Drone Startup SwarmX Gets Undisclosed Amount of Funding from TV Mohandas PaiTV Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education and former CFO and HR head of Infosys, has invested an undisclosed amount in Singapore-based drone technology startup SwarmX Pte. Ltd. Founded by Pulkit Jaiswal in August 2015, SwarmX’s offering SwarmX Hive allows users to operate drones with minimal training. With HiveMind OS, users can manage a fleet of drones from a single interface.
Wealth Management App WealthTrust Raises Seed Funding from India QuotientWealth management app WealthTrust has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from India Quotient. Mumbai-based WealthTrust was founded in September 2015 by Nisarg Gandhi and Jasmin Gohil.
The startup will use the newly raised capital to strengthen the team and enhance the product and technology.
Indian Govt. Relaxes Deposit Norms For StartupsIn order to make it easier for startups to secure funding, the government has exempted any advance of more than Rs 25 lakh to a startup from being treated as deposit provided that the person giving the money does it in the form of convertible note, as ET reported.
According to the Companies Act of 2013, any company including startups that received money from any person for over 365 days, it was considered as a deposit and the company had to follow the stringent acceptance of deposit rules to keep that deposit.
Facebook Shuts Down Its Paper Newsreading AppFacebook has decided to shut Paper- a newsreading app that provides customised news spanning politics, technology, food and other fields.
The users who visited the app received a message saying the app would no longer function from July 29, The Verge reported on Friday.
“Our goal with Paper was to explore new immersive, interactive design elements for reading and interacting with content on Facebook, and we learned how important these elements are in giving people an engaging experience,” the Facebook message read.
RIL and SBI Ink Deal to Float Payments Bank VentureReliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and State Bank of India (SBI), have signed the subscription and shareholders’ agreements for their payments bank venture. While RIL is the promoter with 70%, SBI will have an equity investment of 30%. In a filing to the BSE, RIL said, “All requisite regulatory and statutory approvals will now be sought for operationalising the payments bank.” RIL and SBI entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding in February 2015 to set out the principal terms for the venture, as per DealStreetAsia report.
MPS Acquires Digital Platform Magplus to Boost Mobile Publishing PlayIndian publishing services company MPS Ltd has acquired Sweden- and US-based Magplus, a digital platform that creates and distributes content to mobile apps, for an undisclosed amount.
“The acquisition of Mag+ has enhanced our platform capabilities and expanded our reach into newer publishing markets including enterprises and magazine publishers,” MPS CEO Rahul Arora said in a statement. “The enhanced platform capabilities will also position us to advise and support publishers in our existing markets as they define their mobile content strategies.”
Kedaara Capital Buys 13% in Bengaluru Based Surgical Device Maker Sutures IndiaPrivate equity fund Kedaara Capital has bought 13% of CX Partners' stake in Bengaluru-based surgical equipment maker Sutures India for Rs 400 crore.
CX Partners, another PE firm, had bought the stake from India Life Sciences Fund in 2012 for about Rs 160 crore.
"The deal is concluded. For now, the company (Sutures India) has no additional capital needs," a person familiar with the matter told ET, saying the investment values Sutures at about Rs 3,000 crore. CX Partners had put the stake on the block about four months ago, the person said.
Apple in Talks to Acquire Jay Z's Streaming Music Service TidalApple is reportedly in talks with Jay Z to purchase his streaming music service Tidal.
The hip-hop mogul bought the company for $56 million last year, but now he might be handing the reins over to executives at tech giant, according to WSJ report.
Sources close to the deal said that negotiations are ongoing and may not result in a deal, and the terms are as yet unknown.
Insiders say Apple executives are eager to use Tidal's strong ties to top artists in an attempt to grow their own Apple Music service, reported ETTech.
Zone Startups India & Government of Ontario Launch 4th Edition Of Next BIG Idea ContestZone Startups India and the Government of Ontario, Canada have announced the fourth edition on the ‘The Next BIG Idea’ contest, an annual startup competition.
The Next BIG Idea contest presents an opportunity for tech startups from India, to tap into the North American market. Five high potential early stage startups, and provides them a gateway to North America. The contest winners get access to local mentors, corporate connects and investor connects in Canada.
This year, The Next BIG Idea contest has on-boarded Google, HDFC Bank and TCS coming on board as sponsor partners, as Inc42 reported.
Torrent Pharma to Acquire API Unit of Hyderabad Based Glochem Industries Drugmaker Torrent Pharma has agreed to acquire an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) facility of Hyderabad-based bulk drug supplier Glochem Industries Ltd for an undisclosed amount.
"The company currently has five formulation manufacturing units and with this acquisition it will have three API facilities for the regulated markets," Torrent Pharma said in a filing to the stock exchanges.
APIs are active substances that are used in the manufacture of a drug and have a pharmacological effect.
Torrent Pharma will also acquire a few drug master files (DMFs), as per VCCircle reported.
BuildTraders Buys Property Management Startup Cozilla In An All Stock DealBangalore based BuildTraders, a building materials trading company, has acquired Pune based property management startup Cozilla in an all-stock deal. Post acquisition, the entire team of Cozilla will join BuildTraders.Also, Cozilla will phase out its current rental property management operations in India and may expand to UAE in near future, as per Inc42 report.
Ola Obtains License In Karnataka by Registering and Furnishing Details for 100 Cabs
Ola has obtained a licence under the Karnataka On-demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules 2016. The Bengaluru-based aggregator obtained its licence by registering and furnishing the details for 100 cabs.
Transport commissioner Rame Gowda has confirmed the development. Ola will have to follow the rules for the rest of its fleet as well. "They have to install GPS, digital meter in the rest of their cars, only then will they get a licence," said Gowda. This brings to an end a long-standing tussle between Ola and the transport department in the state as the department had seized over 3,000 Ola cabs as part of its enforcement drive in the city over the past two months.
A total of six aggregators have applied for a licence in Karnataka so far. Apart from Ola, the others that have applied are Uber, TaxiForSure, Ridz, Welink and Shreyas.
Cab aggregator Uber had alleged that the officials of Karnataka Transport department have not accepted its documents, to support its claim for a licence to operate as app-based taxi aggregator in the state.
Uber had also filed a petition challenging the Karnataka On-demand Transportation Technology Rules, 2016 and the case is currently being heard.
