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Hello,

Big news coming from Fabindia. 

The Premji Invest-backed apparel retailer has shelved its IPO plans amid tough macroeconomic conditions. 

The company had planned to raise $482 million (~Rs 4,000 crore) via a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 500 crore and an offer of sale (OFS) of up to 2.5 lakh shares of existing stockholders. 

Air India, in a hurry to expand its international presence, plans to fund its $70 billion order for a record 470 aircraft with internal cash, equity, and through sale-and-leasebacks.

According to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, the airline sees an untapped opportunity in direct flights to North America, besides increasing its frequency of flights to European destinations, including Frankfurt, Paris, and the United Kingdom.

ICYMI: What would a $10 million violin sound like? 

Well, we are about to find out! 

Going under the hammer is a Guarneri “del Gesù” violin known as the “Baltic”, made around 1731, and could top the existing $15.8 million record set for a violin at public auction.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• PhysicsWallah, Utkarsh form JV
• Grayscale’s SaaS-focused fund 
• Kunal Shah’s CRED salary 

Here’s your trivia for today: National Science Day is celebrated to mark the discovery of what?

Edtech 

PhysicsWallah, Utkarsh form JV

Edtech unicorn Physics Wallah (PW) is doubling down on its hybrid strategy. After venturing into the offline space with PW Vidyapeeth last year, the startup has formed a joint venture with Utkarsh Classes to provide academic training and course offerings in various categories.

New chapter:

• Utkarsh Classes, which has been operating offline classes for over 20 years, will assist PW in strengthening its offline operations and building a hybrid learning model.
• Under this partnership, Utkarsh Classes will expand the government test preparation category and launch offline centres in 32 cities across India, where PW has established its offline centres.
• In addition, the duo will launch a new category—‘Utkarsh Private Jobs’—to help train students to prepare for placements in the private sector.

SaaS

Grayscale’s SaaS-focused fund 

Singapore-headquartered Grayscale Ventures has secured the first close of its debut fund, raising about half its target size of $20 million. Founded by Siddharth Verma and Nikhil Kapur, the 10-year term fund plans to invest in 15-20 startups in the pre-seed stage.

Playbook:

• Grayscale Ventures typically invests in startups with some version of a product ready before the product-market-fit stage.
• It has limited partners from across the globe, including India, the United States, Japan, and other Southeast Asian countries.
• A majority of the limited partners (LPs) are founders and operators from firms like Zendesk, Hasura, Slack, GlobalWay, Nexus Venture Partners, and STRIVE.

Fintech 

Kunal Shah’s CRED salary 

CRED Founder and CEO Kunal Shah draws a salary of Rs 15,000 a month, a revelation that has left netizens divided over his “low pay” and raised questions about the fintech unicorn’s financial health. The disclosure came amid the entrepreneur’s candid ‘Ask Me Anything’ session on Instagram.

AMA:

• Tax saving was brought up as a likely explanation for Shah’s low salary. 
• CRED reported a net loss of Rs 1,279 crore in FY22, despite the platform’s revenue surging from Rs 95 crore in FY21 to Rs 422 crore. 
• The startup’s marketing and business promotion expenses accounted for more than Rs 975 crore.

News & updates

• AR by Xiaomi: Xiaomi unveiled Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass to build momentum in an arena yet to become mainstream. The concept device is designed to let users gesture via its embedded camera to select and open apps, swipe through pages and exit apps to return to the start page without using a smartphone. 
• Swiss-ness: The small European nation of Switzerland has avoided rampant inflation. Inflation in Switzerland hit a 29-year high of 3.5% in 2022, well below the double-digit rates of other advanced economies such as the United States (9.1%), the United Kingdom (11.1%), and the Euro Zone (10.6%).
• Military service: After BTS member Jin enlisted in South Korea’s military in December last year, another member of the world’s biggest boy band, singer and rapper J-Hope, is beginning the enlistment process for mandatory military service—but not before he releases a new solo track.

National Science Day is celebrated to mark the discovery of what?

Answer: Raman Effect. The phenomenon is named for physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, who first published observations of the Raman Effect in 1928.

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