Budget 2019: The high point of higher education in India
Budget 2019-20: The NEP will help India increase its global
presence by stressing on areas like research and innovation, as also
setting up world-class institutions.
Sentiments across the education sector have been primarily positive post Budget announcements.
Increased fund allocation to schools (12.8%) and higher education (14.3%) is commendable.
In fact, at Rs 400 crore, the allocation is over three times revised estimates for last year.
Anil Nagar
Budget 2019 India: Sentiments across the education sector have been
primarily positive post Budget announcements. Increased fund allocation
to schools (12.8%) and higher education (14.3%) is commendable. In fact,
at Rs 400 crore, the allocation is over three times revised estimates
for last year.
As the finance minister noted, five years ago, India was nowhere in
the top-200 world university rankings. However, thanks to initiatives
like GYAN, three of its institutions, including two IITs and IISc
Bangalore, have made it to the list.
Focus on research: The NEP will help India increase its global
presence by stressing on areas like research and innovation, as also
setting up world-class institutions. This will supplement its plans to
promote ‘Study in India’ programme and attract foreign students. The
government plans to present a draft legislation for setting up the
Higher Education Commission of India. Then there is the proposal to
establish the National Research Foundation.
Skill development: Considering the evolution of technology and the
nature of jobs, demographic trends point towards skill shortages in the
future. The government will focus on imparting practical working
knowledge to professionals in innovative technologies such as AI, big
data, 3D printing, robotics, etc.
Edtech industry: As more and more start-ups are entering edtech
space, there is a proposal of a new channel under the Doordarshan
bouquet to provide a platform to them to disseminate information.
But the government has overlooked a few issues that have been
restricting educators and students from realising their full potential.
Edtech industry expected the government to scrap GST on online video
tutorials (18%) and on e-books (5%). However, the Budget did not mention
any change in this area. A revision in rates coupled with measures to
empower the edtech industry will provide a fillip to the economy. It
remains to be seen when will the government take these steps.
The author is founder & CEO, Adda247, a preparation platform for government exams
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:49 AM on Monday, July 15th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
Bitcoin’s Price Could Rise If Facebook’s Crypto Survives Congress Hearings
Facebook’s fiat and government bond backed cryptocurrency Libra is widely considered a net positive for bitcoin, an anti-establishment asset.
Bitcoin has come under pressure ahead of the U.S. governmental hearings on Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency on July 16 and 17.
The price of a single bitcoin, which stood near $13,000 five days
ago, fell below $10,000 earlier today and tested the 50-day moving
average at $9,900 for the first time since February 18.
Facebook’s head of Calibra – one of the entities set up to govern and develop the crypto project – David Marcus is scheduled testify to lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.
The upcoming scrutiny of Libra may be weighing over bitcoin. After
all, past data shows BTC tends to drop ahead of congressional hearings
related to cryptocurrencies and rise on favorable outcomes.
Last year, for instance, BTC fell from $6,820 to $6,070 in five days
to July 12, before rallying to $7,400 on July 18 when the House
Committee on Financial Services gathered for a hearing on “crypto as a new form of moneyâ€.
More importantly, the cryptocurrency remained bid in the following
days and rose to a high of $8,500 on July 24 (according to Bitstamp
data) because the hearing didn’t take an overly negative tone.
On similar lines, BTC dropped from $12,000 to $6,000 in the 10 days leading up to a congressional hearing
on Feb. 6, 2018, where the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)
chairman and the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
testified before the Senate Banking Committee. That hearing was also
surprisingly positive and BTC rose back to levels above $11,700 by Feb.
20.
Going further back, the price action seen ahead of bitcoin’s first
congressional hearing on Nov. 18, 2013, was slightly different in the
sense that the cryptocurrency was solidly bid, rising from $85 to $650
in six weeks leading up to the event.
Again the hearing on the growing popularity of virtual currencies
wasn’t anti-crypto, allowing BTC to extend the rally to highs above
$1,150 on Nov. 30.
Will BTC rise this time round?
Facebook’s fiat and government bond backed cryptocurrency Libra is
widely considered a net positive for bitcoin, an anti-establishment
asset.
This is evident from the fact that BTC rallied from $9,000 to $13,800
in the eight days following Facebook’s unveiling of Libra’s white paper
on June 18.
