Start-Ups

Visa has launched a creator initiative to enable small company owners such as filmmakers, digital-first artists, singers, and fashion designers understand how non-fungible tokens (NFT) might help them grow their businesses. Visa said it will choose a group of entrepreneurs for the creator programme and provide them with technical mentorship, access to researchers and specialists in cryptography, web3, and online commerce, as well as opportunities to engage with Visa’s client and partner firms. Creators will also receive one-time money in the form of a stipend to help them build their…

General Catalyst, a US-based venture capital firm that has backed companies such as Stripe, Snap, and Airbnb, will boost its focus on India, striking additional agreements at various stages as it seeks to strengthen its footprint in one of the world’s largest emerging economies. Former SoftBank investor Deep Nishar, who joined General Catalyst in January, and former Snapdeal and Meta (the erstwhile Facebook) executive Anand Chandrasekaran will be at the forefront of this push into India. Hemant Taneja, the fund’s managing partner, who is now in India, said he was…

Pi Beam Electric, a Bengaluru-Chennai-based vertically integrated EV ecosystem platform for last-mile logistics and transportation, announced today that it has raised $1.7 million in a pre-Series A funding round headed by Gurugram-based angel investment company Inflection Point Ventures. Family offices such as Sattva Group and Nanavati family, as well as syndicates such as Sincere Syndication and Conscience Multi-family Office, all participated in the round. Apart from the existing investors, industry heavyweights Mr. Arshad Sayyad (former India Head Fidelity Investments), Mr. Vijay Ratnaparke (CIO of Robert Bosch), Mr. Shaji Koshy (former…

Vitruvian Partners, a London-based international investment firm, led a $50 million funding round for Noida-based merchant commerce platform Pine Labs. The business was allegedly valued at $5 billion in the financing. The announcement comes after it paid an undisclosed sum for Mumbai-based Qfix Infocomm Pvt. Ltd., an online payments startup. Pine Labs said earlier this year that it would raise $200 million in capital from India’s largest public sector bank, State Bank of India (SBI). Pine Labs started as a provider of card-based payment and loyalty solutions to the retail…

Entrepreneur First (EF), a UK-based global talent investor, announced early-stage investments in six tech startups in India in its latest ‘Investor Reveal’, the company said in a statement. Amikus AI automates contract review and drafting; Grabbit Live, a live online shopping marketplace for independent retailers; Capitall, which unlocks new debt assets for retail investors; unScript AI, which creates hyper personalized marketing videos at scale; Coupl, which provides banking solutions for millennial couples; and FloWorks, which helps businesses better manage their operations through WhatsApp. Since its inception in 2019, EF has invested in 42 innovative firms in India, according to the announcement. Vivek Kumar, funding manager, India, at…

OSlash, an enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, has raised $5 million in a round led by Indian and American entrepreneurs, including Kunal Shah, founder of Cred, Christian Oestlien, vice president of YouTube’s product, Kevin Weil, president of Planet and former head of product at Instagram, Akshay Kothari, chief operating officer of Notion, and Cristina Cordova, partner at First Round Capital. The new funds will be used to hire in the United States and Europe, as well as expand the company’s search tool, which gathers data from a variety of sources. OSlash…

Noida-based Classplus, an edtech startup that assists teachers and content creators in launching and scaling their online coaching businesses, has raised $70 million in a Series D fundraising round, valuing the company at roughly $600 million. The new round was co-led by Alpha Wave Global and Tiger Global. Chimera Ventures and RTP Global, both based in Abu Dhabi, also took part in the financing. Prior to this transaction, Classplus had raised $65 million in a Series C investment headed by Tiger Global, RTP Global, and others in June of last…

EdgeGrid, a B2B corporate clean-tech platform, has raised $6 million in a round headed by Lightrock India, with Theia Ventures and other angel investors also participating. The cash will be used to improve the company’s technology, beef up its workforce, and expand the company, which provides a digital platform for managing last-mile delivery of energy-saving consumer utility bills. EdgeGrid is a technology platform that enables the energy transition for last-mile customers, such as households, small businesses, commercial building owners, and electric vehicle charging networks. It was founded in 2020 by…

Qure.ai, a healthtech startup that uses artificial intelligence to diagnose medical images, has secured $40 million in a round headed by Novo Holdings and HealthQuad. This round was also attended by MassMutual Ventures. The latest money will be used to expand the company’s global presence, particularly in the United States of America (USA) and Europe. In addition, the company plans to ramp up product development for critical care and community diagnostics. Qure.ai, founded in 2016 by Prashant Warrier and Dr. Pooja Rao, has developed technology that interprets X-rays and other…