Paytm introspects after Q4 earnings; Simpl's new strategy
During an extended earnings call, CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the company has learned from its mistakes and will hire more independent directors and subject experts to bolster governance and compliance.
It’s a pink day for , and we are just a part of it.
FSN E-commerce Ventures, the parent company of Nykaa, posted a 67% YoY rise in consolidated net profit for FY24 at Rs 32.2 crore, supported by strong growth and demand in its key segments.
The Falguni Nayar-led beauty marketplace logged a 24% YoY rise in revenue from operations to Rs 6,385 crore in FY24.
In other news, has backed out on its IPO plans for the second time. As per TechCrunch, the Ritesh Agarwal-founded company, once commanding a valuation of $10 billion, is reportedly attempting to raise money at a valuation as low as $2-2.3 billion.
Meanwhile, Ola Group has transitioned its workload to its AI firm Krutrim’s cloud infrastructure, within a week after Founder Bhavish Aggarwal severed ties with the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform.
In a new twist to the saga, a US court has ruled that Riju Ravindran, the brother of Byju Raveendran, is in contempt of court for refusing to disclose or confirm the whereabouts of the $533 million from term loan proceeds.
Lastly, weddings are the best place to capture the most beautiful moments in a couple’s lives.
But why are couples increasingly imposing the ‘no photos’ rule on their guests?
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- Paytm introspects after Q4 earnings
- Simpl doubles down on Pay Later service
- Family-friendly podcast with Saloni Gaur
Here’s your trivia for today: What is the most dense stable element?
Ecommerce
Paytm introspects after Q4 earnings
parent One 97 Communications has had a rough 2024 so far. Due to regulatory sanctions from the RBI, the fintech player had to stop all operations at its subsidiary Paytm Payments Bank, which led to impairment losses of Rs 227 crore.
During an extended earnings call, CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the company has learned from its mistakes and will hire more independent directors and subject experts to bolster governance and compliance.
Key takeaways:
- Loss for FY24 narrowed by 20% to Rs 1,422 crore from Rs 1,776 crore in FY23, while Q4 loss soared over threefold to Rs 550 crore.
- The company announced that Paytm will “pivot” to focus more on a distribution-only credit model (where Paytm is not responsible for collections and, therefore, receives no collection incentive).
- It also revealed that it is experimenting with secured loans, including microloans, against property for smaller merchants.
<Funding Alert>
Startup: SAVE Group
Amount: $13M
Round: Undisclosed
Startup:
Amount: $11M
Round: Seed
Startup:
Amount: $3M
Round: Pre-Series A
Fintech
Simpl doubles down on Pay Later service
Days after cutting 100 jobs, fintech startup has outlined a new strategy, with a special focus on its Pay Later product. The Bengaluru-based company will also enforce a hiring freeze and look for other ways to cut costs. As per LinkedIn, the company has more than 600 employees.
Focus:
- In an email sent to its employees, co-founder Nitya Sharma said Simpl will double down on the Pay Later service as the company looks to improve unit economics, expand its network, and reduce operational costs.
- The Pay Later service lets users make purchases from Rs 1,500 to Rs 20,000 with a 15-day billing cycle and no interest if paid on time.
- To address slow customer acquisitions, Simpl plans to ensure uniform consumer onboarding and education across all channels, prioritising the first 30-day consumer experiences, working with merchants to achieve joint goals of retention, and more.
Celebrity
Family-friendly podcast with Saloni Gaur
If you are a fan of comic Saloni Gaur, you’d know how intrinsic her family is to her life, as well as her comedy. Most often, you’ll find her family, especially her grandmother (dadi) making appearances on her reels—cracking one up with her snark and deadpan expression.
Gaur has roped in her family in a podcast series, The Pariwarik Podcast—which features Gaur, along with her mother and grandmother—as an extension of their daily conversations.
Tune in:
- While humour is aplenty, the conversations touch upon a variety of subjects, like gender roles, marriage, fashion, and parenting, and introduce thought-provoking opinions from her family.
- The Pariwarik Podcast is less of gyaan (advice) and more of everyday things relatable to a middle-class family.
- Gaur aims to keep her content relatable and focus on trending topics. “My family is very entertaining; there is no dearth of relatable topics in a middle-class household,” she laughs, adding that her writing has become more refined, and so have her jokes in the process.
News & updates
- Ad business: TikTok is the latest tech company to incorporate Gen AI into its ads business, as the company announced it’s launching a new “TikTok Symphony” AI suite for brands. The tools will help marketers write scripts, produce videos, and enhance current assets.
- Delivery: French car giant Peugeot is partnering with German mobility startup Vay to integrate so-called “tele driving” tech—an alternative to autonomous cars—into its vehicles. The deal will see the two companies assess the technology’s use on “last-mile delivery” vans and smaller logistics vehicles, with a focus on B2B customers.
- More AI: Amazon is upgrading its decade-old Alexa voice assistant with Gen AI and plans to charge a monthly subscription fee to offset the cost of the technology. Amazon’s subscription for Alexa will not be included in its annual Prime offering, and Amazon has not yet nailed down the price point.
What is the most dense stable element?
Answer: Osmium.
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