Startup news and updates: daily roundup (December 6, 2022)

Unitus Ventures makes key appointments

Bengaluru based early stage venture capital firm Unitus Ventures has announced the appointment of ITC veteran Sanjiv Rangrass as a Venture Partner. He will lead the firm’s investment strategy in the climate sector, a key bet for the firm’s upcoming fund. Sanjiv retired from ITC as the Group Head for R&D, Sustainability and Projects. As an active investor, Sanjiv has backed companies like Zetwerk and BlackBuck in his individual capacity. 

The firm also onboarded Indian-American business executive, Raj Nooyi, as Venture Advisor to help Unitus’s portfolio companies scale globally. Raj has worked across leading technology services companies including Hewlett Packard, PRTM, Tata Consultancy Services and IBM. 

G.O.A.T appoints Mukesh Lodha as CFO

Bengaluru-headquartered direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand aggregator G.O.A.T Brand Labs has announced the appointment of Mukesh Lodha as Chief of Finance. 

In his new role, Mukesh will be responsible for financial control and planning across business verticals, besides building and managing a diverse team. He will also help G.O.A.T’s portfolio brands grow profitably through a platform-driven, multiple-intervention approach. He will report to CEO and Co-founder of G.O.A.T, Rishi Vasudev. 

Mukesh previously served as the APAC CFO at Nielsen and managed finance functions across 16 countries as part of his responsibility. 

Shopsy introduces Tamil and Telugu interface

Flipkart backed zero-commission ecommerce platform Shopsyhas launched its interface in Tamil and Telugu to reach out to users in the language. The app will soon launch its interface in other Indian languages, it said in a statement.

Nearly 68% customers on Shopsy are from Tier II cities and beyond, according to the company with half of these customers being first-time ecommerce users. Introducing Indian language interface will help the app address the growing demand of Bharat consumers, it added. 

Launched in July, 2021, Shopsy has over 11 lakh sellers including those from Flipkart and offers a selection of 150 million products across 800 categories. 

Truecaller launches verified digital government directory

Caller identification app for smartphones, Truecaller, has announced launching an in-app digital government directory to support interaction between citizens and government officials. The directory will offer access to helplines, law enforcement agencies, embassies, educational institutes, hospitals and other key departments across 23 states and union territories in India. The information for the directory has been sourced from official government sources and is aimed to streamline public interactions. 

The app which has nearly 240 million users in India said it is also working with different government departments to expand the directory and add contacts at the district and municipal levels in the next phase.