Sundar Pichai introduces $100 mn Google Career Certificates Fund

By

-

February 18, 2022

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet and Google, has announced the launch of a new $100 million Google Career Certificates Fund to train a competent workforce for high-paying, high-growth occupations in disciplines such as data analytics, IT support, project management, and user experience design.

He stated that the goal is for ‘Social Finance’ to reach over 20,000 American workers.

“This investment in America’s future has the potential to drive $1 billion in wage gains,” Pichai said in a statement late on Thursday.

To date, about 70,000 Americans have received Google Career Certificates.

“They are available to anyone, no college degree required. Seventy-five percent of graduates report seeing a positive impact on their career within six months, including a raise or a new job,” Pichai added.

He unveiled the fund at a press conference with Alejandra Castillo, the US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, and the CEOs of Social Finance, Merit America, and Year Up.

“A sense of purpose and optimism is what brought me to America nearly 30 years ago. And it’s what drew me to Google and its mission to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” said Pichai.

Google’s digital skills initiative has also aided in training 8 million Americans across all 50 states.

“We’ll invest Google capital and Google.org grants and provide our Career Certificate programme. We’ll connect students to an employer consortium of more than 150 companies who are looking to hire workers with these skills,” Pichai noted.

It’s all designed around student success, and they will receive all of this at no upfront cost, “and will only pay it back once they find a job earning at least $40,000 a year”.

Propelld collects $35mn to expand its education finance biz

By

BRL Editor

-

February 18, 2022

0

Propelld, a fintech platform focused on education, announced on Friday that it had raised $35 million in a Series B fundraising round headed by WestBridge Capital.

Propelld, which currently employs roughly 150 people, wants to hire another 100-150 people in the next year in technology, business development, and collections.

Propelld, founded in 2017 by the IIT Madras trio of Bibhu Prasad Das, Victor Senapaty, and Brijesh Samantaray, has over 550 educational establishments as partners and has an annual loan disbursal run rate of Rs 600 crore, according to a statement.

“With the latest capital infusion, we will strive towards building better financial products for the educational ecosystem,” said Bibhu Prasad Das, Co-founder CEO at Propelld.

Stellaris Venture Partners and India Quotient were also part of the fresh fundraising round.

Propelld aims to extend its activities in other education categories, citing its strong position in the ed-tech, up-skilling, and job-focused markets.

By providing personalized loan solutions, the business collaborates with educational institutions to help students afford their tuition fees. New funds will be used to boost in-house technology and collecting skills and provide new financing solutions and expand distribution capabilities across segments, according to the company.

Ace investor Radhakishan Damani invested in Advani Hotels & Resorts

By

BRL Editor

-

February 18, 2022

0

Radhakishan Damani, a renowned investor, has added Advani Hotels & Resorts (India) Ltd to his portfolio. According to the hotel company’s exchange notification, market magnet purchased 23,93,490 shares or 5.17 per cent of the company’s total issued paid-up capital. Stock market specialists, including Radhakishan Damani, are positive on the counter. Experts predict that this hospitality stock will rise to 130 per share shortly.

Radhakishan Damani has invested in Advani Hotels and Resorts through his investment company, Derive Investments, according to Advani Hotels and Resorts’ exchange announcement posted on the BSE website. Derive Investments has purchased 23,93,490 Advani Hotels and Resorts shares, or 5.17 per cent of the company, according to the company’s investment disclosure.

When the BSE published this information on its website, buyers’ interest in the stock spiked, hitting the upper circuit on Thursday. However, it quickly resumed trading, with profit booking erasing its early gains. Finally, this Radhakishan Damani portfolios stock closed 11.50 per cent higher on the NSE than it did on Wednesday. On the other hand, Stock market gurus believe the counter has more upward potential.

Speaking on this new Radhakishan Damani stock, Anuj Gupta, Vice President at IIFL Securities, said, “Advani Hotels and Resorts shares have strong support at ₹69 apiece levels and after sudden rise in the counter some profit-booking is expected. One should buy this stock at current levels and keep on accumulating on big dips till it is quoting above ₹69. It is expected to go up to ₹130 levels in short term. However, one must maintain stop loss at ₹69 while taking position in this Radhakishan Damani stock.”

