Page 51 - Startups

Sebi relaxes sweat equity norms for new-age technology cos

Markets regulator Sebi on Friday decided to provide relaxations on the quantum of sweat equity that can be issued by new-age technology companies listed on the Innovators Growth Platform. Sebi said the maximum yearly limit of sweat equity shares that can be issued by a company listed on the mainboard has been prescribed at 15 per cent of the existing paid-up equity share capital within the overall limit not exceeding 25 per cent of the paid-up capital at any time. In the case of the companies listed on Innovators Growth Platform (IGP), the yearly limit will be 15 per cent and the overall limit will be 50 per cent of the paid-up capital at any time, the regulator said in a press release after its board meeting. This enhanced overall limit for IGP will be applicable for 10 years from the date of the company's incorporation, it added. The board approved the merger of two separate regulations -- Sebi (Share Based Employee Benefits) Regulations, 2014, or SBEB, and Sebi (Issue Of Sweat .

Finance concierge start-up Zeni raises $34 mn to help firms manage finances

Existing investors Saama Capital, Amit Singhal, Sierra Ventures, Twin Ventures, Dragon Capital and Liquid 2 Ventures also participated in the round

Karan Bajaj, who sold WhiteHat Jr to Byju's for $300 mn, decides to move on

Hands over baton to Trupti Mukker, a top executive at WhiteHat Jr and his classmate from IIM-Bangalore

Conversational AI firm yellow.ai raises $78.15 mn in Series C round

The company's AI-powered bots deliver automated customer experience on over 35 chat and voice channels, across more than 100 languages, handling over a billion interactions every quarter

64% MSMEs and startups saw online sales grow over past one year: Survey

28% saw their sales grow by 100-500%, while another 23% saw a 50-100% spike in sales

Employee health benefits startup Onsurity raises $16 mn from Quona, Nexus

The round also saw participation from healthcare entrepreneur Vivek Garipalli, the founder and CEO of Clover Healthcare

Youth apparel brand The Souled Store raises Rs 75 cr in Series B funding

The company, which makes apparels from pop-culture themes like superheroes, movies, and cartoons, says it aims to cross Rs 1,000 crore GMV (gross merchandise value) by 2025

StockGro raises $5 mn in pre-series A round, to use funds to get more users

StockGro now has leading fund managers, F&O traders, and algo traders driving their social groups, helping users learn various trading strategies

Bhavin Turakhia's email startup Titan raises $30 mn, valued at $300 mn

It's the first funding raised by Titan. Along with investment from Automattic, Titan will also be able to leverage the huge presence of WordPress across the globe

Cricket legend Virender Sehwag's brand 'VS by Sehwag' gets into e-commerce

The brand is set to acquire 5 mn customers across India in 5 years; is looking to achieve Rs 100 cr revenue via Omni-channel retail, over next 3 years

Agri-tech firm Krishify raises $2.7 mn from investors for expansion of biz

In a pre-Series A funding round, the company has raised funds led by Omidyar Network India, Ankur Capital, and existing investor Orios Ventures.

Plug-and-play firm Quickshift raises $770,000 from Anicut Angel, Axilor

Quickshift is a tech fulfilment company providing solutions through a quick turnaround time. It is also an accelerator for brands in the D2C, e-commerce, B2B & retail spaces

Dukaan launches social commerce platform, partners with D2C brand Bewakoof

The platform, Dukaan Plus, will help merchants source best quality products from the top D2C brands and earn commissions on each sale

upGrad acquires global edtech firm KnowledgeHut for undisclosed sum

Edtech platform upGrad on Tuesday said it has acquired global firm KnowledgeHut for an undisclosed sum.

B2B sales productivity startup Nektar.ai closes seed round of $8.1 million

$6 bn tranche of funding led by B Capital Group, 3One4 Capital and Nexus Venture Partners; Ritesh Agarwal of OYO Hotels, Deep Nishar of Softbank among clutch of angel investors

Edtech startup Unacademy gets $440 mn funding, valuation crosses $3.44 bn

Unacademy Group's valuation has grown almost ten times in 18 months, riding on demand for online training

Language learning platform Instrucko raises $1 mn in pre-series A round

Firm to expand business in India and West Asia, with core focus on providing children in 3-15 age group with premium content and training by leading educationists from across the world

Fashinza raises $20 mn as it aims to tap $800 bn global fashion mfg space

Fashinza was started to help small and medium ethical factories employing millions of workers connect with global demand and eliminate environmentally unsustainable practices like overproduction

B2B platform Apnaklub raises $3.5 mn from Sequoia Capital India's Surge

Apnaklub links kirana and general stores in the hinterland to consumer brands through its network

The opportunities and challenges for India's social commerce start-ups

Industry experts say there are, however, some basic hurdles that video-based commerce needs to overcome to be successful in India