Pine Labs, an IPO-bound digital payment and financial services provider, is in talks to buy Setu, an API-based infrastructure company, for $70- $100 million in cash and stock, according to three people familiar with the talks. According to one of the people cited above, if the acquisition goes through, Pine Labs will gain access to Setu’s Account Aggregator consent framework and technology, which will help it improve market time for its planned financial services launch. Financial service providers no longer need to make multiple integrations for a single feature thanks…
Read MoreAuthor: FutureTech
LegalPay raises fund from Hedonova as part of pre-Series A round
LegalPay, an alternative-investments platform specialising in insolvency, legal, and debt financing within insolvency, has raised an undisclosed amount from US-based Hedonova. In December, the company received pre-Series A funding from prominent investors Venture Catalysts and Amity Technology Incubator, as well as participation from existing investors such as Ashwini Kakkar’s family office, the former head of Thomas Cook and co-founder and chairman of via.com; venture capital fund 9unicorns; and other marquee angels such as LetsVenture. Hedonova is a hedge fund based in the United States that invests in a variety of…
Read MoreCountdown begins for India First tech startup cocnclave & awards 2022, Delhi Chapter
The All India Council for Robotics and Automation will host the Delhi chapter of its prestigious India First Tech startup conclave and awards on 17th & 18th of February 2022. The event will feature several exhibitors, interactive sessions on tech startup topics, as well as an award ceremony honouring and recognising innovative startup ecosystem enablers in various categories. The event is being hosted by AICRA with support from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. It will address the key aspects of the startup ecosystem through interactive sessions with the…
Read MoreGupshup acquires Knowlarity Communications for undisclosed amount
Gupshup, a conversational messaging platform, announced the acquisition of Knowlarity Communications for an undisclosed sum on Wednesday. Knowlarity is a cloud communications company that offers services such as cloud telephony, contact centre automation, AI-powered voice assistants, and speech analytics. The acquisition will help Gupshup establish itself as a strong player in the voice and video communications segment, as Knowlarity has over 6,000 customers in 65 countries. appinstlBnr “As business-to-consumer engagement becomes conversational, Gupshup is busy enabling more ways for businesses to deliver rich experiences. With the addition of Knowlarity’s products,…
Read MoreContent 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…
Read MoreShadowfax’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…
Read MoreChargebee 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…
Read MoreGovt’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…
Read MoreBudget 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…
Read MoreRBI 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…
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