Deals RoundUp: Uber, Hike, Tencent, Sequoia, Wildcraft, Basil Advisors, TGC Consulting, Paytm, Bluestone, R-comm, Aircel, GreyCampus, SoftBank, GungHo and Amazon

Uber To Comply With The Policies Enforced BY Karnataka Govt

Uber on Tuesday applied for a licence to operate in Karnataka under the new rules governing app-based taxi aggregators, indicating that it will comply with the policies on fare capping and no-surge pricing. The move comes even as Uber’s appeal against the new rules is pending before the Karnataka High Court. It was filed last week against the government and the local transport department. Uber, which has several run-ins with the local government, had called the state rules unconstitutional and without legislative backing. The taxi aggregator has had trouble with the local government in several places around the world.

Hike To Raise Funds From Parent Company of WeChat, Tencent

To take on the market leader WhatsApp, Messaging app Hike may raise fresh funds from Tencent, parent company of WeChat. Hike may at least raise $ 100 million in this round with existing investors Tiger Global and Bharti SoftBank participating in this round. Earlier Hike had raised funds from Quora founder and CEO Adam D'Angelo, Dropbox's Vice President-Engineering Aditya Agarwal, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and former Dropbox exec Ruchi Sanghvi in January 2016.

Sequoia Capital To Invest Rs 100 crore in WildCraft

Sequoia Capital is looking to invest about Rs 100 crore in Bengaluru-based outdoor gear manufacturer Wildcraft said a report in Economic Times, in what will be the venture capital firm's second round of funding in the company.

In 2013, Sequoia had pumped in close to Rs 70 crore in Wildcraft - which mainly makes rucksacks, bag packs, jackets and raincoats - valuing it at about Rs 350 crore.

Basil Advisors acquires TGC consulting

TGC Consulting, human capital consulting venture, has been acquired in an all-stock deal by Talent advisory firm Basil Advisors announced on Tuesday. The numbers associated with the transaction were not disclosed, the acquisition may help Basil Advisors to expand its presence beyond the consumer internet space.

According to the press release, Bengaluru-based TGC Consulting, which was founded in 2012, offers services, such as, executive search, leadership coaching and talent advisory, and counts companies, such as, EY, Wipro, American Express Myntra and Sasken, among others, as recurring clients.

Paytm to Spend Rs 200 Cr to Expand its Fashion Category

Paytm, Alibaba-backed, will spend Rs 200 crore to expand its fashion category by helping small and medium businesses as well as bigger brands set up 'online shops' on its platform.

It aims to facilitate monthly sales of about 2.1 crore items through its platform by the end of this fiscal in the fashion category. The fashion and apparels category has grown to more than four times year-on-year for us. Orders have leapfrogged from 3,00,000 a month to about 2 million orders and we see this growing to over 2 crore by end of the fiscal," Paytm Vice President Sudhanshu Gupta told PTI.

Bluestone.com to Raise About Rs 200 Cr in a Fourth Funding Round Led By Iron Pillar

Bluestone.com, online jewellery retailer and one of the early startup bets of Tata group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata, is in advanced talks to raise about Rs.200 crore in a fourth funding round led by venture capital firm Iron Pillar, said two people aware of the development. Existing investors Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital and IvyCap Ventures will also participate in fund raising. Bluestone, owned by Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd, was founded in 2011 by Gaurav Singh Kushwaha and Vidya Nataraj.

R-Com and Aircel May Merge by the End of June

Reliance Communications Ltd (R-Com) and Aircel Ltd may complete their merger by the end of June, a top Reliance Group executive has said. The executive also said the merged entity, which will be India’s third largest telecom firm by subscribers, will save about Rs.2,500 crore a  year  through synergies between the two operations. As part of the deal, R-Com will spin off its mobile business and this will merge with the mobile business of the Maxis-owned Aircel; Both R-Com and Aircel will transfer Rs.14,000 crore each of their debt to the new entity.

GreyCampus Raises $1M in Angel Funding

GreyCampus, e-learning solutions provider, has raised $1 million in angel funding from co-founder of Sierra Atlantic, Sarath Sura. GreyCampus will use the money for digital marketing, technology enhancement, course development and hiring. The company offers skills and certification training for working professionals in the areas of project management, big data, data science, service management and quality management.

SoftBank Group Plans To Sell Its Stake In GungHo

SoftBank Group plans to sell most of its stake in GungHo Online Entertainment to management of the game publisher in deal valued at ¥73 billion, or roughly $685 million, according to published reports.

Japan-based GungHo, the maker of the popular Puzzle & Dragon’s mobile game, said it plans to buy back its shares from the Japanese telecommunications giant. GungHo will hold a tender offer starting within 20 days from June 3 for ¥294 a share. The news follows upon SoftBank’s announcement that it was selling its shares in Alibaba Group for about $10 billion.

Amazon Ties Up with Storeking for Offline Push

Amazon has tied up with e-commerce startup Storeking, which has more than 10,000 rural outlets across South India, as part of its offline shopping initiative Udaan that was launched in 2014, the LiveMint reported. Storeking offers its products via tablets at retail and kirana stores in rural areas.

Amazon has also included 1,000 more outlets as part of its Udaan initiative. Under this project, Amazon trains local entrepreneurs in small towns, cities and in certain urban areas with poor Internet connectivity. While local entrepreneurs persuade consumers to buy products, Amazon delivers the products with the entrepreneurs taking a cut from the transaction.