Author: Aishwarya Anand

Weekly wrap | The IPO corner: Here’s all the latest news from IPO-bound train of Indian startups

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Zomato makes bumper debut at bourses

Zomato made a stellar debut on bourses on Friday, listing at Rs 116 on the NSE, garnering a 52.63 percent premium over its issue price of Rs 76 per share.
On BSE, the food delivery Unicorn got listed at 115 per share, a premium of 51.32 percent. The valuation of the company soared to Rs 91,004 crore.
The Rs 9,375-crore initial public offering (IPO) of Zomato witnessed strong interest from investors as the issue was subscribed 38.25 times during July 14-16. The offer received bids for 2,751.27 crore equity shares against the IPO size of 71.92 crore equity shares.

Zomato is the first Indian unicorn to go public and will be followed by other startups including PayTm, Policy Bazaar, among others.

Ahead of Stock Market Listing, Zomato’s app was down due to cloud outage

Ahead of its historic listing on the stock exchange, food delivery app Zomato was down for users on Thursday night.

The reason for Zomato’s outage came out to be the fact that the Akamai Technologies cloud service that the food delivery app uses was down. Apart from Zomato, other apps like Disney+Hotstar, Sonyliv, Paytm websites, and others went down on Thursday night after Akamai suffered an outage.
While some of the websites showed ‘can’t be reached’, others reflected ‘DNS failure’. A number of other international websites also suffered outage.
Akamai tweeted that it is “experiencing a service disruption”. “We are actively investigating the issue and will provide an update in 30 minutes,” it said.

Responding to Akamai’s tweet, Zomato’s founder Deepinder Goyal also said that Zomato is down due to a widespread Akamai outage. “Our teams are working to ensure all orders placed are delivered in time,” Goyal said in a tweet.

Paytm also tweeted saying that some of its services were affected due to global outage at Akamai.

Policybazaar to raise Rs 6,500 Cr through fresh issue via IPO

Insurance player Policybazaar’s parent company PB Fintech is looking to raise up to Rs 6,500 crore via fresh issue of shares in its upcoming IPO, regulatory filings show.

The company received approval for the IPO at its extraordinary general meeting held on July 5. The company will also have an option to retain oversubscription of up to 1% of the net offer. The offer could also include an offer for sale, and the company said there could also be a pre-IPO private placement.

Separate filings also show that PB Fintech was converted into the public limited company through a special resolution in June as a precursor to the IPO.

Policybazaar is expected to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the regulator very soon.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Star Health Insurance files DRHP to raise funds via IPO: Report

Chennai-based Star Health Insurance, which is backed by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and PE firms Westbridge Capital & Madison Capital, has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for a big-bang IPO, industry sources informed MoneyControl.

With this move, Star Health Insurance would become the first pure play health insurance player to debut on the Indian bourses, said MoneyControl.
“The papers have been filed with the regulator and it will be a big issue. The fresh issue component is around Rs 2,000 crore and the larger offer for sale component will be finalised based on the valuations,” a source was quoted as saying in the MoneyControl report.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Startup Digest: Lenskart raises $220 M, Byju’s acquires Epic, pushback on draft e-commerce rules begins

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Here are the top stories that made headlines in the startup universe this week.

Blackstone acquires controlling stake in Simplilearn for $250 M

Global private equity giant Blackstone has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling stake in the online digital skilling platform Simplilearn.

Blackstone is investing $250 million in primary and secondary funding, which, as per sources, will value Simplilearn at $400 million. This is Blackstone’s first private equity investment in Asia in a consumer technology space, the company said.

According to Simplilearn, this investment will enable it to develop partnerships with businesses and universities as the company continues to expand around the world.

Edtech major Byju’s acquires Epic for $500 M

Edtech giant Byju’s has acquired Epic, a US-based reading platform for children, for $500 million.

The acquisition will help expand Byju’s US footprint by providing access to more than two million teachers and 50 million children in Epic’s existing user-base.

The company will invest an additional $1 billion in North America to accelerate its vision of “helping students fall in love with learning”, a statement said.

Epic CEO Suren Markosian and co-founder Kevin Donahue will remain in their roles, it added.

Razorpay acquires digital lending platform TERA Finlabs

Financial solutions company Razorpay has acquired AI-based risk tech SaaS platform TERA Finlabs for an undisclosed sum.

TERA Finlabs is an Indian subsidiary of GAIN Credit, a leading UK digital lender which was launched in 2018 to expand its global footprint. This marks the company’s third acquisition after foraying into the B2B SME lending space with the launch of Razorpay Capital in 2019.

Razorpay Capital, along with TERA Finlab’s technology capabilities, will be able to service the credit needs of over 10,000 businesses in India by the next year, the company said.

Info Edge acquires HR tech startup DoSelect

Info Edge which backs Naukri.com to Zomato has acquired HR technology startup DoSelect for Rs 21 crore, the Economic Times reported.

With the acquisition, Info Edge aims to strengthen its position as a leader in the recruitment sector with a sharp focus on tech-based, end-to-end hiring solutions.

DoSelect deploys an assessment platform that enables data-driven decisions in hiring, skilling, upskilling, and employee engagement.

YouTube acquires social commerce startup Simsim

YouTube has acquired video commerce startup Simsim for an undisclosed amount.

The Google-owned company said that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the startup and expects to complete the transaction in the coming weeks.

By bringing short-video shopping app Simsim and YouTube together, the company said that it aims to help small businesses and retailers in India reach new customers in more powerful ways.

PAG to acquire contact manufacturer Acme Formulation

PAG, a private equity firm, has acquired a controlling stake in Acme Formulation for $145 million.

Acme’s founder Virah Shah will retain a significant minority stake in the company and continue as managing director and CEO, the company said.

PAG is currently investing out of its $6 billion PAG Asia III buyout fund.

EaseMyTrip offers full refund medical policy for domestic air travel

EaseMyTrip has launched a full refund policy to allow customers to claim refund of the entire amount in case medical emergencies force domestic air ticket cancellations.

Under the policy, the online travel agency will return to customers the entire amount, including the deductions made by airlines at no extra cost, the company said in a statement.

With rising uncertainties amid the pandemic, this refund policy offers confidence to travelers as it eliminates the risk of losing money in case of a booking cancellation due to a medical emergency, the company said.

BharatPe offers BMW bikes, gadget package to ramp up hiring; aims to grow its tech team by 3x in FY22

In a bid to aggressively expand its ‘Tech Team’ by almost three times by FY22, fintech startup BharatPe is offering several joining and referral perks to techies who would apply.

The perks on offer include a bike package and a gadget package. The former includes BMW G310R, Jawa Parek, KTM Duke 390, KTM RC 390 and Royal Enfield Himalayan to choose from, while the gadgets package offers Apple iPad Pro (with Pencil), Bose Headphone, Harman Kardon Speaker, Samsung Galaxy Watch, WFH desk and chair and Firefox Typhoon 27.5 D bicycle to employees.

There are also plans to take the entire tech team to Dubai for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in October-November this year.

Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal joins Magicpin board

IPO-bound Zomato’s co-founder Deepinder Goyal, Zomato has joined the board of Magicpin as an independent director.

“I am delighted to join the Magicpin board. They are a high-quality team and I am excited about how they are being a driver of growth for local merchants across categories,” Goyal said on his appointment.

Govts need to take steps to hold NSO Group accountable: WhatsApp CEO

WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart has called on governments and companies to take steps to hold the Israeli technology firm accountable following the revelation that NSO Group’s ‘Pegasus’ software may have been used to snoop on journalists, politicians and activists worldwide.

“This is a wakeup call for security on the internet. The mobile phone is the primary computer for billions of people. Governments and companies must do everything they can to make it as secure as possible. Our security and freedom depend on it,” Cathcart said in a tweet.

WhatsApp encrypted cloud backups being tested for Android

Instant messaging platform WhatsApp is testing technology to independently encrypt chat backups in the cloud.

The Facebook-owned service revealed that the system has been enabled in its most recent Android beta update.

According to WABetaInfo, opting for the beta build should keep chat history and media securely backed up, with the significant caveat that if a user forgets their passcode or loses the 64-digit recovery key, then they’ll be locked away permanently because even WhatsApp can’t get in then. Those who are fine with being on their own in that aspect, can get in the beta test group or wait for this to be available to everyone.

104 startups registered on Startup India Showcase platform: Centre

As many as 104 startups from different sectors have registered on the Startup India Showcase platform, where most promising budding startups, chosen through various programmes, are exhibited in the form of virtual profiles, Central government said.

Startup India Showcase is an online discovery platform for the most promising startups in the country. These innovations span across various cutting-edge sectors such as Fintech, EntrepriseTech, Social Impact, HealthTech and EdTech.

Tata Sky partners with Vedantu to empower JEE and NEET aspirants

Content distribution and Pay TV platform Tata Sky has partnered with Vedantu to make quality education accessible and affordable to students across India.

For ease of access to content, the service is also made available on Tata Sky mobile app. Aspirants can learn and repeat batches, get access to catch-up and On-Demand content including syllabus revision, tests, class notes, among others.

Students can also pose a question and have doubts addressed by expert Master Teachers from Vedantu. The service will also provide exam preparation material that can be accessed via the app.

Industry groups seek major changes in draft e-commerce rules

E-commerce companies and industry associations have called for significant changes to the proposed e-commerce rules.

The entities said that the new rules would be a major deterrent for the industry and will lead to roadblocks for several SMEs and hurt consumers. They also added that the new rules overlap with existing laws.

Several industry bodies, including the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), US India Strategic Partnership Forum, US-India Business Council, along with Amazon India and Walmart-owned Flipkart, sent their representations to the government.

The draft e-commerce rules released by the government on June 21 propose to ban fraudulent flash sales and mis-selling of goods and services on e-commerce platforms.

VegEase begins 100% EV adoption in Last-Mile logistics for e-grocery

In a bid to reduce the carbon footprint of its logistics operations and achieve sustainable growth, VegEase, the cart-at-home e-grocery startup has begun to deploy electric vehicles (EV) in its last-mile logistics.

The company said it will move completely to an electric fleet by 2024. VegEase has partnered with electric vehicle OEM, OBA for their three-wheeler eVikas light commercial vehicles under a long term leasing model. The move will contribute to an operating cost reduction of 25%.

Tarrakki inks partnership with Smallcase

Tarrakki, a wealth management startup has announced a strategic partnership with fintech company Smallcase, to offer long-term equity portfolio to their users.

As per the company, this partnership will enable investors to invest in a well-diversified basket of stocks carefully chosen with a multi-cap and multi-sector strategy. It will also help Tarrakki’s mission to make investments easy, hassle-free and transparent.

Snapdeal, Khan Academy partner to launch digital learning initiative for students

E-commerce player Snapdeal has partnered with Khan Academy, an educational non-profit organisation, to launch ‘The Foundation Program’ that will work towards minimising learning gaps in children and building a solid foundation for the next class.

The programme will focus on revising important concepts from the previous year in math and language comprehension, helping children build a strong foundation for the new class, the statement added.

