The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is pulling out all stops to combat the rising incidents of frauds and has now proposed tighter norms related to the onboarding process of Aadhaar-enabled touchpoint operators. 

The central bank has streamlined the guidelines and released a draft version of it.

As part of the move, banks are mandated to carry out due diligence on all Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS) touchpoint operators that are being onboarded by them. 

This due diligence is as per the customer due diligence procedure laid out in RBI’s master directions on KYC since 2016.

Besides this, the banks will also carry out an update of KYC in cases where the AePS touchpoint operator failed to perform any financial transactions in the six months at length. 

Not to mention, the acquiring bank has to monitor all activities of AePS touchpoint operators regularly besides setting operational parameters. Notably, respective transaction limits will also be set for AePS touchpoint operators in accordance with their risk profiles. 

It is pertinent to note that the draft guidelines are open to comments and feedback from industry participants till August 31.

This development follows RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das’s statement last month outlining that the regulator would enhance the robustness of AePS. 

AePS is a bank-led model which allows online interoperable financial inclusion transactions at PoS (MicroATM) through the Business correspondent of any bank using the Aadhaar authentication. 

AePS enables different types of transactions including cash deposit and withdrawal, balance enquiry and mini statement, Aadhaar to Aadhaar fund transfer, eKYC, tokenization and aadhaar seeding status, among others. 

Notably, inputs like bank name, aadhaar number and biometrics captured during enrolment are the only inputs required to make a transaction under AePS.

Signzy’s cofounder and CEO Ankit Ratan said, “This initiative aims to bolster customer trust and ensure the safety of transactions, particularly in rural areas where digital literacy may be lower.”

“By implementing ongoing due diligence and monitoring, along with tailored transaction limits based on risk profiles, the RBI is proactively addressing potential fraud risks. Additionally, the RBI has emphasized the importance of robust cybersecurity measures and effective management of third-party risks, urging banks to combat digital fraud and raise customer awareness.”

Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its annual report for the fiscal year ended March 2024 outlined that the number of online frauds in the country surged 334% year-on-year (YoY) to 29,082 in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) as against 6,699 in FY23.

This comes at the heart of RBI as well as the government taking proactive steps to crack the whip on online frauds. In April, the Centre held deliberations with fintech startups and law enforcement agencies to collaborate and address challenges related to digital financial fraud.

In the same month, it was reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs was working with SBI and some telcos to develop a solution to alert about stolen one-time passwords (OTP) to combat phishing attacks.

In February, markets regulator SEBI also issued an advisory that alerted investors against practices employed by fraudulent trading platforms to lure customers such as online courses, seminars and mentorship programmes.

Additionally, the RBI was also said to be planning to set up the Digital India Trust Agency to check illegal lending apps, earlier this year.

The post RBI Proposes Tighter Norms For Aadhaar-Enabled Payment System Operators To Curb Frauds appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has reportedly postponed its decision on approving the INR 158 Cr settlement between BYJU’S and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the embattled edtech startup’s US-based lenders raised allegations, questioning the source of the capital.

As per Moneycontrol’s report, the lenders requested the tribunal not to accept the settlement, calling it a “tainted settlement”. They also alleged that the settlement amount is from “stolen money”.

As a result, NCLAT has asked the founder Byju Raveendran to ensure that the source of the money was not tainted and that no court orders were violated in obtaining the capital.

The development follows the report of BYJU’S reportedly transferring INR 50 Cr to the BCCI as part of the first tranche of payments to settle the ongoing insolvency dispute. 

This 50 Cr settlement was reportedly made via Byju Raveendran’s brother Riju Raveendran and the remaining INR 83 Cr lot was scheduled to be paid by August 8, the reports added. 

Citing the findings of a US court, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi who represents the US lenders added that both Byju and Riju conspired to siphon off over INR 500 Cr. 

As per Bar and Bench’s report, Rohatgi said that this settlement money belonged to the US lenders. “And now the debtor is offering to pay off the dues of 158 crores. It is our money that has been withdrawn by these fellows.” 

Meanwhile, senior advocate Harish Salve who represents the BCCI also assured that the cricket control authority would never accept any tainted money.

Alongside this, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, who is also representing BCCI, pointed out that the creditor’s concerns were based on assumptions.

“They (creditors) have argued before me that don’t believe Riju Raveendran. Then they showed me the US order of prohibitory injunction on the use of that 533 million,” NCLAT was quoted as saying in the report.

Seeking relief on the development, Byju Raveendran’s counsel replied that some assurance should be given to ensure that the insolvency process against BYJU’S does not come in the way of the proposed settlement.

It is pertinent to note that earlier this month NCLT admitted the BCCI’s plea to initiate the corporate insolvency resolution process against BYJU’S for not paying the dues to the tune of INR 158.9 Cr to the cricket body for a sponsorship deal.