So, it is hardly surprising that the leading cryptocurrency is
feeling the pull of gravity ahead of the congressional hearings on Libra
and will likely take a hit if the U.S. lawmakers throw a spanner in the
works for Facebook.
It is worth noting that the likes of the Federal Reserve President
Jerome Powell have already called for a halt to Facebook’s project until
concerns from privacy to money laundering are addressed. President
Trump also criticized the project in tweets last week.
BTC, however, may rise well past $13,800 and possibly hit record
highs before the end of the third quarter if the hearings are more
optimistic.
A far as the technical charts are concerned, the short-term outlook
will remain bullish as long as prices hold above $9,614 (July 2 low).
As of writing, BTC is changing hands at $10,300 on Bitstamp, representing 4.86 percent drop on a 24-hour basis.
Daily and 3-day charts
A UTC close below $9,614 would invalidate the bullish higher-lows pattern and confirm a bullish-to-bearish trend change.
That looks likely with the three-day chart reporting a bearish
divergence of the relative strength index (RSI). The indicator has also
dived out of the ascending trendline, signaling the end of the rally
from December lows.
Further, the previous three-candle closed well below the 10-candle
moving average, a level which acted as strong support throughout the
rise from $3,500 to $13,880, as discussed on Friday.
Weekly chart
The long upper wicks attached to two out of the last three candles
indicates bullish exhaustion and so does the bearish divergence of the
RSI.
All-in-all, the charts are biased for a drop to $9,097 (May 30 high),
unless the congressional hearings are more positive than expected. In
that case, prices may rise above $13,800, signaling a continuation of
the rally.
Hourly chart
BTC has recovered from lows near $9,850 to $10,300. The bearish
lower-highs pattern, however, is still intact. Prices may rise to
$11,200 in the next 24 hours if the cryptocurrency invalidates the
bearish lower highs pattern with a move above $10,732.
Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies.
CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency
Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
This article is intended as a news item to inform our readers
of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the
future affect, the value of the cryptocurrency described above. The
information contained herein is not intended to provide, and it does not
provide, sufficient information to form the basis for an investment
decision, and you should not rely on this information for that purpose.
The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it
was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment
professional. You should seek additional information regarding the
merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to
purchase or sell any such instruments.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:07 AM on Monday, July 15th, 2019
During a press conference held earlier today at the Lalit hotel in Delhi India, the company and National Skills Development Corporation (“NSDCâ€) officially launched their partnership to support skilling India.
Through this partnership, NSDC and betterU will provide the opportunity for Indian youth to gain global access to all the learning they need
OTTAWA, July 15, 2019 — betterU Education Corp. (TSX VENTURE: BTRU, Frankfurt: 5OG) (the “Companyâ€) is pleased to announce, during a press conference held earlier today at the Lalit hotel in Delhi India, the company and National Skills Development Corporation (“NSDCâ€) officially launched their partnership to support skilling India. betterU, a global education-to-employment platform, based out of Ottawa, Canada has set out to transform the overall skill development ecosystem across emerging markets like India. Through this partnership, NSDC and betterU will provide the opportunity for Indian youth to gain global access to all the learning they need. The Company’s business model was designed to continually add global content and methods of delivery to support all types of learning for graduates, seasoned employees, and corporates amongst others.
During the media conference, betterU also announced the launch of
their Mobile App and Upskill Engine that will put the world’s education
in the hands of anyone across India and help support efforts for
individualized learning.
This collaboration is in line with the Government’s vision to upskill
the youth of India. This goes hand in hand with India’s plan to
transform the complete Indian educational system and focus on bridging
the skills gap, which was announced at the Union Budget, 2019 by the
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Commenting on the
association, Dr. Manish Kumar, MD & CEO of NSDC
said, “NSDC is focused on solutions that add value to high-quality
skills development and vocational training across India. We believe our
partnership with betterU could significantly contribute towards our
common objectives of skill development. We look forward to working
closely with betterU in the coming months for the betterment of our
Indian youth.â€
betterU in partnership with NSDC will also work to integrate and
collaborate with other NSDC solutions, technologies and partners to
build and provide a more comprehensive system. Additionally, this
partnership will help drive more collaborations across the industry
sectors and betterU’s ecosystem. Brad Loiselle, President and CEO, betterU
explained, “We believe that education is the foundation for personal
growth, which then increases the success of the household and ultimately
the economy as a whole. There are still many obstacles to overcome and
with so many industries, each requiring various skills, betterU has
developed a solution that sources what is required. The overall
challenge is that most educators are focused on a specific type of
learner, type of content, type of target audience. Millions of variables
cannot be supported by individual educators. betterU’s goal is to
provide education support for everyone.â€
With the objective to connect quality online education from leading
global educators to the mass population of India, betterU focuses on
developing an ecosystem that bridges the gap between education and jobs
by providing the tools necessary to prepare prospective Indian learners
for the jobs they want. betterU’s leadership has been travelling the
world, speaking at conferences, and working to bring together global
educators onto one platform, which is required to support mass education
and skilling.
