As per a report, Khatabook sacked over 40 employees. PowerSchool acquires Neverskip, Pentathlon Ventures launches Rs 450 crore Fund II, Captain Fresh bags $20 million in Series C round and BluSmart crosses ARR of Rs 400 crore.
Here’re the top headlines from the startup space.
Khatabook hands pink slips to over 40 employees: Report
Homegrown digital lending platform Khatabook has laid off over 40 employees across departments to cut costs and streamline its operations, as per an Entrackr report.
The platform communicated job cuts to employees across sales, marketing and analytics and technology verticals in a town-hall meeting. People, who lost their jobs in the exercise, have been given standard severance packages, including three-months salary, among others, the report said.
Ravish Naresh, co-founder and CEO of Khatabook, had said last year that the company was aiming to clock a loan book size of Rs 1,000 crore by October 2023. According to Naresh, the company was likely to turn profitable in mid-2024.
US-based PowerSchool acquires Chennai-based Neverskip
US-based edtech company PowerSchool has acquired Chennai-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software firm Neverskip and is eyeing to reach 2,000 schools and 2.5 million students in the next 2-3 years.
The company, however, did not disclose the deal size of this acquisition.
From the target of 2.5 million students, the company will go for 50 million students from English medium schools, irrespective of Boards. The initial focus will be schools in tier I and II cities and then on expanding deeper into the country.
FUNDING NEWS
Pentathlon Ventures lunches Rs 450 crore Fund II to invest in 25 B2B SaaS startups
Early-stage-focused venture capital firm Pentathlon Ventures has launched its second fund with a target corpus of Rs 450 crore to invest in B2B software-as-a-service (SaaS) firms.
The firm will invest in 25 early-stage startups focusing across sectors such as enterprise digital transformation, e-commerce enablement, fintech, vertical SaaS, applied AI, sustainable tech, and healthtech.
Pentathlon Ventures said it is raising capital from a mix of domestic and global limited partners, including business leaders, corporate houses and institutions. The VC will invest in pre-seed to Series A deals.
Soonicorn Ventures launches Rs 250 crore fund for early-stage startups
Investment technology platform Soonicorn Ventures (SV) has received regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to introduce an Angel Fund worth Rs 250 crore.
The Category-I Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) has an additional Rs 250 crore available as a green-shoe option, bringing the total fund capacity to Rs 500 crore to nurture early-stage startups in India, the company said in a statement.
The company will allocate investments ranging from Rs 50 lakh-Rs 4 crore in startups at the seed to series A funding stages. Soonicorn Ventures' portfolio has startups such as Zypp, Zingbus, Samosa Party, SupplyNote, AutoNxt, Skylark, Cusmat, Savart, and more.
Unicorn India Ventures marks first close of Fund III at Rs 225 crore
Early-stage VC firm Unicorn India Ventures (UIV) has announced the first close of its Rs 1,000 crore Fund III. The first close is at Rs 225 crore and final close is expected by March next year.
With the Fund III, UIV aims to build a portfolio of 25 startups that are focused on the global software-as-a-service (SaaS) and digital platforms. From the sector's perspective, the VC company is looking at newer sectors of climate tech, agritech, spacetech and the semiconductor ecosystem.
The Fund III now looks at investing a first cheque of around $1-2 million and then invest in the follow-on round.
Anicut Equity Fund raises Rs 50 crore from SIDBI’s Fund of Funds
Alternative investment firm Anicut Capital has received Rs 50 crore investment from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for its Anicut Equity Fund. SIDBI has invested through the Rs 10,000 crore Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS).
The firm launched Grand Anicut Fund 3 in June 2022 with a total targeted corpus of Rs 500 crores, with an additional Rs 250 crore green shoe option.
The investment firm has successfully closed two-thirds of the fund and has also received a commitment of Rs 75 crore from Self Reliant India Fund (SRI).
The company plans to back 12-14 growth stage startups across Anicut and non-Anicut portfolio in the next 18-24 months from the Fund III.
Captain Fresh bags $20 million to fuel its global expansion plans
Captain Fresh, a B2B fish and seafood company, has raised $20 million in a Series C funding round led by Japan- based SBI Investment and Evolvence Capital.
The round also saw participation form internal investors including Accel, Matrix Partners India, Prosus Ventures and Tiger Global. The company also counts Ankur Capital and Incubate Fund among its backers. Elluminate Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Captain Fresh on the transaction.
The fresh funds will be used for expansion into Europe and the USA. Discussions are already in motion with potential allies in these markets, a statement said.
Flipspaces raises $4 million to grow business
Tech-driven interior design startup Flipspaces, has secured $4 million in a funding round from its existing investors, with Prashasta Seth, former CEO of IIFL AMC, leading the investment consortium.
