Cash Suvidha, Universal Sportsbiz raise funds; Xiaomi to invest Rs 7,000 Cr in 100 Indian startups

In the six years of its existence, Pepperfry has become the market leader in the online furniture and home décor sector. In fact, FY2017-18 has been a landmark year for the company, with multiple innovative initiatives and more funding in its kitty. In FY2017, Pepperfry grew 26 percent in revenues while its losses declined by 17 percent. It claims to have a 60 percent market share in the online home and furniture segment by working directly with 10,000 plus merchant partners and a catalogue of 1.2 lakh products.

Focussing on new product verticals and growth, BookMyShow ventured into audio entertainment, with the launch of Jukebox, and its own progressive web app. It also partnered with WhatsApp for Business and added more regional languages to its multilingual interface. In response, revenues saw a 178-percent rise, even if the losses went from lakhs to crores, and despite the fact that BookMyShow locked horns with digital payments platform Paytm for the first time.

Delhi-based lending startup Cash Suvidha announced it has raised $1 million as a part of its pre-Series A funding from Initia Holdings Ltd, Vipin Agarwal, Partner in India Industrial Growth Fund, and others. According to the company, the fresh funds will be used to increase the loan book of the company, and to further strengthen its technological infrastructure. Just last month, the company had stated that it had raised close to $2.5 million in debt funding.

Universal Sportsbiz has raised venture debt funding of Rs 30 crore led by Alteria Capital. This is the second fund raise led by Alteria Capital in a span of two weeks and is a part of Alteria’s maiden Rs 1,000 crore fund. Founded by Anjana Reddy, Universal Sportsbiz’s portfolio includes Wrogn, which is co-owned by Virat Kohli, Imara and Ms Taken.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi will invest Rs 6,000 crore to Rs 7,000 crore in 100 Indian startups to strengthen its devices ecosystem. The investment will pan out over a period of five years, Xiaomi announced. The startups will be chosen from the software and mobile tech space, which are aligned with Xiaomi’s product offerings. Xiaomi announced it had invested in 10 startups in 2017.

Encompassing a wide range of subjects and discussions by global experts, the two-day 18th Global Development Conference held in Delhi shed light on how the application of science, technology, and innovation (STI) across sectors can help in achieving sustainable development goals. The event witnessed over 300 registered participants from 46 countries and 295 additional web viewers over the two days.

Corporate training company Training Sideways offers behavioural training using experiential methods derived from the world of art, theatre, music, dance and other art forms. Started by Sunil Vishnu K, Karthik Kumar, TM Karthik, the company also works on team building and team bonding, towards breaking silos, and bringing together teams’ sort concerns and issues to build high-performing teams.

Husband-wife duo Ravi and Shilpi Malhotra started Debt Nirvana, a debt collection agency and a platform that helps companies mitigate credit risks. It analyses the creditworthiness of a company’s clientele based on management operational details, financial statements, revenue growth chart, complete analysis and its standing in the industry. It also analyses and takes into account a company’s social imprint.

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