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<ul><li>Twitter India’s former head Manish Maheshwari and Microsoft’s former executive Tanay Pratap founded <keyword id="13123458" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="invact-metaversity" source="Orion">Invact Metaversity</keyword> in December 2021.</li><li>CEO Maheshwari also acknowledged that both the founders had differences over the vision of the company.</li><li>The company is currently looking for different modes to run this company, either by returning investors’ money or letting one founder take over.</li></ul>Twitter India’s former head Manish Maheshwari and Microsoft’s former executive Tanay Pratap are considering winding down their latest venture <keyword id="13124758" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="invact" source="Orion">Invact</keyword> <keyword id="13221960" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="metaversity" source="Orion">Metaversity</keyword> — a higher education platform set up in the <keyword id="11121339" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="metaverse" source="Orion">metaverse</keyword> — within six months of its launch. Its CEO Maheshwari made this announcement in a series of tweets on May 23, 2022. Maheshwari also acknowledged that both the founders had differences over the vision of the company. The company is currently exploring multiple operational structures including cutting cash burn, pivoting to another model, letting one founder takeover or even returning unspent capital back to its investors. “We are now standing at crossroads exploring possibilities such as (a) cutting the burn rate and pivoting to another idea, (b) letting one of the founders take full charge, or (c) returning the unspent capital to investors,” he added. Invact Metaversity was founded in December 2021 and announced its first funding round of $5 million earlier in February 2022. It was backed by Future Group’s Kishore Biyani, Infosys’ former executive TV Mohandas Pai, and over 70 top global leaders and founders. <div type="twitter" handle="manishm" handlename="Manish Maheshwari" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1471936160515588099/EC8yVNmi_normal.jpg" favoritecount="36" retweetcount="0" status="As we started testing the early version of the Metaversity platform with students, it became apparent to us that th… https://t.co/7AwOQEbk21" createdat="1653291547000" id="1528641659587932160"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How did it work?" comment="subhead" text="How did it work?">How did it work?</cmsannotation> Invact Metaversity wanted to launch classes in the metaverse for students planning to get higher education. It was looking to launch its first metaverse education experience with a special four month business foundation MBA course for 60 students. The company launched its first cohort a few days back, and has now decided to return any fee paid by the student. As per the plan, students would have the option to attend the classes through their desktops and mobiles or have the real experience with the help of virtual reality (VR) headsets. Read More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/former-twitter-and-microsoft-execs-are-bringing-metaverse-to-online-education/articleshow/89455454.cms">INTERVIEW: Former Twitter and Microsoft execs building a classroom on the metaverse explain what it would look and feel like</a> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The vision of Invact Metaversity" comment="subhead" text="The vision of Invact Metaversity">The vision of Invact Metaversity</cmsannotation> Tanay Pratap, founder and chief technology officer (CTO) of Invact Metaversity, in a previous conversation with Business Insider said that the company is trying to solve two problems. First, make online education or remote learning a much more interesting prospect for the students. Secondly, ensure that the course completion rate increases in the online space. “I think those [Coursera, SkillShare, edX and Udemy and others] are like dinosaurs right now. And in ten years [of launch], the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknewton/2020/06/21/the-depressing-and-disheartening-news-about-moocs/?sh=6f48c9c976ed">outcome in course completion is less</a> than 10%. It just shows that even though the business model [of these companies] is working somehow, the end user's product is not working. If you sign up for a course, you need to complete it. Why would one out of ten people complete it,” Pratap added. He noted that platforms like Coursera, SkillShare and others will go “extinct” in some time as the new mode of learning in the metaversity takes over. Pratap also noted that the education system is only good for the top 1% of the population, the rest end up spending too much capital and time on subpar colleges for degrees that do not fetch good opportunities. The company’s vision was to offer hands-on training in the metaverse at cheaper cost so that students don’t miss out on the experience of attending offline classes and build a skillset to get better opportunities. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/paytm-market-value-macquarie-icici-securities-goldman-sachs-split-over-target-price/articleshow/91738520.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Top brokerages split over Paytm — Macquarie sees Paytm at ₹450, ICICI Securities at ₹1,285</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/thunderstorms-rain-bring-down-homes-and-power-supplies-along-with-temperatures-in-north-india/articleshow/91735531.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Thunderstorms, rain bring down homes and power supplies along with temperatures in North India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/billionaire-wealth-rose-more-in-2-years-than-in-the-last-23-years-combined/articleshow/91734674.cms">Billionaire wealth rose more in 2 years than in the last 23 years combined</a>

