The week that Was: Indian Startup News Overview (17th April-22nd April)


The week that Was: Indian Startup News Overview (17th April-22nd April)

Indian startups have received increased attention in many parts of the world in recent years. The number has rapidly increased, and more assistance is now available in all dimensions. This weekly review article examines this week's mergers, acquisitions, fund raising, and partnerships that happened  and  throws some light on the major goals of the Indian startup which are to provide an understanding of the growth drivers and motivations of Indian startup founders with identifying those challenges that these startups face &  to outline the pillars that support them.

Therefore with their hard work and motivation, startups in India, as well as many other parts of the world, have received much consideration from the past few years. Their numbers are increasing, and they are now widely acknowledged as important engines of growth and job creation. Startups can generate impactful solutions through innovation and scalable technology, acting as vehicles for socioeconomic development and transformation.

Ivanti                                                                                           

Ivanti, the provider of the Ivanti Neurons automation platform that discovers, manages, secures, and services IT assets from cloud to edge, today announced three new integrated solutions: Ivanti Neurons Patch for MEM (Microsoft Endpoint Manager), Ivanti Neurons for Risk-Based Vulnerability Management, and the Digital Experience Score capability within Ivanti Neurons Workspace. With these releases, Ivanti continues to deliver on its mission of enabling and securing the Everywhere Workplace by helping customers to further manage, automate, and prioritize cybersecurity and deliver secure, contextualized, and productive employee experiences.

Ivanti designed the Ivanti Neurons platform to help organizations address the exponential growth of edge devices, the unprecedented increase in cyberattacks, and the need to provide employee experiences that equal the quality of everyday consumer experiences. Today, Ivanti Neurons empowers organizations to autonomously self-heal and self-secure devices and self-service end users. Additionally, Ivanti releases updates to the platform on a quarterly basis to further help customers quickly and securely embrace the future of work.

iNeuron

iNeuron, India's leading affordable technology education EdTech company, has acquired a 100 percent stake in YouTube Influencer Hitesh Chaudhary's 'Learn Code Online' initiative. Hitesh Chaudhary, who has over 700,000 education subscribers on his channel, will also join iNeuron as Chief Technology Officer. As part of the transaction, iNeuron will now manage LCO.This will provide iNeuron with access to 4.5 million subscribers. Hitesh, a well-known influencer, will also bring to iNeuron his relationships with over 20+ colleges abroad and 100+ Indian/foreign universities, allowing it to connect with them for B2B business. Sudhanshu Kumar and Krish Naik, former E&Y and Panasonic alumnus, founded iNeuron, one of India's most affordable EdTech platforms, offering 230+ Courses across all technologies, including state-of-the-art projects in emerging technologies such as Data Science, Blockchain, IoT, AR/VR, and Commercial drones. Sudhanshu Kumar, the founder of iNeuron, commented on Hitesh's acquisition and arrival, saying, "We are delighted to have Hitesh Chaudhary's expertise on board. My primary goal at iNeuron is to make education more affordable while also strengthening our technological infrastructure so that we can manage millions of learners on the platform. Our students should be able to learn easily on both the web and mobile platforms. Hitesh will make our Tech stronger, allowing instructors to focus on teaching."

Sona Comstar

Sona Comstar has formed a strategic alliance with Enedym Inc. of Canada to develop the next generation of switched reluctance motors (SRMs), electric propulsion, and electrified powertrains for the Indian market. Both parties agreed to develop SRM drive platforms for all types of Indian road and usage conditions, with a focus on three-wheeler electric vehicles, two-wheeler high-performance motorcycles with 10kW or greater nominal power, and four-wheeler cargo delivery electric vehicles with 20kW or greater nominal power. Furthermore, Enedym, a Canadian startup, will licence its SRM technologies to Sona Comstar for the exclusive manufacture of drive motors, controllers, and drivetrains for applications in India. Serial production of these systems is expected to begin in 2023, according to the company.

Sona Comstar's Group CTO, Kiran M Deshmukh, stated, "Enedym's novel switched reluctance motors with advanced acoustic noise control will enable us to provide our discerning customers with high-efficiency and high-performance magnet-less motors.This is a significant step toward providing environmentally sustainable and cost-effective solutions to accelerate the adoption of electric mobility in India and around the world."

Celcius

Celcius, a cold chain marketplace startup, has raised $4.5 million in a bridge funding round led by Mumbai Angels and supported by Supply Chain Labs, Endurance Capital, VCats, Keiretsu Forum, Huddle, EVAN, and others.This round is a component of the larger Series A funding round, which the brand hopes to close for $10 million in the coming months. Celcius received a $500,000 seed fund round in August of last year from Mumbai Angels Network, along with Huddle, Lumis Partners, Venture Capital & Private Equity firms MaGEHold, Keiretsu Forum, Eaglewings Ventures Alliance Network (EVAN), and investors from Malaysia, Nigeria, and the United States. The funds were successfully used by the brand to expand its operations and diversify the services available on its platform by integrating WMS (Warehouse Management System) and TMS (Transportation Management System).

This year, the Mumbai-based startup will use the newly infused capital to expand geographically to over 500 cities.The company will also invest in expanding its technology, sales, and operations teams, as well as developing programmes to assist small-scale and regional transporters across the country.

Goat Brand Labs

Goat Brand Labs, a rollup ecommerce platform, is in the final stages of closing a $50 million financing round with new investors like Venture Catalyst and 9 Unicorns coming on board. Existing investors like Flipkart Ventures, Tiger Global and others will also participate in the fundraise, people briefed on the matter said. Sources said Goat is raising this round through convertible share warrants. This means incoming investors will be able to convert these warrants into equity shares when the company closes its next round of funding. However, people briefed on the matter said the maximum valuation for investors in this funding is capped at around $250 million. This means even if the next round values Goat Brand at more than this, these investors will be allotted shares as per the maximum threshold of $250 million. Vikram Rao, a director at Aditya Birla Fashion, is also participating in the round, the documents showed. Goat Brand Labs had last raised $36 million in July last year.