Baron Capital values BYJU'S at $24M; Ganesh Balakrishnan’s mantra for founders

Hello,

Most Indian startup stocks were trading higher on the bourses on June 3, in step with the wider stock market which touched a new high buoyed by the exit polls that predicted the return of the BJP-led NDA government to power for the third time.

In other news, US-based asset management firm Baron Capital marked up the valuation of its stake in Swiggy to $109.16 million from its original investment of $76.77 million, as per regulatory filings filed with US Security and Exchange Commission.

Bundl Technologies Pvt Limited, Swiggy’s parent company, is currently valued at $15.1 billion, nearly 25% higher than the previous assessment of $12.1 billion.

Another startup seeing a boost in its valuation is SoftBank-backed eyewear retailer Lenskart, which has raised $200 million in secondary investment from Temasek and Fidelity Management and Research Company. The company had joined the coveted unicorn club in 2019. With the latest fundraise, its valuation has crossed $5 billion, according to TechCrunch.

In other news, the government-backed protocol Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) recorded 8.9 million transactions across retail and ride-hailing segments in May 2024—an all-time high and a 23% month-on-month increase.

Lastly, meet the 500-pound (226 kg) goose-like bird that once roamed the Australian outback. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Baron Capital slashes BYJU’S valuation
• Ganesh Balakrishnan’s mantra for founders
• Empowering women to travel solo

Here’s your trivia for today: Before the early 1980s, the Japanese automaker Nissan was known by what name?

Edtech

Baron Capital slashes BYJU’S valuation

US-based asset management company Baron Capital Group has reduced the valuation of its stake in edtech firm BYJU'S by 99.85% as of March 31, 2024. The decline in Baron Capital's investment value resulted in the venture capital firm sharply cutting the edtech company's valuation to nearly $24 million.

Liquidity crunch:

• Baron Capital, holding 15,334 shares through Baron Emerging Markets Fund and 9,201 shares via Baron Global Advantage Fund, has appraised its investment in BYJU’S at $75,485 and $45,294, respectively.
• This marks a decrease from its peak valuation of $22 billion in October 2022, aligning with the valuation concern around BYJU’S $200 million rights issue.
• Meanwhile, BYJU'S has reportedly processed employees' May salaries from the month's business collections. The company in the past month also raised various debts to bear the salary expense.

Funding Alert

Startup: Lenskart

Amount: $200M

Round: Secondary investment

Startup: AstroTalk

Amount: $9.5M

Round: Series A

Startup: LogicLadder

Amount: $2.5M

Round: Equity

Entrepreneurship

Ganesh Balakrishnan’s mantra for founders

Understand decision-making, learn from mistakes, and double down on things that work. This is the key to staying ahead in the entrepreneurial game, said Ganesh Balakrishnan, serial entrepreneur, marketer, and co-founder of fintech firm Aurm.  

“Every startup is somebody's baby. It’s a very hard thing to let go of that emotional connection. You need to balance the emotion with the objective,” he said during a fireside chat at YourStory’s Brands of India 2024 event.

Staying ahead:

• Before Aurm, the entrepreneur had co-founded several companies, including Momoe, a mobile payment app, and D2C casual sneaker brand Flatheads—which was featured on Shark Tank India.
• “Through the journey, multiple mentors, including investors and partners with us in our entrepreneurial journey, give you a perspective which is very different from what we have,” he adds.
• The entrepreneur believes in balancing emotions with objectivity. “There are pivots you can do, different categories you can get into, you can change your business model, or you can say, ‘Hey, I've tried everything, it doesn't really work, maybe I need to step back.’” 

Women Entrepreneurs

Empowering women to travel solo

Started by Zinal Doshi in 2016, Flapper Life focuses on solo women travellers looking for adventurous travel and exploring local culture across India and Asian countries.

So far, the startup has hosted around 1,000 women and has curated around 250 trips.

Safe travel: 

• The startup employs three to four local people on a commission basis in all its travel locations who pre-check the accommodation facilities.
• Flapper Life offers pan-India domestic trips in Meghalaya, Ladakh, Kashmir, Rajasthan, Kerala, and more. For international trips, the startup covers Asian countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore, among others.
• The average cost of a domestic and international trip for six nights and seven days is around Rs 55,000 and Rs 1 lakh, respectively.

News & updates

• Roaring Kitty: GameStop jumped 21% on Monday after "Roaring Kitty" Keith Gill, the stocks influencer behind the 2021 retail trading frenzy, returned to Reddit with a post showing a $116 million bet on the embattled videogame retailer.
• Historic win: Claudia Sheinbaum has won a landslide victory to become Mexico’s first female president, inheriting the project of her mentor and outgoing leader, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose popularity among the poor helped drive her triumph.
• AI chips: Advanced Micro Devices unveiled its latest artificial intelligence processors on Monday and detailed its plan to develop AI chips over the next two years in a bid to challenge industry leader Nvidia.

Before the early 1980s, the Japanese automaker Nissan was known by what name?

Answer: Datsun.

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