Startup news and updates: daily roundup (September 8, 2021)

Ola Electric scooter sale to begin today; deliveries from October

The purchase window for Ola S1, electric two-wheelers by Ola Electric, begins today, September 8th at 6 pm. This is open only for those with a reservation. According to a blog post on the company's website, two variants – the Ola S1 and the Ola S1 Pro - are available for purchase, with delivery expected in October.

The Bhavish Aggarwal led EV unicorn had opened its pre-launch reservation in July for an amount of Rs 499, which witnessed strong response from consumers.

Leap raises $55M in Series C round led by Owl Ventures (Funding)

Leap, the startup that enables students to study overseas through financial and career assistance, has raised $55 million in Series C round of funding led by Owl Ventures.

Leap said it will utilise this funding round to extend its services to students across SE Asia and MENA regions. Besides, it plans to broaden its product portfolio where it plans to offer international student credit card and insurance products.

D2C tea startup Vahdam raises Rs 174 Cr from IIFL AMC, others (Funding)

Delhi-based VAHDAM India has raised Rs 174 crore in Series D funding round led by IIFL AMC's private equity fund. Existing investors including Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan's family office and Sixth Sense Ventures, and others participated in the round.

The direct-to-consumer (D2C) tea brand said it will use the funding to increase online and offline penetration, enter new geographies, and to develop new product categories. Till date, Vahdam has raised over Rs 290 crore.

Fintech startup slice launches card with lower credit limit; targets 200M eligible Indians

Bengaluru-based consumer credit startup slice has unveiled a credit card that offers a credit limit from Rs 2,000 onwards, in a move aimed at capturing nearly 200 million Indians who are not serviced by legacy credit card companies, but are doing some form of online transactions.

The card is free, and comes with similar benefits as any other credit card, irrespective of the limit, the startup said in a release. The product hopes to help new-to-credit users build their credit scores.

IPO-bound OYO increases authorised share capital to Rs 901 Cr

Oravel Stays Pvt Ltd, that operates hospitality firm Oyo, has approved an increase in the authorised share capital of the company from Rs 1.17 crore to Rs 901 crore, according to a regulatory filing by the hospitality firm. The development comes ahead of proposed initial public offering (IPO) by OYO, for which a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) is likely to be filed in the next few months, sources in know of the matter told PTI.

CollegeDekho raises $26.5M in Series B round led by Winter Capital, ETS, and Man Capital (Funding)

Gurugram-based CollegeDekho, a platform for college admissions and education services, has raised $26.5 million (Rs 200 Crore) in an 'ongoing and oversubscribed' Series B funding round led by Winter Capital Partners, ETS Strategic Capital-the private equity investments arm of ETS (creator of the TOEFL and GRE tests), Calega, and existing investor Man Capital and Rajeev Chaba.

The startup plans to use the funding to further improve its offerings for students and colleges, increase its investment in product and technology, expand internationally, and grow new verticals like Ed-Fin-Tech and student accommodation.

EV startup Ultraviolette to set up manufacturing facility in Bengaluru; plans to roll out 15K superbikes next year (Funding)

Electric vehicle startup Ultraviolette Automotive has announced that it will be setting up a manufacturing facility in Bengaluru.

Spread over an area of 70,000 square feet in Electronics City in Bengaluru, the startup will manufacture 15,000 electric motorcycles in the first year, and plans to rapidly scale up to an annual capacity of 120,000 units. The team intends to invest Rs 500 crore in the facility.

Financial service platform WeRize raises $8M in Series A led by 3one4 Capital, Kalaari Capital, and others

Bengaluru-based full-stack financial services platform, WeRize, on Wednesday announced that it has raised $8 million in Series A round, led by 3one4 Capital, Picus Capital, Kalaari Capital, and Orios Ventures, according to a press statement.

Founded by ex LendingKart executives Vishal Chopra and Himanshu Gupta in 2019, WeRize is building India’s first socially distributed full stack financial services platform for families in small town India. 

Ola Electric scooter sale to begin today; deliveries from October

The purchase window for Ola S1, electric two-wheelers by Ola Electric, begins today, September 8th at 6 pm. This is open only for those with a reservation. According to a blog post on the company's website, two variants – the Ola S1 and the Ola S1 Pro - are available for purchase, with delivery expected in October.

The Bhavish Aggarwal led EV unicorn had opened its pre-launch reservation in July for an amount of Rs 499, which witnessed strong response from consumers.

Zeotap raises additional $11M in Series C round (Funding)

Bengaluru and Germany-based Zeotap, the next-gen customer data platform, has announced raising an $11 million extension to its Series C funding round. The extension follows the company raising $42 million in July 2020, which was followed by an initial extension of $18.5 million in November from SignalFire’s Breakout Fund. 

HDFC Bank signs MoU with NSIC to provide credit support to MSMEs

HDFC Bank has said it has signed a pact with the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) for providing credit support to the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector.

Under this, the country's largest private sector bank will also provide MSMEs with a set of specially-tailored schemes to enhance their competitiveness.