Hello,

ONDC is spreading its wings. 

After its launch in Bengaluru in April, PhonePe’s Pincode is now available in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, and Kolkata.

In other news, the Indian government doesn’t want to regulate startups. Rather, it wants to act as a ‘facilitator’.

Addressing the Startup20 summit, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that the government is not looking to micromanage startups and asked for self-regulation by the stakeholders of the ecosystem. “Our role will always be that of a facilitator, and I do not see the government becoming an administrator or a regulator of this sector,” he added.

Last but not least, have you played the ‘password’ game yet?

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• BYJU’S promoters sold $400M in secondary transactions
• Droom reports widening loss amid higher expenses in FY22 
• Varanium Group’s first close of maiden venture debt fund

Here’s your trivia for today: Who was the first female Wimbledon champion?

Edtech

BYJU’S promoters sold $400M in secondary transactions

In a series of secondary transactions from 2015, the promoters of BYJU’S have collectively sold shares amounting to $408.53 million, according to an analysis conducted by PrivateCircle Research. Founder and CEO Byju Raveendran, his wife and co-founder Divya Gokulnath, and Riju Ravindran, his brother and a director at BYJU’S, are involved in these transactions.

“BYJU’S promoters have put back the entire secondary raised back into the business to scale it up further over the years,” a company spokesperson told YourStory.

Dealings:

• Since 2015, Raveendran has individually sold 29,306 shares, resulting in proceeds of $3.28 million. Gokulnath, on the other hand, has sold 64,565 shares, totalling $29.40 million, while Ravindran has sold 3,37,911 shares, generating $375.83 million.
• Notably, these secondary deals were often executed at discounted valuations compared to the primary valuation of the company at the time.
• During BYJU’S Series F round, an average discount of 53% was observed in the secondary sales. The promoters sold their shares in the price range of Rs 1,12,126 to Rs 1,64,000 per share, while the Series F primary share price ranged from Rs 2,13,042 to Rs 2,37,336.

Earnings

Droom reports widening loss amid higher expenses in FY22 

Automobile ecommerce startup Droom’s annual loss nearly doubled from a year ago on the back of higher expenses that ate into its topline. 

The Lightbox Ventures-backed unicorn, which has been looking to relaunch its stock market listing bid, reported a total consolidated loss of Rs 137.1 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2022, compared to a loss of Rs 68.9 crore in the previous fiscal.

Key takeaways:

• Droom spent Rs 527.2 crore in FY22, up 158% from the previous year, primarily due to impairment losses on financial assets and “other expenses” that include advertising and promotional expenses.
• In 2021, when Droom was exploring an IPO, the company said it was “nearing profitability”, given the momentum it had seen on its platform during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, that did not materialise as evidenced by its latest filing.
• The Gurugram-based company has raised a total of $341 million across nine funding rounds, according to Tracxn.

Investors

Varanium Group’s first close of maiden venture debt fund

Mumbai-headquartered asset management firm Varanium Capital Advisors has marked the first close of its debut venture debt fund of Rs 250 crore, with a green-shoe option of Rs 50 crore. 

The company plans to use the fund to back nearly 100 startups in India through a mix of revenue-based financing and traditional venture debt. 

What’s in store:

• “Venture debt fund will provide financial backing to startups in sectors such as D2C, SaaS, B2B commerce, and fintech, who require to scale their operations,” said T S Anantakrishnan, Founder of Varanium Capital.
• Varanium Capital also operates a Category-I alternative investment fund called Varanium NexGen Fund, with a focus on early-stage fintech startups. 
• It has already backed 12 startups from the equity fund, including Easebuzz, Riskcovry, Finvu, and Homeville.

News & updates

• Rival platform: Instagram’s highly anticipated Twitter rival is expected to launch Thursday, according to a listing on Apple Inc.’s App Store. Called Threads, the app will have text-based posts that can be liked, commented on and shared.
• Bucking trend: The UK is the only country among the Group of Seven wealthy nations where inflation is still rising, according to data from OECD. The Paris-based organisation said that year-on-year inflation in the G7 fell to 4.6% in May, down from 5.4% in April.
• Comeback kid?: Yahoo, one of the internet’s oldest and best-known brands that had once been a dotcom stock market darling, is planning to return to the public markets. CEO Jim Lanzone said his goal was to take the company to an IPO again as part of a plan to return to prominence.

Who was the first female Wimbledon champion?

Answer: British tennis player Maud Watson, who won in 1884 at the age of 19.

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