Edtech startup AdmitKard raises Rs 50-Cr in Series A Funding

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February 23, 2023

Edtech startup AdmitKard has raised its Series A funding round of Rs 50 crore from GSV Ventures and other investors.

AdmitKard said that with this new funding, it is well-positioned to continue its rapid expansion and solidify its position as a major player in the edtech industry.

According to the company, the investment will accelerate growth and further diversify its product portfolio. In addition, it plans to expand the size of its team, invest in cutting-edge technologies and new product offerings, and continue expanding its presence in significant global markets.

AdmitKard leverages advanced technology and data science to provide personalized guidance to students, helping them to find the best-fit university, course, and country to achieve their career goals. With access to over 3,000 universities in more than 20 countries, it claims to have helped thousands of students with their admissions processes.

“Our vision is to empower students to make informed career choices and use education effectively to achieve their goals,” said Rachit Agrawal, Co-founder, AdmitKard.

The company has built an intelligent match-making layer using millions of data points gathered over the years and constantly refreshed. AdmitKard has developed a very tight-knit community of Mentors (current international students) who guide these students and their parents by sharing their experiences, as data is insufficient to provide assurance and trust in such a pivotal life decision.

“We are thrilled to have GSV Ventures on board as we continue to build and scale AdmitKard. This funding will allow us to accelerate our growth and invest in our technology and product offerings, enabling us to better serve our students and partners,” said Piyush Bhartiya, Co-founder of AdmitKard. “As the world becomes more connected and global, education is becoming increasingly important, and AdmitKard is at the forefront of helping students navigate this complex landscape. We are excited to support AdmitKard in their mission to make education more accessible and help students achieve their dreams,” added Deborah Quazzo, Managing Partner of GSV Ventures.

Ayatana Hospitality strengthens its presence across South India

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February 22, 2023

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With the announcement of the Ooty expansion, Ayatana Hospitality, known for its luxurious resorts and hotels, will likely open seven new properties by 2024. The company has completed five years in the hospitality industry.

Ayatana, launched in 2017 as Plus Hotels, decided to expand and build on the Ayatana, Coorg chain of resorts. Along with the luxurious resorts, Ayatana launched Azora by Ayatana in 2022 – a WelcomHeritage Hotel imbibed with countless cultures’ legacies.

Ayatana planned to expand its footprint across South India as the Coorg project gained tremendous popularity. The Ooty project is their latest launch as Ayatana prepares to enter Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh later this year.

With Coorg and Azora, the company witnessed rapid growth until 2022, generating an average annual revenue of about 60 Crores. By the end of 2024, the company aims to increase it to 100 Crores. Ayatana’s MOU with ITC enabled the establishment of 5 resorts in Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu as an authorized brand partner with ITC Hotels under the brand WelcomHeritage. The luxury resort and hotel chain has also seen a surge in visitors, employee engagement, and hiring activities.

Commenting on Ayatana’s expansion, Vishal Tony, its founder, “Since opening its doors in 2018, Ayatana Coorg has symbolized a union between Indian heritage and the timeless beauty of nature. At Ayatana, our aim is for people to discover a captivating blend of traditional culture and luxury comfort spread over a hundred acres of endless lush, amidst waterfalls and mists. Here, people’s care becomes our responsibility and unexpressed wishes are fulfilled making each day more memorable than the last.”

In the South Indian states of Arakku Valley, Kabini, Chikmagalur, Vagamon, Kochi, and Goa, Ayatana plans to develop luxury resorts and hotel chains. Each subsequent development will have a specific theme and remain committed to Ayatana’s name by portraying it as a “sanctuary of senses.”

McKinsey to cut over 2,000 jobs in biggest round of layoffs

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February 22, 2023

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McKinsey & Company, a consulting firm, plans to restructure by cutting around 2,000 jobs. This is one of the company’s biggest layoffs ever. According to Bloomberg, the current round of layoffs will affect its non-client-facing support staff, as reported by Bloomberg.

The layoffs are a part of Project Magnolia, which the firm hopes will help preserve the compensation pool of its partners, according to the report.

The company is also looking to restructure how it organizes its support team to centralize some roles.

The job cuts are likely to be finalized in the upcoming weeks.

According to reports, McKinsey employed over 45,000 people, up from around 28,000 five years ago and 17,000 in 2012.

The firm posted a record $15 billion in revenue in 2021 and surpassed that figure in 2022.

The move comes after Bob Sternfels took the global managing partner role two years ago, following a vote by its nearly 650 senior partners to oust his predecessor, Kevin Sneader.

Several big companies, including the tech giants Amazon and Microsoft, announced job cuts earlier. In addition, known banks like Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and others have been laying off thousands of employees.

FreshToHome raises $104mn in its Series D round

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February 22, 2023

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Bengaluru-based fish and meat retailer FreshToHome has raised $104 million in its Series D round of funding led by Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund. New investors in the round include Dubai-based E20 Investment Ltd, Bengaluru-based Mount Judi Ventures, and Jeddah-based Dallah Albaraka.