“For equalized education for all, we require one education platform
where we can work collectively to support not only individual learners
but the entire Indian youth system. We believe that betterU, with the
right partners, can drive growth across all industries. This partnership
with NSDC will help us achieve positive results for the masses and
bridge the skills gap,†Loiselle added.
About National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)
NSDC is one of its kind public-private-partnership with an objective
to facilitate skill training in partnership with private training
providers. To date, NSDC has approved 400+ training providers and 38
Sector Skill Councils, with a geographical spread of 7,000+ training
centres in 600+ districts across the country. NSDC has trained more than
1.4 crore people across sectors.
About betterU
betterU, a global education to employment platform, aims to provide
access to quality education from around the world to foster growth and
opportunity to those who want to better their lives. The company plans
to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and
enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an
integrated education to employment ecosystem. betterU’s offerings can be
categorized into several broad functions: to complement school programs
with flexible preschool, KG-12 programs preparing children for next
stage of education, to provide access to global and localized
educational programs from leading educators, to foster an exceptional
educational environment by providing befitting skills that lead to a
better career, to bridge the gap between one’s existing education and
prospective job requirement by training them and lastly, to connect the
end user to various job opportunities. betterU today has partnered with
over 75 global educators, representing access to over 53,000 programs.
It is developing technology and ongoing more partners required to
support the growing education needs of the world.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, betterU Education Corp. Brad Loiselle, CEO
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:00 PM on Sunday, July 14th, 2019
SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE)
Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14
million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper. Tartisan also has
interests in Peru, including a 20 percent equity stake in Eloro
Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property. Click her for more information
Nickel hits three-month peak on Indonesia concerns
Nickel prices touched their highest in three months on Friday on worries that major producer Indonesia will resume an export ban on ore in 2022
Indonesia relaxed the ban on nickel ore in 2017, but said at the time that it would last only five years and that exports would be restricted again in 2022
Eric Onstad
LONDON — Nickel prices touched their highest in three months on
Friday on worries that major producer Indonesia will resume an export
ban on ore in 2022.
Indonesia relaxed the ban on nickel ore in 2017, but said at the time
that it would last only five years and that exports would be restricted
again in 2022.
Analyst Colin Hamilton at BMO Capital Markets in London said many
people had been skeptical that the full ban would be reimposed, and a
media report about sticking to the ban in 2022 created jitters in the
market.
“Of course that wouldn’t affect today’s availability, but we’ve
always been heavily dependent on Indonesia in this nickel market,â€
Hamilton said.
“If we were to see Indonesia restrict availability of their ore then
it would tighten the market quicker than we’re factoring in.â€
Most analysts expect rising demand for nickel in electric vehicles to create shortages in coming years.
Benchmark nickel on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.8% at $13,230 a
tonne by 1400 GMT after earlier hitting $13,325, the strongest since
April 8.
* COPPER IMPORTS: Chinese imports of unwrought copper fell 27.2% year
on year in June as a slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy
continued to weigh on demand for the metal. Shipments of ores and
concentrates slid 16.5%, data showed.
“That probably reflects availability more than anything else. Just
look at the Chilean and Peruvian (mine output) data,†said Hamilton,
referring to the fall in ore imports.
“There’s no tightness at the refined end of the market yet, but
there’s a raw material constraint and you’d expect it to flow through
the chain eventually.â€
* CHINA TRADE: Also weighing on the metals market was disappointing wider trade data from top metals consumer China.
China’s overall exports fell in June as the United States ramped up
trade pressure, while imports shrank more than expected, pointing to
further weakness in the world’s second-largest economy and slackening
global growth.
* DOLLAR: The dollar index pared losses after U.S. producer prices
rose slightly in June, pointing to moderate inflation. A weaker dollar
often boosts metals prices, making them cheaper for buyers using other
currencies.
