Startup news and updates: daily roundup (October 31, 2022)

Staqu intends to increase its workforce by 33% by the end of the fiscal year

Staqu, an AI implementation enabler, has announced plans to increase its talent pool by 33 % by the end of this fiscal year. The current staff strength is approximately 75 and with the scheduled recruitment drive, the company is on track to cross the 100 mark. The announcement follows the explosive growth in the last two fiscals, and comes as major tech players find themselves in the middle of a layoff season.

The brand will be aggressively hiring mid-level and senior-level employees in the department of digital technologies, sales, and marketing. Staqu is particularly on the hunt for skilled applicants for its NCR location where the brand is headquartered.

Porter launches intracity logistics services in Ludhiana

Porter, a tech-based, on-demand logistics company, has forayed into Ludhiana with its diversified logistics services. Continuing the expansion in Tier-II and III markets, Porter also plans to introduce other vehicle categories, including three-wheelers and two-wheelers, in the coming months.

With the launch in Ludhiana, Porter will now be operating in 17 cities across India.

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Startup news and updates: daily roundup (October 28, 2022)

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KredX announces first global trade export deal of $15.6M on ITFS platform

Tiger Global backed supply chain financing platform KredX today announced its first global trade export deal of annualised transaction value of $15.6 million on its licensed ITFS platform—KredX GTX in GIFT City. 

KredX GTX is among the four entities to be granted an “in-principle” approval by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to set up and operate an International Trade Financing Services platform (ITFS) at GIFT City for importers and exporters to secure both pre- and post-shipment financing from Indian and foreign institutional investors. 

Probus Insurance Broker ropes in Hrithik Roshan as brand ambassador

Insurtech firm Probus Insurance Broker Pvt Ltd announced its association with Bollywood icon and superstar Hrithik Roshan as its brand ambassador.

Hrithik Roshan will be seen in an integrated communication campaign, spearheaded by a TVC spanning multiple digital platforms. With this partnership, Probus aims to take forward the brand narrative of #AapkaSaathiAapkaSaarthi.

Speaking of the association, Rakesh Goyal, Director of Probus said, “This association will assist us in reaching consumers/end users across age groups, and enable us to instill trust and educate them on the importance of choosing the right insurance partner. We are excited about the opportunities that our collaboration will provide.”

Over 71% businesses in India seek collaboration to meet net-zero goals: Study

Businesses in India continue to face significant challenges in their journey towards net-zero carbon, with 24% citing the complexity of the required transformation, 25% pointing to the lack of talent with expertise implementing net-zero initiatives, and 23% specifying limited resources to support net-zero initiatives. 

These findings are part of a new commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Amazon and The Climate Pledge, which unveils insights on the state of collaboration and climate action by organizations in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

While over two in three businesses in India (and 70% of firms across APAC) identify collaboration as critical to clearing these roadblocks and achieving their net-zero carbon goals, 63% say the lack of access to peer networks and cross-sector communities is a top challenge impeding climate collaboration. This is followed by the lack of access to best practices and learning platforms (31%), lack of awareness or knowledge of partner organizations or initiatives (31%), and lack of a dedicated budget to support the development of decarbonizing technologies and services (27%).

IIT M's ICSR crosses Rs 1,000 Cr cash inflow in FY22

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) generated over Rs 1,000 crore in funding and revenue in a financial year for the first time in its history during FY 2022. This sum includes Rs 768 crore of funds from projects sanctioned by the state and central governments, and Rs 313 crore in industry consultancy.

These collaborations are facilitated by a dedicated team at the Centre for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (ICSR), IIT Madras, which is headed by Prof Manu Santhanam. 

The major projects that drove the surge in funding during 2021-22 include:

• ‘Education through Information and Communication Technology using Direct-to-Home (DTH)’ headed by Prof. K. Mangala Sunder and Prof Arun Tangirala—Rs 300.28 crore
• ‘Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS)’ headed by Prof Venkatesh Balasubramanian—R. 99.5 crore
• ‘Speech Technologies in Indian Languages’ headed by Prof Hema A Murthy—Rs 50.6 crore
• ‘Collecting Datasets and Benchmarks for Building Indian Language Technology’ headed by Dr Mitesh Khapra—Rs 47 crore

Yash Birla Ventures, Anand Pandit launch skin and hair care brand

Film producer Anand Pandit and Yash Birla Ventures have joined hands for a new venture, Nature 4 Nature. The brand was launched to offer consumers 100% natural products.

