Abu Dhabi’s fund 10X AD is in talks with edtech major Byju’s chief executive Byju Raveendran for an investment in its parent entity Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd or its offline tutor arm Aakash Education Services, The Economic Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Byju’s is also looking to raise at least $400-600 million from investors,
However, it is not clear if 10X AD will lead an investor consortium of family offices and ultra-high-networth individuals in Abu Dhabi or go it alone and invest $150-200 million, the report added.
Indira IVF
Baring PE Asia is in discussions to invest in infertility treatment provider Indira IVF Hospital Pvt. Ltd, as most of the company’s shareholders are seeking to sell its stakes to raise funding, DealStreetAsia reported, citing sources close to the deal.
The deal is officially set to be launched by investment bankers in May, but even then, several big fund managers have already approached the company.
Indira IVF is backed by private equity firm TA Associates.
ReNew Power
Renewable energy provider ReNew Power Private Limited has raised $400 million from offshore investors in the first high-yielding bond issue out of India in more than a year, The Economic Times reported.
The company, controlled by CPP Investments, priced the bond issue at 8.15% — lower than the initial guidance of 8.50% — due to strong demand from investors. The bonds mature in more than three years.
Consumer credit provider Simpl has fired close to 25% of its workforce this week, joining the list of startups to have resorted to layoffs citing cost cutting and restructuring exercises, Entrackr reported.
“Simpl has laid off over 25% of its workforce this week,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity. “Impacted employees across departments got a random email from the management that they have been laid off.”
In 2021, Simpl raised $40 million as a part of its Series B round, led by Valar Ventures and IA Ventures. Existing investors along with new investor LFH Ventures also participated in the round.
Bengaluru-based microblogging app Koo, which counts Accel India, Tiger Global, 3one4 Capital and Kalaari Capital as among its investors, has sacked 30% of its workforce, just after over seven months it had laid off 15 employees.
The three-year-old platform dismissed 30% of its about 260 workers as the “global sentiment right now is more focused on efficiency than growth and businesses need to work toward proving unit economics," a spokesperson for the company said in a reply to queries by Bloomberg News.
In November last year, Koo received Rs 51.08 crore as a part of its ongoing round, as per filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
“This investment is a part of a larger funding round and we will share the details publicly at an appropriate time,” Aprameya Radhakrishna, chief executive and co-founder at Koo, had said in response to VCCircle.