The funding round saw participation from other prominent family groups and funds.
"We have seen rapid growth in the US market combined with robust India numbers. Leveraging this momentum, our impetus is to enhance our focus on tech to enable processes at scale and double down on building on our supply chain capability to serve a global demand,” said Kunal Sharma, the Founder and CEO of Flipspaces.
Matrix Partners India leads $3 million pre-seed round in Cirkla
Cirkla, a sustainable packaging company, raised approximately $3 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Matrix Partners India.
The round also saw participation from Stellaris Venture Partners and other prominent angel investors. The funds will be utilised to scale operations, strengthen the salesforce and invest in new technologies.
“According to various reports, exceptional potential lies ahead for Cirkla, as the worldwide sustainable packaging sector is anticipated to double in size and exceed $500 billion by the year 2030,” said Vaibhav Goel, Co-founder and CEO of Cirkla.
LISSUN bags $1.3 million in seed funding round
LISSUN, a mental health platform, has raised $1.3 million in a seed funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures and Rainmatter Capital.
The round also saw participation from Existing investors IvyCap ventures, WFC, Growx ventures and a few other marquee angel investors. LISSUN has raised over $2.3 million to date in funding.
The funds will be strategically allocated to enhance their technology and product offerings further, expand their services, and cultivate meaningful partnerships with healthcare institutions and other organisations, a statement said.
MapMyIndia invests Rs 9 crore in Mappls KOGO
Mappls KOGO, an AI travel expert app, has raised Rs nine crore in a fresh funding round led by listed digital maps company MapMyIndia.
This marks the second investment from MapMyIndia in the startup. It had previously invested Rs 10 crore in Mappls.
Mappls Kogo is an AI-based platform that helps users with expert recommendations generated by AI and save money in the process. The startup has collaborated with brands such as KTM, TVS, Jawa, and other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and claims to have a user base of two million.
PrintBrix gets Pre-Seed funding from EvolveX
PrintBrix, a player in the branding and promotional industry, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding in a pre-Seed funding round from EvolveX, an early-stage program founded by We Founder Circle.
The round also saw participation from investors including Neeraj Tyagi, Navneet Gupta, Amit Prakash, Amit Tyagi, Vamsi, Vikas Aggarwal, Anurag Agrawal, Ujjwal Chugh, and others.
The company intends to use the fresh funds for developing a comprehensive tech platform that offers end-to-end solutions and expanding operations into multiple cities.
Brillio on-boards Orogen Group as strategic investor
Brillio, a digital transformation services and solutions provider, has raised an undisclosed sum from Orogen Group.
Orogen’s expertise and broad network in the financial services industry will support Brillio’s offerings in key verticals, including banking, financial services, and insurance, a statement said.
Brillio will use the funds to expand its capabilities in next-generation technologies such as data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to empower global clients to become more competitive and future-ready.
OTHER STARTUP NEWS
BluSmart crosses ARR of Rs 400 crore
EV ride-hailing and charging provider BluSmart said it has crossed annual revenue run rate (ARR) of Rs 400 crore.
Operating in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru, BluSmart has achieved a milestone of 5,000 electric vehicles (EVs). It has also set up over 3,900 EV charging points across 32 charging hubs at key locations in two cities.
"The year has been a transformative year for us, accelerating our growth exponentially. Next year too, we aim to grow very rapidly. We've witnessed robust demand for our service, reaffirming the continued growth of electric mobility," said Anmol Singh Jaggi, Co-founder and CEO, BluSmart.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma becomes the sole Significant Beneficial Owner of Paytm
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO of One97 Communications, known to operate digital payments provider Paytm, is looking to increase his stake in the company further, after becoming its largest shareholder.
"There is never a day that I would not buy more equity in Paytm," Sharma told Bloomberg News in an interview. Sharma is now Paytm's largest shareholder and Significant Beneficial Owner (SBO) after acquiring a 10 percent stake from AntFin, thereby increasing his stake to 19.42 percent.
AntFin went on to sell another three percent stake in Paytm recently via block deals.
SUN Mobility to power more than 15,000 e-bikes on Swiggy's delivery fleet over next 12 months
Online food delivery platform Swiggy has partnered with SUN Mobility to power more than 15,000 e-bikes in the company's delivery fleet over the next 12 months.
According to a statement, with this deployment, Swiggy will be able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20,000 tonnes every year.
This will also enable them to save up to 40 per cent of the vehicle running cost, positively impacting their earnings, the company stated. The move aligns with Swiggy's commitment to cover eight lakh kilometres per day through electric vehicles By 2025.
India a priority market with limitless possibilities: Meta India head
Meta sees India as a "priority market" with "limitless" possibilities buoyed by macroeconomic growth, digital infrastructure and the popularity of its apps like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, the social media giant's India head Sandhya Devanathan said.