* TIN SPREAD: LME cash tin’s discount to the three-month contract
moved to $48 a tonne, the strongest since February 2017, against a
premium of $230 in mid-June. This follows a sharp rise in LME tin
inventories, evidence of ample supplies of the metal.
* PRICES: Three-month LME copper fell 0.4% to $5,933 tonne, giving up gains after touching $5,998, the highest since July 1.
Aluminum slipped 0.3% to $1,822 a tonne, zinc shed 0.3% to $2,420, lead added 0.2% to $1,977 and tin gave up 1.3% to $18,105.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 3:29 PM on Thursday, July 11th, 2019
The Lomiko Metals (LMR:TSXV; LMRMF:OTCQB) flagship, high-grade graphite project (La Loutre) was already looking pretty impressive before its most recent press release, with the following attributes”
Indicated + inferred resource of 10 M Tonnes of 6% Cg at the Graphene-Battery Zone.
120 km from Montreal
53 km from the only operating graphite mine in North America (5.2M Tonnes of 7.42% Cg)
Located in the mining + green friendly Province Of Quebec
Despite this, CEO Paul Gill wanted more tonnage and higher grade to really position La Loutre as a serious supply source for the multiple battery factors set for completion throughout North America in the next couple of years. Well, it looks like he may very well have got it. On July 9, Lomiko announced results from the remaining 16 holes (of 21) from the 2019 program and the headline says it all: “Multiple 100m + Intercepts and Multiple 10% + Cg Zones At La Loutre. Next Steps: 43-101 Resource and Pre-Economic Assessment”.
The headline and next steps speak for themselves but we sat down with Paul Gill to discuss next steps even further. Specifically, positioning and timing of the Company to become a serious supplier of high-grade graphite to the North American batter market. The conversation was a great one and well worth watching, so grab a cold beverage, cool off from the hot summer heat and watch what Paul has to say.
On
May 25 2019, Quebec Premier François Legault said he has looked into
the future and it is electric. Specifically, he wants the province to
cut its oil consumption by 40% by 2030 and be replaced entirely by clean
electricity.
If you didn’t know any better, you would think that CEO, Paul Gill, wrote the speech given by Quebec Premier in which he stated “If we help our neighbours, we help the planet. It’s a win-win for Quebec and for the planet. Let’s become the green battery of North America.†Hey, for all we know, Paul Gill IS the Quebec Premier …. because the speech put Lomiko’s high-grade graphite project (La Loutre), located just 117 km’s North of Montreal, in the direct path of a very green future.
La Loutre has an indicated resource of 18.4 M Tonnes of 3.19% .. and that is just from one zone. That number is expected to rise after the Company releases the remaining 15 holes of a 20 hole drill program which has already seen great success in the first 5 holes. Gill has always stated that his high-grade graphite will be ideal for electric vehicle batteries and wants to be in a position to supply some or all of the several giga factories being built in North America. That was already a great plan, until the Quebec Premier stated: “Any new trains, tramways and buses financed by the Quebec government will have to be electric by 2030 and, for the most part, built in Quebec”
After more than 10 years of preparing for the electric future and developing La Loutre, it appears the electric future is coming directly to Lomiko.
Watch this interview to see exactly what Paul Gill has to say … and then continue your due diligence here.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:00 PM on Thursday, July 11th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
————-
‘Google Coin’ Within 2 Years as FANGs Will Go Crypto, Say Winklevoss
Speaking about Facebook Libra, the twins, who co-founded cryptocurrency trading platform Gemini, said it was only a matter of time before other tech giants followed suit.Â
Speaking about Facebook Libra, the twins, who co-founded cryptocurrency trading platform Gemini, said it was only a matter of time before other tech giants followed suit.
FANG refers to the unofficial “Big Four†of the internet: Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google.
“Our prediction is every FANG company will have some sort of
cryptocurrency project within the next two years,†Tyler told the
network.
Libra as a payment protocol has not yet launched, but regulators have voiced alarm, particularly in the United States, where several sources have demanded developers halt the project.
Concerns stem from Libra’s potential to bypass the banking system,
something cryptocurrency proponents conversely argue makes the banking establishment overly nervous about losing revenue.
On Thursday, Bitcoin (BTC) itself shed over 10% of its value after a senior U.S. lawmaker delivered fresh concerns about Libra.
For the Winklevosses, however, front-door approaches to regulators is key in getting any disruptive finance offering to market.
