<ul><li><keyword id="44033" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hike" source="Orion">Hike</keyword> had raised $175 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion in 2016.</li><li>The company was known as the fastest growing unicorn despite its inability to generate revenue through operations.</li><li>Earlier this year, Hike closed its flagship messenger to focus on the gaming segment.</li></ul>One-time messaging platform and super app Hike has raised funding for the first time in five years. This development comes almost eight months after the company decided to<a href="https://m.economictimes.com/tech/technology/hike-shuts-down-hike-sticker-chat-to-pivot-to-other-social-products/articleshow/80328203.cms#:~:text=Kavin%20Bharti%20Mittal%2C%20CEO%20of,data%20from%20within%20the%20app."> close down </a>its flagship messaging app and focus on the gaming segment. Several big names like Tinder’s co-founders Justin Mateen and Sean Rad, SoftBank Vision Fund’s chief executive (CEO) Rajeev Misra, Tribe Capital’s Arjun Sethi, Zeta’s cofounder Bhavin Turakhia, Cred’s Kunal Shah, Flipkart’s Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal and South Park Commons’ Aditya Agarwal participated in this round. The company did not disclose any financial details of the funding round. <keyword id="6567188" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kavin-bharti-mittal" source="Orion">Kavin Bharti Mittal</keyword>, founder and CEO of Hike, said, “The rapid technological evolution over the last few years has paved the way for massive disruption in social and gaming. There’s little to separate these two categories. Gaming is now inherently social, evolving into a new way for people to hang out and interact in the virtual world.” Hike will use this funding to expand its product strategy and hire across functions. The company has 25 open positions at the moment. It has a team of 160 employees that are working across 50 cities in India. The company will use this funding for its recently launched online gaming vertical Rush and said it will experiment in other domains like social and cryptocurrency. The company was founded in 2012 and was considered one of the fastest growing unicorns in the country. A unicorn, in startup parlance, is a company valued at or above $1 billion. Hike was valued at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/hike-raises-175mn-in-series-d-funding/articleshow/53720179.cms">$1.4 billion </a>during its last fundraise of $175 million in 2016 despite its inability to generate any revenue from operations. <div type="image" title="Hike raises money for the first time in five years to experiment with crypto &amp;amp; gaming" msid="85588763" hostid="261"></div> The company had been trying to find ways to montinse its messaging app and even decided to launch a super app, combined with other services like digital wallet, ticket booking, e-commerce and more. However, it did not pay off. The company decided to shut off the messaging app in January 2021. Instead the company decided to focus on HikeLand, which is a virtual hangout zone launched by the company in June 2020. The company plans to generate revenue from Hikeland through in-app purchases. HikeLand is now rebranded as Vibe and would continue to offer interactive social media experience. Meanwhile, Rush is a mini games platform that offers casual games. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/khatabooks-valuation-touches-600-million-with-zero-revenue-to-show/articleshow/85586956.cms">Khatabook’s valuation touches $600 million with zero revenue to show </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/swiggy-sharechat-byjus-lead-the-funding-race-as-indian-startups-raised-6-5-billion-between-april-and-june/articleshow/85583697.cms">Swiggy, ShareChat, Byju’s lead the funding race as Indian startups raised $6.5 billion between April and June</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/ikea-products-would-now-be-even-cheaper-in-india/articleshow/85585775.cms">Ikea products would now be even cheaper in India</a>

Hike raises money for the first time in five years to experiment with crypto and gaming

<ul><li>Beauty e-commerce unicorn <keyword id="6376684" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="nykaa">Nykaa</keyword> has raised another investment from the Boston-based asset management company Fidelity Management &amp; Research Company. </li><li>Earlier this year, Nykaa had raised funds similarly through secondary transactions from actresses Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif. </li><li>In March 2020, Nykaa had raised ₹166 crore from Steadview Capital, one of its existing investors. </li></ul>Indian beauty e-commerce unicorn Nykaa has raised funds from the Boston-based asset management company Fidelity Management &amp; Research Company. The investment was made through a secondary transaction, which gave Nykaa’s previous investors a partial exit. Through the investment, some of Nykaa’s employees also sold their ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plan). Earlier this year, Nykaa had raised investments similarly through secondary transactions from actresses <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/after-katrina-kaif-alia-bhatt-invests-in-e-commerce-unicorn-nykaa/articleshow/78888581.cms">Alia Bhatt</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/bollywood-star-katrina-kaif-invests-in-nykaa-a-year-after-she-launched-her-own-beauty-line-on-the-e-commerce-platform/articleshow/78697016.cms">Katrina Kaif</a>. In March 2020, Nykaa had raised ₹166 crore from Steadview Capital, one of its existing investors. The investment had brought Nykaa a ticket to the unicorn club with a $1.2 billion valuation, having already raised over $100 million in total funding. “We are very excited to have Fidelity, one of the largest asset managers in the world, to join as a partner in our growth journey. Their investment in a private company in India is testament to the strength of our brand and business model. Nykaa’s focus on business sustainability and corporate governance further supports such strong investor confidence,” said Nykaa Founder and CEO Falguni Nayar in a statement. Nykaa’s profitability streak <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Year </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Revenue </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">EBITDA </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">FY20 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,860 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹94 crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">FY19 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,159.32 crore. </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹2.3 crore </td></tr></tbody></table> With the rise in e-commerce sales despite the coronavirus lockdown, Nykaa expects its revenue to grow by 40% in FY21. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/alia-bhatt-dons-the-entrepreneur-hat-launches-a-conscious-clothing-line-for-kids/articleshow/79421788.cms">Alia Bhatt dons the entrepreneur hat — launches a conscious clothing line for kids</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/sharechat-moj-will-air-exclusive-content-from-bigg-boss/articleshow/79425405.cms">Sharechat's Moj has a new strategy to add more users — ties up for exclusive content with one of India's most viewed reality shows, Bigg Boss</a>

