Start-up based in Delhi ElectiVa has been won the contract to install and operate 100 electric vehicle charging stations throughout the state. According to the company, the contract, which was awarded by local urban bodies, targets key locations in the city such as Green Park, Hauz Khas, Saket, defence colony, South Ex, Lajpat Nagar, RK Puram, and Vasant Vihar, among other commercial areas. Sumit Dhanuka, the company’s founder, stated that he intends to install over 50,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the country over the next four years. India currently…

Thrasio, the US company that pioneered the model of acquiring and scaling up private brands on Amazon.com, plans to invest $500 million in India because it sees the country as a significant market in the long term. According to Carlos Cashman, CEO of Thrasio Thrasio has made its first acquisition in India, acquiring a majority stake in Lifelong, a consumer durables brand. Even though the terms of the transaction were not disclosed, Thrasio is said to have paid $150-200 million for the stake. Lifelong, which is backed by Tanglin Venture…

ORAI, a conversational AI platform, announced today that it has raised Rs 6.5 crore in a pre-Series A funding round led by Gurugram-based angel investment firm Inflection Point Ventures. IPV has invested Rs 326 crore in 107 transactions so far. ORAI claims to provide 100% automation powered by artificial intelligence (AI) with all advanced features in a single bot that handles all customer support, customer outreach, customer engagement, marketing, sales support, and post-sales services. The startup recently launched a WhatsApp commerce feature that uses artificial intelligence to automate business conversations…

Tooljet, a San Francisco-based open-source low-code platform provider, has raised $1.55 million in a Seed funding round led by Nexus Venture Partners, Ratio Ventures, Better Capital, and Alan Rutledge. Individual investors who participated in the round included Rohan Murty (Founder of Soroco), Sony Joy (Head of Enterprise at Truecaller), Vipul Amler (Founder of Saeloun), Mohammed Hisamuddin (Founder of Entri), and Abhi Kumar of M12 Ventures. Tooljet will use this round of funding to expand its team and accelerate the development of its core platform. It currently has a 12-person team….

Mensa Brands, a Bengaluru-based technology-led ‘House of Brands’ built for the e-commerce industry, announced today the acquisition of a majority stake in Florona, a personal care brand that primarily targets customers in the United States and Canada. So far, Mensa Brands has acquired 16 brands. Mensa Brands had previously acquired Estalon, High Star, Lilpicks, Folkulture, and Ishin, among others. Notably, when it raised $135 million in a Series B funding round in November last year, the startup became India’s fastest and the world’s second-fastest unicorn. Florona, founded by Aayush Gupta,…

Lightbox, March Gaming, and Duane Park Ventures led a $25 million (Rs 185 crore) Series A funding round for Rooter, a game streaming and e-sports platform. In addition to IeAD Sports & Health Tech Partners, four other funds—9Unicorns, ADvantage, Capital-A, and Goal Ventures—invested in the round. “We will use the capital in three areas: increasing user growth, creating a robust content creator ecosystem, and building a marketplace,” said Piyush, founder and chief executive of Rooter. Rooter, founded by Piyush Kumar and Dipesh Agarwal, has emerged as the largest player in…

LEAD, which enables school classrooms to use online learning tools, announcied on January 13 that it had raised $100 million at a valuation of $1.1 billion, catapulting it into the coveted unicorn club of internet startups. Unicorns are private companies worth a billion dollars or more. LEAD received funding from existing investors WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures. The acquisition makes it India’s third unicorn of the year, following consumer brand Mamaearth and analytics firm Fractal. LEAD is also India’s sixth online education unicorn, following Byju’s, Vedantu, Unacademy, Eruditus, and UpGrad….

Owl Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that has invested in Indian companies such as Byju’s and Leap, has raised more than $1 billion in new funds, including $640 million for its fifth fund. Other funds closed by the edtech-focused firm include $270 million for its second Opportunity Fund and more than $100 million in special purpose vehicles, according to a statement issued by Owl Venture on Friday. The global rise of education technology has been contributed by various factors including blended learning, remote work, the rise of direct-to-consumer…

Consumer electronics startup boAt has been one of India’s top sellers of wearables and audio accessories for the past few years. The company, which is also planning an IPO at a valuation of more than $1.4 billion, has been profitable and has crossed the Rs 1,500 crore revenue mark in FY21. According to its annual financial statement filed with the MCA, boAt’s operating revenues increased by 2.2X, rising from Rs 700.44 crore in FY20 to Rs 1,511.7 crore in FY21. Wireless earphones and headphones were the company’s most profitable product…

Kaleidofin, a fintech startup based in Chennai that provides financial services to underserved customers in the informal economy, has raised $10 million (roughly Rs 74 crore) in a new funding round led by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The Series B round was also attended by existing institutional investors Oiko Credit, Flourish Ventures, Omidyar Network, Blume Ventures, and Bharat Fund. Kaleifofin, which has so far raised $18 million in funding, intends to use the funds for technology development, risk management, and bolstering its data science capabilities. IFMR Group, a…