Startup news and updates: daily roundup (Feb 9, 2021)

Future Retail gets relief from Delhi HC bench in RIL deal case

Future Retail Ltd (FRL) on Monday said the Delhi High Court has ruled that statutory authorities cannot be restrained from acting in accordance with the law and stayed a previous order on the status quo of its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance.

Updating stock exchanges about the court ruling, FRL said a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh has stayed the operation and effect of order passed by single Judge J R Midha on February 2. 

Fintech startup Eduvanz raises $10M in debt from InCred Financial Services, Vivriti Capital, and Northern Arc Capital (Funding)

Mumbai-based new-age digital finance NBFC Eduvanz on Tuesday announced it has raised $10 million in debt funding from multiple financial institutions including InCred Financial Services, Vivriti Capital, and Northern Arc Capital.  

Backed by Sequoia Capital and Unitus Ventures, Eduvanz was co-founded in 2016 by Varun Chopra, an IIT Madras alumnus, and Raheel Shah, an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus. The startup offers education loans that allow students to study now and pay later in pocket-friendly monthly instalments at zero percent rates. 

Sequoia-backed fintech startup Progcap raises Rs 10 Cr in debt from Stride Ventures (Funding)

Venture debt fund Stride Ventures has led a debt funding round of Rs 10 crore in Progcap, a New Delhi-based fintech player providing access to collateral-free working capital to retailers. This is Stride Ventures’ 14th investment from its maiden fund and second investment in the fintech space. 

Progcap, which claims to have scaled up over 5X post-COVID, aims to use the funding to increase its AUM and increase the penetration amongst retailers across the country.

ABL Workspaces raises Rs 5 Cr from Canadian investment firm Wurk (Funding)

ABL Workspaces, a Delhi-based coworking space, on Tuesday announced that it has raised Rs 5 crore as part of its Pre-Series A funding round from Wurk, a Canadian investment firm.

The newly raised funds will be utilised to strengthen the company’s operations in the capital region and support its effort to double the seating capacity to 2,500 by March 2022. 

Cure.fit acquires Fitternity; to build a fitness network

Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori's fitness startup Cure.fit has announced the acquisition of Bengaluru-based fitness aggregator platform, Fitternity. The details of the deal were undisclosed, but post this acquisition, Fitternity will continue to operate independently.

A press statement shared by Cure.fit stated, with a collective user base of three million users, Cure.fit and Fitternity will together empower more than 5000 fitness centres spread across top 20 cities in India. 

Water ecommerce startup OwO raises Rs 1.5 Cr in angel round (Funding)

Gurugram-based water ecommerce startup OwO Technologies Pvt Ltd has raised an angel funding round of Rs 1.5 crore from ah! Ventures angel platform along with investors from Marwari Angels and others. This is ah! Ventures’ 65th investment, taking its total investment portfolio to Rs 193 crore with 10 exits to date.

Government to soon bring bill on crypto currencies

The government will soon bring a bill on crypto currencies, as existing laws are inadequate to deal with issues concerning them, Minister of State For Finance, Anurag Thakur, told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

India sees improvement in online civility score in 2020: Microsoft study

Fewer people in India experienced negative online interactions or encountered online risks in 2020 compared to the previous year, even though risk of hate speech grew during the year, according to a report by Microsoft.

Microsoft's annual study 'Civility, Safety, and Interactions Online 2020,' along with findings from its 2020 Digital Civility Index (DCI) indicated that India's score in online civility has improved to 68 in 2020 from 71 in 2019. Lower scores indicate more civility online.

Chinese apps' market share slips in India as desi players dominate install volume: Report

The market share of Chinese apps in India slipped in 2020, even as homegrown ones climbed up the ladder dominating the install volume, according to a report.

Semi-urban areas fuelled the growth of India's app economy and domestic apps dominated the mobile marketplace beating foreign players, says the 'State of App Marketing in India in 2021' report launched by AppsFlyer, a mobile attribution and marketing analytics firm.

Government asks people to register as cybercrime volunteers to check unlawful online content

In a bid to keep an eye on the cyber world in a "coordinated and comprehensive manner", the government has asked common people to register as cybercrime volunteers to help check posts against the sovereignty of the nation, on child and women abuse and attempts to disturb the law and order situation.

SplashLearn raises $18 million in Series C round led by Owl Ventures (Funding)

SplashLearn, the Gurugram headquartered edtech startup, has raised $18 million in Series C round led by Owl Ventures, a San Francisco-based edtech sector focused venture capital firm. Existing investor Accel also participated in this round. The latest funding round will used by SplashLearn for its various growth initiatives. 

Mahesh Bhupathi’s personal care company Scentials raises nearly $6M from TIW PE (Funding)

TIW Private Equity (TIW PE), has invested close to $6 million in Scentials Beauty Care and Wellness Pvt Ltd, a beauty and wellness company co-founded by former tennis professional and serial entrepreneur Mahesh Bhupathi along with Jinesh Mehta. 

Government open to 4-day work week, but with cap on total hours at 48

Soon, you may have a four-day work week. On Monday, the Centre announced that its new labour codes would soon provide an option for organisations to allow their employees to work for four days a week. Addressing a press briefing on Monday, Union Labour Secretary Apurva Chandra said this provision will comprise a work limit of 48 hours per week.

OnePlus' Carl Pei’s consumer tech startup Nothing raises $15M led by GV (Funding)

Nothing, a London-based consumer technology company, on Tuesday announced that it has raised $15 million in a Series A round led by GV (formerly Google Ventures). With the new funding, the company plans to expand its team and operations, further invest in R&D, as well as launch its community and first products in the coming months.

Nazara Technologies raises Rs 100 Cr through Hornbill Capital (Funding)

Mumbai-based gaming company Nazara Technologies has raised investment from Instant Growth Limited (IGL), which is advised by Hornbill Capital Advisers LLP. IGL is an investment vehicle of the US-based limited partners (LPs) of Hornbill Orchid India Fund.