Page 144 - Companies

Exide to set up Lithium-ion cell plant, signs agreement with China's SVOLT

Under the the agreement, SVOLT will grant Exide an irrevocable right, licence to use, exploit and commercialise necessary tech and know-how owned by them for Li-ion cell manufacturing in India

Curefoods acquires majority stake in milkshake brand Frozen Bottle

This is the 20th acquisition by Curefoods in two years

Kuku FM raises $19.5 mn in series B funding led by S Korea's KRAFTON

With this latest round of funding, Kuku FM has secured a total of $25 million since its inception in 2018

Krafton infuses $19.5 mn in Indian audio content platform Kuku FM

South Korean gaming giant Krafton has pumped in $19.5 million in homegrown audio content platform Kuku FM, the startup announced

Vishal Garg-led Better.com fires workers in US, India in mass layoff

Indian-American CEO Vishal Garg-run digital mortgage company Better.com on Wednesday started laying off thousands of employees in the US and India who received severance cheques in the payroll app

India Exposition Mart files draft papers; aims to raise Rs 600 cr via IPO

India Exposition Mart Ltd, a leading integrated exhibitions and conventions venue, has filed a preliminary prospectus with markets regulator Sebi to raise Rs 600 crore through an initial public offering. The initial share-sale comprises fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 450 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 11,210,659 equity shares by existing shareholders, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). Those offering shares in the OFS include Vectra Investments, MIL Vehicles & Technologies, Overseas Carpets, RS Computech, Navratan Samdaria, Dinesh Kumar Aggarwal and Pankaj Garg. According to market sources, the company is likely to raise around Rs 600 crore through the initial share-sale. The company may consider a private placement of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 75 crore. If such pre-IPO placement is undertaken, the fresh issue size will be reduced. Of the Rs 450-crore fresh issuance, the company is planning to use about Rs 316.91 crore for

Faasos now largest Indian origin QSR with 500 restaurants in 10 countries

Faasos entered 50 new cities and is the first Indian QSR with wide acceptance to its offering i.e. Indian flavors adapted to local needs

CredAvenue enters unicorn club as valuation triples to $1.3 bn in 6 months

Raises $137 million in Series B funding round led by Insight Partners, B Capital and Dragoneer

CSR spending on the rise but not equitable, skewed towards three sectors

Six states account for a third of total CSR spending; three sectors account for 59.9 per cent of funding.

Curefoods acquires franchise rights for US-based pizza chain Sbarro

Curefoods announced acquisition of the South India franchise rights for US-based pizza chain Sbarro.

IvyCap Ventures announces first close for its Fund 3 at Rs 1,608 cr

Two-thirds has been raised from existing investors. Quite a few new institutional investors including banks, insurance companies and govt depts have also participated

Automaker Stellantis reaps $15-billion profit in 1st year of merger

Automaker Stellantis said Wednesday that it made 13.4 billion euros (USD 15.2 billion) in its first year after it was formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group. The earnings nearly tripled profits compared with its pre-merger existence as two separate companies, as the maker of Jeep, Opel and Peugeot vehicles exploited cost efficiencies from combining the businesses. The result compared to a combined 4.79 billion euros for the separate companies in 2020 before the merger, which took effect on Jan. 17, 2021. Revenue for the combined business rose 14per cent, to 152 billion euros. CEO Carlos Tavares said the results prove that Stellantis is well positioned to deliver strong performance" and had overcome intense headwinds during the year. Automakers have struggled with shortages of key parts such as semiconductor electronic components and rising costs for raw materials as the global rebound from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic brings more demand. The co

Baaz Bikes raises $2 mn in funding round led by Kalaari Capital

Baaz says it aims to solve the critical problems faced by gig delivery workers, i.e., long range requirements, rising petrol costs, lack of capex to buy bikes and heavy downtime due to maintenance

Cosmea Financial launches Torus Private Wealth; targets $1 bn in AUM

Sam Ghosh promoted Cosmea Financial Holdings (CFH) announced the launch of Torus Private Wealth with a target of achieving an asset base of $1 billion in the next 3 years.

