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BYJU’S has sued its lenders.

In a complaint to the New York Supreme Court, the edtech firm has sought the disqualification of its lender Redwood, alleging that Redwood has engaged in a series of predatory tactics. 

According to BYJU’S, despite the terms of the $1.2-billion term loan B (TLB), Redwood—predominantly involved in distressed debt trading—acquired a substantial portion of the loan. The Bengaluru-headquartered firm also noted that the TLB lenders wrongfully enforced the acceleration of the loan based on alleged non-monetary and technical defaults.

In other news, Rebel Foods distributed ESOPs to over 5,000 employees in over 350 kitchens and corporate offices, taking the total ESOP value held by its employees to $65 million (Rs 550 crore). 

Meanwhile, Walmart-owned PhonePe launched its account aggregator (AA) services through its wholly-owned subsidiary PhonePe Technology Services Pvt Ltd (PTSPL) with a micro-app within the main PhonePe consumer app. 

Further reading: All you need to know about the account aggregator (AA) framework and how it works.

ICYMI: Some breathtaking photos of the Milky Way galaxy, taken from the Earth.

Last but not least, take a peek inside the world’s oldest surviving hotel, a traditional Japanese inn currently run by its 53rd General Manager who is a descendent of the hotel’s founder.

Talk about keeping it in the family!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Sequoia Capital has split into three units
• SaaS sector’s cautiously optimistic outlook
• India’s internet economy to reach $1T

Here’s your trivia for today: Which Nintendo game marks Mario’s debut?

Investor

Sequoia India & SEA Asia is now Peak XV Partners

Sequoia Capital, one of the world’s largest venture capital firms, has split into three independent business units—US/Europe, China, and India & Southeast Asia. The India & Southeast Asia unit has been named Peak XV Partners.

Separation:

• The VC firm said its India and SEA portfolio has seen 19 IPOs, with multiple M&A transactions, resulting in a realisation of $4.5 billion so far.
• Its portfolio consists of over 50 unicorns and includes leading names such as Zomato, Freshworks, Ola, OYO, Pine Labs, Razorpay, and BYJU’S.
• Peak XV Partners, which will be managed by the existing management team, has over $2.5 billion of uninvested capital, which the company raised in 2022.

<Funding Alert>

Startup: 2070 Health

Amount: $30M

Round: Seed

Startup: River 

Amount: $15M

Round: Undisclosed 

Startup: Koparo 

Amount: $1.25M

Round: Pre-Series A

SaaS

A cautiously optimistic outlook for SaaS

India’s SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) industry is set to reach $26 billion in revenue by 2026, according to a report titled ‘India SaaSonomics: Navigating Growth and Efficiency’ by venture capital fund Chiratae Ventures and strategy consulting firm Zinnov. 

The report predicts a cautiously optimistic outlook for the Indian SaaS sector which turned out to be more resilient, showing less decline than the US and EU when it comes to Enterprise Value-to-Revenue (EV/R) multiples. The metric is a commonly used valuation metric comparing a company’s enterprise value to its revenues.

Key takeaways:

• About 80% of the business-to-business (B2B) SaaS unicorns have been created in the last three years. 
• Funding value fell by nearly 80% in Q1 2023 as compared to Q1 2022, driven by a significant decline in late-stage funding valuations. 
• Overall, the number of deals in the SaaS sector increased by 30% in CY 2022 from CY 2021, while equity investments in the sector have grown steadily at a CAGR of nearly 47% from CY 2019 to CY 2022. 

Report

India’s internet economy to reach $1T

India’s internet economy is expected to leapfrog from approximately $155-175 billion in 2022 to a trillion dollars by 2030, thanks to a fast-changing consumer landscape and strong investor confidence, a report has revealed.  

The internet economy, which currently contributes to 4-5% of India’s GDP, will make up about 12-13% by 2030, according to the report titled ‘The e-Conomy of a Billion Indians,’ jointly prepared by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company. 

Digital age:

• The key drivers of the growth in India’s internet economy, as identified by the report, are going to be: ecommerce, online travel, food delivery, and ride-hailing services, with B2C commerce accounting for 40% of the gross merchandise value.
• In the last year alone, 220 million individuals shopped online while 110 million people made purchases in online games.
• Healthtech and insurtech sectors are set to exhibit the strongest growth—to the tune of 9-15X growth—while SaaS will sustain the momentum of India’s digital exports.

News & updates

• Charges: The SEC sued Coinbase Global in federal court in New York on Tuesday, alleging the crypto firm for years broke its rules. The regulator said that the crypto platform evaded regulations by letting users trade numerous crypto tokens that were actually unregistered securities. 
• Build-up: The World Bank raised its 2023 global growth outlook as the US, China, and other major economies have proven more resilient than forecast, but said higher interest rates and tighter credit would take a bigger toll on next year’s results.
• On trial: Portugal is the latest country to experiment with a four-day workweek, and businesses are getting assistance from the government. For the next six months, 39 private-sector businesses in the country will participate in a pilot program in partnership with 4 Day Week Global.

Which Nintendo game marks Mario’s debut?

Answer: Donkey Kong (1981), as an unnamed character.

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