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7/ The message to the ecosystem is loud: The EdTech "funding-fueled" era is dead. India didn't reject education; it rejected edtech priced and run like late-stage software. The survivors must be smaller, slower, and much, much healthier. #Unacademy #EdTech #StartupIndia
November 12, 2025 at 10:57 AM
6/ Founder exits confirm the logic: The Airlearn AI language-learning spin-off gives Munjal/Saini a clean slate with better global TAM and software margins. It's the quiet confession that Indian test-prep is a craft business, not a VC rocket.
November 12, 2025 at 10:57 AM
5/ The market itself moved to outcomes and affordability. While the premium player sells for parts, the low-cost, disciplined hybrid (PhysicsWallah) pulled away on price (₹999 courses) and trust. The playbook reversed in real-time.
November 12, 2025 at 10:57 AM
4/ The "Offline Pivot" was the final confession. Trading infinite software margins for city leases and faculty guarantees meant the tech-leverage story was over. The founders who thrived on blitzscale didn't want to run a slow, operational tuition business.
November 12, 2025 at 10:57 AM
3/ The core error: Blitzscale vs. Craft. Poaching star teachers at ₹20 Cr/year and sponsoring the IPL created a cost-structure that buckled when COVID tailwinds died and online test-prep degrew.
November 12, 2025 at 10:57 AM
2/ This is a salvage, not a merger. The buyer is paying for the cash on the books (~₹1,200 Cr) and a user funnel, not a future. The crash was structural: it built a premium software cost base for a low-margin, trust-driven services business.
November 12, 2025 at 10:57 AM
7/ The correction is healthy. India's IPO credibility issue isn't about tech's inability to make money; it’s about illusion. Reward boring, cash-backed execution, and our listings will stop being events and start becoming milestones for real businesses. #IPO #Lenskart #StartupIndia #SEBI
November 11, 2025 at 10:35 AM
6/ SEBI doesn't need to police valuation, but it must tighten disclosure. Companies should be mandated to present normalized profit (excluding one-offs) beside statutory PAT. Stop non-operational gains from masquerading as sustainable growth.
November 11, 2025 at 10:35 AM
5/ The incentive system fuels the theatre. Pre-IPO consultants polish books, delay expenses, and record one-time gains to create the one-year miracle. OFS components amplify the problem, turning the listing into an exit disguised as growth.
November 11, 2025 at 10:35 AM
4/ Retail investors are catching on: 43% sell IPO shares within a week. That's not faith, that's gambling. Oversubscription and grey market premiums no longer guarantee a win; several 2025 debuts opened 15-40% down.
November 11, 2025 at 10:35 AM
3/ The stock didn't stumble because people stopped buying glasses; it stumbled because the profit wasn't built on selling them. This is the new game: tidy up books with non-operational gains, list fast, then blame "investment cycles" when losses return.
November 11, 2025 at 10:35 AM
2/ Lenskart's FY25 profit of ₹297 Cr looked great, but ₹167 Cr came from a one-time fair-value gain on the Owndays acquisition. Without that accounting adjustment, profit is approx ₹130 Cr, and the implied P/E jumps over 500x.
November 11, 2025 at 10:35 AM
7/ India's two tracks aren't in conflict; they're complementary. The real test is building a bridge: Private money for scale, patient money for risk. We must place the orders, unlock the IP, and prove India can build both rockets and revenue models at global scale. #DeepTech #StartupIndia #VCInvest
November 10, 2025 at 10:40 AM
6/ The solution: Smarter Policy. Fix procurement to focus on outcomes. Use the Deep Tech Fund as first-loss capital to attract pension and insurance money. Create the Indian equivalent of NASA contracts that built SpaceX - guaranteed orders.
November 10, 2025 at 10:40 AM
5/ The public market provides hope. Lenskart’s 28x oversubscribed IPO shows investor appetite is back. But this momentum is uneven: DeepTech startups like Agnikul still raise tiny rounds compared to SaaS giants.
November 10, 2025 at 10:40 AM
4/ But public money alone won't work. Procurement is the Achilles' heel. Startups die as pilots because rigid government rules focus on lowest-cost bids, not innovative solutions. IP from public projects often stays locked in files, denying founders the upside.
November 10, 2025 at 10:40 AM
3/ To bridge this, the government has stepped in with massive funds: a ₹1,00,000-crore RDI outlay and a ₹10,000-crore Deep Tech Fund of Funds. The goal: build the foundational tech that venture money won't touch first.
November 10, 2025 at 10:40 AM
2/ The funding gap is immense. DeepTech (hardware, biotech) gets only 9-12% of total VC funding because hardware takes years, not months, and requires expensive labs. Private capital avoids the long game.
November 10, 2025 at 10:40 AM
7/ This is India's boldest health-tech experiment. If done ethically, it makes healthcare proactive and affordable. If it crosses lines, it triggers years of mistrust. Market is moving from a shopping cart to a command center. We won't just buy insurance; we'll buy health. #Policybazaar #HealthTech
November 7, 2025 at 11:49 AM
6/ Competition must respond with alliances. Hospital chains need to rush into insurance; insurers need to acquire chronic-care startups. Standalone health apps suddenly have one goal: become an acquisition target before the PB Health flywheel makes them irrelevant.
November 7, 2025 at 11:49 AM
5/ The data is a privacy nightmare. The ecosystem will connect insurance records, lab reports, and daily vitals. PB Health becomes the first true test of India's DPDP Act on health data regulation at massive scale.
November 7, 2025 at 11:49 AM
4/ But this integration breeds power and conflict. When one company sells the policy, owns the hospital, and manages the claim, self-dealing is inevitable (like in the US with UnitedHealth). IRDAI and CCI scrutiny will be fierce.
November 7, 2025 at 11:49 AM