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We were unable to deliver yesterday’s YS Buzz due to technical difficulties. Please accept our sincere apologies and thank you for your continued support.

Now, onto the top stories for the day. 

​​The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), an autonomous body under MeitY, has launched a three-month incubation programme aimed at identifying and nurturing tech startups looking to scale, diversify their product range, or expand to new geographies. For this, STPI has partnered with 16 funds for the co-investment stage, including Pontaq, India Angels Network Incubation, and mentoring service, AWE Fund.

In other news, BYJU’S is reportedly engaged in advanced discussions to offload one of its assets, Epic—a digital reading platform for children, to tech-focused buyout firm Joffre Capital Ltd, with the potential transaction estimated to be valued at about $400 million. The potential sale is part of the edtech company’s strategy to repay the debt associated with a $1.2 billion term loan B (TLB) owed to its lenders.

Meanwhile, several Zerodha users were left furious on Monday morning after the company suffered a technical glitch, rendering traders unable to view orderbook, positions, holdings, and funds page, or execute orders on the trading platform Kite. This is the second such incident the stock broking platform reported in a week. 

Lastly, take an in-depth look at 100 years of Disney’s animation genius.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Nykaa Q2 profit surges 50% 
• Soptle bridging SME credit gap 
• Meet India’s finest tech leaders

Here’s your trivia for today: In Olympic archery, what is the distance between the target from the archer?

Ecommerce

Nykaa Q2 profit surges 50% 

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Image credit: Shutterstock

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Beauty and personal care firm Nykaa posted a 50% rise in net profit to Rs 7.8 crore in the July to September quarter. Revenue from operations surged 22% to Rs 1,507 crore in Q2 FY24 against Rs 1,230 crore earned in the comparable period last year, according to a filing with the exchanges.

The report:

• Total expenses rose to Rs 1,502 crore from Rs 1,228 crore incurred in the same period last year.
• Beauty and personal care (BPC), which represents Nykaa’s largest segment by revenue, reported a 23% YoY growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) to Rs 2,001 crore in the second quarter of FY24 across its ecommerce, physical retail, and consumer brands portfolios.
• Nykaa Fashion’s growth has been slowing over the last few quarters, indicating a stagnation in the highly competitive fashion marketplace business.

<Funding Alert>

Startup: Euler Motors

Amount: Rs 120 Cr

Round: Series C

Startup: Himshakti 

Amount: $998K

Round: Undisclosed 

Startup: Varco Leg Care

Amount: Rs 2 Cr

Round: Bridge

Startup

Soptle bridging SME credit gap

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Team Soptle

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Despite the vital contribution of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to the Indian economy, many of these businesses struggle to secure timely and cost-effective credit due to the limitations of traditional banking mechanisms.

Gurugram-based B2B credit lender Soptle aims to address this significant credit accessibility challenge by offering financing solutions to small businesses. 

Financial solutions:

• Founded in 2021 by Pravas Chandragiri, Soptle was conceptualised to elevate the financial well-being of SMEs, enhance operational efficiency, and optimise cash flow.
• In just two years, the company has achieved an annualised Gross Loan Value (GLV) of $30 million, highlighting the effectiveness of its approach.
• It has a user base consisting of 17 enterprises, with over 350 distributors, and partnerships with five modern trade merchants.

TechSparks

Meet India’s finest tech leaders

The first-ever Delhi edition of India’s most influential tech event, TechSparks, is all set to welcome the finest of India’s technocrats and serve up yet another stunning line-up of speakers this year, including Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the passionate parliamentarian behind the recently passed Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Here are some of the newest additions to the star-studded speaker line-up you should watch out for.

Stellar:

• Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO, Zomato, brought out the IPO of the leading food delivery company in 2021, which made a stellar stock market debut at nearly 66% premium. 
• Mukesh Bansal, Co-founder and CEO, Cult.Fit, is now flexing his entrepreneurial muscle again and evaluating a new venture. 
• Setting sail in 2016, boAt has changed India’s accessories market by combining function with fashion. Behind this effortless success is Co-founder and  CMO Aman Gupta, also a judge on Shark Tank India. 

News & updates

• New leader: Dating app operator Bumble said founder Whitney Wolfe Herd will step down as chief executive and hand over the role to seasoned tech and business executive Lidiane Jones effective January 2. Wolfe Herd will remain the executive chair.
• Patent rush: Chinese companies have accelerated in global patent holdings amid escalating U.S.-China tensions, according to a report. Huawei and Tencent, among other Chinese companies, accounted for six of the top 10 global patent holdings in the cybersecurity technology sector as of August.
• Test of power: Alphabet is facing off with Epic Games at a trial this week in an antitrust fight targeting the technology giant’s control over the Google Play app store. The lawsuit, filed by Epic three years ago, claims Google has monopolised the Android app distribution market.

In Olympic archery, what is the distance between the target from the archer?

Answer: 70 metres

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