Nykaa raises another round of investment from Boston’s Fidelity through a secondary transaction

<ul><li>This is the fourth round of funding raised by the Delhi NCR-based startup in the last 15 months.</li><li><keyword id="6251606" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="classplus">Classplus</keyword> was founded in 2018 and helps tutors take their traditional classes online.</li><li>It has close to 100,000 tutors on its platform, teaching 20 million students across 1,500 cities in <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>.</li></ul>Edtech startup Classplus, which helps tutors go online, has raised $65 million in Series C funding round led by US-based <keyword id="526777" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tiger-Global">Tiger Global</keyword>. This is the fourth round of funding raised by the Delhi NCR-based startup in the last 15 months. GSV Ventures, along with existing investors Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), Blume Ventures and RTP Global also participated in the Series C round. Overall, Classplus has raised over $85 million in funding to date, from investors like Sequoia Capital’s accelerator programme Surge, Times Internet and former cricketer <keyword id="6359039" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="sourav-ganguly">Sourav Ganguly</keyword>. Classplus offers a mobile-first software that allows coaching institutes, tuition centres and private tutors to take their traditionally offline classes online. The company claims to serve a user base of 20 million students and 100,000 tutors across 1,500 cities in India. About 80% of the educators on the platform are from Tier-2 and beyond regions. “A typical educator is able to grow its student base from 100 to 1200 students within 8-10 months of using Classplus. The platform has seen massive success stories of educators generating 5x [five times] of their usual incomes within a year of starting up,” the company claimed in its press note. It also claims to help tutors increase their profitability by 2 times to 3 times within 6 months of using the platform. The company’s software solutions allow tutors to run their coaching, communication, assessments, payments, and student engagement programmes through their mobile solutions. Classplus was founded in 2018 by Mukul Rustagi and Bhaswat Agarwal. The company’s chief executive (CEO) and cofounder Rustagi said, “We are on a mission to ensure that every educator can go online and connect with their students across the world. The power of educators has historically been confined to their local neighbourhoods.” The company intends to use their capital raise to build on their product capabilities, grow geographically and expand their engineering team. The company will be hiring aggressively across engineering, product and business roles. Classplus competes with Bengaluru-based edtech startup Teachmint, which also enables teachers to conduct online classes through two-way interactive learning solutions with video sharing and more. The platform was<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/byjus-backer-lightspeed-india-invests-in-a-live-tutoring-platform-teachmint/articleshow/78924152.cms"> founded in 2020</a> and has raised $20 million to date from marquee investors like Better Capital, Lightspeed India Partners, Learn Capital and more. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/upside-ai-raises-1-2-million-in-seed-funding-to-help-indians-invest/articleshow/83713098.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Personal investment platform Upside AI raises $1.2 million in seed funding to help Indians make money</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/james-murdoch-plans-to-raise-150-million-from-ultra-rich-to-invest-in-indian-startups/articleshow/83709567.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">James Murdoch plans to raise $150 million from ultra rich to invest in Indian startups</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/sharechat-around-200-existing-and-former-employees-will-be-eligible-to-participate-in-the-esop-buyback-plan/articleshow/83638787.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Sharechat employees will make $19 million out of the latest ESOP plan, as growth spikes in the absence of TikTok</a><h1 style="margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 15px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 1.6rem; line-height: 1.2em; font-family: LabGrotesque-Black, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(17, 21, 22); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></h1>

Edtech startup Classplus raises $65 million led by Tiger Global to bring more tutors online

