Here are the top headlines from the startup space.
Swiggy eyes $800 mn IPO early next year: Report
Food delivery company Swiggy, which is backed by SoftBank Group, has started preparations to raise at least $800 million in an IPO early next year, the Nikkei reported.
Swiggy has begun adding independent directors to the board, and plans to position itself as a logistics company and not just a food delivery firm, according to the report.
Swiggy doubled its valuation to $10.7 billion in its latest funding round.
Great Learning acquires recruitment platform Superset
Global player in the professional and higher education segment and a BYJU’S group company, Great Learning has acquired Superset, a leading Talent Recruitment Automation Platform for an undisclosed amount.
Superset's cutting-edge digital solutions for campus placements and corporate recruitment will augment the skill-based professional learning offerings from Great Learning to bridge the 'skill- gap' for India’s talent.
Superset will continue to operate under the leadership of its co-founders, Naman Agrawal and Pranjal Goswami. With substantial backing from Great Learning and BYJU’s, Superset will accelerate its growth in India while also expanding its offerings to students and recruiters. Through this integration, students and young professionals will now have access to up-skilling courses and greater job opportunities, the firm said in a statement.
Great Learning was acquired by BYJU’S in 2021, expanding its offerings beyond the K-12 and test prep segment.
Femtech startup Sirona acquires IMPOWER in an all-cash deal
Femtech startup Sirona has forayed into the women safety segment with the acquisition of women’s safety brand - IMPOWER from Donna FMCG in an all-cash deal. The size of the deal however remains undisclosed.
“At the core of Sirona, lies a deep passion to talk about unaddressed feminine hygiene issues that women face & solve them with our unique products. With International Women’s Day around the corner, we thought of moving beyond the tokenism of putting out a post and instead of picking another neglected area - women safety and offering solutions there. In IMPOWER, we saw a brand that shared our philosophy and was as committed to driving on-ground impact. We look forward to having IMPOWER on board!” said Deep Bajaj, Co-Founder & CEO, Sirona.
After raising Rs 100 crore from the Good Glamm Group, the company said it is bullish on strategic acquisitions and scaling growth to hit the 500 crore revenue mark within the next 3 years.
RenewBuy acquires AI solutions based InsurTech start-up, Artivatic.AI
InsurTech player, RenewBuy acquires cutting-edge, artificial intelligence based InsurTech company, Artivatic.AI for an undisclosed amount.
Artivatic.AI has been delivering underwriting and claim solutions to multiple life and non-life insurers. The acquisition will allow RenewBuy extend its tech solutions across the value chain, from sales to underwriting and claim solutions, it said in a statement. The deep tech integration will also help in providing consumer solutions, related to insurance claim settlements (which remains a challenge for the category), risk assessments and underwriting.
RenewBuy will take the ownership of Artivatic.AI’s SaaS solutions for insurance, IP and product portfolio. Artivatic.AI’s 6+ patents in the FinTech space will substantially enhance RenewBuy’s current policy delivery and servicing capabilities.
Paytm Payments Bank’s merchants to accept e-RUPI prepaid vouchers
Paytm Payments Bank has announced that it is an official acquiring partner for e-RUPI vouchers, making it accessible at offline stores across the country.
The bank has also partnered with One97 Communications Limited that owns Paytm to leverage the latter’s strong merchant base. With this, merchants will be empowered with another digital payment collection method that will help them further increase their digital footprint and onboard more customers, the firm said in a statement.
e-RUPI, a Central government initiative, is a cashless prepaid voucher that beneficiaries can present via SMS or QR Code. Paytm said its merchant partners can then scan, enter the amount to be paid and receive the payment directly in their bank account. This will benefit beneficiaries (users), even those who do not have access to formal banking services or smartphones to avail the convenience of digital payments, the firm added.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had recently increased the cap of e-RUPI vouchers issued by the government to Rs 1 lakh per year from Rs 10,000 and allowed beneficiaries to use the voucher multiple times until fully redeemed.
PPBL claims to have been profitable for three years in a row and recorded a 25.8 percent increase in profit after taxes to Rs 37.5 crore in FY21, up from Rs 29.8 crore in FY20. The bank’s annual revenue for FY21 stood at Rs 2,200 crore.
Digital lending startup Rupeek launches gold-powered card to offer instant credit
Asset-backed digital lending platform Rupeek has launched a gold-powered card to allow consumers to get highly-recurring credit requirements using their idle gold.
This ‘card for everyone’ gives a quick and economical option for people seeking direct credit, the company said. This card gets delivered to the customer’s doorstep in less than 60 minutes with a credit limit offered up to Rs 50 lakh, it added.
Currently, this card has gone live in 14 cities and the firm is planning to add another 16 cities in the next quarter to fulfil the pent-up demand seen for such gold-powered cards.
“We are a quintessential GoldTech platform, built on disruptive tech and backed by consumer insights that aim to solve credit pain points of a billion Indians. The launch of our first-of-its-kind Gold-powered card is one such tech-led offering that is built for the masses, giving them access to uninterrupted credit, at their fingertips,” said Sumit Maniyar, Founder & CEO, Rupeek.
