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

News on Medial

Related News

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos explains why it has been hiding all that streaming data

GizmodoGizmodo · 1y ago
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos explains why it has been hiding all that streaming data
Medial

In a recent podcast episode, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos explains the reason behind the release of Netflix's "What We Watched" engagement report, which provides data transparency on viewership. Sarandos mentions that in the early days of Netflix, they wanted to avoid sharing ratings to prevent giving competitors an advantage. However, over time, the lack of data transparency created mistrust. Sarandos emphasizes the importance of engagement as a measure of success for Netflix and hopes that the data release will establish trust between the streaming platform and its creative partners. The report tracks "hours viewed" for Netflix releases over the past six months but does not provide detailed country-level data.

Hatsun Agro acquires Eight Road Ventures-backed Milk Mantra

EntrackrEntrackr · 5m ago
Hatsun Agro acquires Eight Road Ventures-backed Milk Mantra
Medial

Hatsun Agro acquires Eight Road Ventures-backed Milk Mantra Milk Mantra has raised nearly $35 million from the likes of Aavishkaar Venture Capital, Fidelity Growth Partners, Neev Fund, Eight Roads Ventures and US-based DFC. Hatsun Agro Product Limited (HAP), a dairy product manufacturer, has announced the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Milk Mantra for Rs 233 crore ($27.5 million). This acquisition aims to strengthen HAP’s presence in the Eastern India dairy market, particularly in Odisha, where Milk Mantra’s brand, ‘Milky Moo’, has established a strong foothold, the company said in a stock exchange filing. The acquisition will be completed through a series of Share Purchase Agreements (SPAs) and other transaction documents with Milk Mantra’s existing promoters and shareholders. Post acquisition, Milk Mantra will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of HAP. Milk Mantra has raised nearly $35 million from the likes of Aavishkaar Venture Capital, Fidelity Growth Partners, Neev Fund, Eight Roads Ventures and US-based DFC. Established in 2009, Milk Mantra provides a range of products including milk, curd, cottage cheese, buttermilk, and cattle feed, among others. This acquisition seems to be a slump sale, given that Milk Mantra reported an operating revenue of Rs 276.42 crore in FY24, while the acquisition cost is Rs 233 crore. The Bhubaneshwar-based company also recorded a profit of Rs 9.78 crore in the last fiscal year. However, its revenue has remained nearly stagnant over the past three fiscal years. Milky Mist, a well-established company, reported revenue of Rs 1,907.21 crore in FY24, positioning itself as one of the leading players in the D2C dairy brand sector. According to media reports, Milky Mist is also planning an initial public offering (IPO) this year, aiming to raise approximately Rs 2,000 crores through the listing. Milk Mantra also faces competition from new age companies like Country Delight, Akshayakalpa, and Sid’s Farm. ‘Grow or die’ seems to be the mantra that sank Milk Mantra, as its inability to break out of the rut saw it sold for a valuation that is less than 1x sales, despite profitability to boot. It also indicates a high share of liquid milk in the portfolio, where margins again are severely limited till the time you try a stunt like A2 milk or other options and get away with it long enough. For the publicly listed, Chennai-based Hatsun, the acquisition would seem to be a decently valued fit for its portfolio, improving its footprint significantly at an acceptable cost. Which explains the little movement in the stock price post announcement as well.

Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [18 - 23 Nov]

EntrackrEntrackr · 7m ago
Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [18 - 23 Nov]
Medial

