Stories of change and impact in 2023; PhysicsWallah’s profitability streak continues

Hello,

Market regulator SEBI has approved the launch of ‘UPI for Secondary Market’, allowing trading supported by a blocked amount in the secondary market. Stock broker Groww is spearheading the Beta launch, which will begin on January 1. 

Meanwhile, SoftBank-backed Meesho posted its first-ever profit in the July-September 2023 quarter. The ecommerce platform said it narrowed losses to Rs 141 crore in H1 FY24 and its revenue increased 37% YoY during the period.

The company halved its losses to Rs 1,675 crore in FY23 while its revenue from operations grew 77% from FY22 to Rs 5,753 crore in FY23.

In other news, the Financial Intelligence Unit under the Finance Ministry has issued show-cause notices to nine offshore crypto and virtual digital assets platforms for non-compliance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Binance, Kucoin, Huobi, and Kraken are among the companies on the list. 

ICYMI: For the first time, a woman is appointed the Director-General of the Central Industrial Security Force.

Oh, and Tata Motors’ share price doubled in 2023, making it the only stock in the Nifty50 index to achieve this feat. But did you know that the iconic Tata Sumo car was named after an employee? He was the company’s then MD Sumant Moolgaokar. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Top stories of change and impact in 2023
• PhysicsWallah’s profitability streak continues
• SuperOps.ai's Arvind Parthiban on life, leadership

Here’s your trivia for today: In what year was January 1 first celebrated as New Year's Day?

Social Impact

Top stories of change and impact in 2023

Giving back to society doesn’t just enrich the lives of those impacted, but makes the world a better and more fulfilling place to live in with empathy, hope and faith. As the year ends, let’s revisit some of SocialStory's top social stories this year.

Making a difference:

• Ayirur is a serene village in Kerala where 70% of its residents are associated with Kathakali. The village has a Kathakali Club with 400 members which provides study sessions in schools to teach basic mudras and make-up.
• Shreya Mazumdar started Paaq Bandhu—an online forum for people in India and Pakistan to engage in dialogue and activities based on various forms of art such as music, film, and poetry.
• The Hrishikesh Centre for Contemporary Dance offers free dance classes to Parkinson’s patients to help them improve balance, flexibility, and coordination, and is busting the stigma around the disorder.

Top Deals of the Week

Startup: RevFin

Amount: $14M

Round: Series B

Startup: Escrowpay

Amount: $600,000

Round: Series A

Startup: Nephrocare India

Amount: Rs 8 Cr

Round: Pre-IPO

Edtech

PhysicsWallah’s profitability streak continues

Edtech platform Physics Wallah remains profitable for the third consecutive year, with the reported revenue soaring to Rs 798 crore in FY23, up 3.4X from the previous financial year.

"We will continue to plough back all the free cash flows generated by the business back into it to serve more students, touch more lives, and transform more families,” said Alakh Pandey, Founder and CEO, PhysicsWallah.

Financial earnings:

• The revenue from operations for the fiscal ended March 2023 increased to Rs 771.76 crore from Rs 232.47 crore in the previous fiscal year and Rs 24.6 crore earned in FY21.
• PhysicsWallah reported an adjusted EBITDA of Rs 127 crore in FY23 (adjusted for ESOP costs, Lease Equalization Reserve and one-time inventory provisioning), which stood at Rs 134 crore in FY22.
• The company witnessed an increase in total expenses, reaching Rs 777 crore in FY23, compared with Rs 103 crore in the previous year. Employee costs surged to Rs 406 crore, including ESOP benefits.

Interview

ICYMI: SuperOps.ai's Arvind Parthiban on life, leadership

Though he sold his first company Zarget to Freshworks in 2017, Arvind Parthiban never lost the desire to start something new. He went on to set up SuperOps.ai along with Jayakumar Karumbasalam in 2020. Over the past year, Chennai-based SuperOps.ai has seen a 300% growth in customers and raised $12.4 million in October as part of its latest round.

“A founder should have high conviction—but should also have flexible persistence. Imagine you're determined to climb a mountain and your goal is to reach the summit. That’s conviction," says Arvind in a conversation with YourStory. 

A grounded approach:

• Arvind, who gave up sugar nearly four years ago, truly believes that being fit enables him to become a better leader. 
• He surrounds himself with folks who are different from him. “I tend to lean more toward gut-based decisions. I often describe this approach as being akin to Captain Kirk, as opposed to the logical and analytical Spock," he says.
• He has a close support group that he leans on when he is in need of clarity or advice. This includes Freshworks Founder and CEO Girish Mathrubootham whom he considers his “best friend”.

News & updates

• Glass ceiling: Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the L’Oreal heiress and richest woman in the world, has become the first woman to hold a $100 billion fortune, as per the Bloomberg Billionaire's Index. L’Oreal’s stock has risen 35% this year as consumers have continued splurging on luxury products since the pandemic. 
• Arbitration: Google settled a class-action lawsuit brought by users who sought $5 billion and alleged the search giant captured and tracked their data while in “Incognito” mode, a Chrome browser setting that is supposed to protect users’ privacy. Google also recently announced new protection for user location data.
• Back on track: Huawei Technologies’ revenue surged 9% in 2023, capping a dramatic year for a Chinese technology powerhouse that challenged Apple and US sanctions with a surprise breakthrough in chip technology. Sales surged to more than 700 billion yuan ($98.7 billion) in 2023, the company said.

In what year was January 1 first celebrated as New Year's Day?

Answer: 45 BC. Roman dictator Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar with astronomer Sosignes of Alexandria to add 67 days to 46 BC so that 45 BC begins on January 1.

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