Logistics startup Shipsy expands to Southeast Asia; to ramp up hiring
SaaS-based smart logistics management platform Shipsy has announced its expansion plans to Southeast Asia (SEA). The company will be setting up its regional headquarters (HQ) in Indonesia.
The regional HQ will enable the organization to provide faster, better and localized support to existing and drive new business growth in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, the firm said in a statement.
The company is also looking to ramp up hiring by onboarding professionals from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. In 2021, to support a growing customer base in the Middle East, Shipsy established its regional HQ in Dubai. The company also claimed to have clocked a growth rate of 2.5x in the topline and grew its customer base by 75%.
According to reports, e-commerce sales will nearly double to $254 billion by the end of 2026. The region's online food delivery industry is already expected to treble in the coming five years and reach $28 billion in transactions.
The regional presence will help Shipsy tap into these growing opportunities, it added.
“Retail, eCommerce and on-demand delivery markets are booming. The region will witness an acute need for optimizing, enhancing and automating last-mile logistics operations. Also, to make logistics sustainable businesses will see themselves embracing smart logistics management tools," says Soham Chokshi, CEO and Co-founder, Shipsy.
T-Hub launches RubriX program for tech startups
Startup ecosystem builder T-Hub has announced the call for applications for its program on product development RubriX.
Aiming to support early-stage technology startups with ready prototypes in hardware or software, this program will enable them to reach the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) stage with reduced turnaround time and costs, it said in a statement.
The five-month-long program will have 30 startups showcasing innovative solutions from sectors like Fintech, Sustainability, Health-tech, HR Tech, Mobility, IoT, Embedded Systems, Enterprise and Agritech.
All India Institute of Ayurveda launches 'Ayush Startup Challenge'
The India Institute of Ayurveda, in association with Startup India, has launched the 'Ayush Startup challenge' to encourage early-stage startups to work on innovations in the Ayurveda sector and alternative healing.
The winners of the challenge will receive a cash prize and incubation support from AIIA. In a statement, the AIIA said the Ayush market stands at a whopping $10 billion and is projected to see an impressive 50 percent increase in the next five years.
“To fully realize the potential of the Ayush science we need a thriving ecosystem with players operating across the entire value chain.'' The 'Ayush Startup Challenge' is open for participation from both early-stage startups as well as individuals as a group,” said Prof Tanuja Manoj Nesari, Director, AIIA.
There are three entry categories for participating start-ups -- Ayush food innovations, Ayush bio-instrumentation and Ayush IT Solutions. There will be two winners in each of the three categories with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh for the winner and Rs 50,000 for the runner-up, the AIIA said.
78% professionals want employers to upskill them for hybrid work: Harappa’s Survey
The pandemic has completely changed the future of work, making it clear that hybrid workplaces are here to stay.
A survey by online institution for behavioral skilling Harappa finds that to be effective and productive contributors in the hybrid workplaces of the future, professionals will need to evolve an essential set of cognitive, social and behavioral skills to navigate ever-new challenges.
The survey also highlighted that 78% of professionals said that their organisations should invest in programmes to help them become work-ready in the hybrid world.
Respondents across career stages—from CXOs to team members—agreed that skillful teamwork is their number one priority followed by taking ownership and learning agility. Fostering trust, collaborative orientation and productive delegation are the top skills that our respondents seek in their leaders, as per the report.
Edtech startup Teachmint to digitize 10,000+ schools under ‘TeachBharat’ initiative
Edtech startup Teachmint has announced the launch of its program ‘TeachBharat’ in which the company aims to digitize 10,000+ schools in India for free.
With this, the firm is looking to enable over two lakh teachers who in turn can empower over 50 lakh children by breaking geographical barriers and ensuring continuous learning, it said. Under TeachBharat, the company will enable end-to-end digitization of the identified schools through its ‘Teachmint For Institute’ offering. TeachBharat will enable institutions to not only be able to take virtual classes but also help them create a hybrid teaching setup, to help them maximize reach and impact, said the firm.
“The Indian schooling system is one of the largest in the world and caters to over 250 million students. But not every child has access to continuous learning at all times, due to a multitude of reasons. With TeachBharat, our vision is to bridge this gap and help every child have access to a teacher and, subsequently, learning opportunities which help them unlock their highest potential,” said Mihir Gupta, CEO & Co-Founder, Teachmint.
Garuda Aerospace to manufacture 6 lakh drones to empower farmersby 2025
Drone startup Garuda Aerospace has announced Drone as a Service (DAAS) in a bid to empower farmers and the agriculture industry. The startup will be manufacturing six lakh drones under its Kisan Drone initiative.
The effort is aimed at helping farmers with state-of-the-art technology and solutions for spraying of insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers and keeping them away from life-threating medical disorders and diseases.
The Kisan Drone is equipped with Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and GPS sensors to help farmers with accurate and real time information about their farms and crops. It can also help farmers with surveillance and mapping system, the firm said in a statement.
The DAAS model will help farmers save up to 80% water usage, and 90% less pesticides and takes less time to cover large farming areas. With an increased precision levels of approximately 75%, it has also been observed that usage of Kisan Drones has led to an increase of crop yield by 60% and reduction loss of crop by 20%, the startup claimed.
Instasafe partners with SYSCOM Distributions, forays its product base in the EMEA Market
Cloud-based security service provider, Instasafe has partnered with SYSCOM Distributions, a security product distributor in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) market.