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Tuesday. <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/10-things-in-tech&amp;hash=8122c716833601fc1471f79af063b104?nr_email_referer=1&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=10_things_tech&amp;utm_campaign=Post%20Blast%20sai:%2010%20things%20in%20tech%20you%20need%20to%20know%20today&amp;utm_term=10%20THINGS%20IN%20TECH%20YOU%20NEED%20TO%20KNOW%20-%20ENGAGED%2C%20ACTIVE%2C%20PASSIVE%2C%20DISENGAGED0PASSIVE%2C%20DISENGAGED">Sign up here</a> to get this email in your inbox every morning.Have an Amazon Alexa device? Listen to this update by searching "Business Insider" in your flash briefing settings.<ol><ol><li>The UK blocked Julian Assange's extradition to the US. A district judge <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/julian-assange-no-extradition-mental-health-risk-2021-01">ruled that Assange</a>, who faces a litany of hacking and espionage charges in the US, was a suicide and self-harm risk. </li><li>Jack Ma may have vanished. The Alibaba and Ant Group founder <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alibaba-founder-jack-ma-suspected-missing-2021-1">has not been seen publicly</a> in more than two months, and he was abruptly replaced as a judge on the African talent show he founded. </li><li>Googlers plan to form a union. More than 200 staff at Google's parent company Alphabet <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-alphabet-workers-form-union-us-canada-contractors-2021-1">have formed the Alphabet Workers Union</a>, which is open to all employees across the US and Canada. </li><li>Slack had an outage on the first workday of 2021. The company is heavily relied on thanks to the pandemic, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/slack-down-outage-users-report-issues-2021-1">some 15,000 users reported issues</a>. </li><li>A 12-year-old may sue TikTok over data privacy. The girl, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-legal-action-12-year-old-girl-childrens-data-2021-1">who on Wednesday won the right</a> to remain anonymous should she bring a case against the short form-video company, is being supported by England's children's commissioner, Anne Longfield. </li><li>Samsung will launch brand new Galaxy phones. The firm <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-launch-galaxy-smartphones-one-month-earlier-livestream-2021-1?op=1&amp;scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b433b4">is holding a launch on January 14</a>, about a month earlier than usual, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-may-launch-flagship-phone-early-to-grab-huawei-share-sources-2020-11">sources</a> have indicated that the early launch is designed to grab market share from Huawei and fend off competition from Apple. </li><li>Singapore's police can use its contact-tracing app data. Singapore is under renewed scrutiny after updating the privacy policy of its national contact tracing app TraceTogether, and now says that police can access user data if someone is under criminal investigation. </li><li>Bitcoin fell 17%. It <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/bitcoin-price-biggest-drop-since-march-after-record-crypto-volatility-2021-1-1029930393">fell back on Monday</a> below $30,000 at intraday lows after hitting a record high of $34,792.47 on Sunday. </li><li>Google and Snap may invest in an Indian startup. <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/04/google-and-snap-in-talks-to-invest-in-india-social-network-sharechat/">According to TechCrunch</a>, the pair may invest in ShareChat, a video messaging service. </li><li>Exclusive: Instagram offers advice on how often to share. Three creators told Business Insider that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-gives-some-influencers-recommendations-on-how-much-to-post-2021-1">Instagram had privately shared specific guidance</a> with them about how frequently to post on the platform and what types of posts would help them boost their follower counts and engagement rates.</li></ol></ol>

10 things in tech you need to know today

The CBI has booked Venkata Krishna Reddy Gunupati, the chairman of <keyword id="9500295" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-gvk-group-of-companies">the GVK Group of Companies</keyword> and his son G V Sanjay Reddy, Managing Director of Mumbai International Airport Ltd among others for alleged irregularities to the tune of Rs 705 crore in running of the airport, officials said on Wednesday. Airport Authority of India Ltd had formed a Joint venture with GVK Airports Holdings Limited, promoted by <keyword id="6608657" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="GVK-Group">GVK group</keyword> under public private partnership firm Mumbai International Airport Ltd for upgradation and maintenance of Mumbai Airport. On April 4, 2006 AAI entered into an agreement with MIAL for modernisation, upkeep, operation and maintenance of Mumbai airport with MIAL. It is alleged that promoters of GVK group in MIAL in connivance with their executives and unidentified officials of AAI resorted to siphoning of funds using different ways, officials said. The agency has alleged that they siphoned funds showing execution of bogus work contracts to nine companies in 2017-18 causing a loss of Rs 310 crore, they said. The promoters of GVK group allegedly misused reserve funds of MIAL to the tune of Rs 395 crore to finance their group companies, the CBI has alleged. The agency has alleged that the group inflated expenditure figures of MIAL by showing payments to employees at their headquarters and group companies who were not involved in the running of MIAL causing a revenue loss to AAI, they said. The promoters allegedly under reported revenue earnings of MIAL by entering into contracts with related parties and meeting their personal and family expenses using MIAL funds, they said. Besides GVK group chairman, the CBI has also booked his son <keyword id="418404" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="GV-Sanjay-Reddy">GV Sanjay Reddy</keyword> who is Managing Director of MIAL, companies MIAL, GVK Airport Holdings Ltd, nine other private companies and unidentified officials of AAI, they said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/sharechat-rides-on-the-ban-on-apps-from-china-with-15-million-downloads-in-36-hours-but-is-itself-backed-by-chinese-investors/articleshow/76728139.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Sharechat rides on the ban on apps from China with 15 million downloads in 36 hours – but is itself backed by Chinese investors</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/oxford-covid-19-vaccine-safe-for-people-with-weak-immunity/articleshow/76728237.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Oxford COVID-19 vaccine safe for people with weak immunity says Oxford Professor Sarah Gilbert</a>

