Page 8 - Startup

Startup Captain Fresh raises Rs 208 crore from investors to expand business

Captain Fresh, a fish and seafood tech startup, has raised USD 25 million (around Rs 208 crore) from investors to expand business. In a statement, the company said it has raised USD 25 million as part of a continuing larger funding round. The company had raised USD 20 million in September last year, taking the Series C round to USD 45 million. Nekkanti seafoods group and British International Investment (BII), the UK's development finance institution, participated in this extended round. "Proceeds from this fund raise are aimed at fuelling its distribution presence in the US and Europe...," it said. The company's product portfolio encompasses over 100 species of fish and seafood, sourced from over a dozen countries and catering to customers in over 30 countries. Captain Fresh has offices in India, the US, Dubai, Paris, Oslo, Amsterdam and Madrid.

StartupTN launches Smart Card to boost entrepreneurs at early stage

StartupTN has launched Smart Card and other new initiatives to meet the needs of aspiring entrepreneurs in the early stage of building their startup. StartupTN is backed by the Tamil Nadu government and aims to nurture a vibrant startup ecosystem in the state to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship-driven employment and economic growth. The Smart Card initiative offers a comprehensive selection of products and services at subsidised rates to entrepreneurs. Some of the services offered pertain to legal and compliance, marketing and business consulting, finance and insurance, and software and information technology, among others. Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises T M Anbarasan launched the Smart Cards at an event here recently, and gave away 10 Smart Cards to startups on the occasion. In a statement on Sunday, StartupTN said it has collaborated with various partners to provide a diverse range of products and services to equip budding entrepreneurs with essential .

Tax benefits extension to startups till Mar 2025 progressive move: Industry

The interim Budget announcement related to the extension of tax benefits to startups by one more year till March 2025 underlines the government's commitment towards creating a conducive environment for startup development and sustainable investments, the industry said on Thursday, terming it a progressive and encouraging move. "...the extension of tax benefits until March 2025 for startups, sovereign wealth, and pension funds signify a government committed to supporting growth and resilience. The prolonged tax benefits indicate a steady commitment to creating a conducive environment for startup development and sustainable investments," MobiKwik Founder and CEO Bipin Preet Singh said. CEO and Co-Founder of magicpin Anshoo Sharma lauded the move saying it would provide much-needed continuity and inflows to the Indian startup ecosystem. "We also appreciate the extension of tax benefits to startups on investments made by sovereign wealth or pension funds to 31.03.2025, this will provide

Commerce and industry ministry requests unicorns to mentor startups

The commerce and industry ministry has urged the unicorn startups to mentor budding entrepreneurs through government-backed MAARG portal, an official said. The MAARG (Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth) platform was launched in January last year to facilitate mentorship for startups across diverse sectors, and geographies. It was suggested during a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and senior representatives of 40 unicorn startups like Lenskart, Zerodha, and Boat here on January 17. On the other hand, the companies asked for a better funding mechanism and lower rates of interest to increase their growth prospects. Issues which figure in the meeting included sustainable growth, India's positioning in the global startup landscape and mobilisation of domestic capital for the larger startup ecosystem. It was suggested to them to provide at least 30 minutes of mentorship to budding startups, the official said. Startup firms valued over U

DBS Bank collaborates with StartupTN to support 1,000 early-stage firms

DBS Bank India, the subsidiary of financial services group DBS Singapore, on Thursday said it has partnered with the Tamil Nadu government backed StartupTN to foster entrepreneurship in the state. As per the collaboration between the two entities, the partnership would focus on early-stage startups in Tier II and III towns. It aims to strengthen the ecosystem and provide crucial support to startups, including knowledge sharing and facilitating connections with potential investors, a press release from DBS Bank India said on Thursday. StartupTN, which supports over 7,400 startups registered with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade across 30 sectors, aims to nurture a vibrant startup ecosystem in Tamil Nadu resulting in innovation and entrepreneurship-driven employment and economic growth. The partnership between DBS Bank India and StartupTN also addresses the need to provide customised solutions to help startups navigate specific challenges during their early

PhonePe sells over 9 mn digital insurance policies, 4 mn in one year

Walmart-backed payments firm PhonePe on Thursday said it has sold over 90 lakh insurance policies since entering the market in September 2021, of which 40 lakh were in just one year in 2023. PhonePe had entered the insurance space in 2020 with a corporate agency licence, before acquiring a full-fledged insurance broking licence. It currently distributes life, health, motor and car insurance with partners such as Acko, among others, and allows users to pay in monthly subscriptions through UPI. "PhonePe started offering insurance on its platform in September 2021, and since then has sold over 9 million overall policies, with over 4 million being sold in the last year alone. The digital insurance market is growing at a CAGR of 24 per cent, with a large part of this growth coming from PhonePe," the fintech firm said in a statement. The fintech giant announced that it has contributed to over 65 per cent growth for two-wheeler digital insurance in India, over the last 2 years. The company

DMI group acquires BNPL startup ZestMoney in a distress sale deal

The acquisition comes more than a month after Bengaluru-based ZestMoney, shut down amid an unsuccessful attempt to revive its business under new management and regulatory uncertainty

Andamans recognised as 'aspiring leader' in states' startup ranking: DPIIT

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been recognised as an Aspiring Leader' in the latest States' Startup Ranking of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), officials said. There are 53 recognised startups, including 22 ventures led by women, in the entire archipelago, they said. The key sectors include construction and engineering, travel and tourism and IT. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have stood out among its counterparts, showcasing the potential to become a prominent hub for emerging businesses and startups among the B' category states (population of less than 1 crore), a senior official said. We are delighted to receive the prestigious title of Aspiring leader' (in the 4th edition of the States' Startup Ranking). The recognition fits very well with our consistent and persistent efforts to establish Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a thriving hub for startups across various domains and sectors, Nikhil Kumar, Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Industries),

Two Indian entrepreneurs among Schwab Foundation Social Innovation awardees

Two Indians, Ajaita Shah of social commerce platform Frontier Markets and Shuchin Bajaj of hospital chain Ujala Cygnus Hospitals, figured among the recipients of the Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awards announced here on Tuesday. Shah is the founder and CEO of Frontier Markets (India), which works with and for women to offer an essential last-mile connection to rural households. Using convenient smartphone technology, it helps a fast-growing community of women entrepreneurs connect to more than 1 million women customers in thousands of villages. It aims to serve 100 million rural households by 2030. Shah has more than 18 years' experience working in rural India through microfinance, rural distribution, marketing and building gender-inclusive business models. Bajaj is Founder and Director of Ujala Cygnus Hospitals (India), which operates 20 hospitals in New Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Haryana, providing super-speciality and emergency healthcare in

Matter of joy and pride, says Gujarat CM as state tops Startup Ranking 2022

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Tuesday said it was a matter of joy and pride as the state was ranked number one for the fourth consecutive time in the State Startup Ranking 2022 announced by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday. The results were announced by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal at the Startup Awards & State Ranking Awards function in New Delhi wherein Gujarat was ranked top in the best performing state category for states with more than one crore population. "It is a matter of joy and pride for all of us that Gujarat has been declared the best performing state in the State Startup Ranking 2022 for creating a strong ecosystem in the state. This ranking has been given by evaluating the states on various yardsticks including funding support, mentor support, capacity building, and market access to startups," the chief minister said in his post on X. Gujarat is committed to contribute more towards realising the Startup ...

Gujarat, Kerala, K'taka best states in nurturing startup ecosystem: DPIIT

Gujarat and Karnataka are ranked as the 'best performers' in developing startup ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs, according to the ranking of states and Union territories by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh are also categorised as the best performers. The ranking is a yearly exercise under DPIIT that evaluates all states and Union Territories on their efforts to build an ecosystem conducive to startup growth. A total of 33 states and Union territories (UTs) participated in the exercise. They are ranked under five categories -- best performers, top performers, leaders, aspiring leaders and emerging startup ecosystems. The states and Union Territories were broadly divided into two sections based on their population size --those having more than 1 crore and the ones with less than 1 crore. Gujarat has been ranked as the best performer for the fourth time in a row. Karnataka has been ranked in this segment

NYSE-listed SentinelOne acquires Bangalore-based startup PingSafe

PingSafe provides Cloud security services; deal estimated to be worth $100mn

Insurance broking startup Finhaat raises $3 mn for business expansion

Company says technology-driven platform will improve accessibility to insurance

Ride-hailing firm Yaary launches on ONDC for Hyderabad auto, taxi drivers

"Yaary facilitates peer-to-peer transactions between customers and service providers with 0% commission, charging only a nominal SaaS fee to service providers," the ONDC-backed firm said

Agritech company Vegrow raises $46 mn in funding round led by GIC

Start-up will use the money to expand in India and strengthen global network

Elon Musk's xAI startup seeks to raise $1 billion from equity investors

Musk has already raised nearly $135 million, according to a document filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which doesn't include the names of investors

CashKaro expects profitability in 2 yrs, user base to grow 100 mn in 3 yrs

Ratan Tata-backed startup Cashkaro expects profitability in the next two years and to grow its user base by four-fold to 100 million in the next three years, a senior company official said on Friday. While speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the Digital Acceleration and Transformation Expo (DATE), CashKaro and EarnKaro co-founder Swati Bhargava said the company has enough revenue to report profitability anytime now, but it is ploughing back money into marketing campaigns to grow its user base. When asked about the timeline that CashKaro expects to report profitability, Bhargava said, "We are looking at two years because, after two years, we see we can do away with some of our marketing campaigns". CashKaro has thus far raised over Rs 255 crore from prominent investors like Kalaari Capital, Ratan Tata, Korea Investment Partners and Affle Global Pte Ltd. Bhargava said that at present the company sees no immediate requirement for further fundraising till the time it becomes ...

Travel credit card startup Scapia raises $23 mn to expand business

Company has zero joining and annual fees, provides 10% reward on every card transaction

Byju's lenders win fight over $1.2 billion loan default, control of unit

Lenders have been pushing hard for the repayment of the $1.2 billion loan amid the company's mounting distress after a pandemic-era boom in online learning fizzled out

E-commerce startup Udaan to trim costs, forge partnerships ahead of IPO

Udaan, which competes with Reliance Industries Ltd. and Walmart Inc.'s Flipkart in helping smaller merchants source their goods, will make an operating profit within 18 months