The partnership aims to help Instasafe’s products and solutions to foray in the EMEA market. SYSCOM will now work with Instasafe collaboratively to integrate their strengths, solving the security needs of a much more diverse set of customers across the globe, it said in a statement.Both the companies will work towards taking Instsafe’s Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) based Zero Trust security solutions addressing cloud security, identity management, and remote access across the EMEA region, it added.
Mobile accessories brand Mivi to expand into offline segment
Mobile accessories maker Mivi is set to embark on an offline journey by introducing its products in select physical stores.
Eyeing an extensive presence via the modern trade model, the brand will be available across front-running stores, including Croma, Reliance Digital, Universal Stores, among others, Mivi said in a statement.
Mivi will initially focus its offline efforts on large distributors and retailers in Tier I and Tier II cities throughout India. Mivi’s entire made-in-India collection of consumer electronics will be available at these stores with an aim to bolster the brand’s omnichannel presence.
Mivi is looking for offline to contribute to 20-25% of their revenues in the next year.
Neo-bank Cashaa launches 'personal wallets', offers interest up to 24% on crypto assets
Crypto-friendly neo bank Cashaa has launched personal accounts with a yield program for individuals.
Cashaa said in a statement that personal accounts will enable users to store, buy, sell and earn interest without risking assets to unknown Defi projects. Through the new wallet, users can generate yield on crypto, stable coin, and fiat deposits in over 22 supported currencies, it added.
The firm has been providing banking services to crypto businesses globally, along with physical banking services in India through UNICAS. After offering essential banking services to businesses, the brand has launched the personal wallet for retail users.
According to the startup, the interest on personal accounts will be paid daily.
Cashaa personal account will comprise two modules: Flex Earnings upto 13% interest rate with no locking, user will start earning interest as soon as they deposit the supported crypto in the Cashaa personal wallet, and Fixed Deposit Earnings up to 24% interest rate with funds locking period between 1 month to 12 months. Fixed deposits will be available for both business and personal users. Users will also get up to a 4% bonus interest rate on opting for Interest earn mode in CAS tokens, the firm claimed.
Over 400 crypto brands including industry leaders like Binance, Kucoin, Elrond, Polygon, Bitbns, CoinDCX, Unocoin,CoinSwitch and many others are using Cashaa services, the statement said. In addition to the Unicas in India, Cashaa will be rolling out its services for personal users across the globe.
Jupiter Meta launches a fully curated NFT marketplace
Jupiter Meta is launching a fully curated Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace which will go live on February 23.
The digital marketplace will focus on verticals such as music, film, and gaming, creating singular experiences for each user and enabling everyone to maximise their time in the metaverse, the firm said.
The startup also plans to expand in the growing Web 3.0 space as it looks to bring people a more involved and personal feel to their metaverse interactions. Jupiter Meta's marketplace is backed by its level-1 Rubix blockchain technology with zero gas fees.
The company will also simultaneously kick off a digital wall art, commemorating the essence of Chennai and labelled the ‘Icons of Singara Chennai’. The project is a collection of digital art pieces of monuments, locations, food, places of worship, beaches, and other symbolic representations that capture the spirit of the city. These items will reflect the city’s past, present, and future and will be sold as NFTs for people to own in the Jupiter Meta marketplace.
GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS
Users should be allowed to sue US tech giants under EU rules, civil groups say
Individual users should be allowed to take US tech giants to court for breaching landmark EU rules aimed at curbing their power, Privacy International, pan-European consumer group BEUC and a number of academics said.
As per a Reuters report, the call by the coalition of 31 groups and academics comes as EU lawmakers and EU countries thrashed out the final points of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) proposed by EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager just over a year ago before it can become law.
The draft DMA sets out a list of dos and don'ts for online gatekeepers, in effect targeting Apple, Alphabet unit Google, Facebook parent Meta, Amazon and Microsoft. It only allows business users to sue violating companies.
"The DMA must enable users, both individually and collectively, to bring enforcement actions for violation of DMA rules before national courts," the group said in an open letter to EU institutions.
The coalition also urged lawmakers and EU countries to let consumer bodies and representatives of civil society take part in processes set out under the draft rules so that their needs would be reflected in the Commission's decisions on the tech giants.
Dutch consumer watchdog gives Apple fifth $5.7M fine in App Store dispute
The Dutch antitrust watchdog fined Apple 5 million euros ($5.7 million), the fifth such penalty in successive weeks in a row over access to non-Apple payment methods for subscriptions to dating apps, Reuters reported.
The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) says the iPhone maker is abusing a dominant market position by failing to allow software application makers in the Netherlands to use other payment methods for dating apps accessible via its App store.
The ACM has been levying weekly fines of 5 million euros since Apple missed a Jan 15 deadline to make changes that the watchdog had mandated. It said the US company had not made any new proposal to comply with its ruling in the past week.
"We have clearly explained to Apple how they can comply...," the watchdog said in a statement. "So far, however, they have refused to put forward any serious proposals."
Apple's App Store requirement that app developers exclusively use its payment system with commissions of 30 per cent has come under scrutiny in several countries, most recently the United States. In blog posts, Apple indicated it complied with the Dutch ruling by allowing dating app makers there to submit a new app with alternative payment methods enabled.
Apple said it still intends to charge a 27 percent commission on any in-app payments it does not process, only slightly below the 30 percent it charges on those it does process.
The ACM has rejected Apple's moves as putting an unreasonable burden on software developers and not amounting to compliance.
China asks state firms to check investments in Jack Ma's Ant, sources tell Reuters
Chinese regulators have asked state-owned firms to kick-off a fresh round of checks to find out their investments into and other linkages with billionaire Jack Ma's Ant Group, sources told Reuters.
State-owned banks and non-bank firms are among the entities that have been asked by the regulatory authorities to make checks, said the sources.
The request came last week, one of the sources said. It was not immediately clear if the firms have been given a deadline to submit the information nor what action, if any, will be taken after that.
The regulatory authorities have asked the state-owned firms to submit details of investments in equities, and exposure to asset-backed securities, and loans in relation to Ant.
Ant, an affiliate of Alibaba Group, has been subjected to a sweeping restructuring by China, whose initial public offering (IPO) of $37 billion, which would have been the world's largest, was derailed by regulators in late 2020.
The latest regulatory move comes as authorities continue to roll out new initiatives for the country's technology sector, which has been subjected to a year-long regulatory crackdown, to keep financial risks under control.
The move also added to investor concerns that Beijing could continue with its clampdown this year, triggering a selloff in the technology sector on Tuesday.
SoftBank seen trimming Alibaba stake to fill shortfall: Analyst
SoftBank Group is likely to trim its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, an analyst told Reuters, as the Japanese tech conglomerate invests in unlisted startups through its second Vision Fund and repurchases its shares.
SoftBank sold 20 million Alibaba, shares in the last quarter and "will need to sell more in 2022," Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in a note.
The group will need $40 billion-45 billion of cash this year, Goyal estimates, if it maintains the current pace of investing in startups and share repurchases as part of the 1 trillion yen ($8.7 billion) programme announced in November.
SoftBank is prioritising Vision Fund 2, which has taken stakes in more than 200 companies including recent investments in AI software firm 6sense, digital financing platform Funding Societies and cryptocurrency business Polygon.
While earlier this month SoftBank said there was no link between Alibaba registering a US share facility and any plan to sell down its stake, the group is under pressure to trim stakes following the collapse of the deal to sell chip designer Arm to Nvidia.
Deepak Chopra and European investors back new wellness startup The Healing Company as it prepares for M&A spree: Report
The Healing Company, a new business set up to acquire consumer health brands, has been backed by wellness icon Deepak Chopra, psychedelics entrepreneur Christian Angermayer and Dragons’ Den investor Steven Bartlett.
The Healing Company, which is giving Chopra a stake in the business in exchange for his time and advice, is aiming to buy and scale 15 direct-to-consumer health brands over the next three years, focusing on holistic medicine and supplements.
“The Healing Company is a team of entrepreneurs, disruptors, healers, leaders and notable people from across Europe and US,” CEO Simon Belsham told CNBC. “We all have a shared goal of addressing the healthcare crisis that we’re in today.”
Chopra, who has agreed to become The Healing Company’s chief scientific advisor, told CNBC that he decided to get involved after meeting Belsham at one of his retreats, which focus on mindfulness, relaxation and meditation.
The Healing Company is planning to acquire brands with nutraceuticals (substances thought to provide medical and health benefits) and nutritional products that address areas like immunity, longevity, inflammation, sleep and stress management. However, Chopra said the markets that these products fit into are full of scam products.
E-bike startup Zoomo raises extra $20M for European expansion
Zoomo, a startup that designs and sells commercial grade e-bikes for online deliveries has raised an additional $20 million in its latest funding round to finance European expansion and grow its software and engineering teams, Reuters reported.
That funding brings the Sydney, Australia-based startup's Series B total to $80 million and its total financing to over $100 million. The latest round included investments from venture capital firm Collaborative Fund and trading firm Akuna Capital.
Zoomo designs electric bikes for gig workers delivering food and groceries for a monthly fee, or to large fleets providing bikes to employees. Its major customers include Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Just Eat Takeaway.com, in an industry that prospered in the pandemic as home deliveries soared.
Zoomo expanded to select cities in Germany, France and Spain last year, and now plans rapid further growth. It is also expanding its software and hardware teams to develop new software for customers and work on new bike forms and accessories to carry more weight.
Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Huobi plans to re-enter US market: Report
Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Huobi is planning to re-enter the US market more than two years after it ceased operations to comply with regulations, one of the company’s co-founders told CNBC.
But the company might not launch an exchange and instead could focus on other areas such as asset management, after missteps last time around, according to Du Jun.
“In 2018, we tried to enter the U.S. market but we quickly withdrew ourselves because we didn’t have a strong commitment to the market at that time and we didn’t have a good management team in the US,” Du said according to a CNBC translation of his comments in Mandarin.
“I expect asset management to be a bigger business than exchange, which echoes the traditional finance market as well,” he told CNBC, adding, “I don’t think exchange is a necessary element for entering the US”
Du did not confirm which business Huobi will launch first in its re-entry to the US. A step back into the US market could put Huobi in competition with companies like Coinbase. Huobi is one of the top 10 biggest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume globally, according to CoinGecko.
Swiggy eyes $800 mn IPO early next year: Report
Food delivery company Swiggy, which is backed by SoftBank Group, has started preparations to raise at least $800 million in an IPO early next year, the Nikkei reported.
Swiggy has begun adding independent directors to the board, and plans to position itself as a logistics company and not just a food delivery firm, according to the report.
Swiggy doubled its valuation to $10.7 billion in its latest funding round.
Great Learning acquires recruitment platform Superset
Global player in the professional and higher education segment and a BYJU’S group company, Great Learning has acquired Superset, a leading Talent Recruitment Automation Platform for an undisclosed amount.
Superset's cutting-edge digital solutions for campus placements and corporate recruitment will augment the skill-based professional learning offerings from Great Learning to bridge the 'skill- gap' for India’s talent.
Superset will continue to operate under the leadership of its co-founders, Naman Agrawal and Pranjal Goswami. With substantial backing from Great Learning and BYJU’s, Superset will accelerate its growth in India while also expanding its offerings to students and recruiters. Through this integration, students and young professionals will now have access to up-skilling courses and greater job opportunities, the firm said in a statement.
Great Learning was acquired by BYJU’S in 2021, expanding its offerings beyond the K-12 and test prep segment.
Femtech startup Sirona acquires IMPOWER in an all-cash deal
Femtech startup Sirona has forayed into the women safety segment with the acquisition of women’s safety brand - IMPOWER from Donna FMCG in an all-cash deal. The size of the deal however remains undisclosed.
“At the core of Sirona, lies a deep passion to talk about unaddressed feminine hygiene issues that women face & solve them with our unique products. With International Women’s Day around the corner, we thought of moving beyond the tokenism of putting out a post and instead of picking another neglected area - women safety and offering solutions there. In IMPOWER, we saw a brand that shared our philosophy and was as committed to driving on-ground impact. We look forward to having IMPOWER on board!” said Deep Bajaj, Co-Founder & CEO, Sirona.
After raising Rs 100 crore from the Good Glamm Group, the company said it is bullish on strategic acquisitions and scaling growth to hit the 500 crore revenue mark within the next 3 years.
RenewBuy acquires AI solutions based InsurTech start-up, Artivatic.AI
InsurTech player, RenewBuy acquires cutting-edge, artificial intelligence based InsurTech company, Artivatic.AI for an undisclosed amount.
Artivatic.AI has been delivering underwriting and claim solutions to multiple life and non-life insurers. The acquisition will allow RenewBuy extend its tech solutions across the value chain, from sales to underwriting and claim solutions, it said in a statement. The deep tech integration will also help in providing consumer solutions, related to insurance claim settlements (which remains a challenge for the category), risk assessments and underwriting.
RenewBuy will take the ownership of Artivatic.AI’s SaaS solutions for insurance, IP and product portfolio. Artivatic.AI’s 6+ patents in the FinTech space will substantially enhance RenewBuy’s current policy delivery and servicing capabilities.
Paytm Payments Bank’s merchants to accept e-RUPI prepaid vouchers
Paytm Payments Bank has announced that it is an official acquiring partner for e-RUPI vouchers, making it accessible at offline stores across the country.
The bank has also partnered with One97 Communications Limited that owns Paytm to leverage the latter’s strong merchant base. With this, merchants will be empowered with another digital payment collection method that will help them further increase their digital footprint and onboard more customers, the firm said in a statement.
e-RUPI, a Central government initiative, is a cashless prepaid voucher that beneficiaries can present via SMS or QR Code. Paytm said its merchant partners can then scan, enter the amount to be paid and receive the payment directly in their bank account. This will benefit beneficiaries (users), even those who do not have access to formal banking services or smartphones to avail the convenience of digital payments, the firm added.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had recently increased the cap of e-RUPI vouchers issued by the government to Rs 1 lakh per year from Rs 10,000 and allowed beneficiaries to use the voucher multiple times until fully redeemed.
PPBL claims to have been profitable for three years in a row and recorded a 25.8 percent increase in profit after taxes to Rs 37.5 crore in FY21, up from Rs 29.8 crore in FY20. The bank’s annual revenue for FY21 stood at Rs 2,200 crore.
Digital lending startup Rupeek launches gold-powered card to offer instant credit
Asset-backed digital lending platform Rupeek has launched a gold-powered card to allow consumers to get highly-recurring credit requirements using their idle gold.
This ‘card for everyone’ gives a quick and economical option for people seeking direct credit, the company said. This card gets delivered to the customer’s doorstep in less than 60 minutes with a credit limit offered up to Rs 50 lakh, it added.
Currently, this card has gone live in 14 cities and the firm is planning to add another 16 cities in the next quarter to fulfil the pent-up demand seen for such gold-powered cards.
“We are a quintessential GoldTech platform, built on disruptive tech and backed by consumer insights that aim to solve credit pain points of a billion Indians. The launch of our first-of-its-kind Gold-powered card is one such tech-led offering that is built for the masses, giving them access to uninterrupted credit, at their fingertips,” said Sumit Maniyar, Founder & CEO, Rupeek.
Logistics startup Shipsy expands to Southeast Asia; to ramp up hiring
SaaS-based smart logistics management platform Shipsy has announced its expansion plans to Southeast Asia (SEA). The company will be setting up its regional headquarters (HQ) in Indonesia.
