Paytm has a sound plan
+ fund raising by Unacademy, Swiggy, WhatFix
The Indian startup ecosystem has seen some steep funding take place over the past week. With Unacademy, Swiggy and Whatfix all raising significant rounds, it appears that the funding season has begun for this year. We also have the very interesting story of the Paytm Sound Box, which is changing the IRL UX for shopkeepers and customers. And don’t miss the deep dive with Flipkart veteran Mekin Maheshwari on NextBigWhat Radio, who shares some terrific insights from his journey.
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This device will definitely help Paytm capture UPI market share
The launch of the ‘Paytm Sound Box’, which broadcasts the payments being received by a shopkeeper, is a prime example of first principle thinking. Shop owners pay around Rs. 650/year for the device, which has sim-based connectivity, to save themselves the hassle of having to verify each payment being made in a swarm of customers.
In 1 year, Vande Bharat Express Registers record 93 crores in revenue
Aimed at offering travellers a comfortable and enhanced transportation service, the New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express, India’s first indigenously-built semi high speed train, completes the first year of its successful run raking in about Rs 93 crore revenue, a record for the Indian Railways.
Unacademy raises $110 million, now worth $510 million
Edutech startup Unacademy has raised a fresh round of $110 million from Facebook and private equity firm General Atlantic along with existing investors Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview Capital and Blume Ventures. The company says it will invest the money to increase the number of competitive exams it currently focuses on, bring top educators onto its platform and improve the quality of content.
Whatfix raises $32 million from Sequoia, others
SaaS provider Whatfix, which specializes in enterprise in-app guidance and interactive walkthroughs, has raised $32 million (about Rs 229 crore) in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital India. The company says it will use the money to expand into geographies such as Europe and Australia.
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Flipkart: The Untold Story of Experiments and Thinking Differently
[Mekin Maheshwari on NextBigWhat Radio]
Our guest for NextBigWhat Radio’s new episode is Mekin Maheshwari, the founder & CEO of Udhyam Learning Foundation. Mekin joined Flipkart in 2009 to head technology before finally heading their HR for his last 2 years at Flipkart. In this conversation with NextBigWhat’s Ashish, Mekin discusses the early days of Flipkart, hiring culture and lessons from many experiments (some notable failures include Payzippy, Flyte).
ViaSwiggy raises $113 million led by Naspers, valuation stays flat at $3.3 billion
Online food ordering platform Swiggy has raised $113 million, led by existing investor South African internet giant Naspers. The latest capital raising values the company at nearly $3.6 billion. The infusion is part of a $150 million funding round, sources said. This comes weeks after its rival Zomato acquired UberEats India and raised $150 million from existing investor Ant Financial.
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Blume Ventures marks final close of new fund, crosses $100 million milestone
Blume Ventures closed its third fund at $102 million dollars, making it the first homegrown VC firm to cross $100 million in a single fund. Specializing in early-stage investment, it has backed more than 100 startups including Taxiforsure, Zipdial and more.
ViaTech bodies to take Data Bill worries to house committee
Industry bodies representing top Indian as well as global companies are expected to highlight concerns and issues with regards to the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill before a Joint Parliamentary Committee that is studying the legislation, tabled in parliament late last year. The associations represent companies such as Infosys, TCS, Google, Facebook, Paytm and Amazon.
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