Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (November 17, 2021)

Trifecta Capital announces the first close of Trifecta Venture Debt Fund–III at Rs 750 Cr

Trifecta Capital on Wednesday announced that it has achieved the first close of its third venture debt fund, Trifecta Venture Debt Fund – III, having secured investor commitments of Rs. 750 crores within two months of the launch of the Fund. The Fund, with a target corpus of Rs. 1,000 crores ($133 million) and a green shoe option of Rs. 500 crores ($67 million) - is the largest in the series of venture debt funds managed by the firm.

Hotmail Co-founder Sabeer Bhatia launches social video platform ShowReel to connect job seekers and companies

Sabeer Bhatia, the Silicon Valley-based techpreneur who co-founded Hotmail, has launched a new startup.

ShowReel, a purpose-driven social video messaging platform that is currently in Beta mode, helps match job seekers and companies, empowering people with upskilling and employment opportunities.

GoKwik raises Rs 112 Cr in Series A investment led by Sequoia Capital India

Ecommerce enablement firm GoKwikhas raised Series A funding of Rs 112 crore ($15 million) led by Sequoia Capital India. The round also saw participation from existing investors Matrix Partners India and RTP Global. The new investment will be primarily used for doubling the size of the product and tech teams and hiring best-in-class talent and subject matter experts, to enable the development of innovative products to increase conversion rates across the funnel as well as make the existing offerings more robust.

Fintech startup Velocity raises $20M in Series A round led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures

Velocity.in, a Bengaluru-based fintech startup, has raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, a US-based VC firm. Launched in early 2020, Velocity has established revenue-based financing as a credible alternative to venture capital and traditional bank debt for ecommerce businesses in India.

SalaryBox raises $4M from Y-Combinator, AME Cloud Ventures, Gokul Rajaram, others

Gurugram-based fintech startup SalaryBox on Wednesday announced that it has raised $4 million in a new seed round from new and existing investors including Y-Combinator, Jerry Yang’s AME Cloud Ventures, Soma Capital and 2AM Ventures. Other key investors in the latest funding round include US-based angel and seed investors Gokul Rajaram, Doordash Executive; Sriram Krishnan, former Tinder and Spotify Executive; and Anand Chandrasekaran, former Facebook Executive.

Most women in India looking ahead to gain skills to advance career: Survey

As the pandemic continues to stretch on, most women (90 percent of the respondents) in India are looking forward to gaining new skills to advance in their current position or move to a better job, according to a survey. Over 88 percent of the women surveyed in India want to improve their skills and abilities to become more employable as compared with 97 percent in Brazil and 90 percent in Mexico, according to the Pearson Global Learner Survey 2021.