Former Twitter India head is looking to wind down his metaverse college in less than six months

<ul><li><keyword id="13123458" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="invact-metaversity" source="Orion">Invact Metaversity</keyword> is a higher education edtech company set up in the metaverse.</li><li>It has raised $5 million in February 2022 from 70 top global leaders, including Future Group’s Kishore Biyani.</li><li>CEO Maheshwari previously acknowledged that both the founders had differences over the vision of the company.</li></ul><keyword id="1546480" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manish-maheshwari" source="Orion">Manish Maheshwari</keyword> — former Twitter India head — has resigned from his latest venture Invact Metaversity, a higher education edtech company set up in the metaverse. He announced the news of his exit from this venture on Twitter on Friday evening, days after the feud broke out in the open. <keyword id="12741314" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tanay-pratap" source="Orion">Tanay Pratap</keyword>, the co-founder and chief technology officer, will be the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Invact Metaversity. Maheshwari founded Invact Metaversity along with former Microsoft executive Pratap in December 2021. The company has raised $5 million in February 2022 from 70 top global leaders and founders, including Future Group’s Kishore Biyani, and Infosys’ former executive Mohandas Pai. <div type="image" title="Former Twitter India head quits his latest metaverse edtech venture" msid="91838299" hostid="261"></div> The six-months-old company has been undergoing a lot of internal issues for quite some time. Earlier this week, Maheshwari announced that he is considering winding down Invact Metaversity due to several reasons. He also acknowledged the differences he had with the co-founder Pratap over the vision of the company. “We are now standing at [a] crossroads exploring possibilities such as (a) cutting the burn rate and pivoting to another idea, (b) letting one of the founders take full charge, or (c) returning the unspent capital to investors,” Maheshwari noted in a series of tweets. The ongoing troubles took a dramatic turn when one of the angel investors <keyword id="14025441" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gergely-orosz" source="Orion">Gergely Orosz</keyword>, a software engineer and an author, accused Maheshwari of lying and bullying. Orosz, in an email to investors, noted that Maheshwari had earlier said he would leave the company but has now gone back on his words. He also accused Maheshwari of wanting ‘more equity than vested’. “Manish has been bullying Tanay [Pratap, co-founder and CTO of Invact] into silence, threatening to use the company funds of $1.7 million – including our angel investment money – to sue him, should Tanay speak ill of him in public. This broke the straw with me, as that includes my money: which I never invested to be used as an instrument of a co-founder bullying the other one,” Orosz said in the email accessed by Business Insider. Read More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/invact-metaversity-saga-takes-a-dramatic-turn-after-angel-investor-blames-former-twitter-india-head-of-bullying-lying-read-the-full-email/articleshow/91832939.cms">Invact Metaversity saga takes a dramatic turn after angel investor blames former Twitter India head of bullying, lying — read the full email</a> Invact Metaversity wanted to launch classes in the metaverse for students planning to get higher education. It planned to offer its first metaverse education experience with a special four-month-long business foundation MBA course for 60 students. The company launched its first cohort a few days back, but decided to return any fee paid by the student when the troubles started brewing. As per the plan, students would have the option to attend the classes through their desktops and mobiles or have the real experience with the help of virtual reality (VR) headsets. Read More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/former-twitter-and-microsoft-execs-are-bringing-metaverse-to-online-education/articleshow/89455454.cms">INTERVIEW: Former Twitter and Microsoft execs building a classroom on the metaverse explain what it would look and feel like </a> SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/pradeep-phosphates-ipo-lists-at-premium/articleshow/91826685.cms">Paradeep Phosphates lists at a 9% premium as Sensex and Nifty trade in the green</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/the-edtech-bubble-is-bursting-as-schools-colleges-reopen-and-funds-dry-up/articleshow/91826696.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">The edtech bubble is bursting as schools, colleges reopen and funds dry up</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/it-jobs-are-safer-than-startup-jobs-but-a-salary-bubble-burst-awaits-them/articleshow/91808349.cms">IT jobs are safer than startup jobs but a salary bubble burst awaits them</a>

