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Shriram Finance Limited has greenlighted the sale of its housing finance subsidiary Shriram Housing Finance Limited (SHFL) to Warburg Pincus.

The transaction, valued at Rs 4,630 crore for equity and convertible instruments of SHFL, is subject to regulatory approvals and will be acquired by the private equity firm through its affiliate Mango Crest Investment Ltd.

Elsewhere, Piramal Alternatives is investing Rs 600 crore for an undisclosed stake in microfinance company Annapurna Finance. The investment includes a secondary stake buy from an existing shareholder and also providing it with the non-core Tier-II capital, a company statement said.

In other news, India’s second-largest telecom operator Airtel has entered into a long-term partnership with Google Cloud to develop and deliver cloud and generative AI products to Indian businesses. 

Speaking of AI, the search giant will kick off Google I/O today at 10 PM IST. Apart from new AI features in Android 15, the company might also unveil a new, more personal version of its digital assistant, rumoured to be called “Pixie.” 

ICYMI: The future of cellular data transfer could lie in “curving” light beams in midair to deliver 6G wireless networks.

Lastly, people across the world were treated to a magical display of unusually vivid aurora in both hemispheres last week. Here’s what caused the phenomenon.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Zomato’s profitable FY24 as Blinkit grows
• Creating games based on mythology
• Future of public vs private blockchain

Here’s your trivia for today: Which planet in the Solar System has moons named after characters from Shakespeare’s plays?

Foodtech

Zomato’s profitable FY24 as Blinkit grows

Foodtech startup Zomato’s revenue from operations has shot up 71% YoY to Rs 12,114 crore on a standalone basis in FY24 on the back of strong performance of its food delivery and quick commerce. It earned a net profit of Rs 351 crore in FY24.

In the fourth quarter of FY24, Zomato earned Rs 3,562 crore in revenue from operations—a massive 73% YoY jump.

Key takeaways:

• Zomato earned Rs 175 crore net profit in Q4 FY24—a turnaround from Rs 188 crore lost in the year-ago period.
• The Deepinder Goyal-led company plans to increase the number of its quick commerce stores for Blinkit to 1,000 by March 2025.
• Zomato highlighted that it is already seeing diminishing growth in its B2B business, Hyperpure, as revenue growth in the segment has fallen from 146% YoY in Q4 FY23 to 99% YoY in Q4 FY24.
• Its subsidiary Zomato Payments Private Limited has surrendered the online payment aggregator (PA) licence it obtained from the RBI earlier this year. ZPPL’s other businesses will continue to operate.

Funding Alert

Startup: Annapurna Finance

Amount: Rs 600 Cr

Round: Undisclosed

Startup: Dhaksha Unmanned Systems

Amount: Rs 150 Cr

Round: Undisclosed

100 Emerging Women Leaders

Creating games based on mythology

After a career in consulting spanning 14 years across four companies, Charanya Kumar decided to pursue a business based on values from Indian mythology. In January 2023, she released Chittam, an interactive gaming company inspired by Indian mythology.

As of May 2024, Chittam has sold its games to 700 users globally.

Passion for gaming:

• “Our core principle has been the same—simple gameplay and content that is always the king,” Kumar says. These games are designed in a way that the family elders would know one section and children the other.
• Chittam’s bestseller game, ‘Bharata Vilas’ is a card game that explores India’s weaves, dance forms, monuments, and native cuisines.
• In its first year, Chittam clocked in a revenue of Rs 15 lakh. It also bagged Rs 30 lakh as part of its first seed round recently.

DevSparks

Future of public vs private blockchain

At DevSparks 2024, Ava Labs’ Kamakshi Arjun, ChainCode’s Alok Gupta, and Spheron Network’s Prashant Maurya agreed that tech adoption is as much about storytelling and narrative as it is about infrastructure building. 

Powering Web3:

• “The narrative around decentralised app building is moving from private chain tech, such as Hyperledger Fabric, to public chains, such as Avalanche,” said Arjun.
• Gupta suggested that developers should focus more on app development than worrying about what type of chain to use, adding that it all depends on the use case.
• The panel also discussed the role of the underlying infrastructure powering blockchains, highlighting that a ‘decentralised’ blockchain may not be all that decentralised in the true sense if all its computing is on a centralised server.

News & updates

• Tech bets: Microsoft and Amazon are ploughing billions of dollars into France. Microsoft said that it’s committing 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) toward expanding its cloud and AI infrastructure in France. Amazon, meanwhile, made a commitment of its own to invest 1.2 billion euros in France.
• Roaring Kitty: A single picture on Monday sparked rallies across some cat-themed meme coins and Gamestop stock as market cults heralded the apparent return of TheRoaringKitty, the X profile of retail trader Keith Gill, who made his first post since late 2021.
• Seagull EV: A tiny, low-priced electric car called the Seagull has American automakers and politicians trembling. The EV, launched last year by Chinese automaker BYD, sells for around $12,000 in China but drives well and is put together with craftsmanship that rivals US-made electric vehicles that cost three times as much. 

Which planet in the Solar System has moons named after characters from Shakespeare’s plays?

Answer: Uranus. 

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