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Edtech startup Bluelearn shuts operations, to return 70% of capital
Entrackr
·
12m ago
Medial
Social learning platform Bluelearn on Sunday announced that it has shut down its operations as the firm found it tough to grow fast. The three-year-old firm will return 70% of the capital it raised to its investors. The Bengaluru-based startup had raised nearly $4 million across two rounds from Elevation Capital, Lightspeed, Titan Capital, 2am VC. Angel investors including Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, Awais Ahmed, Vivek Mohan and others also backed the community driven platform. “We realised that building a venture-scale business with Bluelearn was tough. We had been very conservative with capital, allowing us to return 70% of the capital we raised back to investors,” Bluelearn’s co-founder and CEO Harish Uthayakumar said on X. Founded by Uthayakumar and Shreyans Sancheti, Bluelearn started off as a telegram channel for students to help each other with common questions. At its peak, the startup claimed to have over 250,000 members from various colleges and startups across India and abroad. Since its inception, the company has helped thousands of students with internships, jobs and make friends through its online community. More than half a dozen startups operating in India shut down their operations in 2024 so far. The list counts Resso (India), Rario, OKX (India), Muvin, GoldPe, Koo and Nintee. However, a few of them have also announced to return a significant capital to their investors. For context, Paras Chopra-led digital health startup Nintee, which shut down its operations in April, said that it will return a majority of the capital raised from its investors. Similarly, trading app Investmint will return 25% of capital as it underwent insolvency proceedings. As per a media report, fashion startups Fashinza and Virgo will also return capital to their investors after a failed pivot. As per data compiled by TheKredible, more than 15 startups ceased their operations due to funding crunch and other challenges in 2023.
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Related News
Bluelearn Shuts Operations, To Return 70% Money To Investor
Inc42
·
11m ago
Medial
Uthayakumar expressed his doubts about the potential scalability and revenue generation of Bluelearn, stating that they had been cautious with capital and were able to return 70% of raised funds to investors. He expressed gratitude and respect for the venture capitalists and angels who believed in their vision and supported them throughout their journey.
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Nithin Kamath-backed edtech Stoa School shuts down
Economic Times
·
8m ago
Medial
Edtech firm Stoa School, co-founded by Nithin Kamath, the co-founder of Zerodha, has announced its closure. The Bengaluru-based company, founded in 2020, offered a six-month MBA programme competing with other edtech companies. Stoa School had secured $1.77m in funding from investors including Kunal Shah and Richa Kar. The closure comes as smaller edtech firms face challenges in securing funding, with several others, including Kenko Health and Bluelearn, also shutting down operations in recent months. Stoa School's founders have not disclosed the reasons behind the closure but have stated that they are reassessing their future direction.
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Tiger Global-backed Toplyne shuts down operations
Entrackr
·
9m ago
Medial
Plug-and-play platform Toplyne is shutting down operations and returning capital to investors, according to sources who spoke to Entrackr. This decision comes as a surprise, given that Toplyne had raised funding from prominent investors like Peak XV and Tiger Global. “Despite securing sizable funding, the startup struggled with scaling beyond a certain point, leading the founding team to make the decision to wind down and reach out to investors to return remaining capital,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity. Toplyne is a plug-and-play platform designed to help sales teams at product-led growth companies increase conversion rates among freemium users. Founded by Rishen Kapoor, Ruchin Kulkarni, and Rohit Khanna, this three-and-a-half-year-old startup facilitated lead conversion by integrating actionable insights directly into products, enabling companies to turn potential leads into paying customers. “After 3.5 years of building Toplyne, we’ve made the tough decision to wind down operations and return capital to our investors. Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t reach the scale or product-market fit we aimed for,” said Rishen Kapoor in a LinkedIn post. Toplyne has raised over $17 million in total capital from investors including Peak XV, Tiger Global, Surge, Together Fund, and angel investors like Kunal Shah and Harshil Mathur. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Toplyne was valued at approximately $80 million in its latest fundraising round. Sources indicate that one of the co-founders, Rohit Khanna, exited the firm sometime last year due to differences within the founding team. Queries sent to Kapoor and Peak XV didn’t elicit any immediate response. Toplyne joins a group of startups that have shut down operations in 2024 while returning partial capital to investors. Others on this unique list include Greenik, Fashinza, Virgio, Investmint, Bluelearn, Paras Chopra-led Nintee, and Karthik Gurumurthy-led Convenio.