Former Twitter India head quits his latest metaverse edtech venture

<ul><li>Angel investor <keyword id="14025441" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gergely-orosz" source="Orion">Gergely Orosz</keyword> alleged that <keyword id="1546480" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manish-maheshwari" source="Orion">Manish Maheshwari</keyword> had earlier said he would leave the company but has now gone back on his word.</li><li>He also accused the former Twitter India head of bullying co-founder <keyword id="12741314" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tanay-pratap" source="Orion">Tanay Pratap</keyword> by threatening to sue him using the company's funds.</li><li>The company had already raised $5 million from 70 top global leaders, including Future Group’s Kishore Biyani, Infosys’ former executive TV Mohandas Pai.</li></ul>The ongoing troubles of Invact Metaverse took a dramatic turn after one of the angel investors accused the co-founder Manish Maheshwari, former Twitter India head, of lying and bullying. The angel investor Gergely Orosz, a software engineer and an author, wrote an email to investors of the company alleging that Maheshwari had earlier said he would leave the company but has now gone back on his word. He also accused Maheshwari of wanting ‘more equity than vested’. “Manish has been bullying Tanay [Pratap, co-founder and CTO of Invact] into silence, threatening to use the company funds of $1.7M - including our angel investment money - to sue him, should Tanay speak ill of him in public. This broke the straw with me, as that includes my money: which I never invested to be used as an instrument of a co-founder bullying the other one,” Orosz said in the email accessed by Business Insider. Earlier this week, Maheshwari announced that he is considering winding down his latest venture <keyword id="13123458" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="invact-metaversity" source="Orion">Invact Metaversity</keyword> — a higher education platform set up in the metaverse — barely six months of its launch. He also acknowledged the differences he had with the other co-founder Tanay Pratap, former Microsoft executive, over the vision of the company. “We are now standing at crossroads exploring possibilities such as (a) cutting the burn rate and pivoting to another idea, (b) letting one of the founders take full charge, or (c) returning the unspent capital to investors,” Maheshwari noted. The company had already raised $5 million from 70 top global leaders and founders, including Future Group’s Kishore Biyani, Infosys’ former executive Mohandas Pai. Orosz was one of the earliest investors in the company. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Here is the copy of the email" comment="subhead" text="Here is the copy of the email">Here is the copy of the email</cmsannotation> Fellow angel investors in Invact Metaversity, I am writing to you to share a sad situation and ongoing struggle with Manish Maheshwari, co-founder and CEO of Invact. As context, I am an angel investor in the company and someone who has known its co-founder, Tanay, for some time. I invested in the company because of Tanay's track record on building products, for teaching hundreds of students, and his high level of integrity. Some more details about me. After receiving Tanay's email titled "IMPORTANT: Disclosure of Invact Inc's current status. For Angel Investors of Invact Inc."on Sunday, 22nd May, I became worried about the company, and my investment. I got involved talking with both co-founders.” Tanay immediately responded and outlined the situation. Manish gave no details, no updates. He updated his LinkedIn and Twitter, sharing a story of the product failing - which I confirmed as not true - before emailing us, angels the same text. I talked with employees and Tanay, and learned a few unsettling things: <ul><li>Manish lied to his team. He polled the team at Invact what the best next steps for the company should be on 29th April. The team suggested he leave, Tanay take over. Manish agreed he will do this. However, later walked back on his agreement. He told the team his principles don't allow him to step down.</li></ul><ul><li>Manish has been bullying Tanay into silence, threatening to use the company funds of $1.7M - including our angel investment money - to sue him, should Tanay speak ill of him in public. This broke the straw with me, as that includes my money: which I never invested to be used as an instrument of a cofounder bullying the other one.