Tag: Zomato

Year of unicorns: 8 Indian startups crossed $1 billion in valuation in 2018

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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2018 was a year of unicorns. India added eight unicorns to its kitty, the highest in a single calendar year. Swiggy, OYO, Paytm Mall, Udaan, Policy Bazaar, Zomato, Freshworks and Byju’s were the eight startups that crossed $1 billion in valuation.

In the most recent example, Swiggy executed definitive agreements for a $1 billion funding round led by Naspers and saw new investors — Tencent, Hillhouse Capital and Wellington Management Company coming on board.

The unicorns are also aiming at expanding footprints in the global market. OYO is currently in over 350 cities with over 12,000 asset partners spread across six countries including India, China, Malaysia, Nepal, the UK and UAE in the Middle East.

The company raised $800 million in its latest funding round led by SoftBank Investment Advisers (SBIA) along with the participation from existing investors – Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia and Greenoaks Capital. The fundraising, the company said, is aimed to “strengthen its market position in its home markets – India and China – and support its international expansion plans”.

Here’s a quick look at how these companies fared in 2018:

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Rise of unicorns in Indian start-ups across verticals

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India witnessed a dramatic rise of eight unicorns in 2018 from among the start-ups across verticals as against a mere nine in six years from 2011 till 2017, according to IT industry apex body Nasscom.

The start-ups joining the select club for their valuation over $1 billion (Rs 7,000 crore or more) are Oyo Rooms (hospitality), Zomato and Swiggy (food delivery), Udaan (retailer marketplace), Byju’s, (edu-tech), Paytm Mall (e-tail), Freshworks (software programmer) and Policybazaar (digital insurance).

“As the start-ups that became unicorns this year are based on subscription and Software as a Service (SaaS) models, they took a few years to mature,” Nasscom Vice President (Industry Initiatives) K.S. Viswanathan told IANS.

The focus of these start-ups to acquire customers globally made them unicorns from India, he asserted.

According to the National Association of Software and Services Companies’ (Nasscom) October report on “Indian Start-up Ecosystem: Approaching Escape Velocity”, about 1,200 start-ups were added till September.

“The Indian ecosystem is adding about 1,300 start-ups every year but also seeing the demise of at least 300 of them from previous years,” Viswanathan admitted, assessing their survival rate at three to five years.

With the addition of the start-ups, about 40,000 jobs were created during the year, taking their total in the ecosystem of 7,200-7,500 firms to 1.6-1.7 lakh.

The world’s largest retail giant, Walmart, in May bought 77 per cent equity stake in the country’s earliest e-tailer unicorn, Flipkart, for a whopping $16 billion in one of the largest e-commerce deals globally.

“The Flipkart acquisition by Walmart was a shot in the arm for the country’s start-up sector,” Viswanathan said.

The investment in the native start-ups rose by a phenomenal 108 per cent annually to $4.2 billion in nine months (January-September) from $2 billion in the same period of 2017, the Nasscom report said.

By year-end, Swiggy and Byju’s raised hefty venture funds of $1 billion and $540 million (Rs 3,866-crore), respectively, indicating that global institutional and angel investors are betting on Indian unicorns.

According to the New York-based market intelligence platform CB Insights, about 60 per cent of the funds raised by Indian start-ups were invested in unicorns.

Adoption of disruptive technologies across verticals spanning education, food, health, hospitality and transportation has been driving growth of Indian start-ups.

For instance, the four-year-old Swiggy, which has raised $1.26 billion so far, has been investing in its digital platform and delivery fleet.

“One of the reasons for our success is our industry-changing innovations and focus on delivering the best consumer experience. Our delivery-only kitchens have also enabled our entry into 42 cities across the country in last six months,” a Swiggy spokesperson told IANS.

During the year, Oyo and Ola also began expanding aggressively in the international markets.

Gurugram-based Oyo said it invested on its technological prowess, sustaining demand generation across online and offline channels and identification and upgradation of properties within a short time to spur growth.

The company raised $1 billion from SoftBank and other investors to become a unicorn.

“We saw many firsts and celebrated key milestones this year. We entered three international markets — the UAE, Britain and Indonesia,” Oyo founder and chief executive Ritesh Agarwal told IANS.

Competing against the American ride-hailing firm Uber, city-based Ola forayed into international markets starting in Australia and entered Britain and New Zealand.

Food delivery and restaurant search platform Zomato, which raised over $600 million since its founding in 2008 in Gurugram in Haryana, entered the unicorn club this year, according to Nasscom data.

