Startup news and updates: daily roundup (September 11, 2022)

'Link startups with industry from the beginning as equal stakeholders'

Union Minister Jitendra Singh called for linking startups with Industry right from the beginning as equal stakeholders in order to ensure sustainable businesses.

Chairing the leadership session of Ministers on the first day of the two-day Centre-State Science Conclave in Ahmedabad, Jitendra Singh said his Ministry was proactively reaching out to startups and providing seed funds for incubation and quality research with 50-50 investment mechanism from the DST and the startups.

He further mentioned that the integration of research, startups, academia, and industry was no longer an option but a dire necessity to attract young innovators in the country.

“Doubling private sector investment in R&D by 2030 and supplementing the country’s and state’s overall economy was a key agenda of the conclave in tune with the atmanirbhar goal of the Narendra Modi government," he said.

Coworking operators' share in office leasing space jumps to 20%

As coworking operators open new centres to tap the rising demand for flexible workspaces, their share in the overall office leasing space has increased to 20% during January to June, this year, a report by real estate consultant Anarock stated.

Anuj Puri, Chairman at Anarock, said, "Coworking has received a major boost after COVID-19 disrupted the previous status quo. A major factor driving demand is that these spaces are not concentrated in just the city centres or major employment hubs; they're spread across different areas, including the housing-intense suburbs."

The report also stated that the demand for coworking spaces was the highest in Pune (at 45 percent). The net leasing of office space stood at 6.1 million square feet in Bengaluru (at 23 percent), followed by Delhi-NCR and Chennai at 2.75 million square feet and 1.85 million square feet, respectively. In Mumbai, the net leasing office space was 2.9 million square feet, of which 11 percent was contributed by coworking players.

Reliance can explore reorganising company to list subsidiaries: Report

A report by Kotak Institutional Equities recently stated that Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd can explore reorganisation of the company into three independent entities for different business verticals as it prepares to list subsidiaries and induct next-generation of founding family into key roles.

The report further said doing this would help prevent any holding company discount in Reliance as and when its subsidiaries list, prepare for eventual management change, and preclude inter-linkages between entities as and when they become independent, listed entities.

The report stated: "Reliance can explore reorganisation of the company into three independent entities for its three different business verticals as it prepares to list its subsidiaries and induct next-generation members of the founding family into key roles."

Fractional ownership platform hBits raises Rs 20 Cr

Commercial real estate company hBits has raised Rs 20 crore from angel investors. The round saw participation from Nirmal Jain (Chairman and Founder of IIFL), Incred Capital, Jayesh Parekh (Former Managing Partner at Jungle Ventures), and Awdesh Krishna (Former Managing Director at Snow Leopark).

According to a release shared by the company, the freshly raised funds will be used to acquire new assets under management, for customer acquisition and expansion of the business to newer geographies.

At present, hiBits uses machine learning to gather historical sale and rental data to provide access to its users. It has around 1.5 lakh square feet of area under management in eight assets that the company mangaes in Mumbai.