Tête-à-tête with Ricky Kej; Ofbusiness’ IPO plans

Hello,

A blockbuster debut follows a lacklustre result.

In its first quarterly results after getting listed on Indian bourses, Ola Electric reported a wider net loss of Rs 347 crore, bogged down by higher costs.

The electric scooter maker reported a 32% annual rise in its quarterly revenue to Rs 1,644 crore in Q1 FY25, buoyed by a rise in demand for its two-wheelers.

On the other hand, hospitality unicorn OYO reported its first-ever profit after tax of about Rs 229 crore in FY24, while its consolidated revenue from operations remained stable at about Rs 5,388 crore.

And trouble brews for BYJU’S as the Supreme Court put the insolvency proceedings against the beleaguered edtech company back on the table, reversing the NCLAT's earlier verdict that had set them aside.

Meanwhile, check out this rotating VR gaming chair built by London-based Roto VR.

ICYMI: Mark Zuckerberg’s Roman empire. It’s not Meta or AI, but his wife!

Some men buy diamonds, others build statues!

Lastly, we wish you a Happy 78th Independence Day!

Did you know that South Korea, North Korea, and Congo, among other countries share their Independence Day with India?

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Tête-à-tête with Ricky Kej
• Ofbusiness’ public outing plans
• Convenience shopping for rural India

Here’s your trivia for today: When was India’s first unofficial flag hoisted?

Interview

Tête-à-tête with Ricky Kej

Three-time Grammy winner Ricky Kej has released an epic rendition of the Indian National Anthem. The endeavour has also set a Guinness World Record for being the largest-ever orchestra to perform the Indian National Anthem–a 14,000-member choir featuring children from tribal communities.

In a chat with YS Life, Kej talks about his accomplishments, his creative process, and, of course, the elephant in the room—artificial intelligence and the fear of AI replacing people in creative fields.

Timeless:

• The new rendition features prominent musicians Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Rakesh Chaurasia, Rahul Sharma, Sheik Mahaboob Subhani, Kaleeshabi Mehaboob, Jayanthi Kumaresh, Giridhar Udupa, Amaan Ali Bangash, and Ayaan Ali Bangash.
• On his creative process, Kej says he uses technology to create an outline. “These days with the computer, you get amazing sounds which are extremely authentic—I cannot make out the difference between a real instrumental and a synthetic instrument,” he adds.
• According to the musician, AI will probably be the end of “boring and generic” music composers, but creative artists will find work. 

<Funding Alert>

Startup: Syfe 

Amount: $27M

Round: Equity

Startup: Six Sense Mobility

Amount: Rs 6 Cr

Round: Seed

Fintech 

Ofbusiness’ IPO plans

Online marketplace for construction Ofbusiness is in the early stages of planning its initial public offering (IPO), people aware of the discussions told YourStory. 

The startup has initiated conversations with investment bankers as the SoftBank-backed firm targets a public listing by August next year.

Key takeaways:

• The company has held exploratory talks with at least five investment banks including Kotak Investment Banking for its IPO, the sources said.
• OfBusiness is one of India’s most profitable unicorns and has made a net profit for the previous five fiscal years.
• It counts Falcon Edge (Alpha Wave Global), Tiger Global, and Norwest Venture Partners among others as its backers. 

Startup 

Convenience shopping for rural India

Ahmedabad-based Frendy wears many hats: it is a convenience store manager, grocery retailer, and dark store operator. It also makes private labels of daily essentials. 

However, unlike other players in the ecommerce industry, Frendy wants to bring convenience shopping to rural regions.

Playbook:

• Frendy operates nearly 25 mini-marts—neighbourhood convenience stores—in towns like Chaala, Kalavad, Gondal, and Chithroda among others in Gujarat. 
• Along with being a retail store, these mini-marts also act as dark stores for the company’s B2B operations where they supply to micro kirana stores in a radius of 10-30 km.
• More than 2,000 of these micro kiranas are digitally connected to Frendy, which allows them to buy the assortment that they would ideally store.

News & updates

• New product: Elon Musk-owned xAI launched Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini in beta with improved reasoning. The new Grok AI model can now generate images on the X social network, though Grok access is currently limited to Premium and Premium+ users on X. Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini are available to users on X in beta.
• Actions: The US Department of Justice is considering options that include breaking up Alphabet's Google, a week after a US judge ruled the tech giant illegally monopolised the online search market. The ruling is seen as the first big win for federal authorities taking on the market dominance of Big Tech.
• M&A: Mars has agreed to buy Kellanova in a deal that values the maker of Cheez-It and Pringles at almost $29 billion. The mega-deal will create a global snacks behemoth, adding a bevvy of new nibbles to Mars’ portfolio of brands, including Snickers, M&M’s, and the Mars bar.

When was India’s first unofficial flag hoisted?

Answer: August 7, 1906, in the Parsee Bagan Square (Green Park) in Calcutta, now Kolkata. The flag composed of three horizontal strips of red, yellow, and green.

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