Thursday, 9th July ’20
Good morning, another day to the weekend and we hope that your spirits are high.
Today, we discuss Air Asia and ICICI bank. Rossari Biotech is going for an IPO. Startups LeanIX and Securden raise money which will give you more reasons to be inspired. Microsoft is working towards the digital skilling of Indian youth. Continue reading for more and have a great day ahead of you.
MARKETS
- Air Asia’s auditor raises “going concern” doubts; shares plunge 11%. Ernst & Young in its opinion said there were material uncertainties that cast doubt on the budget carrier’s ability to continue as a going concern. The company said last month it was evaluating capital-raising proposals to strengthen its equity base and liquidity. AirAsia’s shares are down 55 percent this year, giving it a market capitalization of around $594 million.
- Rossari Biotech IPO to open on 13 July, price band at ₹423- ₹425 per share. The specialty chemicals company aims to raise Rs. 496 crores to pay off debt and fund its working capital requirements. Over the last three years, it has managed to clock a compounded annual growth rate of 41.65% for its revenues and a compounded annual growth rate of 60.27% for its profit after tax.
- ICICI Bank to raise Rs. 15000 crores via share sale. After a gap of 12 years, due to Covid-19 impact, ICICI Bank aims to raise capital through public issue, private placement, preferential issue, etc. This is after, in recent months, leading banks such as Axis, Kotak Mahindra, and Yes Bank also announced fund raising plans. Private banks are raising capital to take advantage of conducive equity markets and to ensure they are adequately capitalized.
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
- Gaana, the audio streaming device owned by Times network has launched a social media video platform, HotShots. Here influencers can upload their videos using some seamless and snappy tools. This comes in an already flooded market with Chingari, Mitron, and Instagram’s Reels. TikTok huge customer base will surely take a huge hit if they ever resume operations in India.
- Jio Fiber ties up with Hollywood’s Liongate to offer access to their movie line up on Jio TV+. This gives the Jio audience access to a large number of movies across genres and some documentaries. Last month, Amazon Prime had also tied up with Jio to offer their content to the JioFiber subscribers.
- Bharti Enterprises and the UK government have won a bid to take over OneWeb, offering to invest $1 billion in the bankrupt British firm trying to build a constellation of satellites to deliver wireless broadband globally. Bharti would provide commercial and operational leadership whereas the British govt will take significant equity in the project.
PRODUCTS & STARTUPS
LeanIX, the enterprise architecture software company based out of Bonn in Germany and with an office in Hyderabad, has closed $80 million in Series D funding led by Goldman Sachs growth. Touted as a Google Maps for IT architectures, the software lets enterprises map out all legacy software or SaaS the organization is run on, what business process it is used for, or capable of supporting as well as how the different architecture fits together.
State-run insurers and pension funds including IRDA, LIC may get the nod to invest in government-backed startup-focused fund-of-funds. This is to address the pressing need to create large pools of domestic capital, given the restriction of Chinese inflows after FDI norms changes. Global pension funds and insurance companies are investing in local AIFs and startups while India misses out.
IT security startup Securden has raised $1.2 million in seed investment, led by Accel. Securden’s security solutions allow organizations to control access to IT assets such as servers, databases, network devices, and cloud infrastructure, in order to prevent cyberattacks. Founded by Zoho execs, they count 20th Century Studios and Harvard Medical School as clients.
WHAT ELSE IS COOKING
- Union Cabinet approves the infusion of Rs. 12,450 Cr. in 3 insurers: The Union Cabinet has announced infusion approval of Rs. 12,450 Crore into three public sector general insurance companies – Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd, National Insurance Co. Ltd and United India Insurance Co. Ltd (with Rs. 9,950 Cr. to be infused in current fiscal). The capital infusion aims to improve their financial and solvency position, meet the insurance needs of the economy, absorb changes and enhance the capacity to raise resources and improve risk management.
- Bolsonaro on HCQ treatment after testing positive for Coronavirus: After months of downplaying its severity, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for the deadly Coronavirus and is confident that hydroxychloroquine treatment will help him in recovering. The anti-malaria drug however has not been proven effective against COVID-19. Brazil stands second in the list of most severely hit countries with more than 65,000 deaths.
- Microsoft-NSDC join hands for digital skilling of Indian youth: Microsoft Learn (its learning resource centre) and National Skill Development Corporation have partnered through eSkill Digital India Platform to provide digital skills to more than 1 lakh youth over the next 12 months. The course will cover a broad range of skills, from entry-level digital literacy to advanced product-based skilling in critical technologies like AI and cloud computing, providing numerous opportunities for people to reskill and upskill.
MORNING TEA BREAK
Quiz of the week: Which company’s Chief decided to produce a “Short Shorts” to take a dig at the Short Sellers who were predicting the company’s failure ? It is now retailing at the company’s website for $.69.420.
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Jack Dorsey
- Elon Musk
- Satya Nadella
Send us your answers at team@productround.com. Also, watch this space tomorrow for the right answer.
Check out: Potential Career Analysis. This beautiful looking website asks you very stupid questions but analyses your personality to lay out possible career alternatives in great detail.
Bonus: Rick Roll your zoom meetings. As soon as it’s your turn on the zoom call, Rick Astley appears on the screen in your place and does what he does best. Note: Hopefully don’t do this during a serious meeting.
MORNING TEA CHALLENGES
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19632469/zoomroom.jpg?resize=1200%2C1200&ssl=1)
With “Work from Home” being the new buzz-word, we would still not dare to attend teleconferences in our worn-out jammies. So, for this challenge, we give you 3 basic tips to look and feel good while attending meetings from your home. For Dressing, consider mixing and matching your favorite athleisure and lounge garments. For a radiant face, apply a good face-moisturizer or day-cream to protect your skin from long exposure to the blue light of your screen. For managing your mane, oil, and comb your hair before meetings to avoid tangles. Light make-up for girls will definitely go good for them. Pretty hard to say, but enjoy your calls then!!
Written by Kumar Sourav Mohanty, Akansh Bhatt, Piyush Vijayan and Shashank Dobhal.