PhysicsWallah redefining edtech

Adani Group's open offer to buy an additional 26% stake in New Delhi Television Ltd has received the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India’s nod. 

On the topic of takeovers and mergers, Monday saw L&T Infotech (LTI) and Mindtree merging into LTI-Mindtree. The combined entity is now the sixth-largest Indian IT services firm by revenue and the fifth-largest by market value.

FTX’s $32 billion implosion continues to rock the crypto world. Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao said the cryptocurrency exchange plans to launch a fund to help crypto projects facing a liquidity crisis.

Meanwhile, Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball and The Big Short, is reportedly shopping around for the movie rights to the book that he was writing on FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

ICYMI: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has said he plans to give away most of his $124 billion fortune during his lifetime.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Physics Wallah redefining edtech
• Unlocking India’s gametech space
• Financing solutions for Bharat

Here’s your trivia for today: Founded in 1889, Nintendo got its start by selling what product?

TechSparks 2022

PhysicsWallah redefining edtech

Whether it is online or offline, technology should be infused in education to help students in areas such as doubt clearing and revision, PhysicsWallah Founder and CEO Alakh Pandey said during a fireside chat with YourStory Founder and CEO Shradha Sharma at TechSparks 2022, India’s top tech startup conference.

To the classroom:

• The company plans to develop its skills-related classes, although it has not set a timeline for expanding its upskilling vertical PW Skills, Alakh said. 
• PW Skills, which was announced last month, currently offers a few free courses in coding.
• In June, PhysicsWallah became India’s 101st unicorn after raising $100 million in its first round of funding, from WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures, at a valuation of $1.1 billion.

<Funding Alert>

Startup: Lentra 

Amount: $60M

Round: Series B

Startup: Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality

Amount: Rs 550 Cr

Round: Undisclosed 

Startup: Selligion Technologies

Amount: Rs 3 Cr

Round: Seed 

TechSparks 2022

Unlocking India’s gametech space

While factors such as increased demand for gaming and pandemic restrictions opened significant monetisation opportunities, there are also challenges along the way in this multi-million-dollar business.

Speakers participating in a series of discussions on gametech at TechSparks 2022 discussed what’s next for the industry.

Enter to play:

• In terms of gamers base, India has over half-a-billion gamers, of whom nearly one-fourth are paying users.
• The average revenue per paying user, however, was estimated to be only $20 annually in the previous financial year.
• The Indian gaming market, which comprises hyper-casual games, real money games, eSports and streaming, offers multiple channels of monetisation such as in-app purchases, play-to-earn, ad revenue, and subscription.

Startups

Financing solutions for Bharat

Foxhog Ventures India, part of Foxhog Ventures US, strives to provide an alternative financing solution to small farmers and businesses in small towns and rural areas. It makes ‘revenue-based’ investments, wherein it receives a percentage of the profit earned by the businesses it invests in.

Key takeaways:

• Launched in March 2020, Delhi-based Foxhog Ventures Corp. India offers an investment solution to small, medium and micro businesses and small farmers in India. 
• Its focus areas are Tier II and Tier III towns and rural areas, where obtaining finance is difficult, collateral-based, and filled with cumbersome documentation.
• Foxhog Women, a subsidiary of Foxhog, is dedicated to providing equity-based and revenue-based funding to women entrepreneurs. 

News & updates

• Poor vision: Shares in Japan's SoftBank Group Corp plunged on Monday after the company reported a heavy loss at its Vision Fund investment arm for a third consecutive quarter. The shares sank 13% in early afternoon trade–heading for their biggest one-day loss in more than two-and-a-half years.
• Round the clock: Billionaire Elon Musk said he was working "at the absolute most amount… from morning till night, seven days a week" when asked about his recent acquisition of Twitter and his leadership of automaker Tesla Inc.
• Crypto crisis: Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com's chief executive said the firm will prove all naysayers wrong about the platform being in trouble, and that it has a robust balance sheet and took no risks.

Founded in 1889, Nintendo got its start by selling what product?

Answer: Playing cards. 

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