Following this, Raveendran took the matter to the Karnataka High Court to suspend the NCLT order. However, the HC headed by a single bench of Justice S R Krishna Kumar disposed of Raveendran’s plea. 

This comes at the heart of multiple other entities, including BYJU’S US-based Term Loan B lenders, also filing insolvency petitions against the beleaguered company in the past.

BYJU’S, once the poster child of the Indian startup ecosystem, is battling multiple issues, including mass layoffs, a severe cash crunch, delay in filing financial statements, a slew of legal cases and mounting regulatory scrutiny. Making matters worse is a public spat with investors even as losses continue to mount for the company.

BYJU’S net loss surged 81% year-on-year YoY to INR 8,245.2 Cr in FY22.

The post After US-Based Lenders’ Claims, NCLAT Postpones Decision On BYJU’S-BCCI Settlement appeared first on Inc42 Media.

As entrepreneurs in India continue to make their mark in the startup ecosystem, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has cautioned against a conspiracy to end the country’s entrepreneurship culture even before it fully blooms.

“Hardworking entrepreneurs are building this country. The conspiracy is to end India’s entrepreneurship culture even before it fully blooms, thereby hitting at India’s core backbone, which is India’s entrepreneurship of small and medium units and enterprises that are building India,” the minister said.

While addressing to the general discussion on the FY25 Budget in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said that entrepreneurship itself was being made a villain as a part of this conspiracy. 

Without disclosing any name, the finance minister said that some forces are working behind to show India’s instability on the strategic, political and economic fronts. 

On the investment front, Sitharaman said that there is a conspiracy to send a message that India is not safe for foreign investors and that Indian institutions cannot guarantee security to foreign investments.

“There is a conspiracy to send a message to the entire world that India is not safe for investors. This is not good. Rumours are being spread that Indian institutions cannot guarantee security to foreign investments, which is really a sad situation,” she said. 

This development comes against the backdrop of the finance minister making a flurry of announcements during her Union Budget 2024-25 speech for the startup ecosystem. 

These announcements include the abolition of angel tax, reduction of the tax deducted at source (TDS) for ecommerce platforms to 0.1% from 1% earlier, and an additional cut in basic customs duty (BCD) rates on several mobile phone parts, among others. 

Additionally, Sitharaman also announced a 1000 Cr VC fund for the spacetech sector and a credit guarantee scheme for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the manufacturing sector. 

Contrary to these supportive announcements, the centre slashed the budget allocation for incentivising digital payments in the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25) by over 42% to INR 1,441 Cr.

It is pertinent to note that the government on July 29 informed the Parliament that the over 1.4 Lakh startups registered with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) have created over 15.5 Lakh direct jobs in the country. 

The post FM Nirmala Sitharaman Cautions Against Conspiracy To End India’s Entrepreneurship Culture appeared first on Inc42 Media.

SaaS cybersecurity startup TAC Infosec has secured approval from its board for the formulation, adoption and implementation of a new employee stock option plan (TAC ESOP 2024).

However, the startup did not disclose the amount of stock options that will be granted under the scheme. 

In an exchange filing on Wednesday (July 31), TAC Infosec said it will now conduct a postal ballot to seek shareholders’ nod for the implementation of ESOP 2024.

“At TAC Security, it’s best time to reward team members working for company’s vision for many years, our employees are our greatest asset .. we are confident that this initiative will drive innovation and excellence, ensuring TAC Security remains at the forefront of the cybersecurity industry,” said Trishneet Arora, founder, chairman and CEO of TAC Infosec.

Shares of TAC Infosec were trading at INR 522 at 1.15 PM on the NSE today, up 1.56% from the previous close. 

Alongside this development, the startup also announced that it has added over 500 new clients from 50 countries in Q1 FY25. 

Autodesk, Salesforce, Zoominfo, Dropbox, Blackberry, Xerox, Brady Corporation, FAO of United Nations, FUJIFILM, CASIO, Nissan Motors, Juspay, One Card, Zepto, and MPL Gaming were among the new clients that were added.

Besides this, the company also aims to increase its global headcount going ahead with acquiring 10,000 customers globally. 

It is pertinent to note that TAC Infosec made its stock market debut on April 5, listing at INR 290 which is a premium of 173.6% on its issue price of INR 106 on NSE.

The IPO constituted a fresh issue component of 28.29 Lakh equity shares and its price band was set in the range of INR 100-106 per share. 

Founded in 2016 by Trishneet Arora, the startup offers risk-based vulnerability management and assessment solutions, and other SaaS cybersecurity solutions to enterprises and small businesses. 

On the financial front, TAC Infosec posted a net profit of  INR 6.33 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), a 23% jump from INR 5.12 Cr in FY23. For the same period, its operating revenue zoomed 17% to INR 11.84 Cr from INR 10.09 Cr in FY23.

