CleverTap unfazed by funding winter

Hello,

The banking crisis refuses to go away as European bank stocks continue to plunge.

Shares in Germany's Deutsche Bank dropped 14% on Friday, with Commerzbank down 8%, France's Societe Generale falling 7%, and Barclays and NatWest both down by about 6%. Deutsche Bank's shares have lost a fifth of their value since the crisis began despite the bank posting 10 straight quarters of profit. 

Meanwhile, employer rating website Glassdoor said it will slash 15% of its workforce. This comes after Accenture announced laying off 19,000 employees as it missed its growth target.

Speaking of targetting, there has been a significant impact of the Hindenburg Research on the co-founder of financial services firm Block. Jack Dorsey’s fortunes plummeted by $526 million—an 11% decline. 

However, investor Wedbush Securities dismissed the allegations of overstated user count and understated acquisitions costs at Black, saying it did not see anything illegal with the payments company and called it a “legitimate business”.

In other news, while finding a job may be challenging, nothing beats finding a house in Bengaluru. A Google employee narrated his experience finding a house in the city, and it’s nothing short of an HR interview! Check out his post.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Why CleverTap is unfazed by funding winter
• Nature withering amid urban chaos
• The story of Geekay Bikes

Here’s your trivia for today: Extinct bird Dodo was endemic to which island in the Indian Ocean?

TechSparks

Why CleverTap is unfazed by funding winter

The funding winter had little to no impact on customer engagement and user retention software platform CleverTap, its Co-founder and CPO Anand Jain said in a fireside chat at TechSparks Mumbai 2023. He had anticipated the funding squeeze and was prepared.

Customer feedback:

• When CleverTap closed its Series D round, almost half of the total capital raised since inception was still in the banks.
• Jain encouraged companies to work with customers by helping them reduce spending.
• He advised early-stage startups to communicate with initial customers, listen to their needs, meet them in the middle, and take them along in their journey.

Top Deals of the Week

Startup: Charge+Zone

Amount: $54M

Round: Series A1

Startup: Mystifly

Amount: $8M

Round: Pre-Series B

Startup: Sukino Healthcare

Amount: Rs 50 Cr

Round: Series A

YS Reviews

Nature withering amid urban chaos

Keeping it real, exposed, and thought-provoking, Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes is a human take on the fragility of the balance of nature, focusing on two brothers, Nadeem Shehzad and Mohammad Saud, who run a clinic in their home for black kites—the scavenger birds facing extinction in India’s capital city.

Kites to humans:

• Through the selfless dedication of two brothers, All That Breathes is an introspective exploration of the fragile balance of nature and a period of unpredictable socio-political change in India.
• The brothers struggle through a shortage of funds and an insensitive environment for their mission, as increasingly complex strife of class, religion, and identity clamour in the background.
• Without using statistics or subject experts, All That Breathes weaves in a selfless and difficult effort by Shehzad and Saud to save the bird of prey even as conflicts beyond their control escalate within their city and country.

MSME

The story of Geekay Bikes

India may be at a nascent stage in the adoption of electric bicycles, but there is a growing market for conversion kits. This is where Ludhiana-based Geekay Bikes believes it has gained a first-mover advantage.

First mover:

• Geekay Bikes has a long history dating back to 1961 when it started trading cycle parts. It now sells a range of premium bicycles, e-bikes, and conversion kits.
• DIY electric bicycle conversion kits, a product category that Geekay Bikes ventured into in 2016, now contribute around 20% of the company’s revenue.
• The company’s e-bikes can ride 50 km on a single charge and are priced between Rs 28,000 and Rs 42,000. It competes with players such as Hero Lectro and Meraki in this category.

News & updates

• Foul play: Do Kwon, the Terraform Labs co-founder behind the $40 billion collapse of TerraUSD and Luna tokens, has been arrested in Montenegro. He faces charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud, and conspiracy in the US.
• Made in India: Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the "time has come" for Boeing and Airbus to set up jetliner plants in India. The Tata-Airbus consortium is expected to soon manufacture the C295 transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force.
• Buyout: Japanese electronics and technology manufacturer Toshiba has accepted a $15 billion tender offer from buyout fund Japan Industrial Partners. This will allow the comapany to go private and delist from the Tokyo Stock Exchange—something it had been trying to do for years.

Extinct bird Dodo was endemic to which island in the Indian Ocean?

Answer: Mauritius.

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