3 Paytm employees in jail on extortion charges, ClearTax, TabSquare raise Series B

Wednesday October 24, 2018 , 2 min Read

After three employees were arrested in an extortion case, payments major Paytm released an official statement clarifying that the stolen data was, in fact, the personal data of Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma. The company, in an official communication, said, "...all our consumer data is protected with the highest and most impenetrable levels of security.” The Noida police had arrested three Paytm employees including his secretary for alleged extortion. The three employees allegedly threatened to leak personal data and confidential information if they were not paid Rs 20 crore.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder, One97 Communications — Founder of One97 Communications, Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Tax filing and investment startup ClearTax announced it had raised $50 million (approximately Rs 370 crore) as part of its Series B round of funding from Hong Kong-based Composite Capital. The company also said existing investors would be participating in the round, taking the total funding to Rs 400 crore. ClearTax will use the funds across three major areas, including accelerating the growth trajectory by acquiring more businesses and consumers; bolstering engineering infrastructure and teams; and pushing for further sales and marketing.

Archit Gupta, Founder & CEO, ClearTax

Artificial Intelligence-based restaurant management platform TabSquare raised $10 million in Series B funding led by Japanese online shopping company Kakaku. CocoCola Amatil, Resorts World Inc, and existing investor Walden International also participated in this round. The Singapore-based company, founded by INSEAD alumni Anshul Gupta, Chirag Tejuja, and Sankaran Sreeraman will use the funds to grow its geographic presence across Asia Pacific.

TabSquare Co-founders Chirag Tejuja, Sankaran Sreeraman, Anshul Gupta — TabSquare co-founders Chirag Tejuja, Sankaran Sreeraman and Anshul Gupta

India's internet services industry is estimated to create 12 million new jobs in the country by 2022, a study by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) reveals. At present, the sector employs one million people. E-tail or ecommerce will form the core of the growing internet services pie. The sector is estimated to be worth $58.2 billion by 2022 riding on a rapidly-expanding user base.

Pramod Jajoo has crossed multiple chasms across technology, startups and investment world. He is the man behind BigBasket’s systems, having built them ground up. The man from Amravati has been instrumental in building some of the most successful technology and internet companies in India and the US. His story is an example of how one’s technical expertise and passion for learning can lead to big achievements.