PhonePe receives over Rs 740 Cr from parent

Hello Reader,

Pandemic favourite Zoom is falling out of favour.

Shares of the company are down by almost 90% from their peak in October 2020 as it struggles to adjust to a post-COVID-19 world.

In other news, Saudi Arabia dealt a heavy blow to fan favourites Argentina in a 2-1 defeat at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. For Argentinian captain Lionel Messi, who vowed that the team would bounce back, this is the last chance to bring home the world cup trophy.

Last but not least, here are the 200 most common passwords. Surprised to see ‘batman’ was used only 9,407 times.

Spoiler alert: ‘bigbasket’ ranked #4 in India, used 75,081 times!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• PhonePe receives over Rs 740 Cr from parent 
• Lumhaa: Building digital memory jars
• AUM targets Indian founders with new fund

Here’s your trivia for today: Which is the longest-running science-fiction television show?

Fintech

PhonePe receives over Rs 740 Cr from parent

In its second major fundraise this year, Flipkart-owned digital payments platform PhonePe has received a fresh capital infusion of about Rs 742 crore from its Singapore-based parent.

Staying on course:

• The year has been significant for PhonePe as it moved its domicile from Singapore to India in September, as a run-up to its public listing plans. 
• In a separate filing, the company reported a standalone revenue from operations of Rs 1,640 crore in the financial year 2021-22, up from Rs 690 crore in the previous fiscal. 
• It intends to integrate hundreds of thousands of Indian apps such as Indus App Bazaar to its PhonePe Switch, which already has some mini apps integrated. 

Funding Alert

Startup: Bira91

Amount: $70M

Round: Series D

Startup: Vajram Electric

Amount: $1.5M

Round: Seed

Startup: Soptle 

Amount: $300K

Round: Angel

Women entrepreneurs

Lumhaa: Building digital memory jars

How many times have we clicked an image or perhaps shared a fun note with a friend, only for these memories to be later lost to a cloud dump? 

Lumhaa - The Memory Jar Company helps users file their memories in digital memory jars. Its founder Shriya Sekhsaria believes the biggest competitor for the startup is future discounting. 

A core memory:

• Lumhaa has received funding from Princeton University and a few angel investors. The founder declined to disclose current revenues.
• Shriya says Lumhaa’s growth started becoming significant when users helped redesign the product based on what they liked.
• The platform makes money in two ways: physical products (from Rs 75 to Rs 1 lakh), and contracts with organisations at a starting price of Rs 1,000 a month. 

Venture Capital 

AUM targets Indian founders with new fund

United Arab Emirates (UAE) based AUM Ventures is launching its maiden venture capital fund. It is an early and pre-growth stage VC fund that supports tech-enabled and consumer-focused Indian entrepreneurs. The VC firm is targeting $30 million for the new fund.

Building blocks

• AUM Ventures helps entrepreneurs set up regional operations, as well as raise follow-on capital from global investors, to allow market expansion.
• It is licensed and regulated by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the international financial centre of the UAE’s capital Emirate.
• It has so far invested in 11 companies including Skyroot Aerospace, Smiles.ai, and GlobalFair.

News & updates

• Money talks: Binance Chief Executive Officer Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and several deputies met with investors in Abu Dhabi last week in an effort to raise cash for a crypto industry recovery fund.
• Stranglehold: The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has launched an investigation into Apple and Google’s control of the mobile browser market. The agency said Google and Apple powered 97% of all web browsing that took place in the UK in 2021.
• Jobs, jobs, jobs: Put off by Elon Musk's muscular management style? Move to us! That's the pitch being used by talent-starved technology firms trying to lure thousands of former Twitter Inc employees laid off by the company’s new owner.

Which is the longest-running science-fiction television show?

Answer: Doctor Who, which premiered in November 1963. 

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