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

[Funding alert] Ahead of Ola's IPO, Temasek, Warburg Pincus partner with Bhavish Aggarwal for $500M investment

Ola — the Bengaluru-based ride-hailing and mobility company — on Friday said that Temasek and Plum Wood Investment Ltd, an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, are partnering with founder Bhavish Aggarwal for a $500 million investment ahead of Ola’s IPO. This investment marks one of the largest in the consumer internet space, the company said in a press note.

Eight Roads Ventures promotes Ashish Venkataramani to Partner

Eight Roads Ventures, the global investment firm backed by Fidelity, on Friday announced that it has promoted Ashish Venkataramani to Partner, effective 1 July 2021. In January 2021, the firm announced Aditya Systla’s promotion to Partner. Ashish will be the fifth Partner in India and will continue to support investments in healthcare while mentoring and providing leadership to the investment team.  

Pfizer to seek FDA nod for third vaccine dose; shots still protect

Pfizer is about to seek the US authorisation for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, saying that another shot within 12 months could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off the latest worrisome coronavirus mutant. Research from multiple countries shows the Pfizer shot and other widely used COVID-19 vaccines offer strong protection against the highly contagious delta variant, which is spreading rapidly around the world and now accounts for most new US infections. 

[Funding alert] Construction management app Powerplay raises $5.2M from Sequoia’s Surge and Accel Partners

Bengaluru-based construction management app Powerplay has raised $5.2 million in funding led by Accel Partners and Surge, a rapid scale-up programme by Sequoia Capital India for startups in India and Southeast Asia. India Quotient and Snapdeal founders also participated in the round.