</li></ul><ul><li>Manish keeps walking back on promises he made to named investors, then breaking them. Named investors were meeting the terms he put up to accept the exit settlement so the company can continue operating. He then walks back on these terms. He has been doing this for weeks. He blames this on his la</li></ul>The situation of the company is this from what I observed: <ul><li> All employees have full trust in Tanay to take on the company and build their product that is impressive, given only four months of development. Internally, Manish praised the product, and the progress to the team, as I confirmed talking with employees. The team was shocked that Manish talked down their product in public, as he was preparing his exit.</li><li>No current employees trust Manish to stay. They feel he has misled them too many times. I have talked with most of them to confirm this is the case.</li></ul><ul><li>Named investors support Manish leaving the company on fair terms, and Tanay and team continuing to execute.</li><li>Manish is keeping the company hostage. He controls the majority of votes and is refusing to sign agreements which he confirmed he would sign to leave. Named investors and employees all want him to leave, taking fair terms. In a strange way, everyone's hands are tied until he steps down.</li></ul>I decided to step in to see if I can resolve conflicts, using my public presence to get Manish to agree to a call. Manish took a call with me to address the situation, where he lied to me, and walked back on our agreement shortly after. On this call - that I have recorded, fearing what would happen on Manish denying his words. Manish said that the only thing keeping him from taking the buyout offer is if he gets to keep his vested shares. He said he does not want anything else: no cash, no nothing else. I agreed to both remove my public mentions of him, and to help make this happen on the condition that he signs. The named investors updated the contract. I removed all public mentions. I kept my side of the deal. Manish then refused to sign and walked back on all we agreed on. He now asks for more equity than he vested, a significant amount of cash - which he told me he would never do - and a board seat. I have since learned Manish uses this tactic of agreeing, then walking back on his co-founder, the employees and the investors. I am lost for words, and shocked at how the former Head of Twitter India does not honour his promises, and how he is only looking out for his own, personal interests. His actions are hurting investors - he wants to take our cash for himself - it's hurting employees, and hurting future customers. We are here: negotiations are frozen between named investors, after Manish walking back on an offer said would be good enough for him. The named investors are weighing the interest of the company, employees, investors and have offered a package that is more than fair, given the situation. We are all waiting on Manish to act like a professional does: keep his word, and sign a deal he agreed he would sign. I ask you to do at least one of this: <ul><li>Call Manish and ask him to act reasonably. Take the offered fair package that he has told me several times, in person, that he is happy with: his vested shares and nothing else. He has an agreement ready to sign. He has lost all support from his employees, misrepresented the value of the company, and is misleading named investors. Still, he asks for more shares than vested, cash - which the company needs - and a board seat to leave? All after confirming he will not ask for any of this? One that I have proof of that he said so.</li><li>Call Tanay and offer him support. Tanay is not talking with anyone in public, fearing Manish suing him using our investor money, and bullying him emotionally. No one should have to go through this, not from their fellow co-founder. Not if that co-founder has a reputation like Manish had until now.</li><li>Talk to names investors if you need more clarity. The named investors are fully behind Tanay, and are also in shock at how unprofessional Manish is acting. Contact details for named investors are:</li></ul>Hiran Embuldeniya , Nitin Sharma , Rajiv Srivatsa , Rahul Chandra I will close with this quote: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” I trust that I have updated you on the situation sufficiently - even if the CEO of the company and the one controlling - and holding it hostage as we speak - has failed to do so. Best, Gergely SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/pradeep-phosphates-ipo-lists-at-premium/articleshow/91826685.cms">Paradeep Phosphates lists at a 9% premium as Sensex and Nifty trade in the green</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/the-edtech-bubble-is-bursting-as-schools-colleges-reopen-and-funds-dry-up/articleshow/91826696.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">The edtech bubble is bursting as schools, colleges reopen and funds dry up</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/it-jobs-are-safer-than-startup-jobs-but-a-salary-bubble-burst-awaits-them/articleshow/91808349.cms">IT jobs are safer than startup jobs but a salary bubble burst awaits them</a>

