China's edtech crackdown could benefit India

Good morning,

China has cracked down on online tutoring companies in the country, leaving shares of its edtech majors in freefall on the US and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

In a bunch of new regulations, State Council — China's highest governing body — has mandated after school tutoring companies to go non-profit and banned them from going public or raising foreign capital — a move that could effectively destroy the country's $100 billion edtech industry. 

This drastic regulatory move is said to be a part of China's larger crackdown on consumer tech companies and also aimed at reducing the learning burden on young students. 

As a result, giant investors like Tiger Global, SoftBank, Temasek, among others, who are deeply entrenched in the Chinese education ecosystem have been left high and dry. 

This could, however, benefit Indian edtech startups. Founders and investors reckon that India is going to be among the beneficiaries of events unfolding in China, at least in the short run. 

A chunk of the VC money earmarked for China could be flowing into Indian edtech startups that are already witnessing post-pandemic tailwinds. Read more.

The Interview

Watch this exclusive interview of Ramesh Vangal, Chairman and CEO, Kerala Ayurveda; Jatin Gujrati, Business Head, Vedix Param Bhargava - Founder of The Ayurveda Co, who discuss the Business of Ayurveda. 

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In 2020, Bharat Gutta was designing a financial solution that could make it easier for people in rural areas to bank easily. 

Along with Akash Chode, and Vineet Dontamsetty, he started NayaSeva — a doorstep bill payment service that could help both people settle their dues on time and create an income stream for people in the villages who didn’t have any or wanted a second source. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

This HRTech startup scaled across the globe within three years

Used by companies such as Google and LinkedIn, among others, to drive growth, Bengaluru and Singapore-based Fitbots aims to help businesses across the world adopt the OKR framework. 

Earlier this year, the startup raised seed funding from Icarus Feather and the WorkPlace Accelerator. Fitbots was a part of YourStory Tech 30 in 2018. Read more.

News & Updates

• Unacademy has acquired live game-streaming platform Rheo TV for an undisclosed amount. Following the acquisition, Rheo TV's existing investors Sequoia Capital India's Surge, Lightspeed India, AET Fund, Phanindra Sama, and Mahesh Narayanan will fully exit the company.

• BYJU'S has acquired skilling startup Great Learning for $600 million, with the deal comprising cash, stock, and earnout. With the deal, Great Learning employees will see a value of $100 million across the board in cash, stock, and earnout.

• Sequoia Capital has announced the launch of Sequoia Spark, a year-long programme combining capital and deep, immersive mentorship, designed to inspire more women in India and Southeast Asia to become entrepreneurs.

• B2B commerce unicorn Moglix expanded its ESOP pool further by $10 million to include more than 300 employees under the programme. Moglix has also announced an ESOP buyback programme worth $3 million for all eligible employees with vested stocks.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“Good startup founders are good storytellers. When you take the example of any successful politician or agency, you will see they have a good story. Unless you have a good story, you won’t be able to pique any interests.”

— Saurabh Jain, Founder, Fun2Do Labs, and ex-Vice-President, Paytm

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