India’s Chalo acquires Amazon-backed bus aggregator Shuttl

Chalo, a startup that is digitizing bus commutes in India and which recently raised $40 million in a financing round, has acquired Amazon-backed app-based office commute bus aggregator Shuttl in an all-cash deal, the two said on Tuesday. Chalo founder and chief executive Mohit Dubey said the acquisition of Shuttl, which operates thousands of buses […]

Indian edtech Teachmint valued at $500 million in $78 million funding

As scores of Indian startups populate their catalogs with live and recorded courses to reach and serve students in the world’s second largest internet market, a handful of new-age firms are beginning to explore different approaches to tackle the challenge. Teachmint, one such startup that is helping teachers and institutes create their own virtual classrooms […]

India’s Groww valued at $3 billion in $251 million funding

Groww has tripled its valuation to $3 billion in just six months as the Indian fintech startup looks to broaden its offerings and help more millennials start their investment journey in the world’s second largest internet market. Iconiq Growth led the Bangalore-based startup’s $251 million Series E financing round. Alkeon, Lone Pine Capital and Steadfast […]

India’s OfBusiness in talks to raise new funds at over $4.5 billion valuation

OfBusiness, an e-commerce startup that sells industrial goods and provides small businesses with credit, is in talks to raise a new round of funding at a valuation of over $4.5 billion, three sources familiar with those talks told me. If the talks materialize, it would be the fourth financing round OfBusiness will secure this year. […]

Google in talks to invest in Facebook-backed Indian social commerce Meesho

Google has held discussions to invest over $50 million in Indian social commerce startup Meesho, which recently secured $570 million in a financing round, according to a source familiar with the matter. The Android-maker, which has backed over half a dozen startups in India, has yet to make the investment in Meesho, according to another […]

インド政府の意向に従う巨大テック企業と、「民主的な価値観」との深まる溝

民主主義の危機が指摘されるインドにおいて、報道の自由を支える生命線となりうるソーシャルメディアへの圧力が強まっている。こうしたなかツイッターに代表される米国の巨大テック企業は、インド政府の意向に沿うかたちで投稿の削除やアカウントの停止を繰り返すなど、情報の統制に“加担”している。西側諸国における民主的な価値観との溝は深まるばかりだ。
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Google and Temasek back Indian neobank Open in $100 million funding

Google has invested in Bangalore-based Open, becoming the latest high-profile investor to back a neobanking platform. Open said on Tuesday it has raised $100 million in a Series C financing round. Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek led the round, and Google and Japan’s SBI Investment (not to be confused with SoftBank or India’s SBI bank) […]

Hubilo picks up $125M to double down on building a more engaging platform for virtual and live events

Virtual became the norm for physical gatherings at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and now, as many jet back into in-person meetings, some believe that the online version, at least in some form, is here to stay — sometimes for the better, but sometimes for the worse. Today, a startup called Hubilo that’s building […]