Indian Startup News Ep 32: Alibaba Halts India Investment, Tata's Super App & Urban Company's ESOP

This week in Indian Startup News, Alibaba halts investment in Indian startups for six months, Tata to launch its own super app, Flipkart commits to making its entire delivery fleet electric by 2030, Ola Electric to hire 2,000 people globally, ShareChat acquires Circle Internet and Urban Company announces its largest ESOP sale worth $5 million.

In funding news, Byju’s raises $122 million, LEAD School raises $28 million, FarEye raises $13 million and Verloop.io raises $5 million.

00:00 Introduction
00:37 Alibaba halts investment in Indian startups for six months
02:08 Tata to launch its own super app
03:44 Flipkart commits to making its entire delivery fleet electric by 2030
04:15 Ola Electric to hire 2,000 people globally
05:10 ShareChat acquires Circle Internet
06:29 Urban Company announces its largest ESOP sale worth $5 million
07:26 Byju’s raises $122 million
08:10 LEAD School raises $28 million
09:02 FarEye raises $13 million
10:04 Verloop.io raises $5 million

Alibaba halts investment in Indian startups for six months: According to a report by Reuters, Chinese technology giant Alibaba has decided to halt all investments in India, amid the heated climate between India and China. This could be a big blow to Indian startups as Alibaba through its group has made investments worth more than $2 billion in India. It also has investments in top Indian unicorns like Paytm, Zomato and BigBasket.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alibaba-india-investment-exclusive/exclusive-alibaba-puts-india-investment-plan-on-hold-amid-china-tensions-sources-say-idUSKBN25M200

Tata to launch its own super app: Tata plans to launch its own super app by the end of this year or January next year. The company will be using its super app to bring all its services and products which include everything from grocery to jewellery and insurance to automobile under one roof. This marks Tata’s entry into India’s ever-growing e-commerce market.
Flipkart commits to making its entire delivery fleet electric by 2030: Flipkart has pledged to make its entire delivery fleet electric by 2030 in a bid to boost EV adoption in the country.
https://www.ft.com/content/cac74a6a-3e03-4050-a9ab-7c56698157b8

Ola Electric to hire 2,000 people globally: Ola Electric is planning to hire 2,000 people as it aims to build electric vehicle products for the global market. The company will hire 1,000 engineers over the course of the next three months and another 1,000 will be hired across multiple roles.
https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/technology/flipkart-to-transition-its-entire-fleet-to-electric-vehicles-by-2030/77742796

ShareChat acquires Circle Internet: Indian language social media startup ShareChat has acquired hyperlocal information platform Circle Internet. Post-acquisition, all of Circle Internet’s 15 member team will be joining ShareChat and it will continue to operate as an independent entity.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/sharechat-acquires-saif-partners-backed-circle-internet/articleshow/77714763.cms

Urban Company announces its largest ESOP sale worth $5 million: Urban Company has announced its third and its largest ESOP sale worth $5 million. Under the programme, more than 180 Urban Company employees will be eligible to liquidate their stocks which will be bought by the company’s existing shareholder Vy Capital.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/vy-capital-buys-urban-company-esops-worth-5-million/articleshow/77732789.cms

Byju’s raises $122 million: Byju’s has raised an additional $122 million from DST Global for a 1.2% stake. This funding is a part of Byju’s ongoing funding round and reports suggest that Byju’s is looking to raise as much as $400 million in this round.

LEAD School raises $28 million: Edtech startup LEAD School has raised $28 million (207 crores) in its series C round from WestBridge Capital and Elevar Equity.

FarEye raises $13 million: SaaS-based logistics startup FarEye has raised $13 million to close its series D round at $37.5 million. The fresh capital has been raised from Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum Partnership and KB Global Platform Fund.

Verloop.io raises $5 million: Customer support automation startup Verloop has raised $5 million in its series A round from Alpha Wave Incubation IDFC Parampara and Infosys founder Kris Gopalakrishnan.

Give us a like and subscribe to Backstage with Millionaires if you liked our video. Let us know what you think about this video in the comments below.
Follow Backstage with Millionaires to remain updated with our latest developments.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/backstagewithmillionaires/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bwmillionaires/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backstagewithmillionaires/
#startupnews #backstagewithmillionaires #bwm