Invact Metaversity saga takes a dramatic turn after angel investor blames former Twitter India head of bullying, lying — read the full email

<ul><li>Invact Metaversity raised its first round of funding at a valuation of $33 million in less than 3 months of launch.</li><li>They are trying to run a 3D immersive virtual learning platform that allows students to attend online classes as animated avatars.</li><li>The company will be designing their own course structures in order to further enhance the online learning experience.</li></ul><keyword id="11121339" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="metaverse" source="Orion">Metaverse</keyword> has become the new buzzword of the global technology ecosystem, and even Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg is<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/facebook-meta-microsoft-epic-games-and-others-companies-building-the-metaverse/articleshow/87663969.cms"> betting high</a> on it. Metaverse is a term used to describe a virtual space within a digital environment such as online games, social media and virtual reality. Create avatars, set up a second life, interact with strangers and friends — just like one would do in real life. While there are those working on creating virtual restaurants and dating experiences, Twitter India’s former head Manish Maheshwari and Microsoft’s former executive Tanay Pratap are trying to create virtual classrooms with their latest venture Invact Metaversity. Earlier this week, over 70 top global leaders and founders — including Future Group’s Kishore Biyani and Infosys’ former executive TV Mohandas Pai — decided to<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/future-groups-kishore-biyani-mohandas-pai-and-68-others-invest-in-former-twitter-india-heads-latest-startup/articleshow/89403045.cms"> accord a $33 million valuation</a> to the company, Invact Metaversity, that was barely started three months ago. The company is now looking to launch its first <keyword id="13137985" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="metaverse-education" source="Orion">metaverse education</keyword> experience with a special four month business foundation MBA course for 60 students. Students will have the option to attend the classes through their desktops and mobiles or have the real experience with the help of virtual reality (VR) headsets. Here’s how it will work The first and the simpler option is that students can simply use their laptops or mobile phones to attend these metaverse classes. It would be like playing Second Life or the simulation game Sims. The second one is where one uses a VR headset to be in the actual setting — sitting in the classroom, having friendly conversations, interacting with avatars and having a teacher teaching in front of them. The company’s investors have also experienced the VR aspect of this method of online learning before investing. In both the settings, the only aspect that changes is the mode of usage, but the access to canteens, libraries and other aspects would still be the same, the company’s cofounder and chief technology officer Tanay Pratap told Business Insider. “In the world we are building, you can have the fully immersive experience with the VR device, and it will work on laptop and desktop as well with the clicking and cursor movement,” he added. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“Today, on a Zoom call you are in a box. You look left, you look right, you feel alone. Contrast this with a class in metaversity, teacher is front, you have peers around you. We will bring back the light jokes and humour of the class through spatial audio… When students would study together in the virtual world, there would be better exchange of ideas.”" auname="Tanay Pratap, cofounder and chief technology officer (CTO) of Invact Metaversity"></div> Though the company has no long-term plans to provide the VR headsets to students yet, they may do so for the first batch to test to experience. The company believes that VR headsets will be more common and cheap as smartphones in the coming years. As far as the business is concerned, Invast Metaversity plans to add more courses and expand its business offering in the coming months. The course structure would be designed in-house by team members and even creators, educational institutions and companies would have to create their courses on the platform. ‘Coursera and SkillShare are dinosaurs, will go extinct’ The company is trying to solve two problems. First, make online education or remote learning a much more interesting prospect for the students. Secondly, ensure that the course completion rate increases in the online space. “I think those [Coursera, SkillShare, edX and Udemy and others] are like dinosaurs right now. And in ten years [of launch], the<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknewton/2020/06/21/the-depressing-and-disheartening-news-about-moocs/?sh=6f48c9c976ed"> outcome in course completion is less</a> than 10%. It just shows that even though the business model [of these companies] is working somehow, the end user's product is not working. If you sign up for a course, you need to complete it. Why would one out of ten people complete it,” Pratap added. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“These [Coursera, SkillShare and others] are just competitions [sic] that will go extinct in some time when this new way of learning and the whole college experience emerges in the metaversity.”" auname="Tanay Pratap, CTO of Invact Metaversity"></div> He believes that the model they are operating in would allow the students to have peers and community, which will drive accountability that will push others to complete it. “The community-based course and the whole cohort experience would drive accountability and course experience,” he emphasised. ‘We want to prevent students from over spending on sub-par education’ “In the education piece [sic] we have not seen a disruption. Education is still the same. It’s still exams, it’s still rot learning, it’s still very dry. If it’s [education] is good, it’s good only for the top 1% of the world,” he said, adding that they want to democratize education and enable students to get better learning opportunities without giving up on the real experience. Citing an example of an MBA course, he noted that the course on their platform is for $2,500 compared to the usual tuition fee of $50,000-80,000 charged by universities abroad. He said it’s not about replacing all education with a digital one, but more about replacing sub-par education experience with a more hands-on learning experience digitally. Pratap said, “In the 1980s or 1990s, if somebody asked what the internet was, nobody would have predicted that the internet would be this thing wherein we’ll do voice, video or all our work would be online. Somebody would have predicted, people would have thought that they might be joking. That’s how will it [metaverse] evolve.” SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/bharti-airtel-vedanta-irctc-among-top-stocks-to-watch-out-on-february-9/slidelist/89444055.cms" style="">Bharti Airtel, Vedanta, IRCTC among top stocks to watch out on February 9</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/avalanche-price-rises-as-bitcoin-ethereum-and-other-cryptocurrencies-fall/slidelist/89443437.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" style="">Crypto relief rally ends but Avalanche is still keeping its head above water</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/inox-green-energy-will-be-using-7-out-of-10-from-the-ipo-to-repay-its-debts/articleshow/89439043.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" style="">Inox Green Energy will be using ₹7 out of ₹10 from the IPO to repay its debts</a>

