Startup news and updates: daily roundup (July 5, 2021)

Paytm to offer small-ticket loans under BNPL model

Fintech startup Paytm said it will now offer loans starting from Rs 250 to Rs 1,000 as part of its buy now, pay later service, Paytm Postpaid, in addition to credit up to Rs 60,000.

The small-ticket loans will be interest-free for up to 30 days and can be used at online and offline merchant stores across the country.

Info Edge revises its offer for sale in Zomato IPO by half to Rs 375Cr

In a stock exchange filing, Info Edge has notified that it has slashed the offer for sale (OFS) in the Zomato IPO by half to Rs 375 crore from the initial plan to sell shares worth Rs 750 crore.

Sanjeev Bikhchandani-led Info Edge is the largest shareholder in foodtech unicorn Zomato with an 18.55 percent stake.

Skylark Drones raises $3M led by InfoEdge Ventures and IAN Fund (Funding)

Drone platform startup Skylark Drones has raised $3 million in a pre-series A funding round led by InfoEdge Ventures and IAN Fund with participation from AdvantEdge Founders, Fowler Westrup, Redstart Labs, IKP and Vimson Group.

Skylark Drones will use this latest round of funding to enhance its product offering and expand further into the overseas market.

Locad raises $4.9M led by Sequoia Capital India’s Surge (Funding)

Logistics and supply chain management integrator Locad on Monday announced $4.9 million in funding, in a seed round led by Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, with participation from Antler, Febe Ventures, Foxmont, Global Founders Capital, Gokongwei Family, and Hustle Fund. 

Locad provides a simple yet scalable end-to-end solution to power brands and retailers who are riding the burgeoning wave of ecommerce growth across Southeast Asia.

Furlenco raises Rs 1,000 Cr led by Zinnia Global (Funding)

Furniture rental firm Furlenco has raised Rs 1,000 crore in a mix of debt and equity as part of its latest funding round led by Zinnia Global Fund. Existing investors CE-Ventures and Lightbox Ventures also participated in this round.

The new fundraise will cater to much larger audiences with more tailored solutions and brand new offerings, while focusing on sustainability at the core of the business.

Document execution platform Leegality picks up pre-Series A round from IIFL and Mumbai Angels (Funding)

Gurugram-based document execution platform Leegality has raised pre-Series A funding led by IIFL Securities Capital Enhancer Fund. Existing investors including Mumbai Angels also participated in the round.

While the funding amount has not been disclosed, Leegality said it will be using the freshly infused capital to expand its team in key departments to accelerate product development and deepen enterprise adoption of its solution.

Assisted living space startup Arcatron Mobility raises growth financing through Klub (Funding)

Pune based assisted living startup Arcatron Mobility, that manufactures next-generation mobility devices, has raised an undisclosed amount in growth financing through revenue-based financing platform, Klub. 

According to an official statement, the startup will use the capital raised through Klub to ramp up inventory/production, and has grown at a monthly CMGR of 100 percent.

TWID raises $2.5M led by BEENEXT, Sequoia’s Surge (Funding)

Rewards-based payment network TWID (That’s What I Do) on Monday said it raised $2.5 million led by BEENEXT and Sequoia Capital India's Surge. The round also saw participation from angel investors Kunal Shah, Rajul Garg and YourNest India. 

The Singapore and India headquartered startup connects customers with merchants to pay with points earned from a "Point Issuer" programme.

Jeff Bezos steps down as Amazon CEO

It is truly the end of an era as Jeff Bezos transitions from an active role at Amazon — a company he founded on this day in 1994 out of his garage in Seattle — to a non-operational role as Executive Chair.

AWS Chief Andy Jassy will replace him as the CEO of the retail-to-tech behemoth. Jassy is an Amazon veteran who's been instrumental in turning the company into a global technology giant. AWS today accounts for 52 percent of Amazon's income.

Leadership development startup PeakPerformer raises early-seed round (Funding)

PeakPerformer, a coaching platform for managers, on Monday said it raised early-seed funding from global venture capital firm Antler India. Gaurav Munjal (Co-founder and CEO, Unacademy Group) and Saket Agarwal (Angel Investor and Founder, Onnivation) were the co-investors in the round.

According to an official statement, PeakPerformer will use the funds towards hiring engineering talent to scale its AI platform and expanding its pool of Indian and global customers.

Crowdsourcing platform MyMobiForce raises $1.42M led (Funding)

Delhi-based MyMobiForce (Innotion Technologies Pvt Ltd) on Monday said it raised $1.42 million (Rs 10.3 crore) as part of its pre-Series A round led by Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund, with participation from a group of angels led by Manu Iyer of Bluehill Capital, Acsys Investments, and Ashutosh Agrawal (Ex-Urban Company).

Founded in 2018, MyMobiForce is an AI-powered crowdsourcing platform that empowers businesses to scale effectively by providing an on-demand field technical workforce in a plug-and-play fashion.

Pocket Aces co-founder Aditi Shrivastava named as CEO

Digital entertainment company Pocket Aces on Monday announced the elevation of co-founder Aditi Shrivastava to the newly-created position of Chief Executive Officer.

Previously, Shrivastava spearheaded the company's revenue expansion, set up its influencer management division, and also led the growth of Dice Media, a premium content studio.

Unlock 3.0: Religious places, malls open; transport back to full capacity in Karnataka

With the Karnataka government further easing restrictions under "Unlock 3.0" effective from Monday, life seems to have returned to normalcy as shops, restaurants, malls, private offices and religious places began their operations in full swing.

Also, all public transport- buses and metro- will be operating up to its seating capacity.

TVS Automobile acquires vehicle service aggregator startup GoBumpr

TVS Automobile Solutions, the multi-brand car servicing network which operates the MyTVS brand has announced the acquisition of Chennai headquartered startup – GoBumpr, an online aggregator of two- and four-wheeler service outlets, for an undisclosed value.

Founded in 2015 by IIM alumni — Karthik Venkateswaran, Nandha Kumar Ravi, and Sundar Natesan, GoBumpr has a presence in four cities – Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune with a base of around 1,200 automobile workshops. It has a customer base of more than one million.

India sees more female school teachers than men for the first time

Female teachers in schools outnumbered their male colleagues for the first time in India, as revealed by the Unified District Information on School Education report for 2019-20. 

The country is now home to 49.2 lakh female teachers and 47.7 lakh male teachers, up from 35.8 lakh female teachers and 42.4 lakh male teachers in 2012-13.