Tesco has moved from being service-led to engineering -based firm: CEO

UK-based retail giant is 'at the table with the leaders' in Indian business services industry, says Sumit Mitra.

HCL Tech extends relationship with RACV through multi-year contract

IT company HCL Technologies has extended its relationship with The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) with a multi-year agreement to provide Integration-as-a-Service offering. The company did not divulge the size of the contract. As a motoring club, RACV is a member-driven organisation that provides a range of products and services in motoring and mobility, home, leisure, financial services and general insurance. HCL has helped ramp RACV's digital platform by enabling a backbone that promotes self-service, an increased digital footprint and a seamless experience for 2.1 million RACV members across Victoria. The 'Integration-as-a-Service' platform bundles various accelerators around code automation and monitoring, which contributes toward a more stable IT environment and notably improves the performance and resilience of RACV's member-facing services. "As part of the renewed relationship, HCL's API-led (application programming interface) architecture will reduce complexity wi

Wealth management start-up Fintso looking at $10-million funding

Fintso, the start-up focused on financial advisors in the wealth management space, is looking at raising at least USD 10 million from venture capital funds by late-March or early-April. The API-based platform-as-a-service for financial advisors and their clients was launched by George Mitra, who was the chief executive of Avendus Wealth, and Rajan Pathak, a wealth management veteran, in November 2020 and has already raised USD3 million in the first round. Fintso helps independent financial product providers get easy access to retail investors by giving them access to multi-products, digital execution, and advisory support and now caters to over 3,400 independent distributors/agents, who are servicing 15 lakh retail clients having assets of Rs 1.4 lakh crore, Mitra said. The company had initial funding of USD 3 million from angels and family offices, including Kanwaljit Singh of Fireside Ventures, Nikhil Vora of Sixth Sense, Brijesh Agarwal who co-founded Indiamart, and Piyush Gupta,

Hindujas-backed MindMaze secures $105 mn funding led by Concord Health

Hindujas-backed digital neuro-therapeutics solutions provider MindMaze on Thursday said it has secured a USD 105 million (over Rs 785 crore) financing led by Concord Health Partners, a US-based healthcare private equity firm. The round also witnessed participation from London-based Hambro Perks and other family office investment groups, the company said in a statement without disclosing their identity. MindMaze said AlbaCore Capital Group, one of Europe's leading specialist investors focusing on public and private markets, is also building on its existing investment in the company as a reflection of their continued commitment in it. The financing round provides immediate access to funds, and a financing facility to fund growth and future acquisitions, the company said, adding the funding would also help accelerate global commercial growth plans, enhance ongoing R&D and consolidate the clinical development pipeline of its digital therapeutic solutions for a wide spectrum of ...

BioNTech unveils new mobile vaccine factories for developing world

Germany's BioNTech has developed a vaccine factory made from shipping containers that it plans to ship to Africa

Edtech startup LEAD announces ESOP liquidation plan of $3 mn for staff

Edtech start up LEAD on Wednesday announced an ESOP Liquidation Plan of about USD 3 million (about Rs 22.5 crore) for its employees. The move comes at a time when LEAD is aiming for a "high growth trajectory" following the recent series E fundraise of USD 100 million led by WestBridge Capital with participation from GSV Ventures. The company attained the 'unicorn' status with that funding at a valuation of USD 1.1 billion. A startup with a valuation of over USD 1 billion is called 'unicorn'. LEAD, in a statement, announced an ESOP (Employee Stock Option Plan) Liquidation Plan of close to USD 3 million for its employees. The current ESOP liquidation plan is a "significant opportunity," given that LEAD's valuation has doubled in the last nine months on the back of strong growth in operating and financial metrics, the statement said. Its co-founder and CEO, Sumeet Mehta said, Our success would not have been possible without the relentless efforts of our teams. I'm delighted that we