This is the Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund’s first investment in a direct-to-consumer retail brand. Apart from investing in the agritech and healthcare industries, the $250 million fund’s primary focus is often on accelerating small and medium-sized businesses.

Returning investors, including Iron Pillar, Investcorp, Investment Corporation of Dubai, and Ascent Capital, among others, also participated in the round.

According to data research platform Tracxn, the direct-to-consumer brand for fish and meat is currently valued at $566 million.

“We opened up nearly 100 cities in the last 18 months, and we plan on deepening our penetration. The UAE contributes nearly 10% to 15% of our revenues and India is the largest exporter of fish and meat to the geography. We would like to utilize part of the capital to expand in the country,” said CEO and Co-founder Shan Kadavil.

The company plans to use the capital to expand its presence in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In 2019, FreshToHome launched in the UAE.

OYO plans to double premium hotels in India in 2023

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February 21, 2023

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Oyo announced its plan to double the number of premium hotels in India, adding around 1,800 such hotels in 2023. The company’s premium hotel brands include Capital O, Collection O, OYO Townhouse, and Townhouse Oak.

Now, OYO operates 1,800 luxury hotels throughout India. By expanding its presence in all major business cities, the move aims to take advantage of the rise in business travel.

“OYO plans to add approximately 1,800 premium hotels this year,” the hospitality tech platform said.

The expansion will focus on key business cities, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai in South India, Delhi and Noida in North India, Kolkata in East India, and Mumbai in West India.

The company began focusing on premium hotels when OYO added more than 400 premium hotels between October and December 2022.

“We are seeing a clear trend of people’s willingness to spend more on experiences. Therefore, hotels are now offering additional services and amenities to enhance the travel experience and make it more convenient for guests. Our expansion plan focusing on the growth of premium hotels is aligned with this trend,” Anuj Tejpal, Chief Merchant Officer at OYO, said.

In the last few months, the demand for hotels in the premium segment has seen a noticeable rise.

The rise in domestic leisure travel, transient travel, pent-up demand from the meetings, incentives, and weddings segment, and the gradual recovery in corporate travel and foreign tourist arrivals could be attributed to this.

ICRA stated in a report that the country’s pipeline of hotel rooms is expected to expand at a five-year CAGR of 3.5-4%, adding roughly 15,000 rooms to the approximately 94,000 rooms in the pan-India premium inventory in FY23.

The credit rating agency said in the report that Pan-India premium hotel occupancy is expected to be 68-70% for FY23.

Digital twin startup Intangles receives $10M in Series A round

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February 21, 2023

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Intangles, a digital twin solutions provider, has raised $10 million in a Series A round from Baring Private Equity Partners India.

According to a press release, the startup would utilize the money to strengthen its product engineering, sales, and delivery teams through accelerated hiring, serve a new customer pipeline, and expand its global presence.

According to Intangles, it is one of the few companies in the world with a full stack presence across patented algorithms, cutting-edge hardware, and a cloud-based data analytics platform—all developed in-house.

“We are focused on growing our presence across the entire commercial vehicle segment across the globe. In the coming years, we are aiming to vigorously revamp the electric vehicle segment using our extensive Ambient Cognitive AI technology,” said Anup Patil, Co-founder, and CEO of Intangles.

“In the direct market, we are witnessing impressive growth pan-India and are in the process of onboarding multiple large commercial vehicle OEMs,” he added.

Intangles claims to have developed substantial in-house IP by leveraging its proprietary digital twin and machine learning paradigms to provide OEMs and fleet operators with predictive vehicle health monitoring solutions. Intangles was founded in 2016 by Anup Patil (CEO), Neil Unadkat (CTO), Aman Singh (Head of Analytics), and Jayshri Patil (Head of Embedded Systems).

“Intangles is a leader in digital twin technology, enabling efficiencies in automotive and industrial applications. Integrating deep competency in artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, edge computing, and communication technologies has allowed it to build its state-of-the-art product suite. After getting strong traction in the Indian market, it is venturing into Western markets,” said Rahul Bhasin, Managing Partner, Baring India.

E&Y acted as the company’s exclusive financial advisor in this funding transaction.

Mintoak raises $20mn in a Series A funding round

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February 21, 2023

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Mintoak Innovation, an embedded finance startup, raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by PayPal Ventures, with participation from British International Investment, HDFC Bank, and existing investors Pravega Ventures.

White Whale Venture Fund and other institutional investors also participated in this round.

Besides expanding into new markets like Southeast Asia, the startup will use the raised capital to ramp up its tech stack and focus even more on its existing product portfolio.

HDFC Bank increased its stake in this funding round from 5.20% to 7.75% for a cash consideration of $3.8 million (Rs 31.1 crore).

With this, Mintoak has raised $40 million in funding.

Mintoak, a merchant services Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, was founded in 2017. It allows merchants and their banking partners to quickly scale and implement value-added services (payments, lending, engagement) to their SME customers.

