TECHNOLOGY
Former Swiggy exec Karthik Gurumurthy shelves offline startup, returns capital to Matrix Partners
While Gurumurthy is no longer building in the offline space, he is already on to his next venture, sources told Moneycontrol.
TECHNOLOGY
Next Bharat Ventures to launch Rs 350-crore fund backed by Japan’s Suzuki group
The fund will be run by Vipul Nath Jindal, head of Suzuki Innovation Centre at Suzuki Motor Corporation, sources told Moneycontrol. The impact fund will based in GIFT City and will focus on companies solving for the non-metro cities.
TECHNOLOGY
Zepto raises $665 million at $3.6 billion valuation in biggest funding round this year
Sources said that DST Global, an early investor in Swiggy also participated in the round. Zepto founder Aadit Palicha told Moneycontrol that the funds will be used to enter new markets like Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and double its dark stores to 700 from the current 350.
TECHNOLOGY
Everstage to raise $30 million at $150-million valuation
While the round is likely being led by a new investor, Eight Roads Ventures, existing backers like 3one4 Capital and Elevation Capital will also participate, sources told Moneycontrol.
TECHNOLOGY
General Catalyst merges with Venture Highway to sharpen India focus
General Catalyst will invest anywhere between $500 million and $1 billion in India over the coming years now that it will have a more nuanced understanding of the local ecosystem. The Venture Highway brand will no longer exist.
TECHNOLOGY
Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal advises startups to incorporate in India
The US was the default before the market opened up for tech IPOs (in India) but now it's clear that India is a great destination for tech IPOs, Bansal said.
TECHNOLOGY
Was a sceptic but now believe in quick commerce’s potential: Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal
“I give a lot of credit to the people who are making it work. There was Amazon, Flipkart and other big companies, all of them were trying to do this (but) the people who figured it out are new founders," said Bansal.
TECHNOLOGY
Zepto to raise $650 million at $3.5-billion valuation
Nexus and its LP StepStone will together lead the round by putting in a majority of the total $650 million, sources said.
TECHNOLOGY
Summer scorcher: Delivery platforms talk of cold drinks, fans; workers say even water is a luxury
While e-commerce and quick commerce companies say they are offering cold drinks, have set up rest points and have medical help at hand, delivery persons doing the rounds in this sweltering heat tell a different story
TECHNOLOGY
Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum Partnership in talks to lead $19 million round in AppsForBharat
The company is also securing a debt line of around $3 million as part of the same round, taking the total fundraise to around $21-22 million, as per sources. The startup is valued at around $80-90 million.
TECHNOLOGY
New Prosus chief Fabricio Bloisi to explore synergies between IPO-bound Swiggy and Berlin-based Delivery Hero
Bloisi, who is currently the CEO of iFood, a Brazilian food-delivery app, said the company saved around $200 million in five-six years with the help of AI. Expertise of that nature is something IPO-bound Swiggy will look to tap into as it aims to pare losses and better its financial health.
TECHNOLOGY
Flipkart closes $950 million round with Google's $350 million at a valuation of $36 billion
Capital from the primary round will be used to double down on quick commerce apart from investing in verticals like travel (Cleartrip) and Shopsy, sources said.
TECHNOLOGY
Dunzo investor Lightbox gives up its board seat
Siddharth Talwar represented Lightbox on Dunzo’s board but decided to move on from the VC fund in August 2023. Lightbox is not keen on nominating another person on the company’s board, Moneycontrol has learnt
TECHNOLOGY
Uneven pay, opacity and central shotcalling force VC partners to strike out on their own
While they preach backing visionary founders, when it comes to their own star players — the Managing Partners — it’s apparently a different story for many VC firms. Many of the departures, consequently, have been far from amicable.
TECHNOLOGY
Flipkart’s SVP Prabh Simran Singh and VP Sankalp Mehrotra set to quit
With the departures, Singh and Mehrotra join a growing list of other senior executives like Sandeep Kohli, Amitesh Jha, Bharath Ram, Ayyappan R and Dheeraj Aneja who have all left Flipkart in the past few months.
TECHNOLOGY
Porter quietly turns unicorn, closes internal round at $1 billion valuation
This is Porter's second friends and family round in a span of about a year. In the January-March quarter of 2023, the company sold shares worth Rs 7-8 crore to friends and family at a valuation of $700 million.
TECHNOLOGY
Springwel Mattresses to acquire D2C brand SleepyCat in a fire sale
Consolidation in the D2C space is not new. Companies that are unable to scale eventually get sold to larger players and these transactions typically happen at a steep discount
TECHNOLOGY
Believe we are the largest player in Bengaluru and Mumbai: Blinkit's Albinder Dhindsa
During the 45-minute long call, at least 10 out of 12 analysts first enquired about Blinkit and its performance before updates on food delivery, Zomato's core business, underscoring how vital quick commerce has become for the company and stakeholders.
TECHNOLOGY
Meet the startup that turns airport rides into cheap Ola-Uber carpools
The GoPool app enables users to find travellers headed to or from airports before a trip, allowing them to share a cab and the expense.
TECHNOLOGY
Meesho expands board, inducts former Flipkart SVP Surojit Chatterjee as independent director
Chatterjee is the second independent director on Meesho's board. Rohit Bhagat, currently the non-executive chairman of Walmart-owned PhonePe, was the company's first independent director. Walmart also owns Flipkart, Meesho's rival.
TECHNOLOGY
There are not enough consumer brands, we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg: Accel’s Prashanth Prakash and Fireside Ventures’ Kanwaljit Singh
Be it cookies, ketchup, snacks or personal care and beauty products, most people can recall just 5-6 names but are unable to think of companies beyond that, the two investors said.
TECHNOLOGY
Swiggy revives homestyle food ordering service Daily to take on Zomato Everyday
For IPO-bound Swiggy, currently on a clean up spree and consolidating several divisions into one, reviving an old offering is a rare move.
TECHNOLOGY
Meesho walks a tightrope to break even in Q3FY24 after turning a profit in preceding quarter
Meesho has not achieve operational profitability (EBITDA positive) in any of the quarters since at least the end of 2022, the documents showed.
TECHNOLOGY
Licious hits $100 million in annual revenue run rate
For its next phase of growth, Licious will focus on the ready-to-eat category and open more offline stores. It plans to open 40 stores by the end of the current fiscal.
