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

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February 21, 2023

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.

Orion Innovation buys Sryas Inc for an undisclosed sum

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February 17, 2023

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Orion Innovation, a digital transformation and product development services firm, has acquired Sryas Inc., a global technology company, for an undisclosed sum, a top official said on Friday.

According to Raj Patil, CEO and President of Orion Innovation, the 100% acquisition has been completed, and Sryas Inc. has become a subsidiary.

“The transaction has been completed as of Thursday, and it (Sryas) has been fully acquired,” Patil said.

Following the acquisition, Vish Ramesh, President and CEO of Sryas Inc., would join the board of Orion Innovation. Sryas adds more than 550 associates to Orion, including engineers in India, Canada, Mexico, and the Philippines. After the acquisition, the companies’ headcount would expand to nearly 7,000 workers and have 12 major global delivery centres.

“Vish (Ramesh) will continue to be the CEO and President. Sryas Inc becomes a 100% subsidiary,” Patil said.

He said, “Our customer base is mostly in North America. We want to bring our services to the Indian market. Sryas has about 340 employees in Chennai.”

In response to a query on the acquisition, Patil stated that it brings “agility” and “scale” and that the company will focus on offering its services, which include telecom, financial and professional services, pharmaceuticals, and higher education, among others, to various markets.

“Telecom accounts for 25% of the revenue, followed by financial and professional services, sports, environment, and education..”, Patil said on the segment-wise revenue contribution of Orion Innovation.

He said that Orion Innovation could serve customers in India and Canada with the acquisition. At the same time, Sryas could serve in the Latin American market and the United States, where Orion Innovation has a stronger presence.

The total amount spent on digital transformation is expected to reach $85 billion by 2026, with 95% of Indian companies planning to maintain or grow their spending in 2023, according to International Data Corporation.

The company said that Orion Innovation’s presence in India, particularly in the data and analytics sector and the telecom industry, is expected to grow following the acquisition of Sryas.

“This merger is another step in building a geographically balanced footprint across the Americas, Europe, and APAC. We are excited to welcome Vish and the entire Sryas team to Orion,” Patil said.

According to the company, Orion Innovation is a portfolio company of One Equity Partners, a middle-market private equity firm focused on developing market-leading companies by identifying and executing transformative business combinations.

WhatsApp working to bring communities to its Business app

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February 17, 2023

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Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is reportedly working to bring communities to its WhatsApp Business application on Android.

According to WABetaInfo, the business tab introduced to the platform last year is not likely to be removed.

Instead, it might include a new entry point for the new feature within the application menu.

When users open ‘Communities’ right within the menu, they will see the list of all the communities they created and joined in the past, including all their subgroups and community announcement groups.

Businesses will also be able to create a new community within this section.

According to the report, WhatsApp Business is still in development. It is not yet ready to be made available to beta testers in terms of the ability to create, manage, and use communities.

The messaging platform introduced new features in November last year to improve users’ commerce experiences, connect them with their favorite brands, and help them find new ones on the platform.

Saudi mobility startup Telgani raises $6M in Series A funding

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February 17, 2023

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A mobility startup based out of Saudi Arabia, Telgani, has acquired $6 million in Series A funding led by Hala Auto and Elm Company.

The funds will be used to expand short-term car rental services across Saudi Arabia. It also plans to expand the tech solutions offered for flexible car subscriptions.

According to Majed Bin Saad Al-Arifi, Elm Company’s deputy CEO, the company expects the next development phases to improve its services and solutions and “reinform the role of mobility and the car rental services sector”.

The investment is in line with Elm’s strategy to expand its investment portfolio and support Saudi Arabian Startups and SMEs.

Telgani, founded in 2019, offers customers transportation solutions and car rental options via its app and website. It has multiple new services, including car delivery services at the airport and a quick car delivery service.

According to the CEO of Hala Auto, a major Toyota distributor in KSA, the Telgani team can develop the market and offer solutions so that clients can have the best experiences possible.

Edtech startup Melvano raises Rs 1.3 crore from Tyke

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February 16, 2023

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Edtech startup Melvano on Thursday said it had received an investment of Rs 1.3 crore from Tyke Invest as it looks to expand its new platform in the upskilling segment—Skillbary.

Taran Singh and Sachin Sanodiya founded the IIT Madras-incubated startup in 2018. Based on the student’s assessment, the learning app offers customized coursework for the IIT-JEE and NEET aspirants.

Further, it has developed a reward system for students that gives Melvano coins each time they complete a chapter or take a test on the app. These coins can then be used to purchase premium Melvano services, such as live classes and one-on-one coaching from IIT alumni.

With the new capital, Melvano plans to enter the upskilling market with its new platform, Skillbary, in March.

“We are witnessing more and more graduates who have completed bachelor’s programme but are unable to find employment. The vast disparity between the skills taught in colleges and those needed for current occupations is the cause of this. We all have witnessed the unpredictable recession to affect even the best professionals. Given that, majority of upskilling platforms only cater to working professionals,” said CEO Taran Singh.

Skillbary would offer micro-certification courses for college students or fresh graduates looking to upskill themselves in domains like product management, sales, operations, data science, etc. This includes live projects, mock interviews, internships, and job opportunities upon course completion.

“Additionally, we would encourage kids to get employment when they are ready,” the CEO added.

RBI rejects 57 payment aggregator applications

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February 16, 2023

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The applications from four existing payment aggregators—Freecharge, Paytm Payments Services, PayU, and Tapits Technologies—have been rejected by the RBI, but they have 120 days to reapply. These four companies can continue operating as payment aggregators but cannot onboard new merchants.

Payment aggregators are third parties who enable merchants to offer a variety of payment options to their customers.

The RBI stated that it had rejected the applications for licences from 17 existing payment aggregators and another 40 new applicants when it released a list of the applications for payment aggregator licences on Wednesday.

Payment aggregators were previously considered service providers that weren’t a part of the financial system and were not granted an RBI licence. All entities offering payment aggregator services were requested to apply for a licence by the RBI in March 2021.

IRCTC, Ola Financial Services, and Worldline India are among the companies whose applications were rejected. Worldline, an existing payment aggregator, withdrew its application. Other companies have just entered this segment.

Any rejected entities currently operating as payment aggregators must shut down operations and close their escrow account within 180 days.

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