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Exclusive: No appraisal for Unacademy employees in 2024

EntrackrEntrackr · 11m ago
Exclusive: No appraisal for Unacademy employees in 2024
Medial

Employees of edtech unicorn Unacademy will receive no appraisal in 2024, co-founder and chief executive officer Gaurav Munjal said at the firm’s virtual town hall. Even in 2023, it had not given cash appraisal and instead provided performance-linked stock options to employees. “I think 2023 was an average year for us. But 2024, if not great, was above average. But we did not hit our growth goals. The good part is that the burn is extremely low now, and we have a huge runway. And I kept saying that we don’t have a survival risk,” said Munjal in the town hall. Entrackr has reviewed the video of the virtual town hall. As per Munjal, the company won’t be able to do any appraisals this year as it didn’t hit the projected growth numbers. “I know I said that we will do appraisals two, three weeks ago, but when we started the process, we realized that we made a mistake,” he said in the town hall. Munjal urged its workforce to look at the bigger picture. “We are the ones who are still standing while our competitors are going down one by one,” he said. Entrackr has reached out to Munjal for comment. The development comes soon after the company laid off 250 employees citing efforts to streamline operations and enhance efficiency. Last month, Entrackr also reported that the SoftBank-backed firm was in early-talks to merge with K12 Techno which runs the chain of Orchids International Schools. Unacademy raised its last equity round of $440 million at a valuation of $3.44 billion in August 2021. Since then, the firm has gone through mass layoffs, shutting down acquired verticals and exits of key employees including co-founder and CTO Hemesh Singh. Though, it has also launched several offline centers. The firm recently forayed into the language learning segment with a new app. In the beginning of FY24, the company claimed that it was close to achieving profitability at the group level. While the firm is yet to file the audited annual report for the last fiscal year (FY24), it recorded a 26% jump in its operating revenue to Rs 907 crore in FY23 while controlling losses by nearly 40% to Rs 1,004 core. Edtech companies have been going through hard times whether it is once-most valuable edtech company Byju’s or several growth stage startups. As per data compiled by TheKredible, edtech companies managed to raise only $138 million across 21 deals during the first half of 2024. In 2023, edtech startups raised $456 million while 2022 and 2021 saw $2.3 billion and $5.8 billion deployment in the space, respectively.

Exclusive: CoinDCX CTO, Finance and Legal heads set to resign

EntrackrEntrackr · 1m ago
Exclusive: CoinDCX CTO, Finance and Legal heads set to resign
Medial

Exclusive: CoinDCX CTO, Finance and Legal heads set to resign Crypto exchange CoinDCX is facing a fresh round of exodus at the top level, with multiple senior executives set to exit the company, according to two sources familiar with the matter. “CoinDCX’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Head of Finance, and Head of Legal are exiting the company as part of broader structural changes aimed at streamlining operations and cutting costs,” said a source requesting anonymity. CoinDCX has also initiated a new round of layoffs, though the number of affected employees remains unclear. In August 2023, the Bengaluru-based firm had laid off around 12% of its workforce, impacting around 70 staff. As per sources, the changes come as CoinDCX continues to grapple with declining trading volumes and increasing compliance headache. Confirming the top-level exits, a CoinDCX spokesperson said, "We are ramping up our teams and strengthening our leadership bench across key functions. We currently have over 100 open positions, including new senior leadership roles such as CFO and General Counsel. Our business has scaled significantly across geographies, and we expect this momentum to continue as the crypto industry gains broader recognition…” Seven-year-old CoinDCX claims to be the largest cryptocurrency exchange in India, with more than 15 million registered users. The company recently began operations in Bahrain through its subsidiary BitOasis as part of its expansion into the MENA region. Led by Sumit Gupta, CoinDCX is aiming to generate over 30% of its revenue from this market. CoinDCX turned unicorn in August 2021 when the firm raised $90 million in Series C round. The company scooped up another $135 million to go past the $2 billion valuation mark in April 2022. However, it has not raised any external funding over the past three years. Crypto platforms in India have been under scrutiny as the country has yet to establish a regulatory framework for the sector. In the past, the Enforcement Directorate summoned several cryptocurrency firms, including CoinDCX, to investigate potential violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). An ET report suggests that India is expected to publish a discussion paper in June to examine potential policy options for crypto assets. The paper will reportedly incorporate insights from a joint report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB).

Exclusive: Trading app Investmint halts services; explores M&A deal

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Exclusive: Trading app Investmint halts services; explores M&A deal
Medial

Signal-based trading app Investmint has halted its services as the company found it difficult to figure out a reliable business model, sources aware of the development told Entrackr. In October 2022, Investmint raised $2 million in Seed round led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from other angel investors. As per sources, the firm had decent traction with substantial money left from the last fundraise but the team couldn’t translate them into monetization. “Investmint has been exploring acquisition opportunities with well capitalized wealth management companies,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity. Founded in February 2022 by Aakash Goel and Mohit Chitlangia, Investmint used to assist users in arriving at investment decisions and managing wealth with data backed signals. “If the acquisitions talks won’t materialize, the company may return remaining capital to its backers,” said another source who also requested anonymity. The company’s spokesperson confirmed that the team has discontinued Investmint as a product and is re-evaluating its offerings. “We’re in late-stage talks with a few big players for M&A,” the spokesperson said. A clutch of startups have returned or are in the process of returning investors’ money after their startup failed to find a product market fit (PMF) or sustainable business model. Earlier this year, Nintee, a digital health startup launched by Wingify founder Paras Chopra, announced shutting down its operations. The firm also announced that it will return the majority of funding it raised from the investors. As per an ET report, fashion startups Virgio and Fashinz are planning to return most of the capital they raised from the investors after a failed pivot. Virgio has raised nearly $40 million while Fashinza has scooped up over $150 million in funding to date. While the majority of investors don’t like to exit out from a portfolio company with a slice of their original investment, the trend of returning capital by founders seems to be a progressive one. After all, there is no point in being stuck when things aren’t working out for long.

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