investment | Pixr8 News

Amazon Founder Bezos Invested in Biotechnology Company Unity

30Oct By NitishNo Comments

FUNDING

Amazon Founder Bezos Invested in Biotechnology Company Unity

UNITY Biotechnology known as Unity today announced the closing of a $116 million Series B financing from Bezos Expeditions (the investment vehicle of Jeff Bezos) and existing investors WuXi PharmaTech and Mayo Clinic Ventures. ARCH Venture Partners, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management and Research Company, Partner Fund Management, Venrock and other investors was also participated in this round. The funding will be used to expand ongoing research programs in cellular senescence and advance the first preclinical programs into human trials. Unity is a privately held biotechnology company creating therapeutics that prevent, halt, or reverse numerous diseases of aging. The company also announced that Keith Leonard, 25-year biotech industry veteran and current executive chairman, will ...

Saudi Arabia, SoftBank Plan $100 Billion Tech Fund

14Oct By reutersNo Comments

FUNDING

Saudi Arabia, SoftBank Plan $100 Billion Tech Fund

Saudi Arabia and Japan's SoftBank Group said they will create a technology investment fund that could grow as large as $100 billion, aiming to create one of the world's largest private equity funds. The plan is part of a series of dramatic business initiatives launched by Riyadh this year as Saudi Arabia, its economy hurt by low oil prices, deploys huge financial reserves in an effort to move into non-oil industries. SoftBank's founder and chairman Masayoshi Son, who has built his company into a $68 billion telecommunications and tech investment behemoth from a $50,000 start-up, has been seeking to expand in new areas. The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia's top sovereign wealth fund, is set to be the lead investment partner and may invest up to $45 billion over the next ...

Alibaba’s $60 Billion Finance Arm Seeks Growth Before IPO: Sources

11Oct By reutersNo Comments

CHINA

Alibaba’s $60 Billion Finance Arm Seeks Growth Before IPO: Sources

Investors gearing up for the initial public offering of Ant Financial, the $60 billion online finance arm spun off by e-commerce giant Alibaba, will have to wait until at least late 2017 as the business puts growth first, sources say. Sources with knowledge of the plans said Ant Financial, whose anchor business is Alipay, China's largest online payments service, is focusing on expanding its existing 450 million-strong army of daily users, adding merchants and customers. Ant had yet to contact Chinese regulators to start the lengthy listing process and join a queue of more than 700 companies waiting to list. In addition to online payments, Ant Financial also offers services from wealth management to credit scoring, micro lending and insurance. Alibaba Group set up Alipay in 2004 in th...

Indian Companies Foreign Investment Fell 84% in Aug at $399 Million

17Sep By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Indian Companies Foreign Investment Fell 84% in Aug at $399 Million

India Companies overseas direct investment fell 84 per cent to USD 399.06 million in August, data from RBI showed. Indian companies had made an investment of USD 2.47 billion in the markets abroad during the same period last year. Compare to July this year, direct investments in August were down by 82.6 per cent. The investments were in the form of issuance of guarantees (USD 97.14 million), loans (146.36 million) and equity (USD 155.56 million). Palava Dwellers Pvt Ltd was among the biggest investors, which invested 21.75 million in its wholly owned subsidiaries in Jersey, Mauritius and The Netherlands. WNS Global Services invested USD 15.35 million in a joint venture in the UK, General Insurance Corporation infused USD 11.9 million in a wholly owned business in South Afric...

Now Invest 25 Crore and Stay in India For 3-10 Years

31Aug By NitishNo Comments

News

Now Invest 25 Crore and Stay in India For 3-10 Years

Emulating Singapore-model, India will offer residency permits of up to 20 years to foreigners willing to invest a minimum threshold in the country, under a new policy aimed at attracting more overseas investments. The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a proposal to allow foreigners get 10 year residency permits if they invest Rs 10 crore over 18 months or Rs 25 crore over three years. The residency status can be extended by another 10 years. Investors would also be allowed to buy one residential property and their spouses and children can work or study here. However, this scheme would not be available for Pakistani or Chinese citizen. "A certain threshold if you invest in India, then the availability of visa, the availability of the right to purchase...

Home-Grown Jivi Mobiles to Invest Rs 200 Cr in Mobile Manufacturing

22Aug By AdityaNo Comments

BUSINESS

Home-Grown Jivi Mobiles to Invest Rs 200 Cr in Mobile Manufacturing

Home-grown mobile phone maker Jivi Mobiles plans to invest up to Rs 200 crore in setting up a new manufacturing unit in Lonavala with initial production capacity of 5 lakh units per month. "We are selling around 3-3.5 lakh feature phones per month. By Diwali, we expect to reach sales of 6 lakh units a month. Based on demand, we expect to sell 10 lakh units per month by 2017-18 for which we are setting up additional plant in Lonavala with investment of Rs 180-200 crore," Jivi Mobiles CEO Pankaj Anand said. Jivi at present has a mobile assembly unit in Delhi where it produces 3-3.5 lakh mobile feature phones per month. "We could have opted for a contract manufacturer but due to issue of quality control and supply issues, we have started our own unit in Delhi with investment of Rs 150 cr...

