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Funding roundup

Africa’s re-commerce startup Badili raises $2.1M in pre-Seed round

African ReComm startup Badili has raised a pre-seed round of $2.1 million from V&R Africa, Venture Catalysts, Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), Grenfell holdings, Uncovered Fund Japan, SOSV, and a dozen other family offices from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and India. The round has been led by IPV, marking Badili as its maiden investment in the African continent.

The funds raised will be used for the physical expansion of the company across a few markets in Africa as well as for the working capital, marketing, operations and repairing labs and admin.

Launched in March 2022 by serial entrepreneurs Rishabh Lawania and Keshu Dubey, Badili buys pre-owned phones and sells refurbished smartphones that are tagged “as good as new, for half the price” and come with a 12-month warranty. The startup has expanded to Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Edu-fintech startup EduFund raises $3.5M in pre-Series A round

EduFund, an India-based edu-fintech company, has raised a pre-Series A investment of $3.5 million led by global venture capital firm MassMutual Ventures (MMV). The round also saw participation from prominent investors DSP Investment Managers, Anchorage Capital Partners, and Kunal Shah. 

Started in 2020 by founders Eela Dubey and Arindam Sengupta, the company offers a full stack solution dedicated to helping Indian parents plan, save, and invest for their children’s future education. EduFund empowers parents to plan ahead and save across different asset classes to meet these rising costs over time. It also helps parents bridge financing needs by providing education loans and scholarships.

The app-based solution has partnered with leading Asset Management Companies (AMC) including Tata, DSP, UTI, ICICI, Aditya Birla, and HDFC to offer investment products, and notable lenders such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Credila, IDFC, etc. to offer education loans. It also provides education counselling services to help prospective students understand their best-fit university.  

Other news

Indian startups must give importance to corporate governance: Amitabh Kant

As India Inc. is pushing the needle towards achieving the trillion-dollar digital economy goal and has evolved as a hotspot for varied startups, it is imperative for companies to understand the importance of corporate governance.

To deep-dive into this, on April 29, TiE Mumbai and Nishith Desai Associates under the Indian presidency of the G-20 2023 organised an exclusive think tank conference at the research campus in Imaginarium AliGunjan, Alibaug.

The exclusive think tank conference, supported by Startup20 Engagement Group, was conducted under the guidance of Amitabh Kant, G-20 Sherpa, Government of India, and renowned international lawyer, Nishith Desai, Founder, Nishith Desai Associates. 

Key representatives from 30+ unicorns and top venture capital funds including UpGrad, MakeMyTrip, Paytm, Mobikwik, Purplle, Blume Ventures, and Avendus Capital, along with officials from NITI Aayog and Atal Innovation Mission gathered for the conference. The conference was aimed at sensitising startups on corporate governance in a bid to create India’s image as a land of well-governed companies.

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OYO to double Char Dham hotels seeing record demand  

Global travel technology company Oyo has said it will double the number of properties available for the Char Dham Yatra 2023. The new properties will be spread across key locations along the Yatra route to make it easier for pilgrims to find a comfortable, reliable, and affordable place to stay throughout their journey.

At present, the company has 40 hotels in Rishikesh, Haridwar, Srinagar, Kedarnath, Joshimath, and Uttarkashi, which will be doubled to 80 hotels.

The Char Dham Yatra is a spiritual pilgrimage of four sacred shrines nestled high up in the Himalayas. These shrines include Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath, attracting millions of pilgrims every year from across the world.

OYO has also witnessed a 206% increase in bookings for the Char Dham Yatra compared to the same period last year. With a year-on-year increase of 186%, Srinagar has taken the lead as the most booked destination for the Yatra followed by Rishikesh and Haridwar, according to OYO data.

Spatial partners with ARtmeTech to create an immersive brand experience in Metaverse

ARtmeTech, a creative tech firm from India, is partnering with Spatial to create immersive brand experiences in metaverse. As the official Indian partner of Spatial, they are building brand interactions in an immersive environment that connects people to narratives that are driven by brands.

The partnership between the two intends to transform the way brands encounter the virtual realm. ARtmeTech, through Spatial, aims to create a virtual space that allows enterprises to become storytellers in the metaverse by offering a range of virtual avatars that captures the essence of the users.

FanCode partners with GoKwik to increase cash-on-delivery serviceability pan India

FanCode, a destination for sports fans, has joined hands with GoKwik to expand its cash-on-delivery (COD) serviceability to deeper areas of cricket passionate Bharat.

FanCode Shop is a one-stop destination for sport enthusiasts looking for authentic sports merchandise and accessories at affordable rates. FanCode shop has a range of accessories and merchandise available for fans – from official jerseys to everyday wear like polos, t-shirts, joggers.

Moreover, they also manage the digital mega stores for three IPL teams— Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings.

Yuma Energy appoints Deepak Nanwani as the Head of Revenue & Operations

Yuma Energy, a joint venture between Magna, an automotive suppliers and Yulu, a shared electric micro-mobility player, announced the appointment of Deepak Nanwani as the Head of Revenue and Operations.

In this role, Deepak will focus on building a strong Yuma network to enable anxiety free e-mobility for the masses, building business partnerships with OEMs to bring them on Yuma’s network and implementing processes to create ongoing positive customer experiences. Deepak will also drive partnerships with communities, OEMs and stakeholders for stronger integration of e-mobility into the fabric of cities.

Deepak has decades’ experience across consumer technology companies in mobility and logistics industries, and comes with proven expertise in scaling business, driving growth and leading large teams.

Smart Battery swapping startup Esmito partners with ElectricFuel to offer EaaS

Esmito, a smart battery swapping solution provider, has joined hands with ElectricFuel, an EV Charging Services Provider, to roll out Energy as a Service (EaaS) platform with an aim to bring affordable, high performance battery swapping solutions to the Indian EV market.

The operations are currently being rolled out in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and will be scaled to pan India in the next six months. As part of the partnership, ElectricFuel will serve as an EaaS operator enabled by Esmito’s technology comprising of Battery Swap Stations backed by its smart management platform and Mobile App.

Esmito offers an innovative solution to such commercial fleet users wherein users of electric vehicles can swap out their used batteries at a swapping station without having to wait for charging time or needing to carry spare batteries for each vehicle.

(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)