Listed below are some of the major news of the startup sector, take a look to stay updated:
Delhi-based startup Awfis plans on expanding to Kolkata
Awfis, a shared workspace provider, is set to expand its presence in Kolkata. The Delhi-based firm, which has the backing of Sequoia Capital, is looking to add 2-3 additional centres in the city and double the number of seats close to 3,000 from 1,500 at present.
The expansion in Calcutta is part of the national expansion of the startup firm, which received $20 million in 2017 from Sequoia Capital. The company is looking to venture into tier 2 cities and double its existing footprint of 19,000 seats.
Affordplan secures Series B funding round from Omidyar Network, others
Fintech startup in the healthcare space, Affordplan has raised Rs 55.8 crore in Series B funding round from Lok Capital and Omidyar Network. The Delhi-based startup also saw a participation of existing investors Prime Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital in the latest financing round.
This is the third round of capital infusion for Affordplan. The startup was a part of Kalaari Capital’s incubator KStart and had earlier raised Rs 3 crore in a seed round in May 2016. Six months later it secures Series A round of $3 million from Prime Venture Partners and Kalaari.
Founded in 2015 by Tejbir Singh and Hemal Bhatt, the startup allows hospitals to provide personalised payment plans to its subscribers which will ultimately result in the patients saving on their future medical treatment.
Bengaluru-based Webyog acquired by Texas-based business software company Idera
Webyog, a Bengaluru-based bootstrapped data management tool provider, has been acquired by Texas-based business software company Idera Inc for an undisclosed sum in an all-cash deal.
The funds raised would be used by the company to expand its portfolio of the database tools business solution to open source databases like MySQL
Started in 2006, Webyog builds tools for businesses to manage, monitor and optimize popular open source databases like MySQL.
Dunzo in talks to raise funds amounting to $30-40 million
Delivery startup Dunzo Digital Pvt. Ltd is in talks to raise $30-40 million from new and existing investors, as was claimed by people who are aware of the development.
Dunzo had raised $12 million from search engine giant Google’s corporate development arm in December. Currently, it has held talks with a clutch of potential new investors including Sequoia Capital, the people mentioned above said, on condition of anonymity.
The deal has not been finalised yet and the funding would be raised in tranches.
Dunzo, which was founded in 2015, currently operates in Bengaluru and is also set to launch in Pune in the next few months. The firm delivers everything from food and groceries and clothes to medicines and cigarettes and liquor from nearby stores. It also works as an on-demand intra-city courier for customers.
Today’s Take Away:
Employees are the biggest asset a company has. To undermine them and to think that they are replaceable, is the biggest mistake that entrepreneurs make. They need to be treated in the best possible and encouraged to provide better service, only then can a company grow in size.
N.R. Narayana Murthy, Indian IT industrialist and the co-founder of Infosys rightly says,
“Our assets walk out of the door each evening. We have to make sure that they come back the next morning.”