Apple To Boost China Investments as Demand Slows

19Aug By reutersNo Comments

BUSINESS, CHINA

Apple To Boost China Investments as Demand Slows

Apple Inc will boost its investment in China, one of its largest but increasingly challenging markets, and build its first Asia-Pacific research and development center in the country, Chief Executive Tim Cook said on Tuesday. Cook made the pledge during a trip to China, at least his second in four months, as demand for Apple's iPhones has plummeted in the world's second-largest economy and the government remains wary about foreign technology. Apple's new research and development center will be built by the end of the year, Cook told Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, one of China's most senior officials, according to CCTV, the official Chinese state broadcaster. The center will unite Apple's engineering and operations teams in China and is also intended to deepen the company's ties to part...

Decoding: Venture Capital Investments Globally

18Jul By reutersNo Comments

ANALYSIS

Decoding: Venture Capital Investments Globally

Venture capital investments in startups rebounded in the second quarter, as a general stock market recovery helped restore confidence, according to a new report published on Friday. Investors plowed $15.3 billion into venture-backed startups in the second quarter of this year, a 20.5 percent increase over the $12.7 billion invested in the first quarter, according to the MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. The report's conclusions are based on data from Thomson Reuters. "There was a bit of a pause in the first quarter when the public markets took a beating," said Sean Cunningham, managing director of Trident Capital Cybersecurity. "The public markets are back. Everyone is bullish." Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc and mes...

Paytm To Launch Its Payments Bank This Diwali

8Jul By RishabhNo Comments

News

Paytm To Launch Its Payments Bank This Diwali

Online recharge and e-commerce platform Paytm is investing Rs 350 crore in its payments bank arm, which is looking to start operations by Diwali this year, a company executive said. The capital will be primarily utilised to build the platform's technology infrastructure and physical branch presence in rural areas, chief executive of Paytm's payments bank Shinjini Kumar told TOI. "Our plans show this initial capital is adequate for rolling out a payments bank as we are not looking to open too many branches in one go. We have got separate solutions to address urban and rural consumers as both have different sets of challenges," Kumar said. Paytm will be using Infosys' Finacle platform fpr the payments of the bank. The company is right now working on partnerships with financial products suc...

Amazon Invests in 6 New Fulfilment Centres Ahead of Festivals

7Jul By RishabhNo Comments

News

Amazon Invests in 6 New Fulfilment Centres Ahead of Festivals

E-commerce major Amazon has invested in six new Fulfilment Centres (FCs) to meet growing requirements of its fast-increasing seller base in the country. The new FCs, to be set up in Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai, will bolster the companys presence in India ahead of the festive season, the company said in a statement today. With the launch of these new FCs, Amazon has a total area of 2.5 million square feet with a one-and-a-half times growth in storage capacity at 7.5 million cubic feet. An Amazon fulfilment centre serves as a modern, secure facility equipped with highly automated pick, pack and ship processes to facilitate safe and timely processing of orders. The company says it will keep investing in fulfilment and logistics capability to empower sellers. "It...

American Giant MasterCard Invested An Undisclosed Amount In RazorPay

1Jul By RishabhNo Comments

FUNDING

American Giant MasterCard Invested An Undisclosed Amount In RazorPay

American payments and financial services company MasterCard has invested an undisclosed amount in Razorpay, an online payment gateway solution for small and medium enterprises and platforms. This marks the second equity-based investment done by MasterCard. Bengaluru-based Razorpay, which works with online product and technology businesses such as cloud telephony company Knowlarity and lifestyle ecommerce portal Nykaa, will be part of a six-month long MasterCard Start Path programme for startups targeted at technology development. "The association with MasterCard opens up the network of banks it works with. As our product focuses on reducing the failure rate of transaction, this will help us bring down the number of hops," said Harshil Mathur, cofounder of Razorpay to the source ...

24Jun By AnkitaNo Comments

FUNDING

SIDBI Ramps Up Start-up Funding Operations

With the Centre approving Rs 10,000 crore Fund of Funds for Startups, the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has ramped up its start-up funding operations to boost the sector. "SIDBI has ramped up the start-up funding operations to boost Start-up India initiative with the launch of funds like unique India Aspiration Fund and Fund of Funds operations," SIDBI Chairman and Managing Director Kshatrapati Shivaji said. The lender has so far supported 95 funds, including 11 regional funds, with an aggregate commitment of Rs 2,576 crore. "The Cabinets approval for establishing FFS will help enhance the scale of operations under its Fund of Funds activities with a deeper engagement with startup ecosystem and boost ambitious Startup India initiative. "SIDBI would be using its...