Weekly Startup Roundup

We’ve had quite an eventful week to kick-off the new fiscal year. Here are a few notable excerpts from this week’s startup news.

• Microsoft to invest $5bn in IoT businesses. CEO Sathya Nadella says the move will be the first step in a global business transformation initiative powered by Microsoft’s Cloud platform Azure.

• Startup incubator N/Core partners with CISCO to support non-profit IT startups. The venture will also support non-IT non-profit organizations that use software-based technology.

• Bangalore-based Edu-Tech startup Vedantu Innovations managed to raise around $10mn in their latest round of funding. At the end of this round of funding, the company could be valued at around $20mn.

• Edu-Tech startup IndigoLearn raised $150,000 as part of its seed funding round. The Hyderabad-based CA online tutorial company intends to expand its infrastructure student base with the funds.

• Microsoft has chosen 12 Bangalore-based startups as part of its ‘ScaleUp’ initiative. Earlier this year Microsoft had announced to invest $500mn into the ‘ScaleUp’ program, previously known as ‘Accelerator’.

• e-Commerce startup Zilingo has raised $54mn in their series C round of funding. This comes as part of their effort to enter upcoming markets like Indonesia and the Philippines.

• Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba took over full control of online food delivery company Ele.me. Before this Alibaba already had 43% control over the company’s shares. This acquisition puts Ele.me’s worth at $9.5bn according to a statement by Alibaba.

• Online Laundry Services Startup UClean has received $600,000 in funding from Indian-American angel investor Anubhav Chopra as part of its seed round of funding.

• Europe’s largest innovation platform Startup Autobahn entered its fourth round this week with 31 companies being accepted.

• Singapore International Foundation will be hosting the ‘Young Social Entrepreneurs’ programme from April to October with 47 startup teams from 12 countries. Three companies from India, Involve, MANRAM, and the Kisan Union were among the first chosen for this 6-month workshop.

For many Indian startups, the first week of April has been a productive period with several fundings and new ventures. The international market has been quite eventful as well with many giant mergers. There have been several opportunities for up and coming entrepreneurs to learn from.