Dealshare bags $45 million from ADIA, plans global expansion

By

BRL Editor

-

February 17, 2022

0

DealShare, a social commerce grocery startup, announced that it had received a fresh infusion of $45 million from an Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) wholly-owned subsidiary as part of a larger round.

Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investments Group, Kora Capital, Unilever Ventures, and Alpha Wave Global are among the other investors in the $210 million round, first reported on January 28. DealShare is currently worth more than $1.7 billion.

DealShare, founded in 2018 by Rajat Shikhar, Sankar Bora, Sourjyendu Medda, and Vineet Rao, provides daily necessities to the middle-income demographic through a community group buying strategy.

The funds will be used to improve technology, product innovation, and hiring.

“We will be utilizing the funds from our Series E round to strengthen our customer base and technology capabilities. We aim to democratize online shopping for Bharat users with unmatched service and experience by developing innovative products and tech solutions. This will be supported by building our teams across the country and hiring new tech talent at all levels.” said Rao in a prepared statement.

For demand aggregation, the ecommerce company uses the consumer-led virality paradigm of social commerce. This differs from the reseller-led approach pioneered in Meesho, which mostly operates in the clothes market. Meesho is now increasingly aiming to go direct to consumers, much like Amazon and Flipkart.

“I think we had a very different thesis to social commerce,” said Medda to ET. “We always believed social commerce will only work if it is deployed in the grocery space. For social commerce to work we need virality in the mass consumers. That will only happen when the deals are relevant to the larger population.”

“The choices in electronics and fashion are large for virality to be created,” he said. “While everyone (other social commerce players) is getting into direct commerce we are the only sizeable social commerce player in the country.”

Medda states that by employing the community-led virality model, the company has been able to keep fulfillment costs—warehousing and last-mile delivery—to 5-6% of the order cost, as opposed to 20% or more for traditional e-commerce. He also stated that acquiring a customer is $1, compared to the industry average of $10.

“These big differentiators we will continue to retain,” said Medda. “We are possibly the fastest growing ecommerce company. We are already close to a $1 billion revenue run rate now. At the same time, we burn very little. We are very close to operational profitability.”

The business has raised $393 million in total funding, including the most recent round, to compete in a crowded grocery essentials market in non-metro cities. Dealshare’s exclusive financial advisor on the deal was Avendus Capital.

The Backyard opens an outdoors zone for children in Kolkata

By

BRL Editor

-

February 17, 2022

0

The Backyard, a recently opened space in Kolkata, was created to provide a free open space for families and provide open space for children to play, which is rare in the city.

“There is a great difference between the childhood we spent playing outside and the way it is today. Most play spaces today are confined to small enclosed areas that tend to be overcrowded, not letting children explore the possibility of learning through play,” said Sinaya Azhar Khan, partner – The Backyard.

In a post-Covid world where delivery-only models appear to be more sustainable, Sinaya Azhar Khan and Imran Ahmed, the founder duo, have put a lot of money into the experience endeavor. The 29,000-square-foot indoor and outdoor play space also has a cafe with a children’s menu.

“Our goal for the cafe was to keep everything healthy and locally sourced as well. In fact, we grow most of the herbs in our kitchen garden to enhance the flavours of our dishes,” Khan added.

Kaushik Saha built the space to provide Indian artisans a platform by sourcing materials from throughout the country, ranging from wooden benches to silverware. Experiential elements, according to Khan, can and do bring greater value to today’s food and beverage offers. They may elevate a normal dinner or lunch to a memorable occasion. We’ve seen it all around the world. She believes that “a memorable F&B experience adds value to any visit.”

“Creating an experiential experience not only drives greater footfall and revenue spend but it also helps communicate a certain brand language and identity. Thus, enhancing the overall experience of visitors,” she further added.