INTERVIEW: Former Twitter and Microsoft execs building a classroom on the metaverse explain what it would look and feel like

<ul><li>The undisclosed amount was raised at a valuation of $33 million by diluting less than 15% equity.</li><li>The list also includes entrepreneurs from startups like Zerodha, Razorpay, Snapdeal, CARS24, and others.</li><li>The company plans to use this capital to hire engineers, illustrators and 3D designers.</li></ul>Edtech startup Invact Metaversity — a startup founded by former <keyword id="749437" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="twitter-india" source="Orion">Twitter India</keyword> head <keyword id="1546480" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manish-maheshwari" source="Orion">Manish Maheshwari</keyword> — has raised its first round of funding from Future Group’s <keyword id="44950" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kishore-biyani" source="Orion">Kishore Biyani</keyword>, former Infosys director TV <keyword id="6491998" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mohandas-pai" source="Orion">Mohandas Pai</keyword> and others. The undisclosed amount was raised at a valuation of $33 million by diluting less than 15% equity. Innov8 founder Ritesh Malik, former Facebook managing director Kirthiga Reddy and leaders from global companies like Microsoft, Coinbase, Google, Uber, Amazon, Spotify, Softbank, LinkedIn, Disney, Meta, Coinbase and Twitter participated in the round. Overall, 70 global entrepreneurs participated in the round, the company has revealed. The list also includes entrepreneurs from top startups like Zilingo, Zerodha, Razorpay, Sheroes, Snapdeal, Koo, CARS24, Bounce, Leap Finance, Suki, and others. Invact Metaversity was founded in the second half of 2021 by Manish Maheshwari and former Microsoft executive <keyword id="12741314" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tanay-pratap" source="Orion">Tanay Pratap</keyword>. It runs a 3D immersive virtual learning platform, which allows students to communicate with one another and their teachers via animated avatars regardless of their physical location. “With virtual lives playing an equally important role as physical realities, the idea of Metaverse would dominate all aspects of living,” Invact Metaversity said in a statement. The company plans to use this capital to hire engineers, illustrators and 3D designers. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/macquarie-slashes-paytms-target-price-to-700-goldman-sachs-upgrades-it/articleshow/89401105.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Macquarie slashes Paytm’s target price to ₹700, Goldman Sachs upgrades it</a> <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-steels-stock-on-a-gaining-spree-led-by-doubling-profits-huge-debt-reduction-and-hopes-from-the-union-budget/articleshow/89398818.cms">Tata Steel is on a gaining spree. Thanks to doubling profits, huge debt reduction, and hopes from the union budget</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/nhpc-is-hiring-133-engineers-with-minimum-salary-29600-check-out-eligibility-criteria/articleshow/89398415.cms">NHPC is hiring 133 engineers with a maximum salary of ₹1,19,500 – Checkout eligibility, last date and other details</a>

Future Group’s Kishore Biyani, Mohandas Pai and 68 others invest in former Twitter India head’s latest startup

