Startup news and updates: daily roundup (July 19, 2022)

M2P Fintech acquires Syntizen to offer regtech capabilities 

 API infrastructure startup, M2P Fintech, on Tuesday announced the acquisition of Syntizen, a fintech startup providing customer onboarding solutions. The deal would allow paperless, instant, and electronic identity and onboarding services to M2P fintech’s partner clients/merchants. 

This marks the fifth acquisition undertaken by the fintech in the last 10 months. It has taken over two fintech businesses, Wizi (credit card sourcing startup), and Origa AI (loan recovery startup) in September 2021, followed by the acquisition of core banking solutions provider BSG ITSOFT in February 2022 and Bengaluru-based cloud lending platform Finflux in July. 

Vamsi Kotte, CEO of Syntizen will take up the product leadership role at M2P and will continue to build on the vision for Syntizen. 

Pepper Content appoints former OYO top executive as CBO

Content marketplace startup, Pepper Content, on Tuesday announced the appointment of former Oyo executive, Harshit Vyas, as its Chief Business Officer (CBO).

Harshit was a part of Oyo’s core management team and essayed multiple roles, including Chief Operating Officer (COO) and CBO. Prior to this, Harshit worked with Pristyn Care as a key CXO with a focus on building new businesses for the healthcare provider.

In his new role, Harshit will be driving hyper-growth in India and expanding revenue across existing categories of the marketplace. The appointment comes as part of startup’s efforts to continue to invest in and attract world-class talent in the wake of a global digital ecosystem boom, it said in a release.

EV brand Ellysium Automotives launches electric scooters

Ellysium Automotives, the auto arm of UAE-based group company META4 Group, has announced the launch of three electric scooters in the high-speed category under its EV two-wheeler brand in India EVeium.

The three scooters—COSMO, COMET, and CZAR—are powered by Lithium-ion 72V and 30/50/42Ah batteries respectively. The price ranges from Rs 1.44 lakh-2.16 lakh.

EVeium will be a complete Made-in-India brand, with all scooters of EVeium manufactured at the META4 group’s Voltly Energy manufacturing plant. Voltly Energy recently signed an MOU with Telangana Government to acquire a 15-acre land in Zaheerabad, Telangana to set up a manufacturing unit for electric vehicles. The brand has plans to invest over Rs 250 crore to set up the plant which will be functional by the end of this fiscal year.

Healthtech startup TaCa Healthcare to hire 400-500 in 6 months

Health tech startup TaCa Healthcare on Tuesday said it plans to hire over 400 professionals over the next six months. The company also plans to invest $12-15 million in next 12-18 months to upgrade existing healthcare facilities in Tier 2 and 3 cities and up-skilling surgeons.

The five-month-old startup, founded by Bidhan Chowdhury and Dr Atul Peters, works with a large network of hospitals and specialist doctors to provide affordable secondary surgery care to patients. The startup claims to have presence across more than 30 cities in 7 states, including seven states - Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Haryana.

“Our mission is to revolutionise secondary surgery care in the country by making it affordable and easily accessible to the masses near their homes. We will be hiring 400-500 people in the next six months as we accelerate our plans to strengthen our operations in the existing and expand it to many more cities and states in the coming months,” said co-founder Bidhan Chowdhury.  

The platfroms offers short-stay elective surgeries such as gall bladder stone removal surgery, hernia repair/ removal surgery, appendix removal surgery, and surgery for piles, fissures, and fistula, among others, and is focused on ensuring equitable access to high-quality healthcare services. 

In June, the startup had partnered with Medicover Hospitals, a multinational hospital chain with a presence in 11 countries in Europe and India.

(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)