The post TAC Infosec Gets Board Approval To Roll Out New ESOP Plan appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In a major setback for Rapido, the Karnataka Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) has reportedly held that the ride hailing unicorn is liable to pay goods and service tax for its cab services.

“The applicant (Rapido’s parent company Roppen Transportation) is liable to pay GST on the supply of services provided by the independent four-wheeler cab service provider (person who has subscribed to the applicant’s Rapido app) to his passengers on the applicant’s app platform, being an ecommerce operator, in terms of Section 9 (5) of the CGST Act 2017,” the ARR order was quoted as saying by ET.

As part of the hearing, Rapido submitted that it charges its drivers a subscription instead of a commission, without making any revenue on the fare.

It is pertinent to note that the retrospective ruling will open Rapido to previous tax dues on its cab services. 

This also comes at a time when Rapido turned unicorn after raising a funding of $120 Mn from its existing investor WestBridge Capital at a post-money valuation of a little over $1 Bn. 

Last year in December, it entered the cab booking services category with the launch of Rapido Cabs. The Swiggy-backed company then said it had a fleet of around 1 Lakh cabs on its platform and the service is currently operational across Delhi NCR, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. 

Inc42 has reached out to Rapido for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the response. 

This Karnataka ARR further adds to the ambiguity regarding the GST applicability on the ride-hailing companies operating via a subscription model with their drivers and service providers. 

Contrary to this ruling, the Karnataka ARR ruled in favour of  Namma Yatri which offers a subscription-based model to its driver-partners, allowing it to not pay GST.

In the case involving Juspay Technologies, the company behind the Namma Yatri mobility platform, the AAR relied on the dictionary definition of the word “through.” It concluded that merely linking service providers with customers via a digital platform does not constitute a supply of service and is thus not subject to tax.

The same Karnataka authority had previously issued an opposite ruling in the case of Opta Cabs Pvt Ltd. Additionally, the Tamil Nadu Advance Ruling Authority, in a recent decision regarding Balat Enterprises Pvt Ltd, held that the company, which provides a platform for small business owners to connect with customers, is liable to discharge tax under Section 9(5) of the CGST law for specified services.

Not to mention, these ride-hailing platforms incur a 5% GST on the fair for rides they facilitate through the commission model.

However, under the subscription model, these platforms charge a daily or weekly fee to driver partners to avail of the offerings given by ride-hailing platforms like getting recognised by customers. 

This development comes against the backdrop of other major players like Ola and Uber introducing their subscription-based models for their three-wheeler booking services.

Meanwhile, earlier this month it was also reported that platforms such as Uber have approached the finance ministry seeking clarity on if their business was liable to incur indirect tax or not. 

Earlier this year, the Karnataka transport department fixed uniform fares for all taxis plying in the state, including metre-based taxis. Under the new regime, the app-based cab aggregators will not be able to levy surge charges to customers during peak hours.

These app-based cab services have also been scrutinised by other state governments, like those in Delhi and Maharashtra, for various reasons

The post Rapido Liable To Pay GST For Its Cab Services: Karnataka AAR appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Micro venture capital firm Gemba Capital, which counts Plum, Grip Invest, Wint Wealth, Strata, Navadhan and LightFury among its portfolio companies, has floated its second fund with a target corpus of INR 250 Cr, including a green shoe option of INR 50 Cr.

From the second fund, the SEBI-registered AIF manager is looking to back 30 early stage ‘platform-first’ businesses across three focus sectors – fintech, consumer tech and B2B platforms.

Digital ‘platform-first’ businesses are those which can create compounding moats through ecosystem creation, network effects or the ability to stack value-add layers.

The fund will invest in companies with an average ticket size of INR 5 Cr and will reserve 30% of the corpus for making follow-on investments, the VC firm said in a statement.

It is targeting to make the final close of the fund by the end of the year.

“Our journey has evolved from investing proprietary capital to running an angel syndicate and then raising and investing from our INR 70 Cr Fund-I. We are now looking to partner with institutional LPs for our INR 250 Cr Fund-II,” said Gemba Capital’s general partner Adith Podhar. 

Founded in 2018 by Podhar, Gemba Capital is a micro VC firm based out of Bengaluru which claims to have backed over 120 founders across over 50 startups to date. 

It is pertinent to note that Gemba Capital’s first fund was introduced in 2022 and it had a corpus of INR 70 Cr raised via investments from family offices, founders, and CXOs. With its first fund, it offered an average cheque size of INR 2 Cr to the startups. 

The development comes at the heart of homegrown VC and PE firms accumulating notable dry powders to drive the Indian startup ecosystem. 

Earlier this month, Next Bharat Ventures launched an INR 340 Cr fund and a residency programme to catalyse the growth of the social impact startup ecosystem in India.