The brand plans to launch new products every month and targets a product range of 100 in the next 12 months. Along with the brand launch, Nature 4 Nature announced the appointment of Bollywood actors, Tara Sutaria and Ishaan as the brand’s ambassadors.

DigiCert appoints industry veteran Amit Sinha as Chief Executive Officer

DigiCert  has named Amit Sinha as the company's Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the DigiCert Board of Directors. Amit joins DigiCert from Zscaler, Inc (“Zscaler”) where he served as President and member of the Board of Directors.

DigiCert is backed by Clearlake Capital Group, LP (together with its affiliates, “Clearlake”), Crosspoint Capital Partners (“Crosspoint”), and TA Associates (“TA”).

“I'm honoured and grateful for the opportunity to lead the DigiCert team,” said Amit.

He brings over 20 years of technology, strategy, and operational experience from Zscaler, Motorola, AirDefense, and Engim.

dezerv hits Rs 1,000 Cr mark in financial assets managed

Wealth-creation startup dezerv. has announced that it has achieved the Rs 1,000 crore mark in financial assets managed on its platform. This growth is powered by new user acquisition and a strong repeat investment pattern from existing customers who deployed 7X times more capital after their first investment. The company offers advanced portfolio management strategies and access to alternative investment opportunities.

Backed by marquee investors like Accel, Elevation Capital, and Matrix Partners India among others, the startup aims to grow the assets managed to Rs 7,500 crore by end of 2023.

Halp.co enters India with 1:1 study abroad platform, free premium admissions coaching

Halp, a tech-enabled international college admissions coaching platform, has announced its entry in India to support students aspiring to study abroad. Backed by tennis legend Serena Williams, it has entered the Indian education sector by setting up its offices in Mumbai, Delhi, and Punjab.

Along with admissions counselling, Halp coaches assist the students with end-to-end support in setting up a new life in the new country; including flights, phone plans, bank accounts, accommodation, VISA, scholarship, loans and everything that they need to start their education in that country.

Israeli retailtech company Onebeat expands to more Indian Retailers

Onebeat, the adaptive inventory management software, is expanding its operation in India; working with major retail corporations such as Madhura Garments, Titan Watches, Tanishq, and Metro Shoes in order to increase their footprint in the region. 

Through this strategic partnership, Onebeat aims to enable retailers, wholesalers, and brands across India to achieve retail disruption through operational excellence and innovation.

Draper University chooses SCOPE for its cohort training programme

SCOPE, a platform for budding entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investors, and industry experts, has been chosen as one of the 50 startups from 80 countries worldwide to be a part of Draper University’s prestigious startup incubator training cohort. SCOPE’s CEO and Founder, Appalla Saikiran, will personally be attending the sessions.

After completion, Draper University will help SCOPE and the other chosen startups garner business prospects and raise funding ranging from $500,000 up to $1 million from external investors. Further, Draper University will assist SCOPE in scaling its platform in terms of tech infrastructure and development, facilitating the brand’s growth and progress.

Revamp Moto to accelerate its EV production

Modular Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturer, Revamp Moto, announced Panache, a reputed public limited organization specialising in design, manufacturing, distribution and services of ICT and IoT devices as their Contract Manufacturer for EVs. Through this alliance with Revamp Moto, Panache will make its foray into the Indian EV market and will assemble indigenously made-in-India EVs for Revamp Moto at its facility in Bhiwandi, Mumbai.

This new association will see Revamp Moto showcase a strong concept of modularity in EVs that can be a game changer in the EV ecosystem of India. Panache will support this effort by bringing to the table, two decades of experience in contract manufacturing. This will benefit Revamp to assemble and build EVs that highlight the revolutionary concept of 'Modular Utility Platforms' which are made with the motto of 'built to adapt'.

Microsoft, byteXL sign MoU to develop ‘future-ready’ technology talent pool

byteXL, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft. The MoU is directed to transform educational institutes in Tier-II and III cities across the nation and cater to the 360-degree developmental needs of its students.

