The week that was: From BYJU’s global expansion to the rise of angel investments in 2021

For a long time, angel investments in the Indian startup ecosystem have largely been driven by the bets made by successful entrepreneurs and tech executives, as startups were viewed by many potential investors as a risky asset class. 

Today, that’s changing and leading to a spurt in angel investments in Indian startups, experts say.

Despite the high risks associated with startup investments, the ecosystem is now witnessing more entrants coming in as angel investors. These include high-net-worth individuals, professionals of various organisations at levels below that of CXOs, and business owners of non-tech companies, industry experts say.

ALSO READ

[Startup Bharat] How Ahmedabad-based Veirdo grew 20X by bringing affordable fashion to the youth

BYJU's has announced the global launch of an online live one-on-one learning platform, ‘BYJU’S Future School,’ which will be a sub-brand under BYJU'S. With this, WhiteHat Jr and BYJU'S integration comes to the fore. 

"The integration was done this Wednesday, and it will be the first full  year of integrating both learning methods — live classes (WhiteHatJr coding classes) and offline classes," said Byju Raveendran, Founder, BYJU's, in an exclusive interaction with YourStory.

This builds on WhiteHatJr's success in live online classes in India and select countries, which set new benchmarks. The new platform will be available in six countries, including the US, UK, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, and Mexico.

It’s a great time to be an online fashion brand in India. According to BCG’s Fashion Forward 2020 report, last year, about 130-135 million Indians shopped for fashion products online, up from 50 million in 2017.  

The growth of fashion ecommerce in recent years has been driven by increasing smartphone penetration, better customer awareness, and improved online sales and distribution channels of brands. 

All of the above macro-economic changes have contributed to the growth and success of Veirdo — an Ahmedabad-based fashion commerce startup.

ALSO READ

NCLT admits petition for insolvency proceedings against OYO subsidiary; OYO challenges order in NCLAT

Founded by techies Dhaval Ahir, Amardeep Jadeja, and Piyush Ganatra in 2016, Veirdo offers trendy and affordable fashion to 16-45-year-old men. The bootstrapped startup expanded to launch a womenswear brand in 2019, Juneberry, to make the most of the rise in female fashion shoppers in India. This year, following pandemic-led growth, Veirdo is planning to get into kidswear too.

This week, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted a petition for the commencement of corporate insolvency proceedings against OYO Hotels and Homes Pvt Ltd (OHHPL), a subsidiary of OYO Group, on March 30, 2021, over the plea filed by its creditor Rakesh Yadav. 

In an exclusive statement shared with YourStory, OYO Group said it has filed an appeal with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), challenging the NCLT order against its subsidiary, OHHPL, for an amount of Rs 16 lakh. 

The company also said the Rs 16 lakh disputed amount has already been paid to the claimant under protest by the entity with whom the dispute was raised (other than OHHPL).