Swiggy closes $1Bn in funding; What's happening with angel tax?

The year has come to a great end for food delivery startup Swiggy. On Thursday, the company confirmed that it has raised $1 billion in Series H round led by Naspers, Meituan Dianping, Coatue Management, DST Global, Tencent, Hillhouse Capital and Wellington Management company. This is the single largest fund raise by a foodtech company in India. Swiggy will also look to further strengthen its tech efforts and focus on an AI-driven delivery platform for hyperlocal and on-demand delivery.

The dreaded angel tax is back to haunt startups

While Union Minister Suresh Prabhu promised to take up the matter of I-T notices on angel tax with the Ministry of Finance, until the law is amended, startups remain at the mercy of I-T officials and are dependent on a friendly ear in the government for (temporary) relief. On their part, the I-T Dept and the FinMin have a duty to prevent money laundering by way of 'investments' in startups, but the law, as it currently stands, seems to go against the spirit of the Startup India initiative.

Shop101 raises $11 M funding in Series B led by Kalaari Capital and more

Mumbai-based social ecommerce platform, Shop 101 has raised $11 million (Rs 80 crore) in Series B funding from Kalaari Capital and Unilever Ventures. The fresh funding, that comes less than five months after Shop 101 raised $5 million in Series A, will be used to enhance the technology platform and scale the supplier network.

Sachin Bansal registers a new company

The Co-founder of Flipkart, Sachin Bansal along with former investment banker Ankit Agarwal, has registered a non-government private company - BAC Acquisitions Private Limited on December 10, according to data from the Registrar of Companies (RoC). While the nature of its business is unclear, BAC Acquisitions appears to be a holding company. After Walmart acquired Flipkart, Sachin left Flipkart after selling his 5.5 percent stake for a reported $800 million-$1 billion.

How bootstrapped Experts’ Global is upping the game in the edtech space

Founded by Mayank Srivastava in 2008, Experts’ Global is a bootstrapped, profitable edtech venture that has successfully placed thousands of students at various business schools in the US through its online Graduation Management Admission Test (GMAT) preparation programme. Moving ahead, though, this edtech venture plans on banking on its AI-based software platform for exponential growth.

DIPP: ‘Government is committed to protecting bona fide investments into startups’

Amid talks of the return of angel tax and startups receiving notices from the tax department, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has taken up the issue with the Department of Revenue (DoR). “DIPP has again taken up this matter of issue of IT notices with the DoR so that there is no harassment of angel investors or startups. The government is committed to protecting bona fide investments into startups,” read an official press statement.

Nicolas Cary of Blockchain.com makes a compelling case for crypto assets 

In 2011, Nicolas Cary along with Peter Smith and Ben Reeves co-founded Blockchain.com – a platform that currently serves 30 million people across the world who use it to exchange cryptocurrency. Even billionaire Richard Branson is an investor in this US-UK company. Speaking to YourStory, Cary talks cryptocurrency and the need to adopt crypto assets and highlights their importance for a financially secure future devoid of transparency issues.

Gujarat emerges as top performing state in DIPP report

In a survey conducted by the DIPP, to assess the startup ecosystem in India, Gujarat has been declared as the top performer. “A total of 27 states and three union territories participated in the exercise. More than 40,000 calls were made in 9 different languages to connect with beneficiaries to get a real pulse at the implementation levels”, the startup ranking report stated.

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