CBI case against GVK Reddy for ₹705 crore irregularities in Mumbai airport development

<ul><li>Global IT services giant <keyword id="28721" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cognizant">Cognizant</keyword> is joining hands with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M), The Nature Conservancy, Grundfos, and Care Earth Trust to restore the <keyword id="2685179" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sembakkam-Lake">Sembakkam Lake</keyword> in <keyword id="12864" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chennai">Chennai</keyword>.</li><li>Cognizant will be shelling out over ₹2.7 crore alongside Grundfos’ ₹1.7 crore.</li><li>The 100-acre Sembakkam Lake flows into the <keyword id="9813268" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="pallikaranai-wetland">Pallikaranai wetland</keyword>, one the last remaining natural marshlands in the world. </li></ul>Cognizant is shelling out over ₹2.7 crore ($360,000) to try and save one of the last remaining natural marshlands in the world — the Pallikaranai wetland — by restoring the Sembakkam Lake in Chennai. Nearly 7 million litres of fresh water used to flow into the lake every day, but now the 100-acre water body is choking on the trash and aquatic weeds. “The Sembakkam Lake is one of Chennai’s 54 inter-connected lakes of the Pallikaranai watershed basin that are critical to the city’s water security and resilience to floods and droughts,” explained Cognizant’s head of Chennai operations, Muthu Kumaran. <div type="image" title="chennai lake plan" msid="77716221" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The advantages of a wetland&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The Indian Institute of Technology - Madras (IIT-M), Chennai-based <a href="https://careearthtrust.org/wetland-restoration/sembakkam-lake-restoration-plan/">Care Earth Trust</a>, and the world’s largest conservation organisation — The Nature Conservancy (TNC) — have already been doing their part since 2018. With Cognizant’s ₹2.7 crore and Grundfos’ ₹1.7 crore ($230,00) — as well as ₹7.5 lakh ($10,00) in kind in the form of services — the hope is to finish the restoration project by the end of 2021. Simply cleaning up the lake isn’t enough Simply cleaning up Sembakkam Lake won’t solve the problems that have been building for nearly half a century. The entire water and waste management system needs to be overhauled to make the lake sustainable. Led by <a href="https://newstodaynet.com/index.php/2018/11/24/restoration-of-sembakkam-lake-in-chennai-begins/">IIT-M</a>, TNC, and Care Earth Trust started by setting up a floating barge to remove the water hyacinths. The project also involves cleaning up the inlets and outlets, improving the lake’s connectivity with upstream and downstream water bodies, building an eco-friendly wastewater treatment system, and constructing walkways and green buffer zones along the lake. By removing the solid waste, silt, and invasive plant species, the project hopes to improve Sembakkam Lake’s storage capacity by 50%, improve the water quality, and enhance groundwater recharge. Earlier this month, the Care Earth Trust <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/rejuvenation-project-at-sembakkam-lake-under-way/article32250553.ece">told media</a> that a survey had identified 189 plant species that will be helpful in lake habitat restoration and water quality improvement. An eco-friendly recreational space will be created by thematically planting native plants and herbs around and in Sembakkam lake. After the COVID-19 situation improves, Cognizant plans to run a range of community engagement and awareness initiatives through its employee-led volunteering program, Cognizant Outreach. “The support of Cognizant and Grundfos is vital to taking up the critical eco-restoration work at Sembakkam Lake. We are deploying science-based and nature-led solutions using constructed wetland systems that use minimal energy, require zero chemical additives, and are inexpensive for wastewater treatment at the lake,” said the managing director of TNC’s India Program, Seema Paul. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/earth-has-lost-a-staggering-28-trillion-tonnes-of-ice-to-global-warming-in-the-last-23-years-uk-scientists-find/articleshow/77704803.cms">Earth has lost a 'staggering' 28 trillion tonnes of ice to global warming in the last 23 years, UK scientists find</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/india/news/from-priyanka-gandhi-vadra-to-manmohan-singh-these-are-the-stated-views-of-congress-working-committee-members-on-sonia-gandhis-resignation/slidelist/77713740.cms">From Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to Manmohan Singh, these are the stated views of Congress Working Committee members on Sonia Gandhi's resignation</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/sharechat-acquires-hyperlocal-information-platform-which-was-started-by-its-former-employee/articleshow/77714407.cms">Sharechat acquires hyperlocal information platform which was started by its former employee</a>

Cognizant says it will spend ₹2.7 crore to restore one of India's last natural marshlands in Chennai

