Funding news
Acadru raises funding led by AIG Direct LLC
, a SaaS company focusing on content, interdisciplinary learning, and curiosity for middle and high school students, raised about Rs 5 lakh led by AIG Direct LLC and other investors for market expansion and creating new content avenues.
The Gurugram-based platform offers contextual explorations, providing background material, projects, content flow ideas, and linkages for individual and team projects. It also provides resources for research, analysis, and evaluation skills.
It has a weekly repository of over 5,000 projects covering 500 topics, used by top schools worldwide to enhance learning outcomes. It serves as a teacher resource and student-learning tool, particularly beneficial for project-based learning and 21st-century skills.
Other news:
IKEA achieves 100% EV deliveries in major Indian cities, expands green initiative
Home furnishings brand achieved its first 100% EV-powered deliveries across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune. It plans to expand Mumbai operations and enter new markets with an EV-first approach, starting with Delhi NCR.
IKEA India has reduced its carbon footprint by 88% in 2023. The company is partnering with local manufacturers to develop innovative mobility solutions, fostering the local economy and job creation.
Its diverse EV fleet, equipped with advanced technology, can handle loads ranging from 680kg to 1700kg. IKEA aims to achieve 100% EV deliveries by 2025, drive continuous innovation, and collaborate with the government. The company also aims to become climate-positive, halve greenhouse emissions by 2030, and reach net zero by 2050 globally.
Ultraviolette appoints Vinayak Bhat as CPO
(UV), an electric vehicle and battery technology platform, promoted Vinayak Bhat to Chief Product Officer. With over a decade of experience in aerospace and electric mobility, Bhat will oversee UV’s product portfolio expansion from inception to market introduction, aiming to broaden its product range and drive innovation in the high-performance electric vehicle sector.
Founded in 2016 by Narayan Subramaniam and Niraj Rajmohan, it is supported by global investors like Lingotto, Qualcomm Ventures, Zoho Corporation, TVS Motor, and Speciale Invest.
Veefin Group appoints Shantanu Bairagi as CEO of Veefin Capital
Group appointed Shantanu Bairagi as CEO of Veefin Capital, a subsidiary focusing on creating a new asset class in supply chain finance for MSMEs.
Bairagi, with over 20 years of banking and finance experience, is set to drive the company’s growth and innovation in his new role.
Veefin Capital, a subsidiary of the Veefin Group, plans to create a new asset class in supply chain finance for MSMEs, addressing the financial system’s lack of support due to factors like collateral-backed risk under-writing, high acquisition costs, and lack of credit history. It plans to leverage corporate relationships, digitise, and broaden its investor base through debt capital instruments.
IIMA Ventures launches second cohort of People and Culture Accelerator
IIMA Ventures launched the second cohort of its People and Culture Accelerator, designed to help startups address people and culture challenges. It selected eight startups, including Third Wave Coffee, Toprankers, Riskcovry, and Roopya, among others, for the programme.
The three-day programme, focusing on seed-stage startups, aims to help founders, team leaders, and people leaders address gaps in their people strategy and culture, including hiring interventions, performance management, formalisation, culture building, and leadership.
Vinayak Bhat, CPO, Ultraviolette
Aditya Birla Finance, AU Small Finance Bank launch co-branded credit cards with Visa, RuPay
Aditya Birla Finance, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital, and AU Small Finance Bank launched Aditya Birla Finance AU credit cards, available on Visa and RuPay payment networks.
The co-branded cards are available in four variants and offer comprehensive reward benefits to cater to the financial needs of individual customers and business owners.
It also offers lifetime-free benefits with the ‘Flex’ and ‘Nxt’ cards, which customers can personalise through the Aditya Birla Finance mobile app. The ‘Pro’ variant provides accelerated reward points and reduced forex markup fees, while the ‘Biz’ card is designed for business customers with accelerated rewards points and discounts across select dining partners.
Zapcom appoints Prasanth Nair as CTO
Zapcom Group Inc. appointed Prasanth Nair as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO), who will oversee engineering activities and resources, leveraging his extensive experience in global team leadership.
With over 24 years of experience in business, product, customer, and stakeholder roles, Nair has worked at Amazon, Flipkart, Alibaba, Yahoo!, and ClearTax. His expertise in innovation and building high-performance tech teams will be a significant asset to Zapcom as it continues to drive industry-leading solutions.
Zapcom, a US-based product development and engineering firm, provides customer-centric software solutions in various industries. It has a strong presence in India, Europe, Canada, and MENA.
Ruloans, UGRO Capital partner to expand into rooftop solar finance market
Ruloans has partnered with UGRO Capital, an MSME lending platform, to tap into the growing renewable energy finance market. With this, Ruloans will include rooftop solar finance products in its loan portfolio.
Ruloans, a lender and financial services distribution company, generated a revenue of Rs 26,833 crore in FY23. The company plans to target Rs 100 crore in solar business in FY25, leveraging its RUCONNECT app for easy access.
Flutter Entertainment opens $3.5M global capability centre in Hyderabad
, an online sports betting and iGaming operator, opened a new global capability centre in RMZ Spire in Knowledge City, Hyderabad, with a $3.5 million investment.
The 80,000 sq. ft hub spans three floors and can house over 700 employees across data engineering, game integrity services, HR operations, procurement, safety and security, and customer operations.
Flutter is investing in a new workspace in Hyderabad, India, to support its global growth and sustainability agenda. The Flutter Edge, a competitive advantage, will be used by teams based in the new location.
The workspace, gold-certified by the US Green Building Council, is recognised for its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is also making a contribution of GBP 30,000 for 2024 to support local initiatives in Hyderabad, demonstrating its commitment to making a positive impact in the communities where it operates.
(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)