The regional HQ will enable the organization to provide faster, better and localized support to existing and drive new business growth in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, the firm said in a statement.
The company is also looking to ramp up hiring by onboarding professionals from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. In 2021, to support a growing customer base in the Middle East, Shipsy established its regional HQ in Dubai. The company also claimed to have clocked a growth rate of 2.5x in the topline and grew its customer base by 75%.
According to reports, e-commerce sales will nearly double to $254 billion by the end of 2026. The region's online food delivery industry is already expected to treble in the coming five years and reach $28 billion in transactions.
The regional presence will help Shipsy tap into these growing opportunities, it added.
“Retail, eCommerce and on-demand delivery markets are booming. The region will witness an acute need for optimizing, enhancing and automating last-mile logistics operations. Also, to make logistics sustainable businesses will see themselves embracing smart logistics management tools," says Soham Chokshi, CEO and Co-founder, Shipsy.
T-Hub launches RubriX program for tech startups
Startup ecosystem builder T-Hub has announced the call for applications for its program on product development RubriX.
Aiming to support early-stage technology startups with ready prototypes in hardware or software, this program will enable them to reach the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) stage with reduced turnaround time and costs, it said in a statement.
The five-month-long program will have 30 startups showcasing innovative solutions from sectors like Fintech, Sustainability, Health-tech, HR Tech, Mobility, IoT, Embedded Systems, Enterprise and Agritech.
All India Institute of Ayurveda launches 'Ayush Startup Challenge'
The India Institute of Ayurveda, in association with Startup India, has launched the 'Ayush Startup challenge' to encourage early-stage startups to work on innovations in the Ayurveda sector and alternative healing.
The winners of the challenge will receive a cash prize and incubation support from AIIA. In a statement, the AIIA said the Ayush market stands at a whopping $10 billion and is projected to see an impressive 50 percent increase in the next five years.
“To fully realize the potential of the Ayush science we need a thriving ecosystem with players operating across the entire value chain.'' The 'Ayush Startup Challenge' is open for participation from both early-stage startups as well as individuals as a group,” said Prof Tanuja Manoj Nesari, Director, AIIA.
There are three entry categories for participating start-ups -- Ayush food innovations, Ayush bio-instrumentation and Ayush IT Solutions. There will be two winners in each of the three categories with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh for the winner and Rs 50,000 for the runner-up, the AIIA said.
78% professionals want employers to upskill them for hybrid work: Harappa’s Survey
The pandemic has completely changed the future of work, making it clear that hybrid workplaces are here to stay.
A survey by online institution for behavioral skilling Harappa finds that to be effective and productive contributors in the hybrid workplaces of the future, professionals will need to evolve an essential set of cognitive, social and behavioral skills to navigate ever-new challenges.
The survey also highlighted that 78% of professionals said that their organisations should invest in programmes to help them become work-ready in the hybrid world.
Respondents across career stages—from CXOs to team members—agreed that skillful teamwork is their number one priority followed by taking ownership and learning agility. Fostering trust, collaborative orientation and productive delegation are the top skills that our respondents seek in their leaders, as per the report.
Edtech startup Teachmint to digitize 10,000+ schools under ‘TeachBharat’ initiative
Edtech startup Teachmint has announced the launch of its program ‘TeachBharat’ in which the company aims to digitize 10,000+ schools in India for free.
With this, the firm is looking to enable over two lakh teachers who in turn can empower over 50 lakh children by breaking geographical barriers and ensuring continuous learning, it said. Under TeachBharat, the company will enable end-to-end digitization of the identified schools through its ‘Teachmint For Institute’ offering. TeachBharat will enable institutions to not only be able to take virtual classes but also help them create a hybrid teaching setup, to help them maximize reach and impact, said the firm.
“The Indian schooling system is one of the largest in the world and caters to over 250 million students. But not every child has access to continuous learning at all times, due to a multitude of reasons. With TeachBharat, our vision is to bridge this gap and help every child have access to a teacher and, subsequently, learning opportunities which help them unlock their highest potential,” said Mihir Gupta, CEO & Co-Founder, Teachmint.
Garuda Aerospace to manufacture 6 lakh drones to empower farmersby 2025
Drone startup Garuda Aerospace has announced Drone as a Service (DAAS) in a bid to empower farmers and the agriculture industry. The startup will be manufacturing six lakh drones under its Kisan Drone initiative.
The effort is aimed at helping farmers with state-of-the-art technology and solutions for spraying of insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers and keeping them away from life-threating medical disorders and diseases.
The Kisan Drone is equipped with Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and GPS sensors to help farmers with accurate and real time information about their farms and crops. It can also help farmers with surveillance and mapping system, the firm said in a statement.
The DAAS model will help farmers save up to 80% water usage, and 90% less pesticides and takes less time to cover large farming areas. With an increased precision levels of approximately 75%, it has also been observed that usage of Kisan Drones has led to an increase of crop yield by 60% and reduction loss of crop by 20%, the startup claimed.
Instasafe partners with SYSCOM Distributions, forays its product base in the EMEA Market
Cloud-based security service provider, Instasafe has partnered with SYSCOM Distributions, a security product distributor in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) market.
