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MPL sells assets.

Mobile Premier League (MPL) has sold its assets in Ante Multimedia Private Limited, Good Game Inc, and GGX PTE—all subsidiaries of Good Game Exchange (GGX). 

With the acquisition of Good Game Exchange in March this year, MPL made its debut in the NFT trading space as a competitor to Rario, owned by fantasy sports platform Dream11. 

In other news, snacking brand Farmley raised $6.7 million (about Rs 56 crore) in a funding round led by BC Jindal Group to use in innovation, expanding distribution channels, and brand-building efforts. 

Also, a report by EY India has said that Gen AI has the potential to add a cumulative $1.2-1.5 trillion to India’s GDP over the next seven years.

“The report forecasts that by fully capitalising Gen AI technology and its applications across sectors, India can potentially add $359 to $438 billion in FY29-30 alone, reflecting a 5.9% to 7.2% increase over and above baseline GDP,” it said.

ICYMI: According to a recent report, 37% business leaders say AI replaced workers in 2023. Meanwhile, 44% report that there will be layoffs in 2024 resulting from AI efficiency.

Lastly, here’s why Gen Z women are confident they will be financially ready for retirement.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Pentathlon Ventures bets on SaaS
• Green mobility for Bharat

Here’s your trivia for today: Which African country is known as the “Pearl of Africa”?

Investors

Pentathlon Ventures bets on SaaS

Pentathlon Ventures is looking to build its $55 million (about Rs 450 crore) Fund II portfolio on the back of second-time founders, focused on building solutions for digital transformation, AI and healthtech. 

The Pune-based firm, which announced the first close of its Fund II in September 2023, has started the process of deploying capital from the new fund and will back around 25 startups. 

Key highlights:

• The fund invests in pre-seed to pre-Series A rounds, and it has increased its cheque size from an average of $300,000 in Fund I to $1 million from Fund II. 
• It will deploy the remaining capital in follow-on rounds in select companies in the Series A and B stages. The fund will aim for exits in the Series B to Series C stage through secondaries or acquisition opportunities.
• Pentathlon has also recorded an exit from its Fund I in corporate travel expense management platform Tripeur, which was acquired by US-based corporate travel platform Navan in April 2023.

Startup

Green mobility for Bharat

In the bustling realm of urban Indian mobility marred by traffic snarls and pollution, Bhubaneswar-based Let’s driEV hopes to reshape the mobility narrative by using sustainable solutions.

Founded in July 2020, Let’s driEV offers an electric two-wheeler sharing platform that allows users to choose eco-friendly transportation for varying durations—from a day to a month. 

Electric future:

• While most of its business model is B2C, Let’s driEV does have a few B2B customers, including Tata Projects and Khimji Jewellers. The company is also exploring last-mile delivery services to address the rapid growth of ecommerce in the country.
• Its business model is similar to Bounce and Yulu’s, except there are no pick-up and drop-off options. With driEV, one outright owns the e-scooter for the duration of the lease. 
• Let’s driEV’s e-scooters—which the company gets on lease—offer a range of around 50-75 kilometres per charging cycle, depending on the variant a user opts for.

News & updates

• Banking: A committee of lawmakers will hold discussions early next year with four government-owned banks under banking laws, which among other things govern mergers and acquisitions. The meeting will also include “informal discussions” with RBI, besides separate deliberations with five insurance companies over the country’s insurance laws.
• Ends: Google will soon allow users to store their location data on their devices rather than on Google’s servers, effectively ending a long-running surveillance practice that allowed police and law enforcement to tap Google’s vast banks of location data to identify potential criminals.
• Export: Nissan Motor said it would sell China-developed electric vehicles globally as it struck a deal with the country’s top university to leverage local resources to accelerate research and development on electrification.

What you should watch out for

• Monetary policy: Bank of Japan’s monetary policy decision will happen on December 19. Economists believe Japan’s central bank is likely to end the year as one of the world’s most dovish. With weak consumption and next year’s wage outlook still uncertain, BOJ is widely expected to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy.
• IPOs: In the mainboard segment, eight new IPOs are opening for subscription in the coming week. Muthoot Microfin IPO, Motisons Jewellers IPO, and Suraj Estate Developers IPO are opening on December 18. 
• Global cues: Analysts expect the market will remain in the positive territory in the near term due to economic growth, rising capex cycle, companies expected to continue showing robust earnings. Factors like macroeconomic data from both the US and China will wield considerable influence on market dynamics.

Which African country is known as the “Pearl of Africa”?

Answer: Uganda.

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