Italian app developer Bending Spoons plans to lay off 75% of the staff at file-sharing platform WeTransfer, according to CEO Luca Ferrari. While the exact details of the layoffs are yet to be finalized, Ferrari confirmed the significant reduction in WeTransfer‘s workforce following Bending Spoons’ acquisition of the platform in July.
This acquisition marks Bending Spoons’ fifth this year, and comes after the company raised $155 million through a capital increase in February, which boosted its valuation to $2.55 billion. WeTransfer, originally founded in 2009 in the Netherlands, had previously aimed for an initial public offering in Amsterdam with a targeted valuation of up to 716 million euros in 2022. However, due to market volatility, the IPO plans were eventually shelved.
Bending Spoons’ decision to restructure WeTransfer reflects its broader strategy of streamlining operations following multiple acquisitions. The company’s expansion and significant fundraising efforts highlight its aggressive growth trajectory within the tech industry, even as it navigates challenging market conditions that have impacted companies like WeTransfer.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and Swiggy have partnered to create skilling and employment opportunities within Swiggy’s food delivery and quick commerce network. This collaboration aims to benefit 2.4 lakh delivery partners and staff from restaurant partners associated with Swiggy, providing them with employment, internships, and training in areas like restaurant operations and retail management.
Under the “Swiggy Skills” initiative, Swiggy’s delivery partner platform will be integrated with the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH). This integration will offer Swiggy’s workforce access to online skill development courses, certifications, and training modules, enhancing their skills and employment prospects.
Jayant Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, emphasized the potential of public-private partnerships in creating new opportunities within the logistics sector, highlighting the initiative’s role in accelerating workforce development. Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary of MSDE, noted that the partnership will drive economic growth in the retail and supply chain logistics sectors while providing skilling, upskilling, and reskilling opportunities aligned with the government’s vision.
Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy Food Marketplace, mentioned that Swiggy plans to integrate with MSDE’s Skill India Digital Hub across its partners’ apps, enabling nearly 2.4 lakh delivery partners and 2 lakh restaurant staff to access online skill development courses and offline certifications. Kapoor added that Swiggy Instamart will recruit 3,000 individuals nationwide and offer training and internships to 200 individuals trained by MSDE for senior roles in its quick commerce operations.
This partnership underscores Swiggy’s commitment to enhancing the skills and livelihoods of its workforce while contributing to the broader economic impact of the retail and logistics sectors.
Avnish Bajaj, co-founder of Matrix Partners India along with Rishi Navani in 2006, has announced the firm’s rebranding to Z47 as it moves towards independence. Matrix Partners India, an early backer of companies like Ola, Ola Electric, OfBusiness, and Razorpay, is taking a path similar to Sequoia US, which also separated from its India and China units. Bajaj, who previously co-founded Baazee with Nexus Venture Partners‘ Suvir Sujan and sold it to eBay in 2004, views the rebranding as a natural progression for the Mumbai-based venture capital firm.
In the early 2000s, many Indian VC funds were established as affiliates of US firms but have since evolved, with leadership changes and partnerships shifting in response to the industry’s dynamics. The past two years have seen significant resets in the global VC sector, with geopolitical tensions leading US firms to distance themselves from China and Indian franchises struggling due to performance issues in cash distribution and returns.
Despite these challenges, Bajaj remains optimistic about India’s potential, emphasizing that limited partners (LPs) still believe in the country’s prospects as more companies go public. Z47′s portfolio includes Bhavish Aggarwal’s Ola Electric, which recently went public and saw a significant rise in stock value, indicating strong market confidence in the electric vehicle sector. Bajaj’s early investment in Ola, starting in 2013, has grown alongside other notable IPOs, including Go Digit, FirstCry, and possibly Swiggy, which highlight the growing strength of Indian startups.
Bajaj expressed caution about the potential for a new influx of capital driven by recent IPO successes, as exits typically encourage further investment. He hopes the market has learned from the investment frenzy of 2021, which led to booms and busts, a recurring cycle in the venture capital landscape.
Reflecting on Matrix India’s 18-year journey, Bajaj acknowledged the firm’s challenges, particularly around liquidity, but remains committed to achieving a 3x net return for LPs. Matrix India raised $550 million for Fund IV last year, building on approximately $1.4 billion raised since its inception. Bajaj stresses the importance of maintaining manageable fund sizes, suggesting that optimal returns are achieved with funds between $250 million and $750 million. He cautions against larger funds, which often see diminishing returns.
Some of Matrix India’s recent partial exits include investments in Five Star Business Finance, OfBusiness, and Dailyhunt, signaling ongoing efforts to refine its portfolio strategy and maximize value for investors.
Byju’s is facing increasing challenges, with recent developments including the resignation of its auditor due to concerns over transparency, pending legal issues, and other factors. BDO (MSKA & Associates), which was appointed as the edtech giant’s auditor for a five-year term from 2022 to 2027, officially resigned by submitting a letter to the Registrar of Companies (RoC).
