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Delivery of Tesla Made-in-China Model 3 set for December 30

29Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

Automobile

Delivery of Tesla Made-in-China Model 3 set for December 30

Tesla China told Pixr8 News that they are aiming to begin deliveries of the all-electric Model 3 sedan from December 30th. That’s far earlier than the company’s own estimates, and immensely earlier than what Tesla’s skeptics have suggested. Monday’s event will deliver Tesla's 15 Model 3 car to local customers that are comprised of Tesla China employees. The first delivery date of the Made-in-China Model 3 marks the 357th day since Tesla and its construction partner started working on the Gigafactory 3 complex, which was then just a plot of land. The speed upon which Gigafactory 3’s Phase 1 zone was completed marks a new record for global automakers currently operating in China. The Made-in-China Model 3 is Tesla’s key to the local Chinese auto industry, which also corre...

Ather Energy Appoints Former Apple India Head as a CFO

27Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

News

Ather Energy Appoints Former Apple India Head as a CFO

New Delhi, Dec 26, 2019: Hero MotoCorp-backed electric two-wheeler startup Ather Energy appointed Deepak Jain as its Chief Financial Officer. Jain, who has worked with the likes of Apple India, P&G and Gillette over the past 20 years, joins Ather from First Advantage, where he was CFO for India business, the company said in a statement. Commenting on the appointment, Ather Energy co-founder & CEO Tarun Mehta said Jain has scaled up technology and product-led companies making him an ideal addition to Ather''s team. "Deepak''s experience in leading teams and integrating manufacturing and business processes will play a key role in the next part of our story," he said, adding for a rapidly expanding company like Ather, an important focus area is laying the structure for effec...

24Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

HomeLane Raises USD 30mn in Series D Funding

New Delhi, Dec 23, 2019: Interior designing platform HomeLane has raised USD 30 million (about Rs 213 crore) in Series D funding led by new investors Evolvence India Fund, Pidilite Group and FJ Labs. The funding round also saw participation from Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners and JSW Ventures. With the current round, the total funding raised by HomeLane stands at USD 46 million. The current round is estimated to value the company at USD 150-250 million. "We will use the funds for three things for our next phase of growth that will include launching renovation as a category; scaling our proprietary design-to-manufacturing platform to more designers, vendors, and installers; and expanding to 8-10 new cities in India," HomeLane founder and CEO Srikanth Iyer told Pixr8 News. He ...

Turkish Hacker blackmailed Apple, Gain Access of 300mn iPhones

23Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

News

Turkish Hacker blackmailed Apple, Gain Access of 300mn iPhones

San Francisco, 23rd Dec. 2019: A self-proclaimed hacker who held over 300 million iPhones to ransom after gaining access to their iCloud details and threatening to factory reset their iPhones has pleaded guilty to blackmailing the Cupertino-based tech giant. Kerem Albayrak, 22, claiming to be a member of the 'Turkish Crime Family' hacking group, tried to blackmail Apple after threatening to delete hundreds of millions of Apple accounts, Forbes reported on Sunday. Albayrak was sentenced last week to two-year suspended jail term, along with 300 hours of unpaid work and an electronic curfew for six months, at Southwark Crown Court in London. "While iPhone users have recently been warned that they need to update to iOS 13.3 or risk getting locked out of their devices, Albayrak propos...

F5 Networks to Acquire Shape Security for $1B

23Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

F5 Networks to Acquire Shape Security for $1B

SEATTLE & SANTA CLARA, Calif., 23 Dec 2019– F5 Networks and Shape Security announced a definitive agreement under which F5 will acquire all issued and outstanding shares of the privately held Shape for a total enterprise value of approximately $1 billion in cash, subject to certain adjustments. “Beyond opening a fast-growing $4 billion adjacent market, Shape’s machine learning and AI-powered capabilities will scale and extend F5’s broad portfolio of application services and expand our ability to optimize and protect customers’ applications in an increasingly complex multi-cloud world.” Shape protects the largest banks, airlines, retailers, and government agencies with sophisticated bot, fraud, and abuse defense. In particular, Shape defends against credential stuffing attack...

Facebook Acquires Video Gaming Company PlayGiga

19Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Facebook Acquires Video Gaming Company PlayGiga

Social media giant Facebook has acquired cloud based video gaming firm PlayGiga. The deal value has not been disclosed but according to Spain, local business newspaper Facebook acquired PlayGiga for about $78 million. “We’re thrilled to welcome PlayGiga to the Facebook Gaming team. We are continuing our work in cloud gaming, now with a new mission. We want to thank all of our partners and customers for their support over the years ” a Facebook spokesperson said in a press note on its website. Founded in 2013, PlayGiga enables users to play premium videogames on PC / Mac or TV through an affordable monthly subscription. The social networking giant has also launched Facebook Gaming -- a live-stream service that allows users to share their gameplay. The arrival of Cloud-base...

