TCS CEO says prospects remain strong; Elon Musk seeks to end Twitter deal; String Bio raises Series B funding

Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services, said on Friday the company continues to see strong deal prospects ahead, amid a global economic slowdown, as customers continue to invest in technology. Elon Musk wants to walk away from his proposed $44 billion Twitter deal. And Bengaluru biotech startup String Bio has raised more money, including from an Australian oil and gas company. Notes: Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services, said on Friday the company continues to see strong deal prospects ahead, amid a global economic slowdown, as customers continue to invest in technology. TCS, India’s biggest IT services company, reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of $6.78 billion, a 10.2 percent increase from the same period last year, led by strong sales to customers in the retail sector and in America, the company’s biggest market. Revenue was higher by 15.5 percent in constant currency, TCS told the stock markets after Mumbai trading on Friday. Profits for the three months ended June 30 were at Rs. 9,519 crore versus Rs 9,031 crore, a 5 percent increase. “We are starting the new fiscal year on a strong note, with all-around growth and strong deal wins across all our segments. Pipeline velocity and deal closures continue to be strong, but we remain vigilant given the macro-level uncertainties,” Gopinathan said in a press release. “Looking ahead, we remain confident in the resilience of technology spending and the secular tailwinds driving our growth,” Gopinathan added. TCS ended the fiscal first quarter with 606,331 employees, reflecting a net addition of 14,136 during the quarter. Staff churn, or attrition, was at 19.7 percent on the last 12 months basis. During the quarter, the company gradually accelerated its return-to-office programme, with about 20 percent of the workforce now back in offices, according to the press release. Elon Musk wants to end his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, according to a letter sent by lawyers representing the world’s richest person to the social media company’s chief legal officer on Friday, CNBC reports. “Twitter has not complied with its contractual obligations” with respect to providing the data and information necessary to “make an independent assessment of the prevalence of fake or spam accounts on Twitter’s platform,” Musk’s lawyers wrote in the letter that was also filed with the US capital markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission. String Bio, a biotech company in Bengaluru that is developing useful proteins from greenhouse gases such as methane, has signed a strategic development agreement with Woodside Energy Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woodside Energy Group, a large Australian oil and gas company, according to a press release. Woodside is also investing an undisclosed amount in String Bio as part of the biotech venture’s series B equity fundraise. New and existing investors including Ankur Capital, Dare Ventures, Redstart, Zenfold Ventures and others have joined the first close of $20 million of the funding round. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds