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Can Angirus’ Eco Bricks Replace Traditional Building Materials In India?

Inc42Inc42 · 1y ago
Can Angirus’ Eco Bricks Replace Traditional Building Materials In India?
Medial

Indian startup Angirus is working towards making the construction sector more sustainable through its eco-friendly bricks made from non-recyclable waste materials, including plastics. The company has received INR 80 lakh in grants and awards from various organizations and has raised INR 36 lakh in equity from angel investors. The bricks are stronger, more durable, and provide better thermal insulation compared to traditional bricks. The startup is seeking INR 1.5 crore in equity and grants to support its expansion plans, including building a new facility in Bengaluru. India's fight against air pollution is crucial, with the country having some of the most polluted cities in the world.

Massive Earth Foundation announces fourth edition of climate tech accelerator LowCarbon.Earth

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Massive Earth Foundation announces fourth edition of climate tech accelerator LowCarbon.Earth
Medial

The Massive Earth Foundation (MEF), in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has launched the fourth edition of the Low Carbon Earth Accelerator (LCE) program, LowCarbon.Earth 2024. LCE empowers climate tech startups in the Asia-Pacific region to tackle the shared challenges of climate change, nature loss, and pollution. For the 2024 program, LCE seeks applications from startups that are working in clean air, agri-food, sustainable mobility, digital innovation, renewable energy, and plastic pollution. Women-led startups and startups that are women-focused and that benefit underserved communities are strongly encouraged to apply. Led by Shailesh Vickram Singh, LCE equips startups with the tools and connections needed to scale their innovative solutions. It offers online training workshops, virtual bootcamps, mentorship sessions, networking events, and seminars. Additionally, finalists get an opportunity to pitch to potential investors and receive one-on-one mentorship from industry leaders in a demonstration-day finale. The 2023 edition of LCE saw the participation of 67 startups, 14 of which made it to the finale. The finalists included seven women founders. The Massive Earth Foundation (MEF) is a non-profit organization building a climate tech ecosystem by uniting investors, VCs, founders, startups, policy makers, and institutions into a vibrant synergy.

Fleetx raises Rs 113 Cr in Series C led by IndiaMART and Beenext

EntrackrEntrackr · 5m ago
Fleetx raises Rs 113 Cr in Series C led by IndiaMART and Beenext
Medial

Fleetx raises Rs 113 Cr in Series C led by IndiaMART and Beenext. Gurugram-based logistics SaaS startup Fleetx has raised Rs 113 crore ($13.2 million) in its Series C round led by existing investors IndiaMART Intermesh and BEENEXT’s Accelerate Fund. The round includes both primary and secondary transactions. Fleetx had raised $19.4 million in its Series B round led by IndiaMart with participation from IndiaQuotient and BEENEXT in February 2022. The fresh proceeds will be used to expand product capabilities and scale its go-to-market engine across mid-market and enterprise segments in India, Fleetx said in a press release. Founded in 2017 by Vineet Sharma, Abhay Jeet Gupta, Udbhav Rai, Parveen Kataria, and Vishal Misra, Fleetx operates at the intersection of AI and IoT, offering fleet management, fuel analytics, video telematics, transport ERP, and TMS solutions. The company plans to strengthen its product stack and profitability metrics to meet IPO-readiness targets within the next two years. It also aims to double its annual recurring revenue (ARR) while achieving profitability in the near term. “As we sit on the huge logistics data points, we’re in a unique position to leverage AI to tackle some of the most complex challenges in the sector. We will continue to invest aggressively in our product capabilities while building a durable, efficient business delivering measurable value to our customers,” said Vineet Sharma, CEO of Fleetx. Fleetx claims to have grown 4x since its last funding round in 2022. It claims to have crossed Rs 100 crore in ARR and currently serves over 2,000 clients, including more than 100 large enterprise accounts. Its customers span industries such as cement, FMCG, mining, transportation, and manufacturing. Notable clients include Ultratech Cement, Adani Group, Unilever, Godrej, Shree Cement, Maersk, and Panasonic. For the fiscal year ending March 2024, Fleetx recorded operating revenue of Rs 56.58 crore from Rs 41.63 crore in FY23. The company also reduced its losses by over 55% to Rs 24.21 crore in FY24.