Khan identified a few operational issues that she believes should be addressed when the restaurant first opened. “Currently, the GST charged in the F&B sector is at 5 percent. In my opinion what would be of great benefit would be if the government raised it 12 percent. This would help us claim inputs for certain imported ingredients that are essential for our industry,” she said.

Byju’s plans to spend $200 million to expand its offline presence

By

BRL Editor

-

February 17, 2022

0

Byju’s, an ed-tech unicorn, plans to invest $200 million in offline tuition centers over the next 12-18 months to serve kids in grades 4 to 10, according to the company.

After acquiring tutoring firm Aakash Education Services for an anticipated cash-and-stock deal for $950 million last year, the company conceptualized its offline entry.

It has already opened 80 offline locations in 23 cities and plans to expand to 500 locations in 200 cities this year.

“A lot of parents felt that their child should also get access to offline centres and physical intervention. Hence, we decided to expand offline through ‘Byju’s Tuition Centre’ which will imbibe an omni-channel learning strategy,” Mrinal Mohit, chief operating officer of Byju’s, said.

According to him, these centers would be equipped with high-quality online learning materials, analytics-driven assessment, and the presence of physical teachers to boost learning results. He added that each center would have an average of 30-40 teachers, whom Byju’s will hire and train.

Students will also be given tablets for online examinations and courses at the centers.

Byju’s, which was recently valued at $21 billion, plans to hire between 3,000 and 4,000 new teachers for its tuition centers this year. Byju’s plans to hire 10,000 people, including teachers, to administer these 500 centers.

Over the next 24 months, it wants to reach over one million students with its offline-led learning strategy.

While these centers will primarily focus on mathematics and science, they will also provide kids with holistic development opportunities such as counseling and Olympiads.

According to the firm, the classes that Byju’s will provide at its tuition center will cost between Rs 3,000 and Rs 3,500 per month.

Fisdom affiliates with BoM to offer wealth management services

By

BRL Editor

-

February 16, 2022

0

Fisdom, a wealth-tech firm, has partnered with the Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) to provide wealth management products and services to more than 29 million customers. The bank’s network of more than 2,000 branches and digital platforms, including the mobile banking app and internet banking, will be used to spread wealth products and services through this relationship.

Bank customers will access wealth management services in both a physical and digital mode. Customers will invest in mutual funds through the bank’s mobile banking app, Maha mobile, and its online banking service.

Customers will be able to see all relevant fund information and track the performance of their investments in real-time. Fisdom also plans to expand its product range, according to the wealth-tech company.

Furthermore, the firm stated that its consumers would have access to various products, including direct equities, pension funds, and HNI wealth solutions, among others.

“This facility envisages at enabling our customers to add varied options at their fingertip while enabling them avail services under one roof. This will foster our mutual fund clientele while giving them opportunity through diverse portfolios. This also shows our commitment for digital delivery which shall surely add fillip to our digital journey in the days to come,” A S Rajeev, MD & CEO, Bank of Maharashtra, said.

Anand Dalmia, co-founder, Fisdom, said, “We are pleased to associate with Bank of Maharashtra in order to offer our complete range of wealth management offerings. We believe this strategic partnership will redefine wealth management for the customers of Bank of Maharashtra as we promise them a unique and convenient investment experience. We look forward to partner with various other banks in the near future and serve their customers with our innovative tech-led wealth management products and quality service delivery.”

Saas startup Lummo receives an investment of $80 million

By

BRL Editor

-

February 16, 2022

0

Lummo (previously known as BukuKas), a Jakarta and Bengaluru-based startup that provides software to help small businesses go online, has received an investment of $80 million from Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. Lummo offers a Shopify-like direct-to-consumer (D2C) software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution for entrepreneurs and brands.

According to a senior corporate official, the funding would help the company develop its talent base in India, where it plans to triple its tech and product personnel. In 2022, the business will triple its investment in Indian talent across product, engineering, strategy, HR, and finance divisions.

“We currently have a team of around 100 in India and will look to take it to around 300 by the end of FY 24,” Krishnan Menon, founder and CEO, Lummo, said.

