Hello,
It must feel like a million dollars at Zepto.
The quick commerce unicorn is reportedly in talks to raise another $400 million at a valuation of $4.6 billion, just a week after it secured $665 million.
Talking of money, Hyundai is gearing up for its India IPO and investment banks advising the South Korean automaker are set to get richer by $40 million. This would be the second-highest fee pot ever for investment banks working on IPO in India after Paytm’s 2021 debut.
However, running after big numbers can be a slippery slope, as BYJU’S found the hard way.
The once edtech behemoth, whose valuation has seen a steep fall, is still in the grips of an investigation into governance and financial account manipulation. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, which has been conducting a year-long probe, has refuted clearing the troubled edtech firm of financial fraud.
In other news, AI is changing the way we work.
Employees expect it to make their time at the office more efficient in the coming year, found a PwC report. However, 28% of the global workforce is looking to switch soon.
Their reasons? Higher workload, career ambitions, and new technology wriggling into the workplace.
Looks like The Great Resignation is simmering again. But did it ever really end?
Also, there’s a new work trend on the horizon after workcation. It’s called ‘hush-cation’ as younger workers are sneaking vacations without calling off work or disclosing their location to their employers.
Sending an email with the sand beneath your feet doesn’t feel like a bad idea at all!
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- Tamannaah Bhatia on embracing mindfulness
- Between luxury and budget handbags
- Can the stars align for the kids?
Here’s your trivia for today: Which now-defunct low-cost airline was established as ‘Air Sahara’ and later bought by Jet Airways in 2006?
Interview
Tamannaah Bhatia on embracing mindfulness
Having joined the film industry at the age of 13 and appearing in over 68 films so far, actress Tamannaah Bhatia still lives by the saying, “I am a work in progress”.
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Shiseido’s new Vital Perfection skincare range, Bhatia says meditation and spirituality have been the key to dealing with the stresses of everyday life and achieving physical and mental wellness.
Spiritually conscious:
- Being in the limelight—especially from such a young age—comes with its own trials, often in the form of misconceptions and trolls. But Bhatia believes that putting her most genuine version out has helped her face some of these challenges.
- Two years ago, meditation became an important part of Bhatia’s life, she says, getting her closer to practising yoga, knowing herself better and dealing with the stresses of everyday life in an organised fashion.
- On her journey as an actress, she says, “As an artist, I have the power to explore different facets. I keep trying to do something that I haven’t done before and put newer versions of myself out there.”
Funding Alert
Startup:
Amount: Rs 125 Cr
Round: Primary funding
Startup:
Amount: Rs 82.6 Cr
Round: Private placement
Startup:
Amount: $3M
Round: Equity investment
Luxury
Between luxury and budget handbags
Since 2019, D2C mass-premium bag maker Miraggio has been carving a space for itself in the handbags segment, which has been divided into the two extremes of luxury and budget-friendly products. With its products priced at an average of Rs 3,000, the Gurugram-based brand attempts to fill the void in the premium handbags segment.
Homegrown handbags:
- Founded by Mohit Jain, Miraggio was built as a made-in-India alternative that matches the quality and experience offered by luxury handbags. Due to the pandemic, it could only start selling in September 2021.
- The startup has also strives to reduce its environmental impact and promote ethical practices. The bags are made of faux leather and Miraggio uses recyclable materials for packaging. Further, each order comes with a reusable dust bag.
- Around 25-30% of Miraggio’s business comes from its D2C website, with the remaining from ecommerce marketplaces. It now plans to firm up its omnichannel strategy and extend its reach to multi-brand outlets such as Shopper Stop and Lifestyle.
Startup
Can the stars align for the kids?
When Anirrud Goswami and Pushpanjali Banerji were expecting their first child, Goswami came up with insights about their child’s future personality based on astrology. After she was born, these predictions aided their early understanding of her nature, inspiring them to start AstroJudge in 2019.
The Gurugram-based startup aims to impact the lives of parents through Vedic astrology and offers them a different lens when it comes to tapping on their children’s potential.
Astrology-guided insights:
- AstroJudge focuses on natal astrology, which examines a person’s birth chart and its life implications, rather than traditional branches like Horary or Muhurtha (auspicious moments).
- The startup offers a child astrology report to help parents nurture their child’s personality, strengths, and challenges, while the report for adults offers insights into personality, karmic lessons, careers, and relationships.
- Bootstrapped with Rs 1 crore, the startup has generated around Rs 5 crore in revenue and has grown 16X in the last financial year.
News & updates
- Ethical AI: Seven content-licensing sellers of music, image, video and other datasets for use in training artificial intelligence systems have formed the sector’s first trade group. The Dataset Providers Alliance will advocate for “ethical data sourcing” in the training of AI systems, including rights for people depicted in datasets and the protection of content owners’ IP rights.
- Slippery slope: The Japanese yen has fallen to its weakest level against the US dollar since 1986, putting traders on alert that officials might again be forced to step in to support the ailing currency. The yen slipped 0.4% against the dollar to ¥160.3 on Wednesday. The yen has fallen 12% against the dollar this year as investors scaled back their expectations for US Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
- Second life: A new startup called Ovax Inc has raised $10 million to develop a vaccine to prevent fentanyl deaths, aiming to commercialise academic research that prevents the drug from reaching the brain. The startup has licensed it from researchers at the University of Houston who have successfully tested a fentanyl vaccine in rats.
Which now-defunct low-cost airline was established as ‘Air Sahara’ and later bought by Jet Airways in 2006?
Answer: JetLite.
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