Startup news and updates: daily roundup (July 6, 2021)

[Funding alert] Fintech platform Pine Labs announces $600M round led by Fidelity and BlackRock

Fintech unicorn Pine Labs, on Tuesday announced an investment round of $600 million led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and BlackRock Inc. Other investors participating in the round include a fund advised by Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC, Ishana, Tree Line, IIFL AMC via its ‘Late-Stage Tech Fund’, and Kotak.

PhonePe partners with Flipkart to digitise cash-on-delivery payments

Digital payments platform PhonePe on Monday said it had partnered with Flipkart to enable pay-on-delivery service for the ecommerce major's orders. PhonePe's dynamic QR code solution will enable customers who earlier opted for 'cash on delivery' to pay digitally through any UPI app at the time of delivery, PhonePe said.

Zomato IPO may hit the market on July 19, says report

The initial public offer (IPO) of foodtech unicorn Zomato is likely to open for subscription on July 19 at a price band of Rs 70-72 per share, according to a report. A report in The Economic Times said Zomato's IPO is mostly likely to be open from July 19 to 22. The IPO size could also go up to Rs 9,375 crore with Rs 9,000 crore being fresh equity and shares worth Rs 375 crore from the company’s largest shareholder, InfoEdge.

[Funding alert] Medical device distributor Genworks Health raises Rs 15 Cr from Blacksoil

GE Wipro-backed Genworks Health, a medical device distributor in Tier II/III India, has raised Rs 15 crore from Blacksoil. According to a statement by the company, the funds will be used for meeting the working capital requirements and expanding the company's newly acquired In-Vitro Diagnostics segment of IRIS Healthcare.

Whatfix announces first ESOP buyback; assigns $4.3M to scheme

B2B digital adoption solutions (DAS) provider Whatfix on Tuesday announced that it has implemented an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback of $4.3 million (Rs 32 crore) for its employees. According to the company, Whatfix is granting the option to liquidate up to 35 percent of their vested ESOPs to the employees.

Tech Mahindra joins hands with StaTwig for blockchain-based traceability solution for vaccine supply chain

IT major Tech Mahindra on Monday said it had partnered with StaTwig, a Singapore and Hyderabad-based digital supply chain solution provider, to implement vaccine traceability platform 'VaccineLedger' globally.

The companies aim to roll out a blockchain-based traceability solution for global vaccine supply chain transparency, and to predict and prevent failures in supply chains, including problems related to expired vaccines, stock-outs, and counterfeiting, a statement said.

[Funding alert] Pocketly raises undisclosed sum from angel investors and micro VCs

Pocketly, a microlending platform for college students, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding. The marquee angels who led the funding round in personal capacity are Ashneer Grover (Founder, BharatPe), Jaimin Bhatt (CFO, Kotak Bank), Siddharth Somaiya (Founder, Organic Riot), and Gaurang Shetty (CEO, RIIDL). Other investors were micro VCs such as Prophetic Ventures, Dholakiya Ventures, RIIDL, and Scale VC.