October 2019
A round-up of key tech, startup and VC funding news from India’s early-stage startup scene through October of 2019.
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- India: Sieve gains backing from Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone, with end-to-end freelancer and agencies management platform
- India: An intro to EZTax, SaaS platform to help SMEs file taxes online
- India: Fyle expense management software provider raises $4.5M focusing on SMEs, and with WhatsApp integration
- India: “Chinese…volume of investments has increased 5-fold at $5.6BN in 2018 compared to $668M in 2016 and around $3BN in 2017”
- India: Udaan business-to-business commerce platform raises $585M with 3M retailers and 25K sellers across 200 cities
- India: NoBroker property listings portal raises $50M with home rentals and purchase platform
- India: Bithumb Global, South Korean crypto and token exchange, to open crypto exchange in India despite anti-cryptocurrency climate
- India: MedTech’s Got Talent Challenge India applications close October 17th, for Australia’s MedTech Actuator’s first India bootcamp
- India: An intro to VentAllOut, mobile app startup providing an outlet space for anger and frustration
- India: A look at Dimension NXG, launching augmented reality headsets for educational use in remote villages and low-population cities
- WeWork India aiming to raise $200M to fund growth, in spite of parent firm’s IPO postponement
- Sequoia Capital selects 20 startups for 2nd cohort of Surge accelerator, focusing on India and wider Southeast Asia
- India: DealShare social buying platform raises $11M with group buying of grocery and home merchandise focusing on middle-to-low income consumers
- India: Prarambh, the country’s first legal-tech incubator, unveils the 3 startups selected for inaugural cohort
- India and Thailand discuss enhancing digital connectivity and cooperation in agriculture, science and technology, and ICT
- India: An intro look at the 10 startups shortlisted for the Google Launchpad Accelerator India programme, using AI and ML to address socio-economic issues
- India: Khatabook raises $25M Series A funding with digital bookkeeping services for SMEs
- India: A brief overview of how China’s newer and smaller tech-focused merchant banks are targeting the country’s early-stage startups
- China’s Club Factory online retailer raises $100M to build on 40M-strong user base for online sales in India
- Dubai’s DP World launches logistics-focused accelerator platform with Invest India, Kerala Start-Up Mission and Startup Réseau
- Singapore adds India to Global Innovation Alliance aiming to connect the city-state with India’s upcoming tech startups and SMEs
- India: Mall91 social commerce startup raises $7.5M with platform spanning gaming, video, chat, and social shopping features
- India: A brief overview of industry bodies and organisations aiming to protect and promote domestic startups in policy, and in the face of global competition
- India: Bewakoof online direct-to-consumer clothing firm gains $11.2M
- India: True Balance raises $23M with mobile recharging services and 70M downloads to date
- India: Legalkart law-tech startup raises $23M from angel investors with practice management mobile app for legal professionals
- India: Qure AI med-tech startup in talks to raise $20M to fight tuberculosis with automated diagnosis via X-ray image and medical image scanning
- India: Walmart plans to spin off PhonePe digital payment and wallet firm from Flipkart in prep for bigger digital payments focus
- India: Social Alpha startup accelerator partnered by Google Developers Launchpad to support social impact startups, with partial focus on AI and ML
- India: WEGoT raises $2M seed funding with IoT-based water management solutions
- India: MyGate raises $56M with app-driven security management services focusing on gated communities
- India: WE-Hub Community Slate Accelerator Program partners Australian Consulate-General with funding for 5 women-led social enterprises
- India: Urbanpiper restaurant-focused SaaS firm secures $7.5M with platform improving connectivity with diners and food delivery services
- India: iB Hubs, network providing end-to-end assistance to startups, to establish ‘tech valley’ in California, aiming for 2024 launch
- India: Uber takes majority stake in Cornershop online grocery startup, with sights set on being ‘the operating system for your everyday life’
- India: An intro to fast-growing BulBul, app providing an e-commerce for influencers focused on vernacular-speaking customers
- India: Ministry of Information Technology and Electronics to launch online hub for emerging enterprises and startups
- India: An intro to WhiteHat Jr edtech, helping kids between 6 and 14 yearsto learn coding online in live one-on-one classrooms from anywhere in the world
- India: A look at QNu Labs, applying quantum technology to corporate digital assets, eliminating algorithms and providing keys to encrypt data against hackers
- India: Wipro Consumer Care-Ventures launching $28M fund, aiming to invest in 10 startups in the personal care and homecare space across 3 years
- India: MeitY Startup Hub is now online, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology portal aiming to be a central startups resource and collection point
- Kerala Startup Mission and Bahrain Economic Development Board ink MOU to cooperate on innovation in fintech, ICT, IoT startups and related sectors
- India: Team from Malla Reddy Engineering College for Women develop blockchain-backed online voting system at hackathon; to present to State Election Commission
- India: 100XVC to unveil the first batch of its 100-startup portfolio in December, selected from 1200 pitches received
- India: A brief intro to 3 healthtech using AI and machine learning for early detection of breast cancer
- India: Crediwatch fintech raises $3.2M Series A with AI and ML-driven focus on reducing institutional credit risk
- India: Uber partners Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to deliver public transport and real-time updates to commuters via app
- India: Credenc student loans platform raises $2.5M, in part from Omidyar, aiming for 1000-college presence across 50 cities inside 2 years
- India: A look at GigIndia, using AI and ML to bring together job seekers and employment generators to address the needs of the gig economy
- India: An intro to Hubhopper, social network that pivoted to become one of India’s largest podcast and audio platforms, with 1M hours of content across 15 languages
- With the tender submission date looming for National Automated Facial Recognition System, India preps to install the worlds largest surveillance system
- India: E-commerce market expected to reach $84BN in value by 2021, with social commerce seen as an important new channel
- India FinTech Forum unveils 18 fintech startups to compete for Fintech Startup of the Year award at the India FinTech Awards 2019 in November
- India: Stage3 fashion rental and styling platform raises $2M
- India, the world’s largest market for 2-wheeled vehicles, is now poised to rival China in e-bike development
- India’s Shoptimize, AI-powered e-commerce firm, gains partnerships in Singapore and South Korea with service aiding brands establish e-commerce platforms
- India: An introduction to Torchit, working on assistive devices for the visually-impaired, powered by ML and AI
- India: Tech Mahindra partners Netherlands’ Quantoz to provide blockchain-as-a-service for digital payments, integrating fiat currencies and enterprize-focused services
- India: Log 9 Materials raises $3.5M Series A with zero emission, low-cost aluminium-air fuel cell
- India: Bharti Airtel telecom giant launches startup accelerator program, focusing on early-stage tech starutps ventures
- India: Parent firm of Ola, homegrown ride-hailing platform, to restructure Foodpanda India food delivery business to become ‘cloud kitchen’ platform
- India: Symbo insurtech startup aims to disrupt the industry with vision, fitness, marathon, and women-specific insurance
- India: An intro to 3 three health and fitness startup entrepreneurs
- India’s MX Player video streaming service gains $111M backing, led by China’s Tencent
- India’s Tech Mahindra and Bangladesh Government sign MoU to foster digital startup ecosystem by providing guidance and mentoring to budding entrepreneurs
- Hong Kong: OneOneDay advertising tech startup raises $1.3M pre-A following on from launch of India app
- Korea-India fintech True Balance raises $23M with 300K daily digital transactions; gains non-banking financial company license from Reserve Bank of India
To get ongoing startup news covering India:
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