Byju’s co-founder, Byju Raveendran, reportedly dismissed the resignation of BDO as a blackmail tactic. In a letter to the auditor, he asserted that the company had complied with all requests made by BDO. The audit firm had requested a forensic audit of Byju’s following the company’s admission into insolvency in July.
In its resignation letter, BDO cited inadequate support from Byju’s management in providing access to the books of accounts, information, and explanations needed to complete the audit for the financial year 2022-23. The auditor stated that they had made multiple requests for audit information through various communications, including emails.
BDO also pointed out that Byju’s has lost control over some of its subsidiaries and no longer has access to their financial records due to ongoing litigation with lenders. Additional concerns included the liquidation process, allegations from shareholders, and a show cause notice issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Over the past two years, Byju’s has faced multiple corporate governance challenges. The resignation of the auditor after only one year is a significant setback for the company. It is notable that BDO is the second auditor to step down in the last 15 months. In June of the previous year, Deloitte also resigned as the auditor for Byju’s and its affiliate company, Aakash Educational Services, due to delays in the submission of financial statements for FY22.
Tata Digital’s BigBasket is making a significant strategic shift by focusing solely on the growing quick commerce sector, aiming for $1.5 billion (around Rs 12,400 crore) in total sales for the fiscal year 2025 (FY25). While the full impact of this pivot will be seen after FY25, BigBasket already surpassed the Rs 10,000 crore revenue mark in FY24 and reduced its losses by over 20%.
In FY24, BigBasket’s revenue from operations increased by 6.27%, reaching Rs 10,061.9 crore compared to Rs 9,468.5 crore in FY23, according to its consolidated financial statements. The primary entity, Supermarket Grocery Supplies Private Limited, which includes the business-to-consumer (B2C) unit, Innovative Retail Concepts Private Limited, and other acquisitions, contributed to these figures. The company generated 97% of its revenue through grocery sales, with the remaining income coming from ancillary services and other activities. Including interest and gains on financial assets, BigBasket’s total revenue for FY24 was Rs 10,099.8 crore.
BigBasket is consolidating its services by merging its BBdaily subscription service into its main app, aligning with a 10-15 minute delivery model. This move positions the company to compete more aggressively with established players in the quick commerce market, such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, and Flipkart Minutes.
Regarding expenses, the cost of goods sold (COGS) accounted for 71.3% of total expenses, increasing by 3.4% to Rs 8,209.6 crore in FY24. Employee benefits expenses decreased by 11.7% to Rs 936.6 crore, including employee stock options (ESOP) expenses amounting to Rs 98.5 crore. Other significant expenses included transportation, distribution, advertising, promotions, technical services, and administrative costs. Overall, BigBasket’s total expenses rose marginally by 2% to Rs 11,515 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 11,284.7 crore in FY23.
BigBasket’s efforts to control expenses resulted in a notable reduction in losses, which decreased by 20.73% to Rs 1,415 crore in FY24. The company also improved its operating cash outflows by 18.5%, bringing them down to Rs 1,103 crore for the year. As of FY24, BigBasket’s cumulative losses stood at Rs 7,619.85 crore. The firm’s EBITDA margin improved by 463 basis points to -9.39% in FY24. On a per-unit basis, BigBasket spent Rs 1.14 to generate a rupee of operating revenue in the last fiscal year.
Comparatively, in FY24, Zomato’s Blinkit and Swiggy’s Instamart achieved gross revenues of Rs 2,301 crore and Rs 1,100 crore, respectively. Meanwhile, Zepto reported a five-fold increase in revenue, exceeding Rs 10,000 crore in FY24, although its audited financials are yet to be released.
Co-Founder of Kreedo, Mridula Shridhar, outlined the company’s focus on early childhood education, specifically for the age group of three to eight years, covering pre-nursery to grade two. With the new funding, Kreedo aims to expand its curriculum to cover classes three to five, thereby reaching more children. Shridhar also mentioned that the platform is currently operating in nine cities, partnering with about 1,600 schools, and serving around 150,000 children. The recent funding will help Kreedo grow its footprint to approximately 2,700 schools and 270,000 children over the next year, as well as expand into three to four more cities. This expansion will not only increase Kreedo’s geographic reach but also enhance its product offerings.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/koshy89/?originalSubdomain=inIn addition to Kreedo’s progress, the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), launched in December 2021, has shown rapid growth with nearly 12 million monthly transactions within 18 months.T Koshy, MD and CEO of ONDC, shared that they expect to reach 12.5 million transactions in August, highlighting the network’s accelerating momentum.
Chandan Singh, the co-founder of Google-backed edtech startup Adda247, has exited the company. Singh, who was serving as the Chief Product Officer, was elevated to the position of co-founder in January 2022. Reflecting on his five-year journey with Adda247, Singh expressed gratitude for the experience and his colleagues, mentioning it was a privilege to work with such talented individuals. Singh announced his departure via a LinkedIn post and shared that he is currently developing a new venture in stealth mode.
