Indian Startup News, Funding Alerts, Acquisition Alerts from 2 May to 8 May 2020

#WEXTSaturday – Initiative by WEXT.in Community in which WEXT.in will cover all Indian Startup News, Funding Alerts, Acquisition Deal Alerts.

Not much relief has been seen till now for the COVID-19 threat all over the globe. The metrics of COVID-19 cases are increasing day by day. As a result, this is causing a great impact in the economy of the nation which is directly affecting a lot of industries and the businesses involved in it. However, amid the spread of COVID-19 and the extended lockdown in the nation, this week went well for most of the startups. There is a lot of the latest Indian startup news, funding alerts, and acquisition alerts, which you must be excited to know about.

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Here, we bring you the latest Indian startup news for this week, which features a quick overview of all the buzzes and happenings in the startup industry. Let’s begin.

Edtech Startup Classplus Raises Rs.73 Crore during Series B Funding Round from RTP Global & Others

Classplus, an Edtech startup, which was founded in 2018, has successfully raised Rs.73 crore in its series B funding round. The funding was led by Sequoia’s RTP Global, Blume Ventures, Spiral Ventures, and others. The highest investment will be of Rs.30.16 crore by RTP Global.

Indian Startup Byju’s is set to raise $400Mn at a $10Bn Valuation

Byju’s, an education startup of India has been in talks to raise $400Mn at a $10Bn valuation in fresh capital. After successful completion of the deal, Byju’s will become the second most valued Indian startup standing at the same position as OYO. At present, the highest valued Indian Startup is Paytm.

Ecommerce Giant Club Factory Enters Grocery Delivery Segment to Overcome its Revenue Loss amid COVID-19

Club Factor, a China-based e-commerce major becomes the latest entrant to the flourishing grocery delivery segment in India amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been initiated in order to overcome the loss of revenue of the company due to a complete lockdown.

AP Government sets up Rs. 200 Crore fund in order to Help MSMEs

The Andhra Pradesh Government is all set to generate Rs.200 crore fund for helping micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and overcome the liquidity crisis due to the COVID-19 lockdown. These MSMEs contribute majorly of around 18% to the gross state domestic product.

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) to launch a national e-commerce marketplace ‘Bharat Market’ for retail traders

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the official traders’ body of retail traders is all set to launch a national e-commerce marketplace, ‘Bharat Market’. This marketplace will help retail traders collaborate with several technology partners.

Jio Platforms gets Rs.5655 Crore Investment from Private Equity Giant Silver Lake

Reliance Jio Platforms, led by Mukesh Ambani, raises an amount of Rs.5655 crore from private equity giant Silver Lake. The enterprise value of the deal was Rs.5.15 lakh crore with an of equity value Rs.4.90 lakh crore.

Insure-Tech Startup MetaMorphoSys gets an undisclosed amount of funding from US-based VC for Southeast Asia Expansion

MetaMorphoSys, a Pune based B2B insurance tech startup has successfully raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Good Capital, a US-based venture capital, in its pre-series funding round. The MD of venture debt fund Trifecta Capital, Rahul Khanna, was also a participant in the round.

Logistics Startup LoadShare Raises Rs.100 Crore in its Series B Funding Round led by BEENEXT and others

LoadShare, a B2C logistics startup has successfully raised Rs.100 crore in its series B funding round, which was led by BEENEXT. Other investors like the CDC Group, Stellaris Venture Partners, Alteria Capital, and Matrix Partners India also participated in the funding round.

Intel Plans to become ‘Complete Mobility Provider’ after acquiring Israeli Startup Moovit for $900Mn

Intel has purchased Israeli Mobility startup ‘Moovit’ for $900 million and executes its plan to become a ‘complete mobility provider’. This acquisition alert proves a deepen reach of Intel in Israel, as the California based chip-maker has already acquired other Israeli companies.

Related Article: Impact of COVID19 on Indian Startups to defer IPO Plans

Rooter raises $1.7Mn in its Pre-Series-A funding round, led by Paytm, Rockstud Capital, leAD Sports, and others

Rooter, a Delhi based live sports engagement platform raises $1.7Mn in its Pre-Series-A funding round. The funding round had some renowned key investors including Paytm, Rockstud Capital, leAD Sports, and Founder Bank Capital. The fund will be used for user growth and content growth.

Whatsapp Pay to launch in India by May end, after a partnership with numerous leading banks of the nation

Whatsapp’s digital payments platform, Whatsapp Pay, is all set to launch in India by May-end. Initially, Whatsapp has partnered with ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and HDFC Bank. The largest public sector bank SBI will be joining later.

Alteria Capital Invests Rs.7 Crore in Bangalore Based Agri-Tech Startup ‘Clover’

Clover, a Bangalore based greenhouse Agri-Tech startup has successfully raised Rs.7 crore in venture leasing from Alteria Capital. Before this, clover raised Rs.39.14 crore from VC Omnivore in February 2020. The funds will be used to reshape their existing supply chain of greenhouse-grown fresh produce.

SIDBI is launching a digital platform to boost digitization and credit access to SMEs

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is all set to launch SME service digital platform for facilitating the digitization and credit access to those who are caught in a cash crunch during COVID-19 pandemic. The platform will also let the MSMEs resume their business operations remotely.

Reliance Plans to Enter EPharmacy by Acquiring majority stakes in Netmeds

Reliance Industries Limited, led by Mukesh Ambani is reportedly in advanced talks regarding its plan to acquire a majority stake in Chennai based EPharmacy Netmeds. Reliance may acquire the stake by integrating anywhere between $130 – $150 Mn

Also Read: Indian Startup News, Funding Alerts, Acquisition Alerts from 26 April to 1 May 2020 

VernacularAI has raised $5.1 million in Series A funding, led by Exfinity Ventures and Kalaari Capital

Vernacular AI, an AI-based voice automation platform has raised $5.1 Mn in its series-A investment round. The funding round was led by Exfinity Ventures, Kalaari Capital, AngelList, IAN Fund, and LetsVenture. The fund will be used for business expansion in the US and Southeast Asia.

Snapdeal and Medlife Tie Up in a Partnership Deal for Medicine Delivery, Health Check-ups, and Diagnostic Tests

The e-health platform Medlife has announced its partnership with Snapdeal for enabling users to order medicines, book health check-ups, and diagnostic tests through the Snapdeal platform. After this partnership, Snapdeal users can order medicines online through a valid prescription.

Vesta Space Tech Receives $10Mn Funding from US-based Next Capital LLC

Vesta Space Technology, a Pune based startup has received $10 million (approx. Rs.75.8 crore) funding from Next Capital LLC. Next Capital LLC is a US-based investment and advisory firm. Vesta Space Tech makes satellite platforms for both scientific and commercial applications.

IELTSMaterial acquired by Times Internet Backed GetMyUni

GetMyUni, a Bangalore based Edtech startup has acquired IELTSMaterial, an online learning platform in an all-cash deal. After the acquisition, the operations of IELTSMaterial have merged with GetMyUni, which resulted in the recent growth of learners and e-book sales.

Roman Abramovich backed AltaIR Capital invests in Indo-Israeli Startup SafeHouse Technologies

AltaIR Capital, which is an Israel based investment firm, with the involvement of Roman Abramovich as key investors, has invested in an Indo-Israeli Startup SafeHouse Technologies. The funds will be used in protecting digital devices and users from cyber threats.

Global Fintech Startup Nium has raised a new equity round from new investors VISA and BRI Ventures

Nium, which is a global Fintech startup, has raised a new equity funding round which saw participation from new investor VISA and BRI Ventures. BRI Ventures is the corporate venture arm of Bank BRI of Indonesia. The funds will be used to build its diversified payment infrastructure.

Most Trusted Angel Investor of India, LetsVenture launches a growth-stage investment platform to tap domestic capital

Angel Investor LetsVenture launches LetsVenture Plus, which is a growth-stage investment platform in order to tap domestic capital. Now, apart from only focusing on early-stage investments, LetsVenture Plus will allow participation from family offices and ultra HNIs.

Ratan Tata invests an undisclosed amount in an 18 year Old’s Pharma Startup

Ratan Tata, who is the chairman at Tata Sons, has invested an undisclosed amount in a pharma startup ‘Generic Aadhaar’. Generic Aadhaar is established by an 18-year-old boy, Arjun Deshpande. The startup works for an intent to carry reasonable drugs to poor people.

Amazon Considers Direct Investment in Future Retail

Future Group which is led by Kishore Biyani has reportedly conversed with the US eCommerce giant Amazon to sell stake in Future Retail. This direct investment from Amazon can help Future Retail in improving its position of a cash crunch. At present, Amazon is holding an indirect stake of 1.3% in Future Retail.

2.32% stake in Jio Platforms bought by U.S.-based Vista Equity Partners for Rs.11367 crore

Vista Equity Partners invests Rs.11367 crore to buy 2.32% stake in the Reliance Jio Platforms Limited. This has valued the company at an equity value of Rs. 4.91 lakh crore. Behind Reliance Industries and Facebook, Vista has become the largest investor in Jio Platforms after buying a 2.32% stake.

Zomato Enters Into Alcohol Delivery after it has successfully stepped into Grocery Delivery

In the wake of wandering into grocery delivery, Zomato is currently planning to deliver alcohol to merge its situation in the hyperlocal delivery space as income from food delivery stays low because of the COVID-19 lockdown. Zomato is trying to overcome its losses through grocery delivery and now it’s stepping into alcohol delivery.

Zoom acquires Keybase, a startup with encryption expertise, Purchase Price Not Revealed

Zoom has acquired Keybase as a part of its 90-day security push. This deal will further strengthen the security of Zoom’s platform of video communication. The existing team of Keybase has been integrated into Zoom’s office to work together. The purchase price of the deal has not been revealed.

Vehant Technologies has propelled AI-based solutions for identifying face masks and promote social distancing

Vehant Technologies, a pioneer in Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning-based physical security and observation arrangements, launched ‘COVID Analytics’ – an AI-based, PC vision-driven insightful analytics solution. It is an image analytical solution that will be helpful in recognizing COVID19 violations.

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That’s all for this week!

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