STARTUP DIGEST: Here’re top updates of the day

When asked about the inclusion of startups in the priority sector, Narayanan said, “It’s a good step considering that India is a country of startups, but there are some challenges in financing these startups.”

Electric ride-hailing platform BluSmart on Monday said it has raised $7 million (about Rs 51 crore) in funding from multiple investors.

The funding round included investors like Inflection Point Ventures, Venture Catalysts, Survam Partners, Mumbai Angels, Chhatisgarh Investments Ltd, JITO Angels, Lets Venture Fund and Kaplavriksh Fund, the company said in a release.

The company will utilise the funding for fleet expansion, setting up of more charging infrastructure and further market penetration.

The startup, which offers its services across Delhi National Capital region, plans to add thousands of electric cars and hundreds of charging stations on its platform in 2021.

Electric vehicle startup Ather Energy announces the delivery of its flagship 125 cc Ather 450X scooter will commence from November in a phased manner, beginning with Benagluru and Chennai.

The company, which has investment from Hero MotoCorp, had earlier this year announced that the electric scooter will hit the road across 10 cities -- Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Kolkata and Coimbatore -- by the first quarter of 2021.

Ather will be setting up its fast-charging network Ather Grid across each city before the commencement of deliveries for a smoothless charging facility. As part of the plan, it is looking to set up 10-15 fast charging points across each city in phase 1.

Bengaluru-based OKCredit, which provides mobile app for small merchants to keep track of their day-to-day purchases and sales, partners with Delhi Capitals (DC) as their Principal Sponsor for the upcoming season thirteen of Indian Premier League (IPL), starting on 19th September 2020 in UAE.

During the tournament, OkCredit will be known as the ‘Official Digital Credit Ledger’ of Delhi Capitals. Through this association, OkCredit will endeavour to leverage its journey of digitizing the micro and small business landscape in India amongst the huge fan base of the team and tournament.

OkCredit is also supporting Delhi Capitals in getting ‘Vocal for Local’ by empowering various small and iconic retail businesses across the city with their simple to use digital solutions.

Electric Vehicle startup Cell Propulsion raises an undisclosed amount in Pre-Series A funding led by growX ventures and Micelio.Existing investor, Endiya Partners, who led the Seed round in Sep-2019, also participated in this round.

The funding will be used to start deploying the powertrains for electric-trucks & electric-buses with fleet operators and eCommerce & logistics providers.

Cell Propulsion is developing high-voltage powertrain technology for commercial vehicle applications and has been a part of the EV accelerator program by Huddle, an accelerator for early stage companies in India.

SoftBank Group is taking a direct role in managing its virus-hit hospitality startup Oyo’s operations in Latin America through a joint venture, which will control all hotels in the region.

SoftBank, the biggest investor in Oyo, will use part of its $5 billion Latin America fund to invest in the newly formed company called Oyo Latam, which will take over 1,000 hotels mainly in Brazil and Mexico.

SoftBank Group Corp closed down 7 percent as the conglomerate’s bets on equity derivatives tied to listed technology companies made investors uncomfortable amid a decline in markets. Shares fell below 6,000 yen for the first time in two months to 5,881 yen. The group was the biggest loser in percentage terms on the benchmark index , which closed down 0.5 percent.

The Japanese financial powerhouse has spent billions of dollars buying shares in technology companies such as Amazon as it parks cash generated by a massive asset sale programme.

The group has also made significant options purchases in tech companies, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, in an aggressive bet by Chief Executive Masayoshi Son on rising tech stocks.