Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma launches maiden fund to back EV, AI startups in India
Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma has launched his maiden fund VSS Investments with an initial corps of ₹20 crore and a green shoe of ₹10 crore, making the total corpus ₹30 crore.
The SEBI approved Category II Alternate Investment Fund will target Artificial Intelligence and Electric Vehicles-led startups, a statement said. The follow-on funding of Sharma’s current startup investments in consumer and B2B space will also come from VSS Investments, it added.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma would be one of the primary contributors of the fund along with other external investors. The AIF has been sponsored by VSS Investco Private Limited, an entity owned and controlled by Vijay Shekhar Sharma and will be actively managed by a professional investment manager.
Mamaearth's Parent plans ₹1,700 crore IPO by October end or early November
Honasa Consumer, the parent company of popular brands such as Mamaearth, The Derma Co, and BBlunt, plans to launch its much-anticipated IPO by the end of October or early November this year.
The company aims to raise around ₹1,700 crore via a combination of a fresh issue and an offer-for-sale. Honasa is targeting an estimated valuation of around ₹11,000-11,500 crore.
Sources tell CNBC-TV18 that there will be no pre-IPO fund raising and the proceeds will be used to enhance brand visibility and to establish new outlets.
General Atlantic to acquire minority stake in travel-tech platform TBO
Investment firm General Atlantic to acquire a minority stake in Indian online B2B travel distribution platform Travel Boutique Online (TBO) for an undisclosed sum.
For the deal, General Atlantic entered into an agreement with entities held by Affirma Capital. Subsequent to this transaction, Affirma Capital will continue to remain invested in TBO, the company said in a statement.
"We see immense potential in the path ahead for TBO, including global expansion opportunities, and are excited to partner with the Company to help enable the next generation of travel globally," said Shantanu Rastogi, Managing Director and Head of India at General Atlantic.
Flipkart reports a revenue of Rs 56,013 crore in FY23
Flipkart India Private Limited, the B2B arm of the e-commerce major, saw its revenues increase by just 9.4 percent from ₹50,993 crore in FY22 to ₹55,824 crore in FY23, according to financial data provided by business intelligence platform Tofler.
The company reported a net loss of ₹4,834 crore, marking a substantial 42 percent increase. "Net loss for the financial year ending as on March 31, 2023, was ₹48,393 million as against that of previous year ending as on March 31, 2022, of ₹33,624 million witnessed an increase of 44 percent in the net loss," the financial report said.
The total expenses for Flipkart in FY23 amounted to ₹60,858 crore, demonstrating an 11.5 percent increase.
Giga ML raises $3.6 million from Nexus Venture Partners, Y Combinator and others
Giga ML, an AI startup that helps enterprises secure on-premise deployment of Large Language models (LLMs), has raised $3.6 million in seed funding round led by Nexus Ventures Partners.
The round also saw participation from Y Combinator and Liquid 2 Venture, 8vdX, and angel investors such as Garry Tan, the President and CEO of Y Combinator.
The firm allows enterprises to use open-source LLMs that Giga ML can pre-train and fine-tune to suit clients’ specific needs. The company said these LLMs can be as powerful as OpenAI’s GPT-4. According to Giga ML, its X1 Large 32k model has higher adaptability and power to adjust better than the Llama2 70B 4k model, open-source LLM.
CyberPeace Foundation receives $4 million grant from Google.org
Google.org, the search giant’s philanthropic arm, has announced that it will provide a new grant of $4 million to support a nationwide awareness and capability building initiative by CyberPeace Foundation, a non-profit India-based cybersecurity organisation.
The grant is expected to support over 40 million internet users across India, including underserved beneficiaries such as youth, women, rural communities, elderly, through training and community engagement programs, a statement said.
“With the new grant to CyberPeace Foundation, we plan to support solutions that speak directly to Google’s DNA, helping first-time internet users chart their path in a digital world with confidence,” Annie Lewin, senior director of global advocacy and head, Asia and Pacific, Google.org, said.
Anushka Sharma, Virat Kohli forays into promoting events; launches new venture ‘Nisarga’
Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli have launched a new venture Nisarga, marking their foray into promoting events and experiences. The new venture is aimed at promoting high impact events and intellectual properties (IPs), curating special segments in existing IPs as well as developing and creating new platforms.
According to a statement, Nisarga has tied up with Elite Octane, a specialist motorsports and entertainment events company which holds IPs like 'The Valley Run'. Elite Octane will be instrumental in executing various activities and creating new platform segments, especially in the domains of motorsports and entertainment, the statement added.
In a joint statement, the celebrity couple said Nisarga embodies their values and vision in what they do personally and professionally. "Nisarga's initiatives will promote these perspectives, the impact of which will be seen as we embark on this journey and execute these on the ground, through engaging experiences so that we leave behind more than what we were given," Anushka and Virat added.