The infamous North Korean <keyword id="279456" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lazarus">Lazarus</keyword> group is back and this time, the hackers belonging to the group are targeting cryptocurrency organisations by sending phishing emails via Microsoft-owned LinkedIn. According to the researchers at global cyber security firm F-Secure, a system administrator from the target organization received a phishing document via their personal LinkedIn account. "The document masqueraded as a legitimate job advert for a role in a <keyword id="6355684" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blockchain">blockchain</keyword> technology company that matched the employee's skills," F-Secure said in a statement. Though the document on the target's host had been altered to remove malicious content after execution, F-Secure assessed that the original document was the same, or similar to, a sample publicly available on internet security website VirusTotal. According to data by VirusTotal, the original malicious content was created in 2019. In 2019, F-Secure uncovered technical details on Lazarus Group's modus operandi during an investigation of an attack on an organisation in the cryptocurrency vertical. "Lazarus Group's activities are a continued threat: the phishing campaign associated with this attack has been observed continuing into 2020, raising the need for awareness and ongoing vigilance among organisations operating in the targeted verticals," the cyber security firm said. Earlier this year, the hacker group stole cryptocurrency from Mac and Windows users. Lazarus was also involved in stealing nearly $600 million worth of crypto between 2017 and 2018. "There is evidence in recent reporting of Lazarus Group leveraging similar techniques to those observed in this campaign, such as the preference of LinkedIn as a delivery medium, to compromise organisations in other verticals," F-Secure said. "It is F-Secure's assessment that the group will continue to target organisations within the cryptocurrency vertical while it remains such a profitable pursuit, but may also expand to target supply chain elements of the vertical to increase returns and longevity of the campaign". In July this year, reports surfaced that North Korea-based hackers have engaged in a large scale digital skimming activity since May 19, breaking into online stores like international fashion chain Claires to insert malicious code that steals payment card details of the users in the US and Europe. In June, a ZDNet report said India was among six nations that may see a large cyber attack in the form of Covid-19 themed phishing campaign from North Korean state hackers. "The attack is part of the Lazarus Group's large-scale campaign targeting more than 50 lakh individuals and businesses, including small and large enterprises, across six countries: India, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, the UK and the US, according to the report. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/indians-are-borrowing-heavily-against-gold-but-it-may-have-been-wiser-to-borrow-money-to-buy-the-precious-metal-instead-of-homes/articleshow/77757126.cms">Indians are borrowing heavily against gold⁠— but it may have been wiser to borrow money to buy the precious metal instead of homes</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/oxford-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-phase-ii-trials-will-begin-in-india-today/articleshow/77757085.cms">Oxford-Astrazeneca COVID-19 Vaccine: Phase II trials will begin in India today</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/after-facebook-saregama-deal-sharechat-and-t-series-partner-up-for-a-music-licensing-deal/articleshow/77757088.cms">After Facebook-Saregama deal, Sharechat and T-Series partner up for a music licensing deal</a>

Lazarus is using LinkedIn to send phishing emails and attack crypto firms