Karnataka HC denies relief to Amazon, Flipkart from CCI probe, dismisses appeals

The Karnataka High Court division bench on July 23 dismissed writ appeals by e-commerce players Amazon and Flipkart in which they had challenged a June 11 order by a single-judge bench that had allowed the Competition Commission of India to probe the companies over alleged anti-competitive practices.

“Amazon and Flipkart’s appeals are devoid of merit and substance and deserve to be dismissed,” the two-judge division bench comprising Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Nataraj Rangaswamy said on Friday.

“The applicants should not feel shy in facing inquiry by CCI if they are not in violation of the Competition Act,” the bench added.

Digital Currency to soon become reality in India: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India is moving towards bringing in Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). RBI plans on introducing this digital monetary asset in a phase-wise implementation strategy according to the Deputy Governor of RBI, T Rabi Sankar.

The CBDC is being introduced in lieu of other private digital assets like cryptocurrency and is in fact a legal and legitimate form of virtual coin that will be on par with its real-world counterpart, according to Sankar. He added that the central bank is framing considerations for the legal framework to be put into place so that the CBDC can coexist with cash and digital payment methods in India.

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are legal tender that are created by the central bank of a nation, though in digital form. The only difference between them and traditional cash or fiat currency is that CBDCs are digital.

T-Hub’s global accelerator programme selects three startups

Telangana’s startup ecosystem builder T-Hub on Friday launched the Global Markets Accelerator Programme 2.0 in partnership with La Trobe University and selected three growth-stage Australian startups MeetMyCoach, Insight Academy and Neutopia.

The programme is part of the T-Bridge initiative that aims to help startups scale globally through various programmes, provide access to the emerging Indian market and give exhaustive insights into the global innovation ecosystem.

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS

Uber’s trucking unit to buy Transplace for $2.25 bn

Uber’s trucking business is buying transportation logistics company Transplace for about $2.25 billion from private equity firm TPG Capital, in a deal that is expected to speed up the unit’s path to profitability.

As per Reuters, the acquisition consists of up to $750 million in the company’s common stock and the remainder in cash.

Zoom to buy cloud-based call centre operator Five9 in $15 bn deal

Zoom has announced a $14.7 billion all-stock deal to buy cloud-based call center operator Five9 in its largest-ever acquisition, as per Reuters.

The acquisition is expected to help enhance Zoom’s presence with enterprise customers and allow it to accelerate its long-term growth opportunity by adding the $24-billion contact center market, the company said.

Tencent to buy British video game company Sumo in $1.3 bn deal

Chinese tech giant Tencent will buy video game company Sumo Group in a deal that values the British firm at $1.3 billion.

According to Reuters, the purchase will boost the Tencent’s presence globally and will bring together Sumo’s racing and snooker games with Tencent’s more high-profile range of games that includes Call of Duty’s mobile version.

Salesforce buys Slack for $27.7 bn

Business software maker Salesforce has closed its $27.7 billion purchase of Slack Technologies, Reuters reported.

The merger partners hope the deal will bolster efforts to connect their joint customers to smooth out common business deals, Salesforce President Bret Taylor and Slack Chief Executive Stewart Butterfield told Reuters.

Duolingo eyes over $3 bn valuation in US IPO

Language-learning app maker Duolingo is aiming to be valued as much as $3.41 billion in its US initial public offering, Reuters reported.

About 5.1 million shares will be offered in the IPO, priced between $85 and $95 each, which would rake in more than $485 million at the top end of that range.

On a fully diluted basis, which includes securities such as stock options and restricted stock units, Duolingo would be valued at $4.38 billion at the maximum price. Nearly 1.4 million shares will be offered by the selling stockholders, proceeds from which will not go to the company.

Robinhood seeks up to $35 bn valuation in mega US IPO

Robinhood Markets is targeting a valuation of up to $35 billion in its initial public offering in the United States, Reuters reported.

The listing plans come just months after the online brokerage found itself at the center of a confrontation between a new generation of retail investors and Wall Street hedge funds in late January.

Robinhood was aiming for an IPO valuation of up to $40 billion, Reuters had previously reported.

Twitter beats revenue targets with ad improvements, shares jump 5%

Twitter on Thursday reported higher revenue growth than Wall Street had expected, as the social media platform rolled out ad targeting improvements to help brands reach potential customers.

Shares of Twitter rose 5% to $73 in trading after the bell, reports Reuters.

Advertising revenue totaled $1.05 billion, up 87% from the year-ago quarter, and beat Wall Street estimates of $909.9 million.

Snap beats User, revenue estimates with highest growth in 4 years

Snap on Thursday beat Wall Street estimates for users and revenue in the second quarter, notching the highest growth rates since late 2017 as new features on its messaging app Snapchat attracted more users.

As per Reuters, shares of Snap rose about 10 percent to $69.20 (roughly Rs. 5,150) in extended trading, after its forecast for the current quarter also came in above expectations.

Snap’s revenue jumped 116 percent to $982 million (roughly Rs. 7,310 crores), well above the expectation of $845.9 million (roughly Rs. 6,300 crores). Previously, its strongest growth rate was 66 percent.

YouTube adds money-making feature to attract content creators

YouTube has launched a new way for content creators to earn money from fans, as the Alphabet owned streaming company looks to compete better with ByteDance’s TikTok and Facebook’s Instagram.

Called Super Thanks, the new feature is the fourth way for YouTubers to earn money from viewers. Fans can purchase Super Thanks at four price points, from $2 to $50, as a way to express gratitude and support their favourite YouTube channels, the company said in a statement.

Netflix details video game push as it forecasts weak growth

Netflix said it would take a deeper dive into video games as the movie and TV streaming service projected weak subscriber growth amid growing competition and the lifting of pandemic restrictions that had kept people at home.

The company’s shares hovered about even at $531.10 in after-hours trading on Tuesday. Earnings for April through June came in at $2.97 per share, below the average forecast of $3.16, according to analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.

Amazon shuts down cloud infrastructure linked to Israeli firm NSO – Report

Amazon cloud service, Amazon Web Services, has shut down infrastructure and accounts linked to Israeli surveillance vendor NSO Group, US media group Vice reported.

NSO Group’s spyware was used in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, government officials and human rights activists around the world, according to an investigation by 17 media organizations published on Sunday.

“When we learned of this activity, we acted quickly to shut down the relevant infrastructure and accounts,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.

Jeff Bezos’s space voyage

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has joined the very small cohort of people who have travelled into space.

Bezos flew to space on Tuesday aboard a New Shepard rocket designed and built by Blue Origin, the spaceflight company Bezos founded in 2000, nine days after rival Richard Branson flew to the edge of space in his spacecraft.

Bezos flew to space alongside his brother Mark 82-year old pioneering female aviator Wally Funk and recent high school graduate Oliver Daemen. The group lifted off from a launchpad in West Texas and had just about three minutes to float around weightless in the capsule.

The entire launch and flight were autonomous, with no pilots and lasted just 11 minutes.

Binance stops selling ‘stock tokens’ after regulatory scrutiny

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has said that users can no longer buy digital tokens linked to stocks, a day after Italian regulators joined a string of financial watchdogs to crackdown on the platform.

“Effective immediately, stock tokens are unavailable for purchase on Binance.com,” the exchange said on its website, adding that it would cease all support in October.

The move comes after growing scrutiny of the exchange by regulators from the United States to Europe and Asia.

Tesla will ‘most likely’ restart accepting bitcoin as payments: Musk

Electric-car maker Tesla will most likely restart accepting bitcoin as payment once it conducts due diligence on the amount of renewable energy used to mine the currency, CEO Elon Musk said at a conference on Wednesday.

As per Reuters, Bitcoin was up 8% at $32,160.16, while ether surged 11.6% to $1,993.36. Tesla’s shares were down 0.8% at $655.30 in extended trading.

Musk’s comments at the B Word conference come after Tesla said in May it would stop accepting bitcoin for car purchases, less than two months after the company began accepting the world’s biggest digital currency for payment.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Startup Digest: CCI approves Softbank’s investment in Swiggy, WhatsApp banned 2 M accounts in India, Xiaomi trumps Apple for No.2 spot

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Here are the top stories that made headlines in the startup universe this week.

CCI approves Softbank’s investment in Swiggy

Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved SoftBank Vision Fund II’s investment in food delivery app Swiggy. Moneycontrol had reported earlier that SoftBank will invest $450-500 million in Swiggy at a post-money valuation of close to $5.5 billion.

At a time when Swiggy is preparing to close a billion-dollar fund raise, the food delivery platform has also elevated Phani Kishan Addepalli, its vice-president for strategy and investments, to a co-founder’s status.

NRAI accuses Zomato, Swiggy of ‘Exorbitant Commission’ in an additional information filing with CCI

Restaurant industry body NRAI has filed additional information with the Competition Commission of India (CCI), alleging exorbitant commissions charged by aggregators Zomato and Swiggy.

NRAI claimed that Zomato and Swiggy are charging a commission in the range of 25 to 35 percent of the order value in 2020-21, and that delay in payments has affected the entire cash flow of its partners. It also alleged that Zomato and Swiggy are forcing restaurant partners to give discounts on their platforms to maintain good visibility and have shifted the entire cost burden on the restaurants.

WOW! Momo forays into FMCG with Ready-To-Eat Momos

Homegrown QSR Momo chain, ‘WOW! MOMO’ has announced its entry into the ready-to-use food category. The company has unveiled a variety of authentic flavours in the frozen ready-to-eat Momo category.

The all-new category of ready-to-make frozen momos by WOW! Momos will be exclusively available online on Bigbasket in the following 10 cities: Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Temasek, IFC buy out Upgrad Esops

Investment giant Temasek and the World Bank arm IFC have invested an additional $29.5 million into online education platform UpGrad by buying out the Esops from 37 employees.

Upgrad in the last week of April got $120 million from Temasek and $40 million from IFC, wherein the promoters divested 25 percent of their equity.

The founder group still owns over 70 percent in the company and has created a large Esop pool of close to 13 percent of the enlarged equity base, Upgrad co-founder and chairman Ronnie Screwvala said.

The two quick rounds of equity infusion of $160 million had valued the startup to over $850 million.

BharatePe targets $6 Bn in POS business FY22

Fintech giant BharatPe expects to hit $6 billion in annual transactions processed value in its POS business by the end of the financial year 2022, the company said.

It also aims to grow its point-of-sale system business — BharatSwipe — at least three folds, by expanding into 80 cities across India by FY22 end, the Delhi-based company added.

BharatPe launched BharatSwipe in the second half of 2020, after which it instantly became a hit because of its zero-rental model.

CarDekho Group launches online pre-owned car retailing service

Automobile platform CarDekho Group on Thursday, July 15, 2021, announced the launch of an online hassle-free pre-owned car retailing service, which enables customers to search over 5,000 certified used cars.

The service is currently available in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Agra, Lucknow and Kanpur, and will soon be expanded to newer markets, the platform said in a statement.

T-Hub, AIM launch second healthtech cohort

T-Hub, a start-up ecosystem enabler, has entered into an agreement with the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the healthcare sector.