Bijak Raises $2.5 Mn from Omnivore, Omidyar Network, Others

18Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Bijak Raises $2.5 Mn from Omnivore, Omidyar Network, Others

Agritech start-up Bijak has raised over USD 2.5 million (about Rs 18 crore) from various investors, including Omnivore and Omidyar Network India, for expansion of its business. Sequoia Capital India’s rapid scale-up programme, Surge and Better Capital have also invested. Gurugram-based Bijak, which was launched in May 2019 by Nukul Upadhye, Mahesh Jakhotia, Jitender Bedwal, Daya Rai and Nikhil Tripathi, would utilise the fund on new technology and hiring fresh talent, among others. Bijak is a platform that gives agricultural commodity buyers and sellers better prices, increased working capital, and optimised logistics. It brings accountability and transparency into the agricultural value chain through a buyer/seller rating system, and enables traders, wholesalers, and food proces...

Springboard Raises USD 11 mn from Reach Capital, Others

17Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Springboard Raises USD 11 mn from Reach Capital, Others

San Francisco-based Springboard, a leading online learning platform for workforce upskilling has raised USD 11 million (over Rs 78 crore) in funding led by Reach Capital. The post-series A financing round also saw participation by Pearson Ventures, International Finance Corporation (IFC), as well as returning investors Costanoa Ventures, Learn Capital, and Blue Fog Capital. The company, which has so far raised USD 20 million in funding, has also partnered with Microsoft to train and place 5,000 students into analytics jobs over the next three years through its new Data Analytics Career Track. "Working professionals have to significantly upskill or re-skill every 3-5 years to advance in their careers. Our industry-designed programmes combined with in-depth, 1-on-1 mentorship and c...

17Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

Market

Travel Firm EaseMyTrip Files for IPO

Online travel company EaseMyTrip has filed draft papers with capital markets regulator Sebi to float more than $71 million (Rs 510 crore) initial public offering. Through the IPO, company’s founders Nishant Pitti and Rikant Pitti will each sell shares to the tune of $35 million (Rs 255 crore) through offer-for-sale mechanism, according to draft papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The city-based company said the object of the public issue is to achieve the benefits of listing the equity shares on stock exchanges. “Our company expects that listing of the equity shares will enhance our visibility and brand and provide liquidity to its existing shareholders,” it added. The company’s issue is being managed by Axis Capital and JM Financial. Founde...

Amazon Facing Heat in UK Over Acquisition of Deliveroo

13Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

News

Amazon Facing Heat in UK Over Acquisition of Deliveroo

British authorities are asking Amazon to address concerns that its plan to buy a stake in food delivery platform Deliveroo could damage competition between businesses that do takeaways and those that deliver groceries. The Competition and Markets Authority gave the online shopping shopping behemoth five days to come up with legally binding proposals to address the competition concerns identified Wednesday. Amazon is interested in investing in Deliveroo to give it a larger stake in the fast-growing restaurant delivery business. If the deal were to proceed in its current form, there's a real risk that it could leave customers, restaurants and grocers facing higher prices and lower quality services as these markets develop," said Andrea Gomes da Silva, the authority's executive directo...

Reliance Acquire 85% Stakes of NowFloats

13Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Reliance Acquire 85% Stakes of NowFloats

Reliance Industry said its subsidiary has picked up 85 per cent stake in NowFloats Technologies for a cash consideration of Rs 141.63 crore. The stake purchase is aimed at strengthening the group's digital and new commerce initiatives. "Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd (RSBVL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, has acquired equity shares of NowFloats Technologies for a cash consideration of Rs 141,63,78,822. The said investment represents 85 per cent holding in the equity share capital of NowFloats," RIL said in a BSE filing. RSBVL proposes to make a further investment of up to Rs 75 crore, subject to achieving agreed milestones, and is expected to be completed by December 2020, it added. Post the additional investment, the shareholding of RSBVL in NowFloats will incre...

Blockchain Startup Proof of Impact Raises First Investment

11Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Blockchain Startup Proof of Impact Raises First Investment

Amsterdam & San Francisco - Proof of Impact closed its seed round led by Franklin Templeton, a global fund manager managing around $700 billion in assets. Proof of Impact is building a global marketplace on the blockchain where one can donate or invest directly into measurable impact outcomes. After this investment, a member of Franklin Templeton will join Proof of Impact board. Proof of Impact’s co-founder Fleur Heyns will be pitching the company during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2020. Ausum Ventures (San Francisco, USA), Crypto Valley Venture Capital “CV VC” (Zug, Switzerland) and Pangea Blockchain fund (Switzerland) have also participated in this funding round. The investment follows a growth trajectory that has seen Proof ...