Quite a benchmark decision
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Fintech startup DPDzero raises $3.25 Mn in seed round
https://entrackr.com/2023/10/fintech-startup-dpdzero-raises-3-25-mn-in-seed-round/
Interesting company bio and growth…
"Founded by Ananth Shroff and Ranjith Ramachandra, DPDzero solves problems across all stages of lending and has developed unique behavioural models to predict and prevent defaults.
In a span of 10 months, the firm claims to have witnessed 700% growth in revenue from its AI-powered collections and debt recovery platform. It has partnered with NBFCs like Tata Capital, KreditBee, Cashe, Lazypay and Snapmint."
“The market for hobby learning was way smaller than we believed, and unlikely to support a venture scale business. But that makes it sound way more straightforward than it was. Especially, since 2 million people downloaded the FrontRow app and over a quarter of a million people paid for a course,” Singh wrote.
Read more at: https://yourstory.com/2023/10/frontrow-co-founder-reflects-on-journey-after-hobby-learning-startup-shuts-down
Wow! Hard to think of Swiggy as a lender.
Proves time and again that businesses have to diversify and also that lending is where the profit lies.
But I am seriously hoping that we don’t reach the breaking point with so much lending.
my 2021 tweet on the same “Lending-as-a-Service” as vertical monetization channel. Hypothesis: Swiggy & Zomato both have distribution sorted apart from target and all, and lending is a complementing service for restaurants.
Though my hypothesis needs some polishing
“Today, the startup specialises in growing high-quality, nutrient-rich vegetables and fruits with the help of its patented IoT-powered growing chambers or polyhouse.”
Hey add your tweet link to post too 
. This looks interesting 
Internship platform YouVah raises pre-seed round
https://entrackr.com/2023/10/internship-platform-youvah-raises-pre-seed-round/
“YouVah is an online portal for applying to internships. The platform allows users to enrol and complete training and access internships, to get trained through vocational training and mentorship, and access courses for content writing, social media editing, video editing et al. The company provides features such as internship training, guided assessment, practical experience with employers, etc. and users can also build resumes on its platform.”
ESOP pool at north of 10% even after Series F talks s lot about the ethicality and pedigree of the founder and his control over board. 
Heard somewhere that Zerodha is also going for a stake in some scheduled bank - Nanital Bank.
Bank has 165 odd branches in Uttrakhand, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.
Coincidentally, after the Slice-North East Small Finance Bank merger news came out, I was wondering what if Zerodha merged with a bank.
Guess I have started having fintech premonitions. 
One possibility is the Fund Balances may accrue an interest. That would be good. 
Interestingly, sometime back there was a confusion when Zerodha partnered with IDFC Bank for the 3-in-1 account, that the funds on Zerodha would accrue an interest. That was not true. I think Zerodha even issued a statement.
If that is true, would be an interesting move considering they are nearing the launch of their MF NFOs.
" Fintech startup Synapse, backed by global VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and run by Indian-origin CEO Sankaet Pathak, has laid off 86 people, or nearly 40 per cent of its workforce. This is the second round of layoffs at the startup this year. In June, CEO Pathak had announced to let go of 18 per cent of its workforce, as they “made the difficult decision to reduce and restructure our team in areas that were staffed for unrealised growth or redundancy”.
++ Distribution & Demographics.
