🚀 Medial Secures Investment on Shark Tank India - Fueling the Future of Professional Social Networking. 🔥
Login

News on Medial

Related News

Vanguard values Ola at $1.25 Bn

EntrackrEntrackr · 8m ago
Vanguard values Ola at $1.25 Bn
Medial

US-based asset management company Vanguard has marked down Ola’s valuation to $1.25 billion, according to a SEC filing in the US. This represents more than an 80% drop from its peak valuation of $7.3 billion in 2021. In February 2024, Vanguard had valued the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company at less than $2 billion ($1.88 billion) for the first time. However, it later revalued the company at around $2 billion in November last year. This development comes as Ola continues its push toward a public listing, even as it loses ground in the ride-hailing space (cabs, autos, and bikes). Rapido has emerged as the market leader, followed by Uber, with Ola now relegated to third place. In August last year, CEO Bhavish Aggarwal announced that Ola Cabs would be rebranded as Ola Consumer, consolidating its financial services, cloud kitchens, and electric logistics under one umbrella. Although Ola converted into a public entity in November 2024 and has been evaluating IPO options since November last year, it has yet to make concrete moves toward a listing. Analysts suggest that Ola is likely to delay its IPO plans by at least six months, citing unfavorable market conditions—especially in light of the declining market cap and share price of Ola Electric. During FY24, Ola’s operating revenue declined by 5.5% to Rs 2,012 crore, down from Rs 2,128 crore in FY23. However, the company narrowed its losses significantly to Rs 10 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 623 crore in the previous fiscal year. The Bengaluru-based firm also turned EBITDA profitable in FY24. Meanwhile, its rival Rapido reached unicorn status last year after raising $200 million at a valuation of $1.1 billion. The Swiggy-backed company also surpassed Ola in terms of combined daily rides across bike taxis, autos, and cabs in Q2 FY25. Despite losing market share, Ola’s ride-hailing business remained more than twice the size of Uber’s and 2.5 times that of Rapido in terms of revenue. In FY24, Ola’s ride-hailing income stood at Rs 1,761 crore, compared to Uber’s Rs 807 crore from its mobility operations. Rapido reported Rs 648 crore in revenue for the same period, while managing to cut its losses by 45% to Rs 371 crore. While this valuation downgrade may not have a direct financial impact on Ola, it could weigh on internal morale—especially as the company weighs its public market debut.

Exclusive: ZappFresh converts into public company

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Exclusive: ZappFresh converts into public company
Medial

Joining the league of many companies such as Swiggy, FirstCry, Cars24, Pine Labs, and Pepperfry, meat delivery platform ZappFresh is preparing to go public. Taking the first step towards the process, the Gurugram-based firm is now converting into a public entity. The new name of the company is ‘DSM Fresh Foods Limited’, regulatory filings show. According to Entrackr’s sources, the company is likely to go IPO in the last leg of the ongoing financial year (FY25). Queries sent to ZappFresh didn’t elicit any immediate response. Founded in 2015 by Deepanshu Manchanda, ZappFresh sells fresh meat, seafood, and ready-to-cook items through its app and website. The company obtains its meat and fish from local farms, processes them at plants and customizes pieces before delivering them to the customers. Last year, it completed its first acquisition — Dr. Meat from Sukos Foods. Dr. Meat specializes in providing sustainably bred chicken from the outskirts of Bengaluru. It is also operational in Delhi-NCR. Zappfresh has also increased its authorized capital concerning the IPO and announced bonus shares in the ratio of 725:1 i.e. 725 equity shares for every 1 equity shares held by the shareholders, the filing added. Zappfresh proposed the appointment of Anchal Kapoor and Suman Chaudhary as independent directors, with Manchanda proposed to serve as Managing Director and Chairman of the company. The company has raised around $14 million to date including its $4.3 million funding from Ah! Ventures, HT Media and others in November last year. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, SIDBI Venture Capital is the largest external stakeholder in the nine-year-old firm followed by other investors. The company is yet to file its financial results for FY24 but its revenue from operations was flat at Rs 56 crore during the fiscal year ended March 2023. The firm posted a profit of Rs 11 crore in the same period.

Exclusive: Leap Finance in talks to raise $100 Mn; seeks over $1 Bn valuation

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Exclusive: Leap Finance in talks to raise $100 Mn; seeks over $1 Bn valuation
Medial

Leap Finance, a fintech platform for Indian students pursuing higher education overseas, is in talks to raise around $70–100 million in a new round, according to two sources aware of the development. The company is seeking fresh investment after more than two years of its Series D round. “Leap has been doing well for the past two years which attracted interest from several investors including internals,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity as talks are private. “The firm is in talks with at least three new investors to raise up to $100 million in Series E round.” Leap is likely to become a unicorn with this round, said sources. San Francisco-incorporated Leap last raised $75 million in its Series D round led by Owl Ventures with participation from Steadview, Paramark Ventures, Jungle Ventures and Peak XV in June 2022 in a valuation range of $850-900 million. Its exact valuation, shareholding and revenue couldn’t be ascertained as the firm parent entity isn’t registered in India. “The terms of the deal are currently being negotiated with two of the three new investors and Leap would finalise lead for the new round in a few weeks,” said another source who also wished not to be named. “It’s seeking $1 to 1.2 billion valuation in the Series E.” Sources assert that Leap has grown multi-fold since its Series D round. The firm enables educational loans for students keen on pursuing education in overseas universities. It offers test prep apps for IELTS, TOEFL, SAT; admissions and visa counseling as well as financial offerings through LeapScholar, LeapFinance, and Yocke. It also assists with international bank accounts, credit cards, and money remittance. “The new round will be a mix of primary and secondary capital, and some early investors including angels may take partial or full exit from the company,” said the source quoted above. Leap has declined to offer comment on the story. Queries sent to Owl Ventures, Jungle Ventures, Steadview and Peak XV did not elicit any response until publication of the story. The five-year-old firm has raised $175 million until Series D round and claims to have funded more than 3,000 students since 2021. It largely focuses on institutes in the US, Canada, UK and Australia. While edtech startups have been struggling to raise funds for the past couple of years, overseas education-focused finance platforms have cornered decent funding during the period. As per data compiled by TheKredible, Leap and its competitors such as Auxilo, Avanse Financial, Financepeer, Propelld, Grayquest, and Eduvanz collectively cornered around $500 million in the last 24 months. The strong preference to study abroad for superior exposure is a significant growth driver for companies like Leap, Leverage Edu, and CollegeDekho. Incred, a prominent player in the overseas educational loan space, reported that such loans accounted for 21% of its total disbursal in FY24. According to InCred’s founder, Bhupinder Singh, the growth prospects and increasing awareness in this segment have contributed to its [overseas educational loan] rapid expansion.

Download the medial app to read full posts, comements and news.