Start-Ups

The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA), on Friday (June 5), announced that the  Companies (Share Capital and Debenture) Amendment Rules of 2020, under which the government has Extended the employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), changed definition of startups and also made some regulatory changes in share capital requirement. Under the latest amendment the ministry of corporate affairs has also notified that startups can now offer sweat equity of up to 15% of their paid-up share capital. Besides this, the ministry has decided to change the definition of startups to be…

When oil prices turned absurdly negative in April, it was panic stations at oil and gas supermajors. Europe debated an accelerated shift to renewable energy. Oil rigs in the US turned off their taps as demand plummeted with the global economy’s pause to tackle coronavirus. But the very week when oil prices tanked, a subsea oil company in Houston signed a major deal to deploy an industrial Artificial Intelligence (AI) product from Flutura, a startup in Bengaluru. It turns out for improving a myriad operational efficiencies to reduce costs with…

According to a report by Israeli cybersecurity platform vpnMentor, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) developed payments platform BHIM has suffered a data breach which has compromised personal data of more than 7.26 Mn users, including Aadhaar card details, caste certificates, residence proof, bank records, professional records, certificates, PAN card details, along with financial proofs such as screenshots taken within financial and banking apps. However, NPCI told Inc42 that no data has been compromised at BHIM app and requested everyone to not fall prey to such speculations. Further, it said that NPCI follows a high…

With the shifting market in dynamics caused by Covid-19 pandemic, pretty much everything is in overhaul mode. Within the burgeoning health tech ecosystem, the medical devices market is also witnessing a dramatic shift as policies are being changed to accommodate the high demand. But at the same time, it also becomes crucial for medical device manufacturers, hospitals, research institutions and regulators to validate medical devices thoroughly for safety, reliability and quality, thereby following stringent testing protocols, safety measures and ethical approval processes.  So the industry is currently balancing the seemingly…

The Covid-19-forced lockdown and the resultant sluggishness in the economy have spurred startup entrepreneurs to fortify their capital structure & streamline finances. With equity funding becoming dearer, venture debt is becoming the go-to option. “Between March & May, some 180 startups approached us for funding – and a good number of them are companies in growth stage,” said Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, founder of Stride Ventures, a venture debt asset manager. Most venture debt fund managers have witnessed “a tidal wave of funding requests” in the past two months. Stride closed four deals…