<ul><li>Indian stock market indices opened in green on Friday.</li><li>The BSE Sensex was trading 0.87% higher at 38,551.15; while NSE Nifty was up 98.05 points at 11,410.25. </li><li>These are the top stocks that are buzzing the D-street today.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/">Check out the latest news and updates on Business Insider.</a> </li></ul>Indian stock market indices, Sensex surged over 300 points in early trade on Friday led by gains in index-heavyweights HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Infosys amid strong cues from global markets. The BSE Sensex was trading 0.87% higher at 38,551.15; while NSE Nifty was up 98.05 points at 11,410.25. PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3%, followed by SBI, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries and Infosys. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel was the sole laggard in early trade. These are the top stocks that are buzzing the D-street today. SBI gained nearly 3% <div type="image" title="SBI August 21" msid="77668593" hostid="261"></div> State Bank of India shares gained nearly 3% after <a href="https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/sbi-indias-largest-lender-readies-plan-for-restructuring-relief-to-retail-borrowers-or-exclusive">news reports surfaced </a>that the bank is finalising its plan to offer restructuring relief to retail borrowers. The banking regulator has already permitted lenders to do so. The restructuring plan will be designed strictly for retail or individual borrowers directly affected by COVID-19, the report added. Hindalco gained nearly 2% <div type="image" title="HIndalco August 21" msid="77668598" hostid="261"></div> Hindalco shares gained nearly 2% after the company signed an MoU with UltraTech Cement to deliver 1.2 million metric tonne of bauxite residue annually to the cement company’s 14 plants located across seven states. Wipro up over 1% <div type="image" title="Wipro August 21" msid="77668651" hostid="261"></div> Wipro shares were trading 1% higher on August 21 a day after the company set up a blockchain-based gas trading platform for Uniper Global Commodities SE. Future Enterprises gains 5% <div type="image" title="Future Enterprises August 20" msid="77668677" hostid="261"></div> Future Enterprises was trading 5% higher as<a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/future-enterprises-board-likely-to-discuss-merger-plan-on-saturday-120082100066_1.html"> reports suggest </a>that company is due to discuss the proposal to merge other listed group entities, such as Future Lifestyle, Future Retail, and Future Supply Chain Solutions, with itself on Saturday. SBI Life gains over 4% on Nifty inclusion <div type="image" title="SBI life August 20" msid="77668708" hostid="261"></div> Shares of SBI Life Insurance gained nearly 4% after the benchmark index Nifty50 said the company would be included from September 25 onwards. Jet Airways down over 1% after the company extends insolvency resolution <div type="image" title="Jet Airways August 21" msid="77668751" hostid="261"></div> Defunct airline Jet Airways’ shares fell over 1% after the deadline for completion of insolvency resolution process was extended for the fourth time due to the pandemic. “While the CoC (Committee of Creditors) and the RP are taking all necessary steps to expedite the insolvency process, it is difficult to exactly predict when it will be completed,” Resolution Professional for the airline, Ashish Chhawchharia, said in a letter to the employees. Rossari climbed over 4% <div type="image" title="Rossari August 21" msid="77668777" hostid="261"></div> Rossari shares climbed over 4% during the early trade hours on Friday. The company is slated to report its first-ever quarterly earnings since it listed on the Indian bourses last month. Reliance Industries shares gained nearly a percent during morning trade <div type="image" title="SBI" msid="77668832" hostid="261"></div> RIL opened 1% higher on August 20 after <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/saudi-arabias-public-investment-fund-looks-to-invest-up-to-1-billion-in-jios-fibre-assets/articleshow/77665968.cms">news reports surfaced</a> that the Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has initiated discussions with RIL on investing as much as $1 billion in Jio's fibre assets, adding to a stake purchase in Jio Platforms. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/facebook-asked-to-appear-before-parliamentary-panel-in-india-to-discuss-safeguarding-citizens-rights/articleshow/77666642.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"> Facebook asked to appear before Parliamentary Panel in India to discuss 'safeguarding citizens' rights'</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/google-eyes-indias-sharechat-as-microsoft-goes-after-tiktok-in-the-us-heres-why-it-makes-sense/articleshow/77667345.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Google eyes India’s ShareChat as Microsoft goes after TikTok in the US — here’s why it makes sense</a>

