Startup news and updates: daily roundup (May 17, 2021)

B2B ecommerce startup Moglix joins unicorn club after raising $120M in Series E round (Funding)

Moglix, a Noida-based B2B industrial goods ecommerce marketplace, on Monday, announced that it has raised $120 million in a Series E round led by Falcon Edge Capital and Harvard Management Company (HMC). Existing investors including Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India and Venture Highway also participated in this round.

KKR invests $95M in Lenskart through secondary stake acquisition (Funding)

Delhi-based omnichannel eyewear startup Lenskart has raised $95 million investment from global investment firm KKR via a secondary stake acquisition. A press note by KKR said as a part of the transaction, existing investors TPG Growth and TR Capital, who first invested in Lenskart in late 2014, will each divest a portion of their holding in the Company.

Clubhouse extends its Android rollout, to be available in India this week

Clubhouse, Silicon Valley's breakout social audio app, continues its Android rollout and announced that its app on Android will be available for users in India, as well as worldwide from Friday onwards. On Android, the app will be continuing with the waitlist and invite-only system. In a social media announcement, Clubhouse said that it is rolling out its Android app across the globe this week.

Smart parking platform ParkSmart raises seed capital from Campus Fund and industry veterans (Funding)

Delhi-based smart parking management platform ParkSmart has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Campus Fund and angels like Dilesh Gathani, Shireen Rangaswamy amongst others.

The funds would be deployed to expand across geographies and add senior members to the core team.

Health education platform Virohan raises $3M in Series A round led by Rebright Partners (Funding)

Gurugram-based health education startup Virohan on Monday announced that it has raised additional funding from Rebright Partners summing up its Series A round at $3 million.

Earlier in August 2020, the startup had raised $2.8 million across seed and Series A round from elea Foundation for Ethics in Globalisation, the Singh Family Trusts, advised by Artha Impact, Yunus Social Business, Better Capital and Keiretsu Forum.

84 percent MSMEs believe COVID-19 2.0 has escalated business uncertainty: Survey

As many as 84 percent of respondents in a survey said the deadly second wave of COVID-19 has escalated business uncertainty, according to credit rating agency Care Ratings.

The survey was conducted between April 27 and May 11 with a set of 305 respondents, which included small and medium businesses. The results derived from the survey indicated some grim trends and low expectations in the sector. 

Shilpa Medicare unit inks pact with Dr Reddy's to manufacture Sputnik V vaccine

Drug firm Shilpa Medicare on Monday said one of its subsidiaries had entered into a definitive agreement with Dr Reddy's Laboratories for manufacturing of Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V. "The company, via its wholly-owned subsidiary Shilpa Biologicals Pvt Ltd (SBPL), has entered into a three-year definitive agreement with Dr Reddy's Laboratories for production-supply of the Sputnik V vaccine from its integrated biologics R&D cum manufacturing centre at Dharwad, Karnataka," Shilpa Medicare said in a regulatory filing.

Pine Labs raises $285M at $3B valuation (Funding)

Fintech unicorn Pine Labs has raised $285 million in a new round of funding, which saw participation from a fresh set of investors. This round of fundraising saw investors which including Baron Capital Group, Duro Capital, Marshall Wace, Moore Strategic Ventures and Ward Ferry Management. Existing investors Temasek, Lone Pine Capital and Sunley House Capital also participated in this funding round.

Amazon helps sellers procure oxygen concentrators for customers in India

Ecommerce major Amazon is working with sellers on its marketplace in India to help them procure about 9,000 oxygen concentrators in the country. The first batch of 1,000 oxygen concentrators have already landed in India and are now available for purchase for consumers and business customers. The rest are expected to come through in the second half of the month.

Indonesian superapp startup Gojek to merge with ecomm firm Tokopedia

Ride-hailing and payments giant Gojek will be merging with ecommerce major Tokopedia. The deal is expected to boost both firms' profitability and help make Gojek's vision of becoming an A to Z superapp a reality. The deal — pegged at around $18 billion according to sources cited by Reuters — is the biggest in Indonesia, so far, and is expected to eventually lead the combined company, called GoTo, closer to an initial public offering.

Govt releases first batch of anti-COVID drug 2-DG developed by DRDO, Dr Reddy's

The first batch of anti-COVID oral drug 2-DG — developed by the DRDO — was released on Monday by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. The DGCI approved the 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) drug for emergency use as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe coronavirus patients earlier this month.

COVID-19: Vaccination for 18-44 age group begins in Kerala

Amid COVID-19 cases continuing to show an upward trend in the state, vaccination for the prioritised groups in the 18-44 years age category began in Kerala on Monday with over 1.90 lakh people registering in the last two days to get the first dose.

India Inc goes extra mile to support families of COVID-19 victim employees

As thousands continue to die and several lakhs get infected daily from the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, India Inc is going an extra mile to support the family members of their staff with financial, medical, and other support.

This is apart from the massive financial support these companies have already extended to the Centre, state, and district administrations, and the non-profits.

ISRO joins the fight against COVID-19 with portable medical oxygen concentrator

Amid the deadly second wave of COVID-19, public and private players are coming together to fight the crisis. ISRO research organisation Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre has joined the fight by developing a portable medical oxygen concentrator, named ‘SHWAAS’. The device has been designed to support patients with respiratory illness or those who are on oxygen therapy.

Fintech startup BankSathi raises $200K in seed round from angel investors (Funding)

Delhi-based fintech startup BankSathi Technologies has raised $200,000 in a seed funding round from a group of angel investors including Dinesh Godara (founder, TREAD, ex-Unacademy), Rajendra Lora (founder, Freshokartz), Anuj Ahuja and Aditya Talwar (founders, Studybase), and others.

WhatsApp privacy policy not conforming to Indian IT laws: Centre to HC

The Centre on Monday told the Delhi High Court that it views the new privacy policy of WhatsAppas a violation of the Indian Information Technology (IT) law and rules, and sought directions to the social media platform to make it clear whether it was confirming to the same.

Apollo Hospitals, Dr Reddy's announce COVID-19 vaccination programme with Sputnik V

Apollo Hospitals and Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Monday said they are collaborating to initiate a COVID-19 vaccination programme in the country with Sputnik V. The first phase of the programme will kick off with vaccinations in Hyderabad on Monday and in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday (May 18) at Apollo facilities.