The month of October passed by in a string of acquisitions, investments, surprise announcements and major technology updates. The month of November also started out with a bang news regarding major food tech companies, female entrepreneurs in the startup industry and all time high revenues. If you missed the major news of this week, here’s our weekly wrap up.
1. OLA FLEET TO RECEIVE $ 7.7 MILLION FROM ANI TECHNOLOGIES
Ola Fleet Technologies Pvt., Ltd., received $7.7 million in fresh funds from its parent company ANI Technologies Pvt., Ltd. The company already raised Rs. 50 crores and Rs. 100 crores from Ola in July this year. Close to 50 million equity shares were allocated at a subscription price of Rs. 10 apiece. Despite facing multiple loan defaults and other setbacks, the company posted a net sale of Rs. 5.6 crores for the financial year 2015-2016.
2. 75 STARTUPS RECEIVE SUPPORT FROM DIPP’S FUNDS OF FUNDS
75 startups in India received financial support from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP,) of India under the Funds of Funds Initiative. These 75 startups would receive the investment through 17 Alternative Investment Funds registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI.) Established by the Indian Government in association with the Small Industries Development Bank of India, the Funds Of Funds for Startups (FFS) aims to extend funding support to the startups identified based on criteria listed in line with the Startup India initiative. So far over Rs. 300 crores has been invested in startups by the Fund.
3. NOKIA MOBILE LAUNCHES NEW NOKIA 2
Technology major Nokia finally launched their much awaited flagship smartphone Nokia 2 at the Sector 55-56 Metro station in Gurgaon. One of Nokia’s most affordable phones, Nokia 2, is expected to hit the shelves mid November, this year. With a 4100 mAh battery that will last for 2 days, the Nokia 2 will pack a 5 inch LTPS HD (720×1280 pixels) resolution display. The phone packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 SoC processor but will come with just 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. Available in three color variants namely Copper Black, Pewter Black, and Pewter White, the handset will hold a 5 MP front camera and an 8 MP primary camera.
4. SWIGGY TO MERGE WITH ZOMATO?
India’s two biggest food tech startups, Zomato and Swiggy, are reportedly in talks for a stock based merger. According to sources, restaurant discovery platform, Zomato, offered a 1:4 share swap ratio to Swiggy, which would reduce the valuation of the online food ordering platform at $225 million. 2016 saw an exponential growth in the food delivery industry. While Swiggy claimed to complete close to 4- 4.5 million orders a month, Zomato dominated the restaurant discovery business with 3- 3.2 million online orders per month. Zomato and Swiggy’s merger will be among the most significant moves made towards consolidating a lucrative sector, after the failed acquisition talks between Flipkart and Snapdeal.
5. ZONE STARTUPS INDIA SELECTS 15 STARTUPS FOR EMPOWER ACCELERATOR PROGRAM
In an attempt to encourage female entrepreneurs, Zone Startups India has selected 15 women for the second edition of its empoWer Accelerator Program. Selected by a panel comprising of 12 mentors and noted industry experts, the startups will compete for a chance to attend a week long business development and personal mentorship programme in Quebec, Canada. The startups represent industries like healthcare, smart cities and enterprise solutions across various technology themes including Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and deep learning, across industries like healthcare, smart cities and enterprise solutions. The shortlisted startups will get to network in the industry, attend valuable mentoring sessions and workshops during a six week community programme.
6. ONE97 COMMUNICATION POSTS $ 126 MILLION IN REVENUE
One97 Communication, the parent company of Paytm, posted a total revenue of $ 126 million and net worth of Rs. 2,376.6 crores for the fiscal year 2016 – 2017. Founded in 2010 by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Paytm is India’s leading digital payments platform backed by China’s ecommerce giant Alibaba and Japan’s venture capital firm Softbank. The company witnessed a 65% rise in offline payments resulting in transactions worth $ 1.6 billion, post Demonetization last year. The company also claims to have over 218 million customers in India and a few other parts of the world and aims to increase their customer count to 50 crores by the end of 2020.
7. PAYTM LAUNCHES ITS IN HOUSE MESSAGING APP – INBOX
A day after posting their record high revenue, Paytm announced the launch of their brand new in house messaging service, Inox. In an attempt to create a separate path in the fierce world of ecommerce, Inbox lets users send and receive images and text messages. The messaging service will be embedded with digital transaction features as an additional advantage against other messaging apps. Furthermore, Inbox will also have a recall option that lets users delete messages once sent.
That’s all for this week! Subscribe to our portal to never miss updates from the startup world! If your startup has an exciting announcement coming up, you can even write to us at [email protected]. Catch up with the highlights of the week with our The News This Week section.
