Fintech Solutions 1Pay Aims to Digitize Logistics and Transportation

1Pay Latest Startup News

The Indian logistics sector is powering forward, projected to be worth a hugely impressive $380 billion by 2025. Part of that growth can be attributed to the rollout of FASTags - Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology made available for vehicle owners, which makes toll payments direct and hassle-free.

But Mumbai fintech start-up 1Pay is harnessing this technology for much more than just payments at tolls; they plan to use it to provide services tailored directly to fleet owners, such as assistance with parking payments, fuel bills and challan bills. This digitized process maximizes ease of use and helps transport operators quickly manage their payments.

At present, 500,000 commercial vehicles have already been activated on the platform, but 1Pay is confident that this number will increase to two million in a couple of years as more transport operators come on board. In 2021, revenue for 1Pay was expected to hit somewhere in the region of $15 - $20 million, and Sanjiv Singh, one of the start-up’s co-founders, said recently that last year they had achieved revenues of Rs 28 crore and now looking to reach between Rs 38-39 crore in the current fiscal year.

1Pay has so far been solely funded by its own funds but hopes to raise additional external investments within the next 2-3 months time frame. As well as an additional investment, they plan on expanding their service even further by employing salespeople across India so that they have an increased presence and more touch points.

It isn’t just startups investing in the fast-developing logistics sector, though; many larger companies are also packing their bags and hopping aboard the bus headed for success in this field, which has had a positive knock-on effect for those involved in fintech too - a field 1Pay wishes to make major strides in over 2021. 

Fintech is here to stay and is providing financial solutions not only within India but also abroad. Fastags are certainly helping bridge the gap between certain sectors within India exponentially. 

Also Read: Log9 Materials Raises $11 Million in Latest Funding Round

About Entrackr

Entrackr is a new-age media platform for entrepreneurs, startups and technology enthusiasts. It provides comprehensive coverage and analysis of the latest developments in tech startups across India, Southeast Asia and beyond. 

Entrackr offers unique stories that go beyond the normal everyday news, taking an in-depth look at the various trends in startup ecosystems. It publishes exclusive news features, interviews and stories on founders, investors, accelerators, products and more. Entrackr aggregates data-driven content to provide insights relevant to young entrepreneurs who are driving the growth of India's startup sector.

Delhivery IPO Open Up on 11th May Reduces Issue Size By 30%

Delhivery IPO News

The initial share sale of Delhivery is scheduled to begin on the 11th of May, according to the information that is available at the exchanges. The media reports suggest that the size of the issue is now at Rs 5,235 crore in the wake of market volatility and uncertain geo-political circumstances.

The company originally set out to raise Rs7,460 crore via an initial public offering (IPO). The IPO consists of fresh equity issues that can reach Rs.4,000 crore as well as an offer to sell shares totalling up to 1235 crores.

Under the OFS, the investors Carlyle Group and SoftBank as together with Delhivery's co-founders are expected to sell their stakes in the company that handles logistics.

In the draft documents, CA Swift Investments, an entity belonging to Carlyle Group, will sell shares worth the amount of Rs454 crore. SVF Doorbell (Cayman) Ltd which is an arm that is part of Softbank Group, will offload shares worth Rs365 crore. Deli CMF Pte Ltd, an entirely-owned subsidiary of the private capital funds China Momentum Fund, L.P. will auction shares worth 200 crores, and Times Internet will sell shares worth the sum of Rs165 crore.

Additionally, the co-founders of Delhivery the trio of Kapil Bharati Mohit Tandon and Suraj Saharanwill sell shares for Rs5 crore in cash, Rs40 million and Rs6 crore, respectively.

Also read: Newton’s School’s Valuation Jumps 7x With $25 Mn Funding

The proceeds of the fresh issue will be used for the financing of organic growth initiatives, as well as funding growth through acquisitions, and other strategic initiatives as well as for general corporate objectives.

Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley India, Bofa Securities India along with Citigroup Global Markets are leading the IPO. The company that handles logistics for e-commerce has an all-India network and provides services to 17 045 post index number (PIN) codes up to June 30th, 2021.

It offers solutions for supply chain management to a wide range of 21,342 customers who are active including direct-to-consumer online retailers, e-commerce marketplaces and small and medium-sized enterprises across a variety of verticals, including FMCG and consumer durables consumer electronics and lifestyle, retail, manufacturing and automotive.

To get all the latest startup news and upcoming IPO news subscribe to Entrackr’s newsletter.

 

Newton’s School’s Valuation Jumps 7x With $25 Mn Funding

Steadview Capital led the Series B round of funding for Newton School, an online coding training platform that is income sharing-based. The company has raised Rs 188.4 crore (or $25 million). This new round comes within 15 months of the company's previous Series A investment, which saw them pick up $5 million from RTP Global.

The Newton School, Bengaluru, has approved a special resolution to allot 10 equity shares and 5,473 Series A preference shares in order to raise Rs. 188.4 crore (or $25 million), regulatory filings indicate.

Steadview contributed $15 million to this round, while Nexus and RTP Global contributed $5.9 million each and $3.4 million, respectively. Sama Family Trust and AngelList invested the remainder.

According to Fintrackr estimates, Newton School raised fresh funds at an estimated value of Rs 1,034 crore (or $138 million). This represents a sevenfold increase in the company's valuation compared to $20 million in previous rounds.

After the allotment, Newton School's co-founders Siddhartha Mahashwari and Nishant Chandra have reduced their combined stake from 44.68% down to 35.89%.

Nexus holds the largest stake with 24.72%, followed by RTP Global with 14.42% stake and Steadview at 11.11% and 11.11%, respectively.

Also read: Meesho Rebrands Farmiso to Meesho Superstore and Integrates It to Its Core App

About Newton School

The US-based Lambada School has inspired Newton School. InterviewBit's Scaler is the market leader, along with Masai School (and Pesto), among others.

Newton School saw a remarkable jump in operating revenue in FY21. In FY21, the company had a revenue of Rs 4.18 crore, compared to Rs 5 lakh for FY20.

Its losses have risen by more than 150% to Rs 4.57 Crore during FY20's fiscal year, compared with Rs 1.82crore in FY20.

For more information related to Newton’s School and the upcoming startup news, subscribe to Entrackr’s newsletter.

Latest updates on Online Education

Byju’s Latest Funding News

Byju’s, one of the leading and most valuable edtech companies, valued at $16.5 billion, has reported its revenues for 2019-20 at Rs 2,434 crore while its Indian competitor Unacademy is worth only $3.5 billion. Byju’s revenue has increased to 81 per cent over the previous financial year. The company reported a net profit of Rs 51 crore in 2019-2020 which is a 152 per cent increase from the last financial year.

The company's expenses in the current financial year were Rs 2,383 crore. Byju's founder, Chief Executive Officer Byju Rajeendran, holds 50.34 percent. Riju Ravindran holds 20.15 per cent. Divya Gokulnath is Byju Raveendran’s wife and holds 10.64 percent.

Byju's foreign currency earnings were Rs 306 crore for FY20, compared to Rs 168 crore for FY19.

As the global pandemic has increased the popularity of online education, the company is currently on an acquisition spree both in India and worldwide. While schools and offices are closed, students and professionals are seeking to improve their skills. Sources say that the start-up purchased six companies in India and the US in this year's fiscal year. It spent more than $2B in six months on these acquisitions.

Vedantu Latest News

Vedantu, one of the leading pioneers in LIVE Online Learning have introduced V-Nurture and Super School, which are unique programs that allow students to develop their skills as well as enrich their lives. V-Nurture and Super School are designed by industry professionals and academicians to unleash a student's hidden potential beyond academics. The program offers extra-curricular activities to students in kindergarten through grade 13. It includes a range of curricular activities from career counseling, financial literacy, career counseling to workshops for parents and students.

You may also like: Unacademy Startup Funding News, Acquisitions & Updates

V-Nurture offers students in grades 6-13 the opportunity to improve their 21st century skills such as personality development, public speaking and critical thinking. Super School offers live master classes in yoga, storytelling and arts, crafts, STEM, general awareness, and many other subjects, starting at kindergarten through grade 8. All students have free access to top-quality extra-curricular and cocurricular content, taught by experts in their respective fields.

For more updates on latest funding news on Byju’s and Vedantu visit Entrackr.

Latest Startup News - Indian Startup WazirX Gets A Notice To Show Cause

What is a Show Cause Notice?

A show cause notice is given when disciplinary violations are found against a company. It asks the organization to explain why a certain action was taken in a manner not compliant with the rules and why they should not face criminal charges and penalties.

In this case, the Indian startup WazirX got a show cause notice because the regulatory agency Enforcement Directorate alleged that WazirX allowed the exchange of crypto currencies kept in pool account wallets to be available for other exchanges, which probably could be held by people in foreign places that can’t be traced to pinpoint the destination of such exchanges.

In a reply, WazirX has said that they haven’t received any show cause notice and all the transactions were made in compliance with the laws and regulations of crypto currency exchange. Additionally, WazirX is ready to cooperate with any investigation that may be launched by ED to validate its claim.

According to ED, a show cause notice has been served to Nischal Shetty and Sameer Hanuman Mhatre the directors of WazirX, under the Foreign Management Act, 1999 (FEMA concerning) cryptocurrency exchange and transactions totaling Rs 2,790.74 crore. The investigation, ED declared, was part of an ongoing probe into alleged money laundering activities being carried out on Indian soil. EdD also suspects that Chinese-owned illegal online betting applications are playing a crucial role in this criminal activity.

In a report released by ED, they state that the crypto exchange had not documented these transactions under the regulations of FEMA for remittances in foreign currency, or followed the required KYC procedures and guidelines for the allocation of non-WazirX wallets. Other documentation such as addresses, the purpose of transferring the currency, and the IP addresses of other wallets were not collected as well, it alleged. 

“This clearly tells the world that WazirX is in clear violation of the mandatory Anti-Money Laundering and Combating of Financing of Terrorism precaution norms. Also, the FEMA guidelines which are applicable to Virtual Currency exchanges too. Crypto-currencies are like tangible assets and could be used as an instrument of payment to be used for terrorism and other harmful criminal activities.