Top stock movers on Dalal Street today— RIL, SBI, Infosys, Wipro, Future Enterprises, Rossari, Jet Airways and more

<ul><li><keyword id="830092" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato">Zomato</keyword> is pegged to be valued at $8.1 billion, ahead of its upcoming IPO scheduled for this year.</li><li>The company is expected to earn $1.4 billion as operational revenue, but the question over its profitability still lingers on.</li><li>Swiggy’s capital flow can put Zomato’s valuations in danger as it is susceptible to losing the dominant position in <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>.</li></ul>Food delivery platform Zomato, which started as an online restaurant finder, is all set to raise $1.1 billion through its initial public offering (IPO) scheduled for this year, reportedly at a valuation of a whopping $8 billion. The question that is bothering many is the fact whether the Gurugram-based company deserves this kind of valuation given its loss-making operations. Some experts say, yes. The Indian financial services company <keyword id="46249" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Edelweiss">Edelweiss</keyword> has valued Zomato at $8.1 billion (₹58,051 crore) currently, given the strong business performance in the past and the potential for an even greater future. The said valuation is calculated at a 49% premium to Zomato’s last funding round raised in February 2021, which valued the company at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ipo-bound-zomato-valuation-jumps-to-5-4-billion-as-it-cashes-in-another-250-million/articleshow/81164109.cms">$5.4 billion</a>. But these valuations are simply based on the narratives, and the company will really have to pull up its socks in order to maintain its ground in the public market. Zomato may have reported somewhat steady growth so far, but the food-tech company would really have to pull a bunny out of its hat in order to impress the public market. Zomato’s valuation largely hinges on the ability to sustain and fortify the leadership in the Indian market, says Edelweiss, and rival Swiggy is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zomato-and-swiggy-have-never-been-this-close-to-making-profit-say-goldman-sachs-analysts/articleshow/79163334.cms">not that far behind</a>. Zomato (founded in 2008, started deliveries in 2016) may have received a head start in the food segment, but Swiggy (founded in 2014) played many right moves to give a tough competition to the Gurugram-based company. While Zomato was busy expanding its presence across 23 overseas markets, Swiggy solely focused on capturing the Indian market. The end result was that Zomato had to<a href="https://www.livemint.com/Companies/oSrhvB1xFHHx3gsMXtPifO/Zomato-scales-back-operations-in-global-markets.html"> roll back its services</a> in 9 countries by 2016 due to rising losses, and Swiggy had closed three funding rounds and crossed over<a href="https://yourstory.com/2016/04/swiggy-growth-story/amp"> million downloads</a> in India. Today, both these platforms match up in almost every metric -- <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/millennials-prefer-swiggy-to-zomato-report-5023321.html">average order value</a>, monthly deliveries, operational cities (India)and more. To add on, Swiggy has raised almost $1 billion in the last couple of years and has enough capital to take on Zomato in the Indian market. “Swiggy and Zomato are practically of the same size currently; hence their execution in terms of cohort growth and getting new consumers would be key. We don’t see capital as a constraint for both the companies in the medium term. Execution, therefore, will be a function of quality of management and their strategic choices,” the report read. Zomato declined to comment on the queries raised by Business Insider. Swiggy did not reply until the time of publishing. Besides the incoming competition from Swiggy, Zomato will also be susceptible to rivalry from new entries like <keyword id="18635" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword>. Zomato may have to find more attractive mediums to keep the customers interested without giving up on its unit economics, which is going to be one challenging task. Zomato expected to turn profitable by FY23, operational revenue to hit $1.4 billion Edelweiss’ report on InfoEdge’s performance in the financial year 2021 also looks into the performance of its portfolio companies. Zomato is expected to report an operating revenue (commissions on deliveries) of $1.4 billion (₹10,554.8 crore) by the financial year (FY) 2023, nearly five times higher than its $350 million reported in FY20. Besides this, Zomato is also expected to turn profitable at an EBITDA and FCF level by the same time frame. EBITDA is the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, whereas FCF is the free cash flow available to the company after the capital and operational expenditures. But this may be too bullish of an approach. Global investment bank <keyword id="6361649" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Goldman-Sachs">Goldman Sachs</keyword>, which is also running Zomato’s IPO process, estimates that the food delivery giant will be able to reach EBITDA breakeven (cost = expense before tax) by FY23. The food delivery giant’s positive unit economics achieved in 2020 may be a good sign, but it is too soon to be considered as a long term trend. It may be a step towards profitability, but there are still miles to cover for the Gurugram-based company. Zomato ended up in losses in FY21 (till December 2020) despite earning ₹22.9 per order. The company registered a loss of $10 million (₹74 crore) on a monthly basis between April to December 2020. Its monthly transacting users were also cut by half from 10.7 million to 5.8 million in the same time frame as the pandemic made users more cautious about ordering in. Zomato expected to deliver 130 million orders a month by 2025 Founded in 2008, by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, Zomato has marked its presence in every continent, except Antarctica, through acquisitions and its subsidiaries. Edelweiss' estimates show that the foodtech business’ monthly order rate is expected to grow 30% in the next four to five years. This means Zomato, which delivers about 30 million orders on a monthly basis at the moment, could be delivering 130 million orders by 2025. However, the same might not hold true for Zomato’s average order value (AOV). The company’s average order value (AOV) grew to ₹407 in Q3 of FY21 due to many Covid-induced factors. The biggest trend of 2020 was that individual orders were seen shifting towards family ordering as young professionals started working from home. However, Zomatos’s AOV is expected to decline to ₹360 once offices start resuming, as per the report. “A notable dip in AOV due to single orders – instead of family orders – and rising discounts due to increased competitive intensity are the key risks to unit economics, and valuations,” the report reads. There is no doubt that Zomato’s IPO is one of the most anticipated ones in the India market, given its popularity amongst the masses. But keeping up with the volatile market is not an easy thing to do. Zomato’s US-based counterpart DoorDash was valued at a revenue multiple of 17X in its IPO. A similar multiple would peg Zomato below its current valuation of $5.4 billion, <a href="https://the-ken.com/story/the-non-obvious-takeaways-from-zomatos-ipo-prospectus/">says </a>The Ken. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-and-amazon-may-not-be-able-to-do-flash-sales/articleshow/83737670.cms">Amazon, Flipkart and other e-commerce platforms may not be able to do flash sales any more, if Indian government has its way </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/sharechat-around-200-existing-and-former-employees-will-be-eligible-to-participate-in-the-esop-buyback-plan/articleshow/83638787.cms">Sharechat employees will make $19 million out of the latest ESOP plan, as growth spikes in the absence of TikTok</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/paytm-has-appointed-goldman-sachs-and-jp-morgan-as-the-bankers-for-its-upcoming-ipo/articleshow/83574242.cms">Paytm ropes in Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan as bankers for upcoming IPO ⁠— there may be more along the way</a>

There are a few reasons why Zomato wants $8 billion valuation from its IPO — here's a look at if it makes sense

