Mumbai: US-based d.light, which sells solar-powered lamps in villages with unreliable or no electricity connections, has raised $10.5 million, the company said in a statement. The company raised $5 million in equity from new investor Norfund, as well as $5.5 million in grant funding from Beyond t…
Start Up India
Practo raises $55 mn in Series-D funding led by China’s Tencent
Digital healthcare start-up Practo Technologies Pvt Ltd has raised $55 million in a Series-D funding round led by China’s Tencent, with participation from new investors ru-Net, RSI Fund, owned by Recruit Holdings and Thrive Capital. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners, Google Capi…
UpGrad to offer entrepreneurship program under Start Up India
Online education provider UpGrad has launched an entrepreneurship programme under government’s ‘Start Up India’ initiative to provide insights into areas like validation of ideas, funding and legal framework for new businesses. The new 4-week programme — Startup India Lear…
20 start-ups register every day in Karnataka
The last four months of 2016 saw nearly 20 firms register with Karnataka’s Startup Cell every day .From just 27 startups registered at the time the Siddaramaiah government took over in 2013, the number has risen to 2,397 as of December end. In 2013, there was only one nodal officer for star…
Byju’s buys Bengaluru-based career guide Vidyartha in Rs 50 cr deal
Bengaluru: Education venture Byju’s has acquired Bengaluru-based career guidance and academic profile builder Vidyartha for close to Rs 50 crore, according to two sources familiar with the development. Both the companies confirmed the development but declined to comment on the deal size. Vi…
ZoloStays raises Rs 26 cr funding led by Nexus Venture Partners
Marquee venture capital investor Nexus Venture Partners has led a Rs 26-crore round of funding in Bengaluru-based ZoloStays Property Solutions, which owns and operates managed accommodation platform Zolo. The series-A round also includes a venture debt component of Rs 4.5 crore, extended by ventu…
US-based Houzz bets on local content for success in India
US-based home design firm Houzz Inc. which opened its India website is hoping to capture the market with local content and communities, the company’s Co-Founder said. Houzz is an online scrapbook that allows designers and home service professionals display their work. This is its thirteenth launc…
Budget 2017: Nirmala Sitharaman hints at tax sops for start-ups
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has submitted a list of suggestions received by startups to the Finance Ministry, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman shared on the sidelines of an event marking the one year anniversary of the Startup India initi…
Elderly duo bets on adult market, powers up DiapperAtHome start-up
The start-up bug is no longer limited to youngsters. Age is not a bar for entrepreneurship, and even elderly people are finding this an alluring journey to embark on. They know the pain points of their generation and are going about solving those problems. Incontinence is one such challenge of ag…
Govt planning to overhaul Rs 10k cr start-up fund
The department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) is set to overhaul its Rs10,000 crore start-up funding scheme by allowing venture capital (VC) funds to invest half of the corpus in start-ups and the rest of it in firms at a more mature stage to reduce capital risk. The VC funds that mana…