During the week, 23 Indian startups raised around $595.86 million in funding. These deals include 6 growth-stage deals and 15 early-stage deals while 2 startups kept their transaction details undisclosed. Last week, 24 early and growth-stage startups cumulatively raised around $182.62 million in funding. [Growth-stage deals] Among the growth-stage deals, 6 startups raised $541.7 million in funding this week. Quicke commerce platform Zepto is on top with $350 million in funding. Omnichannel D2C nutrition platform HealthKart raised $153 million followed by insurtech firm Zopper, e-commerce platform Locad, fintech startup CredFlow, and drone-based geospatial firm Matrix Geo. [Early-stage deals] Further, 15 early-stage startups secured funding worth $54.16 million during the week. Semi-urban commerce platform OneCell Diagnostics led the list followed by decentralized gamer network KGeN (Kratos Gaming Network), same-day delivery platform Blitz, digital consumer products brand Billion Hearts, and beer startup Proost. Meanwhile, Vee Healthtek and Assure Clinics also raked in funding but did not disclose the transaction details. For more information, visit TheKredible. [City and segment-wise deals] In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups led with 10 deals followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, and Hyderabad. Segment-wise, E-commerce and Healthtech startups are on the top spot with 4 deals each. Fintech, Foodtech, Logistics, and SaaS startups followed the list among others. [Series-wise deals] During the week, Seed funding deals are at the top with 11 deals followed by Series A, pre-Series B, pre-Series A, Series F, Series I, Series D, and pre-IPO deals. [Week-on-week funding trend] On a weekly basis, startup funding surged 226% to $595.86 million as compared to around $182 million raised during the previous week. The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $266.77 million with 25 deals per week. [Fund launches] As many as three startup-focused funds launched this week namely OG Capital and IIT Bombay’s Incubator Fund with a corpus of $36 million and $11.9 million while 8i Ventures did not disclose the fund size. [Key hirings and departures] The startup ecosystem witnessed 11 notable hires this week. WeWork elevated Jitendra Mohandas Virwani, Karan Virwani, Mahua Acharya, Anupa Rajiv Sahney, and Manoj Kumar Kohli and also hired Adnan Ahmad under its board. At the same time, Flipkart welcomed Dan Bartlett to the board of directors. Additionally, after Flipkart, Binny Bansal resigned from the board of PhonePe. [Mergers and Acquisitions] MakeMyTrip announced its plans to acquire Happay from CRED while The Good Glamm Group completed the acquisition of The Moms Co. Other notable acquisitions include Arzooo by Moksha Group, Khatema Fibres by Moglix, and OneSource Speciality Pharma by 360 ONE Asset. [ESOP buyback] HealthKart announced its first-ever employee ESOP buyback plan worth Rs 55 crore ($6.5 million). NowPurchase, a SaaS-enabled marketplace for metal manufacturers also completed its first-ever ESOP buyback. Visit TheKredible to see series-wise deals along with amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, and more insights. [New launches] ▪️ Swiggy launches kitchen equipment procurement service for restaurants ▪️ Myntra pilots 2-hour delivery service ▪️ Dating app Flutrr launches AI chatbot for user convenience [Potential Deals] ▪️ Country Delight to raise $50-70 Mn led by SoftBank ▪️ Ritesh Agarwal to increase stake in Oyo ▪️ SolarSquare is looking to raise fresh funds at a 3X valuation [Financial results this week] ▪️ Healthians achieves EBITDA breakeven with Rs 250 Cr income in FY24 ▪️ Glance crosses Rs 600 Cr revenue in FY24 with improved economics ▪️ Teachmint revenue grows 2X in FY24, losses down to Rs 82 Cr ▪️ PharmEasy cuts losses by 51% to Rs 2,533 Cr in FY24, revenue dips 15% ▪️ Apple India posts $8 Bn revenue and $330 Mn profit in FY24 ▪️ Dezerv reports Rs 26 Cr revenue and Rs 75 Cr loss in FY24 ▪️ FNP crosses Rs 700 Cr revenue in FY24; losses drop by 78% ▪️ Paper Boat posts Rs 585 Cr revenue in FY24; cuts losses by 48% ▪️ Biryani By Kilo reports Rs 268 Cr revenue in FY24, cuts losses by 30% ▪️ Third Wave Coffee revenue crosses Rs 240 Cr in FY24, losses up 2X ▪️ The Sleep Company revenue soars 2.5X to Rs 312 Cr in FY24 ▪️ Park+ reports Rs 131 Cr revenue in FY24 with stable losses ▪️ INDmoney revenue spikes 73% in FY24, earns Rs 58 Cr from other income [News flash this week] ▪️ Zomato extends lead over Swiggy in food delivery ▪️ PhonePe, G-Pay lead UPI market share; Navi surpasses CRED to enter top 4 ▪️ boAt and Noise’s growth decline in Q3 amid market slowdown: IDC report ▪️ SEBI approves ArisInfra’s Rs 580 Cr IPO ▪️ BlackBuck’s share lists with a 2.9% premium ▪️ RBI eases forex rules for startups ▪️ Ola Electric cuts 500 jobs to improve profitability ▪️ Groww's valuation takes a hit after India shift: Report ▪️ Karnataka and DRDO join hands to support defence startups ▪️ MamaEarth’s Honasa faces distributor backlash over unsold inventory ▪️ Zomato becomes the first new-age stock to feature in the BSE Sensex index [Conclusion] On a weekly basis, startup funding surged 226% to $595.86 million as compared to around $182 million raised during the previous week. The week saw three startup-focused fund launches namely OG Capital, IIT Bombay’s Incubator Fund, and 8i Ventures. Zomato has solidified its position as the leading food delivery platform in India, capturing a 58% market share in the June quarter of FY25. This marks a significant increase from its previous market share of 54%. Swiggy, on the other hand, saw its market share decline to 42%. While the quick commerce segment continues to be competitive, with players like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart vying for market share, food delivery remains a key revenue driver for Zomato and Swiggy. ArisInfra has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its initial public offering (IPO) worth Rs 580 crore. The company had earlier planned to raise Rs 600 crore but has now reduced the size of the fresh issue. ArisInfra is also considering a pre-IPO placement of up to Rs 115.92 crore before filing its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). BlackBuck's parent company, Zinka Logistics Solutions, saw its shares list at a 2.9% premium over its IPO price of INR 273. The stock debuted at INR 280.90 on the National Stock Exchange. The company's IPO was oversubscribed 1.8 times on the final day of bidding. Electric vehicle maker Ola Electric has initiated a restructuring process that will result in the layoff of around 500 employees. The company aims to streamline its operations and reduce costs to achieve profitability. This move comes amid concerns over its financial performance and after-sales service issues. The Karnataka government has partnered with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to support defence startups. This collaboration will provide startups with access to DRDO's testing facilities and mentorship. The partnership aims to foster innovation and growth in the defence sector, leveraging the expertise of both organizations.

