🌻 Sunny days ahead for startups; Aakash wants distance from Byju’s

The most interesting news selected specially for you! 10 March 2024 [View in Browser]( POWERED BY Hello, Now, startups and enterprises can enhance their brand engagement by partnering with YourStory and advertising on our YS Buzz and Weekly Wrap newsletters. [Click here]( to know more. In today's newsletter, we will talk about: - Sunny days ahead for startups - Aakash wants distance from Byju’s - Inside eco-friendly bistros of India - Meet Bengaluru’s Good Samaritan St Brosph - Personal finance 101 with Sharan Hegde Here’s your trivia for today: Which two US companies have reached a $3T market value so far? --------------------------------------------------------------- TechSparks Sunny days ahead for startups market has enough capital for valuable startups and they can expect sunny days ahead, believe investors. Speaking at a panel discussion at TechSparks Mumbai, Puneet Kumar, MD, Steadview Capital; Shashank Randev, Co-founder & Founder VC, 100X.VC; and Abhishek Bhagat, MD, Digital & Technology Investment Banking, JM Financial Ltd, concurred that we are past the so-called funding winter and bright days may lie ahead. End of winter: - Bhagat of JM Financial believes that while some startups raised funds at inflated valuations in the past few years and are struggling to justify the price tag, there are plenty of opportunities ahead for many startups. - Randev of 100X.VC also believes there is enough money today to invest in bright startups, and these startups can also raise follow-on rounds. - Taking money is an obligation to investors, which requires a founder to run their company in a certain way, Kumar said. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- From the CapTable We’re not Byju’s: Aakash’s bid to distance itself from its beleaguered buyer “We are not Byju’s. Aakash is a separate entity. Make it clear to parents.” This was a directive issued to all the sales executives of Aakash in mid-2023, just before the coaching chain’s busy admission season began. Concerns about the Aakash brand were on the rise among parents, fueled by media reports about the struggles of its parent company, edtech major Byju’s. The joint branding of "Aakash+Byju's", which was introduced in 2021 after Aakash was acquired by Byju’s, was only making things worse, sales executives The CapTable spoke with said. The negative perceptions associated with Byju's, which has seen massive layoffs and been accused of everything from corporate misgovernance to misselling products and pushing loans onto unsuspecting families, had led parents to scrutinise even 35-year-old Aakash's long-standing practices. This forced an internal shift within Aakash to keep the stench from the Byju’s fiasco from tainting its own brand. Key takeaways: - With the reputation of its parent company Byju’s in tatters, parents have begun questioning Aakash and its practices as well. - Now, with its growth slowing, Aakash is distancing itself from Byju’s to salvage its 35-year-old legacy. - The offline coaching institute has subtly altered its logo, reducing the prominence of Byju's’ branding - Insiders also say that management is pushing to limit the use of the Byju's brand and instead emphasise Aakash as a distinct entity [Continue Reading]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Wine and food Inside eco-friendly bistros of India Sustainability is gradually becoming a buzzword in the alcobev space. Whether it is about optimising resources, limiting waste generation, or incorporating local ingredients, bars are becoming environmentally conscious. Many bars in Pune, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Kolkata are prioritising sustainability, Vikram Achanta, Co-founder of 30BestBarsIndia, a homegrown bar ranking platform, tells YS Life. Pioneers: - Cobbler and Crew was termed India’s most sustainable bar in 2024 by 30BestBars. It shared the pedestal with Soy Como Soy, the first-ever Nikkei restaurant in Pune. - As per Achanta, bars must adopt a management model centred on waste reduction, recycling, energy conservation, and the promotion of sustainable food and beverage consumption. - Malaka Spice in Pune uses a farm-to-table approach. It sources all its ingredients from a farm, situated outside Pune, which employs sustainable farming practices for both perennial and seasonal crops. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Inspiration Meet Bengaluru’s good samaritan St Broseph Dubey is Bengaluru’s superhero—the city’s friendly neighbourhood Good Samaritan and a humanitarian who goes by the moniker St Broseph on the social media platform Reddit. Today, Dubey’s work has led to a St Broseph’s Army of 5,300 volunteers in Bengaluru alone and the St Broseph’s Foundation, which helps people in distress. Social work: - On average, Dubey gets around 100 cases in a day, including civic issues, crimes, scams, and some even as inane as how to get rid of a gecko in a home. - Two of the high-profile cases he has worked on include the attack on a trans person and the death by suicide of a college student in the city. - The St Broseph Foundation also runs several safe spaces known as the St Broseph Safehouses, which are fully furnished apartments offering free accommodation and security to victims of crime who are physically at risk. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- TechSparks Personal finance 101 with Sharan Hegde influencer Sharan Hegde says managing personal finances and asset allocation is as important as upskilling and increasing the primary income. At TechSparks 2024 Mumbai, he emphasised that young professionals should pay attention to the money that's lying in their bank accounts. Plan ahead: - According to Hegde, people should develop a habit of tracking their financial assets ranging from their bank accounts, fixed deposits, or public market investments every month, and should also have clarity on long-term plans regarding their retirement corpus and inheritance. - Hegde, who’s also the Founder and CEO of financial education startup The 1% Club, also discussed the dynamic landscape of financial planning. - He elucidated the concept of post-FIRE (financial independence, retire early), according to which individuals should focus on aggressively saving enough investment corpus by their mid-30s or early 40s which should be invested in relatively risk-averse asset classes so they don't have to work for money in their sixties. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- News & Updates - [Crypto boom:]( The cryptocurrency industry is betting on the 2024 U.S. election, spending millions of dollars in Super Tuesday primary contests in California, Alabama and Texas to boost crypto-friendly candidates and defeat those pushing for more regulation. - [Flight MH370:]( Families of passengers who were onboard the lost Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 have called for a renewed search operation as they gathered ahead of the 10-year anniversary of its disappearance, saying answers are needed for the future of flight safety. - [Bronze medal:]( Nvidia Corp has overtaken Saudi Aramco in market value, making the chipmaker the world’s third-most valuable public company after Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp. The company's stock price rose 2.5% on Monday reaching $2.11 trillion, meanwhile Aramco’s value dipped to $2.01 trillion. Did you know? Which two US companies have reached a $3T market value so far? Answer: Apple and Microsoft. We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail nslfeedback@yourstory.com. If you don’t already get this newsletter in your inbox, [sign up here](. For past editions of the YourStory Buzz, you can check our [Daily Capsule page here](. [Feedback]( [Unsubscribe]( [Newsletters](