Startup news and updates: daily roundup (July 12, 2021)

[YS Exclusive] Swiggy elevates Phani Kishan to co-founder in "ode to a Swiggster" who helped enable the foodtech startup's journey

Foodtech unicorn Swiggy elevated Phani Kishan, an early employee of the startup since 2015, to Co-founder role in a move that founder Sriharsha Majety termed "an ode to (a) Swiggster... who’s been one of my biggest sources of energy" and the outcome of some deep reflection over the last few months about the startup's seven-year-long journey, according to an internal memo seen by YourStory.

Ola Electric raises $100M long term debt from Bank of Baroda (Funding)

Ola Electric and Bank of Baroda today signed a 10-year $100 million debt towards the funding and financial closure of Phase 1 of the Ola Futurefactory, Ola's global manufacturing hub for its electric two-wheelers, according to a press statement from Ola. This is one of the largest long-term debt financing agreement in the Indian electric vehicle industry.

Flipkart raises $3.6B at $37.6B valuation from SoftBank, Tiger Global, Walmart, others (Funding)

India’s leading ecommerce marketplace Flipkart today said it raised $3.6 billion funding from SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Tiger Global, Walmart, and other sovereign funds at a post-money valuation of $37.6 billion.

Walmart-owned Flipkart will use the funds to make deeper investments into technology, supply chain, and infrastructure to meet the growing demand for digital commerce in India.

Elon Musk has paid $10,000 to book a seat on Richard Branson's space flight

Billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson took his maiden trip to suborbital space on Sunday, as Virgin Galactic's rocket ship Unity 22 took a historic leap from Spaceport America in New Mexico, USA.

Ahead of the 71-year-old's journey, Tesla Founder Elon Musk — Branson's "good friend" — paid him a visit, and engaged in a Twitter banter. "Will see you there to wish you the best," Musk tweeted at the start of the day.

Paytm Money allows users to apply for IPOs before actual opening; starts with Zomato

Leading digital brokerage Paytm Money on Monday announced the launch of an innovative feature that allows users to apply for initial share sales before the actual IPO opening in the markets.

The move is expected to significantly increase the participation of retail users in the initial public offer (IPO) through the process.

Paytm get the go-ahead for Rs 16,600Cr IPO from shareholders

Paytm said it received approval from its shareholders to push ahead with its plans of a Rs 16,600 crore initial public offering (IPO), various media reports said on Monday, citing sources aware of the discussions.

Shareholders have also approved a resolution for the company to raise Rs 12,000 crore in fresh equity, another media report stated.

We Founder Circle invests in three agri-tech startup deals worth $2.5M

Mumbai-based startup investment platform We Founder Circle (WFC) on Monday said it participated in three agritech startup investment deals worth $2.5 million.

These agri-tech portfolio startups include — Anveshan, an organic food startup with traceability tech; Humus, a farm to kitchen retail brand; and Hesa, a rural distribution startup that uses a phygital model and last-mile connect to villages to buy and sell.

GoodWorkLabs launches GoodWorks Angel Fund to invest up to $200,000 in 10 startups by FY22

Serial entrepreneurs and founders, Vishwas Mudagal and Sonia Sharma of GoodWorkLabs announced the launch of GoodWorks Angel Fund — an early-stage venture capital (VC) fund and investing venture, which aims to invest in at least eight to 10 high-potential startups across the globe every year.

Depending upon the nature, requirement, and future prospects of the respective startups, the investment ticket size per company will vary from $20,000 to $200,000, the announcement read.

Hero Electric vehicles to invest Rs 700Cr for business expansion by 2025

Hero Electric Vehicles will invest Rs 700 crore by 2025 to rev up its business expansion, including setting up of a new manufacturing unit, for which it has raised Rs 220 crore to part-fund the activities, according to a top company official.

The company is planning to set up a new manufacturing facility with an annual capacity of 10 lakh units besides increasing production at its current plant at Ludhiana to 3 lakh units per annum from 75,000 units at present, as it targets to sell around 10 lakh units a year by 2025-26.

Bikry app raises $1.3M led by YCombinator (Funding)

Bikry app (by Bizrise Technologies), an all-in-one platform to take business online, has secured $1.3 million in funding led by YCombinator, the Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator, along with participation from the founders of Twitch.TV, RazorPay, Angelist, Cabra VC, and Sumon Sadhu.

Edtech startup Oliveboard raises Rs 23 Cr led by IAN Fund (Funding)

Oliveboard, an edtech platform in the government exam preparation space, has raised a pre-Series A funding of Rs 23 crore. The round was led by IAN Fund with participation from Education Catalyst Fund (ECF) and Yukti Securities.

It will use the funding to expand its number of national-level courses/exams, add state-level categories, and invest in interactive data-driven products for learning.

Social commerce startup Trell raises $45M Series B round led by Mirae Asset, H&M, others (Funding)

Social commerce platform Trell on Monday said it raised $45 million in a Series B round led by Mirae Asset, H&M Group, and co-led by LB Investments. Existing investors, along with KTB Network, Samsung Ventures, and Fosun RZ Capital also participated in this round. With this round, Trell has raised a total funding of $62 million to date.

Kolkata-based Kredent raises Rs 10 Cr from Kotak Securities (Funding)

Kredent InfoEdge Private Limited (KIPL), operating the brands StockEdge and Elearnmarkets, has raised growth capital of Rs 10 crore from Kotak Securities Limited to expand its product capabilities and increase the user reach.

This is the first funding transaction undertaken by Kotak Securities Limited (KSL) as a part of its recently launched Start-Up Investment and Engagement Programme.

Edtech startup Little Leap raises Rs 2.67 Cr in seed round (Funding)

Delhi-based edtech startup Little Leap has raised Rs 2.67 crore ($360,000) in seed round of funding led by ah! Ventures, with participation from First Cheque VC, LetsVenture, and Good Capital VC. 

This is ah! Ventures’s 16th investment this year, and it plans to do 50+ investments in 2021, totalling to over Rs 150 crore ($20 million).

Tide raises $100M from Apax Digital Fund, others (Funding)

UK-based digital business financial platform Tide on Monday said it raised over $100 million (about Rs 745 crore) in funding led by funds advised by Apax Digital.

The Series C round — which has brought the total funding raised to date to $200 million — also saw participation from existing investors, including Anthemis, Augmentum, Jigsaw, Local Globe/Latitude, UK-based investor SBI, and SpeedInvest, a statement said.

Venture Catalysts leads Rs 4 Cr seed round in healthtech startup EasyAspataal (Funding)

Venture Catalysts, an integrated incubator and accelerator, has led a Rs 4 crore seed round in healthtech startup EasyAspataal. The funding round also witnessed participation from K Ganesh and Srinivasan Anamulo from Portea Medical, Sumit Chazed, Founder, OTO Capital and CredR, Sheela Anand – ex CEO of Vidal Health and VP Star Health Insurance, and serial angel investor Praveen Das.

Luxury chocolate brand SMOOR raises undisclosed funding from Klub (Funding)

Bengaluru-based luxury chocolate brand SMOOR has raised an undisclosed amount of capital from fintech platform Klub which provides revenue-based financing.

According to an official statement, the funds will be mainly deployed to sustain SMOOR’s current growth momentum as it looks forward to geographical and product expansion. The startup claimed the fund will act as a bridge for SMOOR until it raises Rs 50 crore by end of this year.