Singh joined Adda247 in 2019 as Vice President of Product and was promoted to Chief Product Officer in 2020. Prior to his tenure at Adda247, Singh held positions at Coverfox, Infoedge, and Oracle.
Adda247, founded by Anil Nagar and Saurabh Bansal in 2016, offers educational courses targeting job seekers for positions in public sector banks, government departments, and railways. The platform provides a range of learning resources, including live online classes, on-demand video courses, mock tests, e-books, and books tailored to specific examinations. Currently, Adda247 offers courses in 12 regional languages and is planning to expand its services to two or three more states and languages within the year.
In 2022, Adda247 raised $35 million in a funding round led by WestBridge Capital, with participation from Google and existing investors Info Edge Ventures and Asha Impact, bringing its total funding to $63 million. The company saw significant growth in FY24, with its revenue reaching Rs 243.39 crore, an 88% increase from Rs 129.65 crore in FY23. The net loss narrowed substantially to Rs 101 crore from Rs 296 crore the previous year.
Adda247 currently has around one million paid users and aims to increase this number to 1.7 million by the end of the year.
Indian startups raised approximately $220.3 million between August 31 and September 6, marking a 52% increase compared to the same period last year. However, this figure reflects a 50.2% drop from the previous week’s $442.8 million. The latest data reveals that 12 funding rounds were completed this week, compared to 29 rounds in the corresponding period last year, which saw $145 million raised.
The majority of this week’s funding was driven by a $200 million round from mobility startup Rapido, backed by WestBridge Capital, contributing over 90% of the total amount raised.
Top Funding Rounds:
Rapido: Bengaluru-based mobility startup Rapido raised $200 million, propelling its valuation to $1.1 billion and securing its place in the unicorn club. The round was led by WestBridge Capital.
Nutrabay: Direct-to-consumer sports nutrition brand Nutrabay secured $5 million in its Series A funding, led by RPSG Capital Ventures, with Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Limited also participating.
RecommerceX: Sustainability startup RecommerceX raised $3.6 million in seed funding led by Accel and Kae Capital. The company focuses on chemical recycling and sustainability.
BigEndian Semiconductors: Fabless semiconductor design startup BigEndian Semiconductors raised $3 million, led by Vertex Ventures SEA & India.
PhysicsWallah is nearing the completion of a $150 million funding round, led by Asian hedge fund Hornbill Orchid, which will value the edtech unicorn at $2.8 billion—more than a 150% increase from its previous valuation. Hornbill Orchid is expected to invest around $70-80 million, while the remaining capital is likely to come from venture capital firm Lightspeed, known for backing edtech rival Byju’s.
This marks the second major funding round for PhysicsWallah, which was launched in 2016 by Alakh Pandey as a YouTube channel offering coaching for engineering and medical entrance exams. The profitable edtech firm previously raised $102 million at a $1.1 billion valuation in 2022 from WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures.
The new funding round is expected to be one of the largest in the edtech sector after a prolonged slowdown in capital raises. Hornbill Orchid, an India-focused hedge fund, has also invested in listed companies like Angel One and NIIT Ltd.
PhysicsWallah’s latest funding push comes at a time of consolidation in the edtech space, with several smaller companies being acquired by larger players. Recent acquisitions in the sector include Adda247 acquiring Ekagrata Eduserv, Schoolnet buying Genius Teacher, and Allen Career Institute acquiring Doubtnut.
In FY23, PhysicsWallah’s operating revenue tripled to Rs 772 crore, driven by its expansion into offline education, which now accounts for one-third of its total revenue. Despite this growth, the company’s net profit fell to Rs 16 crore from Rs 98 crore in FY22 due to rising employee costs and non-cash expenses.
PhysicsWallah’s inorganic growth, through the acquisition of companies like Xylem Learning, PrepOnline, and Altis Vortex, contributed an additional Rs 500 crore to its consolidated revenue.
Whiteline Group, a marketing firm based in Thailand, has introduced an innovative employee benefit called “Tinder Leave,” offering paid time off for staff to pursue romantic connections. Announced in August, this initiative aims to enhance work-life balance by supporting employees’ personal lives. From July 2024, employees who have completed their probation period can take advantage of this benefit, which includes six months of free access to Tinder Platinum or Tinder Gold. These premium subscriptions offer features designed to improve the likelihood of finding a match on the dating app.
Employees interested in “Tinder Leave” are required to notify the HR department one week in advance. The benefit is available to those who joined Whiteline Group between July 9 and December 31, 2024. The company, which employs around 200 people at its Bangkok office, introduced this perk during a vibrant company event, reflecting its commitment to creating an engaging and supportive workplace environment.
This new initiative highlights the company’s recognition of the importance of personal wellbeing as part of overall employee satisfaction. The introduction of “Tinder Leave” coincides with growing criticism of dating apps like Tinder and Hinge, both owned by Match Group, which face allegations of promoting endless swiping rather than genuine connections. Match Group, however, defends its model, claiming it facilitates successful romantic connections daily.
