Weekly Startup Roundup – April 27, 2018

As the month comes to an end, we have had quite a few eventful mergers and acquisition, none as crucial though as the Walmart-Flipkart deal which could redefine the Indian online retail market as we know it. With that deal coming to a close let us have a look at some of the other developments in the world of startups.

• Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone has personally invested in Delhi-based AI startup ‘Visit’. According to Stone, the investment in the AI based healthcare company will allow AI to be perceived as a ‘positive enhancement of humanity’ in the future.

• Bangalore-based online food delivery service company, Swiggy will be expanding their delivery services to include medicine and groceries. This service which will be named ‘Dash will be available in Bangalore and Mumbai in a couple of months.

• Travel Startup RailYatri has started its series B round of funding which is led by investment firm Omidyar Network. Although the amount to be raised from this funding round is not yet disclosed, it is expected to exceed $10M.

• Paytm is eyeing to buy Chennai-based online movie booking company Ticketnew. Ticketnew which is now owned by Alibaba Pictures could be sold in a deal which could range anywhere between $30M to $40M.

• Chinese mobile manufacturer Oppo in conjunction with Doosan Corporation made its first investment in the Indian market by funding Delhi-based Digital Media startup POPxo. The investment which yielded $5M dollars is part of a large round of funding which includes several international as well as local investors.

• Mumbai-based robotics startup Emotix, raised around $2M in a funding round led by investment firms IDG Ventures India and YourNest. Emotix is the company that created India’s first ever personal robot companion Miko.

• Amazon has invested $21M in Bangalore-based digital finance company Capital Float. This is the final stage in Capital Float’s series C round of funding which started in August 2017 when they raised $47M.

• Digital Learning platform Career Anna raised 3 crore rupees in a funding round from angel investors. The funds raised from this round will be used to launch pro-degree online learning programs on Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Data Science and other new technologies.