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Hello,

Perfios is minting millionaires.

The B2B SaaS fintech firm has implemented an ESOP buyback of equity shares worth Rs 154 crore from its 135 employees, with 80 of the beneficiaries women and 62 individuals turning millionaires.

Also, India’s spacetech industry is packing capital. AgniKul Cosmos raised Rs 200 crore from new and existing investors to scale up its operations, aiming for 25-50 rocket launches. 

The sector has been bubbling with activity, with satellite imaging startup Pixxel also bagging $36 million earlier this year. Last week, IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) unveiled a strategy to grow India’s space economy 5X its current size to reach $44 billion over the next 10 years.   

Meanwhile, online commerce platform Meesho has rejigged its top leadership after Utkrishta Kumar, CXO for Business, announced his departure to start his own venture. Megha Agarwal, CXO for Growth, will take over Kumar’s role while Nilesh Gupta, Senior Director for Growth, will be elevated to the position of general manager for growth.

ICYMI: India’s wedding business is booming! 

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) is expecting businesses to earn Rs 4.25 lakh crore this wedding season with an estimated 35 lakh weddings scheduled between November 23 and December 15.

Oh, and winter is coming. Here is Sonamarg, Kashmir, covered in a fresh blanket of snow.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Online festive season sale 2023
• The future of Web3
• Reclaiming social spaces

Here’s your trivia for today: Which African country named its capital after a US President?

Ecommerce

Online sales grow in festive season 

The first phase of festive sales across ecommerce platforms saw nearly 15% better buoyancy compared to the muted growth in 2022, according to industry experts. 

While Flipkart, Amazon, and Meesho dominated the show, vertical-specific ecommerce players, including Nykaa and Croma as well as direct-to-consumer brands, hope to cash in on the next few weeks to come up with their festive season sale events. 

Offers aplenty:

• “At an industry level, the ecommerce order volumes grew by nearly 1.4X across marketplaces during the first phase of festive sales over Business-As-Usual (BAU),” says Ashish Sikka of  Ecom Express. 
• Flipkart’s premium smartphone segment grew by over 1.7X over the previous year’s sales. 
• The D2C sales are muted during the marketplace sales and reach their peak between November-December with first-time online shoppers, says Atul Mehta of Shiprocket.

Funding Alert

Startup: AgniKul Cosmos

Amount: Rs 200 Cr

Round: Series B

Startup: Leucine

Amount: $7M

Round: Series A

Startup: Game Theory

Amount: $2M

Round: Pre-Series A

Web3

The future of Web3

In recent months, India’s crypto and Web3 landscape has been marked by increasing regulations. At the same time, the nation is looking to leverage blockchain tech for non-crypto use cases. 

At the Bengaluru edition of TechSparks 2023, Neeraj Khandelwal, Co-founder, CoinDCX, and Kashif Raza, Founder, Bitinning, discussed the future of decentralised tech and its potential use cases in India beyond just crypto.

Looking forward:

• “The basic function of the Internet is the transfer of information. Web3 is like an upgrade to the existing information, as it also allows you to transfer value. This unlocks a new wave of applications,” said Neeraj.
• Kashif said, “In India, many people are aware of Web3. However, not many people use it, or even if they do, they may not be aware they are using it. For example, the app StepN had hundreds of thousands of users who were not aware they were using a Web3 application.”
• Adoption of blockchain use cases is picking up momentum in India, the panellists noted, referencing examples of various Indian states issuing on-chain land records and educational certificates.

Education 

Reclaiming social spaces

Rituparna Neog’s relationship with the library is that of a best friend. Back in school, it was her refuge from queer phobic, bullying peers.  Today, it is where she’s fulfilling what she believes is the mission of her life. 

Neog is a gender-rights activist, storyteller, and educator based out of Jorhat, Assam, where she runs Akam Foundation, an NGO that aims to build free community libraries for children and trains members from the rural LGBTQIA+ community to become crusaders of gender justice.

Transforming:

• Neog started a hybrid storytelling project for children called Kitape Katha Koi (translating to ‘books speak’). The free community library helps close to 100 children read Assamese, Hindi, and English books.  
• She started Drishti Queer Collective, a meetup space for LGBTQIA+ people from villages and small towns in Jorhat, with the idea of enabling discussions around equality and social justice. 
• Today, Drishti—with a core group of 15 people—has become a meetup space for queer members to learn, debate, and understand gender-sexuality, patriarchy, rights, and sexual and mental health.

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Rituparna Neog, trans activist and Founder/Director, Akam Foundation

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News & updates

• New launch: Jio Financial Services plans to launch auto, home loans, and other products, as the Mukesh Ambani-backed company seeks to establish itself as a full-service financial services firm in a rapidly growing market.
• Earnings: Goldman Sachs’ third-quarter earnings exceeded analysts’ estimates on stronger-than-expected trading revenue. The bank’s profit dropped 33% to $2.058 billion from a year earlier, while revenue slipped 1% to $11.82 billion, though that topped expectations by roughly $600 million.
• Controls: The US is restricting the sale of Nvidia’s A800 and H800 chips, designed specifically for the Chinese market, as part of sweeping new updates to export curbs that are designed to block China’s access to highly advanced semiconductor technology.

Which African country named its capital after a US President?

Answer: Liberia. Its capital, Monrovia, was named after US President James Monroe.

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