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#WEXTSaturday – Initiative by WEXT.in Community in which WEXT.in will cover all Indian Startup News, Funding Alerts, Acquisition Deal Alerts.
The graph of COVID19 has started leveling up in most of the countries. India is facing increased positive cases of COVID19 each day which is having a bad impact on the nation. While the lockdown has been extended till 18 May 2020 nationwide, there are few regions that have experienced some relaxations in the restrictions. As we know, most of the industries have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, still, the business is finding ways to survive. Most of the businesses have utilized this period to make some operational or strategic changes to boost up their revenues. Others are working on plan B to tackle the situations at its best.
Most companies have started switching to online operations and diverting its services as per the present needs so that this pandemic time turns out to be beneficial. Amid all these struggles, this week went good for most of the companies and startup. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also came up with news of relaxation for our nation’s economy, which we will cover below. Apart from it, there are a lot of the latest Indian startup news, funding alerts, and acquisition alerts, which you should not miss.
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Here, we bring you the latest startup news for this week, i.e. a quick snapshot of all the happenings in the Indian startup industry. Let’s hop on.
Reliance Jio reportedly in talks with NPCI to start UPI payments on its feature phones
Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio is reportedly in talks with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch UPI payments on the KaiOS of its feature phones. With over 388 Mn users of KaiOS on Jio’s feature phones, it will increase the growth of UPI payments in villages and towns. This will also boost the nation’s digital payment interface.
Funding Alert – Bangalore based two-wheeler rental startup Vogo and tech-enabled logistics marketplace LetsTransport has raised fresh funds in its Series-C funding round in order to reboot its operations.
DRDO and Noida based company to team up in order to launch contactless sanitizer dispenser
The Indian defense manufacturing company, DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) has partnered with a Noida based manufacturer to launch contacted hand sanitizer dispenser, OakMist. It will help in tackling the issue of sanitation in the nation during and after Covid19.
Reliance Jio in talks with General Atlantic to raise $950 Mn through stake sale
After selling stakes to Facebook and Silver Lake Partners, Reliance Jio is now in talks with General Atlantic to raise approx. $950 Mn investment. Reliance Jio is planning to sell a 1.5 percent to 2 percent stake to the US-based private equity fund. Reliance Jio has raised approx. $8 Bn in just three weeks.
Funding Alert – US-based physician engagement startup Doceree has successfully raised seed funding of $1Mn from an angel investor’s group of India and the US. The funds will be used in the acquisition and scaling up purposes.
Apple Sets $40 Bn Export Target for iPhones Manufactured from India, Plans to move production base from China to India
Apple is all set to move its manufacturing and exporting base of iPhones from China to India. Reportedly, Apple has set a $40 Bn targets for the export of Made-in-India iPhones. The company aims to benefit from India’s PLI Scheme. India aims to export $100Bn worth iPhones by 2025.
Want to know whats was happening last week in Indian Startup Industry, Visit: Indian Startup News, Funding Alerts, Acquisition Alerts from 2 May to 8 May 2020
Shiprocket raises $13 Mn in Series C Funding Round by Tribe Capital, Innoven Capital, and Bertelsmann India Investments
Tech-enabled eCommerce logistics Shiprocket has successfully raised $13 Mn in its Series C funding round. The funding round had participants from Tribe Capital LLC, Innoven Capital, and existing investor Bertelsmann India Investments. With this funding round, the total funding of Shiprocket stands at $26 Mn.
Funding Alert – Bangalore based startup Refrens has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from the founder of Shaadi.com (Anupam Mittal) and Paytm (Vijay Sharma). Refrens offers invoicing, expense management, and free payment solutions.
Swiggy and Marriott International partners with each other for food delivery initiative
Marriott International has the first time partnered with Swiggy to adopt the new model of food delivery service. The delivery service initiative of Marriott International will be available to more cities once the agreement process is completed between both the companies. Now the cuisine from Marriott on Wheels will be available to the customer’s doorstep.
Nykaa has raised Rs.67 Crore from its existing investor Steadview Capital
This is one of the latest funding alerts this week. Renowned online retailer Nykaa raises approx. Rs.67 crore from its investor Steadview Capital. In the equity funding round, Steadview capital got an allotment of 1, 09,986 shares at the premium amount of Rs.6, 049. With this funding round, Nykaa also enters the ‘startup unicorn club’.
Funding Alert – Contract management SaaS (software-as-a-service) startup SirionLabs raises $44 Mn in its series-C funding round, which was led by investors Avatar Growth Capital and Tiger Global.
Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi Announces Rs.20 lac crore special economic package amid India’s war against Covid19
While addressing the nation for the fourth stage of lockdown, Indian PM Narendra Modi announced an Rs.20 lac crore special economic package. This is equal to 10% of the total country’s GDP. This package will be beneficial for the laborers, taxpayers, farmers, SMEs, and cottage industries.
Chinese Tech Giant Tencent launches its Video Conferencing App VooV Meeting across all platforms
Chinese Tech Giant Tencent also joins the video conferencing bandwagon. The company has launched its own video conferencing app, VooV Meeting. VooV Meeting is a cloud-based HD conferencing app, which is available for all platforms, i.e. Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. Additional features include real-time screen sharing, instant messaging, and live discussion.
Acquisition Alert -Health-tech startup HealthAssure has acquired fitness and wellness startup FitMeIn, which is an on-demand fitness subscription service, integrating the service offering of both brands.
Agritech startup Intello Labs has raised $5.9Mn in its Series-A funding round led by Saama Capital and other investors
Bangalore based Agritech startup Intello Labs raises $5.9 million in its series-A funding round. The funding round was led by Saama Capital, Singapore based GROW, and US-based SVG Ventures. Other existing investors who also participated in the round are Nexus Venture Partners and Omnivore.
E-lending company Indifi partners with TiE Delhi-NCR in order to provide growth to the startup debt capitals through coronavirus pandemic.
Gurugram based Magicpin has raised Rs.29.3 crore funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and other investors
Gurugram based local delivery, rewards, and commerce platform, Magicpin, has successfully raised Rs.29.3 crore in its funding round. The funding round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Moonstone Investments, Bunting Family Private Fund, and Water Bridge Venture. Magicpin is currently handling grocery deliveries due to nationwide lockdown.
Funding Alert – Gurugram based B2B startup GroCurv raises an undisclosed amount of funds in a seed funding round from Singapore based venture capital Unicorn Investments. The funds will be used in enhancing its products and services.
DigitalOcean has raised $50Mn in its series-C funding round led by existing investors Access Industries and Andreessen Horowitz
Renowned cloud company DigitalOcean has successfully raised $50 Mn in its series-C funding round. The funding round was led by the company’s prior investors Access Industries and Andreessen Horowitz. The investment has now brought DigitalOcean’s equity value to $1.15 Bn.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces slew measures for MSMEs for tackling liquidity and NPA concerns
After the announcement of Rs.20 lac crore special economy package for the nation by PM Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces Rs.3 lac crore collateral-free loans for MSMEs. The announcement also stated other measures to bring relief over liquidity and NPA concerns to make the nation self-reliant.
India’s own video AI implementation company Staqu announces Covid19 combat suite services for corporates. The suite will be helpful in assisting the businesses with their operations post Covid19 pandemic.
Travel Giant MakeMyTrip Partners with hotels in order to launch online delivery of gourmet items
Lead travel giant, MakeMyTrip has partnered with premium hotels in selected cities to launch its online gourmet delivery service. Initially, the company will be delivering gourmet orders through third-party service provides is major cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Bangalore.
That’s all for this week!
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