IPOs take funding centre stage in 2024; Making learning child’s play

Hello,

Is Dunzo taking its final bow out of the delivery race?

The hyperlocal delivery service’s app and website have gone offline, mere days after news broke that its co-founder and CEO Kabeer Biswas has joined Flipkart to work on its quick commerce offering.

According to an Inc42 report, trouble has been brewing on multiple fronts for Dunzo, including pending salaries for its employees, all of whom have reportedly left the startup. What’s more, some have also taken the legal route against Biswas for the pending payments. 

Meanwhile, in the corporate world, the debate on productive work hours continues to rage after L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan’s controversial 90-hour work week comments. And ITC’s chairman has one simple piece of advice on that: focus on the company vision rather than the hours worked.

Nevertheless, whether work weeks have any hand in it or not, India is set to project higher economic growth for the next fiscal year, likely at a nominal rate of 10.3%-10.5%, according to a Reuters report. This upbeat forecast could partly help ease worries of an economic slowdown, which has gripped Indian markets since late last year.

Meanwhile, this week, the country is also home to the world’s largest gathering of humanity, as the Maha Kumbh Mela is set to draw in over 400 million people over the course of the six-day festivities. 

The “royal bath” of the ascetics at Prayagraj alone drew in 35 million devotees on the second day of the Mela. That’s roughly equivalent to the entire population of Malaysia!

Faith is the greatest connector, after all. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• IPOs take funding centre stage in 2024
• Making learning child’s play

Here’s your trivia for today: What ape's name is Malay for "old man of the forest"?

Funding

IPOs take funding centre stage in 2024

In 2024, Indian startups witnessed a revival in funding, raising $13.2 billion, a 22% increase from 2023’s $10.8 billion, overcoming the ‘funding winter’ freeze.

One of the most striking trends in 2024, however, was IPOs outperforming unicorns, as 13 startups went public, as opposed to just 6 new entrants to the $1-billion club. This underscored the ecosystem’s growing maturity and focus on sustainable growth.

Revival:

• 2024 began cautiously, with Q1 recording the lowest inflow at $2.4 billion, but the momentum gradually picked up, with the third quarter seeing the highest inflow at $4 billion, indicating growing investor confidence.
• Stage-wise, while late-stage startups continued to garner the bigger cheques, mopping up $5.1 billion, early-stage startups came second with $3.4 billion.
• Just two weeks into the new year, startups have already raised $115 million, with the first unicorn sighting imminent. However, macroeconomic conditions may challenge growth in the first half, with recovery expected later in the year.

Funding Alert

Startup: BGauss

Amount: Rs 161 Cr

Round: Undisclosed

Startup: Tractor Factory

Amount: $500,000

Round: Pre-Seed

Startup: NeoSapien

Amount: Rs 80 L

Round: Equity

Woman Entrepreneur

Making learning child’s play

WoodBee Toys—founded by 64-year-old K Kokila, a government employee-turned-entrepreneur in 2020—has grown from its modest origins to one of Tamil Nadu’s leading toy manufacturers. 

Noticing the market's reliance on silicon teethers and plastic toys—which invariably came in contact with a child’s mouth—Kokila, alongside her daughters-in-law, envisioned a line of non-toxic wooden toys, which eventually turned into the venture Woodbee Toys is today. 

All natural:

• The team sourced neem and pine wood from Kerala and recruited local women, starting with a team of six. With the help of Kokila’s daughter-in-law, Sukanya, a tech-savvy medical doctor, WoodBee Toys sold its first batch of 100 toys on Instagram instantly.
• Under Kokila's leadership, WoodBee Toys’ product line expanded to over 100 Montessori and Waldorf-inspired wooden toys, including teethers, rattles, shape sorters, counting frames and abacuses, alphabet and number puzzles, stacking towers, wooden toolkits, and building and construction toys.
• Kokila also started a recruitment drive to rope in women from nearby villages, who were farmhands and daily wage labourers. This collaborative environment empowered women from neighbouring villages, transitioning them from daily wage labourers to skilled artisans with stable incomes.

News & updates

• Unhappy hour: Brown-Forman said on Tuesday it will lay off about 12% of its global workforce of 5,400 employees, as the Jack Daniel's maker looks to reduce costs amid weak alcohol demand.
• Probe: Alphabet Inc’s Google is facing the first UK investigation under the tougher antitrust rules for the digital market over concerns that it’s distorting the market in search and online advertising services.
• Decline: Volkswagen delivered fewer cars in 2024 as the automaker continued to be hit by intense competition in China that has seen rivals cut prices to win customers in its largest market.

What ape's name is Malay for "old man of the forest"?

Answer: Orangutan.

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