Lacklustre quarter for TCS; InsuranceDekho’s ‘buying’ strategy

Hello,

BYJU’S lenders have appointed Kroll to safeguard the charged assets belonging to Great Learning Education Pte. Ltd. and BYJU’S Pte. Ltd., the firm’s Singapore entity. This development comes as BYJU'S is considering a potential sale of Great Learning to settle the debt linked to a $1.2 billion term loan B owed to its lenders. 

Meanwhile, VC firm Jungle Ventures announced First Cheque@Jungle to back startups at the pre-seed and seed stages, across India and Southeast Asia. The sector-agnostic fund, which invests between $500,000 and $20 million in companies, will invest $2 million and upwards as part of this new initiative. 

Speaking of funding, Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath is launching the ‘WTF Fund’ to support entrepreneurs under the age of 22, with a focus on fashion, beauty, or home brands. Two winners will receive Rs 40 lakh each contributed by Kamath, along with Ananth Narayanan, Founder of Mensa Brands; Raj Shamani, Founder of House of X; and Kishore Biyani, CEO of The Future Group.

ICYMI: Rest of the World analysed 3,000 AI-generated images to see how image generators visualise different countries and cultures. The result? Bias all around. In fact, an earlier Bloomberg analysis of 5,000+ AI-generated images found that high-paying jobs were dominated by subjects with lighter skin tones.

Lastly, a look at the best weather photography of the year.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• TCS reports 9% rise in profit for Q2
• InsuranceDekho’s ‘buying’ strategy  
• The force behind Nykaa’s lifestyle empire

Here’s your trivia for today: The 1987 Cricket World Cup was the first to be hosted outside England. Where was it held?

IT services 

TCS reports 8.7% rise in profit for Q2

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported an 8.7% rise in net profit for the three-month period between July and September of the current fiscal, slightly below analysts' expectations. The IT services provider also announced a Rs 17,000 crore share buyback programme.

Key takeaways:

• The net profit in Q2 stood at Rs 11,342 crore as compared to Rs 10,431 crore registered during the same period of FY23.
• TCS also managed to improve its operating profit margins for the second quarter of the fiscal by 30 basis to touch 24.3% as compared to 24% in the first quarter.
• The company will buy back up to 4.09 crore shares in its latest buyback programme.

<Funding Alert>

Startup: Zolve

Amount: $100M

Round: Warehouse debt

Startup: InsuranceDekho

Amount: $60M

Round: Series B

Startup: Apex Kidney Care

Amount: $10M

Round: Undisclosed 

Insurtech

InsuranceDekho’s ‘buying’ strategy 

‘Soonicorn’ InsuranceDekho has raised $60 million in its ongoing Series B funding round as the insurance distribution startup looks to double down on acquiring new businesses to expand its regional capability and tap new insurance categories. 

The latest fundraise comes eight months after the company secured $150 million (Series A), which was one of the largest funding deals closed by an insurtech firm in South Asia. 

Headstart:

• Co-founder and CEO Ankit Agrawal told YourStory that the latest round, a mix of equity and debt, was raised at “soonicorn valuation”, and was 50% higher than the last round. 
• Japanese giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc (MUFG), insurer BNP Paribas Cardif (who invested via its insurtech fund managed by European investment major Eurazeo), Beams Fintech Fund, and Yogesh Mahansaria Family Office joined the captable with the new round. 
• The startup targets onboarding two lakh agent partners on its platform by March 2024, and claims to be on track to achieve overall premiums worth Rs 3,600 crore this fiscal.

Inspiration

The force behind Nykaa’s lifestyle empire

Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar attributes her entrepreneurial spirit to her parents who allowed her the freedom to pursue her dreams. 

And, the same parenting style has nudged Adwaita Nayar, her daughter, to build and grow Nykaa. The 33-year-old became a co-founder of the beauty retailer and is the CEO of Nykaa Fashion, its clothing and accessories vertical launched in 2018.

Entrepreneurial energy:

• In 2012, Falguni left a top investment banking role at Kotak Mahindra Bank to begin selling cosmetics over the internet.
• The duo worked out of the 190 sqft industrial gala where Falguni’s father once used to run a small bearings business.
• They attribute the brand’s success to its emphasis on a progressive positioning among women customers and the art of retailing.

News & updates

• Lead-in: Private equity firm Blackstone has held preliminary discussions with Walt Disney to acquire a stake in its Indian arm. Blackstone is the latest suitor for Disney's assets in the Indian market, where it has been exploring a sale or a joint venture partner for the digital and TV business.
• Clashes: Nearly three out of four organisations said return-to-office policies could prompt boardroom battles, according to a new survey of US workplace leaders, showing how senior management doesn’t always see eye to eye on the issue.
• Pivot: Google is looking to make passwords obsolete by prompting users to create passkeys to unlock accounts and devices with a fingerprint, face scan, or pin number. It said that passkeys don’t require users to memorise passwords, are quicker to use, and offer more security. 

The 1987 Cricket World Cup was the first to be hosted outside England. Where was it held?

Answer: In India and Pakistan.

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