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MobiKwik reports its second consecutive profitable quarter this fiscal.

The fintech startup released its unaudited results on Thursday, showing a 52% growth in revenue compared to the corresponding period in FY23. It reported revenue of Rs 208 crore for the quarter, reflecting a 17% growth quarter-on-quarter. The profit after tax for Q2 FY24 stood at Rs 5 crore.

Elsewhere, Polygon co-founder Jaynti Kanani announced his departure from Polygon Technology on social media. Founded in 2017, it is a layer-2 scaling solution for the Ethereum blockchain to improve the speed, scalability, and cost-effectiveness of Ethereum transactions.

Meanwhile, Meta announced its first generative AI-powered features for ads in Meta’s Ads Manager, with an intended global rollout by next year. The company aims to maximise the productivity and personalisation for all advertisers.

ICYMI: Merriam-Webster added 690 words to its dictionary in September. 

Ngl, the update is quite bussin’.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Karnataka’s carpooling conundrum
• CRED’s income jumps 3.5X in FY23
• Acko reports 44% spike in losses

Here’s your trivia for today: Which popular condiment was once used as medicine?

Transportation

Karnataka’s carpooling conundrum

Can carpooling be deemed a commercial activity? No, say carpooling app startups, such as Quick Ride and Rideshare, in a petition to the Karnataka government. This came after the government insisted that vehicles offering carpooling services must be registered as commercial vehicles.

“Car owners are already travelling on a predefined route, for their own purpose, and are willing to share their empty seats to members from the same company, tech park, or apartment,” read the letter to the Karnataka transport ministry, seen by YourStory.

Checks and balances:

• In a meeting with the government, industry stakeholders said various mechanisms have been deployed to prevent carpooling from evolving into a quasi-taxi operation.
• Quick Ride claims its carpooling service has contributed to a reduction of over 5,600 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions through more than 1.85 crore carpooling rides in Bengaluru.
• According to Frost & Sullivan, carpooling can eliminate 2.49 million vehicles a year from the roads, globally, by 2025.

Funding Alert

Startup: iLink Digital

Amount: $75M

Round: Equity

Startup: Mensa Brands

Amount: $40M

Round: Debt

Startup: Aampe

Amount: $7.5M

Round: Pre-Series A

Fintech

CRED’s income jumps 3.5X in FY23

Kunal Shah-led CRED reported a 3.5X growth in total income in FY23 compared to Rs 422 crore in FY22. It posted Rs 1,400 crore in revenue from operations for FY23, a 256% surge as compared to Rs 393 crore earned in FY22.

“Our focus remains on rewarding the creditworthy with more products that improve their lives and lifestyles,” said Kunal Shah, Founder, CRED.

Earnings report:

• The fintech unicorn’s losses grew marginally to Rs 1,345.9 crore in FY23, widening by 5% from Rs 1,279.5 crore in FY22.
• CRED’s expenses grew to Rs 2,831.9 crore in FY23, a 66% increase over the Rs 1,702 crore reported in FY22.
• It also reported monthly transacting users growth by over 58% and claimed one-third of credit card bill payments (by value) are done on the CRED platform.

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Insurtech

Acko reports 44% spike in losses

Digital insurance provider Acko General Insurance’s net loss increased by over 44% to Rs 551 crore in the financial year FY23 from Rs 382 crore last fiscal even as its operating revenue more than doubled to Rs 965.8 crore.

Key metrics:

• The growth in revenue was outpaced by the jump in expenses, which were up by 74% to Rs 1,517 crore in FY23. 
• Acko said that it delivered Rs 1,509 crore worth of Gross Written Premium.  
• “The embedded business lead growth with 171% followed up by the motor business by 34% and health business by 23%,” it said.

News & updates

• Aesthetics: Elon Musk has made good on a promise to strip out headlines from news organisations’ posts on X (formerly known as Twitter). The change means some users will now only see the post and lead image associated with the story it links to.
• Competitor: Spotify has struck deals with the world’s largest publishers as it looks to slice into Amazon’s chokehold on the books market. Paying Spotify subscribers in the UK and Australia will be able to listen to 15 hours a month of audiobooks at no additional cost.
• Betterment: J.P.Morgan analysts expect investors to parse upcoming second-quarter results and commentary from Indian IT companies for signs of recovery in deal signings in fiscal 2025 following a “washout” year.

Which popular condiment was once used as medicine?

Answer: In the 1830s, tomato ketchup was sold as a medicine that could cure ailments like diarrhoea, indigestion, and jaundice.

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