This is Bezos’ second investment in the Indonesian startup ecosystem. “Backing of this scale underlines our belief that Indonesia and Southeast Asia are emerging as the next great destinations for tech investmen,” Menon said.

Menon stated that the company is trying to expand into other Southeast Asian markets to take advantage of the region’s expanding opportunities.

The company extended its business by introducing Tokko, an online direct-to-consumer commerce builder, in 2020, after launching BukuKas, a bookkeeping software for MSMEs, in 2019. Tokko has since been renamed LummoShop.

Menon added that the company’s GMV doubled, and its revenues increased by 40% in the prior quarter. According to the business, the internet sector in Southeast Asia continues to grow significantly, with Indonesia leading the way.

“We find that Indonesian entrepreneurs are ambitious and growth-oriented, focusing on building their own local brands,” said Menon.

Rediffusion launches TEA, a tool for analyzing brand equity

By

BRL Editor

-

February 16, 2022

0

Rediffusion has announced the launch of a strategic tool for analyzing brand equity. Navonil Chatterjee, the agency’s chief strategic officer, led the effort to build the tool in-house.

This month, all offices will have access to TEA@Rediffusion

“Marketers often talk about a brand’s equity, but equity at times becomes a nebulous topic where everyone has a view, but beyond that subjective opinion, there is hardly anything substantive to back it. And even that equity is with respect to a certain time frame and in the context of a particular target group. Change the TG or the time-period, and the results, in all likelihood, should change,” said Sandeep Goyal, managing director of Rediffusion.

He added, “Given the fact that it is a bit of a black hole, Rediffusion is proud to launch TEA or The Equity Analyser – our framework for evaluating a brand’s equity at a certain point of time, in the context of a certain TG. In fact, the model allows for comparisons of different brands’ equity within the same category and even across categories.”

Chatterjee added, “The fundamental premise of TEA is that a brand’s equity is a function of the following key parameters of a brand’s popularity, uniqueness, respect and personal appropriateness. Basically, how popular, or well known or salient the brand is, how unique or different it is, how well respected it is and what personal meaning, connection, usefulness or appropriateness it has for the consumer or TG.”

There are other facets of the TEA, such as the mapping of brands across product categories based on customer evaluations of the brand on certain parameters. As a result, marketers will gain a sense of the brand’s overall equity and a ‘soft’ sense of how the brand is performing on various attributes.

Diwan Arun Nanda, chairman of Rediffusion, said, “The world is moving to performance marketing, metrics and measurement. And why should brands be left behind in that journey towards an objective understanding of them vis-à-vis facts, figures and primary data. Rediffusion’s TEA is a great tool which will give the agency a far more robust strategic understanding of brands and their competitors. Marketers too will be able to consult it for their own understanding and fine-tuning of their marketing efforts.”

Demand surges for permanent work from home jobs: Naukri

By

BRL Editor

-

February 15, 2022

0

Naukri.com’s new feature of filtering remote jobs has revealed an increasing trend of permanently remote jobs. In the last six months, the portal logged over 32 lakh job searches for permanent and temporary remote positions.

“Out of these, about 57% of searches were made for permanent remote jobs during the same time, with the highest search; i.e., over 3.5 lakh being reported only in the month of December 2021,” Naukri said.

The company introduced a new feature in July 2021 for ‘permanent remote’ and temporary’ work from home during Covid.’ This feature allowed recruiters to advertise jobs by describing the type of remote work they were looking for, such as permanent or temporary, to find better candidates.

It noted that there are over 93,000 permanent and temporary remote jobs advertised, with 22% of them being for permanent remote work solely.

“There is a foundational change in how recruiters are setting up organisational structures. While uncertainty prevails due to the pandemic, more and more recruiters are acknowledging the benefits of work from anywhere like access to talent and more inclusion and are now beginning to make permanent changes to the human resource and infrastructure requirements at a corporate level,” Pawan Goyal, chief business officer, Naukri.com, said.

According to data, more permanent remote jobs are being posted in the IT software, software services, ITeS, and recruitment/staffing sectors.

CONNECT WITH US