Zomato has been expanding overseas since 2012 and operates in 24 countries, including Australia, Britain, Canada and the US.

The start-up ecosystem and its enablers, including stakeholders and policy regulations, play a key role in the growth of any firm, said Zomato’s global head of classifieds business Oytun Calapover.

“Zomato is a great example of a homegrown start-up, which has been able to build equity not just in the home country, but overseas as well. This has been made possible by factors like government regulations and stakeholders,” Calapover told IANS.

The central government’s policies like Start-up India, Digital India and 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in e-commerce have helped the country become a “land of unicorns”, Calapover added.

Though the start-ups had a satisfactory year, the number of women leading some of them remained low. Of the total start-up founders, 11 per cent were women in 2017-18, up a mere three percentage points from eight per cent in 2016-17, according to Nasscom.

There is a need to advocate more women in start-ups for the government support, particularly at the seed-funding stage (early investments until they can generate revenue) and improving the ease of doing business to propel their growth, the industry body added in its report.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

2018 in Retrospect: Rise of unicorns in Indian start-ups across verticals

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India witnessed a dramatic rise of eight unicorns in 2018 from among the start-ups across verticals as against a mere nine in six years from 2011 till 2017, according to IT industry apex body Nasscom.

The start-ups joining the select club for their valuation over $1 billion (Rs 7,000 crore or more) are Oyo Rooms (hospitality), Zomato and Swiggy (food delivery), Udaan (retailer marketplace), Byju’s, (edu-tech), Paytm Mall (e-tail), Freshworks (software programmer) and Policybazaar (digital insurance).

“As the start-ups that became unicorns this year are based on subscription and Software as a Service (SaaS) models, they took a few years to mature,” Nasscom Vice President (Industry Initiatives) K.S. Viswanathan told IANS.

The focus of these start-ups to acquire customers globally made them unicorns from India, he asserted.

According to the National Association of Software and Services Companies’ (Nasscom) October report on “Indian Start-up Ecosystem: Approaching Escape Velocity”, about 1,200 start-ups were added till September.

“The Indian ecosystem is adding about 1,300 start-ups every year but also seeing the demise of at least 300 of them from previous years,” Viswanathan admitted, assessing their survival rate at three to five years.

With the addition of the start-ups, about 40,000 jobs were created during the year, taking their total in the ecosystem of 7,200-7,500 firms to 1.6-1.7 lakh.

The world’s largest retail giant, Walmart, in May bought 77 per cent equity stake in the country’s earliest e-tailer unicorn, Flipkart, for a whopping $16 billion in one of the largest e-commerce deals globally.

“The Flipkart acquisition by Walmart was a shot in the arm for the country’s start-up sector,” Viswanathan said.

The investment in the native start-ups rose by a phenomenal 108 per cent annually to $4.2 billion in nine months (January-September) from $2 billion in the same period of 2017, the Nasscom report said.

By year-end, Swiggy and Byju’s raised hefty venture funds of $1 billion and $540 million (Rs 3,866-crore), respectively, indicating that global institutional and angel investors are betting on Indian unicorns.

According to the New York-based market intelligence platform CB Insights, about 60 per cent of the funds raised by Indian start-ups were invested in unicorns.

Adoption of disruptive technologies across verticals spanning education, food, health, hospitality and transportation has been driving growth of Indian start-ups.

For instance, the four-year-old Swiggy, which has raised $1.26 billion so far, has been investing in its digital platform and delivery fleet.

“One of the reasons for our success is our industry-changing innovations and focus on delivering the best consumer experience. Our delivery-only kitchens have also enabled our entry into 42 cities across the country in last six months,” a Swiggy spokesperson told IANS.

During the year, Oyo and Ola also began expanding aggressively in the international markets.

Gurugram-based Oyo said it invested on its technological prowess, sustaining demand generation across online and offline channels and identification and upgradation of properties within a short time to spur growth.

The company raised $1 billion from SoftBank and other investors to become a unicorn.

“We saw many firsts and celebrated key milestones this year. We entered three international markets — the UAE, Britain and Indonesia,” Oyo founder and chief executive Ritesh Agarwal told IANS.

Competing against the American ride-hailing firm Uber, city-based Ola forayed into international markets starting in Australia and entered Britain and New Zealand.

Food delivery and restaurant search platform Zomato, which raised over $600 million since its founding in 2008 in Gurugram in Haryana, entered the unicorn club this year, according to Nasscom data.

