Apna, a 21-month-old startup that is helping millions of blue- and gray-collar workers in India upskill themselves, find communities and land jobs, is inching closer to becoming the fastest tech firm in the world’s second-largest internet market to become a unicorn. Tiger Global is in advanced stages of talks to lead a $100 million round […]
Rattle raises $2.8M from Lightspeed and Sequoia to modernize enterprise sales stack
Tech employees build amazing consumer-facing apps for the world. But for their internal communications, they are stuck using applications that don’t play well with one another. This is a problem since most employees at a mid-sized or large-sized firm spend a fourth or third of their days on internal communication applications. Now a San Francisco-headquartered […]
Power Global eyes India’s auto rickshaw industry with swappable battery and retrofit kit
In India, a country that is more densely populated and has lower rates of car ownership, auto rickshaws and other two- or three-wheeled vehicles play a central role. While many auto rickshaws on Indian roads are already electric, they tend to rely on lead-acid batteries that need to be replaced every six to 11 months. […]
Equity Monday: Y Combinator Demo Day Approaches
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This is Equity Monday, our weekly kickoff that tracks the latest private market news, talks about the coming week, digs into some recent funding rounds and mulls over a larger theme or narrative from the private markets. You […]
Ola Electric in talks to raise at over $2.75 billion valuation
Ola Electric is in advanced talks to raise between $250 million to $500 million in a new financing round as the Indian firm looks to scale its electric vehicle manufacturing business in the South Asian market, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Falcon Edge Capital is in advanced talks to the lead the […]
‘Forgotten masters’: auction shines light on India’s overlooked artists
Paintings commissioned by East India Company in 18th and 19th century up for sale at Sotheby’sRemarkable paintings of the flora and fauna of India, including a work once owned by Jackie Kennedy Onassis depicting a stork eating a snail, are to go on sal…
Indiagold raises $12 million for its gold-focused digital alternative credit platform
India has a fascination for gold. The households in the South Asian market are estimated to have a stash of over 25,000 tons of the precious metal, whose value today is about half of the country’s nominal GDP. But much of this gold has been sitting idly in lockers in big metal wardrobes for generations. […]
UK names John Edwards as its choice for next data protection chief as gov’t eyes watering down privacy standards
The UK government has named the person it wants to take over as its chief data protection watchdog, with sitting commissioner Elizabeth Denham overdue to vacate the post: The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) today said its preferred replacement is New Zealand’s privacy commissioner, John Edwards. Edwards, who has a legal background, […]
Extra Crunch roundup: Zūm CEO interview, Cisco’s M&A ethos, neoinsurance bad romance
When is the last time your doctor treated you at home?
Bankers chase Byju’s for IPO, valuation pegged up to $50 billion
Nearly every top investment bank is chasing Byju’s and nudging the most valuable Indian startup to seriously explore the public markets as soon as next year. Most banks have given Byju’s a proposed valuation in the range of $40 to $45 billion, but some including Morgan Stanley have pitched a $50 billion valuation if the […]