The partnership aims to help Instasafe’s products and solutions to foray in the EMEA market. SYSCOM will now work with Instasafe collaboratively to integrate their strengths, solving the security needs of a much more diverse set of customers across the globe, it said in a statement.Both the companies will work towards taking Instsafe’s Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) based Zero Trust security solutions addressing cloud security, identity management, and remote access across the EMEA region, it added.
Mobile accessories brand Mivi to expand into offline segment
Mobile accessories maker Mivi is set to embark on an offline journey by introducing its products in select physical stores.
Eyeing an extensive presence via the modern trade model, the brand will be available across front-running stores, including Croma, Reliance Digital, Universal Stores, among others, Mivi said in a statement.
Mivi will initially focus its offline efforts on large distributors and retailers in Tier I and Tier II cities throughout India. Mivi’s entire made-in-India collection of consumer electronics will be available at these stores with an aim to bolster the brand’s omnichannel presence.
Mivi is looking for offline to contribute to 20-25% of their revenues in the next year.
Neo-bank Cashaa launches 'personal wallets', offers interest up to 24% on crypto assets
Crypto-friendly neo bank Cashaa has launched personal accounts with a yield program for individuals.
Cashaa said in a statement that personal accounts will enable users to store, buy, sell and earn interest without risking assets to unknown Defi projects. Through the new wallet, users can generate yield on crypto, stable coin, and fiat deposits in over 22 supported currencies, it added.
The firm has been providing banking services to crypto businesses globally, along with physical banking services in India through UNICAS. After offering essential banking services to businesses, the brand has launched the personal wallet for retail users.
According to the startup, the interest on personal accounts will be paid daily.
Cashaa personal account will comprise two modules: Flex Earnings upto 13% interest rate with no locking, user will start earning interest as soon as they deposit the supported crypto in the Cashaa personal wallet, and Fixed Deposit Earnings up to 24% interest rate with funds locking period between 1 month to 12 months. Fixed deposits will be available for both business and personal users. Users will also get up to a 4% bonus interest rate on opting for Interest earn mode in CAS tokens, the firm claimed.
Over 400 crypto brands including industry leaders like Binance, Kucoin, Elrond, Polygon, Bitbns, CoinDCX, Unocoin,CoinSwitch and many others are using Cashaa services, the statement said. In addition to the Unicas in India, Cashaa will be rolling out its services for personal users across the globe.
Jupiter Meta launches a fully curated NFT marketplace
Jupiter Meta is launching a fully curated Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace which will go live on February 23.
The digital marketplace will focus on verticals such as music, film, and gaming, creating singular experiences for each user and enabling everyone to maximise their time in the metaverse, the firm said.
The startup also plans to expand in the growing Web 3.0 space as it looks to bring people a more involved and personal feel to their metaverse interactions. Jupiter Meta's marketplace is backed by its level-1 Rubix blockchain technology with zero gas fees.
The company will also simultaneously kick off a digital wall art, commemorating the essence of Chennai and labelled the ‘Icons of Singara Chennai’. The project is a collection of digital art pieces of monuments, locations, food, places of worship, beaches, and other symbolic representations that capture the spirit of the city. These items will reflect the city’s past, present, and future and will be sold as NFTs for people to own in the Jupiter Meta marketplace.
GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS
Users should be allowed to sue US tech giants under EU rules, civil groups say
Individual users should be allowed to take US tech giants to court for breaching landmark EU rules aimed at curbing their power, Privacy International, pan-European consumer group BEUC and a number of academics said.
As per a Reuters report, the call by the coalition of 31 groups and academics comes as EU lawmakers and EU countries thrashed out the final points of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) proposed by EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager just over a year ago before it can become law.
The draft DMA sets out a list of dos and don'ts for online gatekeepers, in effect targeting Apple, Alphabet unit Google, Facebook parent Meta, Amazon and Microsoft. It only allows business users to sue violating companies.
"The DMA must enable users, both individually and collectively, to bring enforcement actions for violation of DMA rules before national courts," the group said in an open letter to EU institutions.
The coalition also urged lawmakers and EU countries to let consumer bodies and representatives of civil society take part in processes set out under the draft rules so that their needs would be reflected in the Commission's decisions on the tech giants.
Dutch consumer watchdog gives Apple fifth $5.7M fine in App Store dispute
The Dutch antitrust watchdog fined Apple 5 million euros ($5.7 million), the fifth such penalty in successive weeks in a row over access to non-Apple payment methods for subscriptions to dating apps, Reuters reported.
The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) says the iPhone maker is abusing a dominant market position by failing to allow software application makers in the Netherlands to use other payment methods for dating apps accessible via its App store.
The ACM has been levying weekly fines of 5 million euros since Apple missed a Jan 15 deadline to make changes that the watchdog had mandated. It said the US company had not made any new proposal to comply with its ruling in the past week.
"We have clearly explained to Apple how they can comply...," the watchdog said in a statement. "So far, however, they have refused to put forward any serious proposals."
Apple's App Store requirement that app developers exclusively use its payment system with commissions of 30 per cent has come under scrutiny in several countries, most recently the United States. In blog posts, Apple indicated it complied with the Dutch ruling by allowing dating app makers there to submit a new app with alternative payment methods enabled.
