Saavn Gets Strategic Investment From Maverick’s Guy OsearySaavn (South Asian Audio Video Network), US-based Indian music streaming firm, has secured an undisclosed amount of strategic investment from CEO of talent management agency Maverick Records, Guy Oseary.
Oseary comes in as partner and investor. He will help develop unique artist collaborations for Saavn. Oseary, a well-known entertainment industry professional, manages world famous artists such as Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Paul McCartney and music band U2, among others.
Silvan Innovation Labs Pvt, Secures Rs 6 Cr From Infuse VenturesBangalore-based home automation solutions provider Silvan Innovation Labs Pvt. Ltd has secured Rs 6 crore (around $890,000) in funding from clean-tech focused venture capital firm Infuse Ventures, The Economic Times said. Silvan Innovation will use the funds to enter the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment as well as for marketing and product creation in areas such as energy management. The firm, which develops video surveillance, analytics and home automation solutions products, has created four consumer home products, including a WiFi video doorbell, an app-based security system, a digital music zoning system that plays music from anywhere in the house and a smartphone-controlled lighting system that can automatically dim or brighten the lighting anywhere in the house.
Inasra Technologies Appoints Former Golbibo Executive As Vice President of Its Product DivisionChennai-based Inasra Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which operates hotel booking site Stayzilla.com, has appointed former GoIbibo executive Chandramouli Gopalakrishnan, as vice-president of its products division, The Economic Times said. Gopalakrishnan was earlier director of products at Goibibo. This follows the appointment of former Twitter director Pankaj Gupta as chief product officer. The appointments come as the firm is looking to have a balanced mix of senior and junior talent in its team. It quoted CEO Yogendra Vasupal as saying that Stayzilla would soon be appointing a marketing head.
Beijing Digital Telecom Agrees To Acquire Stake In The Online Retail arm Of Spice GroupBeijing Digital Telecom Co Ltd said it has agreed to acquire a stake in the online retail arm of Spice Group and will also form a joint venture with the Indian company to make and sell mobile phones and accessories on Wednesday. The Company will pick up a 49% stake in Spice Online Retail Pvt Ltd for $2.5 million (about Rs 17 crore) from Spice Mobility Ltd and provide a loan of an equal amount, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. In the second transaction, Beijing Digital will take a 60% stake in a joint venture with Omni Ventures Pvt Ltd for $2.5 million and extend a shareholder loan of an equal amount. The Indian company will hold the remaining 40% stake in the new venture.
GetNow.at Closes Its Operations and Lays Off EmployeesNagpur-based hyperlocal marketplace for groceries, electronics, mobiles, computers, home and office supplies, GetNow.at, has closed its operations. The startup has also laid off eight employees in the process.
Shailesh Deshpande, co-founder, GetNow.at confirmed the development to Techcircle. He said the company is thinking about a pivot and is also open to the option of a possible acquisition. It may look at a business-to-business (B2B) play, he added.
Samsung Electronics Agrees To Buy Joyent, A Us Cloud Service StartupJoyent, a US cloud service startup, is being bought by Samsung Electronics. Samsung seeks to boost software and services. The company did not disclose financial terms and said on Thursday that this acquisition will allow Samsung to access its own cloud platform rather than renting another company's data centers to run its Internet-based services. Demand for cloud computing is growing as more smartphones and Internet-connected devices run apps and software that process data on the Internet.
Airbnb Secures $ 1 billion Debt Facility From Some Big Us BanksAirbnb, apartment-sharing startup, has secured a $1 billion debt facility from some big US banks to aid its new services and finance its expansion plans, a source close to the company said. Airbnb, which expects to achieve profitability in 2016, raised over $100 million in a round of funding late last year.JP Morgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America led the debt deal, the source said.Bloomberg reported the funding deal earlier on Wednesday.
Voonik Gets $20M from Existing & New InvestorsVoonik Technologies, which owns and operates fashion ecommerce platform Voonik, has raised $20 million (Rs 133 crore) in a Series B round of funding. The funding will be used towards strengthening all three product categories on its platform, which includes premium products category Vilara, menswear offering Mr. Voonik, and its core women-focused vertical, Voonik. Avendus Capital is acting as the financial advisor to the transaction.
The latest round was primarily led by the Bengaluru-based startup's existing backer, Sequoia Capital, with Seedfund, also an early backer of the firm, and a clutch of new investors participating as well. The new investors in the round include, Japanese e-commerce operator Beenos, Singapore-based venture capital fund Beenext, Tancom Investments and Times Internet, the digital product and investment arm of the Times Group, the publisher of this newspaper.
SBI Creates a Rs 200 Cr Fund for Investment in Promising StartupsState Bank of India (SBI) has created a dedicated IT innovations and startup fund of Rs 200 crore for investment in promising startups.
The fund would be extending upto Rs 3 crore for any India registered company for promoting their business in India using information technology for banking.
"We have created an entity to promote and ensure usage of the funds for the right purposes, the entity could have one or more technical experts on board for advisory roles. The team would provide legal and financial assistance to startups as and when required," said Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman of SBI at a Confederation of Indian Industry event in Mumbai.
Cisco Launches Global Delivery Center in PuneCisco has announced the launch of a Global Delivery Center (GDC) in Pune; the second in India after Bengaluru. This makes India the only country where Cisco has two GDCs.
Sanjay Pal, vice president, advanced services, Cisco, said, "The Global Delivery Center in Pune plays a key role in our global strategy to execute global advanced services businesses along with providing services to India."