A significant measure of the level of entrepreneurial spirit in a country can be gained from the enthusiasm and zeal with which its early stage founders are solving real world problems. BITS Pilani is a university acclaimed for its booming startup culture and BITS alums at the helm of behemoths of the Indian startup ecosystem such as Swiggy, redBus, Groww, and Postman among others are a testament to the entrepreneurial energy of this institute. At the centre of this energy lies <a href="https://conquest.org.in/">Conquest</a>, a full-fledged startup accelerator inspired by the likes of Y Combinator and Sequoia’s surge. Run entirely by a driven group of 30 students from BITS Pilani motivated by the sole purpose of creating value for startups that come to <keyword id="2321288" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="conquest" source="Orion">Conquest</keyword>. Started in 2004, as a simple B-Plan competition, the ambition of the team behind Conquest continued to grow as they realised they have the potential to make a much deeper impact on the ecosystem- they pivoted first into an entrepreneurship conclave and finally into a startup accelerator in 2018. Just over the last five years Conquest alums have added significant value such as <a href="https://twitter.com/ConquestBITS/status/1478783724900663296?s=20&amp;t=hsxMvVYdhKfNAMBbRkGKkQ">ThinkerBell Labs</a> raising over Rs. 1.05 crores at Shark Tank India, Social Cops which was acclaimed by the Prime Minister in Mann Ki Baat, and Ippopay which was funded by Coinbase Ventures among others. <div type="image" title="Conquest" msid="90704080" hostid="261"></div> Even though the number of E-cells in the country has grown exponentially over the past decade, Conquest remains a unique endeavour with far reaching effects on the Indian ecosystem. The students involved inevitably end up becoming towering figures with the founders of GreyOrange - valued at over $500 Mn, Visit Health - an AI driven health diagnostic chatbot, and BiteSpeed - raised $1.9 Mn in seed funding having been a part of the accelerator at the beginning of their careers. This year’s Conquest Launch Event was an example of the ever growing scale of the program with stalwarts of Indian entrepreneurship sharing novel insights from their journeys. Ritesh Malik, the founder of Innov8 was the keynote speaker this year and spoke about the mental models that early stage teams should follow to maximise their chances of success. Being a flagbearer of innovation himself, he placed special emphasis on the power of compounding and making your product 1% better everyday. Describing his ideal founder he said, “Best founders create opportunities from their own problems. Change is the highest ROI business.” <div type="image" title="Conquest launch" msid="90704110" hostid="261"></div> Deepak Ramineedhi from Westbridge Capital as the Guest of Honour explained how with one of the largest consumer internet bases in the world, India is probably one of the best places to startup stating- “This is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity for young people to startup. If you want to start a business you will not find a better geography or time to start tech enabled businesses across sectors.” With a dynamic team, Conquest aims to continuously reinvent itself to adapt to the ever evolving ecosystem. With its fast expanding community of crypto enthusiasts, Conquest believes that India is poised to be at the centre of the technological revolution this time around. With the vision to fuel this revolution, Conquest has conceptualised a web3 track which will be a program exclusively for startups in the crypto metaverse and DeFi space. Since this is the inaugural edition for this track, Conquest hosted a <a href="https://twitter.com/ConquestBITS/status/1510469452621824001?s=20&amp;t=hsxMvVYdhKfNAMBbRkGKkQ">panel discussion</a> where thought leaders in these domains including the likes of Sandeep Nailwal, the Co-founder of Polygon, Akshay BD from Tanmay Bhat’s SuperteamDAO, Tanay Pratap, Co-founder and CTO of Invact Metaversity and <keyword id="13566661" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vijay-kalangi" source="Orion">Vijay Kalangi</keyword>, the Co-founder of SolRazr got together to have an in depth conversation about bringing web3 to the next billion users. Akshay BD drew parallels about the hype surrounding crypto and web3 with that of social media in the last decade highlighting how even now it is a highly underrated phenomenon since it played a part in electing an American President. Sandeep in particular was highly optimistic about web3 stating “My advice would be with folded hands that even if you don’t understand web3 right now, do not miss this revolution. You might think many of these things are a scam and some of these things are but this is going to be a big part of your life for many years to come. Just keep learning. Keep learning and you’ll have your aha moment”. <div