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Faad Network-Backed Gen AI Startup InsurStaq.ai Shuts Operations
Inc42
·
10m ago
Medial
Delhi NCR-based generative AI startup, InsurStaq.ai, has decided to shut down its operations due to significant challenges. The startup, founded in 2022, was focused on developing Gen AI infrastructure for the insurance industry. The decision to shut down comes amid the growing popularity of generative AI in India. Founder Mayan Kansal expressed gratitude to the team and mentioned the difficulties that led to the closure in a LinkedIn post. This year, several other startups, including Bluelearn, My Tirth India, and Nintee, have also ceased operations.
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Peak XV-Backed Toplyne Shuts Operations
Inc42
·
9m ago
Medial
- Toplyne, a SaaS startup, is shutting down its operations due to inability to scale and find product-market fit. - The company's co-founder and CEO, Rishen Kapoor, announced the decision to shut down. - Toplyne plans to return capital to its investors, including Peak XV Partners and Tiger Global. - The startup, founded in 2021, offered an AI-powered platform to assist product-led companies in converting free users into paid ones.
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GSV, Z47 stare at losses as edtech portfolio firm shuts down
VCCircle
·
3m ago
Medial
GSV Ventures and Z47, a multi-stage venture capital firm and early-stage investor respectively, may incur losses following the shutdown of an edtech company within their portfolio. The company has ceased operations and laid off all employees, as reported by various sources. GSV Ventures and Z47 had collaboratively invested alongside a US-based startup accelerator. The details surrounding the closure are not fully disclosed, highlighting the risks associated with venture capital investments in the edtech sector.
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SaaS firm Toplyne shuts operations, to return capital to investors
Inshorts
·
9m ago
Medial
SaaS firm Toplyne has shut its operations after nearly 3.5 years of running the business. "We've made the tough decision to wind down operations and return capital to our investors. Despite our best efforts, we couldn't reach the scale or product-market fit we aimed for," CEO Rishen Kapoor wrote. Toplyne was valued at approximately $80 million in last funding round.
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Lightspeed-backed Frontrow shuts operations
Money Control
·
2y ago
Medial
FrontRow, a startup backed by Lightspeed, has made the decision to shut down its operations. The reason for the closure has not been disclosed. FrontRow offered online learning courses in the fields of music, arts, and sports. The shutdown comes as a surprise and indicates the challenges faced by startups in the competitive edtech industry. This came months after the company laid off 75 percent of its staff and said it would “start from scratch.” After two rounds of layoffs in May and October 2021, the company was left with about 35-40 employees.
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Blume backed Zoplar shuts shop in B2B healthcare exit
Inshorts
·
2m ago
Medial
Blume Ventures-backed Zoplar shut its operations in February, just a month after it raised $3.4 mn in its Series A funding. The startup is now returning the capital raised in its Series A round to its investors. Zoplar decided to shutter its operations after Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, earlier this year, said that imports of refurbished medical devices aren't allowed in country.
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100Unicorns-Backed Agritech Startup Greenikk Shuts Operations
Inc42
·
9m ago
Medial
Greenikk, a startup focused on building a digital ecosystem around banana cultivation, has announced its decision to wind up operations. According to CEO Fariq Naushad, loan defaults by borrowers played a significant role in this decision, along with low revenues, mounting losses, and lack of investor interest. The startup, founded in 2020 by Naushad and Previn Jacob, had received backing from investors such as 100Unicorns, Smart Spark Ventures, and Mastermind Capital Ventures' Manish Modi.
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