10 deep tech startups have been handpicked by T-Hub, AIM and external industry experts. They were selected based on their innovation, go-to market readiness, scalability and team composition, the company said.

Fashion brand Shein set to make a comeback

B2C fashion brand Shein is ready to make a comeback in India after it was banned by the government last year along with several other Chinese apps.

Shein will relaunch in India through Amazon. It will be featured as a seller on Amazon’s Indian website for its Prime Day festival in the country later this month, as per reports.

This comes after another Chinese app PUBG Mobile marked its return to the Indian market in the form of Battlegrounds Mobile India, developed by Krafton.

WhatsApp banned 2 M accounts in India in a month, as per transparency report

WhatsApp banned over 2 million accounts of Indian users between May 15 and June 15, as per the Facebook-owned company’s first monthly transparency report. This compares to a global monthly average of about 8 million accounts banned/ disabled per month, the company said.

The company has said that over 2 million Indian accounts were banned by WhatsApp in the period 15 May – 15 June 2021, in the interest of “preventing online abuse and keeping users safe on our platform”.

WhatsApp also received 345 grievances from users sent to the company’s grievance officer, the report said, of which about 200 were about a ‘ban appeal’.

Twitter appoints resident grievance officer, releases transparency report

Twitter has released its transparency report and has appointed a Resident Grievance Officer as per the regulations.

Twitter has named Vinay Prakash as its Chief Grievance Officer, as per its website. This comes weeks after the interim grievance officer appointed by the company had quit the position. Twitter has informed the Delhi High Court that it has appointed an interim chief compliance officer.

Twitter on Sunday also released its transparency report for the period of May 26-June 26, highlighting user complaints and action is taken. As per Twitter’s report, the company took action on over 130 URLs.
Twitter ‘Fleets’ feature to shut down on August 3

Twitter said on Wednesday it will shut down its ephemeral posts feature called Fleets on August 3 after the product failed to gain traction with users.

The move comes just eight months after the social media platform rolled out Fleets to all its users globally. In a blog, Twitter said it had not seen an increase in the number of new users posting Fleets as it had hoped.

Google ends unlimited group video calling for free accounts on Meet

Google has ended unlimited group video calls facility for free accounts on its video calling app Meet, and the users will now get only an hour time for group calls.

According to an update on Google support page for Meet users, at 55 minutes, everyone gets a notification that the call is about to end.

However, Google Workspace individual subscribers can host one-on-one calls and group calls with three or more participants for up to 24 hours.

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS

Xiaomi trumps Apple to become world’s No. 2 smartphone maker

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi overtook Apple in the second quarter to become the world’s No. 2 smartphone maker, market research firm Canalys said.

Xiaomi took the second spot for the first time with 17% share of worldwide smartphone shipments.
Xiaomi’s shipments grew 12% in the second quarter, led by Samsung Electronics with a 19 percent share, and Apple in third place with a 14 percent share.

China announces on-site Didi cybersecurity investigation

China’s cyber-watchdog on Friday announced an on-site cybersecurity investigation of ride-hailing service Didi, stepping up scrutiny after earlier criticism of its handling of customer information caused the company’s New York-traded shares to tumble.

The on-site inspection comes two weeks after the regulator said it would probe the ride-hailing company over concerns about national security and data security. That came days after Didi raised $4.4 billion and went public.

SoftBank Vision Fund invests $1.7 bn in S.Korean travel firm Yanolja

SoftBank’s Vision Fund has invested $1.7 billion in Yanolja, the South Korean travel and leisure firm as it seeks to build on rapid pandemic-induced growth in Southeast Asia, India and Africa, Reuters reported.

The deal is expected to represent a large increase over its previous valuation of more than $1 billion in 2019 when Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and US firm Booking Holdings invested $180 million.

Facebook and Instagram will invest over $1 bn in content creators

Facebook will invest over $1 billion to support content creators through the end of 2022, Reuters reported.

The investments will include bonus programs to pay creators who hit certain milestones on its apps, including photo-sharing network Instagram, and fund users to produce content, Facebook said.

On Facebook, video creators and online gamers will receive a monthly bonus if they hit milestones for earnings Stars.
Instagram’s bonus programs will include incentives to use Reels.

Bezos gives $200 M donation to Smithsonian

Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos will donate $200 million to the Smithsonian, the largest gift in the history of the institute, the Associated Press reported.

As per report, a $70 million portion of the donation will support the renovation of the National Air and Space Museum while $130 million will launch a new education center to be named after the world’s wealthiest person.

Richard Branson buys stake in space tech fund Seraphim

British billionaire Richard Branson has bought a stake in space tech fund Seraphim Space Investment Trust as part of a $246.99 million IPO.

Airbus SE also participated in the IPO and was among other parties to buy shares of the company, according to an emailed statement by Seraphim, which is set to commence trading this week on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

Branson takes off first in space tourism race

British billionaire Richard Branson flew into space aboard his own winged rocket ship on Sunday.
Branson and five crewmates reached an altitude of about 88 kilometres over the New Mexico desert and then safely glided back home.

Branson became the first person to blast off in his own spaceship, beating Jeff Bezos by nine days.

France fines Google 500 M euros over copyright row

France’s antitrust watchdog has slapped a 500 million euro ($593 million) fine on Google for failing to comply with the regulator’s orders on how to conduct talks with the country’s news publishers in a row over copyright.

As per Reuters, the US tech giant must now come up with proposals within the next two months on how it would compensate news agencies and other publishers for the use of their news. If it does not do that, the company would face additional fines of up to 900,000 euros per day.

Google said it was very disappointed with the decision but would comply.

EU watchdog rejects call to ban Facebook from processing WhatsApp user data

A European Union privacy watchdog has rejected a call by Germany’s lead data protection regulator for an EU-wide ban on Facebook’s processing of personal data from its WhatsApp subsidiary, but told the social network’s lead EU regulator in Ireland to investigate.

The regulator in the city-state of Hamburg announced in May that it was banning the social network from processing personal data from WhatsApp users because it views the messaging app’s new terms of use as illegal.

Uber reaches agreement in California sexual assault data request

Uber on Thursday reached a preliminary agreement with a California regulator for sharing data on sexual assault and harassment claims on its platform while protecting victims’ privacy and avoiding a $59 million fine, Reuters reported.

Under the proposal outlined in a regulatory filing with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the penalty would be reduced to $150,000, but Uber would pay $9 million to support a state victims’ fund and help create industry-wide safety and reporting standards.

The CPUC fined Uber in December after the company refused to share victims’ detailed information, including full names and contact information.

Google boss says internet freedom under attack

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has warned that the free and open internet is under attack in countries around the world.
In an interview to BBC, Google boss stated that many countries are restricting the flow of information, and the model is often taken for granted.

TikTok tells staff to return to office for three days a week

Popular short-video app TikTok told its employees on Monday that some will be offered the option to work remotely for up to two days a week after they return to office, according to an internal message seen by Reuters.

TikTok will also give employees the choice to work remotely from a domestic location based on manager approval, according to the message. This policy applies to full-time employees and interns in the United States, the UK and Ireland, with other markets to follow.

The company is currently working fully remote and is yet to set a return-to-office date. TikTok hired “thousands of colleagues” during the pandemic, according to the message.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Weekly wrap | IPO Corner: Paytm files DRHP for Rs 16,600 crore issue, OLA Electric raises $100 million

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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This week has been buzzing with a flurry of monster-sized IPOs in the Indian startup ecosystem. Here are all the big announcements that made headlines.

Paytm files DRHP for Rs 16,600 crore IPO

Digital payments startup Paytm has filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), for an initial public offering (IPO) of up to Rs 16,600 crore. The total issue size of Rs 16,600 crore consists of a fresh issue and an offer for sale of up to Rs 8,300 crore each, papers submitted to Sebi showed. The primary issue size of Rs 8,300 crore will include Rs 2,000 crore pre-IPO placement.
Paytm’s investors ANT Financial, Alibaba, Softbank, Elevation Capital could sell shares through OFS. With the total issue size at Rs 16,600 crore, Paytm sees a valuation of $30 billion.

Meanwhile, Ratan Tata, the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, is looking to sell some shares in Paytm as a part of its IPO, the DRHP showed. The DRHP also mentions RNT Associates of Ratan Tata as a selling shareholder. RNT Associates holds 75,000 equity shares in Paytm. The company has been actively rejigging its Board in the run-up to its IPO, seeing the exit of Chinese nationals. Former WhatsApp business head Neeraj Arora has rejoined the Paytm board as an additional director and Vivek Mathur has replaced Mukul Arora as an alternate director.

Zomato IPO subscribed over 38 times on Day 3 so far

The initial public offering (IPO) of the online food delivery platform Zomato has been subscribed 38.25 times so far on July 16, the last day of bidding. The portion reserved for retail investors in the IPO was subscribed 7.45 times till 6:00 pm. The portion set aside for the non-institutional investors (NII) was subscribed 32.96 times, while the portion reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIB) was subscribed 51.79 times – the highest among the three groups of investors. The IPO size has been reduced to Rs 5,178.49 crore from Rs 9,375 crore earlier as Zomato already raised Rs 4,196.51 crore from 186 anchor investors on July 13, a day before the public opening of the issue.

BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover makes Rs 150 crore personal application in Zomato IPO

BharatPe CEO and co-founder Ashneer Grover has made a Rs 150 crore personal application in the Zomato IPO. Speaking to CNBC TV-18, Grover said he is building a pool of $100 million for the Delhivery, Nykaa, and Policybazaar IPOs. He added that he is allocating his personal savings to leverage himself using IPO financing and is looking to apply for $15 million-plus in every IPO that comes up in the tech space. The application to the Zomato IPO was made on July 16 via the HNI segment through Kotak Wealth Management.

Paytm Money launches new feature, users can pre-book Zomato IPO

Digital brokerage platform Paytm Money is now letting users apply for Initial Public Offerings (IPO) before the actual IPO Opening in the markets. Zomato was the first IPO on Paytm Money to go live with this feature and saw huge demand coming from young and first-time investors. 27 percent of people who completed the Zomato IPO application on Paytm Money’s platform were less than 25 years old while 60 percent were less than 30 years old, Moneycontrol reported.

OLA Electric raises $100 million ahead of IPO, to launch E-scooter in less than 20 days

Ola Electric, the electric vehicles focused arm of ride-hailing giant Ola, has raised $100 million of debt from the Bank of Baroda. This 10-year debt will be used in funding and financial closure of Phase-I of the Ola Future factory.
Sources told CNBC TV-18 that the launch of OLA’s electric scooter is less than 20 days away. It will be launched in at least four colors and the first Ola scooter will be positioned for private use and personal mobility. The company will initially focus largely on doorstep delivery of vehicles, sources added.
On Thursday, the company began taking bookings for its upcoming electric scooter for Rs 499.

