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Chinese hackers are said to have targeted phones used by Trump and Vance

Economic TimesEconomic Times · 1y ago
Chinese hackers are said to have targeted phones used by Trump and Vance
Medial

Chinese hackers targeted data from phones used by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, as part of a wider intelligence-collection effort, according to anonymous sources. The investigation aims to determine what communications data was taken or observed. Access to this information, such as call history and contact frequency, could be highly valuable to an intelligence agency like China. Trump and Vance were among the individuals whose phone numbers were targeted, alongside Democrats and staff members of Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign. The hacking attack, believed to be conducted by a group called Salt Typhoon, has raised concerns about compromised data and potential victims.

China Evergrande liquidation sends shockwaves through financial markets

LivemintLivemint · 1y ago
China Evergrande liquidation sends shockwaves through financial markets
Medial

A Hong Kong court has ordered the liquidation of China Evergrande Group, causing concern in China's financial markets. Trading of Evergrande related shares was halted and the Hang Seng Index rose 1.2%. Analysts agree that the delay in liquidation is surprising and clearing out Evergrande is seen as positive, but doubts remain about the impact on the property sector. There are concerns about the downturn in China's property sector and the effect on the progress of fixing it. The liquidation may also impact confidence among mainland creditors and potential buyers. Offshore creditors will depend on mainland courts recognizing or enforcing the winding-up order from Hong Kong to claim assets. Evergrande, the world's most indebted developer, has $300 billion liabilities and $240 billion assets. The liquidation petition was filed by an investor in June 2022 due to Evergrande's failure to honor an agreement.

Argos Watches raises Rs 6.5 Cr in Angel round

EntrackrEntrackr · 7m ago
Argos Watches raises Rs 6.5 Cr in Angel round
Medial

Argos Watches raises Rs 6.5 Cr in Angel round Indian luxury watch brand Argos Watches has raised Rs 6.5 crore (around $780K) in an angel funding round, valuing the company at Rs 45 crore ($5.4 million) from a group of high-net-worth Indian investors. The proceeds will be used to create new products, build brand awareness, and grow online. Argos aims to double its revenue this year. Founded by Mr. M. Shahiwala, Argos brand offers high-quality, vintage-style automatic and hand-wound watches at affordable prices. It sells its watches only through its website, using a direct-to-consumer model to offer an easy buying experience. Its watches cost between Rs 8,000 and Rs 20,000. Its Apollo series and flagship Olympus watch, a mechanical watch with a power reserve indicator, have gained popularity among Indian watch enthusiasts. As of 2025, Argos remains bootstrapped, with an estimated revenue of around $580,000 annually. The brand plans to launch more models with advanced features while continuing to build its brand through community engagement and digital presence.

Exclusive: Wipro GE-backed GenWorks valuation touches Rs 550 Cr

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Exclusive: Wipro GE-backed GenWorks valuation touches Rs 550 Cr
Medial

Healthcare firm GenWorks has raised Rs 41 crore (around $5 million) in a funding round led by Evolvence Fund. Somerset Indus Healthcare Fund and key individuals from the Zawawi Group also joined the round. The board at GenWorks Health has passed a special resolution to issue 5,12,500 CCPS at an issue price of Rs 800 each to raise the above sum, its regulatory filing accessed from the Registrar of Companies shows. Evolvence Fund and Somerset Indus Healthcare Fund have injected Rs 26 crore and Rs 8.2 crore, respectively, while Kasiraman Swaminathan and Ramesh Kumar Sivaraman (Group CEO and Finance Manager of Zawawi Group) collectively invested Rs 8.2 crore. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, the Bengaluru-based company has been valued at around Rs 540-550 crore or $65 million (post-allotment). Following the fresh investment, Evolvence Fund has acquired a 1.51% stake whereas Somerset Indus Healthcare and both the key personnel of Zawawi Group hold 4.54% and 1.52%, respectively. Started as a Wipro GE invested entity, Genworks has raised over $33 million to date, including its $17 million investment round led by Wipro GE and Morgan Stanely in May 2022. Wipro Ge is a joint venture between the Indian IT major and American multinational GE Healthcare. The firm also bagged $4 million from BlackSoil in May 2023. Founded by S GaneshPrasad, GenWorks offers medical devices for Cardiology, ENT, IVD, newborn care, radiology and respiratory diagnosis, among others. As per its website, it has touched over 200 million people in India since its inception, and 6 million lives every year. The ten-year-old company has been growing at a brisk pace in the past few fiscal years. With Rs 447 crore in operating collection during FY23, it registered 20% year-on-year growth over FY22. Meanwhile, its losses also spiked 46% to Rs 44 crore in the same period. GenWorks is yet to report financial numbers for the last fiscal year (FY24).

How profitable InCred stands out among bleeding fintech lenders: Interview with Bhupinder Singh

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
How profitable InCred stands out among bleeding fintech lenders: Interview with Bhupinder Singh
Medial

Lending has turned out to be the most obvious money making channel for fintech startups in India. Right from large to small fintech companies are resorting to distributing loans through own and third party lenders such as banks and NBFCs. Most growth stage fintech startups have been lending aggressively, but they still bear huge losses on a consolidated basis. However, the eight-year-old InCred is an exception as the firm’s operating revenue spiked 48% to Rs 1,267 crore in FY24. At the same time, its profit grew 160% to Rs 316 crore in FY24. InCred claims to have offered credit to 3,50,000 borrowers since its inception in 2016. InCred group operates three companies – InCred Finance, InCred Capital, and InCred Money. To understand InCred’s growth across segments, startup investments including Oyo and collection (recovery) among others, Entrackr spoke to the company’s founder and chief executive Bhupinder Singh. Here are the edited excerpts. How has the size of asset under management (AUM) across personal, education and business loans grown? Our asset under management or AUM grew 49% in FY24 and we closed FY24 with over Rs 9,000 crore in AUM, spread across personal loans which accounts for 44% of our AUM while micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) contributed 35% of the total disbursal. Educational loans formed 21% of the entire loan book including third-parties capital. Can you talk about growth numbers across three segments: personal, business and educational in the last fiscal year? We have had strong growth across all three segments in FY24: Personal loans grew at 57% whereas educational loans spiked at 86%. Business (MSMEs) borrowing increased 32% during the last fiscal. Which factors led to the upsurge in educational loans? Strong preference to study abroad for superior exposure and growth prospects, along with growing awareness in terms of universities and courses through social media and internet are some of the key driving factors, which have accentuated further over the last few years. InCred has started equity investment across startups. Why has it entered into what’s widely dubbed as risky equity investment? We invest in startups through InCred Capital where we focus on identifying attractive investment opportunities in private companies. However, we only put money in startups which are available at reasonable valuations and have long-term structural growth potential. Besides InCred Capital, we also have a private equity fund providing growth capital to startups and other businesses. You said that InCred Capital looks for reasonable valuation while investing into startups. InCred capital recently invested in Oyo at a $2.38 Bn valuation. Do you think this is the right valuation of Oyo? Any investment opportunity we identify for our clients is based on our fundamental thesis of providing an attractive risk-return profile for our wealth clients. We believe that Oyo falls in that category and provides an opportunity for long term value creation. Collection is the hardest part of any form of lending be it traditional or digital. How did InCred solve this and what’s the size of NPA? Agreed. I think it starts right from our strong, proactive focus on risk and analytics, and then collections, which is more reactive. We have over 150 pan-India collections teams across products that track repayments and employ multiple modes, depending upon the product-specific requirement and level of customer delinquency. For early defaulters, we use techniques like tele-calling to educate them about default implications such as credit score deterioration. For late-stage defaulters, focus is more on limiting losses through field visits, vendor engagement among others. We also use mechanisms like setting up escrow accounts for superior collections. InCred efficiency has been consistently tracking at 98%. Our March 2024 NNPA stood at 0.8% and was among the best in the industry. InCred merged with KKR Financial services in 2022. How has the merger panned out in terms of business? Let me start by giving you some context. While technically it was a reverse merger of InCred with KKR India’s credit arm, substance over form, InCred acquired KKR’s corporate loan book. It was a win-win for both InCred and KKR. What KKR got was a profitable exit from its corporate book, which they were looking for, and the opportunity to be part of a successful and long-term lending growth story with InCred in the driver’s seat. For InCred, the deal was purely an equity raising exercise with KKR joining our cap table and our net worth swelling 3X to over Rs 3,200 crore as of December 2023. At the same time, we were able to quickly wind down the corporate loan book and focus on building a granular retail franchise, which is our broad vision for InCred Finance.

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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