type="image" title="Conquest launch" msid="90704153" hostid="261"></div> Being an accelerator, Conquest understands the high octane nature of the startup world and how this continuously reshapes its role. To <a href="https://twitter.com/ConquestBITS/status/1510329556510867456?s=20&amp;t=hsxMvVYdhKfNAMBbRkGKkQ">discuss</a> how the accelerator model has been refined over the years and how it continues to be one of the most important programs for early stage ventures, Conquest hosted Arnav Sahu from Y Combinator, Rahul Seth from Antler India and Chintan Bakshi from CIIE. The ideas shared gave a layered understanding of the minds behind these programs. The ambitions of the Indian startup ecosystem grew so expeditiously that a huge gap of knowledge and capital was created between founders with great ideas and industry leaders with decades of experience and knowledge. Conquest aims to bridge this gap by bringing some of the most promising founders of this generation in close contact with investors, mentors and experts. Among the 3000+ registered startups, the top 100 startups are selected after careful consideration by a jury of industry experts. They are then provided with startup tool kit that includes valuable resources like SaaS product memberships which help them to further groom and scale themselves. The top 30 startups then get one-on-one mentoring sessions where they gather insights from some of the accomplished names from different walks of the startup ecosystem. These include the likes of Mahesh <keyword id="13566662" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vandi-chalil" source="Orion">Vandi Chalil</keyword> (Head of Technology, BookMyShow), Arjun Nohwar (Country GM, HBO Max), Anirvan Chowdhury (Investments, Blume Ventures), <keyword id="13566663" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="zeenal-patel" source="Orion">Zeenal Patel</keyword> (AVP &amp; Product Design, AJIO.com). Funneling down further, Conquest provides the top 15 most promising startups with an exhaustive 6-week long online mentorship. Alongside the sector and vertical specific mentorship, we also host competitive pitching sessions and organize AMAs and fireside chats with some of the most prominent names in the industry like <a href="https://twitter.com/ConquestBITS/status/1410218767758462980?s=20&amp;t=hsxMvVYdhKfNAMBbRkGKkQ">Ankur Warikoo from Nearbuy</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/ConquestBITS/status/1416404422897242114?s=20&amp;t=hsxMvVYdhKfNAMBbRkGKkQ">Awais Ahmed from Pixxel</a>. <div type="image" title="Conquest launch" msid="90704180" hostid="261"></div> In the Grand Finale, the top 10 startups from these 15 undergo an all-expenses-paid 10-day accelerator program in the country’s tech capital, Bengaluru, where they receive direct mentorship and attend sessions on vital topics like networking and fundraising. The six weeks of Conquest finally culminate with the Demo Day which is similar to what Shark Tank India made popular through our television sets. It is indeed astonishing to know that Conquest has been hosting this Demo Day where founders pitch their startups to reputed angel investors and a jury for the last five years, long before Shark Tank India came into existence! The Demo Day comprises keynote speeches and panel discussions with big names like <a href="https://twitter.com/ConquestBITS/status/1421127675284914180?s=20&amp;t=hsxMvVYdhKfNAMBbRkGKkQ">Shradha Sharma</a>, Sanjay Nath, and <keyword id="295255" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sanjeev-bikhchandani" source="Orion">Sanjeev Bikhchandani</keyword> just to name a few. The winner of Conquest is then granted an equity-less cash prize. Over the last 2 years even in a Covid impacted capital market, Conquest disbursed over 60 lacs to winning startups. Registrations for the 18th edition of Conquest have now kicked off. To register click <a href="https://form.jotform.com/220931435484456">here</a>. <div type="image" title="Conquest launch" msid="90704225" hostid="261"></div> Disclaimer: Business Insider is the Exclusive Insights Partner to the event

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Former Twitter India head is looking to wind down his metaverse college in less than six months

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Former Twitter India head quits his latest metaverse edtech venture

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Invact Metaversity saga takes a dramatic turn after angel investor blames former Twitter India head of bullying, lying — read the full email

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Future Group’s Kishore Biyani, Mohandas Pai and 68 others invest in former Twitter India head’s latest startup

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India's largest student-run startup accelerator: Conquest, BITS Pilani launches its 18th edition. Registrations open.

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