Mobikwik files for Rs 1,900 crore IPO

Digital payments startup Mobikwik, backed by Sequoia Capital and Bajaj Finance has filed for an IPO of up to Rs 1900 Crore with the markets regulator Sebi on Monday. About Rs 1,500 crore will be primary share sales while up to Rs 400 crore will be secondary share sales where existing investors can sell their stake. The promoters plan to sell about Rs 190 crore of their stake, while Sequoia and Bajaj Finance will sell Rs 95 crore and Rs 69 crore respectively, filings said. Mobikwik was last valued at $700 million when it raised $20 million last month from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Sequoia Capital to not be locked-in for 1-year post-Zomato, Mobikwik IPOs

Sequoia Capital India will not face a one-year share lock-in and can cash out of both Zomato, which launched its IPO on Wednesday, as well as from Mobikwik, which is gearing up for an IPO and released its draft red herring prospectus this week, thanks to SEBI’s guidelines for foreign venture capital investors.
In Zomato, Miare-Naver will also be exempted from the lock-in period, as per the Red Herring Prospectus. Mobikwik’s DRHP also says that all equity shares held by Sequoia Capital India Investment Holdings III shall be exempt from the lock-in requirements. Sequoia Capital is already participating in Mobikwik’s Rs 400 crore offer for sale and is looking to sell Rs 94 crore. Sequoia Capital India holds a 17.17% stake in Mobikwik and about 7.3% in Zomato.

PayMate to list?

B2B payments platform for SMEs PayMate evaluates an initial public offering as per Moneycontrol. The startup backed by digital payment giant Visa and Lightbox is looking at an FY22 listing. The IPO will unlock value for the firm, help to raise growth capital, and also facilitate a partial exit for its multiple investors, sources told Moneycontrol.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Startup Digest: From Zomato IPO, Temasek, IFC buyout of Upgrad Espos to WOW! Momo foraying into FMCG

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Here are the top stories from the startup universe.

Zomato IPO opens; raises over Rs 4,196 crore from anchor investors

Online food delivery platform Zomato’s initial public offering (IPO) opened on July 14 and will close on July 16. The price band of the issue has been set at Rs 72-76 and it is a combination of both fresh issue and offer for sale by existing promoters and shareholders.

The IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 9,000 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) worth Rs 375 crore by existing investor Info Edge India.
Ahead of the IPO, the anchor portion of the offer was open on July 13. Zomato raised over Rs 4,196 crore from 186 anchor investors in lieu of 55,21,73,505 equity shares at Rs 76 each, according to a circular uploaded on the BSE website.

While speaking to CNBC-TV18, Gaurav Gupta, Zomato co-founder said “Responses from global investors have been strong. Have over 150+ highly qualified investors.”

The company is planning to launch a marketplace model for grocery delivery on the app soon. “Foray into the grocery segment is an experiment for us as of now. We believe grocery delivery is an important hyperlocal service,” Gupta claimed.

Zomato will also use proceeds to fund organic and inorganic growth post its IPO.

Temasek, IFC buy out Upgrad Esops

Investment giant Temasek and the World Bank arm IFC have invested an additional $29.5 million into the online education platform UpGrad by buying out the Esops from 37 employees.

Upgrad, in the last week of April, got $120 million from Temasek and $40 million from IFC, wherein the promoters divested 25 percent of their equity.

The founder group still owns over 70 percent in the company and has created a large Esop pool of close to 13 percent of the enlarged equity base, Upgrad co-founder and chairman Ronnie Screwvala said.

The two quick rounds of equity infusion of $160 million had valued the startup to over $850 million.

PayMate to list?

B2B payments platform for SMEs PayMate is evaluating an initial public offering, as per Moneycontrol.

The startup backed by digital payment giant Visa and Lightbox is looking at a FY22 listing.

The IPO will unlock value for the firm, help raise growth capital and also facilitate a partial exit for its multiple investors, sources told Moneycontrol.

WOW! Momo forays into FMCG with Ready-To-Eat Momos

Homegrown QSR Momo chain, ‘WOW! MOMO’ has announced its entry into the ready-to-use food category. The company has unveiled a variety of authentic flavours in the frozen ready-to-eat Momo category, such as Veg Darjeeling Momos, Chicken Darjeeling Momos, Masala Chicken Momos, Corn & Cheese Momos and Chicken Cheese Momos.

With the growing acceptance for ready-to-eat food and the latent need that has been created due to digitisation and the work from home scene, WOW! Momo’s new avatar is set to revamp “Home Made Food” to the brand’s promise of “Made for Home. Make At Home”.

The five launch flavours in veg and non veg are available in packs of 10s and 20s and range from Rs 140 to Rs 305. The venture claims its momos have no MSG (Monosodium Glutamate), no preservatives and have a healthy shelf life of nine months.

WOW! Momo Instant aims to become the go-to home snack that one can make in less than 2 mins.

The all-new category of ready-to-make frozen momos by WOW! Momos will be exclusively available online on Bigbasket in Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Pratilipi raises $48 million funding from Krafton

Online storytelling platform Pratilipi has raised $48 million in a series D funding led by South Korean gaming giant Krafton.

Existing investor, Omidyar Network India also participated in the round along with a number of startup founders including Hemesh Singh and Gaurav Munjal (Unacademy), Nishith Rastogi (Locus), Sahil Barua (Delhivery), Vidit Aatrey (Meesho), Mekin Maheshwari (Udhyam) and Amit Agarwal (NoBroker).
Pratilipi co-founder and CEO Ranjeet Pratap Singh also invested in this round that has taken the total amount raised till date to $78.8 million. The company’s valuation has now grown to about $265 million.

The firm will use fresh funding to strengthen its intellectual property acquisition and development across various formats including audio books, podcasts, comics, web series, movies and games.

Ennoventure raises $5 M in Series A

Software as a service (SaaS) company Ennoventure has raised $5 million as part of its Series A funding from US-based Fenice Investment Group.

Ennoventure said it will utilise the fresh capital for scaling up the team and to expand to Europe and the US. As part of its growth strategy, the company also plans to focus on India as it is a key market for the export of generic drugs.

In April 2018, the company had raised $1 million in a seed fund round. Ennoventure uses AI, Cryptography, Blockchain and embedded solutions in its product offerings.

Autonomous industrial vehicle maker Ati Motors raises $3.5M

All-electric autonomous industrial vehicle maker Ati Motors has raised $3.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Blume Ventures and Exfinity Venture Partners, among others.

The funds will be deployed for manufacturing and deployment of a large fleet of autonomous vehicles in factories and warehouses, in both domestic and global markets, the company said.

The company also claims to have raised a seed fund earlier from Village Global, a Bay Area based-early stage fund backed by the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, among others.

BurnCal raises $330,000

Fitness solution provider BurnCal has raised $330,000 in its pre-seed round funding from Titan Capital, SenseAI Ventures and a slew of angel investors,

The startup will use fresh funds to build the core technology, scale up the product and strengthen the founding team.

BurnCal’s proprietary computer vision-based technology tracks the posture and counts repetitions in real-time during workouts ensuring their members get complete attention even while working out from home.

Mumbai Angels Network invests in Indi Energy

Energy storage startup India Energy has raised an undisclosed amount in startup investment platform Mumbai Angels Network as a part of its seed round.

Indi Energy will be utilising the funds in bolstering its R&D, and scaling up its proprietary sodium-ion battery technology, the company said.

The company claims to have made breakthroughs in sodium-ion batteries with its energy density three to four times better than the commercialised lead-acid batteries that are currently available in the market. The firm has also filed patents for sodium-ion batteries, having invented a high-performance sodium-ion negative electrode material from rice/paddy straw and cattle manure.

Shyplite launches Shypmax supply chain solution

AI-powered logistics platform Shyplite has launched Shypmax, a cross border LPaaS (Logistics Platform as a service), which also has asset light carrier capabilities and an asset light supply chain solution, backed by a contemporary product and stellar service.

Shypmax is now live for deliveries to 40+ countries and will be covering delivery to 220 countries progressively with over 70 carrier and network partnerships in place globally. It is also one of the first IOSS ready services in India, with focus on compliance for new regulations in the European Union, the company claimed.

Shypmax aims to eliminate all the problems like delays, compliance issues, surprise penalties and shocks out of cross border shipping faced by businesses and their customers’ shopping experience, the firm added.

The company will cater to businesses which want to get their goods moved out of India by air such as D2C ecommerce, offline and B2B companies.

T-Hub, AIM launch second healthtech cohort

T-Hub, a start-up ecosystem enabler, has entered into an agreement with the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the healthcare sector.

Ten deep tech startups have been handpicked by T-Hub, AIM and external industry experts. They were selected based on their innovation, go-to market readiness, scalability and team composition, the company said.
The programme will provide startups with experts, resources to sharpen their markets, refine their business and product commercialisation plans.

Global technology and startup news

EBay sells $2.25 Bn Adevinta stake to secure classified ads tie-up

EBay has agreed to sell part of its stake in Norway’s Adevinta to private equity firm Permira for $2.25 billion in cash, clearing the way for a tie-up between eBay and Adevinta’s classified ads businesses.

As per Reuters, the deal comes after Austria’s Federal Competition Authority demanded eBay cut its holding in Adevinta to no more than 33 percent to approve their plan to create a world leader in classified ads.

Approval in Austria, which had raised concerns about the impact on competition in its market, was the last regulatory hurdle for the tie-up.

EBay will sell 125 million Adevinta shares, or a 10.2 percent stake, to Permira, leaving the US firm with a 34 percent holding.

Permira has a 30-day option to buy an additional 10 million shares at the same price, reducing eBay’s stake to 33%.

The deal between eBay and Permira is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, Adevinta said.

Anhui becomes latest Chinese province to root out cryptocurrency mining

Anhui, in eastern China, has become the latest province to announce a sweeping ban on cryptocurrency mining, saying the move will help ease an acute power shortage over the next three years.

Anhui will shut down all crypto mining projects in a cleanup aimed at reducing power consumption, as the province faces a “grave” supply shortage of electricity, Reuters reported.

China’s state council had vowed to crack down on bitcoin mining and trading in late May, citing underlying financial risks.

Apple’s potential ‘buy now, pay later’ plan sends sector shares tumbling

A report that Apple is working on a service to let users pay for purchases in installments dragged down shares in the ‘buy now, pay later’ sector, according to Reuters.

The US tech giant will use Goldman Sachs, its partner since 2019 for the Apple Card credit card, as the lender for the loans, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The prospect of going up against a behemoth like Apple, as well as other entrants including PayPal, was likely to test Australian pure-play BNPL firms that have so far gone unchallenged in a fertile U.S. market.

Shares of Australia-listed Afterpay, the country’s biggest BNPL provider which derives a big chunk of its revenue from the United States, dived nearly 10% on Wednesday.

Twitter suspends some fake accounts it verified by mistake

Twitter said, on July 13, it mistakenly verified some fake accounts that the social media company has now permanently suspended, months after restarting its verification program.
The company in May relaunched verifications after a years-long freeze on public submissions for the site’s blue check marks, saying only “notable” users would be awarded the badge.
“We mistakenly approved the verification applications of a small number of inauthentic (fake) accounts,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement. “We have now permanently suspended the accounts in question, and removed their verified badge, under our platform manipulation and spam policy.”
The social media company had paused the verification program in 2017 amid criticism that it was arbitrary and confusing. It said at the time the check mark was being confused with “an endorsement or an indicator of importance”.
Under Twitter’s new verification rules, accounts must have been active in the last six months and fit one of several criteria: government, companies, brands and organizations, news outlets and journalists, entertainment, sports and gaming, activists, organizers and other influential individuals.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Startup Digest: Zomato to raise $560 million from anchor investors, Paytm rejigs board ahead of IPO

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Here are the top stories from the startup universe.

Zomato to raise $560 million from anchor investors for IPO: Report

Ahead of its IPO, Zomato gets a strong response from global institutional investors for its anchor book. The food delivery platform garners almost half its issue size of around $560 million from institutional investors. Over 100 end investors will be allotted shares as part of the anchor book for its IPO. As per Moneycontrol, top foreign investors in Zomato’s anchor book include Baillie Gifford, BlackRock, Capital Research, CPPIB, GIC, T Rowe Price. Zomato is eying an $8.7 billion post-money valuation. The online food delivery platform’s IPO issuance is worth Rs 9,375 cr at a price band of Rs 72-76. The company’s IPO to be open from July 14 to 16.

Paytm board rejig continues

Former WhatsApp business head Neeraj Arora has rejoined the Paytm board as an additional director, as per RoC filings sourced from Tofler. Arora was on the Paytm board till 2018. The filing also shows a change to the Alternate director to Paytm board member Ravi Adusamalli of Elevation Capital.
Vivek Mathur has replaced Mukul Arora as the alternate director. Paytm had reshuffled the board last week, seeing the exit of Chinese nationals ahead of the IPO.

Aquaconnect raises $4 million in Pre-Series A round

Aquaconnect, a startup firm that works with aqua farmers has raised $4 million in pre-Series A round led by Rebright Partners and Flourish Ventures.
AgFunder and 6G Capital, along with existing investors Omnivore and HATCH, also participated in the funding round. The startup plans to use funds to strengthen its GIS-enabled fintech product development and accelerate the volume of exports flowing through the platform. It also intends to launch its Series A round in six to nine months, the company said.

Vah Vah! raises $1.85 million seed round led by Sequoia Surge

Vah Vah!, a vocational training platform, has raised $1.85 million in a seed round led by Sequoia India’s Surge. The company is one of the 23 early-stage startups to make it to Surge’s fifth cohort — its largest so far — that kicked off on June 30. Vah Vah! offers live cohort-based courses, and aims to impart vocational skills that can translate into job opportunities for the youth or help them start their own businesses.

Blockchain startup Arcana raises $375K

Blockchain startup Arcana has raised a seed round of $375,000 from Coinbase’s Balaji Srinivasan, Sandeep Nailwal and JD Kanani (Founders of Polygon), Kendrick Nguyen, (Founder and CEO of Republic), and other top angels in the crypto ecosystem. The seed fundraise also saw participation from strategic investors and some of the biggest innovators in the blockchain industry such as Santiago Santos (General Partner at ParaFi Capital, Kenetic Capital), AU21, and John Lilic, Siddharth Menon (Founder of WazirX), Aniket Jindal, (Co-founder of Biconomy) and Arcanum Capital. The firm plans to use the fresh funds to accelerate its product development, acquire talent and create a vibrant developer community.

BASF Venture Capital invests in UrbanKisaan

BASF Venture Capital GmbH (BVC) is investing an undisclosed amount in the Indian hydroponic cultivation startup UrbanKisaan. This is BVC’s (the investment arm of German chemicals major BASF) first investment in an early-stage business focusing on India. With this investment, UrbanKisaan plans to further expand its market presence, deploy its farming technology to work with thousands of farmers, and bring fresh, local, sustainable produce to urban dwellers. UrbanKisaan which operates in several suburban greenhouses and vertical indoor farms in Hyderabad and Bengaluru sells fresh produce, some of which is grown directly in the shops, in its franchisee-owned brick-and-mortar stores, and via an app and website.

Stellar Value Chain to invest Rs 200 crore in e-grocery supply chain

Tech-enabled consumer supply chain firm Stellar Value Chain plans to invest Rs 200 crore for setting up 25 fulfillment and sort centres pan-India to boost its e-grocery supply chain offerings this fiscal. Apart from this, the company will also invest in technology integration to enhance operational efficiency, it said in a statement. The company will also invest money into rolling out a fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) to develop an EV-based transportation network to facilitate e-grocery delivery.

“Changed buying pattern of consumers and a sense of convenience has made e-grocery one of the attractive and highly competitive e-commerce segments. Our enhanced e-grocery supply chain will help companies develop a strong delivery backbone,” said Anshuman Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, Stellar Value Chain Solutions. In addition, Stellar Value Chain Solutions has developed a module called Stellar Productivity Enhancement and Engineering Design (SPEED) to enhance the agility and efficiency of the grocery fulfillment centres by adopting advanced technology and automation.

SpaceX to partner with Indian cos?

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is planning to join hands with Indian companies to locally manufacture satellite communications equipment, The Economic Times reported. This comes as the company prepares to launch its high-speed Starlink satellite broadband service in India next year. The equipment that SpaceX is aiming to produce in the country includes antenna systems and user terminal devices.

On July 12, SpaceX held its first official interaction with Department of Telecommunications (DoT) secretary Anshu Prakash. The DoT had met global companies to discuss local manufacturing of satellite communications gear and ways to create an enabling regulatory regime for global low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation operators to establish in-country gateways, the report said. Along with SpaceX, officials from Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, OneWeb, Airtel, Viasat, Hughes, Department of Space, and TRAI were also present. Matt Botwin, director (market access with the Starlink program) said “SpaceX has always looked for opportunities to maximise its efficiency in its global supply chain and is now looking forward to working with its partners in India as it recognises those opportunities.”

IIFL Securities Partners with WealthDesk to bring premium investment experience to Retail Investors

WealthDesk, an investment technology platform has partnered with IIFL Securities to offer a premium wealth management experience to over 2.2 million retail investors. This will be through curated WealthBasket stock and ETF portfolios from marquee Investment Advisory firms (RIA) such as Abakkus Asset Manager and Renaissance Investment Managers. WealthBasket is the flagship offering of WealthDesk. These are select investment portfolios, created and managed by SEBI Registered Professionals based on tenure, asset allocation, sector, theme, etc. These portfolios provide holistic Wealth Management on top of Equities & ETFs to retail investors, the company said in a statement.

With this partnership, IIFL Securities’ customers will now be able to invest in curated investment portfolios by using their broking credentials for a seamless wealth management experience. IIFL Securities aims to achieve Rs 600 crores Assets Under Advisory (AUA) in 12 months for RIA managed WealthBaskets on the WealthDesk platform. WealthDesk recently closed a pre-series A funding at $3.2 million and is backed by Mathew Cyriac, Founder of Florintree Advisors and Ex Blackstone Partner and co-head of India PE.

Locus integrates with ServiceNow to enable route optimisation services

Logistics startup Locus has integrated with ServiceNow Field Service Management to enable route optimization services that can help streamline the operations of field service agents. With this integration, end customers can now pick their preferred appointment time for service in ServiceNow Field Service Management. The integration with Locus will then allocate the task to the best field service agent with the right skill sets and tools for that task and also determine the most efficient street-level routing plan for each technician, the company said in a statement. Locus, which recently raised $50 million in Series C funding led by GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, with participation from Qualcomm Ventures LLC and existing investors Tiger Global and Falcon Edge, uses deep machine learning and proprietary algorithms to offer smart supply chain solutions to customers.

Logistics firm Shiprocket launches fulfillment centres

Tech-driven logistics platform Shiprocket has announced the launch of new fulfillment centres across major hubs to expand one- and two-day delivery capabilities. The company also said it is looking to add five more similar facilities to the existing network by the end of this year. The setting up of the new warehouse hubs at Jaipur, Surat, and Guwahati will boost the storage capacity to 35,000 orders per day with a storage capacity of 1.5 million units, the company said. Shiprocket already has fulfillment centres in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Gurgaon. The company has increased its capacity to process 35,000 orders per day, with a storage capacity of 1.5 million units. At present, 20% of the orders have been delivered within a day and 45 percent of them delivered within two days, as per the company. With the launch of three new warehouse hubs, Shiprocket has become the first platform in the D2C enablement sector to do so, it said.

India’s UPI reaches Bhutan

India’s UPI is set to be embraced by its neighbouring country Bhutan. As per reports, NPCI International Payments, the international arm of National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI), has partnered with the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan to implement QR-based UPI payments in the country. The service will enable payments through the Indian government’s BHIM app. With the new launch, Bhutan will become the first country to adopt UPI standards for its QR deployments. The country already accepts and issues India’s RuPay cards.

82% of students across grade 7-10 are fearful of Math: Cuemath survey

Cuemath, an after-school live-class program in Math, today published its findings of a survey report which reveals that around 82% of students between Grade 7 -10 fear math. The survey explored the key factors spread across perception, performance and confidence for mathematics. With a sample size of 1,600 non-Cuemath students, the survey showed a rising disconnect between students and their learning of mathematics. There are several reasons for the disconnect, the core being the redundancy of conventional teaching. Coupled with it, homeschooling during the pandemic has added to student woes, resulting in loss of interest and fear of mathematics at a critical juncture of their lives.

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS

France fines Google 500 million euros over a copyright row

France’s antitrust watchdog has slapped a 500 million euro ($593 million) fine on Google for failing to comply with the regulator’s orders on how to conduct talks with the country’s news publishers in a row over copyright. The fine comes amid increasing international pressure on online platforms such as Google and Facebook to share more revenue with news outlets. As per Reuters, the US tech giant must now come up with proposals within the next two months on how it would compensate news agencies and other publishers for the use of their news. If it does not do that, the company would face additional fines of up to 900,000 euros per day.

Google said it was very disappointed with the decision but would comply.
“Our objective remains the same: we want to turn the page with a definitive agreement. We will take the French Competition Authority’s feedback into consideration and adapt our offers,” Google told Reuters. News publishers APIG, SEPM and AFP accuse the tech company of having failed to hold talks in good faith with them to find common ground for the remuneration of news content online, under a recent European Union directive that creates so-called “neighbouring rights”. “When the authority decrees an obligation for a company, it must comply scrupulously, both in the spirit and letter (of the decision). Here, this was unfortunately not the case,” the antitrust body’s chief, Isabelle de Silva, said in a statement. She also said the regulator considered that Google had not acted in good faith in its negotiations with the publishers.

Google to buy Japan payments firm Pring

Google has agreed to buy payments business Pring from backers including fintech firm Metaps as the US tech giant pushes into Japan’s rapidly growing market for cashless services. The startup’s three top shareholders – Metaps, software company Miroku Jyoho Service and Nippon Gas announced on Tuesday they would sell their combined 87 percent holding in Pring to Google.
Metaps said it is selling its 45 percent stake for 4.9 billion yen ($44 million), according to Reuters.

Richard Branson buys stake in space tech fund Seraphim

British billionaire Richard Branson has bought a stake in space tech fund Seraphim Space Investment Trust as part of a $246.99 million IPO. Airbus SE also participated in the IPO and was among other parties to buy shares of the company, according to an emailed statement by Seraphim, which is set to commence trading this week on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. The exact amount of those stakes was not disclosed by Seraphim. Bloomberg reported earlier on Monday that Branson had purchased stock in London-based Seraphim in a sale that closed on Friday.

Work from home fuelling cyberattacks, says global financial watchdog

Financial firms may need to bolster their defences in the face of rocketing cyberattacks after employees began working from home, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) said on Tuesday. The FSB, which coordinates financial rules for the G20 group of nations, said remote working since economies went into lockdown to fight COVID-19 opened up new possibilities for cyberattacks.
“Most cyber frameworks did not envisage a scenario of near-universal remote working and the exploitation of such a situation by cyber threat actors,” the FSB said in a report to G20 ministers and central banks.

Musk tells SolarCity trial that Tesla would ‘die’ if he wasn’t CEO

Elon Musk told the court that Tesla Inc’s board controls the company but also said the electric vehicle maker would “die” if he wasn’t the chief executive, as he defended Tesla’s 2016 acquisition of SolarCity. The lawsuit by union pension funds and asset managers alleges the celebrity CEO strong-armed Tesla’s board of directors into depleting the company’s assets with the $2.6 billion all-stock deal for SolarCity. The CEO at the time owned a roughly 22 percent stake in both Tesla and SolarCity, and some Tesla shareholders alleged the deal was aimed at bailing out Musk’s investment in the solar panel company, according to Reuters.

Board members and others involved in the deal will testify beginning as soon as Tuesday when Musk will also return to the witness stand. The lawsuit accuses Musk of dominating the board’s deal discussions, pushing Tesla to pay more for SolarCity, and misleading shareholders about the company’s deteriorating financial health. Kicking off a two-week trial in Wilmington, Delaware, Musk told the court that the Tesla board handled the SolarCity deal and he was not part of the board committee that negotiated the terms.

Biden administration asks courts to dismiss govt appeals of TikTok ruling

The Biden administration on Monday asked two federal appeals courts to dismiss the Justice Department’s legal challenges to court rulings that barred a Trump-era effort to ban new downloads of Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok. Last month, President Joe Biden withdrew a series of executive orders issued by former President Donald Trump that sought to ban new downloads of WeChat, TikTok and other Chinese apps and ordered a new review. The Commerce Department on June 22 formally withdrew a list of prohibited transactions with ByteDance-owned TikTok and Tencent-owned WeChat issued in September that sought to bar downloads of the apps.
The Justice Department said Monday that the government’s legal challenges were now moot. It asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the Third Circuit to dismiss its appeals.

Twitter staff return to office in New York, San Francisco at 50% capacity

After more than 16 months of working from home, some Twitter employees in San Francisco and New York returned to the office on Monday as the company reopened its corporate campuses at 50 percent capacity in the two cities.
With COVID-19 vaccination rates on the rise, major US tech companies are diverging on how and when to reopen their offices. Google announced employees can voluntarily return to the office starting in late July, while Apple expects employees to work from the office three days per week starting in early September.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IPO Corner: Zomato IPO opens on July 14; Paytm board rejig continues

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Zomato IPO opens on July 14

Online food delivery platform Zomato is set to launch its much-awaited initial public offering (IPO) on July 14. The IPO will be available for subscription till July 16.

The online food delivery platform, whose IPO issuance is worth Rs 9,375 crore at a price band of Rs 72-76, is eying an $8.7 billion post-money valuation.

Zomato’s IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 9,000 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) worth Rs 375 crore by existing investor Info Edge India.

Zomato to raise $560 million from anchor investors for IPO: Report

Ahead of its IPO, Zomato has got a strong response from global institutional investors for its anchor book.

The food delivery platform garners almost half its issue size of around $560 million from institutional investors. Over 100 end investors will be allotted shares as part of the anchor book for its IPO.

Top foreign investors in Zomato’s anchor book include Baillie Gifford, BlackRock, Capital Research, CPPIB, GIC, T Rowe Price.

Paytm board rejig continues

Former WhatsApp business head Neeraj Arora has rejoined Paytm board as Additional Director, according to RoC filings sourced from Tofler. Arora was on Paytm board till 2018.

The filing also shows a change of the Alternate Director to Paytm board member Ravi Adusamalli of Elevation Capital. Vivek Mathur has replaced Mukul Arora as the Alternate Director.

Paytm had reshuffled its board last week, following the exit of Chinese nationals ahead of the IPO.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IPO Corner: LIC may invest in Zomato public offer, Paytm approve Rs 12,000 crore primary fundraise and OLA Electric raises $100 million

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Here’s a look at all the latest news from the IPO-bound train of Indian startups.

Paytm EGM finalises primary raise of Rs 12,000 crore

Paytm’s shareholders have given crucial approval for the company’s mega IPO plan, approving the proposal for Rs 12,000 crore primary raise. The company also plans a secondary raise of Rs 4,600 crore, bringing the total IPO size to Rs 16,600 crore.

The shareholders also approved the proposal to declassify founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma as the promoter of the company. Sebi approval will be needed for declassifying Sharma as the promoter. However, he will continue to be the chairman, managing director and chief executive officer of the company. Paytm is now looking to list as a Professionally Managed company, as per sources, and will need Sebi’s approval. CNBC-TV18 had reported earlier that Paytm is eyeing a Diwali listing.

Paytm Money launches new feature, users can pre-book Zomato IPO

Digital brokerage platform Paytm Money will now let users apply for Initial Public Offerings (IPO) before the actual IPO Opening in the markets, the company said in a statement. Paytm Money is the first in India to offer a “Pre-Open IPO Application” and this feature is expected to significantly boost the participation of retail users in IPOs. Food delivery giant Zomato’s IPO is the first to be launched on Paytm Money with this feature and the platform has already received thousands of orders over the last 2 days, the company stated.

LIC plans to invest in Zomato’s IPO: Report

The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is planning to buy shares in Zomato’s initial public offering (IPO) this week, according to reports.
If so, it will be seen as a big shift in LIC’s investment pattern as the state-owned body usually puts money in the secondary markets or buys shares of ventures that are being privatised by the government. The investment committee of the LIC will soon hold a meeting to take a final call on the plan to invest in Zomato’s IPO, the reports said. The food delivery platform’s much-awaited IPO is set to open on July 14.

OLA Electric raises $100 million ahead of IPO

Ola Electric, the electric vehicles focused arm of ride-hailing giant Ola, has raised $100 million of debt from the Bank of Baroda. This 10-year debt will be used in funding and financial closure of Phase-I of the Ola Future factory, Ola’s global manufacturing hub for its electric two-wheelers. Ola had, in December last year, said it will invest Rs 2,400 crore for setting up phase I of the factory.

Mobikwik files for Rs 1,900 crore IPO

Digital payments startup Mobikwik, backed by Sequoia Capital and Bajaj Finance has filed for an IPO of up to Rs 1900 Crore with the markets regulator Sebi on Monday. About Rs 1,500 crore will be primary share sales while up to Rs 400 crore will be secondary share sales where existing investors can sell their stake. The promoters plan to sell about Rs 190 crore of their stake, while Sequoia and Bajaj Finance will sell Rs 95 crore and Rs 69 crore respectively, filings said. Mobikwik was last valued at $700 million when it raised $20 million last month from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Nykaa, Policybazaar to file draft papers for IPOs soon: Report

With Zomato advancing its public listing, other startups are now streamlining their draft share sale prospectus. Reports suggest, online cosmetics retailer Nykaa and insurance aggregator Policybazaar will file their DRHP with SEBI within this month. “Nykaa is likely to file its DRHP around July 17 and Policybazaar will file its prospectus around July 20,” the report added.
The Mint reported last month that Nykaa plans to go public later this fiscal at a valuation of $4.5 billion. Policybazaar is set to list on the bourses via a Rs 4,000-crore IPO, the Mint reported in February.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IPO Corner: Zomato’s grey market premium, Ola raises $500 mn and Softbank to invest in PharmEasy

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As investors gear up major initial public offers (IPOs) that will hit primary markets from next week, here is a look at the all the developments on companies that will list on the exchanges.

Zomato shares trade at 26% premium in grey market ahead of IPO

Online food ordering platform Zomato’s IPO is less than a week away, but its shares are already selling on a strong premium in the grey market. The company’s stock will open for subscription on July 14 and close on July 16, while allotments will be finalised by July 22.

Zomato has fixed a price band for its IPO at Rs 72-76 per equity share. The Rs 9,375-crore offer will open for subscription on July 14 and close on July 16.

Ola raises $500 Mn ahead of IPO

Ola said Temasek, Warburg Pincus affiliate Plum Wood Investment and Ola co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal have invested $500 million in the ride-hailing platform ahead of its proposed IPO.

Ola Chairman and Group CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said that he looks forward to collaborating with the new partners in its “next phase of growth. The company, however, didn’t specify a timeline for its proposed IPO.

Softbank to invest in IPO-bound PharmEasy?

SoftBank is reportedly in talks to invest in API Holdings, which owns online pharmacy chain Pharmeasy.

API is seeking a valuation of at least $5.6 billion in a new funding round, SoftBank could invest $150 million to $200 million into the online pharmacy owner, as per Bloomberg News.

The company is targeting a listing in the next 12 to 18 months, reports suggest.

IPO-bound Paytm’s boss says Indian exchanges are the best places for startups to list

Ahead of filing for initial public offering (IPO), Paytm boss Vijay Shekhar Sharma is all praises for Indian exchanges. Praising the government, regulators and policy makers, he said Indian exchanges are the best places for Indian startups to list.

His comments come after Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant expressed his delight that several startups are listing in the Indian stock markets and he further pointed out, this demonstrates the vibrancy & dynamism of our Startup movement.

In response to this, Sharma tweeted, “Indian exchanges are the best places for Indian startups to list. Strong winds of positive change from our government, regulators and policymakers.”

Earlier this week, a Reuters report said, Paytm, will file a draft prospectus as early as 12 July for a IPO that seeks to raise $2.3 billion.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

STARTUP DIGEST: Zomato’s grey market shares jump ahead of IPO, Ola raises $500 million in pre-IPO funding, Strip heads for a listing

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Here are the stories that made headlines in the startup universe this week.

Zomato shares trade at 26% premium in the grey market ahead of IPO next week

Online food ordering platform Zomato’s initial public offering (IPO) is less than a week away, but its shares are already selling on a strong premium in the grey market. The company will allow subscriptions on July 14 and close on July 16, with the allotments being finalised by July 22. The announcement comes days ahead of the launch of Zomato’s initial public offering (IPO) on July 14. Zomato has fixed the price band for its IPO at Rs 72-76 per equity share. The Rs 9,375-crore offer will open for subscription on July 14 and close on July 16. Zomato’s shares are currently being sold at a premium of Rs 16-20, according to IPO Watch and IPO central. Meanwhile, Zomato will launch a grocery marketplace on its app soon and has already begun piloting it, Zomato co-founder Gaurav Gupta told CNBC-TV18. The company had recently invested $100 million into grocery startup Grofers for a nearly 10% stake and is awaiting approval from CCI.

Several litigations against Zomato, DRHP shows

IPO-bound Zomato’s DRHP prospectus has revealed that the food delivery platform is facing multiple litigations. The competition regulator is probing into the Zomato-Uber Eats deal. CCI has also threatened penalty for not making some merger filings for the Uber Eats acquisition. CCI has inquired why Zomato ‘should not be directed’ to notify Uber Eats India Acquisition and impose a penalty on the food-tech giant. Zomato on the other hand has said that the company has responded to CCI on Feb 5, 2021, explaining the Uber Eats India assets acquisition was non-notifiable. Zomato also added that it has requested an oral hearing before the CCI. The matter is currently pending.

Zomato is also involved in 24 consumer-related proceedings that are currently pending. Maharashtra FDA has issued 26 notices, alleging some listed restaurants lacked requisite licenses. The company is also facing civil suits over alleged false information in DRHP and is involved in 18 labour-related proceedings around wrongful termination, incorrect payouts to delivery partners and reduction of pay, as per the prospectus. The food delivery app has an outstanding amount of Rs 136 crore towards creditors. Zomato has received three notices from different state legal metrology departments. These notices are in relation to advertisements of Zomato’s kitchen infrastructure, food items and menu cards of restaurants.

Ola raises $500 million ahead of IPO

Temasek, Warburg Pincus affiliate Plum Wood Investment and Ola co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal have invested $500 million in the ride-hailing platform Ola ahead of its proposed IPO. Ola continues to scale up across various categories and geographies in its ride-hailing business, the company added. Ola chairman and Group CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said that he looks forward to collaborating with the new partners in its “next phase of growth”. The company, however, didn’t specify a timeline for its proposed IPO.

Softbank to invest in Pharmeasy?

SoftBank is reportedly in talks to invest in API Holdings, which owns the online pharmacy chain Pharmeasy. API is seeking a valuation of at least $5.6 billion in new funding round, SoftBank could invest $150 million to $200 million into the online pharmacy owner, as per Bloomberg News. The company is targeting a listing in the next 12 to 18 months.

Tiger Global leads over $100 million round in Spinny: Report

Used car retailing platform Spinny has raised $100 million led by Tiger Global according to Entrackr. This investment more than doubles the firm’s valuation to $800 million in two months. The board of Spinny has approved the allotment of 83,754 Series D preference Shares and 20 equity shares at an issue price of Rs 92,122.93 per share to raise Rs 771 crore or $105 million, according to the report.

Meesho eyes $4 billion valuation: Report

Social commerce company Meesho is in talks to raise over $100 million in a new round from two new and existing investors including SoftBank and Prosus, according to Entrackr. If the deal round goes through, it will be Meesho’s second fundraiser this year. Meesho is likely to be valued at $3.5-$4 billion in this transaction, the report adds. The company turned unicorn last year when it raised $300 million. As per the report, with this new round, Meesho will ramp up its consumer internet play and challenge Amazon and Flipkart in markets beyond the top 10 and tier I cities.

WhatsApp won’t mandate new privacy policy till a data protection bill comes to force

WhatsApp tells Delhi High Court it will not compel users to opt for a new privacy policy till the data protection bill comes into force. The messaging app tells Delhi High Court it will not limit functionality for users not opting for a new privacy policy. WhatsApp also clarified before the bench of Chief justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh that it would not limit the functionality for users who are not opting for a new privacy policy in the meantime. Delhi High Court which was hearing Facebook and WhatsApp pleas challenging a single-judge bench order dismissing their pleas against the Competition Commission of India (CCI) decision. Representing WhatsApp, Senior Advocate Harish Salve tells Delhi High Court that WhatsApp has responded to MEITY’s notice seeking a response. “WhatsApp will not limit functionality for some time and continue to show users the updated until Data Protection Bill comes into force,” he added.

A WhatsApp spokesperson said, “We reiterate that the privacy of users remains our highest priority. As a reminder, the recent update does not change the privacy of people’s personal messages. Its purpose is to provide additional information about how people can interact with businesses if they choose to do so. We will not limit the functionality of how WhatsApp works in the coming weeks. Instead, we will continue to remind users from time to time about the update as well as when people choose to use relevant optional features, like communicating with a business that is receiving support from Facebook. We hope this approach reinforces the choice that all users have whether or not they want to interact with a business. We will maintain this approach until at least the forthcoming PDP law comes into effect.”

Salve said WhatsApp would nonetheless continue to display the update to its users. The court is hearing the appeals of Facebook and its firm WhatsApp against the single-judge order refusing to stop the competition regulator CCI’s order directing a probe into WhatsApp’s new privacy policy. WhatsApp has drawn massive criticism from users globally, including India, over concerns that data was being shared with its parent company, Facebook. WhatsApp, on its part, has maintained that messages on the platform are end-to-end encrypted and that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can see the private messages on WhatsApp’s platform. Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) took cognizance of the WhatsApp announcement of its new Privacy Policy stated to be applicable to Indian users.

FUNDING THIS WEEK

1> Social e-commerce startup, DealShare has raised $144 million in its Series D round of funding. The round was led by Tiger Global and was co-led led by WestBridge Capital, Alpha Wave Incubation (a venture fund backed by ADQ, and managed by Falcon Edge Capital) and Z3Partners with participation from Partners of DST Global, Matrix Partners India, and Alteria Capital. With the current round, the total funding raised by DealShare stands at $183 million.

2> Furniture subscription company, Furlenco has raised $140 million in a mix of debt and equity, as part of its latest funding round led by Zinnia Global Fund. The fresh funds will be used to cater to much larger audiences with more tailored solutions and brand new offerings while continuing to focus on sustainability at the very core of the business, the company said in a statement.

3> Logistics aggregator Shiprocket has raised $41.3 million in a series D1 funding round co-led by PayPal Ventures and existing investor Bertelsmann India Investments. The latest fundraising has taken the total funding of the direct-to-consumer (D2C) retailer to $94.3 million. According to the company, the fundraise will be used to accelerate product development for both existing and new products, research and development.

4> Venture growth investor Iron Pillar, which backs global companies that build products out of India, has raised $10 million from Allana Group in its Fund II. With the fresh influx of funding, Iron Pillar is planning to collaborate with larger Indian and global business groups who can help their portfolio companies improve operations and expand across the US, Middle East, and the Asia Pacific, it said in a statement.

5> Online teaching platform, Teachmint has raised $20 million in a Pre-Series B round led by Learn Capital with participation from CM Ventures. The company said the fresh influx of funds will power its continued focus on the development of live teaching technology as well as aid the enhancement of its product. The funding will also fuel Teachmint’s expansion into newer markets and the hiring of skilled talent.

6> CRMNEXT, a digital and customer experience transformation platform for enterprise banks and financial service providers globally, has raised $16 million in Series B funding co-led by Avataar Ventures and Ascent Capital. The company will use the funding to accelerate its global expansion and invest in doubling its team.

7> Digital care ecosystem for chronic condition management, BeatO has raised Rs 42 crore in funding led by US-based venture capital firm W Health Ventures. The funding also saw participation from PharmEasy, Merisis VP and existing investors Orios VP, Leo Capital and others. With this new funding, BeatO has raised Rs 75 crore over the last year across its Series A and Pre-series B rounds.

8> Transport marketplace startup Vahak has raised $5 million in a pre-series A funding round, which was led by RTP Global with participation from Luxor Capital and Leo Capital. The fresh infusion of capital will be used to strengthen the team and technological capabilities, and expand its customer and network base, Vahak said in a statement.

IPO-bound Paytm to file a draft prospectus

Paytm is likely to file its DRHP as early as July 12 for its upcoming IPO seeking to raise $2.3 billion, as per a Reuters report. The funds will be raised via the sale of new Paytm stock as well as a secondary offering of shares at an expected valuation of $24 billion to $25 billion with an option to raise the amount at a later stage if required. The prospectus will be filed shortly after Paytm’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of shareholders in Delhi on July 12, possibly on the same day, the report added.

Paytm board rejig ahead of IPO, sees Chinese nationals exit

Ahead of its IPO, payments company Paytm has rejigged its board, which will see the exit of the two Chinese nationals who were on the board. Jing Xiandong, CEO of Ant Group, has resigned as director, and Paytm has brought in Douglas Lehman Feagin of Alibaba instead, as per regulatory filings. Michael Yuen Jen, who is senior vice president of Alibaba Group has also retired effective June 30. Paytm has also brought in Ashit Lilani of Saama Capital appointed as independent director Todd Anthony Combs of Berkshire Hathaway also retired post-June 30. Munish Verma of Softbank has been temporarily replaced by Vikas Agnihotri, as per the filings. The other members on the board are founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Ravi Adusamalli, Elevation Capital, Pallavi Shroff, Managing Partner of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas law firm, and Mark Schwartz, Goldman Sachs.

Naspers-backed PayU in a race to buy BillDesk: Report

Fintech giant PayU, which is backed by one of the world’s top technology investors Naspers, is one of the multiple suitors in talks to acquire top domestic payment gateway firm BillDesk, as per Moneycontrol. The deal if sealed would be the biggest in the Indian internet space since the disruptive $16 billion buyout of Flipkart by Walmart.

Moglix acquires used machinery e-commerce firm Vendaxo

B2B e-commerce platform Moglix has acquired Vendaxo, an e-commerce platform for buying and selling used machinery. The acquisition will allow Moglix to provide high-value capital goods at economical prices to manufacturers, the unicorn claimed. The company did not reveal the details financial information about the acquisition. Vendaxo is a B2B e-commerce player just like Moglix. Its users include MSMEs as well as large manufacturing enterprises such as Siemens, Arvind India, Marico, Raymond and Torrent Pharma.

Global payments platform Nium to acquire Wirecard Forex India

Global payments platform Nium has announced its plans to acquire Wirecard Forex India – a foreign currency exchange, prepaid card and remittance service provider. The acquisition not only gives Nium greater access to India’s burgeoning payments markets but also secures Wirecard’s licenses to carry out operations, which includes currency conversion, money transfer and prepaid card issuance.

Clear acquires yBANQ eyeing B2B payments

Clear, a fintech SaaS company has acquired a B2B payments startup yBANQ in a cash and equity deal. yBANQ helps businesses with payments collection, reconciliation, and automated bookkeeping. With this acquisition, The company said it to build India’s largest B2B Business Network.

Chiratae Ventures’ new startup accelerator promises Seed Funds at ‘Supersonic’ speed

Chiratae Ventures has announced the start of its accelerator program – Chiratae Sonic, which seeks to fast-track fundraising for early-stage startups in India. Under the initiative, startup founders would be able to secure seed funds within 48 hours if the required investment is less than or equal to $500,000. To quicken the application process, Chiratae Ventures has created a template form and a dedicated website for the Chiratae Sonic Program, which will accept entries for the next 30 days under the first phase of the seed initiative. This is the 8th seed investment program rolled out by Chiratae Ventures. The focus remains on investing in startups with technology at the core, the company said in a statement.

Razorpay, Mastercard launch MandateHQ for recurring payments

Payments solution provider Razorpay has partnered with Mastercard to launch ‘MandateHQ’ – a payment interface that will help card-issuing banks to enable recurring payments for its customers. To help banks comply with the RBI directive and provide convenience to banks’ customers, Razorpay and Mastercard launched MandateHQ. With the launch of MandateHQ, Razorpay said they stand in support of the RBI directive of making auto-debit transactions safer from potential fraud.

Rhiti and Kanodia Group collaborate to launch ‘Deep Pockets Capital Venture LLP’

Sports-focused Rhiti Group has collaborated with cement maker Kanodia Group to launch Deep Pockets Capital Venture, to fund and incubate budding entrepreneurs. The criteria of funding will be Innovation, creativity and business potential with an aim to nurture India’s new business generation and contribute to the $5 trillion economy goal of the Central government. Deep Pockets will focus on tech-specific sectors—including filmmaking, web series and TV shows, sports technology and consumer healthcare. The company aims to partner with founders of selected companies and amplify their business from seed to scale.

LGBTQ partners now included in corporate health insurance By Plum

Plum, an employee health insurance start-up has rolled out LGBTQ partner cover for companies, allowing employees to enroll same-sex partners in their corporate health insurance policy. Plum is committed to building the highest quality and most inclusive health benefits plan for companies and shaping better workplaces in India. The company is working with insurers to make LGBTQ cover the default option for every health insurance policy they offer to customers, it said in a statement.

Govt extends deadline for feedback on new e-commerce rules

The Centre has extended the timeline for feedback on draft e-commerce rules to July 21 from July 6. The move comes after top companies including Amazon, Tata Group, Flipkart, Paytm and Snapdeal reached out to the government, requesting more time to study the proposed changes in the consumer protection rules on e-commerce and extend the deadline for submitting comments by a few weeks or at least by 20 days. The government announced the tough new e-commerce rules on June 21, limiting flash sales, barring misleading advertisements and mandating a complaints system.

Delhi HC denies interim protection to Twitter

The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to allow any interim protection to Twitter. The court also directed interim officers appointed by Twitter to file affidavits before it within two days so that they can take responsibility for the duties given to them. Earlier in the day, the social media giant had informed the court that it would take another eight weeks to appoint a resident grievance officer (RGO) in compliance with the new IT Rules. It submitted an affidavit in the court clarifying its stand on the issue of compliance under the new IT Rules and said that it was in the process of setting up a liaison office in the country.

On July 6, the court said no interim protection is granted to Twitter and the Centre is free to take action against them for non-compliance with IT rules. Twitter told the court that it has appointed an interim chief compliance officer through a third-party contractor to be a chief compliance officer for now. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) has also been informed in this regard, it said. The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for July 28.​

Karnataka HC slams UP Police on notice to Twitter India MD in Ghaziabad FIR

The Karnataka High Court lashed out at the Uttar Pradesh Police for insisting on the appearance of Twitter India’s managing director Manish Maheshwari for investigation in the FIR related to the Ghaziabad video, without ascertaining even the basic facts about his and Twitter India’s culpability in the matter. Justice G Narender noted that the crux of the matter is that a doctored video was uploaded on the Twitter platform, however, Twitter India may not be connected with the alleged incident. UP Police on the other hand claimed the 41A notice was issued to the Petitioner only in a representative capacity and their aim is to merely identify.

Relief for OYO, insolvency case closed by NCLAT

The insolvency process against hospitality company Oyo has been closed by the NCLAT, giving relief to the Softbank-backed company, especially as the claims by several operational creditors against the company had climbed to over Rs 200 crore. The NCLAT closed the case against Oyo by a Gurgaon-based hotel owner, who had alleged dues of Rs 16 lakh, and also dismissed intervention applications by other creditors.

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS

Online payments firm Stripe takes the first step toward blockbuster listing

Digital payments processor Stripe Inc, the most valuable US technology startup, has taken its first major step toward a stock market debut by hiring a law firm to help with preparations, Reuters reported. The 11-year-old company, which was valued by investors at $95 billion in a fundraising round in March, has sat out this year’s red-hot market for initial public offerings (IPOs), using private tender offers to allow some of its existing investors and employees to cash out their holdings. Remaining private has enabled Stripe to keep such financial details as revenue and profitability under wraps. Yet this has also deprived it of using its shares as a publicly-traded currency to help finance acquisitions and to incentivize employees.

Stripe has tapped Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton as a legal adviser on its early-stage listing preparations, the sources said. There has been no decision on the timing of the stock market debut, and the next step would be the hiring of investment banks later this year, the sources added. The listing would be unlikely to happen this year. Stripe is considering going public through a direct listing, rather than a traditional IPO, because it does not need to raise money, as per Reuters, cautioning that those plans could change.

Wise valued at $11 billion in record London direct listing

Shares of financial technology company Wise ended 10 percent up on their first day of trading on Wednesday in London’s largest-ever tech listing that could pave the way for other firms looking to go public without the help of underwriters. Britain’s government has been keen to attract technology groups to list in the country and its financial watchdog earlier this week outlined proposals to make it easier for them to list to help London compete with New York and the EU post-Brexit.

Didi sued in the US as shares slide

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global is being sued by US shareholders after a crackdown by Beijing triggered a slump in its share price. The two lawsuits come a week after Didi’s New York Stock Exchange debut, as per a report by BBC. The company’s US market value has fallen by more than 20 percent since a Chinese regulator told online stores to pull the app. Beijing’s cybersecurity watchdog says the app illegally collected users’ personal data. The lawsuits, which were filed in federal court in New York and Los Angeles on Tuesday, say Didi failed to disclose ongoing talks it was having with Chinese authorities about its compliance with cybersecurity laws and regulations.

US set to add more Chinese companies to blacklist over Xinjiang

The Biden administration is set to add more than 10 Chinese companies to its economic blacklist over alleged human rights abuses and high-tech surveillance in Xinjiang, sources told Reuters. The US Commerce Department action will follow its announcement last month adding five other companies and other Chinese entities to the blacklist over allegations of forced labor in the far western region of China. The additions to Commerce Department’s Entity List are part of the Biden administration’s efforts to hold China accountable for human rights violations, the sources said.

Chinese antitrust regulator to block Tencent’s videogaming merger

China’s antitrust regulator is set to formally block Tencent Holdings plan to merge the country’s top two videogame streaming sites, Huya and DouYu, sources told Reuters. Tencent has failed to come up with sufficient remedies to meet the State Administration of Market Regulation’s (SAMR) requirements on giving up exclusive rights, as per the report. The internet giant recently withdrew the merger application for antitrust review and refiled it after SAMR told the company it could not complete the review of the merger within 180 days since its first filing.

US reverses $10 billion cloud deal

US Department of Defense has called off a $10 billion Trump-era cloud contract that was the subject of a legal battle involving Amazon and Microsoft. The Pentagon will launch a new multi-vendor cloud computing contract where Amazon and Microsoft will both be solicited for proposals, CNBC reported.
Other top cloud companies include Oracle Corp, Alphabet Inc’s Google and IBM Corp. The contract awarded by the Pentagon in late 2019 has been on hold after Amazon filed a lawsuit challenging the decision under then-President Donald Trump. The Pentagon hopes to have the first awards by April 2022 for its new Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC).

Jeff Bezos hits wealth record of $211 billion

Just days after Jeff Bezos stepped down as Amazon CEO, his net worth has hit a record $211 billion after the e-commerce company’s shares rose 4.7 percent.
The surge came after Amazon’s shares rose 4.7 percent after the Pentagon announced it was canceling a cloud-computing contract with rival Microsoft Corp. The rally raised Bezos’s fortune by $8.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The last time anyone in the Bloomberg ranking neared this amount was in January when Tesla’s Elon Musk briefly hit $210 billion.

Square plans to make hardware wallet for bitcoin

Square will make a hardware wallet for bitcoin, the payments company confirmed in a tweet on Thursday shortly before US Senator Elizabeth Warren flagged growing risks posed to consumers and financial markets by the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin wallets can be stored offline or online at cryptocurrency exchanges, venues where bitcoin can be bought and sold for traditional currencies or other virtual coins. “We have decided to build a hardware wallet and service to make bitcoin custody more mainstream”, Jesse Dorogusker, head of hardware at Square said.

Microsoft is giving employees Rs 1.12 lakh as a pandemic bonus

Microsoft is giving all its employees a $1,500 pandemic bonus, in recognition of a challenging fiscal year that the tech giant just completed. According to The Verge which has seen an internal memo, Microsoft is gifting the bonus to all staff below the corporate vice president level that started on or before March 31, 2021. It will also include part-time workers and those on hourly rates. However, employees of its subsidiaries LinkedIn, GitHub and ZeniMax are not eligible for the pandemic bonus, the report added. Earlier, Facebook gifted its 45,000 employees $1,000 each and Amazon gave $300-holiday bonus for frontline workers.

Oversight Board says Facebook ‘lost’ an important rule for three years

Facebook “misplaced” guidance on an important exemption to its rules on dangerous individuals and organizations for three years, the company’s independent oversight board said on Thursday. As per Reuters, the board, which was created by the company to rule on a small slice of contentious content decisions, said it had overturned Facebook’s original removal of an Instagram post encouraging people to talk about the solitary confinement of Abdullah Ocalan, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
It said the content should never have been removed, but it also said that after it selected the case, Facebook found a relevant piece of its internal rules had “inadvertently not transferred” to a new review system in 2018. Facebook has long been under scrutiny over what is allowed on its platforms and has been criticized by the board for a lack of transparency around its rules. The board said it was “concerned” that Facebook had lost an important policy exemption for this time and that this could have led to other posts being wrongly taken down.

Weibo to go private: Report

Weibo’s chairman and a Chinese state investor plan to take China’s answer to Twitter private, Reuters reported. The deal could value Nasdaq listed Weibo at more than $20 billion, facilitate shareholder Alibaba’s exit and see Weibo eventually relist in China to capitalise on higher valuations. Chairman Charles Chao’s holding company New Wave which is Weibo’s top stakeholder, is teaming up with a Shanghai-based state company to form a consortium for the deal, sources told Reuters. The consortium is looking to offer about $90-$100 per share to take Weibo private, representing a premium of 80-100 percent to the stock’s $50 average price over the past month. As per Reuters, the group aims to finalise the deal this year.

WeChat deletes dozens of LGBT accounts

Chinese tech giant Tencent’s WeChat social media platform has deleted dozens of LGBT accounts run by university students, saying some had broken rules on information on the internet, sparking fear of a crackdown on gay content online. Members of several LGBT groups told Reuters that access to their accounts was blocked late on Tuesday and they later discovered that all of their content had been deleted. A notice sent to Reuters by WeChat claimed that the groups “had violated regulations on the management of accounts offering public information service on the Chinese internet”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow