BUSINESS
SaaS-accelerator Upekkha shifts gears to AI-focussed fund, launches new AI startup cohort
Upekkha’s new cohort will have 40 startups which will receive an investment of $125,000 each. The platform will adopt a Y Combinator approach to equity and deployments
BUSINESS
Matrix Partners India elevates Pranay Desai as Managing Director
Desai joined Matrix in the year 2021 and was leading B2B SaaS investments. He was working closely with portfolio companies like Moengage, Rocketlane, Superops, 100ms, Murf and Toddle.
BUSINESS
EV maker Ather’s FY23 operating revenue jumps 337% to Rs 1,784 crore, losses up 150%
Ather Energy’s losses are on the back of a 260% jump in its total expenses during FY23 which came around Rs 2,611 crores
BUSINESS
Ola restarts bike taxi operation in Bengaluru, goes all electric
The firm has fixed the pricing as Rs 25 for 5km, Rs 50 for 10km. The move comes despite several legal tussles with various state governments to run bike taxis.
BUSINESS
Inside Perfios' FY24 roadmap: Clocking $100 million ARR and IPO plans
With the new funding round, Perfios plans to deploy the funds to fuel its global expansion plans in North America and Europe.
BUSINESS
Atomicwork raises $11 million in seed round led by Matrix Partners and Blume Ventures
The startup is founded in 2022 by the cofounder of SaaS firm Minjar, Vijay Rayapati along with former Freshworks founding team members Parsuram Vijayasankar and Kiran Darisi.
BUSINESS
Pentathlon Ventures launches Rs 450 crore fund II, to invest in B2B SaaS startups
Within the SaaS ecosystem, Pentathlon Ventures plans to support solutions across Enterprise Digital Transformation, E-commerce Enablement, Fintech, Vertical SaaS, Applied AI, Sustainable Tech, and HealthTech.
BUSINESS
BharatPe's chief business officer Nishant Jain quits
Nishant Jain joined BharatPe in May 2020 and was responsible for scaling up BharatPe’s merchant base to 10 million in that year.
BUSINESS
BluSmart crossed Rs 400 crore in ARR, plans to double fleet size to 10,000: Co-founder Anmol Singh Jaggi
BluSmart's cofounder said that the firm has reported a operating revenue of Rs 170 crores as of FY23 as against Rs 29 crores in FY22.
BUSINESS
Behind Paytm and Pine Labs launching devices with identical functions on same day
As faster, more convenient, and cheaper payment methods gain popularity, India-specific innovations such as stripped down POS devices will help digitise merchant payments in smaller towns and cities.
BUSINESS
Hero MotoCorp to invest Rs 550 crore into Ather Energy
This comes at a time when the EV maker was looking to close a pre-IPO funding round before its IPO listing plans. Industry sources said that the company is mulling an IPO BY 2024
BUSINESS
EV two-wheeler sales improve in August, TVS Motors market share grows to 25%
Ola Electric continues to lead the EV two-wheeler market with around 29.3 percent market share followed by TVS Motors and Ather Energy
BUSINESS
Only a third of investors are active, Share.Market aims to change that: PhonePe Co-founder Rahul Chari
Walmart-backed fintech major PhonePe announced on 30 August its entry into the stock broking business with the launch of its app called "Share.Market".
BUSINESS
PhonePe enters stock broking business with launch of Share.Market app
In 2021, PhonePe began the process of entering India's competitive stockbroking business and was awaiting a license from SEBI for the same.
BUSINESS
Jio’s fintech ambitions pose a potential threat to startups over the long term
JFS’ war chest, execution capabilities at scale and the reach that other RIL Group companies provide could be formidable and pose a threat to fintechs’ market share over the long term. This also indicates the potential Reliance group sees in the Indian fintech market.
BUSINESS
TVS Motor will ramp up production of iQube and enter international markets: MD Sudarshan Venu
TVS launched their second electric vehicle called TVS X with a total capital expenditure (capex) of Rs 250 crore. The new model is priced at Rs 2.49 lakh. The model boasts of many industry-first features and is expected to see strong growth
BUSINESS
TVS Motor invests Rs 250 crore in its newly launched EV TVS X, to focus on global market expansion
The new TVS X is priced at Rs 2.49 lakh and is available for bookings as of Thursday and deliveries across 15 cities will start from Nov 2023 in a phase-wise manner.
BUSINESS
Unavailability of deep tech talent may affect growth of Indian B2B SaaS firms: Report
Despite the challenges, the report also said that the deep tech- focused B2B SaaS firms can potentially unlock sustained Annual Recurring Revenue CAGR of 30-50 percent
BUSINESS
Bengaluru: Ola Uber challenger Namma Yatri app to charge subscription fee from drivers
Auto Drivers will have two options: pay Rs 25 for unlimited trips per day, or Rs 3.50 per ride (no charges after 10 trips). The union says this is not a commission, but a subscription fee.
BUSINESS
After PhonePe, fintech unicorn Mobikwik to enter merchant lending business
Mobikwik claims to have turned profitable in the March quarter of FY23 and expects to almost double revenue to over Rs 1,000 crore in the current fiscal year, along with full-year profitability. Mobikwik has about 4 million merchants on its platform.
BUSINESS
Ola Electric's FY23 financials will be a positive surprise: CEO Bhavish Aggarwal
Ola Electric's losses widened around 293 percent to Rs 784 crore in FY22, but expects to see recovery this year. The company is also launching its lithium ion battery facility and hopes to hit the global EV market next year.
BUSINESS
Top banks and NBFCs eye electric two-wheeler financing as prices set to soar
Ola Electric has partnered with Shriram City Union Finance. Similarly, Ather Energy is also offering up to 100 percent on-road financing through partnerships
BUSINESS
Ather expects to double market share with the launch of 450S electric scooter
Ather makes its foray into the 125cc space with the launch of the 450S, which comes with a starting price of Rs 1,29,999
BUSINESS
Ola Electric's FY22 loss widens to Rs 784 crore, consolidated revenue jumps to Rs 373 crore
The company saw its expenses zoom to Rs 1,240 crore registering an increase of 306 per cent year-on-year (YoY). The company’s employee benefit expense amounted to Rs 282 crore in FY22 up from Rs 197 crore in FY21
