X is raising prices for its top-tier subscription service, Premium+, by 37.5% to $22 a month, marking the largest price increase since Elon Musk bought the platform in 2022. The price hike will first affect U.S. users, going up from $16, effective December 21, according to a statement. Annual subscriptions have also climbed to $229 [β¦]
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Indian startups raised 32% fewer funding rounds in 2024 compared to last year, according to data intelligence platform Tracxn, signaling that investors are being more selective when striking deals. The number of startup funding rounds fell to 1,448 compared to 2,114 last year, but overall funding rose 6% to $11.3 billion ($10.7 billion in 2023) [β¦]
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Shares of digital payments firm MobiKwik surged 82% to βΉ507.5 ($6) on their first day of trading as The Indian fintechβs $69 million IPO comes amid fierce competition from larger rivals, and it pushes MobiKwikβs market value to $464 million, well above its initial target of $250 million. This remains substantially lower than the $924 [β¦]
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Shein must surrender all data of Indian customers and control of its local operations to its partner, Reliance Retail, and keep operations fully local to re-enter the Indian market, according to new government disclosures that reveal how the apparel and accessories retailer secured a rare exception to Indiaβs ban on Chinese-linked apps. In a parliamentary [β¦]
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Aye Finance, a lender targeting small- and medium-sized businesses in India, is seeking to raise $171 million from its initial public offering, it disclosed in a filing Tuesday. The offering comprises a $104 million fresh share issue and a $67 million secondary sale by existing investors. Proceeds from the IPO will be used to expand [β¦]
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Google has appointed Preeti Lobana to lead its India business, filling a key position that had been vacant since Sanjay Guptaβs promotion to Asia-Pacific president in July. Lobana, who was vice president of advertising technology at Google, takes over as the company pushes its AI products in India amid intensifying competition in the digital market. [β¦]
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These startups have fascinating new technologies, business models, founder stories or are pushing an industry forward in exciting ways.
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Zomato, Indiaβs top food delivery and quick commerce platform, has been slapped with a tax bill of $94.5 million. The Indian tax authority has ordered the $32 billion firm to pay 401.7 crore in allegedly unpaid gross goods and services tax (GST) for the period between October 29, 2019, and March 31, 2022. The order [β¦]
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SolarSquare has raised $40 million in a round led by Lightspeed in what is the largest venture round in Indiaβs solar sector. The Mumbai-based startup was bootstrapped and profitably selling to corporate customers for five years before it switched to residential solar in 2021. Now it has scaled to powering over 20,000 homes and 200 [β¦]
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Peak XV and HongShan, the Indian and Chinese investment firms that split from powerhouse Sequoia last year, have co-led a $10 million seed investment in KAST, a dollar-denominated neobank-like platform that lets customers hold and spend stablecoins through traditional payment avenues.Β Kast also issues credit cards that work with standard merchant networks, enabling users to [β¦]
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LambdaTest, a cloud-based software testing platform, has raised $38 million to advance its AI capabilities.
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Amazon on Tuesday said it is piloting a quick commerce service in India that will see the U.S. tech giant delivering grocery and other items in 15 minutes or less. The firm is the sixth major entrant in Indiaβs quick-commerce market, which is currently clocking more than $6 billion in annual sales. Zomato-owned BlinkIt, Swiggy, [β¦]
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Paytm has agreed to sell its stake in Japanese payments firm PayPay to SoftBank for $279.2 million, as the Indian firm sheds non-core assets following a bruising regulatory clampdown earlier this year. The sale of Paytmβs stake in PayPay, which it received through acquisition rights six years ago, follows months of restructuring that saw the [β¦]
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MobiKwik, an Indian financial services startup, has cut the size of its planned IPO for the third time, setting a price band of βΉ265 to βΉ279 ($3.1 to $3.3) that values it at $250 million β down sharply from its last private valuation of $924 million in 2021. The Gurugram-based fintech, backed by Peak XV [β¦]
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Myntra, Indiaβs largest fashion e-commerce firm, on Thursday launched βM-Now,β its quick-commerce offering that promises to deliver apparel and other lifetstyle accessories within 30 minutes. Retailers in India are rushing to meet changing consumer behavior and expectations, particularly fast deliveries of groceries, beauty and lifestyle products within an hour. Myntra said M-Now will offer customers [β¦]
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The Indian identity verification service, used by millions of customners, has confirmed a cybersecurity incident.
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Prosus anticipates as many as five potential IPOs from its Indian portfolio over the next 18 months, signaling growing momentum in the worldβs second-largest internet market. The Dutch investment group on Monday named payments giant PayU, e-commerce startup Meesho, and online jewelry seller Bluestone among the startups that are preparing for an IPO. TechCrunch reported [β¦]
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Swiggy has expanded its 10-minute food delivery service to more than 400 cities and towns across India.
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Sequoia is closing in on making its first deal in India and the broader Asia Pacific region since its split with former partners, according to four sources familiar with the matter. The venture capital firm, one of the worldβs largest, is in advanced talks to back Vance, a Bengaluru-based cross-border payments startup, the sources said, [β¦]
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Indian food delivery app Zomato has raised $1 billion from institutional investors, completing its first major fundraise since its 2021 IPO. The food delivery and quick-commerce giant issued approximately 336.5 million shares priced at βΉ252.62 each ($3) in a qualified institutional placement, according to a stock exchange filing on Friday. The fundraise saw strong participation [β¦]
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