Credit: Giphy
Also in this letter:
■ Cypher Capital to invest 40% of new $100 million crypto fund in India
■ A91 Partners leads $35 million investment in Plum
■ Theranos trial starts for Ramesh Balwani, Elizabeth Holmes’s ex
Fundamentals remain robust, Paytm says, after BSE asks about stock drop
Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Paytm parent company One97 Communications has said in a filing with BSE that its business fundamentals remain robust and that it has shared all information that could have a bearing on its share price with stock exchanges.
Catch up quick: The clarification comes a day after BSE sought a clarification from the company on its plummeting share price. BSE said it sought the clarification “to ensure that investors have latest relevant information about the company and to inform the market so that the interest of the investors is safeguarded”.
Response: In its filing, Paytm said it has from time to time made all necessary disclosures to stock exchanges within the stipulated timeline.
“The company would also like to point out that the business fundamentals remain robust as demonstrated in our last earnings release dated February 4, 2022. We would like to reiterate that the company is committed to comply with the listing regulations,” it said.
Stock slips further: BSE’s announcement came as Paytm’s stock fell 3.79% on the exchange on Tuesday, an otherwise positive day for the market.
Credit: Yahoo Finance
The stock hit a new all-time low of Rs 520 on Wednesday before closing the day 3.59% down at Rs 524.40.
It has now plunged 18% in the last five sessions, since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) banned Paytm Payments Bank from adding new users. The stock has lost around 75% of its value from its issue price of Rs 2,150.
The RBI’s ban on adding new customers, due to suspected gaps in its technology systems, has potentially dented the company’s small finance bank aspirations.
No great expectations: On March 17, Bloomberg reported that a Macquarie Capital Securities (India) analyst who was early to predict the company’s market troubles had further reduced its price target.
Suresh Ganapathy cut his price estimate from Rs 700 to Rs 450, citing lower valuations for fintech companies globally. He didn’t change his earnings or revenue estimates for Paytm, which he rated ‘underperform’.
Cypher Capital to invest 40% of new $100-million crypto fund in India
UAE-based fund Cypher Capital is launching a $100-million Blockchain Fund that will focus on crypto, blockchain and other digital-asset projects.
Betting big on India: Cypher Capital aims to invest 40% of the fund in emerging blockchain and crypto startups in India. Bijan Alizadeh, the fund’s founder, is also its sole financier.
In an interview with ET, Vineet Budki, managing partner of Cypher Capital, said India has a combination of talent, successful projects and plenty of retail crypto investors, which makes it lucrative for venture capital funds to invest in Indian blockchain and crypto startups.
Details: Cypher Capital will invest $200,000 to $500,000 per company, though this could go up to $1.5 million. It will invest in tokens in a big way and also plans to pick up stakes in established blockchain funds as general partners (GPs) and limited partners (LPs) as part of its value proposition, it said.
Quote: “India has shown exceptional interest in blockchain ecosystem building with projects such as Matic (Polygon) and hence holds special value for us. We believe in educating people on use cases such as decentralised finance (DeFi), lending and borrowing and play-to-earn gaming, and handholding blockchain startups to build valuable companies,” Budki said.
A91 Partners leads $35 million investment in online beauty brand Plum
.jpg "Mr Shankar Prasad, Founder & CEO, Plum (2)")
Plum, founder and CEO, Shankar Prasad
Online beauty brand Plum has raised $35 million (Rs 270 crore) in a round led by A91 Partners, which is also an investor in its rival, Sugar Cosmetics.
The round also saw participation from existing investors Unilever Ventures and Faering Capital. It saw the company’s valuation soar to $250 million, founder Shakar Prasad told us. To date, Plum has raised over $50 million.
The startup will use the funds to grow its omni-channel presence, accelerate expansion in categories beyond skincare, and expand to new markets. It will also invest in marketing and technology.
Founded in 2013, Plum has a portfolio of vegan, cruelty-free and toxin-free beauty brands in skincare, haircare, personal care, and makeup.
With over 160 unique items, Plum sees about 40% of sales come from offline channels, 25% from its own platform, and the rest from other online marketplaces such as Nykaa and Amazon India, Prasad said.
A MESSAGE FROM CORALOGIX
Teams can now work together, optimise their tool stack for more efficiency, and integrate their existing tools with the Coralogix platform for a centralised view of their entire system.
Theranos trial starts for Ramesh Balwani, Elizabeth Holmes’s ex-partner
Ramesh Balwani, former president and COO of Theranos
The federal trial of Ramesh Balwani, a Theranos executive and the ex-partner of founder Elizabeth Holmes, began in the US on Tuesday.
Tell me more: Balwani, who goes by Sunny, pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His lawyer started his opening statement by deflecting blame onto Holmes, who was the CEO of Theranos.
In January, a federal jury convicted Holmes on four counts. Taking the stand in her defence, Holmes had blamed Theranos’ problems and many of her own mistakes on Balwani, who was the startup’s president and chief operating officer.
Also Read | Theranos verdict: Key moments from the Elizabeth Holmes trial
Case file: At the heart of his trial is whether the government can prove that Balwani intended to defraud patients and investors with false claims about Theranos’ technology and business. The company raised nearly $1 billion from investors on the promise that its blood-testing devices would revolutionise health care.
In opening statements, prosecutors tried to tie Balwani’s actions directly to Holmes and to the deceptions at Theranos. Despite his lack of background in science and medicine, Balwani was put in charge of Theranos’ laboratory.
Thailand to ban use of digital assets for payments from April 1
Thailand has issued rules to ban digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, from being used to pay for goods and services from April 1, the market regulator said.
Digital asset business operators that provide such services must comply with the new rules within 30 days, it said.
The move was in line with earlier discussions between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) on the need to regulate such activity by digital asset business operators as it could affect the country’s economy and financial stability, the SEC said in a statement.
The Bank of Thailand has said repeatedly that it does not support the use of cryptocurrencies for payments.
Today’s ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Arun Padmanabhan in New Delhi and Zaheer Merchant in Mumbai. Graphics and illustrations by Rahul Awasthi.