Though many say it is not a cryptocurrency at all, the twins even
suggested they would facilitate trading of Libra on Gemini, should it be
open and not subject to prohibitive restrictions.
“We’ll evaluate Libra in earnest, and it might actually be an asset
that is one day listed if it’s an open protocol; that’s possible,†Tyler
continued.
Earlier this week, Tom Lee,
a serial Bitcoin advocate, delivered a similar forecast regarding tech
giants’ future involvement in the digital currency industry.
“The fact that Facebook and likely other FANG companies are going to
create their own digital currencies is validating the idea that digital
money is here to stay,†he told CNBC.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:00 PM on Thursday, July 11th, 2019
Over the last 10 weeks, BetterU (BTRU:TSXV) has issued a string of news releases regarding clients, partnerships, financing and personnel that strongly indicate the Company’s online education marketplace in India is on the cusp of hitting its commercialization stage. July 15, 2019 may very well turn out to be the day BTRU hit the start gun, with a massive national ad campaign set to launch along with their partner NSDC (“National Skills Development Corporation”).
NSDC is a public/private partnership under the government of India whose mandate is the creation of skills development and vocational training. With upwards of 150 million people across 38 industries requiring skill training, the task is a daunting one for NSDC who now believes “a formal partnership would enable the advancement of our collective efforts towards skilling India” (Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC).
Is this just another partnership? The size of the July 15 launch says otherwise, with $600,000 being allocated to print, radio and digital throughout India. Moreover, BTRU will be launching its App to coincide with the launch, which will allow Indian citizens to assess their skills sets and needs, then select the right courses to learn the skills necessary to fill jobs throughout India.Â
Watch BTRU CEO, Brad Loiselle, talk more about this ground breaking partnership, the technology behind it and what it could mean for BTRU. George
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 12:27 PM on Wednesday, July 10th, 2019
Preparing to mobilize to the Bonnie Claire project and initiate the 2019 exploration plan
Five drill holes averaging 90 meters (300 feet) depth will be drilled in the southern portion of the project area in an area of anomalous surface lithium values and interpreted faults
Vancouver, British Columbia–(July 10, 2019) – Iconic Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: ICM) (OTC Pink: BVTEF) (FSE: YQGB) (“Company” or “Iconic”)Â is pleased to announce that it is preparing to mobilize to the Bonnie Claire project and initiate the 2019 exploration plan (“Exploration Plan”).
Five drill holes averaging 90 meters (300 feet) depth will be drilled
in the southern portion of the project area in an area of anomalous
surface lithium values and interpreted faults. Down-hole sediment
samples will be collected continuously in 6 meter (20 feet) intervals
and sent to a geochem lab for analysis.
In Addition to the commencement of the Exploration Plan, the Company
would like to announce that it has received the draft report titled: “Bonnie Claire Metallurgical Evaluation and Process Development”,
by St. Georges Eco Mining (‘SX”), who collaborated with an independent
lab, SGS Lakefield Laboratories (“SGS”) where an elemental analysis and
crystalline analysis of Bonnie Claire’s material were performed.
Iconic’s technical team is reviewing the report in conjunction with
independent verification in accordance with 43-101 compliant standards.
The Bonnie Claire Lithium Property Characteristics:
The Property is located within Sarcobatus Valley that is
approximately 30 km (19 miles) long and 20 km (12 miles) wide.
Quartz-rich volcanic tuffs, that contain anomalous amounts of lithium,
occur within and adjacent to the valley. Geochemical analysis of the
local salt flats has yielded lithium values up to 340 ppm. The gravity
low within the valley is 20 km (12 miles) long, and the current
estimates of depth to basement rocks range from 600 to 1,200 meters
(2,000 to 4,000 feet). Four drill holes have identified an open ended,
43-101 compliant resource of 28.58 billion kilograms of lithium
carbonate equivalent. The drilling that defined the current resource
only covered an area of 3.0 km2 (1.2mi2), while previously run MT
geophysics show a potentially mineralized area of 27.3 km2 (10.5mi2).
Drilling to date has shown strong correlation between the MT results and
the lithium mineralization. The thickness of the lithium mineralization
is unknown, but drilling indicates it is greater than 600 meters (2,000
feet). The current claim block covers an area of 57.5 km2 (22.2mi2).
Further drilling has been permitted and metallurgy to determine the most
efficient recovery method is currently in progress.
