Listed below are some of the major news of the startup sector, take a look to stay updated:
Ola announces electric vehicles programme focussing on e-rickshaws and auto rickshaws
Homegrown cab-hailing major Ola has announced Mission Electric, a programme to launch 10,000 electric vehicles, most of them three-wheelers, over the next 12 months.
The move comes one month after the Bengaluru-based firm roped in Anand Shah, the former executive at German premium carmaker BMW, to head its electric vehicles programme.
Mission Electric stems from India’s first electric-vehicle pilot project in Nagpur launched less than a year ago.
Ola recently raised more than $1 billion, acquired a food delivery platform, launched its services abroad, and decided to shut its bus unit, Ola Shuttle. This development took place amid talks of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, which has been consolidating its investments in cab-hailing services globally, trying to broker a merger deal between Ola and Uber.
Healthcare startup Curefit secures Rs 4.18 crore funding
Bangalore-based healthcare startup Curefit has secured Rs 4.18 crore funding from Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal and Myntra-Jabong CEO Ananth Narayanan, as per media reports.
The company had already raised $45 million since it had been established.
The company was founded by Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal and former Flipkart executive Ankit Nagori. Curefit has mostly focused on Bengaluru market till date but is planning to expand to 6-8 other cities in India.
The startup currently offers health and fitness solutions through three verticals – CultFit, EatFit, and MindFit through online and offline channels.
Venture fund Omnivore invests in AgNext Technologies
Impact venture fund Omnivore has made its second investment in agri-food sensing solutions startup AgNext Technologies. The investment is from Omnivore’s second fund Omnivore Partners India Fund 2 and the amount invested is undisclosed.
The deal also saw participation from Singapore-based high-net-worth individual Samir Kumar.
Chandigarh-based AgNext was cofounded by IIT Kharagpur alumni Taranjeet Singh Bhamra, Mrigank Sharad and Deepak Jaiswal in 2016. It collects spatial, temporal and spectral data to provide sensing solutions across the agriculture and food value chain.
Myntra acqui-hires Witworks to build smart wearable products
Flipkart-owned online fashion store Myntra has acquired a Bengaluru-based smart wearables startup Witworks for an undisclosed amount.
Witworks focused on building smart wearable devices and their underlying software. Post acquisition, Myntra will be absorbing the team to its Innovation Labs, further strengthening its technology team and product development capabilities.
Witworks was launched in 2014 by Somnath Meher, Ankit DP, and Chandrashekhar Iyer.
Today’s Take Away:
Having strong willpower is essential if one is to survive in the long race of life and make something worthwhile out of it. Criticisms are common, as it is always easy to point out flaws. But to wear those criticisms as an armour and to be determined to achieve success is what is desirable. Elon Musk, founder, CEO, and lead designer of SpaceX rightly says,
“If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.”
