| July 3, 2022 |  | | Hello Reader,
Internet's favourite celebrity is back. After nine days of silence, Elon Musk has resurfaced on Twitter—with a photo with the Pope.
If you are curious why he met the Pontifex Maximus, get in line. Neither where nor why Musk met the Pope has been revealed yet.
In other news, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise has entered the OTT market, with what it calls the "world's first fintech sitcom". Released in partnership with NVIDIA, it is called Get Ahead and the first episode has just dropped.
Guess Netflix's Stranger Things isn't the only show grabbing eyeballs this weekend.
In today's newsletter, we will talk about -
MoEngage: What led to it? -
Upskill now and pay later -
Real estate in the metaverse Here's your trivia for today: How much money did people lose in Charles Ponzi's scheme in the 1920s? | | | | Turning Point | | MoEngage: What led to it? |  | | In 2014, Raviteja Dodda and Yashwanth Kumar launched MoEngage, an insights-led customer engagement platform that works on a customer-centric approach and enables personalisation at scale across mobile, email, web, SMS, and messaging channels using AI and in-built analytics.
"When MoEngage started, we had only one guiding light—to build the world's most trusted customer engagement platform," Raviteja, CEO of MoEngage, told YourStory.
Starting up: - In the last 12 months, the Bengaluru-based startup has raised three rounds—$32.5 million in July, $30 million in December, and in its latest, $77 million last month.
- It has over 1,200 customers and nine offices across 35 countries. Some of its clients include Samsung, Vodafone, Sharechat, Roposo, Ola, OYO, and Bigbasket.
- In the coming months, it plans to deepen its geographic footprint in the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and expand to new markets like Latin America and Australia.
| | Read More | | | | | | Edtech | | Upskill now and pay later |  | | The pay-after-placement model is seeing some traction in India, especially when it comes to upskilling. After all, Statista predicts that India's upskilling edtech industry will be worth $0.73 billion by 2025.
Capitalising on this growing need for upskilling combined with a focus on placement, serial entrepreneurs Bharat Gupta and Pritesh Kumar launched FunctionUp in 2021. The aim was to bridge the gap between college education and the skills required for a job—with a pay-after-placement business model.
Get upskilled: -
FunctionUp has launched nine cohorts, and students from three cohorts have already graduated. -
Nearly 75 percent of its students are placed right after the course ends, 20 percent within three months, and the remaining 5 percent within a year of course completion. -
It signs an Income-Share Agreement (ISA) with its students, where they pay 17 percent of their monthly salary to FunctionUp for 36 months.
"We are closely connected to the industry. We know what skills are required in the industry and in an entry-level job. We are confident in our programme so we do not charge upfront. We only charge fees after getting the students placed," said Bharat.
| | Read More | | | | | | Metaverse | | Real estate in the metaverse |  | | There's real estate in the metaverse and you can buy it. According to Technavio, the global metaverse real estate market will grow at a CAGR of 61.7 percent to $5.37 billion between 2021-26.
Replicating real-world situations, the virtual ecosystem integrates technologies, including augmented reality, virtual reality, etc., to create a digital realm where users can engage, play, and converse the way they do IRL.
Who's doing what: -
London-based Metamall allows users to explore, build, and trade in its virtual mall, and use its native token MALL to own virtual real estate. -
Singapore-based FiEx, under its project District Rubicon, lets users build and manage virtual real estate. -
In March 2022, pop singer Daler Mehndi bought virtual land in Hyderabad-based PartyNite's metaverse and named it the 'Balle Balle Land." | | Read More | | | | | | News & Updates | | | -
Lighter purses: The world's 10 richest people suffered a $250 billion fall in their net worth this year. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires' Index, those on the list have become less wealthy due to the fall in US stock markets in 2022. -
Throwback: Forty-three years ago, the Sony Walkman went on sale for the very first time. The personal cassette player was greeted as a revolution—now people could listen to the music of their choice, privately and on the go. -
No coiner: EU officials agreed on rules that would regulate the crypto market in the bloc, forcing platforms to seek authorisation to operate and providing safeguards to users. The agreement still needs to go through Brussels' complex legal process and might not kick in until 2024. | | | | What do we have for you? | | |  | | How can incubators build accountability, structure, and scale into their operations, and what are the key elements to keep in mind while managing a large incubator? Seth Hauben, VP, and Head, Business Development, OneValley, decodes all this and more. To know more about OneValley, click here. | | Watch Here |  | | Did you know that the global creator economy is worth over $100 billion, and fueled by more than 50 million creators? Watch this episode of #ScaleUpIndia Roundtable for insights and first-hand perspectives of India's fascinating digital entertainment space featuring (TAG People), in conversation with YourStory's Shradha Sharma. #YourStoryxPayU
Know more | | Read More |  | | Most early-stage startups often struggle with customer engagement and retention. In a new Netcore Cloud webinar 'Up your retention and engagement game' three successful startup founders share their valuable insights and experiences. Catch the highlights, here. | | Read more | | | | | | | How much money did people lose in Charles Ponzi's scheme in the 1920s? | | Answer: $20 million in 1920 (approximately $199 million in 2021 dollars) | | | | We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail editorial@yourstory.com .
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