Meet Beyoung, Udaipur-based D2C fashion brand that’s eyeing Rs 650 Cr GMV

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Meet Beyoung, Udaipur-based D2C fashion brand that’s eyeing Rs 650 Cr GMV
Medial

Independent fashion brands have come a long way in recent years. While the offline segment is still dominated by legacy players and franchises, the rise of social media and e-commerce has facilitated the growth of quite a few D2C brands. Moreover, the over $14 billion Indian e-commerce fashion market has helped brands like Bewakoof, Rare Rabbit, and The Pant Project to gain traction. One of the popular names in this space remains Beyoung. Founded in 2018, the startup claims to have delivered over 20 lakh online orders. The company recently announced accelerating its offline expansion by 300 stores across India and growing GMV two-fold to Rs 650 crore by 2027 We spoke to the company founder Shivam Soni to learn more about Beyoung, its history, growth, and lots more. Here are the edited excerpts: How did you come up with the idea of Beyoung? We always wanted to enter the essentials market, and the idea to start Beyoung was initiated with this thought. At one point, we recognized a significant gap in the market for aspirational yet affordable fashion options in tier 2, 3, and 4 cities across India, which we refer to as the ‘Real Bharat.’ While many brands were focusing on niche segments, we aimed to serve the mass market. We chose to focus on Kapda from the essentials ROTI, KAPDA, MAKAN (clothing), offering branded products to consumers in these underserved regions, providing both aspirational choices and value for money. What are the key challenges in the industry that still need to be addressed? And how do you plan to address them? Catering to diverse target audiences with varying buying power across regions is challenging. It’s crucial to adapt products and marketing to different regional preferences and cultures, as what works in North India might not work in South India. Managing an efficient supply chain and ensuring timely delivery adds to the complexity. Additionally, attracting and retaining skilled talent in a Tier 3 city like Udaipur is difficult. To solve these problems, we have leveraged technology and data-driven marketing campaigns. We analyze behavioral patterns and channel our efforts toward solving our audience’s pain points. While staying headquartered in Udaipur posed some challenges, it has also helped us address the challenges of tier 2, 3, and 4 cities in understanding their pain points and solving their problems How has your startup performed since its inception? Since its inception, Beyoung has shown significant growth and achieved notable milestones. Some key performance statistics highlight our progress: we have successfully built a robust customer base of 5 million, underscoring the strong demand and engagement with our brand. This growth reflects our ability to connect effectively with our target audience. Recognizing the potential and spending power in the men’s fashion segment, we have strategically made it our primary focus. This decision has paid off, as 90% of our revenue comes from male customers. In the last financial year of 2023, we achieved an impressive annual recurring revenue (ARR) of 200 million. This reflects our ongoing efforts to expand our market reach, enhance our product offerings, and improve customer engagement. What are your short-term and long-term product and business expansion and diversification goals? Our short-term and long-term goals for product and business expansion and diversification are driven by the evolving ways users interact with brands and the significant growth potential within the Indian fashion industry, projected to reach 289.6 million users by 2029. We aim to be the top choice for customers by offering trendy styles and great value for money. Our focus will be on efficiently engaging with and serving the mass market, both domestically and internationally, to become a part of their everyday wardrobe. Over the next three years, we plan to expand our presence by establishing physical stores in various neighborhoods across India. This will complement our existing online platform and provide a seamless shopping experience. Our long-term vision is to extend our reach beyond India and establish a global presence. We aspire to make Beyoung a recognizable and trusted brand worldwide, serving customers across different countries.

X to withhold certain accounts, posts in India following govt orders

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
X to withhold certain accounts, posts in India following govt orders
Medial

