Jupiter, a neobanking platform owned and operated by Amica Financial Technologies Pvt Ltd, has raised $86 million as part of its Series C funding round co-led by Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital India, valued at $711 million, according to a company statement. According to the company, the funding round was participated in by US-based venture fund QED Investors as well as existing investor Matrix Partners India. The funds will be used to improve the company’s technology platform, with the goal of onboarding 2 million users by December 2022. It…
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Teachmint acquired video engagement platform Airlearn
Teachmint, an education infrastructure startup, announced the acquisition of Airlearn, a video engagement platform for education businesses, in a cash-and-stock deal on Wednesday to expand its developer offerings. Teachmint said in a statement that this deal strengthens its Teachstack developer offering, which enables edtech companies around the world to build cutting-edge classroom solutions for their users. This follows Teachmint’s acquisitions of course-selling platform Teachmore and the India team of Singapore-based Teachee. Teachmint CEO and cofounder Mihir Gupta said, “We are thrilled to have the entire Airlearn team join the Teachmint family. Teachstack…
Read MoreIndia is now home to 81 unicorns
After Mamaearth and GlobalBees joined the list in the final days of 2021, India now has 81 unicorn startups. Both companies, which operate in the ecommerce space, have raised capital valued at more than $1 billion. On December 29, GlobalBees announced that it had raised $111.5 million in a round led by Premji Invest. New investor Steadview Capital, as well as existing investors SoftBank and FirstCry, participated in the round. The company is worth $1.1 billion. The business is based on the Thras.io model, which is a New York-based e-commerce…
Read MoreInstagram will focus more on videos in 2022
Instagram intends to focus more on video content in 2022, with a particular emphasis on Reels. Instagram’s head, Meta-owned photo-sharing platform Instagram’s Adam Mosseri, said in a video message that the platform will double down on video and focus on Reels in 2022. Mosseri stated that Instagram will continue to grow and consolidate its video products around Reels. “We are going to have to rethink what Instagram is because the world is changing quickly and we’re going to have to change with it,” Mosseri said. Mosseri stated that Instagram will…
Read MoreZetwerk raises $210 mn from Greenoaks Capital
The business-to-business (B2B) manufacturing services marketplace Zetwerk Manufacturing Business Pvt Ltd has raised approximately $210 million as part of its Series F funding round led by US-based Greenoaks Capital. According to the regulatory filing, Greenoaks Capital alone invested 543.8 crore ($72.5 million) in the funding round. The funding round was attended by ICONIQ Strategic Partners, D1 Capital Partners, Steadview Capital Mauritius, Avenir Zetwerk Investors, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, among others. The fundraise values Zetwerk at $2.68 billion, according to VCCircle estimates. Lightspeed Venture Partners’ stake in Zetwerk has increased to…
Read MoreGoogle CEO Sundar Pichai is likely to be questioned in an incognito mode privacy lawsuit for up to two hours.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai will likely be questioned for up to two hours in an incognito mode privacy lawsuit. In a court filing earlier this year, the plaintiffs stated that Pichai was warned about problems with Google’s incognito browsing mode in 2019, but he chose to ignore the warnings because he did not want the feature to come under scrutiny. According to the most recent filing, the plaintiffs are now arguing that Pichai has unique, personal knowledge of Chrome browser issues and privacy concerns. According to Google spokesman Jose Castaneda,…
Read MoreTechstartup Ripplr raised $12 mn in pre series B round
Ripplr, a Bengaluru-based tech-enabled distribution and logistics ecosystem platform, has raised $12 million in a Pre-Series B funding round comprised of both equity and debt. Japanese conglomerate Sojitz Corporation and Stride Ventures also participated in the round. 3one4 Capital, Zephyr Peacock India Growth Fund, and Chand Family Office – Yukti were among the existing investors. Earlier this year, the company raised $3 million. Ripplr provides a technology platform for large consumer brand authorised dealers to track business metrics, finance options, analytics, and operational support. While there are numerous players in…
Read MoreMamearth turns unicorn after a fresh round
Mamaearth, a baby and mother care brand, has raised nearly $80 million in a new round led by Sequoia at a unicorn valuation. This is the Bengaluru-based startup’s second round in 2021. It had raised $50 million in a round led by Sofina in July, at a valuation of $730 million. According to regulatory filings, MamaEarth has approved the allotment of 1,741 Series F preference shares at an issue price of Rs 33,85,049 in order to raise Rs 589.3 crore ($79.5 million). Sequoia led the round with a Rs 311.8…
Read MoreGlobalbees joins unicorn club with $111.5 million funding
SoftBank-backed GlobalBees Brands Pvt Ltd, a Thrasio-style direct-to-consumer (D2C) venture that aggregates and invests in e-commerce brands, announced on Wednesday that it had raised $111.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Premji Invest at a unicorn valuation. Unicorns are private companies that have a market capitalization of $1 billion or more. The funding round was led by Steadview Capital, with participation from existing investors SoftBank and e-commerce baby products company FirstCry, according to the company. GlobalBees is now valued at $1.1 billion, making it the 44th Indian…
Read MoreIndia emerged as second largest startup hub : Said PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated on Tuesday that India has emerged as the world’s second largest startup hub, thanks in large part to students from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The Prime Minister during the 54th convocation ceremony of IIT Kanpur said, “In this 75th year of independence, we have over 75 unicorns, over 50,000 start-ups. Of these, 10,000 have come only in the last 6 months. India has emerged to be the second biggest startup hub in the world, and this feat has been achieved majorly with the help…
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