Saturday, April 27

Author: Sheldan Rungasamy

Hrithik Roshan Pours $878.2K in Fitness Startup CureFit
24May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
FUNDING

Hrithik Roshan Pours $878.2K in Fitness Startup CureFit

Bengaluru-based fitness startup CureFit recently raised $878.2K from Bollywood star and brand ambassador Hrithik Roshan. MCA filings reveal that the prominent actor invested directly in Cure.Fit as well as through his entity, Extreme Brands. In August 2017, CureFit secured the ‘Krrish’ star as its brand ambassador, signing a five-year contract for a total of $14.63 Mn. CureFit was founded by former Flipkart executives Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori in 2016 and aims at providing a holistic healthcare platform with deep emphasis on mind, body and nutrition. With this ambition to make healthy lifestyle accessible to all, CureFit has effectively integrated physical fitness, mental fitness, healthy eating, and is planning to launch a care section in one app, under Cult.fit, Mind.fit, Eat....
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Xiaomi Launches Micro-lending Product in India
24May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
BUSINESS

Xiaomi Launches Micro-lending Product in India

Xiaomi, the leading Chinese smartphone company, has announced the launching of its first lending product in India similar to the Mi Credit, a microlending product it already offers in China. The credit product, which was launched in collaboration with lending platform KrazyBee, is already available and will be officially announced in the coming few weeks, according to someone close to the matter. The credit product will be called CreditBee, and will offer loans starting from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 lakh for a duration of 90 days, according to the above-mentioned person. The initiative is set to target salaried professionals and will be provided for an interest rate of 3% per month. The individual cited above was quoted saying, “Xiaomi has lending products across segments in China, and it wi...
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IIT-Kanpur Signs MoU of $2.2 Mn to Develop Flying Taxi Prototype
24May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
INDIA

IIT-Kanpur Signs MoU of $2.2 Mn to Develop Flying Taxi Prototype

Researches from the IIT-Kanpur in collaboration with VTOL Aviation India Pvt Ltd, have agreed to a $2.2 Mn Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop the prototype of a auto-piloted vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) craft, which could be used as flying taxi or facilitate air travel. “We will establish a proof of concept and identify the key technology areas. There will be over 100 students working on this,” said Ajoy Ghosh, Aerospace Engineer and Flight Lab Head of IIT-Kanpur. The project may be take up to five years to be completed, prompting Ghosh to comment, “The proposed craft will most likely use a ducted fan, much like commercial airplanes. It will be clean as it will use electric power.” The motivation behind this project for Ghosh is the hope of developing a sustainabl...
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Ed-Tech E-commerce Raises Pre-Series A Funding
24May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
FUNDING

Ed-Tech E-commerce Raises Pre-Series A Funding

Edyoo, an e-commerce platform focused in selling school products, recently raised $1 Mn in pre-series A funding from RS Shanbag, Chairman and MD of Valuepoint Group. The funds raised will serve the purpose of product development, technology, marketing and expansion of team in its areas of operation. Edyoo was founded in June 2017 by Rakshit Kejriwal – who also co-founded DropKaffe --  and is an online marketplace that offers items destined to school children between the ages of four and 18, notably, uniforms, stationery, water bottles, and more. Additionally, the e-commerce platform offers several other value-added products and services, such as EMI on school fees, health check-up plans, insurance on education, sports packages and edutainment. Edyoo currently boasts a team of 30 e...
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Paytm Plans to Empower Rural Women in Financial Services
23May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
News

Paytm Plans to Empower Rural Women in Financial Services

In an effort to encourage digital transition in rural areas of India, Paytm Payments Banks announced a programme named “Paytm AshaKiran” which aims at educating women hailing from the countryside about financial service and therefore create new employment opportunities in less developed regions of India. The first phase of this programme will consist of collaborating with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) under its Disha project which is also supported by the IKEA Foundation and women-related organizations like SHEROES. The goal is to “mobilize self-help groups and organize workshops” in smaller cities and towns in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The initiative will develop rural women skills via a training programmes where...
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Blue-Collar Workforce Focused Startup Raises Series A Funding
23May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
FUNDING

Blue-Collar Workforce Focused Startup Raises Series A Funding

BetterPlace, an HRtech startup for the blue-collar workforce, recently raised $3 Mn in Series A funding led by 3one4 Capital. This round of funding also saw the participation of Venture Highway and Unitus Ventures. “We are focused on addressing the $12 Bn blue-collar ecosystem in the country. A significant part of the funds will be utilized to strengthen the existing ecosystem using frictionless solutions powered by AI and machine learning,” said Pravin Agarwala, co-founder and CEO of Betterplace. The funds used will serve to add new solutions and expand the business in different verticals, for example, skilling, compliance and fintech services as well, in a bid to fortify its position as a single platform for the semi-formal workforce of India. This is the third time that BetterP...
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OYO is Expanding Operations in China and Indonesia
23May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
BUSINESS

