Pretr finds favour with Myntra as ZestMoney takes on board PhotographAI

Thursday August 02, 2018 , 3 min Read

It may be a wet-blanket welcome for those visiting Bengaluru with the incessant rain slowing down traffic further, but who cares? There is enough zest in India's startup capital, just like ZestMoney proved on Wednesday when it acquired PhotographAI. Then style icon Myntra suited up to acquire Mumbai-based omnichannel platform Pretr, to keep the action going. At the other end of the world, Apple took another bite towards becoming the first trillion dollar company giving Amazon the jitters. There is never a dull day in tech town, is there?

Bengaluru-based ZestMoney on Wednesday said that it has acquired AI-based intelligence platform, PhotographAI. This is the digital lender’s first acquisition. Not disclosing the size of the deal, the company said that it will be hiring the entire PhotographAI team and give them ESOPs. Founded in 2017, Bengaluru-based PhotographAI is a technology platform with ready-to-use machine learning solutions for businesses. The company was founded by Mikhil Raj and Karan Varshney, who are alumni of IIT Delhi.

Global alternative asset firm TPG, which has $84 billion of assets under management (AUM), announced it has signed a definitive agreement to invest $100 million in equity in Five Star Business Finance Limited (Five Star), a fast-growing, fully-secured small business financing company focused on South India. Existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, an investment fund managed by Morgan Stanley, and Sequoia Capital are investing alongside TPG Capital Asia. Matrix Partners, the company’s first investor, continues to stay invested in the company.

As fashion ecommerce market leader Myntra continues to focus on its omnichannel strategy, it has acquired Pretr, a Mumbai based end-to-end omnichannel platform for retail. The acquisition is expected to enable Myntra to forge omnichannel partnerships with various brands on its platform. Myntra, which already has partnered with over 2000 leading fashion and lifestyle brands, aims to provide a comprehensive solution to retailers’ omnichannel journey using Pretr. Founded in 2016 by Bhavik Jhaveri and Ankur Joshi, Pretr integrates brands’ online and offline segments.

Apple beat market estimates to deliver a knockout quarter as revenues climbed 17 percent to $53.3 billion, riding on strong iPhone numbers. The June quarter is typically slow for Apple as consumers stall upgrades in anticipation of new device announcements in the fall. But Apple managed to increase the iPhone’s average selling price (ASP) to $724 this quarter, indicating that the pricey iPhone X ($999) continues to find takers. On an absolute number basis, though, iPhone shipments remained flat at 41.3 million.

Pune-based patient financing platform Healthfin has raised pre-Series A funding from Axilor, Sprout Venture Partners, and HNI investors. The startup refused to divulge details of the funding it had received, but sources in the industry said the company had raised $500,000. This is Healthfin’s first round of funding, and it plans to use the funds for technological upgrades and hiring. Healthfin offers financial assistance to patients who do not have medical insurance or those who are under-insured and in need of immediate funds for medical procedures.