From Rs 60 lakh in FY2020 to Rs 11.28 crore in FY22, Mintoak’s annual turnover increased. It claims to serve over 1.5 million merchants across banks, including HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, and YES Bank. It operates in international markets such as the Middle East and Africa.

“Mintoak’s modular platform with pay-per-use pricing is white-labelled for each banking partner, which makes the entire proposition attractive to banks. I am thrilled to have some of the world’s most trusted brands place their faith in our product, team, and delivery,” said Raman Khanduja, CEO and Co-founder of Mintoak.

“Mintoak allows banks to offer a user-friendly, intuitive payments and commerce platform for merchants in developing nations through SaaS. We look forward to the next stage of Mintoak’s growth journey,” said Ashish Aggarwal, Partner, PayPal Ventures.

Fortune Hotels makes its presence in Kanpur

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February 20, 2023

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With collaboration in Kanpur, Fortune Hotels, a member of ITC’s hotel group, has further expanded its footprint in Uttar Pradesh. The upscale hotel chain’s existing bouquet in the State includes Ghaziabad, Noida, Aligarh, and Lucknow.

The premium hotel, slated to open in the winter of 2025, will be strategically poised on NH91, close to the city’s main attractions, including the ISKCON temple, the Kanpur Zoological Park, and the business district.

The upmarket hotel, branded as Fortune Park, will feature stylish, spacious rooms with cutting-edge features to help guests unwind and relax. With various indoor and outdoor dining venues, large banquets, compact meeting rooms, and wellness facilities, this hotel is prepared to be the ideal place for weddings, social gatherings, and business conferences.

Commenting on Fortune Hotel’s expansion spree in India, Samir MC, managing director of Fortune Hotels, said, “These are exciting times for us as we continue to expand our reach in India. Uttar Pradesh is a significant growth market for us, and hence, the need to enter its biggest city, Kanpur, with our fifth entity. The city is a thriving commercial and industrial market and has a huge growth potential in the years to come. Naturally, it makes for a perfect place to bring in our hospitality expertise.”

Freshworks appoints new Senior Vice President for MEA market

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February 20, 2023

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Software-as-a-Service company Freshworks has appointed Sandie Overtveld as the Senior Vice President for Asia-Pacific, Japan (APJ), and Middle East and Africa (MEA) markets. The new role will be based in Singapore.

Overtveld will lead Freshworks’ growth plans in the APJ and MEA region and work with brands to strengthen the company’s overall commitment to its employees and customers. This will involve working together with companies to develop and elevate their customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX), and customer relationship management (CRM) strategies.

At WalkMe, Overtveld previously held the position of APJ leader. He has worked with companies like Zendesk, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard and brings experience in growth and portfolio strategy development and execution.

“Sandie’s rich regional know-how of the digital transformation experience can help Freshworks deliver even more value to businesses in these regions–showing them that legacy software is a thing of the past, and easy-to-use / implement business software is the future for delighting both customers and employees alike,” said Pradeep Rathinam, Chief Revenue Officer at Freshworks. Freshworks is headquartered in San Mateo, California, and operates worldwide. In addition to PhonePe, Allbirds, Klarna, Blue Nile, NHS, Bridgestone, OfficeMax, and Databricks, the company serves over 63,000 customers.

Internovo Ventures buys Mera Cashier, will rebrand it to Indibook

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February 18, 2023

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Internovo Ventures announced that it had acquired the rights to Mera Cashier, a technology platform offering ‘khata’ solutions to small merchants across India, marking Intervono’s first acquisition.

Karan Desai, a financial analyst, and Akshay Srivastava, the founder of DSFX Technologies, have joined forces to launch Internovo Ventures.

Following this transaction, Mera Cashier will be rebranded to Indibook, said Akshay Srivastava, Founder of DSFX Technologies. “Internovo’s soon-to-be-launched B2B2C loan origination platform Indirow will be deeply integrated into Mera Cashier and the technology stack of RULoans,” he said.

According to Desai, the transaction will enable Internovo to penetrate the small company and merchant categories by combining fundamental accounting with fully integrated loan arrangement services.

“Credit is a critical need for these merchants, including small grocery and stationery stores, and food stalls, and hence we want to offer a deeply integrated platform to our merchant community which will allow them to maintain their books and avail credit on the go,” he added.

Mera Cashier was developed and launched in 2019 to help small businesses digitize daily transaction records and successfully track credit sales. It takes the place of the manual registers that companies previously used and allows them to better keep track of unpaid invoices from their regular, known local customers.

According to Suneel Kumar, co-founder of Mera Cashier, the platform will evolve and remain competitive with the help of Internovo’s vast network in the financial services and lending sectors and its in-house technology development capabilities.

“The management team of Mera Cashier will stay closely involved in the development and re-launch of the platform as it embarks upon the journey to assume a new avatar and enhance operational profitability in the shortest possible time frame,” he added.

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