Sense, an HR tech startup that helps some of the world’s largest staffing and recruitment agencies timely find and hire talent, has grown its valuation to $500 million in a new financing round, a person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The San Francisco-headquartered startup has raised $50 million in its Series D financing round, […]
Falcon Edge Capital eyes raising a fund of over $10 billion
Falcon Edge Capital, the New York-headquartered investor that has emerged as one of the most aggressive in recent years, is pushing to make its most ambitious bet yet. The firm is in early stages of talks to raise a fund of over $10 billion, sources familiar with the matter told me. The talks have yet […]
LinkedIn adds Hindi to reach 500 million people in India
Less than 20% of India’s 1.3 billion people speak English. But LinkedIn, the largest professional social network globally, has so far catered only to this sliver of the population in the world’s second largest internet market. On Thursday, the Microsoft-owned service said it’s beginning to change that. LinkedIn has started to roll out support for Hindi […]
India’s Simpl raises $40 million for its buy now, pay later service
Bangalore-based fintech startup Simpl has raised $40 million as it looks to expand its online buy now, pay later service’s offerings in the world’s second-largest market. Valar Ventures and IA Ventures led the six-year-old startup’s Series B round. LFH Ventures and some existing investors also participated in the round, said the startup, which has raised […]
India’s Slice becomes unicorn with $220M funding from Tiger Global, Insight Partners and Advent
Rajan Bajaj, founder of fintech Slice, chimed in on a Twitter thread early this year and wondered aloud what he needs to do to turn his startup into a unicorn before he turns 30. At just 28, Flipkart alum Bajaj has figured it out. I turned 28 few weeks back. I want @sliceit_ to become […]
India police charge Amazon executives in marijuana smuggling case
Police in Madhya Pradesh, a central state in India, have registered a case against executive directors of Amazon India in connection with alleged use of the e-commerce marketplace for smuggling of marijuana in the South Asian market, they said Saturday evening. The police didn’t disclose how many senior executives they had charged, but said it […]
India’s Paytm makes market debut
A decade ago, Vijay Shekhar Sharma flew to Hong Kong to attend an All Things D conference. At the event, he watched Silicon Valley executives Jack Dorsey and Brian Chesky talk about the firms they were building. But the conversation that would change the trajectory of his firm, One97 Communications, was an interview of Alibaba […]
Sequoia, 120 angel investors back former Google execs’ consumer finance startup Arbo Works
A team of Google executives, many of whom worked with one another for years, left the company earlier this year to launch a startup. The fintech firm, Arbo Works, has raised a financing round led by Sequoia Capital India, the two said Thursday. Arbo Works, spearheaded by Caesar Sengupta, said on Thursday 120 angel investors, […]
Mark Cuban’s Fireside app attracts NFL stars and others as backers
Mark Cuban’s Fireside, an interactive platform that is helping creators share their stories with audiences through live and virtual shows, is in advanced stages to close a “seed+” round, two sources familiar with the matter told me. The financing round has already received commitment from investors such as The Chainsmokers, HBSE, Goodwater, Animal Capital and […]
India eyes prohibiting irresponsible crypto ads
The Indian government “strongly feels” that advertisements by cryptocurrency exchanges that promise customers wild profits and are not transparent about the volatile nature of such trading must be prohibited, according to a memo outlining the summary of a meeting between the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several stakeholders on Saturday. A consensus has been […]