<ul><li>Bolo Indya has launched a Peer-to-Peer e-commerce platform called Bolo Meets. It is already gaining popularity amongst the creators as its engagement rate has increased by over 89%. </li><li>It is also hoping that its creators would earn around 1 lakh per month by the end of this fiscal year. </li><li>We speak to Bolo Indya's Founder, <keyword id="1278463" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Varun-Saxena">Varun Saxena</keyword>, to understand the idea behind the platform, its revenue model, and larger goals for the on-going quarter.</li></ul>Launched in May 2019, homegrown short-form video app Bolo Indya has been on an exponential growth trajectory. It currently has over 65 lakh Monthly Active Users across Android and IOS and 33 lakh Daily Active Users. It sees over 15 lakh videos being created on a daily basis. It has also completed the Pre-series A1 funding of $500K and is working closely with over 70 brands. Bolo Indya was seeing a steady 25% M-o-M growth even when TikTok was around and eating the bigger chunk of the pie. However, TikTok did not offer its users an option to create content in their regional language and since the beginning, Bolo Indya embarked upon a mission to offer monetary benefits to its creators and take them beyond social gratifications and brand partnerships, which has helped it create a niche in the highly cluttered space. As a result, after June when TikTok was out of the picture, it started growing by 80% M-o-M. The pandemic-induced lockdown pushed the entire country to move to digital platforms for their primary source of entertainment, which also opened up an opportunity for OTT players and UGC apps to rise to the situation and offer their users a reason to spend more time on their platforms as they were quarantined 24*7. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Bolo Indya launched an engagement-led Peer2Peer e-commerce service called Bolo Meets. Bolo Meets is already gaining popularity amongst the creators with an increased engagement rate of over 89%. Its top 250 creators are earning in the range of Rs 50,000-60,000 per month using P2P services available on the platform. Sharing the idea behind Bolo Meets, Varun Saxena, Founder, Bolo Indya, said, “We realised that our creators have a lot of expertise they can offer on the basis of the social capital they build. Short videos in local languages are expected to see a demand of over 80 million users by 2022, just 4th to Youtube, Payments and E-Commerce. This is where Bolo Indya wants to bring in the amalgamation of user-generated content, influencer impact and structured discoverability to build a product which adds contextual value to the time spent on internet by regional language users. So that’s how we arrived at the concept of Bolo Meets.” Explaining how the service will work, Saxena said, “Creators on the platform will now have an added feature to create and deliver their specialized skills-based services to their follower base. Sessions can be facilitated either through one-to-one private video chat room, or a group video session with a maximum of 10 people in one session. These video sessions can be availed by the users through micropayments to book the slots for their favourite creators’ sessions. We had launched this feature in May 2020 for a limited set of audience, even before TikTok was banned. 257 creators used the service between May to September and were earning in the range of 50,000-60,000. There is no upper cap on how much they can earn.” Bolo Meets has categories like Astrology, Fitness, Music, Dance, Instruments, Comedy, Personal Finance, Relationships, and Mental wellness. Average ticket size for the sessions start from as low as Rs 100 for a personalised astrology service, and goes up to Rs 5000 for someone willing to learn a language or dance set. 22-year-old Ishban Yadav, one of the younger creators on Bolo Indya with over 5.5 lakh followers, has seen his income triple after Bolo Meets launch. “From 257 creators on Bolo Meets, we expect to close December with 25,000+ creators using this service. Our transactions are also increasing month-on-month. Today, creators who are earning in the range of 50,000-60,000, with the scale which we are going to achieve in next few months, we expect this earning to reach around 1 lakh per month for the top 50% of our creators by the time we will end this financial year,” shared Saxena. The platform currently has over 28 lakh creators, spread across 14 languages. With its unique service offering, Bolo Indya now expects its creator base to grow by 300% by March 2021. Talking about the strategy behind increasing its creators base, Saxena said, “We expect that our overall creator base will increase by 4X in the next 3-6 months, which will help us increase our user base as well because we will have high quality creators. We don't need to pay a hefty amount to the creators, unlike our peers, to come create content on our platform that happens organically. This brings down our content acquisition cost and our consumers are pulled because of quality content. Through organic content, you also see a surge in distribution. Today, almost 10 million pieces are shared on WhatsApp and Telegram every month. This network will only become stronger with the launch of Bolo Meets.” Vision for the app Saxena told us that he envisions the app to cross 10 crore active users by the end of 2021 and continue spending an average of 60 minutes on the app. With the launch of Bolo Meets, the platform’s aim was to increase engagement on its platform and now, it would focus on polishing its creators skillset and increase its visibility among a larger consumer base. “We had one thing in mind this time. Whatever we create, it has to be a daily use case and high-frequency case. We don’t see Bolo Indya as a typical short video platform. We see it translating into a larger consumer internet company in the next few years, where it comes at the top of the funnel for a creator and user. We offer videos to get users hooked to spend more and more time on the app, gradually discover social services and avail them and creators are able to turn their social capital into financial independence. We don’t want to create a story of user growth, we want to write a story of user retention and impact that we have on the lives of social creators,” said Saxena. Bolo Indya has also built a strong team after TikTok’s ban. It is now a team of 28 employees, with people from ShareChat, Byte Dance, BharatPe, PhonePe, Ola Money, and Times Internet and is only expanding. It is also planning to expand its services to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Sharing the app's larger vision, Saxena said, “We are on the mission to leverage the power of short videos, peer-to-peer commerce and network effect to empower every content creator of Bharat to go viral in the shortest span of time and be able to monetize by leveraging the social capital. We are working towards building a daily use case for local language short videos consumption and see ourselves to be on at least one smartphone of every Indian household with a non-English user within the span of next 18 months." Bolo Indya doesn’t measure its success rate on the number of app installs. Saxena told us that the platform will always measure its growth story by how much its creators are earning and by December 2021, Bolo Indya wants to see its top 50% of the creators earning at least 1.5 lakh per month. Saxena further shared with us its marketing strategy and focus area for the on-going quarter. Watch the interview below to know more: <div type="Video" msid="79249230" hostid="261" title="Here's what Bolo Indya's P2P e-commerce platform is all about" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=79249230"></div>

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