Zomato has been expanding overseas since 2012 and operates in 24 countries, including Australia, Britain, Canada and the US.

The start-up ecosystem and its enablers, including stakeholders and policy regulations, play a key role in the growth of any firm, said Zomato’s global head of classifieds business Oytun Calapover.

“Zomato is a great example of a homegrown start-up, which has been able to build equity not just in the home country, but overseas as well. This has been made possible by factors like government regulations and stakeholders,” Calapover told IANS.

The central government’s policies like Start-up India, Digital India and 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in e-commerce have helped the country become a “land of unicorns”, Calapover added.

Though the start-ups had a satisfactory year, the number of women leading some of them remained low. Of the total start-up founders, 11 per cent were women in 2017-18, up a mere three percentage points from eight per cent in 2016-17, according to Nasscom.

There is a need to advocate more women in start-ups for the government support, particularly at the seed-funding stage (early investments until they can generate revenue) and improving the ease of doing business to propel their growth, the industry body added in its report.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Swiggy raises $1 billion funding led by Naspers

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Swiggy on Thursday said it has closed a $1 billion funding round, led by existing investor Nasper, a move that will give the food delivery platform more muscle to compete against players like Zomato and FoodPanda.

Swiggy, in a statement said, it has executed definitive agreements for a $1 billion round of funding led by Naspers and saw new investors — Tencent, Hillhouse Capital and Wellington Management Company coming on board.

The series H round also saw participation from other existing investors including DST Global, Meituan Dianping and Coatue Management, it added.

Swiggy said the latest fund-raising round is the “single largest in India’s food technology sector to date” and takes the total funding raised by the Bengaluru-based company to $1.26 billion.

The fresh capital infusion will provide more ammunition to Swiggy as it battles Ant Financial-backed Zomato, Ola-owned Foodpanda and UberEats in the growing food delivery space in the country.

“As India’s appetite for online food ordering grows, Swiggy will use the funds to bring more quality food brands closer to consumers and address gaps in supply through delivery-only kitchens under the ‘Access’ initiative for restaurant partners,” Swiggy said in a statement.

It added that the fresh capital will also be used to hire talent, especially for machine learning and engineering roles across mid and senior levels.
Swiggy is focussed on further strengthening its technology backbone and focus on building a next-generation AI-driven platform for hyperlocal discovery and on-demand delivery, it said.

“As we add more firepower to our vision of elevating quality of life for urban consumers by offering unparalleled convenience, we are pleased that visionary global investors share our purpose and have made such a significant investment in our future,” Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety said.

In June this year, Swiggy had raised $210 million in funding led by Naspers and DST Global. Since then, the company has expanded to 42 additional cities and doubled its gross merchandise value. It has close to 1.2 lakh active delivery partners on its platform.

Founded in 2014, Swiggy has over 50,000 restaurant partners spread across more than 50 cities.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Swiggy, Zomato, others remove 10,500 restaurants for violating food safety law

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As many as 10,500 restaurants have been de-listed by ecommerce firms such as Zomato and Swiggy for not having license or registration under the food safety law, Parliament was told on Friday.

Minister of state for health Ashwini Kumar Choubey said the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in July directed food ecommerce firms to de-list the restaurants which don’t have registration under the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006.

“The Food delivery aggregators informed that they have already initiated action against the defaulting partner hotels/restaurants.

“As per information received, Zomato has delisted 2,500, Swiggy 4,000, Foodpanda 1,800, UberEats 2,000 and foodcloud 200 unlicensed/unregistered FBOs (Food Business Operators),” he said in reply to a question.

The implementation and enforcement of Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006 Rules and Regulations made thereunder, primarily rests with state and UT governments, he said.

Commissioner of Food Safety of all states and UTs have been requested to take necessary action to bring all such FBOs or food business operators under the ambit of FSS Act through registration.

No one shall commence or carry on any food business without license or registration under the Act, he said.

Choubey stated further regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection and random sampling of food products are carried out by officials to check compliance of the standards and norms.

In case, where the food samples are found to be non- conforming, penal action has been initiated, he stated.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Zomato raises $210 million from Alipay Singapore

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Zomato is raising $210 million from Alibaba’s payment affiliate Alipay Singapore, which is an existing shareholder in the online restaurant guide and food ordering firm.

According to a regulatory filing by BSE-listed Info Edge (India) on Friday, Zomato has signed a definitive agreement to undertake a primary fund raise of approximately $210 million from Alipay Singapore Holding Pte Ltd and/or any of its affiliates.

