#TodayDeals: Flipkart-Walmart Deal Likely to be Announced This Week & More
Below is a list of deals that happened in Indian Startup Ecosystem. Read a brief description about all of them:
1. Indian beer brand Bira 91 has raised Rs 335 crore by Belgian fund Sofina at Rs 1400 crore valuation. Read More...
2. Online grocery delivery startup BigBasket is looking to raise $300– $500 mn in funding from Alibaba and some other new investors. According to media reports, it is also speculated that the funds could be raised directly from existing investors led by Alibaba. Earlier in February, BigBasket raised $300 mn in Series E funding, led by Alibaba along with the participation of Abraaj Capital, Sands Capital, and IFC.
3. According to the latest speculation about Flipkart-Walmart deal, Sachin Bansal may exit and plans to sell his 5.5% stake in the company for nearly $1 bn.
4. NITI Aayog and Google have come together to work on a range of initiatives to help build the AI ecosystem across the country. Google will train and incubate Indian AI startups in an accelerator program. These startups will be mentored and coached by Google and its affiliates to enable them to better leverage AI in their respective business models. Read More…
5. Noida-based digital payments platform Paytm has registered 62.9 million UPI transactions last month, 33% share of the total 190M UPI transactions recorded in the month of April, and was followed by Yes Bank with 22% share at 42.4 million payments. Yes Bank’s transactions are mainly generated through Flipkart-owned payment application PhonePe.
6. Nitin Bawankule appointed as India country head for Google Cloud
7. US retail giant Walmart is set to acquire a stake of approximately 70% in Flipkart for an amount of $15 billion. The deal is likely to be announced on Wednesday. This will include a primary investment of up to $3 billion by Walmart against fresh equity and $1.5 billion by Google’s parent Alphabet.
8. Venture debt provider Trifecta Capital is planning to raise a second debt fund with a target corpus of Rs 500 crore and a green shoe option of Rs 250 crore. Trifecta expects the fund to hit its first close of Rs 250 crore by the end of 2018. The Fund II will be Rs 750 crore and the firm will raise mostly from its existing investors.
9. Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes is coming to India for the 5th time. With the support of the local partner Startup Safari and host WeWork Gurgaon, Seedstars will be holding a dynamic pitch event on May 18th at 3pm. The companies selected to pitch at the Seedstars Delhi event need to be less than 2 years old, have raised less than $500,000 in funding and built a minimum viable product, ideally with existing traction. The Seedstars team is searching for one additional criterion - the startup’s regional and global scalability. The applications are open until May 10th and startups are invited to apply here.
10. SHAREit acquires South India’s favourite movie app Fastfilmz. Read More...
11. T-Hub, Indian startup engine, is accepting applications for the second edition of its India Market Access Bridge (IMAB) program. IMAB is a nine-month program that provides international startups with tangible business opportunities, market understanding and access to clients in India, while also mentoring them to scale. It is a tailor-made program for post-series A startups and scaleups focused on B2B enterprise products and technology solutions for sustainability. The applications for 2018 are now open and will close on 30th June 2018.
12. Google has decided to comply with Indian laws on data localisation. The company is giving consumers the choice to see how much personal data it stores along with the option of “taking it down”, Rajan Anandan, Vice-President of Google India and Southeast Asia told ET. The company is working with industry associations and the government to come up with a policy best suited for consumers.
13. Alibaba has acquired Daraz Group, a Pakistan-based Rocket Internet-backed e-commerce platform. Read More...
14. IvyCamp and Sonata Software has announced a strategic partnership to launch an Open Innovation Program. Sonata Program is specially designed by IvyCamp for Sonata Software, and seeks to invite startups working on new-age technology solutions in IOT, AI, Machine Learning, Real-time analytics, Mobility, others. IvyCamp will shortlist the start-ups that apply basis their business model, financial, legal and HR due diligence and technology prowess.
