Inside Veranda Learning’s playbook; Smart tech for Indian kitchens

Hello,

Meet the newest group of companies set to hit the bourses shortly. 

Seafood startup Captain Fresh is preparing for its biggest catch yet, with a plan to raise Rs 1,700 crore through a fresh issue of shares. 

It has also reclassified itself as a public limited company under the name Infifresh Foods Ltd, and has filed confidential papers with India’s markets regulator.

Meanwhile, OnEMI Technology Solutions Ltd, the parent of digital lender Kissht, has filed for an IPO comprising a fresh issue of shares worth up to Rs 1,000 crore, and an offer for sale of as many as 8.9 million shares by existing investors.

ICYMI: A new SEBI proposal could allow larger companies to launch smaller IPOs if their market cap is above $57 billion after the listing.

Meanwhile, it might be game over for online money games in India, as a proposed promotion and regulation of online gaming bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday. 

The bill prohibits online money gaming or its ads, and prescribes imprisonment or fine, or both, for those offering or advertising them.

In other news, Pop Mart, the creator of the viral Labubu dolls, is soundly riding the micro-trend wave.

Revenue for the year’s first half tripled compared with last year to $1.93 billion, surpassing the company’s sales for all of 2024.

Who knew plushie blindboxes would be the key to cornering the happiness market?

• Inside Veranda Learning’s playbook
• Smart tech for Indian kitchens
• Building a career in tech

Here’s your trivia for today: Which element, previously used in the production of felt, led to the expression "mad as a hatter"?

Edtech

Inside Veranda Learning’s playbook

Chennai-based edtech firm Veranda Learning is moving from acquisitions and expansion-led growth to value creation. It plans to spin off its verticals—commerce education, vocational training, K-12, and government test prep—into independent entities that can succeed on their own.

Key takeaways:

• The company plans to unbundle the four verticals and list them as separate, independent companies on the stock exchanges, starting with Veranda’s best-performing, debt-free asset—the commerce education vertical.
• Veranda’s commerce education vertical provides comprehensive programmes for students pursuing careers in finance, accounting, and management.
• In the government exam preparation market, Veranda has a noticeable presence in southern India. Through its RACE and Talent brands, the company has trained a large number of candidates for roles in banking and other public sector jobs.

<Funding Alert>

Startup: R for Rabbit

Amount: $27M

Round: Series B

Startup: Beyond Appliances

Amount: $4M

Round: Series A

Startup: House of Biryan 

Amount: $32 Cr

Round: Growth

Startups

Smart tech for Indian kitchens

The Indian kitchen, where people spend two to three hours a day cooking, has seen little meaningful technological innovation. Beyond Appliances is set to change that, says Eshwar K Vikas, Co-founder & CEO of Beyond Appliances.

Founded in August 2024 by Vikas and Rakesh Patil, the Bengaluru-based startup blends expertise in kitchen automation and advanced engineering to make traditional cooking easier.

Homegrown:

• The company’s first product, the Orion Chimney, runs on Android with smart features such as HD screen, Wi-Fi, voice and gesture control, and access to OTT apps—all enclosed behind a tempered glass panel built for tough kitchen conditions like steam, oil, and heat.
• The startup has also introduced cooktops and hobs with built-in safety features such as a Flame Failure Device (FFD), which automatically shuts off the gas if the flame goes out.
• The startup, which currently competes with players like Faber, Elica, and Hafele, differentiates itself by designing specifically for Indian kitchens rather than adapting products made for international markets.

Inspiration

Building a career in tech

In 1998, on her first assignment with French multinational Alstom Transport, Sasmita Panda tested software for India’s first metro rail project in Kolkata.

After over two decades of illustrious stints in multinational companies like Polaris, Hexaware, and Cognizant, Panda now leads Consulting Tech Strategy and serves as Transformation Architecture Leader at EY Global Delivery Services.

News & updates

• Big stakes: SoftBank Group Corp. agreed to buy $2 billion of Intel Corp. stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company will pay $23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close.
• AI funding: Analytics firm Databricks said on Tuesday its valuation was set to jump 61% to more than $100 billion in a funding round less than a year after its last, underscoring strong investor demand for artificial intelligence startups.
• Sales boost: A rise in shipments of smartphones, especially in Southeast Asia, helped to boost Xiaomi's second-quarter revenue by 30.5%, the smartphone and EV company said, against the backdrop of a sluggish global market.

Which element, previously used in the production of felt, led to the expression "mad as a hatter"?

Answer: Mercury.

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