Content sharing app SuperShare raises Series A led by Lightspeed

Quiph’s SuperShare, a smartphone dialer and communication platform, has raised Rs 48.5 crore (approximately $6.5 million) in a Series A round from new and existing investors. This would be the company’s second funding round in the last two years. In March 2020, it raised $1.6 million for its first product, QTalk. Quiph has issued 3861 Series A preference shares for a total of Rs 48.5 crore at an issue price of Rs 125,548.12 per share. Lightspeed led the round with Rs 32.3 crore, while Accel, a previous backer, contributed Rs…

Shadowfax’s revenue crosses Rs 460 Cr in FY21, losses climb 53 percent to Rs 133 Cr

The scale of Delhivery, Ecom Express, and Shadowfax demonstrates the exponential growth of e-commerce-focused logistics in the last decade. By outpacing BlueDart in terms of revenue in FY21, Delhivery became India’s largest supply-chain company. During the fiscal year ending March 2021, its operating income increased by 31% to Rs 3,646 crore. While Ecom Express has yet to file its annual financial statements for FY21, Shadowfax has shown strong growth, with operating revenue up 43.7 percent. The company’s revenue for FY21 was nearly Rs 464 crore, up from Rs 323 crore…

Chargebee valuation jumps 2.5X on securing $250 mn from Tiger Global, Sequoia, others

Chargebee, a subscription management platform based on software-as-a-service, announced on Tuesday that it had raised $250 million in a round led by Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital, bringing the company’s valuation to $3.5 billion. Existing investors such as Insight Partners, Sapphire, and Steadview Capital also participated in the round. Chargebee Technologies Pvt Ltd, the company that runs Chargebee, has raised $470 million in total. In April 2021, it raised $125 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion. The funds will be used for product innovation and global expansion, as…

Govt’s digital push to drive big business for startups and tech firms

Technology firms and startups focused on new-age platforms, such as drones, space imagery, and artificial intelligence, will likely be at the forefront of the list of beneficiaries as the Budget seeks to democratise technology in a concerted push toward digitisation. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a slew of initiatives on Tuesday, with technology at the centre, to boost a wide range of industries, including skilling, agriculture, education, mental health, logistics, and the support of small and medium businesses. According to Nasscom, the IT industry body, the Budget is betting big…

Budget 2022 : Everything on tech and startups

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 on Tuesday. Here are some highlights from the world of technology and technology startups: According to Sitharaman, the government will establish a Digital University to provide online education in multiple languages. A web portal for skill development has been announced. Startups in the agricultural and rural sectors will benefit from a fund raised through NABARD. A battery swapping policy and interoperability standards will be implemented in order to set up charging stations at scale. Sitharaman stated that…

RBI to issue digital rupee based on blockchain technology in 2022-23, fate of Bitcoin unclear

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman confirmed that the Reserve Bank of India will issue a digital rupee soon on Tuesday morning. The RBI’s digital currency will be based on blockchain technology, which is the same technology that powers Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies. The finance minister stated that a digital rupee would be issued by 2022-23, but did not elaborate on the future of Bitcoin and other crypto tokens. “Digital currency will also lead to a more efficient and cheaper currency management system. It is therefore proposed to introduce a digital…

Logistics platform LoadShare raises $40M in funding led by Tiger Global, others

Loadshare, a Bengaluru-based logistics and supply chain startup, has raised $40 million in a Series C funding round led by US-based investment firm Tiger Global. The round was co-led by Filter Capital, 57 Stars, and previous investors CDC Group and Matrix Partners India. The company was founded in 2017 by Raghuram Talluri, Pramod Nair, and Rakib Ahmed. According to the statement, LoadShare’s mission is to solve its customers’ toughest logistics challenges by leveraging the power of small and medium logistics entrepreneurs. According to LoadShare, it provides a variety of services…

Scaler raises $55 Mn in Series B at $710 Mn valuation

Scaler, a tech upskilling startup, has raised $55 millionin a Series B round led by new investor Lightrock India and two existing investors, Sequoia Capital India and Tiger Global, for a total valuation of $710 million. With this new round of funding, Scaler Academy’s total capital raised now stands at $76.5 million. In January 2020, Sequoia India and Tiger Global led a Series A round for the Bengaluru-based startup. According to a press release, the new funds will be used to fund international expansion plans, the launch of new products…

Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow resigns two weeks after securing $11 billion valuation for the fintech startup

Ryan Breslow, a co-founder of Bolt Financial Inc., has announced his resignation as CEO, just two weeks after the company was valued at $11 billion. Breslow, who is 27 years old, will take over as executive chairman. Maju Kuruvilla, a 44-year-old Bolt executive who previously worked at Amazon.com Inc. as a vice president, will be promoted to CEO. The move was first reported by TechCrunch on Monday. Bolt develops payment software for online retailers such as Forever 21. It’s been around for seven years, but in the last few months,…

Health startup Athelas its $1.5 billion valuation after pandemic boom

Athelas Inc., a remote patient monitoring technology company, has raised $132 million in new funding, bringing its total valuation to $1.5 billion. Athelas, which was founded in 2016, saw rapid growth last year, fueled in part by a shift to remote care during the Covid-19 pandemic. Tanay Tandon, co-founder and CEO of Athelas, said the company now has 20,000 patients, which is ten times the number it had at the start of 2021. “The pandemic really showed folks that health care in the home has to be a thing and…