 

In September 2019, Chinese global cryptocurrency, Binance acquired WazirX, one of India's largest exchanges. Since then, India's cryptocurrency ecosystem has been corrupted primarily from an unclear regulatory environment, in April 2021, daily trading volumes on WazirX crossed $200 million, catching the attention of everyone including ED.

Top 6 Latest Startup Funding News

In this article, we have highlighted some of the latest startup funding news in the market. 

 

Hiver, a software-as-a-service startup, bags $4 million (about Rs 29.06 cr) in debt funding from Mars Growth Capital, a Singapore-based joint debt fund launched by MUFG Bank - Mitsubishi UFJ Financial's core banking unit and Liquidity Capital.

 

According to the co-founder and CEO of the startup, Niraj Ranjan, the company plans to deploy the capital to expand its marketing and sales efforts to widen its customer base. Niraj founded the company with his co-founder Nitesh Nandy in 2011. 

 

KreditBee, a digital lending startup based in Bengaluru, has raised worth $75 million from its Series C Round from Premji Invest, Mirae Asset Naver Asia Growth Fund, Alpine Capital, and Arkam Ventures. Kreditbee plans to use the funds to expand its loan product offerings and improve its solutions stack. 

 

Happily Unmarried, the parent company of Ustraa, has raised Rs. 20 crore in its Series H round. The brand sells men grooming products under its subsidiary company Ustraa and sells its products through retail outlets, web portals, and eCommerce marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart. 

 

Zomentum, an IT sales acceleration platform, has raised $13 million in Series A funding from Elevation Capital, Greenoaks Capital, Accel, and Eight Roads Ventures. Zomentum is looking to use the money to expand geographically and build out its products. The company was founded in 2018 by Shruti Ghatge and Rahil Shah and had raised $4.1 million earlier in seed funding from Accel and SAIF Partners six months ago. Zomentum helps IT channel partners and SMBs to leverage the best IT solutions. 

 

Grofers, an online grocery delivery service based out of Gurugram, has raised $2.75 million in Series F round from Euler Capital Fund, a Chicago-based asset management firm. Euler had earlier invested $4.6 million in Cars24's Series D Round. Euler had earlier invested %4.63 million in Cars24's Series D round in September 2019. Grofers is a seven-year-old company founded by Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar and is yet to cross Rs 200 crore. 

 

VerSe Innovation has raised over $100 million (about Rs 728 crore) in a Series H funding round from Qatar Investment Authority, the State of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, and Glade Brook Capital Partners. VerSe Innovation is the company behind Dailyhunt, a local language news platform and Josh, a short-form video app. VerSe had hired Avendus Capital as their exclusive financial advisor on the deal.

For more such latest startup funding news, please visit Entrackr.   

Upcoming Startups in India by Entrackr

It’s a great time for start-ups in India. As the startup scene in India is gaining global prominence, more and more startups are emerging to take the startup scene by storm.

We’ve put together a list of upcoming startups in India who are rocking the startup scene.

FreshToHome

 

 Founded In - 2014 

Headquarter -Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Total Funding - $152M

 

Freshtohome is an Indian e-commerce startup that that focuses on meat and fish. The company has recently raised $121 million as a part of its Series C funding round. The startup was founded by Shan Kadavil in 2015. FreshToHome receives nearly 1.5 million orders through its fully integrated e-commerce platform. 

 

Unacademy

 

Founded - 2015

Headquarter - Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Total Funding - $398.5M

 

Unacademy is an online learning platform based in Bangalore. The platform provides educational content such as video lectures and examinations. It originally started as a youtube channel created by Gaurav Munjal in 2010 and now has a network of over 18,000 educators providing education content including preparation material for various professional and educational entrance exams 

Shuttl

 

Founded - 2015

Headquarter - Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Total Funding - $122.3M

 

Shuttl is a mobile app-based office commute bus aggregator that makes users’ daily commute safe, reliable, and affordable for everyone. Shuttl operates in more than 6 metro cities across the country and has also been preparing to launch in the international market with Thailand. The company was founded by Amit Singh and Deepanshu Malviya. Its first intra-city bus fleet operations started in 2015 with Delhi-NCR. 

Swiggy

Founded - 2014

Headquarter - Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Total Funding - $1.6B

 

Swiggy is an Indian online food ordering and delivery platform based out of Bangalore, India. Swiggy operates in more than 100 cities and has now expanded into general product deliveries under the name Swiggy Stores. Swiggy is operated by Bundl Technologies Private Limited. The startup was founded by Nandan Reddy and Sriharsha Majety in 2014. 

Nykaa

 

Founded - 2012

Headquarter - Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Total Funding - $145.9M

 

Nykaa is an online marketplace for beauty, wellness, and fashion products. The company was founded by Falguni Nayar in the year 2012. It is a unicorn startup and was valued at US$1.2 billion in the year 2012.  The company is looking to raise $50-150 million in a financing round that will value the brand at $2 billion.

For more information related to startups and the latest tech news, visit- https://entrackr.com/

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