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Hello,

More Indian startups are readying themselves for a market listing.

After Swiggy changed into a public limited company to prepare for its initial public offering, AI and data analytics firm Fractal Analytics has followed suit. 

And then there are those that are raising debt. Digital lending startup RING, formerly Kissht, raised Rs 100 crore in venture debt from Trifecta Capital to disburse more loans.

Speaking of funding, Wow! MomoFoods—the operator of Wow! Momo—secured Rs 70 crore from Z3Partners, an early-growth tech and digital investor, as an extension to its latest funding round.

Elsewhere, instant messaging service provider Telegram will likely cross one billion active monthly users within a year. Telegram’s billionaire founder Pavel Durov said it is spreading like a “forest fire”. 

Lastly, scientists have discovered a massive black hole in the Milky Way, clocking in at a hefty 33 times the mass of the Sun.

While the distance—1,924 light-years from the Solar System—might seem huge to us common folks, in astronomical terms, this is akin to being in the same neighbourhood!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Personalising education with AI
• Fractal Analytics to go for IPO
• Women in India’s workforce

Here’s your trivia for today: Which English word comes from the name of a hot spring in Iceland?

Edtech

Personalising education with AI

ALLEN Digital is harnessing the power of AI to customise every aspect of test prep—from lecture delivery, testing and grading to practice and feedback. Its overall vision is to offer students a personalised journey that exceeds the current offline classroom experience.

The team is also toying with Gen AI to enable conversational learning experiences that are akin to interacting with a human mentor or teacher.

New realm:

• At the helm of this transformative journey is Abha Maheshwari, a former Meta executive, who was chosen to head the digital arm—as its first CEO—about a year ago. 
• ALLEN Career Institute—with 300+ centres across 60+ cities—is a prominent coaching institute for medical (NEET) and engineering (JEE) entrance exams, having coached over 2.8 million students.
• Using Gen AI, the edtech firm is looking at ways to efficiently provide diagnostic feedback to students by capturing their mistakes in homework via images and delving into the ‘what’ and ‘why’ behind them.

Startup

Fractal Analytics to go for IPO

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Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-founder at Fractal Analytics

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Mumbai and New York-based AI and data analytics firm Fractal Analytics Pvt Ltd is set to turn itself into a public limited company as it prepares for an initial public offer (IPO). The company will complete the process by “mid-April 2024”, according to an email communication from Fractal to its employees, reviewed by YourStory.

Go to market:

• The company aims to raise over $500 million in its IPO, targeting a valuation of $3 billion to $3.5 billion. 
• Founded in 2000, Fractal Analytics helps firms make better decisions on sales, marketing, supply chain, and other business operations. Its clients include Axis Bank, Wells Fargo, and Proctor and Gamble. 
• In FY23, Fractal Analytics posted a revenue of $255 million and a profit of $24.2 million, as per data research platform Tracxn.

Report

Women in India’s workforce

Women’s participation in the tech workforce at global capability centres is predicted to rise from 25% currently to 35% by 2027, according to a report by tech staffing and solutions provider TeamLease Digital. 

The report said that women constitute 35% of the workforce at these centres, with a predominant 81% in IT roles, 16% in operations, 2% in marketing, and approximately 1% in finance.

Key takeaways:

• In its future outlook, the report projects that women’s participation in tech, across all levels (entry/freshers, junior, mid-senior, leadership, and C-suite roles), will see an increase of 24.3% by 2027.
• The next five years will be critical for the country to attain an 8% GDP growth rate, and women must account for more than half of the new workforce generated by 2030.
• On average, more than 40% of women would be hired for non-tech and tech-related positions in the BFSI, manufacturing, consumer, and retail sectors by FY25.

News & updates

• Dubai rains: An intense storm has caused travel havoc across the United Arab Emirates, forcing the cancellation of flights in Dubai and leaving passengers stranded as flooding disrupted roads and public transport.
• Pay package: Tesla will ask shareholders to reinstate CEO Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package, which a Delaware judge voided earlier this year after ruling that the record-setting compensation deal was “deeply flawed.” 
• Mental health: ByteDance’s TikTok has been given 24 hours to provide a risk assessment on its new app TikTok Lite launched this month in France and Spain on concerns of its potential impact on children and users’ mental health, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

Which English word comes from the name of a hot spring in Iceland?

Answer: Geyser.

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