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Hello,

Edtech continues to see top level exits and layoffs. Arjun Mohan stepped down as CEO of upGrad this month. He had joined upGrad from BYJU’s in 2020 where he quit as the Chief Business Officer. 

Meanwhile, Unacademy-owned Relevel said it will cut another 40 jobs, or roughly 20% of its workforce, to focus on its test product app NextLevel.

In other news, private equity investments into Indian companies fell sharply year-on-year by 42% to $23.3 billion in 2022, which is the lowest since 2019, when it was $15.8 billion, according to the India Private Equity Snapshot for 2022 report.

ICYMI: Parasites are also feeling the effects of climate change and are apparently going extinct. While this might appear like a good news, researchers who conducted the world’s largest study on these organisms are worried that a mass extinction event could lead to unforeseen changes in the ecosystem.

A San Diego biotech company says it has used a technology to rejuvenate old mice and extend their lives. The research could one day help humans stay younger for longer. 

The elixir of life, anyone?

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• BrowserStack India’s revenue, profit up 60%
• Christina Andreassen’s focus on women founders
• Weaving a livelihood in Nagaland

Here’s your trivia for today: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the majority owner of which audio equipment maker? 

SaaS

BrowserStack India’s revenue, profit up 60%

BrowserStack Software Pvt Ltd, the Indian entity of BrowserStack, saw over 50% growth in revenue from operations as well as profits in FY22 compared to the previous fiscal.

Key points:

• BrowserStack’s profit jumped 57.2% from Rs 47.9 crore to Rs 75.3 crore between FY21 and FY22.
• Its operating revenue crossed the $5 million threshold, increased by 58.9% from Rs 263.3 crore in FY21 to Rs 418.4 crore in FY22.
• Its expenses also tripled from Rs 114 crore in the financial year of 2020-21 to Rs 321.4 crore in 2021-22.

Interview

How India can become AI tech destination

Solutions delivered through Artificial Intelligence (AI) models are on the path to become more mainstream as companies worldwide embrace these tools. According to Sateesh Seetharamiah, CEO of Edge platforms, EdgeVerve Systems, India has the potential to become a leading destination for AI technologies.

Sateesh’s observations:

• Three critical areas in which India is creating a massive impact on the future of AI: skill building, and creating a talent supply chain for AI, contribution to AI innovation, and services.
• The value of AI is universal, but its true potential can only be unlocked from an end-to-end connected enterprise perspective. 
• For AI to be successful, it needs support from systems that generate and feed it contextual information.

Women Empowerment

Weaving a livelihood in Nagaland

Chizami Weaves is a livelihood project that aims to give women in Nagaland a sustainable means of employment outside of farming by tapping into the traditional weaving skills and making products for the world.

Sustainable livelihoods:

• Chizami Weaves has a network of over 600 women weavers from different parts of Nagaland.
• The weavers make cushion covers, bags, traditional shawls, mekhla (wrap skirt) etc in contemporary and tribal Naga designs.
• Around 60% of women weavers are regular and earn anywhere between Rs 5,000-Rs 6,000 per month.

News & updates

• Betting on AI: Microsoft has been in talks to invest $10 billion into the owner of ChatGPT, the wildly popular app that has thrilled casual users and artificial intelligence experts since its latest software was released last month.
• Crypto woes: Coinbase has cut about 950 jobs as it looks to streamline its expenses, the exchange said in a blog post. The fresh layoffs come a few months after the company laid off 18% of its staff (approximately 1,100 people) in 2022.
• Failure to launch: UK space chiefs said they would try again to send satellites into space from British soil within a year despite the devastating failure of a historic first mission from Cornwall.
• New policy: Facebook and Instagram will tighten restrictions around the data available to firms to target ads at teenage users, the platforms’ parent company, Meta, has said.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the majority owner of which audio equipment maker? 

Answer: Bose

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