ShareChat and Gupshup turn unicorns

Two more startups — ShareChat and Gupshup — are the latest entrants to the coveted $1 billion valuation club.

Friday April 09, 2021 , 4 min Read

Looks like the new fiscal has opened the floodgates for Indian startups to enter the unicorn club.

Two more startups — ShareChat and Gupshup — are the latest entrants to the coveted $1 billion valuation club.

Indian language social media platform ShareChat raised $502 million in a round led by Lightspeed Ventures and Tiger Global, taking the company's valuation to $2.1 billion.

Also, Silicon Valley-headquartered conversational messaging tech startup Gupshup raised $100 million from Tiger Global, which took its valuation to $1.4 billion.

So far, in the month of April 2021, 6 Indian startups gained unicorn status — including social commerce platform Meesho and fintech company CRED.

In all probability, 2021 will have more unicorns than 2020, which saw 11 startups turning unicorns, with NASSCOM expecting the total number of unicorns to reach 50 by the end of this year.

The Interview

Mobility has become an essential part of our lives — whether it's moving to another city for opportunities, or using vehicles to carry out our daily jobs. Many women are also now breaking gender barriers by travelling solo. Sumitra Senapathy, Founder of Women on Wanderlust, Shell India Chairman Nitin Prasad, and Bollywood stuntwoman Geeta Tandon discuss how mobility can play a significant role in creating a socio-economic impact.

Editor’s Pick: App Friday

A lot of us had to test our cooking skills during the COVID-19 lockdown, trying out new recipes and kitchen hacks. Many recipe planners and kitchen management apps helped people make most of the available resources. One of them is StashCook that lets users save recipes from multiple sources on the web to create their own cookbook. Read more.

Stashcook app — *Infographic: YS Design*

Startup Spotlight

Manush Labs bridges the gap between international investors and India's entrepreneurs

As per the economic surveys, half of India's startups come from Tier-II cities and beyond. However, many of them still face challenges of sustainability and scalability. Founded by MIT graduate Piyush Verma, Manush Labs empowers innovators and entrepreneurs from Tier-II cities and beyond to build sustainable businesses and scalable solutions through access to funding, mentoring, and network-building. Read more.

Manush Labs, Piyush Verma — Piyush Verma, Founder of Manush Labs

News & Updates

BYJU'S has announced the global launch of online live one-on-one learning platform, ‘BYJU’S Future School,’ which will be a sub-brand. With this, the WhiteHat Jr and BYJU'S integration comes to the fore.

Amazon India has digitally transformed 2.5 million MSMEs, enabled exports worth $3 billion, and created one million jobs till date, the company said in a blog. It has also added 300,000 direct and indirect jobs in India, and added 250,000 new sellers since January 2020.

In a move aimed at boosting the adoption of digital payments in the country, the RBI upped the end of day balance for payment banks to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1 lakh. This decision could help payments banks cater to more people in the country.

Small business lending platform U GRO Capital announced the launch of GRO Smart Business credit card powered by RuPay, along with EnKash in partnership with SBM Bank India for the MSMEs. These credit cards will help MSMEs receive additional credit facility and other benefits from SMB Bank India.

Kalyan Jewellers said it has witnessed a robust increase in consumer demand and seen revenue growth of nearly 60 percent in its India operations in the fourth quarter ended on March 31, 2021. It said the vast majority of its growth in the recent quarter was driven by same-store sales, as only two stores were opened during the past year period.