Apple said it still intends to charge a 27 percent commission on any in-app payments it does not process, only slightly below the 30 percent it charges on those it does process.
The ACM has rejected Apple's moves as putting an unreasonable burden on software developers and not amounting to compliance.
China asks state firms to check investments in Jack Ma's Ant, sources tell Reuters
Chinese regulators have asked state-owned firms to kick-off a fresh round of checks to find out their investments into and other linkages with billionaire Jack Ma's Ant Group, sources told Reuters.
State-owned banks and non-bank firms are among the entities that have been asked by the regulatory authorities to make checks, said the sources.
The request came last week, one of the sources said. It was not immediately clear if the firms have been given a deadline to submit the information nor what action, if any, will be taken after that.
The regulatory authorities have asked the state-owned firms to submit details of investments in equities, and exposure to asset-backed securities, and loans in relation to Ant.
Ant, an affiliate of Alibaba Group, has been subjected to a sweeping restructuring by China, whose initial public offering (IPO) of $37 billion, which would have been the world's largest, was derailed by regulators in late 2020.
The latest regulatory move comes as authorities continue to roll out new initiatives for the country's technology sector, which has been subjected to a year-long regulatory crackdown, to keep financial risks under control.
The move also added to investor concerns that Beijing could continue with its clampdown this year, triggering a selloff in the technology sector on Tuesday.
SoftBank seen trimming Alibaba stake to fill shortfall: Analyst
SoftBank Group is likely to trim its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, an analyst told Reuters, as the Japanese tech conglomerate invests in unlisted startups through its second Vision Fund and repurchases its shares.
SoftBank sold 20 million Alibaba, shares in the last quarter and "will need to sell more in 2022," Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in a note.
The group will need $40 billion-45 billion of cash this year, Goyal estimates, if it maintains the current pace of investing in startups and share repurchases as part of the 1 trillion yen ($8.7 billion) programme announced in November.
SoftBank is prioritising Vision Fund 2, which has taken stakes in more than 200 companies including recent investments in AI software firm 6sense, digital financing platform Funding Societies and cryptocurrency business Polygon.
While earlier this month SoftBank said there was no link between Alibaba registering a US share facility and any plan to sell down its stake, the group is under pressure to trim stakes following the collapse of the deal to sell chip designer Arm to Nvidia.
Deepak Chopra and European investors back new wellness startup The Healing Company as it prepares for M&A spree: Report
The Healing Company, a new business set up to acquire consumer health brands, has been backed by wellness icon Deepak Chopra, psychedelics entrepreneur Christian Angermayer and Dragons’ Den investor Steven Bartlett.
The Healing Company, which is giving Chopra a stake in the business in exchange for his time and advice, is aiming to buy and scale 15 direct-to-consumer health brands over the next three years, focusing on holistic medicine and supplements.
“The Healing Company is a team of entrepreneurs, disruptors, healers, leaders and notable people from across Europe and US,” CEO Simon Belsham told CNBC. “We all have a shared goal of addressing the healthcare crisis that we’re in today.”
Chopra, who has agreed to become The Healing Company’s chief scientific advisor, told CNBC that he decided to get involved after meeting Belsham at one of his retreats, which focus on mindfulness, relaxation and meditation.
The Healing Company is planning to acquire brands with nutraceuticals (substances thought to provide medical and health benefits) and nutritional products that address areas like immunity, longevity, inflammation, sleep and stress management. However, Chopra said the markets that these products fit into are full of scam products.
E-bike startup Zoomo raises extra $20M for European expansion
Zoomo, a startup that designs and sells commercial grade e-bikes for online deliveries has raised an additional $20 million in its latest funding round to finance European expansion and grow its software and engineering teams, Reuters reported.
That funding brings the Sydney, Australia-based startup's Series B total to $80 million and its total financing to over $100 million. The latest round included investments from venture capital firm Collaborative Fund and trading firm Akuna Capital.
Zoomo designs electric bikes for gig workers delivering food and groceries for a monthly fee, or to large fleets providing bikes to employees. Its major customers include Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Just Eat Takeaway.com, in an industry that prospered in the pandemic as home deliveries soared.
Zoomo expanded to select cities in Germany, France and Spain last year, and now plans rapid further growth. It is also expanding its software and hardware teams to develop new software for customers and work on new bike forms and accessories to carry more weight.
Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Huobi plans to re-enter US market: Report
Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Huobi is planning to re-enter the US market more than two years after it ceased operations to comply with regulations, one of the company’s co-founders told CNBC.
But the company might not launch an exchange and instead could focus on other areas such as asset management, after missteps last time around, according to Du Jun.
“In 2018, we tried to enter the U.S. market but we quickly withdrew ourselves because we didn’t have a strong commitment to the market at that time and we didn’t have a good management team in the US,” Du said according to a CNBC translation of his comments in Mandarin.
“I expect asset management to be a bigger business than exchange, which echoes the traditional finance market as well,” he told CNBC, adding, “I don’t think exchange is a necessary element for entering the US”
Du did not confirm which business Huobi will launch first in its re-entry to the US. A step back into the US market could put Huobi in competition with companies like Coinbase. Huobi is one of the top 10 biggest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume globally, according to CoinGecko.
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