Richard Kern, Certified Professional Geologist (#11494) and CEO of
Iconic is the Qualified Person who has prepared and reviewed this press
release in accordance with NI 43-101 reporting standards.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Richard Kern, President and CEO Contact: Keturah Nathe, VP Corporate Development (604) 336-8614
For further information on ICM, please visit our website at iconicmineralsltd.com. The Company’s public documents may be accessed at www.sedar.com
Forward Statement: This news release includes
certain forward-looking statements or information. All statements other
than statements of historical fact included in this release are
forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be
accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially
from those anticipated in such statements. Iconic expressly disclaims
any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise except as otherwise required by applicable securities
legislation.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
India’s Byju’s raises $150 million to expand globally
Byju’s, India’s most valuable edtech startup, has received new $150 million as it races to expand the reach of its learning app in the country and some international markets.
Byju’s, India’s most valuable edtech startup, has received new $150
million as it races to expand the reach of its learning app in the
country and some international markets.
The unnamed financing round was led by Qatar Investment Authority
(QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, and included
participation from Owl Ventures, a leading investor in education tech
startups. This is Owl Venture’s first investment in an Indian startup. A
person familiar with the matter said the new round valued Byju’s at
$5.75 billion, up from nearly $4 billion last year.
The startup, which has raised about $925 million to date, said it
would use the fresh capital to aggressively explore and expand in
international markets. The startup has previously said it plans to enter
the U.S. and UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
Byju’s helps all school-going children understand complex subjects
through its app where tutors use real life objects such as pizza and
cake. It also prepares students who are pursuing under graduate and
graduate level courses. Over the years, Byju’s has invested in tweaking
the English accents in its app and adapted to different education
systems. It has amassed more than 35 million registered users, about 2.4
million of which are paid customers.
“Investment from prominent sovereign and pension funds validates our
strong business fundamentals. Indian ed-tech firms attracting interest
from eminent investors demonstrates that India is pioneering the digital
learning space globally,†Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO of Byju’s,
said in a statement.
In India, Byju’s competes with a handful of players, including
Bangalore-based Unacademy, which is aimed at students who are preparing
for graduation-level courses. It raised $50 million last month.
India has the largest population in the world in the age bracket of 5
to 24 years. A report by KPMG and Google in 2017 estimated that the
country’s online education market would grow to $1.96 billion of sales
by 2021.
Byju’s generated around $205 million in revenue in the fiscal year
that ended in March. It plans to increase that figure to over $430
million this year. Raveendran has stated that the startup intends to go
public in the next two to three years.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 12:00 PM on Tuesday, July 9th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
————-
Major Improvements Are Coming To Blockchain In 2020
Everyone in the enterprise world already has a blockchain strategy.
If they don’t have one now, they risk the chance of staying behind or simply missing an opportunity.
Everyone in the enterprise world already has a blockchain strategy.
If they don’t have one now, they risk the chance of staying behind or
simply missing an opportunity. For the last few years, the benefits and
correlated risks of fully adopting blockchain technology have been
estimated, analyzed, and discussed at large. One thing is clear –
despite the potential for a big upside, embracing a newly developed
technology presents numerous risks that shouldn’t be underestimated.
Blindly introducing new technology stack into an already working
production environment means exposing that environment to potentially
dangerous security breaches, hacks and data loss.
So, where we are now? Most blockchain protocols claim some level or
maturity … but are they, in fact, sufficiently mature? Are they ready
for full on-premise deployment in large-scale enterprises? Will CIOs and
other business executives enjoy the same comfort as that of the tooling
they already have? Let’s review what it takes to move a blockchain
protocol from open source to enterprise.
It’s no surprise that the largest cloud providers are also the largest drivers of the Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) model. Let’s call them Tier 1 BaaS
providers. They have already established themselves as market leaders
with large customer bases. Offering various cloud services and expanding
to blockchain seemed to be a logical and evolutional step.
