investment | Pixr8 News

Sequoia Capital Backs Indian Student Housing Startup Stanza Living

26Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Sequoia Capital Backs Indian Student Housing Startup Stanza Living

Student housing startup Stanza Living has reportedly raised funds amounting to Rs 73 crore (over $10 million) in a funding round led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India. This funding round also saw participation by existing investors Matrix Partners and Accel. With this fundraising, the total capital raised by Stanza Living has reached Rs 86 crore as of now. With these funds, the startup is planning to strengthen its technology engine, beef up its core leadership team as also establish its network of operations across multiple markets. “With 2000 beds across the Delhi-NCR region itself, we are positioning this business for scale. We are in advanced conversations to expand to educational hubs such as Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and a few more cities by the end of this ongo...

Chinese E-Scooter Startup Filed For an IPO on Nasdaq

25Sep By PriyankaNo Comments

Market

Chinese E-Scooter Startup Filed For an IPO on Nasdaq

Electric scooter startup called Niu Technologies which is based in China has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq. The company has planned to raise up to $150 million through this IPO. Niu claims to be the largest lithium-ion battery-powered e-scooters company in China. Founded in 2014, the company is based in Beijing and currently holds a market share of 26% in China on the basis of its sales volume. Niu’s scooters connect with an app that gives drivers maintenance and performance data and along with that delivers firmware updates. The firm stated that it had sold more than 431,500 smart electric scooters in China, Europe and other markets as of June 2018. According to the reports, China has been termed as the largest market for electric two-wheeled vehicles, wher...

Indian Hotel Chain Oyo Raises $1 billion at $5 billion Valuation

25Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Indian Hotel Chain Oyo Raises $1 billion at $5 billion Valuation

Indian hospitality chain Oyo Hotels which is soaring high with success these days has planned to secured funds amounting to $1 billion for the purpose of expansion into China and other global regions. This round is expected to be led by existing investors including SoftBank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The existing investors have currently put in $800 million, with commitments for another $200 million. About $600 million of the total will be deployed into China where Oyo had forayed just 10 months back. “With this additional funding, we plan to rapidly scale our business in these countries, while continuing to invest further in technology and talent,” Agarwal stated. “We will also deploy fresh capital to take our unique model that enables small hotel ow...

20Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

ShareChat’s Latest Funding Round Brings Seven-fold Rise in its Valuation

The social platform for regional language known as ShareChat has secured funds amounting to Rs 720 crore ($99 million) in a funding round. The particular round was led by existing backer Shunwei Capital. The other investors that participated in the round included Morningside Ventures of China and Jesmond Holdings, an affiliate of Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global. Following this funding round, the valuation of the company will get a boost and will reach to Rs 3,332 crore ($460 million) according to the documents filed with Registrar of Companies. With the funds raised, the company plans to foray deeper in markets like the Northeast, and also start working on monetizing its service next year through activities like advertising, influencer marketing, and in-app transactions....

Matrix Partners India Backs Bengaluru-based DailyNinja

20Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Matrix Partners India Backs Bengaluru-based DailyNinja

A startup that delivers milk and grocery called DailyNinja has reportedly raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by Matrix Partners India. The particular round also saw participation from existing investors including Sequoia India and Saama Capital. The funds raised will be used to accelerate growth, expand its footprint and hire professional talent. Also, the company aims to achieve a target of 1,00,000 daily transactions in the next six months, almost tripling its current daily volumes of 35,000. “We want to grow as fast as we can and have the maximum number of customers on our platform,” said Sagar Yarnalkar, chief executive of DailyNinja. “We also want to expand our team and hire talent for operations and tech.” DailyNinja is a Bengaluru-based company that was founded...

19Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

CHINA

China to Invest $14.6 Billion to Develop Digital Economy

The digital space all over the globe is emerging at a great pace, and thus, China has decided to invest $14.6 billion (100 billion yuan) for developing the digital economy in the next five years. According to an agreement signed by China Development Bank and the National Development and Reform Commission, this investment will be done on projects like big data, internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, smart cities and the digital Silk Road. The development of China’s digital economy has been stated as an important task for building a modern economic setup in the country. China has got a considerable progress in the cause over the past years by way of rolling out a raft of measures, including a national big data strategy. A report released by the Cyberspace Administration of China...

18Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

UK-Based Setoo Raises $9.3 million in Series A Funding

A UK-based startup Setoo that turns insurance into a powerful business accelerator, transforming the online customer experience and generating new revenue streams, has reportedly secured funds amounting to $9.3 million in Series A funding round. The particular funding round was led by AXA’s ‘Insurtech’ startup studio, Kamet. This funding round has brought the total amount raised to date to $12 million. With these funds, the company plans to expand in every aspect and give an aggressive fight to its rivals such as ZhongAn, Moonshot and Qover. “In French ‘c’est tout’ means ‘that’s it’. My chose the name Setoo to symbolise how simple and quick it is to create effective new protections products using the platform, and the simplicity of the products created for the consumer. This investment...

Uber to Invest $154 million to Boost Canadian Operations

15Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

Uber to Invest $154 million to Boost Canadian Operations

Global cab aggregator Uber has announced that it would invest up to $154 million (Can$200 million) over five years for the purpose of expanding its Toronto lab which is concerned with developing artificial intelligence for self-driving cars. Along with this, the company is planning to open a new engineering office in Canada's largest metropolis in early 2019. Uber's new engineering hub will join the company's efforts to launch the new features for its app. Also, they would expand into other modes of transportation such as electric bikes and scooters, as well as partnerships with public transit. In the 15 months since the Uber lab led by University of Toronto professor and machine learning expert Raquel Urtasun opened, it has delivered "significant technical breakthroughs towards m...

Tech Giant Cisco Plans to Step Up Investment in India

15Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

Tech Giant Cisco Plans to Step Up Investment in India

One of the biggest technology companies Cisco has announced that it is stepping up investments in the Indian market. This is being done as part of the second phase of its 'Country Digital Acceleration' (CDA) programme. With this, the company will focus on accelerating innovation and entrepreneurship, 5G use cases for citizen services as well as transportation modernization. Cisco claims that India is among its few markets where the company has made the second round of investment as part of its CDA programme. "India is an important market for us. While we are not disclosing the amount we would be investing, it is clear that we are betting on India as a key market. We are adding four more states to our existing initiatives towards areas like innovation, smart cities. We have also signed ...

China’s Meituan Dianping Raises $4.2 billion in Hong Kong IPO

14Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

Market

China’s Meituan Dianping Raises $4.2 billion in Hong Kong IPO

Meituan Dianping, Chinese online food delivery-to-ticketing services company has reportedly raised $4.2 billion in the world's largest internet-focused IPO in four years. Tencent Holdings-backed Chinese firm sold about 480 million primary shares at HK$69 ($8.79) each in the Hong Kong IPO. This IPO valued the company at around $52.8 billion. "Since the stock priced at the upper end of the range, it suggests institutions are holding a more positive view on the company and on this type of new economy IPOs," said Steven Leung, sales director at brokerage UOB Kay Hian. The funds collected by the company will help them to fortify itself against tough competition from its main competitor, food-delivery platform Alibaba-backed Ele.me. Both of these platforms, in a tough battle for market shar...

14Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

Video Streaming Platform HOOQ to Double India Investments

Video-on-demand streaming service HOOQ based in Singapore is doubling its India investments and has changed strategy to focus on Hollywood and English premium video content. This is basically being done to take on Netflix and Amazon prime, and drive growth in India’s highly competitive over-the-top (OTT) video market. “We are doubling up on our investments for India. We are investing in content, manpower as well as technology,” Zulfiqar Khan, managing director at HOOQ India stated. On the new strategy, Hooq will narrow its focus on Hollywood and English premium content, and it has started phasing out regional and Hindi content. India is expected to be among the top 10 OTT video markets in the world in four years. HOOQ will continue its Rs 89 monthly plan. Khan said Hooq’s content p...

14Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Tappp Secures Series-A Funding from ADvantage

A prepaid consumer marketplace Tappp, which offers global access to premium live sports content, has raised funds amounting to $5 million in Series-A funding. The round was led by global sports tech venture fund ADvantage. The round also witnessed participation from leading venture capital firms and sports technology investors such as Elysian Park (LA Dodgers fund), Accomplice, Go4it, Courtside VC and Sterling VC. “We intend to build a next generation platform that gives fans more access and control to their favorite sport, teams, and players,” Sandy Agarwal, the founder of Tappp said. The company is planning to utilize these funds for research and development in India. The company also plans to invest majorly in areas like artificial intelligence to match micro payments to specific ...