A $20 billion fund raising spree may take India’s Reliance closer to its dream of becoming a digital giant, further threatening the ambitious plans U.S. companies like Amazon, Walmart and Zoom have for India. Stake sales in Reliance’s digital unit Jio Platforms attracted is not just private equity and sovereign wealth funds but also Google and Facebook, a strong endorsement for an enterprise that until a few years ago focussed largely on oil refining. Some industry watchers equate Reliance’s digital plans – which extend from online shopping and cloud computing to…
Read MoreDay: July 16, 2020
Freecharge founder Sandeep Tandon sets aside Rs 100 crore for early-stage hardware bets !!
Sandeep Tandon, is the founder of online financial services player Freecharge, has allocated Rs 100 crore from his family office to invest in early-stage companies in the hardware, manufacturing, and Internet of Things (IOT) space. The investment arm will cut average cheque taht sizes of between Rs 2 crore and Rs 6 crore, Tandon told ET in an exclusive interview. The Rs 100-crore allocation will be managed by Tandon’s venture capital arm, Whiteboard Capital, and will be supplemented by dedicated team members with prior experience in manufacturing technology. Tandon’s family office…
Read MoreAs e-learning takes hold, creators flock to startups !!
Professionals looking to set up an e-learning businesses quickly are flocking to startups like Knorish and Invanto, and earning big money in the process. Yoga trainers, wine connoisseurs, primary school teachers, digital marketers, cybersecurity experts and business management grads are all looking to the startups to build personalised websites so that they are impart skillsets through paid video content. Software as a Service startup Knorish, launched in 2018, has built e-learning businesses for 4,500 creators in the last four months, after onboarding just 500 customers till March. “These creators upload recorded videos or take live…
Read MoreBengaluru beware: Under the radar town quietly emerges as startup hub !!
Bengaluru : It takes just one startup to change the narrative of an ecosystem. Last week, Chandigarh-based PrepLadder became that startup, when the medical entrance test preparation platform was acquired by Facebook-backed educational technology company Unacademy for $50 million in a cash-and-stock deal. The exit, hailed by founders and investors alike, it is indicative of a fledgling startup ecosystem in Chandigarh, which a clutch of homegrown venture capital-backed companies — in sectors such as ed-tech, agri-tech, content tech, Software as a Services (SaaS) and consumer goods — call home. The founders of these startups, both…
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