The pan-India initiative—‘XLerate’, supported by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), aims to impart training in new age and emerging technologies. This collaboration is aligned with the national vision of providing one crore internship opportunities by 2025.

Kunal Shah-backed BankSathi adds 3 Indian languages

Seasoned investor Kunal Shah-backed financial advisory platform Banksathi Technologies Pvt Ltd has added Telugu, Bengali, and Marathi to its platform to support and encourage awareness for locals to bolster the growth in the lesser-known financial domain. This move will benefit 30 lakh customers and 5 lakh advisors pan India. 

CXO hiring decreases by 93% between Oct ‘21 and Sept ‘22: Report

The Annual Insights Report by RazorpayX Payroll, the business banking platform of Razorpay, has derived insights by analysing payroll data from October 2021 to September 2022 of 25,000+ employees across 1,000+ Indian startups from 20+ sectors who currently use RazorpayX Payroll.

On one hand, facing a capital crunch, startups are experiencing the great normalisation of hiring, limiting their hiring of CXOs and permanent employees while on the other, startups are increasing payouts to existing employees. 

Here are some top insights from the report:

1. Indian startups see The Great Normalisation: Hiring of new permanent employees has dipped by 61% as compared to Oct 2021. The dip in hiring is seen across seniority with the CXO hiring noticing a massive normalization, dropping by 93% since October 2021. Technology-related jobs have managed to marginally increase their contribution to the overall workforce by 4% while the hiring trend is slowing down in general. 

1. Gig, the new norm of work: Payments to gig workers have seen a growth of 153% since October 2021. The total number of enterprises that have shifted to a semi-gig workforce model has increased by 15% since October 2021. Semi-skilled gig workers who are paid less than Rs 20,000 have the highest contribution to the entire pool of gig workers being hired by startups, followed by those who earn anywhere between Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000. Skilled gig workers who earn between Rs 85,000 to more than Rs 150,000, although contributing the least to the overall pool, have seen the highest growth in the last one year. Gig workers who earn between Rs 85,000 Rs 150,000 have grown by 62%, while gig workers who earn more than Rs 150,000 grew by 69% in the last one year. This goes on to show that gig workers are gaining more popularity among startups than hiring full-time employees.

1. Despite a drop in hiring, salary spends is on a rise: While overall hiring has decreased, salary spends have increased by 64.7% since Oct 2021. Contrary to previous trends, salaries across different salary levels have been rising gradually but not exponentially, at an average of 12%. However, growth in salaries is very different across different scales of gig-workers. While the median salaries of gig-workers have increased by only 19.9% in the last one year, salaries in the 99th percentile of gig-workers grew by a whopping 58.3%

1. Rising salaries are not distributed equitably across genders: A gradual growth in salaries is seen in both genders, however, growth in salaries earned by males is higher at 29% as compared to 22% by women. Moreover, salary gaps seem to get wider, the higher one goes up the salary bracket. While the median salary gap between men and women was 46% in the last one year, the salary gap between the two genders in the 95th percentile salary bracket was a whopping 70%.

Bikaji Foods IPO to open on Nov 3, price band at Rs 285-300

Bikaji Foods International Limited has fixed the price band at Rs 285 to Rs 300 per equity share for its maiden public offer. The initial public offering of the company will open on Thursday, November 3, 2022, for subscription and closes on Monday, November 7, 2022. Investors can bid for a minimum of 50 equity shares and in multiples of 50 equity shares thereafter.

The issue with a face value of Re 1 per equity share, is an entirely an offer for sale (OFS) up to 29,373,984 by existing shareholders and promoter group entities.

Metaverse startup Trace has raised $3.5M in seed funding

Metaverse startup Trace has raised more than $3.5 million in seed investments, the startup said in a press statement on Monday. It has raised an additional $500,000 through NFT sales on the platform.

Trace is a geolocation-based metaverse startup that uses augmented reality on smartphones, and allows people to interact with digital objects in the real world.

Trace is led by Dmitry Fomin, Bogdan Evtushenko, and Dmitry Korostelev. It also recently appointed crypto influencer Abhyudoy Das as its advisor.

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

(This story was updated to correct a factual error in the Razorpay news.)