Missed your daily updates on startup world? Not to worry. We at IndianWeb2 brings for our readers a weekly roundup. From Snapdeal raising funds to FreeCharge in talks with BoB and Times Internet for its acquisition, we brings to you all the important happening of the ecosystem.
Here are are Seven news that made headline this week:
Despite all the troubles and bleeding loses, homegrown e-commerce major has managed to bagged Rs 113 Cr from the existing investor Nexus Venture Partners and the company’s founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, in lieu of its 2015 acquisition of Unicommerce eSolutions.
This emergency round of funding round comes as a surprise as Snapdeal has been in talks with to get acquired by its rival Flipkart.
According to RoC (Registrar of Documents) filled by Sanpdeal, and accessed by corporate research and mentoring platform Tofler, Nexus Venture Partners was issued 14,810 preference shares, valued at Rs 96.26 crore while the founders — Bahl and Bansal, were each allotted 1,300 Series J1 preference shares, which have a cumulative value of Rs 16.90 crore (Rs 8.45 crore each) making a total of Rs 113 crores.Now we have to see how this latest funding round will help the company. Will it affect the company’s talks with Flipkart for
Now we have to see how this latest funding round will help the company. Will it affect the company’s talks with Flipkart for a plausible sellout or not? Only time will tell this.
Department of Industrial, Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has sought Rs 1,600 crore from the finance ministry in the supplementary demand for grants for the Fund-of-Funds (FFS) for startups in the current financial year.
Notably, around Rs 500 crore fund of funds is a backlog and now DIPP has sought an additional Rs 1,100 crore for the fund-of-funds making it a total of Rs. 1600 crore.
Earlier in June 2016, the Union Cabinet has approved setting up of Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) under Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for extending support to Startups.
Jasper Infotech’s e-wallet FreeCharge is in talks with Bank of Baroda (BOB) and Times Internet for an all-cash acquisition. The deal size is expected to be in the range of $60 – $75 million. This deal will allow BOB to expand its mobile wallet service, M-Clip which was launched last year and also to get access to millions of young customers FreeCharge has on its platform.
Whereas with this deal Times Internet looks to add the wallet service to its online ventures like as Indiatimes Shopping and Gaana to name few.
As per a report by CB Insights, there are 197 companies in the world that can be currently identified as “unicorns”. Of these 197, 22 new unicorns were added this year (till May 26, 2017) alone indicating a good time for the global startup industry.
Further, the report highlighted that India with 4 percent of the world’s unicorns based out of its land, is ranked 3rd in countries with most unicorns.
The unicorns, which are collectively valued at a jaw-dropping $679 billion and have raised a whopping $142 billion in funding, belong to 13 verticals, which includes- e-commerce/marketplace, internet software & services, fintech, social, cybersecurity, on-demand, big data, healthcare to name few.
Helion Ventures, one of India’s oldest venture capital firms has reached its dead end. The firm had invested in startups like MakeMyTrip, Big Basket, Shopclues in their early stages.Founded in 2006 by Rahul Chandra, Ashish Gupta, Kanwaljit Singh and Sanjeev Aggarwal, Helion was left with only one co-founder, Rahul Chandra, when in 2016 the other three co-founders made exit from the VC firm.
Now in the latest development, Rahul Chandra is launching a $100 million early-stage fund — Unitary Helion . The fund will invest in sectors like fintech and digital marketplaces and with this move, it’s officially the end of Helion, an 11-year-old VC firm.
Flipkart’s one of the top ranking executives, Nitin Seth has put in his papers. Serving as Flipkart chief operating officer, Seth was in charge of logistics unit Ekart besides corporate functions like strategy and human resources (HR).
Nitin’s exit will put CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy in charge of all the key functions of the organisation which will further tighten the grip the former Tiger Global Management Executive. Prior joining Flipkart, Nitin worked as the MD and country head for Fidelity International. Before that he led McKinsey’s global knowledge center in India for 8 years.
Indiqus Technologies has acquired Delhi-based Dartboard Analytics, an analytics company providing data-driven insights into customer operations to grow customer revenue. In an all-stock deal, the Dartboard founders will join the IndiQus leadership team.
Dartboard is IndiQus’ second acquisition in the last two years. In April 2016, IndiQus had acquired shopping assistance startup Amicus to add intelligence to their Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) catalog for enterprises and cloud service providers. With Dartboard’s acquisition, IndiQus enhances its product portfolio with the much-in-demand analytics solution for cloud platforms.
Former MD of Medtronic, Milind Shah has Joined Unitus Seed Fund as a Healthcare Venture Partner. Shah brings to Unitus Seed Fund over three decades of leadership experience in sales, marketing, and corporate planning positions across varied businesses, including healthcare and speciality chemicals with global industry majors like Medtronic, Henkel, 3M and Shell.
Shah joins Fund with a mandate of furthering healthcare innovation for India’s billion-plus population by investing in 8-10 innovative and scalable healthcare businesses. In line with this aim, Unitus Seed Fund has earmarked INR 100 crore to invest in healthcare and also has launched the AmpHealth program, providing non-dilutive catalytic capital of up to Rs 1.75 crore ($250, 000) to fund immediate pre-commercialisation coupled with up to Rs 3.5 crore ( $500, 000) of seed capital.
South Korea government is currently inviting tech startups from all around the world to take part in K-Startup Grand Challenge 2017. Backed by the Korean government, the K-Startup Grand Challenge 2017 will provide tech startups from any part of the world to lock in business agreements with Korean companies and giants. According to the website dedicated to the challenge, one of the key purposes of this event is to promote vigorous collaborations and exchange of ideas between domestic (Korean) and foreign startups.
According to the sources, 50 startups will walk away with a $12,000 prize for living expenses during their four-month stay in South Korea. Of these 50, the selected 25 will be given a grant of $27,000 each at the Demo Day.
20 Indian startups have been selected for assistance to set up their businesses in London as a part of the India Emerging Twenty (IE20) programme. The winners will now get an opportunity to go to London during London Tech Week scheduled to happen this month. The IE20 programme, which is being supported by global tax, accounting and advisory network BDO aspires to discover 20 of India’s most innovative and high-growth companies with global aspirations. Started in 2016, the programme nurtures startups across various sectors such as technology, media, telecom, life sciences, financial and business services sectors, in order to help them grow their international business presence through London.
According to a Kerala IT official, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) will set up their third incubator and the first one in the mobile app sector at the Cyber Park in Kozhikode. Opened on Monday, Cyber Park is spread over a 2.88 lakh square feet area. It is said that concerned authority has set aside 10,000 square feet space at the Cyber Park exclusively for the Mobile app incubator facility for the IAMAI.
Here are are Seven news that made headline this week:
Snapdeal Bags Rs.113 Cr In An Emergency Funding Round
Despite all the troubles and bleeding loses, homegrown e-commerce major has managed to bagged Rs 113 Cr from the existing investor Nexus Venture Partners and the company’s founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, in lieu of its 2015 acquisition of Unicommerce eSolutions.
This emergency round of funding round comes as a surprise as Snapdeal has been in talks with to get acquired by its rival Flipkart.
According to RoC (Registrar of Documents) filled by Sanpdeal, and accessed by corporate research and mentoring platform Tofler, Nexus Venture Partners was issued 14,810 preference shares, valued at Rs 96.26 crore while the founders — Bahl and Bansal, were each allotted 1,300 Series J1 preference shares, which have a cumulative value of Rs 16.90 crore (Rs 8.45 crore each) making a total of Rs 113 crores.Now we have to see how this latest funding round will help the company. Will it affect the company’s talks with Flipkart for
Now we have to see how this latest funding round will help the company. Will it affect the company’s talks with Flipkart for a plausible sellout or not? Only time will tell this.
DIPP To Pump In Rs 1600 Cr Fund of Funds for Startups Underway
Department of Industrial, Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has sought Rs 1,600 crore from the finance ministry in the supplementary demand for grants for the Fund-of-Funds (FFS) for startups in the current financial year.
Notably, around Rs 500 crore fund of funds is a backlog and now DIPP has sought an additional Rs 1,100 crore for the fund-of-funds making it a total of Rs. 1600 crore.
Earlier in June 2016, the Union Cabinet has approved setting up of Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) under Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for extending support to Startups.
E-wallet FreeCharge Is In Talks With BOB, Times Internet
For An All Cash Acquisition
Jasper Infotech’s e-wallet FreeCharge is in talks with Bank of Baroda (BOB) and Times Internet for an all-cash acquisition. The deal size is expected to be in the range of $60 – $75 million. This deal will allow BOB to expand its mobile wallet service, M-Clip which was launched last year and also to get access to millions of young customers FreeCharge has on its platform.
Whereas with this deal Times Internet looks to add the wallet service to its online ventures like as Indiatimes Shopping and Gaana to name few.
India Ranked 3rd Among Countries With Most Unicorns
As per a report by CB Insights, there are 197 companies in the world that can be currently identified as “unicorns”. Of these 197, 22 new unicorns were added this year (till May 26, 2017) alone indicating a good time for the global startup industry.
Further, the report highlighted that India with 4 percent of the world’s unicorns based out of its land, is ranked 3rd in countries with most unicorns.
The unicorns, which are collectively valued at a jaw-dropping $679 billion and have raised a whopping $142 billion in funding, belong to 13 verticals, which includes- e-commerce/marketplace, internet software & services, fintech, social, cybersecurity, on-demand, big data, healthcare to name few.
11 Year Old VC Firm, Helion Ventures Reaches Its Dead End
Helion Ventures, one of India’s oldest venture capital firms has reached its dead end. The firm had invested in startups like MakeMyTrip, Big Basket, Shopclues in their early stages.Founded in 2006 by Rahul Chandra, Ashish Gupta, Kanwaljit Singh and Sanjeev Aggarwal, Helion was left with only one co-founder, Rahul Chandra, when in 2016 the other three co-founders made exit from the VC firm.
Now in the latest development, Rahul Chandra is launching a $100 million early-stage fund — Unitary Helion . The fund will invest in sectors like fintech and digital marketplaces and with this move, it’s officially the end of Helion, an 11-year-old VC firm.
Flipkart’s COO Nitin Seth Step Down
Flipkart’s one of the top ranking executives, Nitin Seth has put in his papers. Serving as Flipkart chief operating officer, Seth was in charge of logistics unit Ekart besides corporate functions like strategy and human resources (HR).
Nitin’s exit will put CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy in charge of all the key functions of the organisation which will further tighten the grip the former Tiger Global Management Executive. Prior joining Flipkart, Nitin worked as the MD and country head for Fidelity International. Before that he led McKinsey’s global knowledge center in India for 8 years.
IndiQus Technologies Acquires Dartboard Analytics
Indiqus Technologies has acquired Delhi-based Dartboard Analytics, an analytics company providing data-driven insights into customer operations to grow customer revenue. In an all-stock deal, the Dartboard founders will join the IndiQus leadership team.
Dartboard is IndiQus’ second acquisition in the last two years. In April 2016, IndiQus had acquired shopping assistance startup Amicus to add intelligence to their Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) catalog for enterprises and cloud service providers. With Dartboard’s acquisition, IndiQus enhances its product portfolio with the much-in-demand analytics solution for cloud platforms.
Milind Shah Joins Unitus Seed Fund as Healthcare Venture Partner
Former MD of Medtronic, Milind Shah has Joined Unitus Seed Fund as a Healthcare Venture Partner. Shah brings to Unitus Seed Fund over three decades of leadership experience in sales, marketing, and corporate planning positions across varied businesses, including healthcare and speciality chemicals with global industry majors like Medtronic, Henkel, 3M and Shell.
Shah joins Fund with a mandate of furthering healthcare innovation for India’s billion-plus population by investing in 8-10 innovative and scalable healthcare businesses. In line with this aim, Unitus Seed Fund has earmarked INR 100 crore to invest in healthcare and also has launched the AmpHealth program, providing non-dilutive catalytic capital of up to Rs 1.75 crore ($250, 000) to fund immediate pre-commercialisation coupled with up to Rs 3.5 crore ( $500, 000) of seed capital.
Indian Tech Startups Receives Invite From S Korea for Global Competition
South Korea government is currently inviting tech startups from all around the world to take part in K-Startup Grand Challenge 2017. Backed by the Korean government, the K-Startup Grand Challenge 2017 will provide tech startups from any part of the world to lock in business agreements with Korean companies and giants. According to the website dedicated to the challenge, one of the key purposes of this event is to promote vigorous collaborations and exchange of ideas between domestic (Korean) and foreign startups.
According to the sources, 50 startups will walk away with a $12,000 prize for living expenses during their four-month stay in South Korea. Of these 50, the selected 25 will be given a grant of $27,000 each at the Demo Day.
These 20 Indian Startups Will Setup Business in London
20 Indian startups have been selected for assistance to set up their businesses in London as a part of the India Emerging Twenty (IE20) programme. The winners will now get an opportunity to go to London during London Tech Week scheduled to happen this month. The IE20 programme, which is being supported by global tax, accounting and advisory network BDO aspires to discover 20 of India’s most innovative and high-growth companies with global aspirations. Started in 2016, the programme nurtures startups across various sectors such as technology, media, telecom, life sciences, financial and business services sectors, in order to help them grow their international business presence through London.
IAMAI To Set up Mobile App Incubator in Kozhikode
According to a Kerala IT official, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) will set up their third incubator and the first one in the mobile app sector at the Cyber Park in Kozhikode. Opened on Monday, Cyber Park is spread over a 2.88 lakh square feet area. It is said that concerned authority has set aside 10,000 square feet space at the Cyber Park exclusively for the Mobile app incubator facility for the IAMAI.
IndianWeb2.com is an independent digital media platform for business, entrepreneurship, science, technology, startups, gadgets and climate change news & reviews.
