Mudrex rides the crypto wave; Why India is “super important” for Freshworks

Hello,

Something strange is brewing in the alco-bev sector, and it’s not the weekend buzz. 

Johnnie Walker maker Diageo appears to have stumbled into a regulatory storm, amid accusations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of attempting to influence favourable government decisions, Reuters reported. 

To add to its woes, it is also one of the several alco-bev makers waiting on repayments of a hefty IOU from an Indian state, worth under half a billion dollars.

Diageo, Pernod Ricard and Carlsberg are demanding unpaid dues of about $466 million from Telangana, while Heineken has halted supplies altogether to southern Telangana, India’s biggest beer consumer. 

Coming on the heels of a still-active investigation by the country’s anti-trust body into accusations of price collusion by Anheuser-Busch InBev and Pernod, this is just the latest in a series of regulatory challenges for the liquor industry in India.

Meanwhile, even globally, happy hours aren’t enough of a pick-me-up for liquor brands anymore, especially after the US Surgeon General’s call for cancer warnings on alcoholic drink labels earlier last week sent shares slipping for brands worldwide. 

ICYMI: Is 2025 set to be the year of the teetotaller? The numbers say: potentially. 

Here’s to your health!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Mudrex grows on crypto euphoria
• Why India is “super important” for Freshworks
• 158,000 startups and counting

Here’s your trivia for today: What was the name given to the first plane bought by Amelia Earhart?

Cryptocurrency

Mudrex grows on crypto euphoria

Indian crypto investment platform Mudrex said it saw a 200% rise in its user base in 2024 as the company doubled down on building customer relationships and focusing on educating its users.

“We put in a lot of effort in helping people understand what crypto is ... giving them a sense of how they can participate in investing in crypto without risking a lot and figuring out what's the right balance between risk and reward,” said Edul Patel, Co-founder and CEO at Mudrex in an interview with YourStory.

Key takeaways:

• Mudrex has also clocked in a 20X surge in monthly trading volume, touching $200 million. This refers to the total value of all trades executed on the platform.
• “India remains the company’s primary focus. “Our primary focus right now continues to stay in India. And we want to double down and first grow in India. And then as time progresses, take steps to move out,” Patel added.
• The company, which has received the Virtual Asset Service Provider registration in the European Union, is now in the process of applying for MiCA licence which is a permit to operate crypto-related services in the European Union.

Top Funding Deals of the Week

Startup: Innovaccer

Amount: $275M

Round: Series F

Startup: Fincorp

Amount: $35M

Round: Equity

Startup: Botanic Healthcare

Amount: Rs 250 Cr

Round: Equity

SaaS

Why India is “super important” for Freshworks

Freshworks CEO Dennis Woodside believes leveraging India's vast engineering and software talent remains crucial for the software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider to innovate and expand globally.

“We have over 3,800 employees here spread across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai. We built virtually all of our products—almost all of our code—here in India,” Woodside says in an exclusive interaction with YourStory. 

Being bullish:

• Beyond being a development hub for Freshworks, India is also a crucial market in the CX (customer experience) segment to assist customers with vast user bases—PhonePe being a prominent example.
• Freshworks’ growth has been fueled by its latest AI offerings, most notably Freddy AI, an easy-to-deploy autonomous service agent built to enhance CX and employee experience. “We’ve been able to scale to support customers with millions of interactions with their end customers,” Woodside says.
• Freshworks is also bullish on nurturing the nation’s talent and providing pathways for professional growth. Its STS Software Academy equips underprivileged high school graduates with advanced tech skills. 

Startup Ecosystem

158,000 startups and counting

India’s startup ecosystem has grown exponentially since the launch of the Startup India initiative in 2016, with the number of startups surging from around 400 then to over 158,000 today, according to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

Up and up:

• The ecosystem's reach is broadening with 48% of startups now originating from Tier II and III cities, DPIIT Joint Secretary Sanjiv Singh noted.
• India's unicorn count has expanded dramatically, increasing from eight in 2016 to 118 by 2024. The sector has also created over 1.7 million jobs, he added.
• Key policy boosts, including removing the angel tax in the last Budget and launching the Fund of Funds for Startups scheme in 2016 have contributed to this growth.

News & updates

• Great debate: The US Supreme Court will hear arguments about the future of TikTok on Friday, only nine days before a federal law is set to ban the social media platform in the US if it isn’t sold by its Chinese parent company.
• Shelved: Disney’s ESPN, Fox Corp, and Warner Bros Discovery aren’t moving forward with their joint streaming venture Venu Sports, calling off what would have been a major bet as the industry’s dynamics shift rapidly.
• AI boom: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, reported on Friday fourth-quarter revenue that easily beat market forecasts and hit its own expectations as it reaped the benefit of AI demand.

What was the name given to the first plane bought by Amelia Earhart?

Answer: Canary.

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