll out P2P lending soon

Fi Money, a neobank has launched its investment platform to help users invest their savings into Mutual Funds.

The firm will also roll out a P2P investing platform for the users to diversify their portfolio up to 9 percent annual returns in the next couple of weeks, it said in a statement.

Former Edelweiss Wealth CEO Nitin Jain launches ‘Neo Group’

Nitin Jain, former CEO of wealth and asset management, Edelweiss Financial Services, has launched an asset management and financial advisory platform Neo Group.

The group will have four business verticals - Neo World, Neo Asset Management, Neo Multi Family Office and Neo Leaf, a statement said.

Zilingo says board jointly suspended CEO Ankiti Bose, not individual investor

Fashion technology startup Zilingo has said the decision to suspend its co-founder and CEO Ankiti Bose over alleged discrepancies in the company’s accounts, was taken jointly by the board and not by any individual investor.

In a strongly-worded statement, the company said Bose made certain harassment-related allegations only after she was suspended on March 31 and no past or present investor nominees on the board were made aware of the harassment claims prior to that. It did not elaborate on the allegations against Bose.

Refuting claims of a big investor in the company being behind the decision to suspend Bose, it said, "this decision was taken jointly by the Board and the relevant shareholders pursuant to pre-agreed shareholders’ voting rights and does not reflect the decision of a single shareholder.”

Delhi govt approves startup policy with eye on youth, forms 20-member task force

The Delhi Cabinet has approved a startup policy which seeks to provide the youth with financial and procedural help in setting up companies and formed a 20-member task force for the purpose, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.

He also said the ‘Business Blaster’ programme, currently being run in Delhi government schools, will be extended to college students so they could work on their business ideas with seed money from the government.

"The government will provide financial help to start-ups through collateral-free loan, financial parts of rent and employee salaries. It will form a panel of agencies and experts to provide free help to new start-ups in trademark registration and fulfilling other formalities," he said.

Govt calls for a meeting with cab aggregators on May 10: Sources

Amid mounting consumer complaints, the Centre has asked cab and two-wheeler aggregators Uber, Ola and Meru Cabs to come clean on the charges levied by them, including the algorithms used by them,serif; font-size: large;">Ministry of Consumer Affairs has called a meeting of cab aggregators on May 10 to discuss the algorithm used by them to calculate fares. The central government is also looking at cancelation charges and how reasonable are fares as per the destination.

Meesho partners with Google Cloud to accelerate digital transformation

Social commerce unicorn Meesho has announced a strategic association with Google Cloud to drive its digital transformation journey.

With this collaboration, Meesho expects to generate a significant competitive advantage as it looks to build an AI-first supplier experience, better user acquisition strategies and a personalised shopping experience for the next billion e-commerce users in the country, according to a joint statement.

San Francisco-based Rise Capital enters India, to invest in early-stage startups

San Francisco-based Rise Capital has announced its entry into the Indian startup ecosystem and and has hired Anuj Mehta as its India head to source opportunities from the region.

The VC firm will be investing in India through its global fund III. The firm will be looking to invest in early stage startups and will back the potential winners in the follow on rounds, it said in a statement. Rise Capital believes that tech startups in India will create well over $1 trillion in market cap by 2030.

Bihar govt partners with Filo app to offer live tutoring to 45+ lakh students

Bihar government has entered into a statewide partnership with Filo, an instant live tutoring app, to offer free access to its platform to all students of class 9th to 12th from over 9000 government schools in the state.

The partnership will benefit over 45 lakh students across the state to access a qualified tutor 24x7 to solve problems, clear concepts, and learn on a 1:1 basis.

LEAD launches Super 100 programme for students from tier 2 towns

Edtech unicorn LEAD has launched ‘Super 100’ programme, comprising of coaching, tutoring and mentoring program.

As part of the programme, the top 100 students entering the grade 10 in LEAD-powered CBSE schools (academic year 2022-23) would be selected through a test and awarded a full scholarship for the year-long programme.

Hiring activity in India sees 38 percent annual growth in April: Naukri JobSpeak Index

The hiring activity in India registered 38 percent growth (year-on-year) in April and worst-hit sectors like travel and hospitality and retail owing to two years of the COVID-19 pandemic bounced back with over 100 percent hiring activity, according to the 'Naukri JobSpeak Apr'22 Index’.

The education sector also grew at a phenomenal pace indicating a strong demand for talent. Other sectors such as real estate, insurance, and banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) registered a significant jump in hiring activity in comparison to the last year.

Furthermore, industries like auto/auto ancillary, telecom/ISP and FMCG also observed a positive hiring growth, the report added.

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS

Elon Musk to take over interim Twitter CEO after deal closes: Report

Elon Musk is likely to take over as Twitter interim CEO for a few months after completing his $44 billion purchase of the social media company, CNBC reported.

Parag Agrawal, who was appointed as Twitter's CEO in November last year, is expected to stay on until the firm is sold to Musk, the report said.

According to Reuters, the Tesla CEO has lined up a new CEO for Twitter.

Musk secures $7Bn+ funding from investors including Larry Ellison

Elon Musk has secured $7.14 billion in funding from a group of investors that includes Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison and Sequoia Capital to fund his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, according to a filing seen by Reuters.

Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who had initially opposed the buyout, also agreed to roll his $1.89 billion stake into the deal rather than cashing out, the filing showed.

The move comes as Musk's margin loan was reduced to $6.25 billion from $12.5 billion announced earlier, according to the filing. Musk's $21 billion financing commitment was also revised to $27.25 billion.

