Startup news and updates: daily roundup (September 14, 2021)

SucSEED Indovation Fund, others back edtech virtual community platform EventBeep

Edtech virtual community platform EventBeep on Tuesday announced that it has secured an early-stage seed funding lead by SucSEED Indovation Fund, Uincept, Palimala Ventures, and other angels. Eventbeep said it is on a mission to revolutionise the student’s ecosystem by levelling the playing field for the youth - helping them maximise their potential through peer-to-peer learning. 

India Inc sees 219 deals in August worth $8.4B: Report

Deal activity witnessed a handsome growth in August at $8.4 billion, on the back of a healthy jump both in volumes and sizes, a report said on Monday. There were 219 deals during the month, which was the highest since 2005, and double that of the year-ago August 2020 period when the country was coming out of a national lockdown, consultancy firm Grant Thornton Bharat said.

PharmEasy to hire over 200 engineers for upcoming development centres in Hyderabad, Pune, and NCR

Leading e-pharmacy firm Pharmeasy has said it is looking to hire over 200 engineers for its soon-to-be-launched development centres in Hyderabad, Pune, and NCR region.

The company is building a larger ecosystem to solve outpatient healthcare challenges, bridging the gap in the healthcare industry, PharmEasy said in a statement.

Paytm to launch FASTag-based parking service across country; starts with DMRC

Digital payment and financial services firm Paytm plans to deploy FASTag-based parking services across the country after having launched first such project with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) said it has enabled the country's first FASTag-based metro parking facility in partnership with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

Sales-tech SaaS startup GTM Buddy raises $2M led by Stellaris Venture Partners (Funding)

Hyderabad-based GTM Buddy, a sales-tech SaaS startup, has announced that it has raised $2 million in its seed round led by Stellaris Venture Partners. 

The funds raised will be utilised for rapidly enhancing product capabilities as well as for building out the go-to-market teams - across sales, marketing and customer success functions.

Gobbly raises Rs 7.2 Cr in pre-Series A led by Anicut Angel Fund and Sauce.VC (Funding)

Gurugram-based retail technology startup Gobbly, on Tuesday announced that it has raised Rs 7.2 crore in pre-Series A round led by Anicut Angel Fund and Sauce.VC. Agility Ventures and other notable angels like Kunal Shah (Cred), Anupam Mittal (People Group), Jitendra Bhandari (Nic Naturals), Sameer Chugh (Mosambee), and Mihir Agarwal (Ex PE professional and Entrepreneur) also participated in the round. 

ToneTag completes RBI’s first cohort for voice-based retail payments

Tonetag, the hardware-agnostic sound wave tech solutions provider for online and offline commerce, has completed the first cohort under the RBI sandbox for retail payments. The startup has successfully executed offline voice-based payments via feature phones and smart phones in areas with inconsistent internet connectivity.

CarTrade launches multi-channel auto platform post IPO

Automobile classifieds platform Cartrade, which launched an IPO with an issue of 20.3 times its subscription last month, has announced the launch of a multi-channel platform - CarWale abSure.

In its BSE filing, the company said, "CarTrade Tech Limited, a multi-channel auto platform, has launched ‘CarWale abSure’, a tailor-made platform to provide hassle-free buying and selling experience to customers, all under one roof."

India, Singapore launch project to link UPI and PayNow for instant fund transfers

India and Singapore will link their respective fast payment systems -- Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and PayNow -- to enable users to make instant, low-cost fund transfers on a reciprocal basis, the Reserve Bank said on Tuesday.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced the project to link the fast payment systems. The linkage is targeted for operationalisation by July 2022, the RBI said in a statement.

Zomato Co-founder Gaurav Gupta quits to take "an alternate path"

Zomatoco-founder Gaurav Gupta has quit the foodtech startup after six years. The former Head of Supply of the Gurugram-based company, in an email to the employees this morning, wrote that he was "taking a new turn in his life" and will be starting a new chapter.

HexaHealth raises $4.5M led by Omidyar Network India, Chiratae Ventures (Funding)

HexaHealth, a Gurugram-based platform to digitise in-patient care, has raised Rs 33 crore ($4.5 million) in seed funding. The round was led by Omidyar Network India and Chiratae Ventures, with participation from 3one4 Capital.

Several veteran healthcare professionals such as Viren Shetty, Group COO, Narayana Health; Rohit MA, MD, CloudNine; Rehan Khan, MD, Merck India; along with Rohit Kapoor, CEO, OYO; and Mohit Gupta, ex-Marketing Head, HealthKart participated as angel investors.

Eupheus Learning raises $10M in Series C from Lightrock India (Funding)

Eupheus Learning, a Delhi-based B2B edtech startup, has raised $10 million in a Series C funding from Lightrock India, a global private equity platform. Through the fundraising, the startup will scale faster, pursue inorganic growth through acquisitions and democratise access to 21st century learning solutions to school students.

With the funding, Eupheus Learning aims to fuel both product portfolio as well as the geographical and segment reach. As a startup, it is edging closer to becoming a soonicorn.

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