Page 22 - Startups

Lenskart investor Epiq Capital's Fund II oversubscribed at $225 million

Venture capital firm Epic Capital on Wednesday said announced raising USD 225 million under its Fund II which would invest a major part of the proceeds in technology start-ups. The company is an investor in unicorns such as Lenskart, Pristyn Care, Cure.fit, Dailyhunt and Builder.ai. "Epiq Capital II has been oversubscribed at USD 225 million," Epiq Capital, Founder and Managing Partner, Rishi Navani said. Epiq Capital had set a target to raise USD 200 million for Fund II. It plans to invest a major portion of the Fund II in technology start-ups. The Fund II has marquee domestic and global investors including leading tech entrepreneurs, industrialists, sports & entertainment leaders, family offices, sovereign wealth funds and other institutions. Epiq Capital said that it will continue to invest in exceptional entrepreneurs targeting the large USD 5 trillion digital India opportunity in the next decade. "Most funds have 20-25 companies in their portfolio. We tend to have 8-10 ...

Need to raise MSMEs contribution for India to be 3rd largest economy: Rane

There is a need to increase the contribution of India's micro, small and medium enterprises to become the third largest economy in the world by 2030, Union Minister Narayan Rane on Tuesday said. The MSME minister also said that a survey should be conducted to ascertain the number of micro-enterprises that have been shut in the country. According to the Udyam Registration Portal, 97 per cent of the MSMEs registered are micro units. "Even if we make efforts to increase the productivity of micro-enterprises we can become the third largest economy in the world by 2030," Rane said. The minister said at present, Japan (USD 4.3 trillion) and Germany (USD 4.03 trillion) are third and fourth largest economies, while India has a GDP of USD 3.46 trillion. He asked officials to make more efforts for entrepreneurs' transition to small from the micro category. Rane also said the latest technology needs to be adopted and related information must be disseminated among entrepreneurs. Various ...

NFT startup Tegro raises seed funding from Polygon at valuation of $100 mn

In a press release, the company said that the Tegro exchange enables bulk trading of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) across Ethereum, Polygon, and other EVM-compatible chains

GO EC Autotech announces installation of 1,000 EV charging stations

Kerala-based start-up GO EC Autotech Pvt Ltd has announced the installation of 1,000 electric vehicle (EV) super-fast charging stations across the country. The company is currently operating 70 charging stations in Kerala and over 33 across India. "With the new project, we plan to expand our footprint by strategically positioning the charging stations in capitals, state highways, and national highways along with Tier-2, and Tier-3 cities and rural places in the country," the company said in a release. The company also aims to cater to the needs of customers residing in remote locations, making it easier for them to adopt electric vehicles, it said. "This momentous project marks a significant milestone for the startup, which has already established a remarkable track record by deploying over 103 charging stations within a year in India. GO EC is committed to transforming the EV charging experience and has partnered with major restaurants and shopping malls, to ensure that EV users .

Byju's staff say morale waning amid turmoil amid layoffs at edtech firm

Byju's has already let go of several thousand employees this year due to slowing demand and it is locked in a legal battle with its lenders and faces regulatory scrutiny

Mature start-ups need fully functional boards: Auditing major Deloitte

Deloitte has recommended that a mature start-up should forecast CSR spends depending on profitability, and a CSR policy should be made available on the company website

Orxa Energies inaugurates new facility ahead of electric bike launch

The announcement comes ahead of the launch of Mantis, the company's flagship electric performance motorcycle. It is expected to be available for bookings by the end of this year

Four Indian firms make into WEF's 100 most promising tech startups list

The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday named four Indian entities, including Giftolexia Solutions and Xacmaz Technology, in its annual list of 100 most promising technology pioneers, comprising companies making progress in sustainability, advanced manufacturing and inclusive healthcare. The other two Indian entities on the list are evolutionQ, which offers quantum-safe cybersecurity products to help clients in deploying and managing quantum technologies across their networks, and Next Big Innovation Labs -- which is developing customisable 3D bioprinter to bridge the gap between organ demand and availability via 3D bioengineered organs. Giftolexia Solutions is developing a deep technology-enabled screening tool to identify the risk of dyslexia in schoolchildren by analysing gaze patterns. Xacmaz Technology is developing a platform that converts satellite data into climate intelligence for climate risk, ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing and carbon markets. Th

VC firm Avaana Capital announces first close of climate tech fund at $70 mn

Fund will invest in sectors like energy transition, mobility and supply chains, sustainable agriculture

Paytm leads $6 billion stock rally as Indian startups seek redemption

Shares of Paytm parent One 97 Communications Ltd. have surged 69%, adding more than $2.7 billion in market value, after it improved its profitability ahead of schedule

Financial irregularities, tough market: What went wrong at Mojocare?

In a joint statement, Mojocare's major investors alleged that they have 'uncovered financial irregularities" in the health and wellness start-up

Inkle launches new platform for cross-border payments for startups

Customers will be charged a fixed markup of up to 0.50% on the mid-market forex rate on their transactions

EV startup River raises $15 mn in funding round led by Dubai's Al Futtaim

Bengaluru-headquartered EV startup River on Tuesday said it has raised USD 15-million capital in a funding round led by Dubai-based Al Futtaim Group. Besides, other investors including Lowercarbon Capital, Toyota Ventures, Maniv Mobility, and Trucks VC also participated in the investment round, River said in a release. The fresh capital infusion will help the company boost its manufacturing capabilities and also in the upcoming market launch of its maiden product -- Indie. "River raised a USD 15 million investment round led by Dubai's multinational powerhouse, Al Futtaim Group," River said in the statement. The diversified group has five operating divisions -- automotive, retail, real estate, healthcare, and financial services -- spread across over 20 countries, as per the statement. This is the third fund raised by the startup founded by Aravind Mani and Vipin George in March 2021, following a USD 2-million seed round in March 2021 and a USD 11-million Series A round in July ...

KarmaLife raises Rs 44 cr, startup aims to launch more products soon

KarmaLife on Thursday said it has raised Rs 44 crore in an extension to pre-series funding round led by Krishna Bhupal's family office and existing investors. The round saw participation from existing investors, including Artha Venture Fund, Net Graph Investments, Singularity Ventures, LogX Venture Partners, Amit Jain, Vikram Kailas, and Shaji Kumar Devakar, the company said in a statement on Thursday. Founded by Rohit Rathi, Naveen Budda, and Badal Malick in March 2020, KarmaLife operates in a business-to-business-to-consumer model and has partnered with over 50 organisations, which includes Flipkart, Elastic run, Uber, Porter, and Delhivery, among others, to give their employees an option to access their payout before payday. The credit solutions provider startup will use the capital for scaling, expanding into different geographies, launching more products, and spreading awareness about the product, the company founders said. It currently serves over 1,00,000 blue-collar workers

WinZO concludes third round of ESOP liquidation for 25% of workforce

Online gaming start-up's announcement comes at a time few start-ups are making such payouts

Gaming unicorn Mobile Premier League goes into global expansion mode

MPL recently launched its app in Nigeria, marking its first foray into the African gaming market. With this move, MPL is now present on four continents: Asia, North America, Europe, and Africa

Taxing times: Income tax heat on start-ups over unexplained funds

Notices issued to check round-tripping

Goa meet agenda: G20 nations look at common framework to define start-ups

A finance task force will unlock financing of start-ups in general for nations to invest in these enterprises and also for cross-border investments

From 350 in 2014 to 90K, Indian startups mushroom amid funding winter

Within a couple of years, India became the third largest startup ecosystem in the world, only behind the US and China

SoftBank eyes five Indian start-ups; may invest up to $100 mn in each

SoftBank also looking at secondary-sale opportunities in growth firms that have postponed their IPO plans