Startup news and updates: daily roundup (July 14, 2022)

Cricketer Shikhar Dhawan collaborates with Bliv.Club, WIOM to launch first metaverse sports city

Cricketer Shikhar Dhawan is collaborating with Web 3 fintech startup Bliv.Club and Web 3 metaverse startup WIOM to launch the first sports city on the metaverse.

Bliv.Club was founded in 2021 by serial entrepreneurs Vikas Singh, Abhishek Kumar Gupta, and Mohammed Sirajuddin, while Abhinav Tandon launched the World in One Metaverse (WIOM), a Web 3 metaverse startup.

This soon-to-be-launched multi-faceted sports city will be home to cricket stadiums, a sportsplex (where one can leisurely enjoy watching sport), a sports cafe, gym, e-sports zone, cottages, running tracks, the first of its kind 3D immersive sports museum, sports library, and more.

Besides, the startups are coming up with more exciting collaborations with other prominent sports personalities.

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[Funding alert] Gaming startup Zupee raises $8M in Series A round led by Matrix Partners India

Zupee appoints Ashwani Rana as Chief Public Policy Officer

Zupee, a skill-based mobile gaming platform, has appointed Ashwani Rana as its Chief Public Policy Officer. Ashwani joins Zupee from Meta (Facebook), where he was the Director of Public Policy for more than six years. Before Meta, he was the Chief Regulatory Office (Operations) with Bharti Airtel for over a decade.

Ashwani has worked closely with top trade organisations in the country and headed many committees. Throughout his career, he has led numerous policy initiatives at the company and industry levels. He holds a Master’s in Business Law, Public Policy, and Management.

Bikayi partners with WhatsApp to launch BIK.ai

Ecommerce startup Bikayi has launched its new marketing platform BIK.ai in partnership with WhatsApp to become its first official ecommerce partner in India.

The powerful marketing tool aims to revolutionise the way ecommerce brands target, re-engage, and manage their customers on WhatsApp, helping them drive higher conversions and increase revenue by 11X through its AI-powered intelligent platform.

With BIK.ai's personalised messaging, there is a 70 percent higher probability of customers making purchases, thus assisting brands in boosting their sales. It also enables brands to gain a higher reach by targeting over two billion active WhatsApp users every day.

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F&V supply chain startup Wheelocity raises $12M led by Lightspeed, Anicut Capital

Bonito Designs signs Gauri Khan, Manish Malhotra to democratise celebrity-designed homes

Bengaluru-based home interior startup Bonito Designs has signed interior designer Gauri Khan and India’s leading couturier Manish Malhotra to curate bespoke homes for its customers.

Recently, the startup pre-launched its services in Mumbai, and within a month, it became the second-largest organised player in the city. The brand has received phenomenal consumer appreciation for its nuanced and differentiated offering and the disruption that it brings to the interior design space.

The company has more than doubled its ARR and is on the path to crossing $100 million ARR with an EBITDA of 14 percent by the end of FY22-23.

Unocoin collaborates with CleverTap to offer its users omnichannel customer experiences

CleverTap on Thursday said it has partnered with crypto exchange platform Unocoin to optimise, accelerate their user engagement, and provide a seamless omnichannel customer experience.

Through this collaboration and by integrating CleverTap’s solution into its app, Unocoin is now equipped to better understand user behaviour and can create segments based on user activity, demographics, and other parameters.

Unocoin will also create hyper-personalised campaigns to engage with its audience across multiple channels at the right time with precise communication.

CoinSwitch, Startup Karnataka announce blockchain hackathon

Crypto investing app CoinSwitch in association with Startup Karnataka, a Karnataka government initiative, and MP Tejasvi Surya is organising a blockchain hackathon, 'Building Future Cities', to recognise and stimulate blockchain-based solutions to everyday problems faced by India’s 1.2 billion people. The hackathon, to be held in Bengaluru from August 5 to 6, is supported by Sequoia India.

Centred around the themes of smart city, digital governance, and supply chain, the hackathon aims to kickstart a Web 3 innovation cycle tailored and customised for India.

The winners will be rewarded with prize money of Rs 3 lakh, with the total prize pool of the hackathon set at Rs 6 lakh. Participants can enter the competition individually or in a team of up to four members.

GeoIQ looks to expand its team by 2X in FY23

Hyperlocal location AI startup GeoIQ on Thursday said it plans to expand its team by 2X in FY23. These roles are primarily in line with its expansion plans across India and overseas across both leadership and mid-level positions to lead its data teams in the financial and ecommerce sector.

The company has achieved 10X ARR growth in the last four quarters and is on its way to reaching 5X growth in the next two quarters. Founded by IIT alumnus-data scientists, GeoIQ has a team of exceptional and experienced data scientists from India.

Tusheet Shrivastava, Co-founder and CTO, GeoIQ, said, "There’s immense potential in real-world data, of which organisations today have barely scratched the surface. We, at GeoIQ, are determined to change that. We are building a world-class product and working with the most advanced tools and technologies to process TBs of data and convert them into real-time insights. We are looking for people who share our passion for technology and data."