Lenskart raises $500 Mn👓, LEAD acquires Pearson’s K-12 biz👩🏻🏫, 700 Mn active internet users📶
Lenskart raises $500 Mn, LEAD acquires Pearson’s local K-12 biz, India had over 700 million active internet users, Funding Deals and more.
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Lenskart raises $500 Mn from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority at flat $4.5 Bn valuation👓
Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has agreed to invest $500 million in eyewear retailer Lenskart, at a valuation of $4.5 billion. This will result in the sovereign wealth fund becoming one of the biggest investors in the omnichannel eyewear brand.
SoftBank which invested in the company in 2019, remains its largest investor with a nearly 19% stake.
The company acquired Japan’s Owndays in June last year, to focus on expanding in the Southeast Asia region.
LEAD completes acquisition of Pearson’s local K-12 learning biz👩🏻🏫
Edtech unicorn LEAD announced the completion of the acquisition of UK-based learning firm Pearson’s local K-12 learning business in India.
With this investment, the company claims to have expanded its reach to over 9,000 schools across India and more than five million students.
The acquisition will also help LEAD reach 60,000 schools across India by 2026, the company said in a statement.
Hot Shorts⚡
One Impression, an influencer marketing platform, has raised $10 million in a Series A round led by South Korean gaming major KRAFTON.
Sports collectibles and gaming platform BuyStars has raised $5 million in a pre-series A round led by Lumikai.
Healthcare-focused claim settlement platform Vitraya Technologies has raised $4.1 million in Series A funding from Xceedance and a consortium of investors.
Gold loan startup Yellow Metal raised $3 million (Rs 24.8 crore approximately) in a seed round led by MSA Novo, a global venture capital firm.
Finsire, a Chennai-based fintech startup, has raised $1.3 million in a seed round from a clutch of investors.
Legal-tech startup Yellow has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round from Gruhas, a venture capital founded by entrepreneurs Abhijeet Pai and Nikhil Kamath.
India had over 700 million active internet users in 2022: Nielsen📶
Over 700 million Indians aged 2 years and older actively used the Internet as of December 2022, according to Nielsen's India Internet Report 2023.
Rural India had 425 million registered internet users, which was almost 44% higher than in urban areas, which had 295 million active internet users, as per the report.
The study further highlighted that nearly 90% of internet users were daily users. The gap between urban and rural also narrowed compared to the previous year, with 93% of urban and 86% of rural daily users using the internet daily.
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