Startup news and updates: daily roundup (October 1, 2021)

[YS Exclusive] Softbank-backed OYO files for $1.2Bn IPO; 83% fresh issue and 17% offer for sale

Hospitality unicorn Oyo joined a host of tech startups making their way to capital markets on Friday after it filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise around $1.16 billion (Rs 8,430 crore) with market regulator-Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

YourStory had exclusively reported details around OYO IPO earlier this week that no major investors and the founder Ritesh Agarwal will be diluting any stakes in the company in this IPO, which is expected to launch by end of this year or in January.

Alteria Capital announces final close of its second venture debt fund at Rs 1,800 Cr

Alteria Capital received approvals from SEBI in December 2020 for its second venture debt fund with a target corpus of Rs 1,000 crore. The fund stated there has been strong interest from domestic investors to participate in this asset class causing a significant oversubscription.

Alteria Capital II is one of the largest venture debt funds in India to date. It now has an AUM of Rs. 2,750 crore across two venture debt funds, raised from domestic investors. This is the largest pool of debt capital available for startups in India.

TikTok gets into NFTs with creator-led collection

Social media platform TikTok has forayed into the nonfungible token or NFT market with a new collection inspired by its leading trend-setters.

The platform has unveiled TikTok Top Moments, a new programme that allows creators to be recognised and rewarded for their content. The NFT drops will be launched on Ethereum and powered by Immutable X, a new scaling solution for layer-two NFT protocol Immutable, according to media sources.

Insurance startup Loop Health raises $12M from Elevation, General Catalyst, others (Funding)

Health insurance distribution startup Loop Health has raised $12 million (around Rs 88 crore) in a funding round led by Elevation Capital and General Catalyst. The Series A funding round also saw participation from Vinod Khosla (through Khosla Ventures), YC Continuity Fund, and Tribe Capital.

The startup will use the funding to scale up business and for product development through custom insurance products, including wellness and physical healthcare clinics, and drive strategic hiring, mainly in the sales and engineering verticals.

Uber partners with Startup India, iCreate on innovation fund to drive adoption of EVs

Ride-hailing company Uber has said it is partnering with Startup India and Gujarat-based startup incubation centre iCreate on an innovation fund to support new ideas to drive adoption of electric vehicles across the country.

The 'Green Mobility Innovation Challenge', which will be hosted on the Startup India portal, invites submissions from individuals and startups that focus on innovation in areas of two- and three-wheelers, and charging station accessibility, Uber said in a statement.

AlphaSense raises $180M Series C investment led by Viking Global and Goldman Sachs (Funding)

New-York based market intelligence and search platform AlphaSense has raised $180 million Series C funding led by Viking Global Investors and the Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Goldman Sachs), along with by Morgan Stanley, Citi Bank, Bank of America, Barclays, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, Cowen Inc., AllianceBernstein, and existing investors.

India's external debt at $571.3B at June-end, up $1.6B from March: RBI

India's external debt stood at $571.3 billion at the end of June, recording an increase of $1.6 billion over its level at the end of March 2021, the RBI said on Thursday. However, the external debt to GDP ratio declined to 20.2 percent at June-end 2021 from 21.1 percent as of March 31. Valuation gain due to the appreciation of the US dollar vis-a-vis the Indian rupee was at $1.7 billion.

Credit delivery to large section of society very important for economic growth: CEA

Credit penetration or providing credit to a large section of the society is very important for economic development of the country, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K V Subramanian said on Thursday.

"This is the area where India has lagged behind. If you look at the private credit to GDP ratio at 58 percent, we are way behind many of the economies. OECD average is 160 percent," he said.