Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (October 3, 2023)
YourStory presents the daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Tuesday, October 3, 2023.
Funding news
Lending analytics and infra firm Roopya raises Rs 5.09 Cr
Lending analytics and infrastructure as a service company has raised Rs 5.09 crore in a pre-seed round led by 100X.VC.
KRS Jamwal, Executive Director of Tata Industries, SAT Industries; Vishal Khare of Snyk; and Shavdia Ventures, among others, also participated in the round.
The company plans to use the capital in building data infrastructure for lenders and loan service providers.
So far, the company has over 25 clients, covering lenders and loan service providers, on its platform.
Roopya was launched this year by Raman Vig and Sudipta K Ghosh.
“Roopya aims to become an end-to-end lending infra and analytics player covering all aspects of lending like origination, underwriting, early warning, collection and cross-sell. We intend to catalyse large-scale financial inclusion in the country," said Raman Vig, Co-Founder and CEO of Roopya.
Other news
Founder of Swiggy SteppinOut joins VRO Hospitality
Safdhar Adoor, Founder and Director of SteppinOut, has joined F&B fine dining chain VRO Hospitality as its co-founder and director.
Adoor joins Plan B restaurant owner VRO at a time when the group is aggressively chasing expansion and growth in newer markets, the company said.
Adoor will be responsible for increasing the entertainment quotient across VRO's hospitality brands and craft curated events to attract more people.
VRO owns brands such as Plan B, Cafe Noir, Taki Taki, Mirage, and Hangover across cities including Bengaluru, Ooty, Mumbai, Kochi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.
UNIVO to double its hiring in FY23-24
At a time when the edtech sector is in dire straits, UNIVO says it's planning to expand its workforce by 100% during FY23-24.
The company said it has seen a fivefold rise in its employment count from 200 to 1,000 over the last fiscal, across diverse functions such as tech, marketing and sales.
Uber announces startup challenge in sustainable mobility
has launched a startup challenge to look for innovative solutions that can fast-track the adoption of sustainable mobility in India.
The challenge, launched in partnership with Startup India and Nasscom AI, will award ~Rs 1 crore to the winners as well as enable access to mentorship sessions with Uber's tech leadership.
Startups that apply have to fall under one of the following umbrellas:
- Smart infrastructure and charging solutions
- Easy discovery of charging infrastructure
- Making the economics more viable for drivers/commercial fleet owners
- Improving asset utilisation
"We have always believed that the energy transition in the mobility sector can only succeed if industry and technology work together. Startups can be the source of new and pathbreaking solutions given the tech talent density that exists in India," said Manikandan Thangarathnam, Senior Director of Engineering, and Site Lead for Bangalore, Uber.
The winner will be announced in January 2024.
Baby and mother products seller HunyHuny to open offline stores
Baby and mother products seller plans to launch offline experience stores in all major Tier I and II cities over the next five years.
The company will set up stores in malls across Jaipur, Noida and Bengaluru this year.
Founded in 2019 by husband-wife duo Vishal Mittal and Madhurima Rungta, HunyHuny sells baby products including cots, cribs, strollers and furniture, and maternity lingerie across India.
(This story will be updated throughout the day.)
Edited by Swetha Kannan
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