Droom, mfine raise funding; Suresh Prabhu addresses entrepreneurs in Facebook live session

Friday May 18, 2018 , 2 min Read

Droom, the transactional platform for automobiles, announced it raised Series-D funding of $30 million led by Toyota Tsusho Corporation, member of the Toyota Group, and co-led by Digital Garage of Japan. Through the latest funding and the ongoing support of investors, Droom aims to cement its position as India’s foremost online automobile marketplace.

Neo-banking platform OPEN, which offers digital banking services for small businesses, announced it had raised pre-Series A funding in a round led by Unicorn India Ventures and Recruit Co Ltd, through its investment subsidiary RSP India Fund LLC. Existing investors fintech-focused accelerator ISME-ACE and Vaibhav Domkudwar’s BetterCapital AngelList Syndicate also participated in the round. According to sources, the funds raised are expected to be around $2 million.

Founders of OPEN Anish Achuthan and Mabel Chacko

Having built one of the country’s biggest online fashion brands, Myntra Co-founder Ashutosh Lawania is at the starting line again. This time, it is the healthcare sector that has caught his fancy, and the result is mfine. App-based on-demand healthcare service mfine on Thursday announced it had raised $4.2 million as a part of its Series A funding in a round led by Prime Venture Partners, along with participation from existing investors Stellaris Venture Partners.

Prasad Kompalli and Ashutosh Lawania, Co-founders of mfine

In a Facebook live session with the startup community, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu addressed entrepreneurs’ queries and concerns and spoke on mentorship, regulations, profitability, and women entrepreneurship. He highlighted three key issues that aspiring entrepreneurs often face – the idea of starting up, converting an idea into a business solution, and then taking it through several hurdles like regulations, talent, and others.

Video streaming market leader YouTube has confirmed the launch date of YouTube Music, its new music streaming service. The new offering will launch next Tuesday, May 22, and will bring the music listening experience of YouTube into a brand new dedicated platform. The basic service will be ad-supported and free, but users can opt for an ad-free YouTube Music Premium service for $9.99 a month. YouTube also announced that it was rebranding its paid subscription service YouTube Red and relaunching it as YouTube Premium, at the price of $11.99 per month.

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