Fixing India's debt collection industry; Veranda Learning Q3 profit soars 110%

Hello,

The Reserve Bank of India kept the status quo—and its key repo rate—unchanged, boosted by a positive economic outlook and easing external headwinds.

The RBI's six-member monetary policy committee voted unanimously to keep the rate at 5.25%, with the monetary policy stance remaining ¨neutral¨. 

Some good news for small businesses: The RBI has also proposed doubling the limit on collateral-free loans for small enterprises as a means of strengthening last-mile lending.

The real estate sector also gets some benefits, with banks now being allowed to lend to real estate investment trusts under prudential safeguards.

Coming to Big Tech, Amazon shares dropped after the company unveiled plans to spend $200 billion this year on data centres, chips, and other equipment. Primarily, investors fear that its massive AI bet may not pan out in the long run. 

Are tech giants locked in a fast-escalating arms race in building AI infrastructure? The Big 4 companies—Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft—have together forecast capital expenditures of a mind-boggling $650 billion in 2026 for data centres and other AI equipment.

Component manufacturers have been the biggest winners from all this. The semiconductor industry will reach $1 trillion in revenue this year for the first time, boosted by the AI boom and the global spread of computer chips. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Fixing India's debt collection industry
• Veranda Learning Q3 profit soars 110%
• Helping tribal farmers reclaim millet

Here’s your trivia for today: Which comic book company was founded as Timely Publications?

Startup

Fixing India's debt collection industry

In 2019, Ananth Shroff was travelling abroad when he missed a credit card payment. Unable to reach him on his usual number, the bank contacted his family and threatened legal action. The experience cost the bank a customer and planted the seed for DPDzero. 

Founded by Shroff and Ranjith BR, the startup provides an AI-powered debt collection platform for banks, fintechs, and NBFCs in India. It helps lenders recover overdue payments through automated reminders, tailored payment plans, and borrower behaviour analysis.

Money talks:

• DPDzero offers three products. Pre-delinquency management ensures borrowers pay on time. Flow management handles borrowers who've missed payments but whose loans haven't been classified as NPAs. Recovery manages loans that have already been written off, where lenders have provisioned these losses to the RBI.
• Currently, 15% of collections are handled entirely by AI, while 85% involve human agents. The system operates in Hindi and Tamil, as the startup develops others.
• The startup says its current run rate is nearly Rs 140 crore in monthly collections, handled through 650 agents who make around 140,000 calls every day. It tracks zero escalations as a key metric alongside collection rates and costs.

Top Funding Deals of the Week

Startup: The Whole Truth

Amount: $51M

Round: Series D

Startup: Varaha

Amount: $20M

Round: Series B

Startup: Material Depot

Amount: $10M

Round: Series A

Edtech

Veranda Learning Q3 profit soars 110%

Education services provider Veranda Learning Solutions reported a surge in Q3 profit, as a sharp rise in student enrollments and a strategic focus on cost optimisation under its "Veranda 2.0" restructuring plan bolstered the bottom line.

Key takeaways:

• This strategic pivot marks a transition from the company's "Veranda 1.0" phase, which was characterised by rapid acquisitions and expansion to build a unified technology stack across diverse learning formats.
• The Chennai-based company, which offers services ranging from K-12 education to professional certifications, saw its Q3 net profit jump 110% to Rs 17 crore. Its revenue from operations surged 52% to Rs 117 crore.
• Within the specific business segments, the Commerce Test Prep vertical remained a primary growth engine with revenue more than doubling to Rs 80.2 crore, while the Government Test Prep division delivered record admissions exceeding 10,000 students.

Social Impact

Helping tribal farmers reclaim millet

On most days, sunlight is the only reliable power source in Kunri, a small tribal village near Kadambur in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district. In the hilly landscape close to the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, electricity has long been patchy or doesn’t exist at all. 

For generations, tribal families consumed mostly millets, which grew well on these terrains, but never had a chance to make a livelihood out of these crops. Today, a Rs 23.5-lakh solar-powered millet processing centre, launched in December in Kunri, is changing how tribal farmers engage with their harvests. 

News & updates

• Crypto: Bitcoin bounced off its recent low on Friday after narrowly avoiding falling below the key $60,000 mark, but some market commentators suggested there’s more selling to come. The sell-off comes amid a continued drop in tech stocks in the US. 
• Concession: India has scrapped a planned concession for small cars in upcoming fuel-efficiency rules after automakers, including Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, argued it would benefit only one company. A September draft had proposed leniency for petrol cars weighing 909 kg or less—a carve-out widely seen as favouring Maruti Suzuki, which controls 95% of India's small car market.
• Scale back: Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said the automaker plans to move forward as one company amid speculation that it would be better off selling brands or splitting up after disappointing results. His comments came hours after the company announced $26 billion in charges from a business restructuring plan.

Which comic book company was founded as Timely Publications?

Answer: Marvel

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