X, formerly known as Twitter, disclosed on Thursday that it will withhold certain accounts and posts in India following executive orders from the Indian government. “The Indian government has issued executive orders requiring X to act on specific accounts and posts, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment,” Global Government Affairs, an affiliate of X, said in a post on the social networking site. The company added that it will block these accounts and posts in India, but it disagrees with the actions and maintains that “freedom of expression should extend to these posts.” Moreover, affected users have been informed about the actions taken by the company. “Due to legal restrictions, we are unable to publish the executive orders, but we believe that making them public is essential for transparency. This lack of disclosure can lead to a lack of accountability and arbitrary decision-making,” it said. It further said that a writ appeal challenging the Indian government’s blocking order is pending. It may be recalled that the Karnataka High Court had dismissed X’s plea challenging the Indian government’s orders to block accounts and posts. It is likely the first time X and the Indian government are at loggerheads since Elon Musk took over the micro-blogging platform. Last year, Musk had hinted at a more cooperative arrangement with local governments, especially in India. “The rules in India for what can appear on social media are quite strict and we can’t go beyond the laws of the country… If we have a choice of either our people go to prison or we comply with the laws, we will comply with the laws…,” Musk told BBC during an interview when asked about the country banning a documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots. Before Musk came in, Twitter and the Indian government went head-to-head multiple times over the blocking of content. In some cases, Twitter did not comply with the government directives to blocking accounts and posts. The public spat reached its peak during the farmer protests a few years ago. Police raided the offices of Twitter India in Delhi and Gurgaon after the social networking platform labelled “manipulated media” to one of tweets by a BJP leader. Jack Dorsey claimed that India had threatened to shut down the platform if the company did not comply with the government requests. “It manifested in ways such as: ‘We will shut Twitter down in India’, which is a very large market for us; ‘We will raid the homes of your employees’, which they did; and this is India, a democratic country,” Dorsey said in an interview. That said, X’s latest disclosure on government requests to block certain posts and accounts comes at a time when farmer protests have resumed in certain parts of the country. The government has not responded to X’s revelations yet.

Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [13-18 May]

