Startup Digest: Juspay acquires LotusPay, CRED to acquire Kuvera, Snap to lay off 10% of its workforce, and more

Walmart-owned mobile payments giant PhonePe has appointed former revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj, Walmart's Chief Financial Officer John D Rainey, and Chief People Officer Donna Morris to its board. The firm told CNBC-TV18 that Bajaj will be an Independent Director on the PhonePe Board and Chairman of the Risk Committee whereas Rainey & Morris have joined the firm’s board as non-executive directors. The move comes at a time when its rival Paytm has been under fire for gaps in compliance and governance.

Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma met RBI officials; however, there has been no forward movement on any remedial measures, and the current situation remains at a status quo, as sources. Sources told CNBC-TV18 that a group of Indian startup founders have written to the Prime Minister's Office, Reserve Bank of India, and the Finance Ministry on Paytm Payments Bank, urging them to roll back restrictions on Paytm's unit. The founders, in their letter, said that the action on Paytm Payments Bank may have far-reaching impacts on the fintech ecosystem.

EV startup River has raised $40 million in a Series B funding round led by Yamaha Motor Co. The round also saw participation from existing investors Al-Futtaim Automotive, Lowercarbon Capital, Toyota Ventures, and Maniv Mobility. Existing investors Al Futtaim Group, Lowercarbon Capital, Toyota Ventures, and Maniv Mobility also participated in the round, the EV startup said in a statement. The funds will help scale River’s distribution and service network across the country, and it will also use those to invest further in R&D for its future lineup of electric scooters.

OTO, a digital commerce and lending platform for two-wheelers, has raised $10 million in a funding round led by GMO Venture Partners and saw participation from Turbostart, Indian cricketer KL Rahul, and a few other family offices. Existing investors Prime Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, and 9Unicorns funds also participated in the round. The funds will strategically expand OTO's presence to over 30 cities, support the transition to electric vehicles, and fortify existing partnerships, the company said in a statement.

Titan Capital-backed Khyaal, a senior citizens-focused platform, has raised $4.2 million in a seed funding round co-led by 62Ventures, SVQuad, and Inventus Capital. The round also saw participation from Glen Tullman, Kanwal Rekhi, Raju Reddy, Raj-Ann Gill, and its existing investors including Everywhere Ventures, Supermorpheus & Unpopular Ventures. With the closure of its seed round, the startup has so far raised a total of $5.4 million in funding and will use the fresh proceeds to empower seniors and expand its reach across India.

EV financing NBFC Mufin Green Finance has raised ₹140 crore in Series B round of equity funding. The fresh capital comes on top of ₹530 crore debt financing the firm raised last financial year. The debt was raised from financial institutions including State Bank of India, IREDA, AU Small Finance Bank, ICICI Bank, and Kotak Mahindra while equity investment had substantial support from family offices. Mufin Green Finance said the capital will be used to accelerate its growth trajectory and scale up business operations in the down west region of the country. The current AUM for Mufin Green Finance stands at ₹502 crore, and the company is expecting to close the FY24 with an AUM of ₹650-700 crore.

Startup incubator T-Hub has announced the launch of the new cohort of the AIC T-Hub Healthcare program, aimed at fostering technological advancements and innovations within the healthcare sector across India. The program will host 20 startups selected for their groundbreaking solutions in the healthcare ecosystem, a statement said.

The program offers a range of benefits to startups, including support for product development, assistance with commercialisation plans, market understanding, business plan refinement, and access to resources essential for growth. It will even provide access to a prototyping lab equipped with healthcare sensors.

Lightspeed, an investor in unicorns such as Oyo, Udaan, and ShareChat, is set to host the second edition of its Portfolio Investor Day, Lift-off in Mumbai on February 8-9, 2024.

According to a statement, the aim of the event is to bring together businesses, founders, investors, and key stakeholders from across the world to discover the VC’s leading portfolio startups such as Razorpay, Magicpin, Zetwerk, Pocketfm, Darwinbox, Exponent Energy, Aspire, YouTrip, Pixxel, and Zluri amongst others. Lightspeed claims to have deployed $1.8+ billion in emerging Internet companies in India and SEA region, serving over 100 portfolio companies.

Nauti Nati, a premier kids wear brand from TMRW House of Brands, an Aditya Birla Group Venture, has announced their strategic tie-up with CRY (Child Rights & You) to work towards the betterment of the lives of underprivileged children in the country. According to the company, this partnership aims to positively impact the lives of almost 15 lakh underprivileged children over a period of 2 years.

“Through Nauti-Nati’s partnership with CRY, we have extended the brand’s core ethos and transformed them into a tangible value for lakhs of underprivileged children across the country. This partnership aims at extending the fun & mischief that we usually associate with childhood to all those children who don’t have access to it. And to be able to do this as the first Indian kids wear brand is of special significance,” said Prashanth Aluru, CEO and co-founder, TMRW House of Brands.

Snap to cut around 528 employees, or 10% of its global workforce, a sign that the spate of tech layoffs seen in 2023 could persist as firms grapple with economic uncertainty. The company, which owns the photo messaging app Snapchat, has long struggled to turn its popularity with young users into consistent revenue growth and compete with larger rivals like Facebook-owner Meta Platforms, which issued its first dividend on Thursday after laying off staff last year.

The company expects pre-tax charges in the range of $55 million to $75 million, primarily consisting of severance and related costs, and other charges, of which $45 million to $55 million are expected to be future cash expenditures. The majority of these costs are expected to be incurred during the first quarter of 2024.

A U.S. federal judge set a September 9, 2024, date for the start of a jury trial in a lawsuit the U.S. Justice Department and a coalition of states filed last year against Google that accused the company of abusing its dominance of digital advertising technology. The lawsuit, filed in January 2023, accuses Google of monopolising the market for digital advertising and undermining competition. The government has said Google should be forced to sell its ad manager suite. Google has denied the claims and said if the lawsuit succeeds, it would "slow innovation, raise advertising fees, and make it harder for thousands of small businesses and publishers to grow."

Microsoft is teaming up with media platform Semafor and other news organizations to help journalists work with generative AI in content production. Through these collaborations, Microsoft will help the organizations to identify and refine the procedures and policies to use artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly in newsgathering and business practices, the tech giant said in a blog post.

Semafor is launching a breaking news feed called "Signals", which journalists can use with the help of tools from OpenAI and Microsoft to provide readers with analysis and insights on breaking news stories.

Britain said it would spend more than 100 million pounds ($125 million) to launch nine new research hubs in artificial intelligence (AI) and train regulators about the technology. "AI is moving fast, but we have shown that humans can move just as fast," technology minister Michelle Donelan said in a statement. "By taking an agile, sector-specific approach, we have begun to grip the risks immediately."

Nearly 90 million pounds would go towards the hubs, which will focus on using AI in areas including healthcare, chemistry and mathematics, and a partnership with the United States on responsible AI, the government said.

E-commerce logistics provider ShipBob is seeking to hire underwriters for a U.S. initial public offering (IPO) that could be launched this year, according to Reuters. The Chicago-based company has invited several major investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Barclays to pitch for underwriter roles on the IPO. The IPO could value ShipBob at as much as $4 billion.