News Article 21-08-2020

Title: Flipkart ties up with Sastodeal in Nepal, opens up new market for Indian MSMEs

Background: E-commerce marketplace Flipkart on Friday entered into a strategic partnership with
Sastodeal, a leading e-commerce company in Nepal, to initiate cross-border trade opportunities for
its lakhs of sellers.

Summary:

1. Sastodeal will host over 5,000 product verticals from Flipkart Marketplace such as baby care &
kids, women’s ethnic wear and sports & fitness, among others.

2. Flipkart Private Brands- MarQ and SmartBuy will also be listed on the Sastodeal platform, with a
focus on categories such as electronics, home appliances/home decor, and furnishings.

3. Flipkart currently has 2,00,000 sellers across India, with more than 50% of them coming from
smaller cities such as Jaipur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Meerut, Surat, Kanpur, Agra, Coimbatore, and
Ahmedabad

Future Implications:

1. This partnership can modernize the consumer landscape in Nepal significantly, especially in the
current times

2. The partnership will not just open doors for a wider market reach for Indian sellers but also allow
Flipkart to boost their business significantly.

3. As MSMEs across the country bounce back and continue to look towards newer avenues for
business growth, opportunities like these give them further confidence in the potential of e-
commerce platforms

Link: https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/flipkart-ties-up-with-sastodeal-in-nepal-opens-up-
new-market-for-indian-msmes-11597994618801.html

Title: Edtech startup LEAD School raises $28 million led by Westbridge capital

Background: The eight-year Mumbai-based firm was co-founded by Sumeet Yashpal Mehta and
Smita Deorah. It started off as a full-fledged school focused on middle school students. Later in 2017,
the firm began offering an ‘integrated system’ for schools by helping them digitize the entire
curriculum. It also provides affordable online teaching tools to both students and teachers.

Summary:

1. Education technology startup LEAD School, which helps private schools digitize their curriculum,
has raised $28 million in a Series C funding round led by Westbridge Capital along with existing
investor Elevar Equity.

2. funding will be used by the company to accelerate the development and roll out of new product
offerings, increase its school network in Tier 2-3 cities and hire talent across domains.

3. It is observed that the firm’s partner schools have seen class averages improve from below 60% to
above 70% after they adopted digitized curricula.
4. Startups like Byjus, Vedantu, Unacademy who are well-funded firms in the online learning space
saw accelerated adoption in the last few months as students and teachers continued to stay at
home.

Future Implications:

1. Integrated System has enabled schools to deliver an uninterrupted learning experience for all
students. The new round of funding will help them bring more innovation and reach more students
and schools.

Link: https://www.livemint.com/companies/start-ups/edtech-startup-lead-school-raises-28-million-
led-by-westbridge-capital-11597997677861.html