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [13-18 May]
Medial

During the week, as many as 26 Indian startups raised around $240 million in funding. These deals include 9 growth-stage deals and 15 early-stage deals. Meanwhile, two early-stage startups did not disclose the amount raised. Last week, about 24 early and growth-stage startups collectively raised around $320 million capital. [Growth-stage deals] Among the growth-stage deals, 7 startups raised $207.2 million in funding this week. Microfinance firm Annapurna Finance led the list with $72 million followed by battery tech startup Battery Smart which scooped $45 million capital. Propelld which provides education loans to borrowers via online channels, ambulance service provider Red.Health (formerly StanPlus), and manufactures drones for applications in agriculture, defence, and enterprise sectors Dhaksha are next on the list with $25 million, $20 million, and $18 million, respectively. Further, the list counts agritech robotics firm Niqo Robotics, online gold loan platform Rupeek, rooftop solar startup SolarSquare, and a provider of supply chain service 3SC also raised funding this week. [Early-stage deals] Subsequently, 15 early-stage startups scooped funding worth $32.5 million during the week. Domestic aggregator providing end-to-end cold-chain solutions Celcius Logistics spearheaded the list followed by mobility and energy solutions startup Matel, authentication and access management platform OTPless, marketing SaaS platform Highperformr.ai, and provider of AI-driven solutions for advanced analytics startup Stupa Sports. Moreover, DrinkPrime, Raho Hospitality, InstaAstro, BimaPay, Infurnia, The Betel Leaf, and BEYOBO also raised funding during the period. The list of early-stage startups also includes two startups that kept the funding amount undisclosed: Duro Green and Trezi. For more information, visit TheKredible. [City and segment-wise deals] In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups led with 9 deals followed by Delhi-NCR, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Bhubaneswar among others. Segment-wise, fintech startups grabbed the top spot with four deals followed by e-commerce startups. The list further counts SaaS, Supply chain, Agritech, and Aquatech startups among others. [Series-wise deals] During the week, Series B funding deals led the list with 6 deals followed by 5 Series A deals while, Pre-Series A, Seed, Angel, Pre-Series B, and Debt are next on the list among others. [Week-on-week funding trend] On a weekly basis, startup funding dropped 25% to $239.7 million as compared to around $320 million raised during the previous week. The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $222 million with 26 deals per week. [Key hirings and departure] Among key hirings, ANI Technologies, the parent company of Ola, has appointed Ankush Aggarwal as the CEO of Ola Financial Services, while Meesho has added Surojit Chatterjee to its board as an independent director. Meanwhile, Kartik Gupta, CFO of Ola, has resigned after seven months, amid the company’s restructuring ahead of its IPO. Additionally, Sandeep Kumar Barasia, executive director and chief business officer of Delhivery, has also tendered his resignation. [Fund launches] Early-stage accelerator fund 9Unicorns has rebranded to 100Unicorns and announced the launch of its second fund. Part of the Venture Catalysts Group, 100Unicorns has introduced the 100Unicorns Fund II, targeting a size of $200 million with an additional green-shoe option of $100 million. [M&A] Niyogin Fintech Ltd. has acquired Superscan, an AI-powered document imaging, automation, and fraud detection platform, from Orbo.in. Superscan’s core intellectual properties include intelligent document processing, automation agents, and fraud detection tools. [ESOPs] B2B edtech company Classplus has announced stock appreciation rights (SARs) for its customers, vendors, and partners. Dubbed as ‘Gratitude SARs,’ the initiative aims to reward and show appreciation to content creators and educators who have helped shape Classplus. While Zomato announced fresh employee stock option (ESOP) options for its employees under the new plan: ESOP 2024. As per estimates, the newly added ESOP options are worth around Rs 3,780 crore (approximately $455 million). Visit TheKredible to see series-wise deals along with amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, and more insights. [New launches] ▪️ Ullu’s founder Vibhu Agarwal to launch a mythological OTT platform, Hari Om [Financial results this week] ▪️ Wow! Momo crosses Rs 400 Cr revenue threshold in FY23 ▪️ Infibeam Avenues posts Rs 727 Cr revenue and Rs 49 Cr profit in Q4 FY24 ▪️ IPO-bound Awfis reports Rs 616 Cr income in first 9 months of FY24 ▪️ Zomato posts Rs 175 Cr PAT in Q4 FY24, revenue grows 8.3% ▪ Info Edge crosses Rs 2,500 Cr revenue and Rs 500 Cr profit threshold in FY24 [News flash this week] ▪️ ZappFresh converts into a public company ▪️ Zomato surrenders payment aggregator and wallet license to RBI ▪️ Delhivery to start manufacturing drones via a new subsidiary ▪️ Zoho plans to manufacture compound semiconductors ▪️ Flipkart targets to shift domicile from Singapore to India [Conclusion] The weekly funding slipped 25% to $239.7 million. The week saw a new fund launch namely 100Unicorns (9Unicorns). Ullu Digital’s founder and CEO Vibhu Agarwal is reportedly launching a new OTT platform, Hari Om, in June. Hari Om will feature ‘U’ rated content suitable for all age groups, including 20 mythological shows focused on Indian heritage, culture, and spirituality. The platform will offer both short and long-form content, as well as bhajans and animated mythology for younger viewers, aiming to attract kids, youth, and senior citizens. Zoho is reportedly planning to enter the semiconductor market and has applied for approval under the Centre’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. The bootstrapped SaaS unicorn estimates a $700 million investment for the chip fabrication plant. Zoho intends to manufacture compound semiconductors, which are used for specialized commercial applications. The proposal is currently under review by the IT ministry, which has requested more information about Zoho’s prospective customers. E-commerce major Flipkart plans to shift its domicile from Singapore to India, following the trend of several late-stage companies. This move is linked to Flipkart’s upcoming initial public offering (IPO), as reported by ET. Walmart-controlled Flipkart will be the second group firm to shift domicile, following PhonePe, which fully separated from Flipkart Group in December 2022 and was the first to undergo a reverse flip. Logistics unicorn Delhivery is setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary, Delhivery Robotics India, to manufacture drones and provide freight air transportation services. The subsidiary will offer Drone as a Service (DaaS) for shipment movement and remote sensing, manufacture and sell unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) globally, and provide UAV pilot training. Meanwhile, Zomato has decided to voluntarily surrender its payment aggregator and wallet license to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The company disclosed in a filing that its subsidiary, Zomato Payments Private Limited (ZPPL), has chosen to surrender the certificate of authorization obtained from the RBI under the Payment and Settlements Systems Act 2007. ZPPL was incorporated in August 2021 to comply with RBI regulations for payment aggregator and payment gateway services, receiving RBI approval in January this year. Zomato also wrote down its Rs 39 crore investment in ZPPL, declaring it as an impairment loss. In May last year, Zomato collaborated with ICICI Bank to introduce its own UPI solution, Zomato UPI, to reduce reliance on third-party payment apps like Google Pay, Paytm, and PhonePe.

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