1947 Tech 🇮🇳: 190

Byju’s, Zomato & Blinkit and more!

1. Byju’s founder took loan to invest $400 million in edtech giant

Byju Raveendran, founder and chief executive of the eponymous edtech giant, has financed his recent $400 million investment in Byju’s through a debt he raised from multiple international banks, two sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.

On Friday, the startup announced it has raised $800 million in a new financing round, half of which it said was bankrolled by the founder.

The revelation immediately created buzz in the market as it’s very rare to see a founder invest in a startup that is about to file for an IPO, let alone do that at a $22 billion valuation, as is the case with Raveendran and Byju’s.

Making things more interesting is the fact that Raveendran, who taught students before starting Byju’s, has not sold any shares in the startup in several years to build a liquidated personal wealth big enough to carry such a deal.

Byju’s founder took loan to invest $400 million in edtech giant

2. Zomato to acquire Blinkit in stock deal

Zomato Ltd is set to take control of Blinkit after the food aggregator extended a $150 million emergency loan facility to the quick commerce startup, two people familiar with the deal said.

The transaction involves an all-stock deal that values Blinkit between $700 million and $800 million, the people said on condition of anonymity. The deal value is significantly lower than the unicorn status Blinkit achieved after getting more than $120 million from Zomato and investor Tiger Global Management, Mint reported in August. Zomato owns about 10% of Blinkit.

Zomato to acquire Blinkit in stock deal

A podcast:

Shiva Singh Sangwan @shivassangwan

The guy is relentless. I like to call him a beast! Hear out Vaibhav's (@vaibhavbetter) story: Why did he move back to India Origins of Better Capital Evolution of Angel investing in India What drives him & more

anchor.fm15: Vaibhav Domkundwar (Better Capital) by 1947 RiseVaibhav Domkundwar is the CEO and founder of Better Capital. Better Capital is one of the best Pre-seed / seed-stage funds in India. Portfolio companies include Slice, Open, Teachmint Rupeek, Khatabook, and many more. The combined value of the portfolio companies is $5B+ SHOW NOTES Vaibhav’s journ…

Worth your attention:

1. Licious raises $150 mn to invest in technology, offline expansion and strategic acquisitions Link

2. Atlan Raises $50M Series B at $450M valuation to Build a Collaboration Hub for Data Teams Link

3. 100ms secures $20M to power next generation of live video apps Link

4. Jungle Ventures leads Series A round in employee experience platform inFeedo Link

5. UpScalio raises $15 million in funding led by Gulf Islamic Investments Link

6. Early to bet & early to rise: How Antler is changing early-stage investing in India Link

7. Indian web3 startups poised to grow big globally in coming years: Rajan Anandan Link

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