🧘🏽‍♀️ The making of a career transition coach

The most interesting news selected specially for you! 29 May 2024 [View in Browser]( Hello, Emerging technologies are sweeping up the spotlight. Yali Aerospace, an aviation and aerospace component manufacturing firm, secured [funding]( from SaaS unicorn Zoho. The drone tech company has developed the Yali Network Bridge as a drone-based delivery network in public and private hospitals to distribute vital medical resources. Also, space tech startup Pixxel will launch six satellites this year using rockets of ISRO and SpaceX. They will be a part of a larger constellation of satellites and will use hyperspectral imagery for sectors including agriculture, energy, forestry, and environmental monitoring. Meanwhile, the RBI is doubling down on ease of doing business with three new initiatives. The central bank launched a mobile app to enable retail investors to participate in government securities, PRAVAAH portal to apply online for various regulatory approvals, and Fintech Repository, which will be a data storehouse of Indian fintech firms. In other news, Adani Group is planning to enter ecommerce and digital payment services. The group is reportedly in the final stages of launching a co-branded credit card and is considering applying for a licence to operate on the UPI network. It is also in discussions to offer online shopping through ONDC through Adani’s consumer app, [Adani One](. [ICYMI:]( Air turbulence may be becoming a more common phenomenon in mid-flight. Blame climate change, not pilots. And speaking of flying, [Bette Nash]( the world’s longest-serving flight attendant, died aged 88 after nearly 67 years of working in the skies. She began flying in 1957 and never officially retired. Fly high, Bette! In today’s newsletter, we will talk about - From project chief to somatic leader - Veranda Learning doubles revenue Here’s your trivia for today: What is the busiest passenger train station in the world? --------------------------------------------------------------- 100 Emerging Women Leaders From project chief to somatic leader After suffering a back injury as a result of working long hours as a project manager, Myah Payel Mitra decided she didn't want to see herself in a tech job 30 years down the line. She took a course on dance movement therapy from Tata Institute of Social Sciences and in 2024, started Move with Myah—a coaching and consulting brand offering an umbrella of services. Rewiring oneself: - Mitra was selected as part of the LinkedIn creator accelerator programme–the platform’s first and only cohort in India. This gave her an opportunity to learn, grow and build a community on LinkedIn. - She has delivered programmes for top organisations, including Microsoft, Google, KPMG, Barclays, HDFC and Myntra, working with over 18,000 participants in over 30 countries through a combination of offline and online sessions. - Move with Myah offers a programme called the Workplace Rhythm Program—a multidisciplinary approach that borrows from dance movement therapy, art therapy, NLP, transactional analysis, and allied creative expressive art forms. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Funding Alert 1) Infra.Market: $50M|Series C 2) Flam: $4.5M|Pre-Series A 3) Maxvolt Energy: $1.5M|Equity --------------------------------------------------------------- Earnings Veranda Learning doubles revenue Veranda Learning Solutions Limited, a test prep-focused edtech company, saw its FY24 revenue more than double to Rs 361.73 crore while losses for the year narrowed by 3.9%. Its Q4 losses remained flat year-on-year and stood at Rs 38.54 crore. Key takeaways: - The company's operating revenue for FY24 was a 124.19% improvement from Rs 161.35 crore earned in FY23. For Q4, its revenue rose 112% year-on-year to Rs 102.61 crore. - Total expenses increased by 31.7% to Rs 307.73 crore in FY24 from Rs 233.59 crore incurred in the previous fiscal year. Other expenses, which make up almost half of all expenses incurred in FY24, increased by 31.6% YoY. - In FY24, the company turned EBITDA positive, reporting an EBITDA of Rs 62.29 crore—a turnaround from a loss of Rs 33.67 crore in FY23. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- From the CapTable Go Digit’s IPO mirrors the underwhelming reality of insurtech disruption Founded in 2016, Go Digit is India’s earliest insurtech company. However, despite elbowing its way into the ranks of India’s leading general insurers (it is also the fastest-growing), its IPO on May 23 flattered to deceive. The company’s stock debuted at just a 5% premium to its listing price on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). This is despite the company turning profitable in FY23 and being backed by the Fairfax Group and an insurance veteran. Indeed, Go Digit’s IPO, which was meant to signal the coming-of-age of India’s insurtech space, may have inadvertently highlighted the space’s shortcomings instead. Go Digit’s own anticlimactic outcome likely stems from concerns around the sustainable profitability of the company’s largest segment—motor insurance. While the company has been wildly successful at scaling this segment, doing so while maintaining low claims and improving return ratios—the rate at which customers renew policies—remains a significant challenge.Worries about sustainability aren’t limited to Go Digit, with many of its full-stack insurtech peers facing similar significant business sustainability challenges. The opacity surrounding their operations doesn’t help matters. With traditional insurers and insurtechs increasingly difficult to tell apart, will insurtechs really make the difference in insurance penetration that their legacy peers failed to manage? Key takeaways: - Insurtech unicorn Go Digit went public last week. Despite being profitable and helmed by an insurance veteran, however, the listing was underwhelmingOTP Ventures, which plans to invest in consumer brands and fintech startups, has already made four investment commitments through the fund - This anticlimax likely stems from doubts about the sustainability of the company’s future profitability. Go Digit’s case mirrors the wider insurtech space - While insurtech startups talked a big game about disruption, many now look increasingly like traditional insurance players, albeit in a shiny tech wrapper - And with their offerings and practices largely mimicking those of traditional insurance players, startups haven’t solved for the biggest challenge in the space—trust [Continue Reading]( --------------------------------------------------------------- News & Updates - [AI safeguards:]( OpenAI has established a new committee to make recommendations to the company’s board about safety and security, weeks after dissolving a team focused on AI safety. It would be led by CEO Sam Altman as well as Bret Taylor, the company’s board chair, and board member Nicole Seligman. - [Pushback:]( US-India Business Council, a lobby group for tech companies Amazon, Google, and Apple, has requested the Indian government in a letter to revise its proposed competition law similar to the European Union's. The group argued that regulations on data use under Data Competition Bill and 'preferential treatment of partners' may increase user costs: - [Meme stock craze:]( GameStop shares soared Tuesday after the company announced that it had made around $933 million from a stock sale. Shares in the video game retailer were up about 15%. The meme stock fell more than 14% last week, but month to date, it’s still up more than 90%. Did you know? What is the busiest passenger train station in the world? Answer: Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan. Over 3.6 million passengers pass through the station daily. 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](