BYJU’S posts worrying FY22 numbers; Driving the creator economy

Hello,

First, let’s talk numbers.

MakeMyTrip posted solid growth in Q3, with its revenue growing 25.6% to $214 million on the back of increased travel demand in India for both domestic and international destinations. Its adjusted net profit also more than doubled to $38.9 million, up from $15.8 million earned in Q3 FY23.

Also, Infibeam Avenues posted total sales worth Rs 912 crore for the October-December quarter—a 2.2X YoY growth, marking the digital payments facilitator’s highest-ever quarterly gross revenue. 

Its net profit grew 64% YoY to Rs 41 crore while EBITDA was Rs 69 crore—up from Rs 47.5 crore in Q3 FY23, reflecting strong operational efficiency.

Meanwhile, more layoffs in the startup industry as fitness brand Cure.fit lets go of some employees in an attempt to streamline operations and achieve profitability. The company aims to become profitable by FY25, Curefit told YourStory.

In other news, it's a difficult time for Zee Entertainment Enterprises as its shares fell by over 30% on the BSE after Sony Group called off the $10-billion merger deal. The stock touched its lower price band on both BSE and NSE.

And lastly, a new personal finances term is gaining traction on social media—all thanks to GenZs.

Called ‘loud budgeting’, it essentially involved being candid about your personal finances and talking about living within one’s means rather than projecting a false sense of prosperity.

No fake Pradas here, fam! 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• BYJU'S’ much-delayed FY22 earnings
• Driving the creator economy
• The legacy of Mysore Saree Udyog

Here’s your trivia for today: Which beverage is known as the ‘nectar of the Gods’ in Greek mythology?

Edtech

BYJU'S reports much-delayed FY22 earnings

Troubled edtech firm BYJU'S submitted its long-delayed financial results for FY22 to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, revealing a mounting consolidated loss of Rs 8,245 crore in FY22, up 80.6% from Rs 4,564 crore recorded in the earlier fiscal. 

The Byju Raveendran-led firm’s total expenses surged 94.5% to Rs 13,668.5 crore in FY22, compared to Rs 7,027.5 crore in FY21.

Earnings: 

• The edtech company’s total income, including interest income from current investments, reached Rs 5,298.4 crore in FY22—up from Rs 2,428.4 crore in the previous fiscal.
• Its EBITDA loss was Rs 6,679.1 crore in FY22, up from a loss of Rs 4,142.9 crore in the year-ago period.
• BYJU’S is looking to secure over $100 million from existing investors at a 90% valuation cut, valuing it at less than $2 billion. Recently, Blackrock also marked down its stake in the firm by 95%.

Funding Alert

Startup: SK Finance

Amount: Rs 1,328 Cr

Round: Equity

Startup: Scope

Amount: $6M

Round: Growth

Startup: RagaAI

Amount: $4.7M

Round: Seed

Startup

Driving the creator economy

Gurugram-based Fanztar, a creator economy platform in India, creates a close bridge between the followers and the creators, where the creator gives a part of their future earnings to them by way of a digital card or fan card that offers certain benefits to the follower.

"If you talk to a micro-creator who has a community of around 10,000 followers on platforms like Instagram or YouTube, they face the problem of not being able to sustain the community for a longer period," explains Founder and CEO Himanshu Garg, adding that this is because platforms keep changing algorithms.

How it works:

• "The platform generates certain digital cards on the blockchain, which are called non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and are linked to the IP rights of the content that this creator is going to create over the next 18 months or so," Garg explains.
• Currently, Fanztar is not charging the creators to be on the platform but takes a 20-25% commission on sales that happen on the cards. 
• So far, the startup has onboarded more than 1,000 creators on its platform, and around 44,000 fan cards have been sold in one year.

Family business

The legacy of Mysore Saree Udyog

For over four decades, Mysore Saree Udyog has stood tall in one of Bengaluru’s busiest shopping destinations, Commercial Street. Having humble beginnings, today, it has grown into a three-storey building and also expanded to Hyderabad, where it set up a store last year in Jubilee Hills. 

Running a business:

• Mysore Saree Udyog mainly sells silk sarees from all over India, including the weaving clusters of Karnataka, Varanasi, Pochampalli, Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu), and Odisha. The brand specialises in pure silk sarees with pure zari.
• Ramaswamy Venkataraman, the former Dean of Harvard University, described Mysore Saree Udyog as an institution for learning. IIM Ahmedabad's Case Centre considers the operational approach of Mysore Saree Udyog as a subject of study.
• In 2016, the family-run business established The Registry of Sarees, a research centre, repository and museum, in Bengaluru, to enable learning through engagements with weavers and practitioners and other events.

News & updates

• Under fire: Amazon has been fined €32 million in France for "excessive" surveillance of its workers, including measures the data watchdog CNIL found to be illegal. It found Amazon tracked activity so precisely that it led to workers having to potentially justify each break.
• Sneaky U-turn: China has quietly pulled the proposed curbs on the video game industry from the official website, which caught investors and gaming giants by surprise and wiped tens of billions of dollars off the market value. Last month, China’s video game regulator proposed measures to curb excessive time and money spent on computer and smartphone games.
• Not so rosy: Battery-powered electric vehicles will only ever capture 30% of global market share, Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda has predicted raising concerns about consumers’ willingness to align with net zero goals. He added that traditional fuel-burning cars, as well as hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, would make up the rest of the market.

Which beverage is known as the ‘nectar of the Gods’ in Greek mythology?

Answer: Ambrosia. It is estimated to have been amurca, a byproduct of olive oil production.

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