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Businesses often hit roadblocks, but what’s happening at edtech company BYJU’S is more than a stumbling block. In fact, it’s nothing short of a raging fire.

Last week, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs reportedly ordered an inspection against edtech major BYJU’S after taking cognizance of various corporate governance lapses. BYJU’S has denied the reports.

Meanwhile, fintech major PhonePe has launched merchant lending services on its platform. 

Through its marketplace model, the fintech giant will leverage its technology and distribution network to facilitate loans to its current 35 million-large merchant base via banks and NBFC (non-banking financial company) partners. The underwriting, disbursals and loan collection will be done by the latter.  

Also, Intel India chief Nivruti Rai will step down after 29 years with the company. According to media reports, she is likely to be appointed as MD and CEO of Invest India.

In her most recent role, Rai served as India head and vice president of Intel Foundry Services. 

ICYMI: An octagonal sword dating from more than 3,000 years ago is so well preserved that it still gleams!

Found at a burial site in the state of Bavaria, southern Germany, archaeologists date it back to the 14th century BCE, the “Middle Bronze Age”.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• BYJU’S is in a big soup
• Pillow discontinues services in India
• Dating a person with anxiety

Here’s your trivia for today: What was the first, and still only, horror movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture?

Edtech

BYJU’S is in a big soup

BYJU’S is in a crisis like never before. It had recently off 1,000 employees, and on June 22, three of its board members—GV Ravishankar, Managing Director at Peak XV Partners, Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus, and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Vivian Wu—resigned from the board.

Though the edtech giant denied the news, it is reportedly engaged in discussions with three board members of the company to convince them to reconsider their decision. 

Car crash:

• Deloitte—its statutory auditor—has tendered its resignation owing to the firm’s “long-delayed” FY22 financials.
• In the past year, BYJU’S has laid off over 3,000 employees, been raided by authorities, sued by lenders, countersued those lenders, and seen its lending partners suspend ties with it.
• BYJU’S was pulled up by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in August 2022, with the ministry asking why the company had delayed the filing of its annual returns.

Top Deals of the Week

Startup: Drools

Amount: $60M

Round: Equity

Startup: Digantara

Amount: $10M

Round: Series A1

Startup: Eye Mantra

Amount: $10M

Round: Undisclosed

Crypto

Pillow discontinues services in India

Crypto management app Pillow has decided to wind down its services and its app. The company revealed its decision to shut its app late Tuesday via an in-app notification sent to all of its existing users.

In 2022, the company claimed to have a user base of nearly 75,000 spread across India and Nigeria.

User frenzy:

• Pillow will permit user bank withdrawals until July 7, while crypto withdrawals via the platform will be available till July 31.
• The company plans to remove the app from Google Play Store as well as Apple App Store by July 31.
• Several users have tried to withdraw their funds from the app, and some told The Decrypting Story they have been facing trouble with withdrawals.

Relationship

Dating a person with anxiety

Dating can be a different experience for someone who deals with anxiety on a daily basis. For their partner, living with an anxious person can be a little challenging at first.

Anxiety may be physically manifested through palpitation, increased heart rate, increased irritability, uncontrollable worry, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, and sleeplessness. 

Navigating anxiety:

• In relationships, anxiety shows up in the form of fear of abandonment, jealousy, difficulty in showing emotions, overthinking, and emotional dysregulation, says counselling psychologist Ruchi Ruuh.
• It is essential to understand that challenging behaviours, patterns and feelings must not be associated with shame, shares Preeta Ganguli, a therapist and mental wellness consultant.
• “If both partners are experiencing anxiety, take a pause. Everything does not have to be solved immediately,” advises Ganguli.

News & updates

• Slowpoke: The Eurozone economy has slowed sharply, with recent growth in the services sector is stalling and price pressures cooling. The benchmark purchasing managers’ index, a measure of activity in manufacturing and services, fell to a five-month low of 50.3 on Friday’s data, down from 52.8 in the previous month.
• Nuevo products: Apple plans to soon hold conversations with NPCI for the launch of its payments service Apple Pay in the South Asian market, eyeing an entrance into a crowded space dominated by Walmart’s PhonePe, Google’s GPay, and Paytm.
• Esports: Singapore is hosting the inaugural Olympic Esports Week, where over 100 athletes from around the world are competing across 10 virtual sports. The International Olympic Committee previously tapped Singapore to host the first Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010, which has since become a “premier elite sporting event. 

What was the first, and still only, horror movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture?

Answer: Silence of the Lambs

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