The government is taking significant steps to boost the country’s startup ecosystem, including resolving the angel tax issue, simplifying tax procedures, and allowing for self-certification, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. He also stated that the government is working to reduce the compliance burden in order to promote ease of doing business. Startups should leverage modern technologies for local and global markets, he said while speaking at the launch of NASSCOM’s Annual Technology Startup Report. “We are trying to take significant steps to boost the startup ecosystem….
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Foodtech platform Pluckk raises $5M in a Seed round led by Exponentia Ventures
Pluckk, a fresh produce foodtech startup based in Mumbai, announced today that it has raised $5 million (Rs 37 crore) in seed funding to build the team and expand its presence in key metro cities. The new round was led by Exponentia Ventures, a fund focused on emerging business ideas in both the B2C and B2B space. Pratik Gupta’s startup, which launched in 2021, aims to build India’s first digital commerce business to meet the growing demand for lifestyle-oriented fresh produce. Pluckk is interested in the ‘farm-to-table’ concept. The startup’s…
Read MoreDailyhunt’s parent raises fresh funds at $3.1 Bn valuation
VerSe Innovation, the parent company of vernacular news aggregator Dailyhunt and the creator of short video entertainment app Josh, has raised Rs 207.7 crore (approximately $28 million) from The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. In August of last year, the Bengaluru-based company raised $450 million in a Series I round led by Siguler Guff, Baillie Gifford, and Carlyle Asia Partners. To date, the company has raised approximately $678 million, including the current tranche. According to regulatory filings, Vesre Innovation has approved the allotment of 10 equity shares and 50,148 Series…
Read MoreAgritech startup Bijak raises nearly $20 Mn in Series B
Bijak, an agritech startup, has raised Rs 144.2 crore (nearly $20 million) in Series B funding from new and existing investors. The new funds come after a more than 20-month wait for the Gurgaon-based startup. Surge Ventures, a subsidiary of Sequoia Capital India, Omidyar Network, and others invested $12 million in Bijak’s Series A round in April 2020. Bijak has approved the distribution of 393 equity shares and 2350 Series B preference shares in order to raise Rs 144.2 crore (approximately $20 million) from five investors. Bertelsmann led the investment…
Read MoreBNPL platform ZestMoney see 300 percent increase in transactions
Platform for Buy Now and Pay Later In 2021, ZestMoney saw a 300 percent increase in transactions, driven primarily by young borrowers. According to the firm’s report, borrowers in tier-1 and tier-2 cities borrowed to buy fashion, lifestyle, and electronics, as well as to spend on online education courses to improve their skills. While the majority of customers (median) were between the ages of 23 and 26, BNPL emerged as the preferred option for people of all ages, with the youngest customer being 18 and the oldest being 66. The…
Read MorePharma firm La Renon acquires majority stake in Enaltec Labs
La Renon Healthcare, a pharmaceutical company backed by Sequoia Capital and A91 Partners, has acquired a 51 percent stake in Enaltec Labs. The transaction values Enaltec at Rs 180-200 crore post-money. “This is a structured deal where—based on Enaltec’s performance between October 2021 and September 2022, and after achieving about 15-18% Ebitda—the conversion of stake will be ascertained..,” La Renon’s Chief Financial Officer Amit Jain said. La Renon will end up with a higher stake than 51% if Enaltec fails to achieve those business targets, he said. “This is entirely…
Read MoreIndia all set to introduce e-passports with chips
Indian travellers will soon be able to travel with microchip-enabled e-passports. Sanjay Bhattacharya, Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, announced on Twitter that India would receive e-passports with secure biometric data. He stated that the e-passport would adhere to the International Civil Aviation Organization’s standards (ICAO). The e-passports would include microchips that would store vital security information. Users in India are currently issued only printed passports. Bhattacharya described the e-features passport’s in his tweet. He revealed that the passport would contain secure biometric data, would allow for smooth passage…
Read MoreHCL Tech expands digital transformation partnership with ams Osram
HCL Technologies Ltd (HCL) has expanded its strategic transformation partnership with ams OSRAM in order to digitise one of the optical solutions leader’s key business processes and drive enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management system standardisation across the organisation. According to HCL Tech, the partnership will enable greater maturity in ams OSRAM’s digital execution capabilities and drive global IT operations excellence by increasing agility and scalability to accelerate innovation. HCL stated that in order to accomplish this, it will build and operate a modern digital foundation based on data…
Read MoreM2P Fintech raises $56 Mn at over $600 Mn valuation
M2P Fintech, based in Chennai, provides API infrastructure solutions to banks primarily in Asia, and has raised $56 million in a C1 series round led by Insight Partners. The Mitsubishi Group’s MUFG Innovation Partners, as well as existing investors Tiger Global and Better Capital, took part in the round, according to a press release from M2P. M2P recently raised $35 million in a Series C round led by Tiger Global. Since early 2021, the company, formerly known as Yap, has raised more than $100 million. The firm did not disclose…
Read MoreUpskilling in deep-tech domains like AI and ML a high priority for corporates: Survey
Corporate learning and development (L&D) will thrive in 2022 as companies invest more in upskilling their executives in high-tech domains such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. According to a survey conducted by edtech firm Simplilearn on January 20, AI and machine learning are the highest priority skill domains for 2022, followed by cyber security, project management, digital marketing, cloud computing, and data science. “These skills will receive the highest budget priority from organisations for internal upskilling initiatives and external hires,” the survey added. According to Simplilearn, at least 80%…
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