Bharat Fintech Summit highlights fintech industry’s challenges and opportunities

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Bharat Fintech Summit highlights fintech industry’s challenges and opportunities
Medial

The Bharat Fintech Summit 2024, organized by The Digital Fifth in Mumbai, saw the participation of 3,000 people from the Indian fintech ecosystem. Held between February 7 and February 8, the second edition of the summit hosted as many as 23 speaker sessions, five fireside chats, and 10 demonstrations. The panel discussions touched upon a wide range of relevant issues, including the dynamic fintech landscape in the country right from product-led innovations, much needed collaboration between banks and fintech players, cybersecurity and the need for increased regulatory compliances in payments and digital lending to improve banking experiences for customers and protect them from various frauds. Entrackr was present at the event and held conversations with several stakeholders of the fintech industry. It’s worth noting that the event comes at a time when the fintech industry is benefiting from the radical digital transformation of the banking industry and e-commerce growth around India and the globe. Banks and financial institutions are moving towards 100% digital for the retail and MSMEs segments in upcoming times and major innovations in the Indian BFSI industry have been propelled by the regulators and public infrastructure such as IndiaStack, Account Aggregator, and the ONDC. Enterprise fintechs are poised to expand, with projections estimating a market size of approximately $20 billion by 2030. The Digital Fifth cofounder and CEO Sameer Singh Jaini told Entrackr that the last decade witnessed a continuous influx of funds into enterprise fintechs. This, coupled with the entry of new-age players in various enterprise segments, is shedding light on the previously untapped potential of this market. “We organize the summit which are focused on content and depth and welcome here everybody from the entire Indian fintech ecosystem including the participation of 70 – 80 VC firms where they share fruitful insights, collaborate and intend to thrive their businesses amongst each other,” he added. Embedded Finance also was under the spotlight during the event as a general sentiment was to bring more focus on the need for more players to drive customer engagement in partnership with banks. During his keynote speech, RBI executive director P Vasudevan stressed the need for frictionless credit and highlighted it has the potential to become the next digital public infrastructure. “It’s a vibrant experience for me to attend such a summit and also marked presence in one the panel where we discussed tech led credit networks, leveraging multi-layered lending partnerships and cutting-edge tech for the future-ready financial sector. MSMEs lending landscape, challenges, innovation, collaboration and others. MSMEs sector has been the backbone of the Indian economy and the emergence of technology in this space is worth watching,” Alok Mittal, co-founder & MD at Indifi, told Entrackr. Indifi offers loans for small businesses which turned profitable last year and crossed Rs 1,500 crore AUM in March 2023. Perfios’ Chief Strategy Officer Ramgopal Subramani appreciated the summit saying such events are instrumental in facilitating knowledge exchange, fostering partnerships, and driving comprehensive sectoral growth. “At Perfios, we are happy to partner with events like BFS that serve as collaborative platforms across the BFSI sector to address challenges and explore innovative opportunities,” he said. “It’s always great to be associated with The Digital Fifth and the summit which can be a game changer for the entire fintech Indian ecosystem and curated this event for the last where a lot of collaborations took place,” said Vaibhav Tambe, co-founder, TransBank. TransBank is a SaaS-based platform where it takes a minimum guarantee for a particular number of services and charges per transaction basis. The summit also saw the attendance of spokespersons from different fintech startups like Trifecta, GetVantage, Zaggle, FinBox, Skydo, Bureau, Fixerra, and others.

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