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Hello,

More layoffs in the edtech space.

Harappa Education becomes the latest in the sector to lay off employees, reported Business Today. The company, which was acquired by upGrad last year, has laid off around 60 employees, primarily in its content division.

Meanwhile, YourStory’s The Metaverse Summit 2023 has been moved. It will now be held in Mumbai in March (instead of Bengaluru in January). Click here to register.

Lastly, here’s an interesting piece on our quest for concentration and what our brains need.

The good news: At least, most of us know we have a problem. Baby steps, right?

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Mamaearth’s IPO plans raise concerns
• BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer steps down
• Using blockchain against counterfeits

Here’s your trivia for today: Who invented Coca-Cola?

D2C

Mamaearth’s IPO plans raise concerns

At a time when markets are volatile and companies such as boAt Lifestyle and Snapdeal have withdrawn plans to go public, Mamaearth’s parent company Honasa Consumer’s bold move to raise funds via an IPO has raised many questions. 

Its DRHP revealed it is looking to raise as much as Rs 2,400 crore through its IPO. It expects to raise about Rs 400 crore through a fresh issue of shares and the rest through an Offer For Sale (OFS) of about 4.7 crore shares.

The fine print:

• Analysts are drawing a parallel to Falguni Nayar-led Nykaa, which recently got listed, when it comes to valuations. 
• As competition in the beauty and personal care market heats up, analysts believe that a platform or aggregator will always do better than a single D2C brand as the offering is wider and consumer recall is better. 
• Some of these investors looking for an exit through the IPO had invested in the company close to 2015. These funds are now reaching maturity, and therefore the pressure to provide an exit.

Fintech

BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer steps down

BharatPe announced that Suhail Sameer will transition from Chief Executive Officer to Strategic Advisor effective January 7. CFO Nalin Negi has been appointed the interim CEO, as the company scouts for a new leader.

In a statement, the company said this move will ensure a “smooth transition” for Nalin to partner with senior executives to “bolster execution in all phases of the company’s business”.

Tides of change: 

• Sameer, who was earlier CEO of FMCG business at RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, joined BharatPe in August 2020 as president.
• Last month, four senior executives, including chief technology officer Vijay Aggarwal, chief product officer for lending and consumer products Rajat Jain, and Nehul Malhotra, head of consumer lending platform PostPe, resigned from the company.
• Bhavik Koladiya, who ran the firm’s technology and product divisions, stepped down last August.

Blockchain

Blockchain against counterfeits

In 2021, Nabarun Chakrborty launched Autify, a startup building a trust protocol for supply chains and cross-border commerce to ensure transparency of goods and protect buyers from malicious actors in the chain.

Leveraging blockchain technology to bring transparency to supply chains, Autify ensures original documents and events are reported in real-time and made available to authorised actors.

Making ecommerce safer:

• The idea of using blockchain to solve supply chain problems is not new but Nabarun says previous attempts were perhaps too early.
• The startup is also building insurance blocks that automatically trigger payouts based on real-world data to suppliers, manufacturers, and brand owners. 
• Autify has begun beta development by working closely with several enterprise customers, says Nabarun.

News & updates

• Investor outlook: To kickstart the new year, Bloomberg News has gathered more than 500 calls from Wall Street’s army of strategists to paint the investing landscape ahead. And upbeat forecasts are hard to find, threatening fresh pain for investors who’ve just endured the great crash of 2022.
• A safer Web: Google is developing a free moderation tool to help smaller websites identify and remove terrorist material, as new legislation in the UK and the EU compels internet companies to do more to tackle illegal content. It is being developed in partnership with Jigsaw and Tech Against Terrorism.
• Golden deal: SpaceX is raising $750 million in a new round of funding that values the company at $137 billion. According to an email sent to prospective SpaceX investors, Andreessen Horowitz (also known as a16z) will likely lead the new round.

Who invented Coca-Cola?

Answer: John Stith Pemberton.

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