Startup news and updates: daily roundup (May 26, 2021)

Y Combinator-backed matchmaking startup Betterhalf.ai raises $3M in pre-Series A round

Betterhalf.ai — the AI-driven matrimonial app — on Wednesday said it has raised $3 million in a pre-Series A round. The Y Combinator Winter 21 batch startup saw participation from venture capital firms, including S2 Capital and Quiet Capital, and marquee angel investors like Kunal Shah and Samvit Ramadurgam.

BITS Pilani and IIMA grads launch $1M fund to invest in student startups

IIM-A and BITS Pilani graduates Abhishek Sethi and Prateek Behera have launched gradCapital, a $1 million fund, to support and invest in startups founded by college students. A press note shared by the fund said it will invest $25,000 in 20 startups in a year. Bengaluru-based gradCapital said it has opened the application process for its first cohort of startups.

Koo raises $30M Series B investment led by Tiger Global

Indian language micro-blogging platform Koo App has raised $30 million Series B funding led by Tiger Global. The other new investors are IIFL and Mirae Assets. The round also saw investment from existing investors - Kalaari Capital, Accel Partners, Blume Ventures, and Dream Incubator. The fresh round of funding will be utilised mainly to strengthen engineering, product and community efforts across all Indian languages at Koo. 

Moderna's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India likely next year; Pfizer ready with 5 Cr doses for 2021

Moderna is expecting to launch a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India next year and is in talks with Cipla among other Indian firms, while another US giant Pfizer is ready to offer five crore shots in 2021 itself but it wants significant regulatory relaxations including indemnification, sources said on Tuesday.

CropIn, AGRA partner to provide agri advisory services in Africa

AI-driven agritech firm CropIn on Tuesday said it has partnered with Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to provide information and advisory services to African farmers through a digital platform to boost their productivity and income. AGRA works with governments, private sector companies and other organisations to bring knowledge and extension services to farmers through the use of self-employed village-based advisors (VBAs), CropIn said in a statement.