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

Amazon moves SC for stay on Delhi HC order till verdict on Future-Reliance deal dispute

Amazon has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court's division bench order that had vacated a stay on Kishore Biyani-led Future Group proceeding with its Rs 24,713 crore asset sale to Reliance Industries. Amazon, in the petition, sought a stay on the March 22 order of the division bench, terming it illegal, random, inequitable, and unfair.

Alteria Capital announces first close of venture debt fund at Rs 1,325 Cr (Funding)

The venture debt fund, Alteria Capital, has announced the close of its second fund. The fund stated that Alteria Capital II has been heavily oversubscribed, and has exceeded the target fund of Rs 1,000 crore within four months of its launch. The fund now has an AUM of Rs 2,300 crore across two venture debt funds and is the largest venture debt provider in India currently. The fund received SEBI approvals in 2020 for its second venture debt fund with a target corpus of Rs 1,000 crore and a greenshoe of Rs 750 crore. The fund will target startups across early and growth stages with cheque sizes up to Rs 150 crore.

Hiring activities rise marginally in March, says Naukri jobs index

Hiring activities rose marginally with job listings rising to 2,436 in March compared to February this year, according to a report. The increase of three percent in job listings on a month-on-month basis was mainly led by IT-software and retail sectors. In February, the job listings stood at 2,356. As per the latest Naukri JobSpeak Index, given the wave of digital transformation, the IT-software sector remains shielded and hiring continued to grow by 11 percent in March.

Fintech startup Safexpay raises $6M from T Choithrams BVI, Ardor (Funding)

Safexpay, a four-year-old B2B fintech startup, has raised $6 million (about Rs 44 crore) in funding from two investors at a valuation of $ 100 million. The Mumbai-based company has raised $3 million from T Choithrams BVI, an Indian family now based overseas, and signed a definitive agreement to raise the remaining $3 million from Ardor Advisors, an American investor, its founder and director Ravi Gupta said. The funds will be used for product development, improving technology for more use cases, and also product launches in India and abroad, he added.

Used car leasing startup PumPumPum raises Rs 5.5 Cr in pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures (Funding)

Gurugram-based startup PumPumPum, which offers used car leasing in the corporate and retail segment, on Friday announced that it has raised Rs 5.5 crore in pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures. Other investors - LetsVenture and Agility Ventures - also participated in the funding round. According to the official statement, PumPumPum plans to utilise the capital for category disruption, consumer awareness, technology development, brand building and expansion. 

India gets its first-ever woman underground mine manager

Another first for women in India: the appointment of India's first-ever woman underground mine manager by Udaipur-headquartered Hindustan Zinc, one of the world’s largest producers of zinc-lead and silver. Mining engineers Sandhya Rasakatla and Yogeshwari Rane became the first Indian women to be appointed at the managerial level in an underground mine.

Closure rate among MSMEs rises to 32 pc from 24 pc in October: Report

Small and medium businesses in India and Pakistan reported higher rates of closure, according to a new Facebook global report revealed on Thursday. The Global State of Small Business Report stated that the closure rates rose in February (when the survey was conducted) to 32 percent as compared to 24 percent in October. The closure rates peaked in May 2020, when the number reached 46 percent in India.

Speciale Invest raises Rs 140Cr in second fund; to invest in 18-20 seed-stage startups

Domestic micro-venture capital fund Speciale Invest — which invests in seed-stage startups — on Friday said it raised Rs 140 crore in its second fund. According to the VC firm, the second fund exceeded its target and received backing from the limited partners of its first fund. With this second fund, Speciale Invest is looking to invest in 18-20 startups in the same thematic areas as in the first fund.