Category: Start-Ups

Food delivery app Zomato is in talks to invest around $100 million in e-grocer Grofers, two people in the know told ET, after discussions of a possible merger between the two fell through last year at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Zomato’s investment is likely part of a larger financing round and may value the Gurugram-based online grocery firm at around $1 billion, sources said. This time the talks have centred around a capital infusion, unlike last year when Zomato would have likely acquired Grofers in an all-stock deal….

IndiaTech.org, an industry association representing India’s consumer internet startups and investors, wants to provide clear definitions for the cryptocurrency industry. On Wednesday, the association released a white paper including a policy proposal with recommendations for a regulatory framework for crypto assets and crypto exchanges in India. The proposed framework suggests to define cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) as digital assets and not currencies. “Define cryptocurrencies as digital assets and not currencies and grant them recognition as digital assets like gold, stocks, or marketable securities,” the proposal reads. The framework further recommends…

Twitter Inc said Tuesday it had bought news technology company Scroll, which it will use as part of an upcoming subscription offering. Twitter has been working to offer new types of content on its social media site, including audio and long-form content, after previously acquiring newsletter platform Revue. Scroll allows users to subscribe and read news articles from publishers including Insider, BuzzFeed and USA Today without ads. The company says publishers who work with Scroll earn more money than they would by selling advertising. The deal will help Twitter build…

Stockal, a platform that enables global investments for Indians, on Thursday said it has raised $3 million in funding from Aroa Ventures, Cadenza Capital Management, and others. The pre-series A round saw participation from Aroa Ventures (OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal’s family office), Cadenza Capital Management, Kristal.ai, Tracxn Labs, July Ventures, and Credence Family Office, a statement said. The company has raised $5 million in funding since its launch in January last year. “Stockal will use the funding to turbocharge its growth into new markets, starting from Indonesia in South East…

CHENNAI: California-based supply chain logistics enterprise Hwy Haul, a company launched by former Walmart executives, has raised $10 million in Series A funding to transform the way fresh produce is shipped and delivered. Eileses Capital led the round with BluePointe Ventures as the co-lead. Other investors include AgFunder, True Blue Partners and angel investors like Freshworks founder and CEO Girish Mathrubootham, Nutanix founder and CEO Dheeraj Pandey, Rajiv Batra, founder of Palo Alto Networks and Vivek Mehra, partner Emeritus at August Capital, among others. Hwy Haul’s end-to-end digital freight platform…

The first-ever technology company IPO in India, that of Zomato, is set to be the biggest event of 2021 for the Indian capital market. IPOs of companies that belong to sunrise sectors have often met with much frenzy. This frenzy to grab a piece of the blooming Indian food technology sector, some market participants believe, could be so intense that Zomato could command valuations of a decacorn ($10 billion or more) by the time its shares start trading on the stock exchanges. “There’s a distinct possibility of the IPO being…

A major new technological innovation is in the works connecting lenders with the marketplace, Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani announced on Wednesday that, as he buttressed the need for India to “democratize credit” for millions of small businesses to revive its virus-battered economy. Speaking at the Global Fintech Festival, 2020 Nilekani, co-founder & non-executive chairman of Infosys Ltd, described that the initiative as a credit protocol infrastructure called the Open Credit Enablement Network, or OCEN, built by the Indian Software Product Industry Roundtable (iSpirt), a think-tank of the software industry. Under these…