Lending Marketplace Deal4Loans Bags $15M from Franklin TempletonMywish Marketplaces Pvt. Ltd, which owns and operates retail loans marketplace Deal4Loans.com, has raised $15 million from Franklin Templeton International Services (India) Pvt. Ltd. In April, the company raised an undisclosed amount of funding from a bunch of high-profile investors, including Ram Shriram, founding board member and one of the first investors in search engine giant Google; WhatsApp’s global business head Neeraj Arora and Puru Vashishtha, a former Wall Street hedge fund investor.
Vijay Advani, co-president at Franklin Resources Inc. told VCCircle, “Deal4Loans has strong domain expertise and good growth potential, particularly as it plans to expand its business to include wealth management and investment product-related services.”
Deal4Loans was earlier run by WRS Info India Pvt. Ltd. All properties of WRS have now been consolidated into Mywish.
Fintech Startup NiYO Solutions Gets $1M From Prime Venture PartnersNiYO Solutions, a payroll and benefits startup has raised $1 million by venture capital firm, Prime Venture Partners. The company will use the raised funds to expand its tech and sales team to 40 in the next six months. Currently, it follows an invitation-only model, and claims to give a 10% pay raise to its client’s employees with the help of HRM software and banks.
The startup also aims to use IndiaStack* for its innovations. It will also be releasing its product in the market, which can be used by the HR teams of different organisations, as reported by Inc42.
*IndiaStack is a complete set of API (Application programming interface) for developers and includes the Aadhaar for Authentication, safe deposit locker for issue, e-Sign (digital signature acceptable under the laws) and unified payment interface for financial transactions.
Coca-Cola’s Former Head of Marketing Shripad Nadkarn Launches Food Startup FingerlixShripad Nadkarni, a former marketing head at Coca-Cola India, has launched a food startup Fingerlix that will sell fresh, ready-to-cook foods such as curries, batter and mixes. Nadkarni had also started marketing consulting firm MarketGate after quitting his job from Coca-Cola in 2005 and had sold the company to Publicis Group in 2012.
Fingerlix's cuisine, at present a mix of Indian and Italian food with a shelf life of five days, would be sold across modern and general trade and hyper local deliveries, as per ET report. The brand is being retailed in Big Bazaar, Reliance Retail and Hypercity stores in Mumbai to begin with.
Walmart India Ties Up with Data Analytics Firm Plumb5Walmart India has tied up with data analytics firm Plumb5 to customise communication with its members.
Launched this month, this platform has begun enabling Walmart India to provide customers with real-time personalisation during their shopping journey, as ET reported.
Walmart operates in India through 21 cash & carries wholesale stores under the brand name of Best Price Modern Wholesale stores, and sells to its members online through www.bestprice.in.
Titan Acquires 62% Stake in Etailer CaratlaneTitan Company, part of the salt-to steel conglomerate Tata Group, is investing Rs 357 crore for a 62% stake in online jewellery retailer Caratlane. The announcement, which was first made in May but without giving details, values Caratlane at Rs 575 crore, reported TOI.
Income Tax Filing Portal Tax2Win Gets $1M Income tax filing portal, Tax2Win that was founded in February 2015 by Chartered Accountants Abhishek Soni (co-founder), Vertika Kedia (co-founder) and Shishant Todi (CTO), has raised around $1 million from an undisclosed business house.
The raised funding will be used for marketing, research & development, and improving existing technology. Tax2win’s future plans include rolling out innovative products that can help with finances, and an improved platform to save and manage taxes.
The startup enables users to file income tax return in three simple steps – file it yourself, CA assisted, or CA reviewed. Self-filing is free, while CA reviews cost $1.50 (INR 99) and CA assistance costs $4.50 (INR 299). The company consists of 40 employees in its team, half of its employees are Chartered Accountants.
