Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (March 30, 2023)
YourStory presents the daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Thursday, March 30, 2023.
QubeHealth partners with NPCI, Falcon to launch health wallet
Healthcare financing startup has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India () and to roll out premium healthcare payment products for employed Indians.
This partnership will provide QubeHealth with a fast and cost-effective way to reach customers and embed payment and lending products into its offering, a statement said.
Under this alliance, Falcon provides its full-stack backend-as-a-service (BaaS) platform to Qubehealth to embed a healthcare wallet and RuPay co-branded prepaid card for end users. This card will enable employees to get reimbursements on healthcare expenditures from employers.
QubeHealth aggregates healthcare providers, lenders, payment services providers, and Indian corporates to offer healthcare borrowing and payment experience to salaried employees of some of India’s corporates.
Khan Academy India introduces online certification course for teachers
India has launched a free online certification course for the professional development of teachers in India. It is available free of cost in English, Hindi, Punjabi, and Marathi.
The creation of this course was funded by the online B2B marketplace .
Khan For Educators consists of instructional videos for teachers on how to use Khan Academy and leverage the platform for managing students and tracking their progress. This course will help them with advanced pedagogical practices like mastery-based learning and differentiated learning.
This course is designed to enable teachers to integrate Khan Academy into their daily teaching practice and mitigate the challenges of using an online tool. Additionally, dedicated learning modules for school principals and teacher educators can effectively support them.
Teachers will have access to training opportunities with certification that acknowledges their efforts to keep up-to-date in the field of education.
BharatPe Group partners with Women Entrepreneurship Platform
Group on Thursday said it has partnered with the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) with the objective of enabling women entrepreneurs across India in their journeys of self-reliance and business growth.
The partnership aims to build a robust ecosystem that brings together women entrepreneurs from different parts of India and equips them with the required domain knowledge as well as the financial and technical know-how needed to fulfil their business goals.
The core focus area will be facilitating the development of an aggregator platform that gives access to peer support, mentorship, networking channels and a wide range of learning resources, the company noted.
BharatPe said it will also facilitate the development of learning sources curated around specific sectors to support capability development and equip women entrepreneurs with the required domain knowledge to scale their businesses.
Pet care brand Wiggles buys Captain Zack
Pet care brand on Thursday announced the acquisition of , a pet grooming brand, in cash-and-stock deal.
This acquisition will accelerate Wiggles’ growth and bolster the brand’s footprint in newer categories and markets, the company said.
The acquisition is said to be the first in India’s burgeoning pet care startup economy.
Founded in 2016, Captain Zack is one of India’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) players in the pet care category. It is known for its diverse portfolio of products for cats and dogs spanning hygiene, food, treats, etc. Its portfolio also includes accessories, toys, and beds.
Wiggles said it will continue to invest in Research and Development (R&D) to grow the grooming essentials segment. Over the last year, Wiggles claims to have experienced over 100% growth across its products and services.
The acquisition is said to be the first in India’s burgeoning pet care start-up economy.
ACT Fibernet partners with DRiefcase
ACT Fibernet has partnered with . The partnership will enable a seamless and timely flow of information between patients, doctors, and other healthcare stakeholders nationwide.
With this initiative, ACT Fibernet aims to support the ABDM (Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission) to meet the emerging need of a digital backbone for India’s healthcare sector. The ABDM is a digital framework that will connect patients, doctors, and other healthcare stakeholders nationwide to facilitate the safe and secure movement of health information.
Insurance Samadhan collaborates with Ola Insure
Insurance Samadhan has announced its collaboration with Ola Insure, the insurance arm of riding hailing firm Ola. The purpose of this collaboration is to provide customers with a more comprehensive insurance solution, expanding the reach of both companies.
The partnership will enable Insurance Samadhan to expand its customer base by providing its services to Ola Insure’s growing customer base.
Through this partnership, Insurance Samadhan will offer its expertise in insurance grievance resolution services to Ola Insure’s customer base. The collaboration will involve the exclusive services of our mobile application, grievance services like mis-selling, claim rejection, delay, and short settlement, in addition to other services such as 'Know Your Policy' and 'Portfolio Analysis', to educate customers about hidden insurance terms and conditions.
Krish-e launches IoT based Smart Kit for farm equipment
Mahindra’s agritech Krish-e launched the Krish-e Smart Kit (KSK) that includes an advanced trip replay feature for tracking commercial transportation and trolley activity.
The Krish-e Smart Kit enables equipment owners and rental entrepreneurs to sustainably improve fleet performance, improve incomes and manage maintenance costs, while reducing tractor downtime and preventing unauthorised usage of their tractors.
The kit is brand agnostic and can be installed on any new or old brand of tractor or farm equipment like harvesters, rice transplanters and self-propelled sprayers. The kit is paired with an app called the Krish-e Rental Partner App and is available on the Google Play Store.
It also provides equipment owners with detailed insights of their tractors and farm equipment, through GPS enabled time tracking and remote monitoring of various parameters from the comfort of a smart phone.
Neo Fintech firm HAPPY announces partnership with ROINET
Happy has announced its partnership with ROINET, a fintech company that caters to business opportunities and digital financial services in rural areas of India. This collaboration aims to close the funding gap that rural entrepreneurs frequently experience.
This association will result in the extension of credit lines to ROINET's customers which will be offered digitally. This association will help achieve the scale of MSME funding and ensure that the overall under-represented and under-served micro business in India receives the required fillup.
The organisation has been able to disburse loans amounting to more than Rs 500 crores across India, till date. Under this partnership, Happy will broaden its reach to ROINET's merchants across India with its own lending APIs.
(The story will be updated throughout the day with the latest news.)
Edited by Akanksha Sarma