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Startup News
Inc42
1w
68
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Good Glamm Group’s Bad Formula
- The Good Glam Group's many acquisitions over the past couple of years haven't been successful, and the company's finances are in bad shape as a result.
- Headline issues like layoffs, a drop in quality due to changes in product formulations, and senior executives leaving the company have reportedly played a part in this.
- Despite recent efforts to improve its standing, the company's raised eyebrows by reportedly looking to offload some of its acquired brands, while sources say various investors are considering funding the GGG with the stipulation that the company first pays off all its debt.
- Many of the Indian D2C brands that the GGG took over claim that the company focused more on its US launch than on nurturing them in their home country. There are also reportedly issues with corporate governance, growth projections, and oversight by the board.
- GGG is believed to be in talks with potential investors as it looks to raise between INR 150 Cr ($17 Mn) and INR 250 Cr ($28 Mn) at a post-money valuation of up to INR 1,000 Cr ($120 Mn). However, such a round would only place a small dent in the startup's debt of more than INR 450 Cr.
- This is not the first Indian firm to show unbridled interest in acquisitions throughout 2020 and 2021, only to come crashing down.
- Despite a lot of ambition, it seems the GGG is becoming known more as a problem than its many acquisitions and has yet to deliver on its goals to attract major investment.
- Given that many existing investors would have to continue holding some stake in the GGG, it is not a complete bust for them. However, the company still needs a significant turnaround to dispel the questions about its future.
- Good Glam Group's content-to-commerce play has failed, and its once-bullish omnichannel growth proposition has fizzled. Nonetheless, recent developments suggest the firm is still trying to hang on to some of its acquisitions, despite challenges with inventory and vendor dues.
- The recent exit of directors from its board, as well as questions about corporate governance and what the board was really up to, leave a lot of uncertainty about GGG's future.
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Yourstory
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98
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Primebook is bridging India’s digital divide with affordable laptops for students
- Delhi-based affordable laptop maker, Primebook, has created laptops tailored to the unique requirements of students in India to help bridge the ongoing digital divide in the country.
- According to the Union Education Ministry's Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2023-24 report, only 57% of schools in India have functional computers, and 53% have internet access.
- Primebook’s flagship laptop runs on PrimeOS, an Android-based operating system optimised for multitasking and compatible with over 200,000 educational apps.
- Primebook’s laptops are priced at INR 12,990 and INR 14,990 which is tailor-made to tackle challenges of digital education use in India
- The startup has sold over 50,000 units of their laptop to students since it was started two year back.
- For the following year, Primebook has its eyes set on expanding into new markets as it targets sales of double the revenue that the company generated in the last quarter.
- The startup plans to launch three new models, including the Primebook 2.0 Wi-Fi model priced at around INR 13,990 to INR 14,990 and Primebook 2.0 4G model priced at INR 16,990 in April 2025.
- Primebook will also introduce a detachable model similar to the Microsoft Surface Book, with a detachable keyboard. It will be priced between INR 18,000 and INR 19,000.
- In August, it secured Rs 75 lakh in funding from Shark Tank India. It received individual offers from Vineeta Singh, Aman Gupta, Peyush Bansal, and Anupam Mittal, as well as a combined offer from all five sharks.
- The startup also plans to expand into international markets at a later stage.
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Inc42
1w
12
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Cashfree Payments Bags $53 Mn From KRAFTON
- B2B fintech startup Cashfree Payments has raised $53 Mn (around INR 450 Cr) in its Series C funding round led by KRAFTON.
- The funding round saw participation from existing investor Apis Partners, which infused capital via its private equity fund Apis Growth Fund II.
- Cashfree plans to utilize the fresh capital to bolster its payments offerings, expand market outreach, shore up cross-border offerings, and fuel international expansion.
- Cashfree operates a full-stack digital payments solutions platform and has secured licenses from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for payment aggregation and prepaid payment instruments.
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Inc42
1w
236
Image Credit: Inc42
Cashfree Payments Bags $53 Mn To Expand Cross-Border Offerings
- B2B fintech startup Cashfree Payments has raised $53 Mn in its Series C funding round led by KRAFTON.
- The funding will be used to bolster payments offerings, expand market outreach, and fuel international expansion.
- Cashfree is a full-stack digital payments solutions platform helping businesses collect online payments and make payouts.
- The company has secured the payment aggregator cross border license from the Reserve Bank of India.
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Yourstory
1w
190
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Cashfree Payments raises $53M from KRAFTON India for global expansion, security innovation
- Digital payments startup Cashfree Payments raises $53 million in a funding round led by KRAFTON India.
- Cashfree will use the funding to drive product innovation, strengthen security infrastructure, and accelerate international expansion in the UAE and the broader Middle East markets.
