Startup news and updates: daily roundup (April 21, 2021)

Karnataka issues new COVID guidelines, imposes night and weekend curfew

Aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19, the Karnataka government on Tuesday issued a new set of guidelines as per which night curfew will be imposed in the state from April 21 and curfew will be in place during weekends. "Night Curfew is imposed in the entire state from 9 pm to 6 am and there shall be weekend curfew from Friday 9 pm to Monday 6 am," state's Chief Secretary, P Ravi Kumar said.

Ecommerce, OTT, gaming register over 100 pc rise in business in 2020: PayU

Transactions and spending in ecommerce, gaming and over-the-top (OTT) segments grew by over 100 percent in 2020 due to adoption of digital services during the pandemic, digital payments firm PayU said in a report on Tuesday. At the same time, travel and hospitality were some of the most impacted sectors with an 86 percent drop in the number of transactions and expenditure between pre and post-COVID quarters (January-March compared to April-June 2020), according to the PayU trends report.

Reliance increases supply of oxygen to over 700 tonnes a day to COVID-hit states

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd has tweaked manufacturing at its Jamnagar oil refineries to produce over 700 tonnes a day of medical-grade oxygen, which is being supplied free of cost to states badly affected by COVID-19, sources said. The company's Jamnagar refineries in Gujarat initially produced 100 tonnes of medical-grade oxygen, which has quickly been ramped up to over 700 tonnes, people aware of the matter said.

Tata Group to import 24 cryogenic containers to ease oxygen shortage in India

The Tata Group on Tuesday announced on Twitter that it is importing cryogenic containers to transport liquid oxygen to ease the shortage in India amidst the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen over 1.82 lakh patients dying of the deadly virus. “The Tata group is importing 24 cryogenic containers to transport liquid oxygen and help ease the oxygen shortage in the country,” the company said.

Peel-Works' Taikee raises Rs 12Cr to help its suppliers in inventory procurement (Funding)

Taikee by Peel-Works — a Mumbai-headquartered online B2B grocery ecommerce platform for corner stores — on Wednesday said it has raised Rs 12 crore from SME lending platforms to guarantee seamless operations and reduce turnaround time in inventory procurement to its suppliers. The list of capital lenders also includes SME resellers, high network individuals, and NBFCs.

Fitterfly raises $3.1M led by Fireside Ventures (Funding)

Fitterfly, a healthtech company working in the field of Digital Therapeutics (DTx), has raised $3.1 million (Rs 22.3 crore) in a Pre-Series A round. This was led by Fireside Ventures and also saw participation from 9Unicorns – the accelerator fund of Venture Catalysts, Venture Catalysts, and a clutch of angel investors from India, the US, and Singapore. The funding will be primarily used to deliver better patient outcomes at scale and impacting a large number of people by creating better awareness and reach. 

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini in Purple, new iMac and more announced at Apple's Spring Loaded event by Tim Cook

In its first 2021 virtual "Spring Loaded" event, tech giant Apple unveiled an all-new stunning purple finish for iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, besides a bunch of other new products including iPad Pro 2021, a new iMac, Apple TV, and AirTags. CEO Tim Cook made these announcements while walking through its empty corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California.

Bharat Biotech to produce 30 million doses of COVID-19 vax next month: CMD

Bharat Biotech will produce 30 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin next month against 15 million doses in March to support vaccination campaign in the country, its Chairman and MD Krishna Ella said on Tuesday. The vaccine maker has ramped up its production capacity of Covaxin to 700 million doses per annum, it said in a statement The comments have come at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has exhorted vaccine makers to scale up their production capacity to inoculate all Indians in the shortest possible time.