OYO is Expanding Operations in China and Indonesia

OYO, the leading hotel aggregator, has taken a huge step towards expansion, after opening hotels in China and Indonesia making it one of the few Indian consumer technology companies expanding businesses in the world’s second largest economy. The developments come only eight months after the Gurugram-headquartered company raised $10 million funds from China Lodging Group, one of the largest multi-brand hotel groups in the world. Seemingly, the deal provided much more than capital value as it provided a strategic partnership to OYO for its international expansion plans. Commenting on the investment, Founder and CEO of OYO, Ritesh Agarwal said, Addressing consumers in India and Chine – two of the world’s fastest-growing markets – through our combined strengths opens up a very large and...
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Bike Taxi Startup Rapido Acquires Hyderabad-based GetBike
23May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
ACQUISITION

Bike Taxi Startup Rapido Acquires Hyderabad-based GetBike

Rapido, the Bangalore-based bike taxi startup, is in the final phase of finalizing an A&M deal with Hyderabad-based Vave Infosolutions India Pvt. Ltd, owner of motorcycle-sharing startup Getbike, according to a report from VCCircle. The deal will allow the bike taxi company, which is run by Roppen Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd, to enter the Hyderabad market by making use of GetBike’s resources and market presence. Shravya Reddy, who was previously associated with Reliance Communications Ltd and Apalya Technologies, founded Getbike – formerly called Getmi -- in September 2017. Getbike raised $100,000 as angel funding 3 months later from a couple of investors, namely, Vamshi Reddy B and Venu Veeramaneni. The startup began operations as a bike taxi operator catering both general ...
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Paytm Acquires Alibaba-Owned Ticketing Platform For $40 Mn
23May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
ACQUISITION

Paytm Acquires Alibaba-Owned Ticketing Platform For $40 Mn

Paytm, the leading Indian online payments company announced the acquisition of Orbgen Technologies Pvt. Ltd., the firm that operates TicketNew, a ticketing platform based in Chennai. The cost of the deal has not been disclosed yet, but according to stock based transactions, the deal is estimated to have cost between $30-40 million. The deal will see Paytm acquiring the business from Alibaba Pictures, the entertainment channel of Chinese giant Alibaba Group, which bought a majority stake in Tickenew barely a year ago. The acquisition was made as Paytm wishes to connect its 300 Mn customers to TicketNew partner cinemas, which will additionally drive Paytm’s utility and revenues. “We are on a mission to be the one-stop destination for all movie and entertainment ticketing needs. It is o...
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Ola To Expand Operations in 3 New Australian Cities
22May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
News

Ola To Expand Operations in 3 New Australian Cities

Ola, the homegrown cab-hailing service is now expanding its operations in Australia to include the cities of Brisbane, Gold Coast and Canberra. “Customers in these cities can book discounted rides using Ola app starting Tuesday,” said the Bengaluru-based online cab aggregator in a statement. Ola was founded in 2011 by Bhavish Aggarwal and has been since competing against US cab-hailing firm Uber for market share. The cab-aggregator claims to own over 125 million users in 110 cities across India. Ola began operations in Australia in January 2018 with the cities of Perth, Sydney and Melbourne being the first to benefit from the Indian service. Up to now, 30,000 driver-partners are working under the ride-sharing service’s name, the statement added. “As we continue to expand across A...
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Softbank Finally Agrees to Pay $600 Million to Indian Government, Sold Flipkart Stakes to Walmart
22May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
BUSINESS

Softbank Finally Agrees to Pay $600 Million to Indian Government, Sold Flipkart Stakes to Walmart

Softbank is finally putting an end to the months of speculations over his future with Flipkart post the Walmart acquisition deal. The Japanese conglomerate has now agreed to sell its 23.6% stake in Indian e-commerce major Flipkart to its new owners, Walmart for around $4 Bn. Several reports varied over the future of Masayoshi Son’s investment firm in the e-commerce giant despite the billionaire CEO unintentionally confirming the acquisition deal on May 9. In fact, the Japan-based company was still analyzing and examining the option of whether or not staying in Flipkart. The reason for this indecision was mainly motivated by the large amount of tax that Softbank would be subject to for leaving a company in such a short term. Softbank acquired 23.6% stakes in Flipkart last year for an ...
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Gurugram-based Milk Delivery Startup Raises $7 Mn Series A Funding
22May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
FUNDING

Gurugram-based Milk Delivery Startup Raises $7 Mn Series A Funding

Milkbasket, the grocery and milk delivery startup, recently raised $7 million in a series-A funding round led by Kalaari Capital. This funding round also saw the participation of existing investors Unilever Ventures and Blume Ventures and the arrival of new investor Beenext Ventures. The milk and grocery delivery space has seen several investments in recent times with startups such as Daily Ninja and Doodhwala raising funds. Earlier this year, Milkbasket raised $3 million from investment arm of consumer packaged goods company, Unilever. This latest influx of capital means that the milk and delivery startup has so far raised about $11 million. CEO Anant Goel announced that the funds raised will strengthen the startup’s technology, reach and abilities. Milkbasket currently serves ab...
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