Startup news and updates: daily roundup (August 18, 2022)

Govt amends rules pertaining to account books maintenance by companies

The government has amended the rules pertaining to maintaining books of accounts by companies, with experts saying the changes will provide for enhanced scrutiny of the accounts by the authorities concerned.

Earlier this month, Corporate Affairs Ministry, which is implementing the Companies Law, notified the Companies (Accounts) Fourth Amendment Rules, 2022.

The changes relate to the manner in which books of accounts are to be kept in electronic form.

Now, companies have to ensure that books of accounts and other relevant books and papers maintained in electronic mode remain accessible in India at all times.

Also, the backup of the books of accounts and other books and papers of the company maintained in electronic mode should be compulsorily kept in servers physically located in India on a "daily basis".

Earlier, the requirement was only on a "periodic basis".

SUN Mobility partners with EVeez to deploy over 10K electric 2Ws

Electric vehicle energy infrastructure firm Sun Mobility has partnered with EVeez to deploy over 10,000 vehicles across the country in the coming year.

For this deployment, EVeez will leverage SUN Mobility’s state-of-the-art battery-swap solution-based mobility-as-a-service offering.

This offering is integrated with electric vehicles and smart batteries, along with providing access to a wide network of SWAP POINTS. As a part of this plan, ~200 vehicles will be added to EVeez’s on-ground fleet every month.

As of today, around 250 vehicles have already been deployed in Delhi-NCR. Starting September, the operations will further expand to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, and Chandigarh Tricity.

Founded by Gaurav Rathore and Abhishek Dwivedi, EVeez provides electric vehicles on subscription for commute, delivery services, and in-campus mobility.

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Cashfree Payments partners with PharmEasy

Payments and API banking solutions company Cashfree Payments has entered into a partnership with digital healthcare platform Pharmeasy to facilitate quick and convenient payment settlements to its retail partners.

This partnership will leverage Cashfree Payments’ Payouts solution to automate transactions for the retail network.

With Cashfree Payments’ ‘Payouts’ API integration, PharmEasy said it can now automate this process and facilitate settlement to retail partners within 48 hours of payments received from customers, without any manual intervention.

Cashfree Payments has also helped PharmEasy in tracking and processing bounced or failed Payouts transactions.

upGrad appoints Ashish Sharma as VP for its own-branded programme vertical

Edtech unicorn has appointed ex-Amazon exective Ashish Sharma as Vice President–New Business for its own-branded programme vertical, which will introduce a new line of programmes.

In his new role, Ashish will be responsible for building multi-layered strategies for market creation. He will also build a new business vertical to help final-year students and early-stage professionals scale up their careers by learning new age skills for six to eight months.

Ashish will also be working closely with upGrad divisions—starting with ‘KnowledgeHut upGrad’ to create a structured content delivery pipeline as per business specifics.

Before upGrad, Ashish was working with Paytm Mall and Amazon, where he built and drove business categories while also managing the end-to-end supply chains.

Flipkart Ventures to invest in six early-stage startups

Flipkart Ventures, the $100 million venture fund set up by Flipkart, has said it will be investing in six startups as part of its accelerator programme—Flipkart Leap Ahead.

The six startups selected are Dopplr, which looks to provide immersive virtual stores as a service for brands; blockchain-based insurtech application Livwell; digital logistics platform LogisticsNow (LoRRI); NeuroPixel.AI, a deeptech startup at the intersection of fashion ecommerce and ComptuerVision; robotics automation platform Rightbot Technologies; and seller-centric intelligence platform, Sellerapp.

The programme aims to provide early-stage startups with mentorship and guidance to grow, scale, and build disruptive innovations that solve for Digital India.

The six startups will undergo the well-curated mentorship program delivered through a customised curriculum, which has been designed by Bain & Company. This includes regular mentor connect sessions with experienced Flipkart leaders across various functions including business, product, technology, and finance.

At the end of the programme, the startups will be able to present their ideas, fine-tuned over the course of the 16-week mentorship training, to potential investors and industry leaders on a Demo Day.

(With inputs from PTI. This story will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)