In an interview with PTI, Devanathan, who took over the leadership role in January this year, said India's new Digital Personal Data Protection legislation has provided a framework and clarity for tech companies and marks a "great step in balancing user protection with innovation". Meta, she emphasised, "welcomes constructive regulations", and will wait to see the detailed rules.
Devanathan, who is the Vice President of Meta in India, also spoke of the company's determination to crack down on misinformation on the platform and outlined how it is harnessing AI (Artificial Intelligence) to proactively curb hateful content.
Amazon India to invest $15 million in nature-based projects in Asia-Pacific
Amazon India will invest $15 million in nature-based projects to support communities, climate resilience, and biodiversity in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
The company said it will invest its first $3 million from the fund's APAC allocation to support nature-based projects in India.
Amazon will be working with the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) to support communities and conservation efforts in the Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which is home to more than 30 percent of all of India’s wildlife species, including the world’s largest population of wild Asiatic elephants and tigers.
Boon collaborates with Niti Aayog's Aatmanirbhar Bharat for water innovation
Boon, an IoT-enabled global water-tech startup, has collaborated with 'Niti Aayog,' through the Aatmanirbhar Bharat ARISE-ANIC program to develop cutting-edge solutions for efficient water resource management, waste prevention, and the reduction of leakage and theft.
Through this partnership, Boon aims to empower municipal authorities, water supply agencies, and communities at large to make informed decisions regarding water distribution and usage, a statement said.
“Our expertise aligns perfectly with Niti Aayog's innovative approach to sustainable drinking water solutions. Our mission is to pool our resources to foster technological advancements in the sector,” said Dr. Vibha Tripathi, MD of Boon.
GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS
SoftBank's Arm aims for over $52 billion valuation in biggest US IPO of the year
SoftBank Group's Arm is seeking a valuation of more than $52 billion in its initial public offering as the chip designer heads for the biggest stock market flotation of the year.
SoftBank is offering 95.5 million American depositary shares of the Cambridge, United Kingdom-based company for $47 to $51 a piece and aims to raise up to $4.87 billion at the top of the range, a regulatory filing seen by Reuters showed.
Its recent deal to acquire the 25 percent stake in Arm that it did not already own from its Vision Fund unit had valued the company at $64 billion.
Tencent, others begin enforcing China's new oversight move on apps
Mobile app stores in China run by Tencent, Xiaomi and others have started to bar app publishers from launching new apps if they do not make all the disclosures required by authorities, documents seen by Reuters showed.
The moves comply with new rules introduced last month as Beijing tightens oversight of mobile apps in the country. The rules are causing consternation in the industry that publishing apps in the world's second largest economy will become very difficult and many apps may need to be taken down.
The new rules, which require mobile app publishers to file business details with the government, gave app stores in China until the end of August to establish their filing systems to oversee new apps.
TikTok hires Britain's NCC for auditing data security
TikTok has hired British cybersecurity firm NCC to audit its data controls and protections, and provide independent verification, as part of the social media company's data security regime, nicknamed "Project Clover".
Several government bodies have banned TikTok from staff phones due to growing concerns about the company, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, and whether China's government could harvest users' data to advance its interests.
As part of the regime, TikTok is opening three data centres - two in Ireland and one in Norway to store user data in Europe. The first Irish datacenter is already online and TikTok has started to migrate data. The remaining data centres will be up by the end of 2024, Elaine Fox, head of privacy in Europe, said in a media call.
Baidu CEO says more than 70 large AI language models released in China
More than 70 large artificial intelligence language models with over 1 billion parameters have been released in China, Baidu CEO Robin Li told an industry event in Beijing.
Baidu joins several other Chinese companies that launched AI chatbots last week after securing regulatory approval for mass market releases. These include facial recognition firm SenseTime and AI startups Baichuan Intelligent Technology, Zhipu AI, and MiniMax.
Li said the latest version of Baidu's AI chatbot, Ernie 3.5, has processing speed twice that of the previous version with 50 percent improved efficiency. Li also revealed that Baidu will launch a new version in the near future.
Vodafone teams up with Amazon's Project Kuiper to extend 5G reach
Vodafone plans to work with Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite constellation Project Kuiper to extend the reach of its 4G and 5G telecoms networks in Europe and Africa.
The British mobile operator said Project Kuiper's high-bandwidth, low-latency satellites would be used to connect mobile base stations in remote locations to its core networks, eliminating the need for fibre-based or fixed wireless links.
Amazon is preparing to test two prototype satellites in the coming months before starting to deploy production satellites in 2024 for its network, which will compete with Elon Musk's Starlink, OneWeb and others.
First Published: Sept 5, 2023 6:47 PM IST