Info Edge (India) holds 30.91 percent of the share capital in Zomato Media Private Ltd.

“…upon the closing of this fund raise, our shareholding in Zomato stands reduced to about 27.68 per cent on fully converted and diluted basis,” it added.

A Zomato spokesperson confirmed the development but declined to make additional comments.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Zomato, Swiggy, Foodpanda, 7 others delist over 5,000 restaurants, says FSSAI

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As many as 10 online food ordering platforms including Swiggy, Zomato and Foodpanda have delisted over 5,000 restaurants for not having approval from food safety regulator FSSAI, a top official said Wednesday.

The platforms include Swiggy, Zomato, Foodpanda, Box8, Faasos, FoodCloud, Foodmingo, JusFood, LimeTray and UberEats.

The move by the companies comes after FSSAI asked them in July to stop using edibles supplied by non-licensed operators after it received consumer complaints of sub-standard food being served through these platforms.

“Over 5,000 restaurants have been delisted by the e-commerce food service platforms,” Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) chief executive officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Agarwal said.

On July 20, FSSAI directed the 10 food aggregators to debar the non-FSSAI licensed/registered food operators and ensure compliance of food safety rules and regulations.

FSSAI asked them to give state-wise list so that enforcement agencies could take further action, sources in the know said.

“We have delisted hundreds of restaurants across the 41 cities in India where we offer our online ordering and food delivery services. We would be happy to relist them alongside any of the other partners as and when they furnish their licences,” Zomato Food Delivery, CEO, Mohit Gupta said.

FSSAI had earlier directed food ordering platforms to furnish their FSSAI licence, agreement signed with Food Business Operators (FBOs) and their internal checks to ensure that their FBOs hold valid FSSAI licences.

The food regulator in February this year operationalised guidelines for e-commerce FBOs.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

The rising influence of Chinese investors in Indian startup ecosystem

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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From fintech to ecommerce to food tech to logistics, there has been a steady rise in the influence of Chinese investors in the Indian startup ecosystem. Among the list of Chinese investees are India’s most valuable tech startups like Paytm, Oyo Rooms, Ola, Zomato.

Chinese investors have made their presence felt in almost all sectors and have backed some of the biggies in each sector.

Alibaba, a multinational conglomerate, and social media giant Tencent Holdings are the most active Chinese investors in India.

Last month, cab aggregator startup Ola Cabs raised around $50 million from Sailing Capital, a private equity fund initiated by Shanghai International Group, along with the Chinese state-backed investment fund China Eurasian Economic Corporation Fund.

Among other major deals, India’s food-tech unicorns Zomato and Swiggy raised funds from Chinese investors. Zomato raised more than $200 million in January 2018 from a firm led by Alibaba group.

A few months later, Swiggy raised around $210 million from a group of investors which also saw participation from Meituan-Dianping, a Chinese online food delivery-to-ticketing services platform.

Paytm group’s ecommerce arm, Paytm Mall, has raised $445 million in February led by Softbank along with Alibaba. An existing Chinese investor in Paytm Mall also invested $45 million in the round.

The Chinese investors started making their presence felt in India majorly in 2015. Snapdeal had raised $500 million from Alibaba in February 2015.

In the same year, Ola cabs raised $500 million from a group of investors. Didi Chuxing, Chinese ride-sharing, artificial intelligence and autonomous technology conglomerate, also participated in the round.

However, it was Alibaba, which signed the biggest cheque of 2015 among Chinese investors when the group along with its financial services arm, ANT Financials, invested more than $800 million in One97 Communications, the holding company of Paytm group in two tranches.

In the following years, other Chinese investors also followed the suite. Tencent Technology, Fosun and even smartphone maker Xiaomi made investments in Indian startups.

Tencent Holdings participated in a $ 1.4 billion round of funding in Flipkart along with Microsoft and eBay in April 2017.  Tencent Holdings also invested around $175 million in messaging app Hike, along with Foxconn Technology. Its other bets include healthcare startup Practo, Ed-tech startup Byju’s among others.

Chinese listed pharmaceutical company, Fosun Pharma also made an investment of $30 million in the ecommerce logistics startup Delhivery, while Xiomi has so far invested in digital lending startup Zest Money, social networking platform ShareChat and entertainment chat app Samosa.

In all, Chinese investors have done more than 30 deals in Indian startups since 2015. Most of these deals were growth-stage deals and seven out of 12 unicorns in India are backed by at least one Chinese investor.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Meet India’s top 13 unicorns with valuations of at least $1 billion

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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We have come across the term “unicorn companies” or “unicorn startups” in our current day-to-day conversations or on the internet and social media.