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft is one of the largest players in the BaaS space. So far, it
has focused primarily on Ethereum but also offers services for running
R3’s Corda and Hyperledger Fabric networks. It has dedicated many
resources to building the Azure Blockchain Workbench and Azure Blockchain Service. Microsoft’s team is also a key founder and an active participant in the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance
(EEA) and Token Taxonomy Initiative (TTI). In addition, it has recently
joined the Hyperledger family, for which it will contribute to the code
and promise be an active member.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS and Microsoft Azure have almost equally split control of the
managed blockchain space, though your niche will determine which of
these services you use. If you are into financial services, you would
probably use Azure, but if you are into healthcare, insurance, or other
verticals, your choice is probably AWS. Recently, AWS has made publicly
available its Managed Blockchain
offering. It supports only Hyperledger Fabric for now but there are
plans to integrate Ethereum too. AWS has also invested in the
development of Amazon Quantum Ledger Database (QLDB), which is an append-only database with a cryptographically verifiable transaction log.
IBM Cloud
IBM is one of the primary maintainers of Hyperledger Fabric’s source
code and, thus, is heavily involved in providing cloud services and
product updates for it. Lately, IBM has opened its IBM Blockchain 2.0 to
be multi-cloud, which means you can run your Fabric network across
various cloud providers.
Oracle Blockchain
The Oracle blockchain platform
has based its solution only on Hyperledger Fabric, which is not ideal
but offers some neat services like enhance node provisioning, blockchain
explorer and improved security.
VMWare
VMWare clearly saw the issues that affect the current blockchain infrastructure. It is working to resolve these issues with Concord, a highly scalable and energy-efficient distributed trust infrastructure for consensus and smart contract execution.
VMWare Blockchain
VMWare
Apart from the major cloud providers, in 2018 we saw the birth of
Blockchain as a Service companies that base their products on top of
existing cloud computing platforms; let’s call them Tier 2 BaaS.
They are usually smaller, more agile startups that can push new
offerings almost every month. This makes them very good choices for a
faster go-to-market strategy. Their solutions are wide and colorful, and
they usually cover different blockchain protocols. They remain unable
to address most enterprise needs yet, but they will stay on the right
track and be an attractive option as long as the establishment doesn’t
disrupt them. The names that stand out in this category are Kaleido and Blockdaemon.
What are the enterprise needs from a blockchain perspective? Where do
we want to see improvements so that we can fully use the benefits of
decentralized ledger technology? Let’s separate the main requirements
into four categories: platform; interfaces; infrastructure and network;
and security and analytics.
Platform
Operational resilience – ability to maintain uptime and connectivity
even when some components fail, including several layers of protection
and failover strategy against data loss and corruption.
Pluggable consensus – ability to switch the consensus mechanism
depending on the requirements without rebuilding the whole network.
Broader off-chain data storage capabilities – support for encrypted data storage.
Adaptors to allow for SQL-based ledger queries, which will make the
broader developer community more comfortable working with blockchain.
Interfaces
Enterprise integrations – pre-built modules and onramps for existing enterprise systems.
Robust Oracles – ability to get real-time external data into smart contracts.Watch out for Chainlink.
Integration with GraphQL, a
Facebook-developed language that provides a powerful API to get only the
dataset you need in a single request, seamlessly combining data
sources.
Identity federation – ability to authenticate with existing identity
providers, which will facilitate faster adoption on the consortium
level.
Built-in privacy and permissioning features – for transactions, accounts, wallets, smart contracts and network participants.
Infrastructure and Network
Ability to maintain peak performance at the network level – managing
and operating hundreds of thousands of nodes while maintaining low
latency and facilitating hundreds of thousands of transactions with
guaranteed finality.
Ability to scale and reduce network size on demand – auto-scale a network by adding/removing more validators or orderers.
DevOps tools to make integration with existing IT systems easier and to make CI/CD build processes faster and seamless.
Support for cross-network interoperability and cross-blockchain atomic swaps.
Governance framework with an established and pre-determined
transparent structure, rules of participation, a funding model, and
financial incentives.
Enhanced Security and Analytics
Detailed privacy controls over data, smart contract execution, and transaction visibility.
Improved network monitoring with enhanced contextual meaning of the transactions, ability to troubleshoot on-chain events.
SLA monitoring with backward compatibility of upgrades.
Warehousing transaction history data, combining them with other
off-chain data sources and making them available for BI reporting tools
and other interactive dashboards.
As discussed, the blockchain technology stack has a long way to go
before it will be mature enough for mainstream enterprise adoption. This
is a completely normal process, as software developers and business
leaders transition their mindsets from the currently siloed and
centralized infrastructure to the distributed ledger networks. Luckily,
we are at the forefront of this technological revolution and have the
chance to contribute to what, one day, will be the norm.
