WeWork, Perpule raise funding; Logistics platform FarEye buys Dipper Tech

Co-working unicorn WeWork has raised $3 billion from SoftBank Corp. This is in addition to the $1 billion it had raised from the Masayoshi Son-owned corporation in August. After the current fund-raise, WeWork would be valued at $42 billion from its current $20 billion. SoftBank Corp will pay WeWork $1.5 billion in two tranches, starting January 2019. However, despite mounting losses, WeWork plans to continue its expansion.

Logistics management startup FarEye has acquired IoT-led freight management platform Dipper Technologies for an undisclosed amount. Dipper offers visibility and predictive intelligence in freight management, especially in long-haul inter-city trips. Following the acquisition, Dipper’s entire team (20-odd employees) will be joining FarEye. Its customers, including some Fortune 500 companies, would also be migrated to the FarEye network.

When it comes to women entrepreneurs raising funds, we have good news and bad news. Women entrepreneurs accounted for just 5.2 percent in value terms and 15 percent of total funding deals in the startup ecosystem over Jan-Sep 2018. While the trend is encouraging, fact remains that the playing field is uneven: only 102 startups with women founders/co-founders raised funding this year until September. That’s just a little over 15 percent of the 600 deals closed.

Early-stage venture fund Prime Venture Partners on Wednesday announced that it has invested $4.7 million in Series-A funding in self-checkout solution Perpule, along with existing investors Kalaari Capital and Venture Highway. The company intends to use the funds for significant expansion into thousands of retail outlets across 10 cities, over the course of next year.

At the prestigious Fintech Festival in Singapore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched India as the as the "best" investment destination for tech firms and said financial inclusion had become a reality for 1.3 billion Indians with the government launching a number of people-friendly digital platforms.

November 14 is celebrated as Children’s Day in India to mark the birth anniversary of India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru due to his affection for kids. Children are said to be the future and backbone of any country. To help them learn and grow better, a number of startups have come up to engage kids and to get their basics right. YourStory lists six kid-friendly startups that are helping children learn the fun way.

Kamala Harris, the first Indian-origin US Senator also known as the "female Obama", is considering to run for the White House in 2020, media reports said. Born in Oakland, California, she is the daughter of an Indian mother who migrated to the US from Chennai in 1960 and a Jamaican-American father. The 2020 presidential cycle will kick off on February 3, 2020, in Iowa, where the first primary is scheduled to be held.

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