According to Investopedia, the term “unicorn” was first popularised by venture capitalist Aileen Lee, founder of CowboyVC, a seed stage venture capital fund based in Palo Alto, California.

A unicorn startup or a company is a private firm with a valuation of over $1 billion.

According to CBInsights, a website that tracks private companies and startups, there are more than 260 unicorn startups all around the world.

Here are the top unicorn companies of India: 

One97 Communications: Valuation: $10 billion | Industry: Fintech | CEO: Vijay Shekhar Sharma

One97 Communications is a mobile internet company. Paytm, One97’s flagship brand is a digital good and mobile commerce platform. Paytm is also a payment solutions provider to ecommerce merchants.

Snapdeal: Valuation: $7 billion | Industry: Ecommerce/Marketplace | CEO: Kunal Bahl

Snapdeal, operated by Jasper Infotech, is a daily deal site featuring a wide range of products and services from thousands of national, international and regional brands.

Oyo Rooms: Valuation: $5 billion | Industry: Travel Tech | CEO: Ritesh Agarwal

Oravel Stays or Oyo Rooms, operates a virtual hospitality brand in India by aggregating hotels/guesthouses in the economy segment, making inventory discoverable and bookable online, and providing a standardised and trusted experience to travelers.

Olacabs: Valuation: $4.3 billion | Industry: On-Demand | CEO: Bhavish Aggarwal

Olacabs is a ride-hailing taxi service provider, having its headquarters in Bengaluru. The company has recently started services in Australia and the UK.

ReNew Power Ventures: Valuation: $2 billion | Industry: Energy and Utilities | CEO: Sumant Sinha

ReNew Power has established and positioned itself in the renewable energy market with the intention of producing clean energy and thereby reducing India’s carbon footprint.

Hike: Valuation: $1.4 billion | Industry: Social | CEO: Kavin Bharti Mittal

Hike is a mobile messaging app and simplifies how people connect and interact with content and services on mobile.

Swiggy: Valuation: $1.3 billion | Industry: On-Demand | CEO: Sriharsha Majety

Bundl Technologies, dba Swiggy, is a Bengaluru-based food ordering app. The company partners with restaurants to offer users food ordering and delivery services. The company has its own fleet of delivery personnel who pick-up orders from restaurants and deliver it to customers.

Shopclues: Valuation: $1.1 billion | Industry: Ecommerce/Marketplace | CEO: Sanjay Sethi

ShopClues.com, operated by Clues Network, is a fully managed online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers and offers a trusted and safe online shopping experience.

Zomato Media: Valuation: $1 billion | Industry: Social | CEO: Mohit Gupta

Zomato Media is an India-based online food and lifestyle portal providing advertising, ratings, and reviews for restaurants. It has an Uber booking option built in to the app, allowing users to book cabs to take them to the restaurants they wish to go to right away.

InMobi: Valuation: $1 billion | Industry: Adtech | CEO: Naveen Tewari

InMobi operates a mobile ad network with an extensive range of ad formats, analytics and monetisation tools for app businesses. The company builds mobile-first customer engagement platforms that transform the economics of influencing global consumers.

Quikr: Valuation: $1 billion | Industry: Ecommerce/Marketplace | CEO: Pranay Chulet

Quikr is an ecommerce site which provides a platform to buy and sell properties, furniture etc.

PolicyBazaar: Valuation: $1 billion | Industry: Fintech | CEO: Yashish Dahiya

PolicyBazaar helps users compare financial products like life insurance, general insurance, loans and credit cards. To enable easy and sensible comparison, the company has partnered with financial institutions disbursing loans and selling insurance in India. PolicyBazaar helps to get free insurance quotes and users can compare plans based on multiple features.

BYJU’S: Valuation: $1 billion | Industry: EdTech | CEO: Byju Raveendran

BYJU’s is a K-12 learning app which has highly adaptive, engaging and effective learning programmes for students in classes 4-12 (K-12). The app also provides learning programmes and study materials for competitive exams such as JEE, NEET, CAT, civil service, GRE, and GMAT.

Udaan: Valuation: $1 billion | Industry: Ecommerce | Founders: Sujeet Kumar,  Amod Malviya and Vaibhav Gupta

Udaan is a B2B platform designed specifically for small and medium businesses in India, bringing together traders, wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers and enabling logistics and payments through the platform.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow