Month: August 2021

Shoppers Stop sells Crossword Bookstores to Pune-based Agarwal Business House

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

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Fashion retailer Shoppers Stop has exited its non-core business with the sale of its subsidiary Crossword Bookstores to Pune-based Agarwal Business House (ABH). The company has sold a 100 percent controlling stake in the bookstore chain, which is valued at Rs 41.6 crore.

Selling off Crossword is part of the company’s strategy of focusing on its core business and expanding its strategic pillars, which include its loyalty program First Citizen, its private labels, the beauty segment and most importantly, its Omnichannel business. The company has, in the past year, been increasing its focus on the omnichannel strategy aggressively, which it says has grown more than 3 times in the last year.

Shoppers Stop said in a statement that ABH will take over all the assets and brand as part of the agreement and any liabilities will be adjusted for arriving at the final consideration.

Also read: Reliance Retail in talks to buy Subway India for over Rs 1,500 crore: Report

The company’s board approved the transaction at its board meeting on Tuesday. Shoppers Stop will first divest 51 percent stake (expected to be completed within 15 days) and another 39 percent in the next 12 months, subject to receipt of necessary approvals. ABH is a franchisee of Crossword and was operating 26 stores.

“This represents another step in our progress to elevate Shoppers Stop to a customer-focused, omnichannel retailer, to enable us to deliver on the promises we make to our customers and shareholders. Most importantly, we are selling Crossword Bookstores to our franchisee ABH, who has been in this business for more than two decades and are extremely passionate about the book business,” Venu Nair, managing director and chief executive officer of the company said.

One of the most popular bookstore chains in the country, Shoppers Stop first bought ‘Crossword’ a chain of books and music stores in 2,000 from India Book House Ltd (IBHL) by way of a slump sale for Rs 13.75 crore.

Also read: LIC IPO: Centre plans drive to increase retail investor participation, says report

As of March 31, Shoppers Stop had 29 Crossword stores across 13 cities, down from 41 stores in FY20. However, the subsidiary was a loss-making entity, posting a net loss of Rs 12.91 crore in FY21, and a net loss of Rs 12.49 crore in the previous year.

“Whilst, Crossword continues to take steps to revamp its operations (including store right-sizing, and brand positioning). The gestation period to achieve the desired level of turnaround is taking longer than previously envisaged. Based on a business valuation, the company has recognised impairment loss of Rs 22.40 crore during the year with respect to its total equity investment and financial assistance of Rs 68.72 crore,” the company stated in its annual report.

But it’s not just Crossword, the overall retail sector has been severely hit in the past 14-15 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, which resulted in losses for several retail majors. Shoppers Stop’s revenues declined 51 percent YoY in FY21 due to the impact of the pandemic, reporting a net loss of Rs 305 crore and EBITDA declining 202 over FY20 to Rs 186.7 crore.

Also read: IKEA to launch smaller ‘city store’ in Worli, Mumbai

In a bid to repay debt, the company launched a rights issue of Rs 299.2 crore in November 2020, which was fully subscribed. Venu Nair said in the company’s annual report that this helped the company repay debts aggregating to Rs 125 crore, and is a debt-free company today.

Shoppers Stop is also not the only retailer looking to exit none core businesses, lower debt and focus on core business. In July, apparel retailer Arvind Lifestyle Brands sold its value-fashion retail chain Unlimited to V-Mart Retail Ltd for Rs 15 crore, and use the capital to focus on its six-core brands: US Polo Assn, Tommy Hilfiger, Arrow, Flying Machine, Calvin Klein and Sephora.

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

War without end in Yemen: Who are the Houthi rebels and what do they want

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

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American forces along with their NATO allies have wrapped up operations in Kabul as per schedule and departed on August 31. While the whole world seems to know about the crisis in Afghanistan, very few are aware of another chronic conflict raging not too far away.

The civil war between the Zaidi-Shia Houthi Movement and the Sunni majority Yemeni government has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history. Nearly a quarter of a million men, women and children have died as a result of the conflict and more than three million have been displaced.

Human rights organisations have called the conflict a “human rights catastrophe” over widespread allegations of war crimes, human rights violations across both sides, compounded by a famine, a cholera outbreak, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Who are the Houthis?

The Houthis or the Houthi Movement was essentially formed in the early 1990s to resist the growing Saudi Arabian influence in Yemen in the aftermath of the 1994 Yemeni civil war. The group was formed by Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a member of the Zaidi-Shia minority, which made up nearly 33 percent of Yemen’s population at the time and were major power brokers in northern Yemen and near the city of Sa’dah.

Sa’dah was the seat of the Zaidi imams until 1962, encapsulating over 1,000 years of rule and the Zaidi still enjoyed power in their Northern stronghold.

Who are they up against?

The conflict started in 2004 after the Yemeni government tried to arrest al-Houthi. al-Houthi was a major critic of the authoritarian Ali Abdullah Saleh, then president of Yemen. He accused Saleh of corruption and bowing to Saudi Arabian and US whims at the expense of the Yemeni people and government.

During the time, the Zaidi-Shias were among major Islamic groups that were radicalised due to the US intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The attempted arrest of al-Houthi sparked off an insurgency conflict that lasted for the next decade.

Apart from the general umbrella of being the resistance, hardly anything was known about the Houthis’ motive. The Yemeni government alleged that the backers of the movement wished to overthrow the republic and establish a Zaidi religious government. However, backers of the movement have stated that they are not opposed to the governmental form but “for things that all Yemenis crave: Government accountability, the end to corruption, regular utilities, fair fuel prices, job opportunities for ordinary Yemenis and the end of Western influence,” according to Newsweek.

Also read: Drone attack on Saudi airport wounds 8, damages plane: Report

Transition to civil war

As part of the Arab Spring, the Yemeni Revolution of Dignity rose against Saleh and his reign in Yemen. While protestors and civilians wished to move Yemen away from corruption and authoritarianism, the ensuing chaos saw armed conflict between government forces, militias and Islamist terrorists. While the revolution was successful in removing Saleh from power, the country soon descended into full-scale civil war.

The conflict saw the Houthis briefly ally with Saleh and forces loyal to him to destroy the Yemeni government, the intervention of other Arabian nations and various local militias being involved, against a backdrop of resurgent Islamist activity.

The conflict has often been described as a new age proxy war, with Shia Iran and its ally Hezbollah supporting the Houthis, and Sunni Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, Egypt and others supporting the Yemeni government.

Also read: 10 worst armies in the world: No prizes for guessing number 1, but No 2 will shock you

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

India’s GDP grows at 20.1% in Q1FY22; here’s what it means

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

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India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 20.1 percent in Q1FY22, according to official data released by the government on Tuesday evening.

A CNBC-TV18 Poll had also estimated the GDP to be around 20 percent due to the low base effect.

DK Joshi, Chief Economist at CRISIL in an interview with Latha Venkatesh said, “GDP has come as per our expectation. We were expecting 19 percent growth in GDP with a slight positive bias. The biggest driver of this growth is base effect, there is no doubt about that. The second learning from this is that the second wave was very virulent as far as the healthcare system is concerned but the economy was not that badly impacted. So there is underlying learning to live with the virus phenomenon which seems to be playing out and which will play out in rest of this fiscal as well.”

Anubhuti Sahay, Head of South Asia Economic Research (India) at Standard Chartered Bank said, the GVA number is slightly below her expectations and it shows that the non-farm sector has not done as well as expected.

“GDP has come pretty close to our estimate of 21 percent. It is slightly lower when it comes to GVA number. We were looking at GVA number of close to 20 percent but it has come at 18 percent. And that shows that the non-farm sector has not done as well as we expected. Farm sector growth at 4.5 percent has surprised us, we were looking at a growth of 3-3.5 percent. However the contact intensive sectors, especially the services sector was much more impacted than the industry growth is clear in this number.”

Also Read: Digitsation to be key driver of economic growth in India, say experts

Sameer Narang, Chief Economist at Bank of Baroda said, “We were anticipating a 20 percent kind of increase in the private final consumption expenditure. Even the government side as well given the multitude of lockdowns by different state governments, we did expect that the government spending on the revenues account would be far lower. However, what we see is that the government spending ties in quite well with the overall construction spending and that is where the majority of growth is also likely to come in the coming few quarters and years – where the government is actually looking at both monetisation as well as spending a lot in terms of building high-quality roads, improving the rail network. So all of those principal investments that are being tied up for infrastructure will be a key driver of growth in the coming quarters and years.”

Pronab Sen, Former Chief Statistician said, “The numbers that have come in are a lot better than any of us had expected. I was expecting around 16 percent and what this suggests is that the second wave in terms of the pandemic was much worse than the first wave but the fact that there wasn’t a nationwide lockdown seems to have helped the economy alone. What this is saying is the effect of the pandemic on the economy through its various channels is a lot less than the reaction we had to the pandemic. So this is good news and what it is saying is last year we overreacted.”

Watch video for more.

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

Coal firms asked to give priority supply to thermal power plants with critical stock: Govt

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

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The government on Tuesday said specific instructions have been given to coal companies to give priority supplies to thermal power plants having critical stock level, and the dry fuel stock at the plants is expected to stabilise in the next few days. The development comes in the wake of reports of thermal power generation units across the country grappling with coal shortage.

“Secretary (Coal) has given specific instructions to the coal companies to give priority supplies to all the TPPs having critical stock level and to focus on stock liquidation from the mines having high stock level,” the coal ministry said in a statement. The ministry said it is all geared up to address the issue of stock build up at the end of the thermal power plants (TPPs) during the monsoon season.

It is notable that coal stocks with Coal India Ltd (CIL) are adequate to meet the upsurge in power demand being witnessed in the country since July this year. The supply of coal to power plants is being monitored at the highest level in the ministry on a daily basis in coordination with the Ministry of Power, Railways and the coal companies.

“Secretary (Coal) has reviewed the supply scenario with the coal companies on August 27 as well as August 30,” the statement said. He has further directed that in case of availability issue at linked mines alternative sources be allocated for smooth running of the plant. The despatches are being aligned with the advisories of power ministry.

CIL has stepped up its coal supplies vigorously during the last five days of August consistently clocking 1.7 million tonnes (MT) per day. Augmenting supplies to coal fired power plants, CIL is pumping 1.36 MT of coal per day. The last three-day average loading to power sector has touched 1.4 MTs.

The coal supplies to TPPs has picked up only in July and have been at a historic high since then. All efforts are being made in cooperation with Railway authorities to enhance despatch to meet the unprecedented growth in demand for coal-based power. The subsidiaries of CIL have upped their loading commensurate with the prevailing demand scenario.

Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) in a record performance has despatched 102 rakes on Monday. CIL has registered the highest ever loading since July of 285 rakes in a single day on Monday from CIL sidings. The depletion rate of coal stocks in TPPs has now much reduced. In the coming days the supplies from the coal companies to power plants is expected to improve further to stand by the nation in these critical monsoon months and meet the demand of the power sector.

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

Trade Setup for Sept 1: Must Nifty50 take a breather? Check key market cues before Wednesday’s session

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

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Indian equity benchmarks raced to record highs yet again, with the Nifty50 index not only crossing the 17,000 mark for the first time but also closing 132 points above it. Gains across most sectors led by financial, IT, pharma and metal shares pushed the market higher, as analysts awaited official data on the country’s economy.

Data released after market hours showed India’s GDP expanded 20.1 percent on a year-on-year basis in the April-June quarter, meeting Street estimates. A CNBC-TV18 poll had predicted the GDP to grow 20 percent due to the low base last year.

So, what do the charts suggest for Dalal Street?

The index formed a long bull candle on the daily chart for two back-to-back sessions, according to Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities. “Normally, such violent upmoves in the short term more often result in minor consolidation or breather patterns before resuming their upside momentum,” he said.

Also read: BSE-listed companies’ market value tops Rs 250 lakh crore for first time

Will Nifty take a pause before rising further?

“Nifty50 is gliding in a smooth manner in uncharted territory. It is now approaching the short-term target of 17,200. Over there, the index is likely to take a breather before stretching higher. Traders can consider booking partial profit for their trading positions near 17,200 and tighten the stop loss for the rest of the long positions,” said Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Here are key things to know about the market before Wednesday’s session:

SGX Nifty

At 8:08 am on Wednesday, Nifty futures trading on Singapore Exchange — an early indicator of India’s NSE Nifty50 benchmark index — were up 12 points or 0.07 percent at 17,137.50, suggesting a flat start ahead on Dalal Street.

Global markets

Equities in other Asian markets trimmed recent gains in cautious trade on Wednesday amid concerns about slowing global growth thanks to the pandemic. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.40 percent lower — off a three-week high touched on Tuesday. Overnight on Wall Street, the three key indices declined 0.04-0.13 percent after US consumer confidence hit a six-month low last month. S&P 500 E-Mini futures were up 0.26 percent, indicating a positive start in the US on Wednesday.

What to expect on Dalal Street

Nifty appears to be in a short-term uptrend without any indication of tiredness at higher levels, according to HDFC Securities’ Shetti. “There is a higher possibility of consolidation or minor profit booking from the highs in the short term, hence one may expect the 17,200-17,300 band to be crucial resistance this week.”

Key levels to watch out for

Nifty50:  Immediate resistance can be expected at 17,300, and 17,500 will be the next psychological hurdle, according to Santosh Meena, Head of Research at Swastika Investmart. Immediate and strong support is expected at 17,000, a move below which can lead towards 16,700 levels, he said.

Nifty Bank: The banking index is still struggling to cross an important hurdle at 36,500, but once it manages to sustain above this level, a sharp rally towards 37,200-37,700 levels may happen, said Meena, who pegs immediate and  important support for Nifty Bank at 36,000, below which more weakness can be expected.

(Also read: Can you bank on Bank Nifty now?)

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors pumped a net Rs 3,881.16 crore into the Indian capital market on Tuesday, but net sales by domestic institutional investors were at Rs 1,872.4 crore, exchange data showed.

Call/put open interest

A high degree of call open interest is accumulated at the strike prices of 17,300 and 17,200. On the other hand, the maximum put open interest is at the strike price of 17,000, and then 16,800, NSE data shows. This indicates that immediate resistance can be expected at 17,200, and support can be expected in the 16,800-17,000 zone.

Long build-up

Here are five stocks that saw an increase in open interest as well as price, suggesting a build-up of long positions:

Long unwinding

(Decrease in open interest and price)

Short-covering

(Decrease in open interest and increase in price)

Short build-up

(Increase in open interest and decrease in price)

Stocks hitting 52-week highs

Hindalco, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Holdings, Asian Paints, HCL Tech, Godrej Consumer Products, DMart, Divi’s Labs, Britannia, Coforge, CAMS, Dabur, Carborundum Universal and Deepak Nitrite were among the stocks that clocked 52-week highs.

Stocks hitting 52-week lows

Not a single stock in the BSE 500 universe — the broadest index on the bourse — hit a 52-week low, though outside the 500-strong club,  Arnold Holdings, Bhakti Gems, Dhanashree Electronics, ETT, Greencrest Financial and Premier Capital were among the few stocks that hit 52-week lows.

Volatility gauge

The India VIX index — which measures the expectation of volatility in the market — rose 9.02 percent to 14.52 — its biggest single-day gain since July 8.

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

China’s Mars rover to pause for about 50 days due to communication disruption: Official

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

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China’s Tianwen-1 Mars mission will be inactivated for about 50 days from mid-September due to an expected disruption of its communication with Earth caused by the solar electromagnetic radiation, the mission’s chief designer has said. Tianwen-1, consisting of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020. It was the first step in China’s planetary exploration of the solar system, with the aim of completing orbiting, landing and roving on the red planet in one mission.

The rover had been operating on the red planet for the last 100 days as of Monday, while the orbiter has been circling Mars since February. During the disruption, which will end in early November, the Zhurong rover and the mission’s orbiter will suspend their working mode, Zhang Rongqiao of the China National Space Administration told reporters on Monday.

“During that time, the Earth, Mars and the Sun will almost be in a straight line and the distance between the Earth and Mars will be farthest,” Zhang said. “The sun’s electromagnetic radiation will greatly affect the communication between the rover, the orbiter and ground control,” state-run China Daily quoted him as saying.

After they resume operation, the rover will continue traveling southward toward an ancient coastal area on Utopia Planitia, a large plain within the largest known impact basin in the solar system, for scientific exploration while the orbiter will enter a new Mars orbit to carry out a remote-sensing global survey of the red planet and will continue relaying signals between Zhurong and the Earth, Zhang said. As of Monday, Zhurong had traveled 1,064 meters on the Martian surface and was in a good condition with sufficient energy, Zhang said.

The core component of the Tianwen 1 mission, the country’s first interplanetary adventure — the 240-kilogramme Zhurong — has outlived its three-month life expectancy with all of its predetermined tasks completed. The lander carrying the rover touched down in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain on the northern hemisphere of Mars, on May 15, this year.

Chinese spacecraft landed in Mars three months after the successful landing of the US space agency NASA’s Perseverance rover which is busy exploring the red planet’s surface.

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

Top News Podcast: India’s GDP grows over 20% in Q1FY22; US exits Afghanistan and more

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

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From India’s GDP growth of over 20 percent in the first quarter of 2021-22, Nifty touching 17,000 for the first time, the end to US’ longest war in Afghanistan with Taliban’s return to power and the forecast about the 3rd COVID-19 wave, here are all the developments that made headlines on August 31.

Tune in to this edition of the Top News Podcast as CNBCTV18.com’s Kanishka Sarkar shares the latest on the economy, healthcare, geopolitics and more.

In case you have any query or suggestion do write to us on cnbctv18podcast@nw18.com

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

NSE adds 8 new stocks in F&O segment

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday added 8 new stocks for trading in the futures and options (F&O) segment, a circular by the exchange showed.

“…members are hereby notified that the futures and options contracts on following 8 additional securities would be available for trading w.e.f. October 01, 2021, subject to fulfilment of eligibility criteria of Quarter sigma computation cycle of September 2021,” NSE said.

The futures and options (F&O) contracts on 8 additional securities are the following – Abbott India Limited, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Limited, Dalmia Bharat Limited, Delta Corp Limited, The India Cements Limited, JK Cement Limited, Oberoi Realty Limited and Persistent Systems Limited.

Also read: From Pidilite to SRF: Market analysts recommend 11 stocks for solid near-term returns

The exchange said the market lot, scheme of strikes and quantity freeze limit of the above-mentioned securities shall be informed to members on September 30, 2021, through a separate circular.

These securities have been added to the futures and options segment based on the stock selection criteria prescribed by the Security and Exchange Board of India which takes into consideration parameters like average daily market capitalisation, average daily traded value, the market-wide position limit in the security and the quarter sigma values.

Also read: SRF board approves bonus issue; investors to get 4 shares for each share held

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

FUNDING RUNDOWN: Northern Arc Capital raises $50 million, OTO Capital secures $6 million

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

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Here are the top deals locked in the startup universe.

Dream11 eyeing $8.5-bn valuation: Report

Dream Sports, the company that runs fantasy sports platform Dream11, is in talks to raise at least $400 million in a round with participation from both new and old investors, Entrackr reported.

This round is expected to value the company at $8.5 billion, a massive jump from the $5 billion number it attained during the previous fundraise five months ago.

This new funding round is likely to be a pre-IPO one, reports added. Dream Sports last raised close to $400 million from investors such as TCV, D1 Capital Partners and Falcon Edge in March.

Northern Arc Capital raises $50 mn from JICA

Debt platform Northern Arc Capital has raised $50 million debt from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in external commercial borrowing.

The company said it will use the proceeds to cater to the credit demands of women borrowers or towards products that disproportionately benefit women.

“Northern Arc Capital is a unique and important financial institution that supports funding of the Indian NBFC sector, which plays a key role in promoting financial inclusion in India,” JICA’s Senior Vice President Keiichiro Nakazawa was quoted as saying in a statement issued by Northern Arc.

Since 2009, Northern Arc has enabled financing for its credit originator partners who have impacted over 54.21 million lives across India, of which more than 42 million were women, the company said.

Since the onset of the COVID pandemic, the debt platform has raised funds from reputed international investors, including USDFC, Asian Development Bank, FMO and Calvert Impact Capital.

Automotive financing startup OTO Capital raises $6 million

OTO Capital, a two-wheeler buying and financing startup, has raised Series A funding of $6 million in a round led by Matrix Partners India.

The round also saw participation from existing and new investors such as Prime Venture Partners, 9Unicorns, Better Capital, and marquee angel investors like Asish Mohapatra of OfBusiness, Ramakant Sharma of Livspace, Kunal Shah, K. Ganesh, and Ashneer & Suhail of BharatPe.

OTO said it will use the funding to scale its user base and to become the default app for two-wheeler buying and financing for 20 million Indians who purchase two-wheelers every year.

OTO will double its team size by March 2022 and plans to hire aggressively across verticals, especially technology, product, marketing, and operations, the company said.

Currently, the startup is present in five cities — Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, and Mysore. With this investment, OTO plans to launch its financing-cum-commerce platform in 15 new cities including Delhi, Nashik, Indore, and Vijayawada.

Village commerce startup 1Bridge raises $2.5 mn led by C4D Partners

1Bridge, a last-mile supply chain and distribution network with a focus on rural India, has raised $2.5 million in fresh funding led by The Netherlands-based impact investor C4D Partners.

The round also included participation from new investors, including KAAJ Ventures, angel investors like Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner, Accel Partners, Puneet Jetli, Co-Founder of Happiest Minds and Aradhana D. Chatterjee, a seasoned PE/VC executive. Existing angel investor Prashanth Boccasam, a US-based serial tech-entrepreneur and investor, also participated in this round.

C4D Partners and Prashanth Boccasam also acquired an additional stake through a secondary transaction, providing an exit to a few early shareholders, the company said.

With this round of funding, 1Bridge, over the next 18 months, plans to deepen its reach as a supply chain and distribution network across another 10,000 villages by adding 10,000 more entrepreneurs. It also plans to roll out 500+ ‘1Bridge Experience Centres’ at various tehsil/block towns, which will enable consumers to touch and feel aspirational products.

Launched in 2016, the village commerce platform 1Bridge works with local rural entrepreneurs (1Bridge Advisors) to help deliver these products and fulfil services through an intuitive mobile-based tech platform.

SecLogic secures pre-seed funding from Spanache.vc

Seclogic, which offers cybersecurity adoption roadmaps for CXOs, has secured a pre-seed funding from Spanache.vc and India Accelerator.

The company is looking to expand its product portfolio that provides the most accurate insight of risk exposure and mitigation in the industry.

“We are delighted to have completed this round of funding. It will help us seize the big market opportunity globally by architecting, deploying and securely managing the enterprise security environment,” said Mayank Lau of SecLogic.

SecLogic provides cloud security, people assessment, simulation and training.

Powerhouse91 raises undisclosed funding from marquee global investors

Thrasio-style startup Powerhouse91 has onboarded multiple marquee global investors, raising an undisclosed amount of capital from them.

One of the incoming investors, FJ Labs, is a US-based venture capital firm that focuses on marketplaces and consumer-focused businesses.

The investment in Powerhouse91 marks FJ Labs’ entry into the Indian roll-up space. FJ Labs is also an investor in Thrasio-like businesses operating in geographies outside India, including Razor Group (global player), Elevate Brands (US) and Valoreo (Mexico), the company said.

Ryan Gnesin, Co-Founder, Elevate Brands, and Sujay Tyle, Co-Founder, Merama, who have successfully built and scaled roll-up ventures in the US and Latin America, have backed Powerhouse91 in their individual capacity. Varun Alagh, Founder of Mamaearth, also joined Gnesin and Tyle.

The funding also included participation from Maninder Gulati, the Global Chief Strategy Officer of OYO, and Haresh Chawla, Partner at True North Co.

“Securing the backing from such marquee investors reaffirms our thesis towards building a successful roll-up business, tailormade for the Indian e-commerce ecosystem. With the likes of FJ Labs, Ryan, Sujay, and Varun on board, the opportunities for cross-learning will be immense,” said Nikhil Agrawal, Co-Founder and Chief Corporate Development Officer at Powerhouse91.

Powerhouse91 Co-Founder Aqib Mohammed added that the company sees this as a significant addition to its knowledge and expertise pool and consequently its ability to scale the acquired brands multi-fold over the course of the next few years.

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