Startup news and updates: daily roundup (June 20, 2022)

Protean, PayNearby ink deal to offer paperless PAN services

Protean eGov Tech, which was earlier known as NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure, said it has partnered with PayNearby, a digital payments and banking network, to offer PAN-related services via Aadhar and biometric, or SMS-based OTP authentication.

The partnership is expected to help provide quick and easy access to services that require a PAN card without having to carry a physical document.

"Once the online application form is submitted, a digital copy of the ePAN will be generated within a couple of hours while a physical copy will be delivered to the customers at their chosen address in four to five working days," the two companies said in a joint press release.

Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah opens first offline centre

India's 101st unicorn Physics Wallah (PW) has launched its first completely offline coaching centre in Kota, it said on Monday.

The centre is aimed at helping engineers and medical aspirants access an affordable learning environment.

The student-teacher ratio of each class will be 125:1, the startup said, adding over 1,000 admissions have already been done.

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IppoPay appoints Atish Shelar as COO

Fintech company IppoPay said it has appointed ex-HDFC merchant acquiring, payment gateway team executive Atish Shelar as its chief operating officer.

"IppoPay is one of the fastest-growing offline and online payment businesses. The company has a strong and promising strategy set in for the next three years," Atish said in a press release announcing his appointment.

Founded in 2020 by Mohan K and Jai Kumar, IppoPay is a payment aggregator that lets businesses collect and accept payments from customers. It mostly operates in semi-urban India, and powers digital payments for small businesses, SMEs, freelancers, and homepreneurs, in Tier II, III, and rural areas.

IppoPay's USP is that it does not need any payment terminal, POS, or swiping machine. Merchants can generate QR codes using its mobile app. The founders have invested Rs 50 lakh of their own money into the startup, and its clients include milk vendors, newspaper boys, chit fund companies, and others.

Gaming platform Bombay Play appoints Kunal Mordekar as COO

Bombay Play said on Monday it has appointed Kunal Mordekar as its new chief operating officer, effective May 2022.

Kunal has over 10+ years of experience in game design, programming, production, and project management.

Founded in 2018 by Oliver Jones and Abhas Saroha, Bombay Play is a hyper-social gaming startup that facilitates in-game communication and link-based social gaming.

India Accelerator expands into Sri Lanka

Mentorship-driven accelerator India Accelerator on Monday said it has launched a chapter in Sri Lanka to strengthen the country's startup ecosystem.

"The aim is to open all the services that sit within the India Accelerator multiverse. Startups can have a powerful positive impact on society at large—from creating jobs, providing purpose, creating wealth, to improving the GDP. Sri Lanka’s startup ecosystem is in its nascence and there is a lot of upside for everyone involved," said Ashish Bhatia, Founder and CEO of India Accelerator.

The India Accelerator Network, to date, has helped over 3,200 companies receive over $4.8 billion in funding, and achieved 25X growth.

Kuku FM crosses a million active paying subscribers in India

KukuFM, an audio content platform, said on Monday it has crossed one million active paying subscribers in India, becoming one of the country's top audio platforms.

It added it hopes to hit 10 million active paying subscribers in the next year.

Founded in 2018 by IIT alumni Lal Chan Bisu, Vinod Kumar Meena, and Vikas Goyal, Kuku claims it has seen 27X growth in one year. It has 30,000 creators on the platform and offers religious, entertainment, education, personal finance, spirituality, and history-related content in seven Indic languages.