Google acquires MicroLED display startup Raxium

Google has acquired Raxium, an innovator in single panel MicroLED display technologies, for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition of California-based startup with MicroLED technology will help Google build next generation of augmented/virtual and mixed reality headsets amid the buzz over metaverse.

Raxium will join Google's Devices and Services team.

Big Tech data harvesting comes under fire by world central bank group

A paper published by the world's main central bank umbrella group, the BIS, has called for individuals and firms to be given more control over the data collected on them by social media and other Big Tech firms and banks, Reuters reported.

The boom in internet-enabled mobile phones, apps and other high-tech gadgets in recent decades has led to an explosion of personal data that firms now harvest, process and sell.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) paper published on Thursday said while most countries already have some laws around data use, most individuals still were not aware of what was at stake, or their rights over their data.

Dorsey-led Block beats operating profit estimates

Block, the fintech firm led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, said it had not seen a decline in overall consumer spending through April, after reporting a first-quarter operating profit that topped Wall Street targets.

Block posted operating earnings, known as adjusted EBITDA, of $195 million, ahead of the Wall Street average expectation of $136 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

In the three months ended March 31, revenue fell 22 percent to $3.96 billion. The company earned an adjusted profit of 18 cents per share, below analysts' estimates of 21 cents.

DoorDash lifts 2022 core growth target after revenue jumps 35 percent

DoorDash raised its full-year forecast for a key industry metric on Thursday, indicating it has largely skirted labor woes that have plagued most sectors to ensure seamless delivery of food and groceries.

The company now estimates gross order value, the total value of all app orders and subscription fees, of $49 billion to $51 billion for 2022, compared with its prior range of $48 billion to $50 billion.

Revenue was $1.46 billion for the quarter ended March 31. Analysts were expecting a loss of 41 cents per share on revenue of $1.38 billion,serif; font-size: large;">Uber reports surging revenue as drivers return, but posts massive loss on investments: Report

Uber has reported surging revenue during the first quarter as the rideshare company said it’s recovering from its coronavirus lows and wouldn’t have to put up “significant” investments to keep drivers on the platform, CNBC reported.

But it also reported a $5.9 billion loss during the period that was largely attributed to the revaluation of equity investments. Shares were down more than 8 percent after markets opened.

For the second quarter, Uber anticipates gross bookings of between $28.5 billion and $29.5 billion. In addition, it expects adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, of between $240 million and $270 million.

Shopify earnings sink, $2.1Bn acquisition of logistics startup

Shopify reported first-quarter results that missed analysts’ estimates, and said it will acquire logistics start-up Deliverr for $2.1 billion in cash and stock, as per a CNBC report.

Shopify posted adjusted earnings of 20 cents per share, while Wall Street had expected 63 cents per share, according to a Refinitiv survey of analysts. Revenue grew 22 percent year over year to $1.2 billion, but that still fell short of Wall Street’s projected $1.24 billion.

Facebook parent to slow hiring as costs mount

Meta Platforms is slowing the growth of its workforce as the Facebook parent looks to rein in costs,serif; font-size: large;">"We regularly re-evaluate our talent pipeline according to our business needs and in light of the expense guidance given for this earnings period, we are slowing its growth accordingly," a Meta spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement.

Business Insider, citing an internal note to employees, reported that the company was lowering hiring targets and had temporarily stopped hiring for the remainder of the year.

Amazon ends COVID paid leave for US workers

Giant online retailer Amazon will end its paid time-off policy for employees with COVID-19 from May 2, the company told US-based staff.

The change follows the availability of COVID-19 vaccines and revised guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it said.

The US-based staff will now get five days of excused, unpaid leave following a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, Amazon told workers in a message it provided to Reuters.

Warren Buffett says he wouldn't pay $25 for all the bitcoin in the world: Report

Warren Buffett opened fire at bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry during Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting.

"If you told me you owned all the bitcoin in the world and you offered it to me for $25, I wouldn't take it," Buffett told CNBC. "What would I do with it?"

Hinting at his distrust of Bitcoin, he said there's a certain magic to Bitcoin and people attach magic to a lot of things

Apple hit with EU antitrust charge over its payment technology

EU antitrust regulators charged Apple with restricting rivals' access to its NFC chip technology in a move that could result in a hefty fine for the iPhone maker and force it to open its mobile payment system to competitors.

As per a Reuters report, the European Commission said it had sent a charge sheet known as a statement of objections to Apple, detailing how the company had abused its dominant position in markets for mobile wallets on iOS devices.

Didi says US regulator investigating its $4Bn IPO

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Didi after its tarnished initial public offering, adding further pressure on the Chinese ride-hailing giant,serif; font-size: large;">Didi said in its annual report, that it was contacted by the SEC after the company went public. The SEC “made inquiries in relation to the offering,” Didi said.

SpaceX capsule splashes down, bringing 4 astronauts home from 6-month mission

The third long-duration astronaut team launched by SpaceX to the International Space Station (ISS) safely returned to Earth early on Friday, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida to end months of orbital research ranging from space-grown chilies to robots,serif; font-size: large;">The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule dubbed Endurance, carrying three US NASA astronauts and a European Space Agency (ESA) crewmate from Germany, parachuted into calm seas in darkness at the conclusion of a 23-hour-plus autonomous flight home from the ISS.

The Endurance crew, which began its stay in orbit on Nov. 11, consisted of American spaceflight veteran Tom Marshburn, 61, and three first-time astronauts: NASA's Raja Chari, 44, and Kayla Barron, 34, and their ESA colleague Matthias Maurer, 52.
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