Trell raises $11.4 million series A
Published on 18th August, 2020 | 1 min read
Mumbai: Indian community-commerce platform Trell announced a $11.4 million Series A round led by KTB Network. After the Indian government banned many popular Chinese apps like TikTok in the country, a lot of Indian brands like Trell, Chingari and Roposo have tried to fill the void left behind these apps. Since the Chinese app ban, Trell claims it has witnessed 500% growth with a total of 15 million plus creators on its platform receiving more than 5 billion monthly views and has been rapidly growing since then. With over 75 million downloads and 25 million monthly active users on its app, Trell claims its has grown 27 times in the last 12 months and has emerged as one of the biggest lifestyle social platforms in India. In March, Trell had announced a $4 million pre-Series A funding round. Trell is a mobile application, where users come together to share 3-minute vertical videos in native languages. Trell monetises through social commerce where the passion-based community of content creators enable users to make well informed and suitable purchase decisions for better lifestyle choices.
Milagrow expects 15-20-fold growth in robot sales in FY21 due to Covid-19
Published on 17th August, 2020 | 1 min read
Homegrown robot maker Milagrow expects a 15-20 fold jump in sales this fiscal with machines replacing humans in various processes due to the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. The demand for floor cleaning and other has picked up as people faced domestic help constraints amid concerns around the pandemic, Milagrow founder and chairman Rajeev Karwal told PTI. “We have seen the market exploding for In the first four months, we have achieved the entire turnover of what we did in last year. In early August we already sold 50 per cent of what we did in the last four months. We expect to sell 1 lakh units this fiscal with an average price of Rs 45-50 thousand,” Karwal said. “At 300,000 units, India market will be around 10 per cent of China market which 3 million units. India market mirrors China market with a lag of five years. I have seen the same for colour television segment, washing machine. This year also dishwashers, robotic vacuum cleaners have gone through the roof,” Karwal said. Karwal said that Milagrow market share may decline this year to about 35 per cent due to various brands coming in with a boom in the market but would again recover in the next financial year to 50 per cent.
Samsung may move part of smartphone production to India, plans to make devices worth $40 billion
Published on 17th August, 2020 | 1 min read
Electronics major Samsung might move part of its smartphone production to India from Vietnam and other countries. The South Korean company is planning to produce devices worth over $40 billion or Rs 3 lakh crore in the country. As per the daily, Samsung has submitted an estimate to the government to make smartphones worth $40 billion in the next five years under the PLI scheme. Samsung makes nearly 50 per cent of its phones in Vietnam. If Samsung’s plans follow through, it will join smartphone major Apple in moving a key part of its productions to India. “A total of 22 companies have filed their applications under the PLI Scheme. The benchmark for international mobile phone manufacturing companies was to manufacture mobile phones worth Rs 15,000 and above, whereas there wasn’t any such benchmark for the domestic companies. We welcome Apple and Samsung to India. Domestic companies – Lava, Micromax, Padget Electronics, Sojo – are welcome to go ahead,” said the minister. The global smartphone export market is estimated around $270 billion, out of which Apple has 38 per cent market share and Samsung 22 per cent by value.
Reliance Industries may buy Urban Ladder, Milkbasket to boost e-tail
Published on 17th August, 2020 | 1 min read
BENGALURU: Reliance Industries is in talks to acquire online furniture brand Urban Ladder and milk delivery platform Milkbasket as it looks to strengthen its e-commerce play, said multiple sources familiar with the matter. The discussions with Urban Ladder have been going on for the last few months and are now at an advanced stage, said four sources briefed on the matter. A deal with Urban Ladder could be pegged at around $30 million, including further infusion in the business and earn-out for the management team, said one of the sources. Milkbasket’s previous talks with firms like Bigbasket and Amazon India haven’t fructified due to valuation mismatch, according to one of the sources. The Bengaluru-based Bigbasket, at the same time, also acquired DailyNinja to boost its subscription-based morning delivery business BB Daily. “It would not be productive to comment on media speculations,” said Urban Ladder co-founder Ashish Goel when contacted by TOI, adding that the company is “Working round-the-clock to rejuvenate the business”. Milkbasket co-founder and CEO Anant Goel did not respond to TOI’s emailed query.
Google in talks with ShareChat as latter scouts for $150-200 million
Published on 17th August, 2020 | 1 min read
BENGALURU|MUMBAI: Google is in talks with ShareChat for investing in the Bengaluru-based social media firm, two people familiar with the matter told ET. ShareChat is looking to raise $150-200 million and is holding discussions with investors and technology companies, as it prepares to battle it out with over a dozen rivals to fill the gap left by banned Chinese apps, including TikTok and Helo. Google is not the only firm that has held discussions with ShareChat, which counts microblogging platform Twitter as one of its investors. In an interview with ET last week, ShareChat chief executive Ankush Sachdeva said the company is seeing a lot of inbound interest and it is talking to everyone, including all the global players. “Given how things have changed, especially after the ban, ShareChat benefits a lot in terms of time spent, in terms of revenue, in terms of daily active users. We are suddenly a lot more valuable than our previously thought valuation. We have got a lot of inbound interest and we are talking to everyone, including all the global players,” Sachdeva told ET. In July, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a $10 billion India Digitisation Fund, most of which will be invested in Indian companies over the next five to seven years.
For Nykaa, fashion is the next biggest frontier
Published on 15th August, 2020 | 1 min read
Bengaluru: Online beauty retailer Nykaa, which entered the unicorn club recently, is betting big on fashion and has seen sales recover by over 90% compared to pre-covid levels, said a top executive. “Fashion may be nearly 20% of our GMV in the near term. And we are working towards building it to almost 40% of our business in the next 3-5 years … our fashion category is already trending 160% of February levels,” Falguni Nayar, founder and CEO, Nykaa said in an interview. As covid-19 continues to disrupt businesses, Nykaa is capitalising on the trend of offline fashion retailers trying to sell their inventory online, as customers flock to shop virtually. “However, we at Nykaa pride ourselves on a small percentage of our goods being discounted. With offline stores being disrupted, fashion brands want to sell 20-30% of their goods on e-commerce, and with that they are bringing their new seasons online,” she said. “For a lot of fashion brands, which continue to look at India as a strong growth market, and establish a presence, Nykaa is not just an online retailer, but also has a strong omni-channel play with offline stores. And brands are looking to partner with us to not just help them create a presence but also retail their products, creating an end-to-end.” said Anchit Nayar, CEO, Retail, Nykaa.
SoftBank commits $1.1 billion to WeWork amid membership drop
Published on 15th August, 2020 | 1 min read
SoftBank Group Corp. is adding $1.1 billion to its WeWork commitment as the co-working company weathers declining membership amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a staff memo obtained by Bloomberg News. While WeWork’s second-quarter revenue rose 9% to $882 million from a year earlier, that marked a decline from its $1.1 billion haul in this year’s first three months. Still, the cash burn was less than the $1.3 billion in WeWork’s peak outflow in the fourth quarter of 2019, Ross noted. The new investment from SoftBank comes after its roughly $100 billion Vision Fund recorded losses after writing down WeWork’s valuation to $2.9 billion, down more than 90% from its $47 billion peak. SoftBank has invested more than $10 billion in WeWork. Last month, We Co., the parent of WeWork, asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by two of its board members against SoftBank for reneging on a $3 billion offer to buy the co-working company’s closely held shares. The new debt financing replaces a $1.1 billion commitment that was conditional on the tender offer agreed to last October, a SoftBank representative said.
Unacademy in talks to raise $150 million, led by SoftBank
Published on 15th August, 2020 | 1 min read
BENGALURU: Unacademy is finalising a deal to raise around $150 million led by SoftBank, sources in the know told ET, boosting the ed-tech startup’s pre-money valuation to $1.3 billion, second only to industry leader Byju’s. Unacademy last picked up $110 million from Facebook and PE firm General Atlantic in February, at a valuation of $510 million. A SoftBank spokesperson said the firm will not comment on market “Speculation”. The fundraising will mark the first investment in an Indian firm by SoftBank since December, when it had backed eyewear retailer Lenskart. SoftBank Vision Fund’s other big Indian portfolio companies such as budget hotels chain Oyo and digital payments platform Paytm have also been under the scanner due to mounting losses. News website moneycontrol.com was the first to report SoftBank’s plans to invest in Unacademy on Friday. The likely funding from SoftBank comes after Unacademy saw a spike in online learners in the days following the Covid-19 outbreak.
Walmart's Flipkart eyes alcohol delivery foray with Indian startup, letters show
Published on 15th August, 2020 | 1 min read
NEW DELHI: Walmart’s e-commerce platform Flipkart has partnered with a startup backed by spirits giant Diageo to deliver alcohol in two Indian cities, according to government letters seen by Reuters, months after Amazon planned a similar foray. Flipkart and Amazon’s interest in delivering alcohol in India marks a bold move to make inroads into an alcohol market that is worth $27.2 billion, according to estimates by IWSR Drinks Market Analysis. The local governments of eastern West Bengal and Odisha states have said that Flipkart can be associated as a technology service provider of Diageo -backed HipBar, an Indian alcohol home delivery mobile application. HipBar, 26% owned by Diageo India, and Flipkart did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In June, Reuters reported that Amazon had secured clearance to deliver alcohol in West Bengal, signalling the U.S. e-commerce giant’s foray into the sector. Some states in India, like Gujarat in the west, prohibit alcohol retail. India’s top two food-delivery startups, Swiggy and Zomato, have also started delivering alcohol in some cities, as companies look to cash in on the high demand for booze from people staying at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
TikTok and its employees prepare to fight Trump over app ban
Published on 14th August, 2020 | 1 min read
TikTok and its US employees are planning to take President Donald Trump’s administration to court over his sweeping order to ban the popular video app, according to a lawyer preparing one of the lawsuits. Trump last week ordered sweeping but vague bans on dealings with the Chinese owners of TikTok and messaging app WeChat, saying they are a threat to US national security, foreign policy and the economy. The TikTok order would take effect in September, but it remains unclear what it will mean for the apps’ 100 million U.S. users, many of them teenagers or young adults who use it to post and watch short-form videos. The order would prohibit “Any transaction by any person” with TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance. TikTok didn’t return multiple requests for comment this week. The Fifth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution safeguard life, liberty and property from arbitrary government action lacking “Due process of law.” Microsoft is in talks to buy parts of TikTok, in a potential sale that’s being forced under Trump’s threat of a ban. The looming ban has annoyed TikTok users, some of them Trump supporters like Pam Graef of Metairie, Louisiana.
Gold prices fall today, down ₹2,000 per 10 gram this week
Published on 14th August, 2020 | 1 min read
On MCX, October gold futures fell 0.65% to ₹52596 per 10 gram while September silver futures dropped 1% to ₹70,345 per kg. Gold prices have been volatile since hitting a record high of about ₹56,000 last week. In the previous session, gold had risen 1% amid volatile trade while silver had surged about 6%. So far this week, gold is down over ₹2,000 per 10 gram. In global markets, gold prices were flat today at $1,952 per ounce. Gold has has fallen 4% so far this week amid a wild ride. Gold was supported by a weak dollar, which fell for a third consecutive session against its rivals, making gold cheaper for holders of other currencies. Gold ETFs have seen record inflows this year as investors rush for the safe-haven appeal of gold amid the coronavirus crisis upends markets and low returns on bonds.
PM Modi launches Transparent Taxation platform to benefit honest taxpayers
Published on 14th August, 2020 | 1 min read
Three main features of the platform are faceless assessment, faceless appeal and tax payers’ charter, PM Modi announced. India’s tax administration has been known for tax harassment, where overzealous well-intentioned officials while raising tax revenues, have dampened growth and at times done more damage than good. Tax officers told Reuters that faceless tax assessment may reduce tax collection and raise pressure on officers that are under stress to meet lofty tax targets for the current fiscal year. “The CBDT has given a framework and put in place a system in the form of this platform, a transparent efficient and accountable tax system,” she added. The platform will use technology such as data analytics and AI. “This adds strength to our efforts of reforming and simplifying our tax system. It will benefit several honest taxpayers, whose hard work powers national progress,” PM Modi had earlier said on Twitter. The launch of the platform carries forward the journey of direct tax reforms, following the several measures that have been taken by the CBDT to aid taxpayers. The focus of the tax reforms has been on reduction in tax rates and on simplification of direct tax laws.
Amazon India launches online pharmacy service
Published on 14th August, 2020 | 1 min read
Bengaluru: E-commerce firm Amazon India has launched Amazon Pharmacy, marking its entry into the online medicine segment that has significant gained momentum during the covid-19 led lockdown and even after unlocking. It has launched the online pharmacy service in Bengaluru to begin with, and may conduct pilots in other cities too going forward. “As a part of our commitment to fulfill the needs of customers, we are launching Amazon Pharmacy in Bengaluru allowing customers to order prescription-based medication in addition to over-the-counter medicines, basic health devices and Ayurveda medication from certified sellers. This is particularly relevant in present times as it will help customers meet their essential needs while staying safe at home,” an Amazon spokesperson said. Bigger healthcare firms like Practo, 1mg, Medlife, PharmEasy, Netmeds as well as smaller startups like BeatO and mfine are registering increasing user interest and demand post covid, as people spend on boosting their immunity, treat illnesses through online consultations and buy medicines online. Several countries are trying to shift healthcare delivery on to the internet, incentivise telemedicine, encourage online medicine bookings and use chatbots to answer patient queries.
Medtronic to invest Rs 1,200 cr to expand Hyd R&D centre
Published on 13th August, 2020 | 1 min read
Hyderabad: In a move that’s sure to boost Telangana’s ambitions to emerge as a global medical devices hub, the $30.6 billion Irish medtech giant Medtronic Plc is investing Rs 1,200 crore over the next five years in expanding its existing R&D centre in Hyderabad into its largest global R&D centre outside the US housing over 1,000 engineers. The Medtronic Engineering & Innovation Centre at Hyderabad will conduct advanced engineering R&D and product development in the areas of design, analysis, advanced hardware and software development and testing, Madan Krishnan, VP-Indian Subcontinent and Minimally Invasive Therapies Group-APAC, Medtronic, said in a statement. The existing Medtronic R&D centre, spread over 90,000 sq ft at Gachibowli, has been operational since 2011 and currently houses over 350 engineers. The centre, which was acquired by Medtronic following its acquisition of Covidien in 2014, has already filed over 140 patents and made over 400 IP disclosures. Medtronic is looking to ramp up its operations to over 1,000 engineers and has leased about 1.5 lakh space at the DSR Infratech in Financial District, Shakthi Nagappan, director, Telangana Lifesciences, told TOI on Tuesday after a virtual meeting held by Telangana industries & IT minister KT Rama Rao with the Medtronic top brass.
Hyperion says it’s developed a hydrogen-powered supercar, now it needs money
Published on 13th August, 2020 | 1 min read
Hyperion Companies Inc., a decade-old Los Angeles outfit, is entering the race for speculative transportation capital today when it pulls the cover off a supercar that it says will turn oxygen and hydrogen into water and speed. The car will purportedly sprint from a standstill to 60 miles per hour in 2.2 seconds and travel 1,000 miles before running out of fuel. “We’re proposing what the penultimate hydrogen car should be,” said CEO Angelo Kafantaris. “This car is meant to showcase the beauty of hydrogen.” On a highway, hydrogen is cleaner than gasoline and doesn’t require a massive battery and the precious lithium and recycling headaches that go with it. There are only three hydrogen models to choose from: the Honda Clarity, Hyundai Nexo and Toyota’s Mirai, all relatively bare-bones sedans that cost about $60,000. Not surprisingly, hydrogen filling stations are hard to come by.
Paytm kick-starts stockbroking services
Published on 13th August, 2020 | 1 min read
Paytm Money, a subsidiary of One97 Communications Ltd, which operates Paytm, has been planning to enter the stockbroking business from its inception in October 2018. Paytm Money will build products for users who are new to trading. With a full-scale launch expected in September, Paytm Money expects to reach 100,000 daily trades within six months and achieve 250,000 customers in the first year. Paytm Money chief executive officer Varun Sridhar said in an interview that it currently has 90,000 users who are on a wait list for stockbroking, with almost half of Paytm Money’s total user base wanting to try it. “With a bank, and other financial offerings, Paytm’s aim currently is financial inclusion, and owing to the demographic the company targets, it is really easy for the platform to get access to a new set of users that has never traded before. Hence, cost is definitely a USP for us for stock broking. Also, only 25% of Indian population currently trades in the public market. With Paytm Money’s entry and the scale we provide, we can definitely expand the size of the market,” said Sridhar. Paytm Money plans to enter the derivatives segment as well as provide options around futures trading.
Eduvanz raises $5 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia India
Published on 13th August, 2020 | 1 min read
BENGALURU: Digital non-banking company Eduvanz has raised $5 million as part of its Series A round led by Sequoia India, along with existing investor Unitus Capital. Eduvanz provides loans to students for upskilling as well as school fees, and leverages parameters like social media scores, education scores as well as taking guardians or parents as guarantors, to enhance its underwriting process. “Over the next decade, our country will need skilled workforces trained in new technologies and new skills. By 2022, we need 700 million skilled workers. However, only 10% of the total workforce receives any formal skill training. By combining innovative student-centric loan solutions, Eduvanz is enabling higher enrollment for learners across colleges, universities, certification partners, institutes, and schools,” said Varun Chopra, chief executive, Eduvanz. “There is a large unmet credit need for education in India. Eduvanz is catering to this by building a differentiated lending business with exceptional credit quality. Their future employability-based underwriting approach will make education and skilling more accessible to accelerate a diverse range of careers,” said Ashish Agrawal, principal, Sequoia Capital India LLP. Eduvanz aims to disburse ?400-500 crore in loans over the next two years. In the first six months of 2020, Indian edtech startups raised close to $795 million compared with $108 million in the year-ago period, according to data from Venture Intelligence research.
Skyroot India’s first private company to test upper-stage rocket engine
Published on 12th August, 2020 | 1 min read
HYDERABAD: Aerospace startup Skyroot Aerospace has successfully test fired an upper-stage rocket engine, becoming the first Indian private company to demonstrate the capability to build a homegrown rocket engine. The 3-D printed rocket engine – Raman, named after Nobel laureate CV Raman – has fewer moving parts and weighs less than half of conventional rocket engines with a similar capacity. “We demonstrated India’s first 100% 3D-printed bi-propellant liquid rocket engine injector. Compared to traditional manufacturing, this reduced the overall mass by 50%, reduced the total number of components and lead time by 80%,” Chandana said. Over the years, India has emerged a global hub to launch small satellites using the polar satellite launch vehicles. As the country opens its space sector to private players, startups such as Skyroot, Agnikul and Bellatrix are building small launchers, with 3-D printed engines, hoping to bring down the cost of launching satellites and capturing a bigger pie of the global small satellite launch market. V Gnanagandhi, another former Isro scientist and a senior vice president at Skyroot, who is leading its liquid-propulsion team, said: “This test has qualified a unique monolithic design of injector with complex internal channels and demonstrated high performance for hypergolic rocket propellants.”
Rocketship.vc - built on data science and analytics - marks final close of Fund-II at $100 million
Published on 12th August, 2020 | 1 min read
Vc has made the final close of its second fund at $100 million, the Silicon Valley-based early-stage venture capital firm announced on Tuesday. The Los Altos, California-headquartered venture capital firm’s latest investment vehicle has been backed by the likes of Vulcan Capital, the investment arm of Vulcan Inc, the company founded by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen, US private markets investment manager Adams Street Partners, the family office of Marc Andreessen, and Chris Dixon, both partners at Silicon Valley investment powerhouse Andreessen Horowitz. Rajaraman was also an angel investor in Facebook and Lyft.The firm, whose maiden investment vehicle was a $40 million fund that closed in 2015, has been a growing presence in India, having invested more than $14 million in Asia’s third-largest economy till date. Vc has invested in 44 companies across seed, Series A and B rounds, with 46% of its investments outside the US, according to data shared by the investment firm. “Venture Capital is undergoing its biggest shift in decades. As entrepreneurship goes global, firms are recognising that the traditional Silicon Valley-based networking approach of VC is unable to scale to the new reality of meeting startups wherever they are,” Ramakrishnan said.
Zin Boats reinvents the electric speedboat in a bid to become the Tesla of the sea
Published on 12th August, 2020 | 1 min read
“The reason I started working on electric boats specifically is because I had a kid, and I had a come to Jesus moment,” he told me. That level of draw limited electric boats to being the aquatic equivalent of golf carts – in fact, carts and some of the more popular old-school electric boats share many components. Considering traditional boats’ fuel efficiency and the rising price of marine gas, going electric might save a boat owner thousands every year. “The boat was designed around the battery. The unique part of using an electric system is we can put the motor anywhere we want,” Zin said. “So if you live on a lake in Montana that’s electric only, you have the option to go at five knots, and you can’t even cross the lake because the boat is so slow or you can have a fully functional powerboat that you can water ski behind, the same speeds you get in a gas power boat, but it’s absolutely emissions free. I mean, this boat is as clean as it gets – there’s zero oil, zero gasoline, zero anything that will get into the water.” In fact there are a few competitors, but they tend to be even more niche or piecemeal jobs, mating an electric engine to an existing hull and saying it’s an electric boat that goes 50 knots.