Startup news and updates: daily roundup (March 28, 2022)

Klub partners with Cashfree Payments to finance 5,000 merchants

Revenue-based financing platform Klub on Monday said it has partnered with Cashfree Payments to finance 5,000 merchants through its platform.

Cashfree Payments offers an advanced payment gateway with features like instant refunds, card pre-authorisation, among other products. The brand also provides a bouquet of payment services to vendors, including payment collections, recurring payments, and verification services to banks.

Backed by SBI, Y Combinator, Apis Partners, and incubated by PayPal, Cashfree Payments enables over 100,000 growing businesses in India and across eight other countries, including the US, Canada, and UAE, with payment collections, vendor payouts, wage payouts, bulk refunds, expense reimbursements, loyalty, and rewards. 

Jupiter Meta to launch India’s first music NFTs

Jupiter Meta, a fully curated NFT marketplace, has launched music NFTs for the first time in the country. Jupiter Meta's unique offerings will be available as part of a special metaverse concert, featuring a solo performance by singer and composer Karthik on April 14, 2022.

Music NFTs give musicians the right of ownership and allow them to reach their fans directly. These NFTs substantially benefit the creator, giving them more control over their work. For buyers of these music clips, there is potential in terms of a sense of ownership and financial flexibility.

“The metaverse isn’t just a buzzword anymore. It has real implications and brings actual value to the way we interact with one another and with intangibles such as culture and the sense of community,” said Manasa Rajan, CEO, Jupiter Meta. 

He added, “Music NFTs will give users a specific value and sense of ownership that cannot be replicated, while the concert will bridge the physical divide between artist and fan in a sense and open the doors for more personalised and meaningful conversations outside our reality.”

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Snapdeal partners with Cashfree Payments to enable instant refunds for CoD orders

Ecommerce platform Snapdeal has partnered with API banking solutions company Cashfree Payments to enable instant processing of refunds against Cash on Delivery (CoD) orders.

Traditionally, processing refunds for CoD orders has been a multi-step and time-consuming process, which includes manually adding the customer's bank account details, onboarding the customer as a payee, and tracking and reconciling refunds batch-wise.

With the integration of Cashfree Payments’ product ‘Cashgram’, Snapdeal will be able to process refunds with only the customer’s mobile number or email address, with credits automatically flowing to the customer’s UPI-linked bank account, or wallet. 

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Myntra enters social commerce amid online shopping boom

A recent RedSeer report commissioned by Snapdeal highlighted the rapid growth of online customers in India’s Tier - II and beyond cities and towns, who are expected to triple in size from about 78 million in 2021 to nearly 256 million by 2026.

A significant proportion of buyers from smaller cities prefer to pay in cash for their online purchases. For this cohort of buyers, the ease and speed of getting refunds for orders they may choose to return is a key consideration.

With the integration of ‘Cashgram’ by Cashfree Payments, Snapdeal now offers a seamless and fast refund process, where customers can get their refund instantly or later as per their own choice, either to their bank accounts or to their preferred wallets.

YuppTV bags broadcasting rights for TATA IPL 2022

Airing from March 26 to May 29, 2022, YuppTV customers can enjoy the matches and cheer for their favourite teams and players from the comfort and safety of their homes. This year marks the debut of two new franchises — Gujarat Titans (GT) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) — along with the existing franchises.

Uday Reddy, Founder and CEO, YuppTV, said, “Cricket has always been a massive crowd-puller, and IPL has reimagined the format and the excitement associated with it. In alignment to bring cricket to the masses, we are delighted to be the streaming platform of choice in expanding the outreach to 99 nations across the globe. We are ensuring that our robust backend technology will support uninterrupted, real-time streaming of the sport that put India on the world map with respect to international leagues.”

In 87th Mann ki Baat, PM Modi applauds NirogStreet in promoting Ayurveda healthcare globally

NirogStreet, a technology-led end-to-end Ayurveda doctor platform, earned a rare and cherished honour as Prime Minister Narendra Modi recognised and applauded the work done by the startup in his latest ‘Mann ki Baat’ speech.

Addressing the nation through the monthly radio programme, PM Modi said that six years ago, the market for medicines related to Ayurveda was around Rs 22,000 crore, which has risen to Rs 1,40,000 crore because Yoga and Ayurveda are increasingly trending all over the world.

He mentioned how NirogStreet’s technology-led unique concept in the Ayurveda healthcare ecosystem is connecting Ayurveda doctors from across the world directly to the people and over 50,000 practitioners are associated with it.

Chalo announces acquisition of Vogo to strengthen first and last-mile connectivity

In a strategic move, transport-tech startup Chalo said it has acquired shared-mobility startup Vogo Automotive. Vogo will augment Chalo’s bus technology services by powering first and last-mile rides at major bus stops and other public places, enabling crores of bus users to easily travel to and from bus stops, further boosting bus ridership.

Before COVID-19, Vogo was present in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, fulfilling about 50,000 rides daily. Users could access petrol-powered two-wheelers through an app.

As a part of this acquisition, the company is switching to electric vehicles across its fleet. Low-powered electric two-wheelers are safer, more suitable for short distances, and offer lower operating costs. Vogo will also expand beyond two-wheelers and offer other types of electric vehicles to suit market needs.

T-Hub awards Rs 15 million to 3 startups through the T-Fund Initiative

T-Hub has disbursed Rs 15 million to three startups through its T-Fund, where Perspect.Ai received Rs 1 crore, Millet Bowl and Lauriko received Rs 25 lakh, each.

Led by the Telangana government under its State Innovation Policy to support early-stage technology startups in Telangana, T-Fund plans to fund 15-20 startups each year, with an average ticket size of Rs 25 lakh to 1 crore for each startup to support around 100 startups over five years.

Flipkart Wholesale introduces SaveEazy loyalty programme for members

Flipkart Wholesale has introduced an exclusive/invite-only loyalty programme called SaveEazy for its members. The first-of-its-kind programme offers a wide range of value-based coupons redeemable offline and online (eSaveEazy). Through this initiative, SaveEazy members can enjoy benefits over and above the everyday low price offers.

Save Eazy Club offers membership in two categories: Classic and Premium. Under the Classic loyalty club membership, available at Rs 999, members will get 12 coupons worth Rs 250, with each coupon having one-month validity.

Under the Premium loyalty club membership, available at Rs 2,499, members will receive 12 coupons worth Rs 400, with each coupon having one-month validity. Premium members will also be offered priority checkout at the stores. The minimum bill value for redemption under this category is Rs 11,000.

Lummo appoints Amit Chhajer as Director of Engineering

Lummo (formerly known as BukuKas) has appointed Amit Chhajer as its Director of Engineering. The Jakarta and Bengaluru-based SaaS company also added stellar names in key roles, including Renuka Thakur, an Ex-Shopify (Product) employee.

Amit Chhajer brings over 11 years of experience to the team. In his previous role at Dunzo, he lead the consumer app and launched the quick grocery commerce product Dunzo Daily. He joined the leadership team at Lummo this month and will be responsible for leading Buyer Experience and Monetisation.

KredX disburses Rs 300 Cr in Q1 through its Pay Later Solution for B2B payments

Supply chain financing platform KredX said it disbursed Rs 300 crore through its Pay Later Solution for B2B payments within the first quarter of its launch. The company had launched the solution in December 2021 to help ease supply chain financing issues within the dealer-distributor-retail chain for businesses.

KredX Pay Later solution is a closed-loop digital supply chain financing solution, leveraging cutting-edge technology to offer working capital finance to dealers, distributors, stockists, and retailers of any brands or products.

The tailor-made solution helps brands and enterprises get instant payment against products sold, while their business buyers get immediate financing based on their credit profile to purchase products on credit with a flexible repayment window.

The company, through this proposition, has addressed cash flow challenges for various brands across sectors — manufacturing, chemical, IT, consulting, B2B marketplaces, franchise-led businesses, pharma, startups, automotive, food and beverage, and FMCG.

Ingen Technologies launches SecuLock to prevent dairy products theft, pilferage

Ingen Technologies, a fully-owned subsidiary of WRMS, launched SecuLock — a state-of-the-art indigenously manufactured smart e-lock developed for live monitoring and prevention of theft and pilferage, especially in milk tankers.

SecuLock comes with a smart e-lock system that includes an electronic door-locking device, central server, mobile application, and control devices. The pre-installed tracking device captures and transmits location data to a central server for en route theft and pilferage prevention and monitoring. And the memory stores location and locking/unlocking data.

Light sensors are also installed on the device to detect if the lock was activated during the dispatch of the vehicle. The device can only be operated through OTP enabled login, thus, only a designated officer can access the lock.

SBM Bank India logs on to CredAvenue’s securitisation platform

CredAvenue has partnered with SBM Bank (India) Ltd, which will help the bank manage its assets and mortgage-backed securities portfolio accurately and efficiently through CredAvenue’s CredPool platform.

This association will also help SBM Bank facilitate granular monitoring of diverse portfolios for performance while complying with the evolving regulatory requirements.

CredAvenue, through its technology-backed platform, will also provide post-transaction fulfilment services for SBM Bank’s ABS/MBS portfolio. Furthermore, CredAvenue will automate NPA recognition and regulatory reporting solutions by directly integrating with the bank's core systems.

Glamyo Health registers 25 percent month-on-month growth in the user base

Glamyo Health, an asset-light healthcare startup operating in the field of elective surgeries, has reached a mark of 300 surgical centres pan-India. Over the period, the startup has recorded 25 percent monthly growth in the user base.

Glamyo Health operates across 10+ surgical categories, providing over 50 individual treatments. It has a wide network of hospitals and clinics in Tier I and II cities. So far, it has raised a Series A round worth $7 million.

In the last year, the brand has already made key global minimally invasive elective and cosmetic surgical technologies available, including laser proctology treatments, laparoscopic surgeries, and circumcision.

The startup is present across 16 cities in India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chandigarh, Indore, Bhubaneshwar, Patna, Mangaluru, Mysore, Madurai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, and Lucknow.

Log9, Jitendra New EV Tech to offer InstaCharging Battery Technology

Bengaluru-based Log9 Materials has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nashik, Maharashtra-headquartered EV manufacturer Jitendra New EV Tech, which will pave the way to roll out an e-scooter named ‘JMT 1000HS Rapid’ InstaCharged by Log9’s cutting-edge InstaCharge technology.

The JMT 1000 HS e-scooters have been designed and introduced to transform the last-mile logistics and delivery segment in India by bringing to the market superior technology and features that deliver superior profitability for the fleet operators of our country.

Student enrollment platform CollegeDekho acquires PrepBytes

CollegeDekho, a student enrollment platform, has acquired PrepBytes in a cash and equity deal to continue expanding its learning and upskilling vertical CollegeDekho Learn. CollegeDekho is expected to hit a 4X revenue run rate growth over its last year’s numbers and scale further to maximise its growth this year.

CollegeDekho caters to around 50 percent of all college searches in India. It has facilitated over 300,000 college applications and ensured over 60,000 admissions since its inception.

CollegeDekho will utilise PrepBytes’ platform to further enhance CollegeDekho Learn. PrepBytes will be able to capitalise on CollegeDekho’s huge reach whilst foraying into non-coding courses.