- This marks KRAFTON's first direct investment in an Indian fintech firm.
- Cashfree recently received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a Payment Aggregator-Cross Border, enabling it to facilitate payments for global businesses and regulated entities collecting funds in India.
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StartupDaily
1w
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AI customer support startup Lorikeet banks another $14 million
- Sydney AI startup Lorikeet has raised $14 million in a recent funding round led by Blackbird.
- The company, founded by former Stripe executive Steve Hind and former Google AI senior engineer Jamie Hall, offers an AI platform designed to handle complex customer problems and sensitive matters.
- The funds will be used for aggressive expansion in the US and to build the team in Sydney.
- Lorikeet's intelligent graph architecture enables AI agents to handle complex workflows in highly regulated industries, differentiating the company from competitors.
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Economic Times
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Cashfree secures $53 million from Krafton, Apis Partners
- Cashfree Payments has raised $53m in a new funding round, led by South Korean company, Krafton.
- The merchant payment start-up's existing investor, Apis Partners, also participated in the funding round.
- Krafton has invested in a number of Indian businesses, including publishing platform Pratilipi and Kuku FM, among others.
- Cashfree raised $2.7m in a recent funding round in 2021.
- The move follows the lifting of an embargo by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on adding new merchants in late 2023.
- Cashfree has grown dramatically since securing an online payment aggregator licence from the RBI, increasing business by 130%.
- It currently serves around 800,000 businesses and processes $80bn in gross transactions annually, with plans to double this by the end of 2025.
- The company's clients include Swiggy, Zepto and BigBasket, and Bajaj Finance and ICICI Prudential.
- The new funding round will enable Cashfree to scale up its products, invest in new payment infrastructure projects, and push one-click checkout products commonly used by direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands.
- Cashfree launched a UPI product recently, allowing the settlement of UPI payments directly with banks.
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Medium
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The Critical Role of Preparing Items Before a Sprint Planning Session
- Proper preparation of backlog items is essential for a successful sprint planning session.
- Preparation ensures a shared understanding, clear acceptance criteria, and reduced ambiguity.
- Well-prepared backlog items minimize time spent on clarifications, enabling focus on estimating and committing to deliverables.
- Prepared items foster collaboration, enhance team morale, and improve stakeholder communication.
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Startupnation
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The CARE Equation: How Culture Can Make or Break a Team
- The CARE Equation—Clarity, Autonomy, Relationships, and Equity—is a practical and transformative framework designed to help leaders build psychologically safe and high-performing teams.
- Psychological safety is the cornerstone of effective teams. Research consistently highlights it as the most critical factor in team performance.
- Clarity ensures everyone knows where the team is headed, what success looks like, and their role in achieving it. For startup leaders, this means overcommunicating objectives, simplifying big-picture goals into manageable steps, and being available to provide ongoing guidance.
- Autonomy means trusting your team to make decisions without constant oversight. Empowering your team sparks a sense of accountability, engagement, and pride in their contributions.
- Startups thrive when their teams are deeply connected. Relationships built on trust and respect fuel collaboration, reduce conflicts, and inspire team members to go the extra mile.
- Fairness is not about treating everyone the same; it’s about giving each person the support they need to succeed.
- The CARE Equation isn’t just a leadership framework; it’s a mindset that transforms how teams function.
- For entrepreneurs, this is particularly critical. Startups are built on ambition, but that ambition needs a strong cultural foundation to thrive. CARE provides the tools to build a team that innovates fearlessly, communicates openly, and operates cohesively.
- Leadership isn’t about being the hero or having all the answers; it’s about creating a culture that empowers others to succeed and lead.
- The CARE Equation shifts the focus from managing tasks to fostering human potential.
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StartupDaily
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368
Westpac invests $10 million in Lawpath to offer customers legal services
- Westpac invests $10 million in online legal services scaleup Lawpath.
- The exclusive partnership aims to offer startups and small-to-medium sized businesses access to affordable legal services, accounting and compliance technology.
- Lawpath provides a range of subscription-based legal services priced between $39 and $179 a month.
- Lawpath aims to simplify the complexity of starting and running a business with the help of their artificial intelligence solutions.
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Pymnts
2w
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UK Warns of AI Startups Leaving Due to Capital Shortfalls, Regulatory Complexity
- United Kingdom warns of AI startups leaving due to capital shortfalls, regulatory complexity and cultural difference.
- U.K. risks being an ‘incubator economy’ for other nations which will lead to decreased global competitiveness, weaker economic prospects and a ‘brain drain’ of talented individuals.
- 47% of AI-related revenues in the U.K. are generated by businesses with U.S. and other foreign owners.