Disney said to near multibillion-dollar India deal with Reliance Industries: Report
Reliance Industries is nearing a cash and stock deal to buy Walt Disney’s India operations, according to Bloomberg News. The US entertainment giant may sell a controlling stake in the Disney Star business, which it values at around $10 billion, as opposed to piecemeal transactions weighed earlier, the report added.
Reliance views the assets at between $7 billion to $8 billion, some of the people said. The acquisition could be announced as early as next month some of Reliance’s media units merged into Disney Star.
Under the proposal, Disney will likely continue to hold onto a minority stake in the Indian company after any cash and stock swap transaction is completed.
GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS
Strong ad sales, stable enterprise spending wind beneath Big Tech earnings
US technology giants are likely to post their strongest quarterly revenue growth in at least a year as their legacy businesses stabilise, but investors looking for signs of a boost from artificial intelligence (AI) may be disappointed.
Microsoft, Google-parent Alphabet, Facebook-parent Meta Platforms and Amazon are expected to have built on the recovery in their enterprise software and digital ads businesses as professional and consumer spending stayed resilient despite an uncertain global economy.
The quartet's shares have rallied — between Microsoft's 36% and Meta's 157% — this year, boosting their combined market value to over $6 trillion and lifting the benchmark S&P 500 index.
Biden administration picks 31 regional tech hubs to spur US innovation
The US Commerce Department said it was naming 31 regional tech hubs from 370 applicants, making the areas eligible for $500 million in federal funding to help spur innovation across a variety of sectors.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters the program aimed to diversify the United States away from its traditional tech hubs like Silicon Valley, Seattle and Boston.
"Those tech ecosystems are concentrated in just a few places around the country," Raimondo said. "They don't reflect the full potential of our country.... They don't corner the market on great ideas."
Microsoft to spend $3.2 billion in Australia as AI regulation looms
Microsoft said it will spend A$5 billion ($3.2 billion) expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing abilities in Australia over two years as part of a wide-ranging effort that includes skills training and cyber security.
The US tech giant said it would raise its computing capacity in Australia by 250%, enabling the world's No. 13 economy to meet demand for cloud computing - the practice of storing data on a separate network - which was expected to double from 2022 to 2026 as AI became more prevalent.
Microsoft said that on top of the A$5 billion, it would support training 300,000 Australians in skills needed to "succeed in the digital economy" and expand a cyber threat information-sharing agreement with the country's cyber security agency, the Australian Signals Directorate.
Japan launches antimonopoly probe into Google's search dominance
Japan's competition watchdog said it has started investigating Google for a possible breach of anti monopoly laws in web search services, following similar steps by authorities in Europe and other major economies.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) said it was investigating whether Google violated Japan's Antimonopoly Act by returning part of its revenue to Android smartphone makers on the condition they do not install rival search engines.
It is also looking into Google's practice of making Android phone makers install its "Google Search" and "Google Chrome" browser applications with the "Google Play" app.
Alibaba promises major discounts ahead of China's 'Singles Day' shopping event
E-commerce giant Alibaba said it will be offering huge discounts as it gears up for its annual Singles Day shopping extravaganza - an indication that Chinese consumer confidence remains at a low ebb.
The event — which begins on Tuesday and despite its name now stretches over several weeks — will offer over 80 million products at their lowest prices this year, it said in a statement.
Alibaba also said that this year its Tmall marketplace for established brands and its Taobao site for smaller retailers will offer a 15% price reduction for some products in addition to the discount coupons usually offered.
SpaceX signs deal to launch key European satellites: Report
SpaceX has signed a deal to launch up to four of Europe's flagship navigation and secure communications satellites into orbit, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, along with EU member states, must still give final approval for the deal, the report added, citing officials.
SpaceX and the European Space Agency recently signed an agreement for two launches next year, each carrying two Galileo satellites, Javier Benedicto, the agency's director of navigation, told the Journal.
Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers avoid challenges to 'cartoon' villain image
Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers have complained that prosecutors at his fraud trial are portraying the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder as a "cartoon of a villain," but have done little to counter unflattering depictions of him offered to the jury by his former colleagues.
In cross-examining former members of his inner circle who have pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution, defence lawyers generally have avoided challenging their accounts of Bankman-Fried angrily snapping at colleagues who questioned key company decisions. They also did not challenge testimony by one of the witnesses that his quirky persona was mostly an act.
Defence lawyers will have a chance to put forward a competing narrative when they present their case, beginning as soon as Thursday. But the testimony presented by the prosecution that has painted a negative portrait of the defendant's character, if it remains unchallenged, could make jurors more willing to convict Bankman-Fried, according to experts.
(Edited by : Sangam Singh)
First Published: Oct 23, 2023 7:38 PM IST
