Nikhil Kamath’s data centre bet
Founded in 2007 by Sridhar Pinnapureddy, Hyderabad-based CtrlS Datacenters operates 19 data centres across nine key markets in India.
Dear Reader,
Sachin Bansal’s Navi has landed $100 million in its first-ever institutional funding round, backed by global investor Prosus. Founded in 2018, Navi offers a range of services such as loans, insurance, mutual funds, and UPI payments. The company has crossed assets under management of Rs 13,000 crore. It achieved consolidated profitability in the fourth quarter of FY26.
Meanwhile, alternative investment firm Investcorp has bought the contract logistics company 20Cube 3PL Solutions for Rs 500 crore. The deal highlights growing investor interest in India’s logistics sector.
In other news, global private equity firm KKR has acquired a minority stake in digital ticketing platform BookMyShow for an undisclosed amount. The capital is expected to fuel BookMyShow’s expansion into live entertainment, helping bring international artists to India.
Lastly, China’s robot maker Unitree Robotics has pulled off what looks like one of the year’s biggest stock market debuts. Listing on Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR Market on Wednesday, the company watched its shares skyrocket 460% on Day 1.
But why the market frenzy? Investors aren’t only betting on the gears and switches but on China’s dominance in the world of robotics. Companies are racing to find use cases for humanoid robots beyond factory floors and in retail as well as policing.
Speaking of robots, the robotics unit of China-based auto company Chery Automobile plans to launch an IPO to fund its growth, Reuters reports.
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- Nikhil Kamath bets Rs 200 Cr in CtrlS Datacentres
- Helping women-led businesses access credit
Here’s your trivia for today: Which two popular sportswear companies are located in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach? (Scroll down for answer)
News
Nikhil Kamath bets Rs 200 Cr in CtrlS Datacentres
Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath has invested Rs 200 crore in CtrlS Datacentres while entrepreneur Sreeram Reddy Vanga contributed an additional Rs 50 crore. The combined Rs 25o crore will fund the data centre company’s infrastructure plans and capacity building.
Key takeaways:
- Founded in 2007 by Sridhar Pinnapureddy, Hyderabad-based CtrlS Datacenters operates 19 data centres across nine key markets in India with over 370 MW of capacity and 4.4 GW of projects at various stages of execution.
- The capital infusion highlights growing investor interest in India’s AI, cloud, and digital infrastructure opportunity.
- CtrlS provides its services to enterprises, cloud providers, financial institutions, and government organisations.
<Funding Alert>
Startup: Butterfly Learnings,
Amount: Rs 65 Cr
Round: Pre-Series B
Startup: First Coffee
Amount: $1.3M
Round: Pre- Series A
Social impact
Helping women-led businesses access credit
Recognising the need for credit in women-led businesses, New Delhi-based MSME fintech company Progcap launched ProgShakti. The idea for the initiative came from the realisation that women may be borrowers on paper, but are far less likely to be the people actually running the firms.
Key takeaways:
- According to an International Finance Corporation study, women entrepreneurs in India face a 19% rejection rate from lending institutions, versus 8% for men.
- The company says delinquencies in the ProgShakti portfolio are below 0.5%, giving it confidence that lending to women on their own merits need not mean taking on disproportionately higher risk.
- Progcap has enabled more than Rs 10,000 crore in credit to women entrepreneurs through ProgShakti, with very strong repeat financing and growth patterns emerging from Tier II and III markets.
News & updates
- Drone deliveries: Amazon has plans to provide drone deliveries in nearly 500 US cities and towns by the end of the year, a sign that the project is gaining some momentum after years of development. The expansion for Prime Air would be a 6X increase from its current footprint, the company said.
- Cancer research: Drug companies Moderna and Merck said on Wednesday that their combined treatment, Moderna’s custom mRNA vaccine with Merck’s Keytruda, succeeded in a late-stage skin cancer trial. The news sent Moderna’s stock surging 60% in premarket trading.
Which two popular sportswear companies are located in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach?
Answer: Adidas and Puma
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