- The U.K. government is trying to nurture AI startups with financial reforms but it is in the form of an 'overly complex spaghetti of schemes' that 'fail to offer a coherent pathway of financial support'.
- Attempts have been made to regulate the AI sector in the U.K., however it actually creates 'uncertainty' among startups.
- The British startup mindset is more risk-averse, which comes down to having less venture capital than the U.S.
- Early-stage funding of up to $15 million in the U.K is on par with Silicon Valley. For startup companies over $100 million for scaling up the U.K. is 'significantly behind' Silicon Valley.
- To prevent further brain drain and capitalize flight, the U.K. needs to create a clear AI and tech investment strategy to unlock domestic growth capital for scale-ups.
- The U.K. has all the right ingredients to be a global leader in AI and tech, but without bold reforms, it risks to be a training ground for companies that scale elsewhere.
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Medium
2w
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Best DevOps Tools and Practices That Actually Work
- Automation is key in DevOps, with a focus on a solid CI/CD pipeline.
- Tools like GitHub Actions and GitLab CI/CD seamlessly integrate into repositories.
- Docker is essential for standardizing environments and simplifying scaling and deployment.
- For managing multiple containers, Kubernetes is highly recommended, especially for microservices.
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StartupDaily
2w
240
Chinese gen AI app DeepSeek has been banned from Australian government devices
- The Australian government has banned the use of the Chinese AI app, DeepSeek, on its systems and devices due to security risks.
- The ban was issued by the Department of Home Affairs following a risk assessment, stating that the use of DeepSeek poses an unacceptable level of security risk.
- All government employees in non-corporate Commonwealth entities are required to remove all existing instances of DeepSeek and prevent their future access, use or installation.
- Exemptions for the use of DeepSeek are available for legitimate business reasons related to national security, regulatory functions, and law enforcement, but only for a limited time.
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Addicted2Success
2w
17
Image Credit: Addicted2Success
The Secret Weapon Smart Businesses Use to Stay Ahead
- Business process management (BPM) software helps businesses stay ahead by breaking down silos, automating processes, and providing data-driven insights.
- BPM software brings teams together, fostering seamless collaboration and communication.
- It automates repetitive tasks, saving time and money for businesses.
- BPM software enables informed decision-making with data analysis and reduces operational inefficiencies.
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Inc42
2w
321
Image Credit: Inc42
Decoding MobiKwik’s Plans To Get Back Into The Profitability Lane
- Fintech company MobiKwik saw investor attraction for its IPO due to being one of few fintech firms to report a profit for one entire fiscal year. The company’s Q3 results for FY25 showed a net loss of INR55.28 Cr, taking the loss count to INR62.85 Cr. Reasons cited include a decline in its financial services revenue, higher lending-related costs from a transition to new Default Loss Guarantee (DLG) contracts, and lower contribution margins.
- However, MobiKwik reported growth in various areas. Its revenue from operations climbed almost 18% to INR269.47 Cr in Q3 FY25. In the same quarter, MobiKwik added 5 Mn new users and has a userbase crossing the 172 Mn mark. Revenue from the payments business also grew 166% YoY to INR196.5 Cr in Q3 FY25.
- Co-Founder and CFO Upasana Taku and CEO Bipin Preet Singh shared MobiKwik’s plans to resume profitability during an hour-long earnings call. The main takeaways include a focus on expanding MobiKwik’s digital credit products, balancing its lending portfolio with the addition of secure lending products, and offering customised credit cards to capitalise on users’ spends.
- Taku and Singh also revealed that MobiKwik will expand into new fintech sectors, including insurance distribution. The firm has gained the necessary licence for the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). The team plans to focus on savings and insurance sectors to boost profits in 2025
- MobiKwik is also working to expand its prepaid payment instruments (PPI) offering, Pocket UPI. The company is focusing on developing Pocket UPI to capture a potential merchant discount rate that may open up a profitable revenue stream.
- The telecon mentioned that discussions have finalised around implementing a 1.1% interchange fee on UPI transactions through PPI. This will apply to transactions more than INR 2,000.
- Though MobiKwik experienced losses in the recent quarter, it remains focused on profits while maintaining high governance standards.
- Despite the profitable FY24, the current year's losses stem from a decline in financial services revenue, higher lending-related costs and lower contribution margins. MobiKwik is now focusing on digital credit products and secure lending portfolios, expanding into savings and insurance sectors, and scaling up prepaid payment instruments Pocket UPI.
- MobiKwik’s previous profitability highlights its potential for a profitable future as it moves into new fintech areas.
- Shares of MobiKwik closed at INR403.10 on the BSE after trading.
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