Last month, VentureSoul Partners rolled out its maiden debt fund, VentureSoul Capital Fund I, with a target corpus of INR 600 Cr.

The development comes around the backdrop of Indian startups encountering the brunt of the ongoing funding winter. 

Not to mention, Indian startups cumulatively raised investments worth $5.3 Bn in the first six months of 2024, which was a 1.8% decline year-on-year. However, the fintech and enterprise tech sectors bagged the most funds during this period. 

The post Gemba Capital Floats INR 250 Cr Second Fund To Back Fintech, Consumer Tech And B2B Businesses appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The government on Monday (July 29) informed the Parliament that the over 1.4 Lakh startups registered with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) have created over 15.5 Lakh direct jobs in the country. 

Minister of State (MoS) (independent charge) for skill development and entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary made the revelation in response to a question from Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) Dilip Saikia. 

“Sustained efforts by the government under the Startup India initiative have led to an increase in the number of recognised startups to 1,40,803 as on 30th June 2024. The recognised startups have reported to have created over 15.5 lakh direct jobs,” said MoS Chaudhary.

He added that 3.02 Lakh startups, supported under the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme, have generated around 6.2 Lakh jobs in India’s rural belt. The MoS added that the startups incubated under the technology incubation and development of entrepreneurs (TIDE) 2.0 scheme have created employment for 8,556 persons. 

Chaudhary also underlined that 1,235 DPIIT-recognised startups have been supported under the TIDE 2.0 scheme, of which 1,708 are from agriculture and allied sectors. 

This is in line with what the Economic Survey said earlier this month. It said that the 1.17 Lakh DPIIT-recognised startups created over 12.42 lakh direct jobs, creating significant economic impact, as of 2023. 

The Centre has taken a number of steps over the last few years to give an impetus to the country’s startup ecosystem for job and value creation.

In her budget speech last week, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman provided a relief to the startup ecosystem by fulfilling the long-standing demand of abolishment of the infamous angel tax.

She also announced a number of other steps which would boost the Indian startup ecosystem, like creation of an INR 1,000 Cr VC fund for space economy, reduction of the tax deducted at source (TDS) for ecommerce platforms to 0.1% from 1%, and setting up ecommerce export hubs in PPP model.

India boasts the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world and is home to 116 unicorns and 112 soonicorns. Earlier today, ride-hailing startup Rapido became the third unicorn of the year.

As per an Inc42 report, homegrown startups have raised over $147 Bn since 2014.

The post 1.4 Lakh DPIIT-Recognised Startups Have Created 15.5 Lakh Direct Jobs: Govt appeared first on Inc42 Media.

B2B travel portal Travel Boutique Online (TBO Tek) has appointed China-based traveltech major DidaTravel’s chief financial officer Gerardo Del Rio as president of its international business.

In his new role, Rio will help in driving the TBO’s expansion in the global market. This will ensure a smooth transition as the company looks to enter new markets, besides strengthening its presence in the existing markets, it said in a statement. 

With over 20 years of experience across hospitality, travel and consulting sectors, Río served as the CFO at DidaTravel from July 2022 to June 2024. He also held key executive roles in companies like Hotelbeds and JBS Hotels, among others.

“Extensive multi-market, multi cultural experience and proven track record in the global travel and hospitality industry perfectly aligns with our vision for international expansion,” said TBO’s joint managing director and cofounder Gaurav Bhatnagar.

“I look forward to leveraging my experience to foster innovation, build strategic partnerships, and drive the company’s expansion in the global market,” Rio said.

This appointment comes at a time when TBO is actively pursuing international growth through strategic acquisitions, such as BookaBed in Ireland and the UK, and Jumbo Tours’ online business in Spain. 

Not to mention, it also launched several new brands targeting specific international markets, including Kizan for inbound tourism in Saudi Arabia, Zamzam for Umrah travel, and Paxes for global corporate travel.

This development follows TBO Tek’s latest ESOP offerings of 2.44 Lakh stock options earlier this week. 

It is pertinent to note that TBO Tek made its stock market debut on May 15 at NSE, marking a premium of 55% over its issue price. Notably, it was listed on NSE at INR 1426 against the issue price of INR 920. On the BSE, the stock debuted at INR 1,380, reflecting a 50% premium.

Having made its IPO debut, it joined the likes of other traveltech listed companies like EaseMyTrip, MakeMyTrip and Yatra. 

Founded in 2006, TBO Tek provides travel solutions to travel agents and tour operators. It offers white-label solutions, hotel and flight booking APIs and dynamic packages, among others.

It reported a significant 64% jump in its profit after tax (PAT), reaching INR 46.4 Cr in the March quarter (Q4) of FY24, up from INR 28.2 Cr in the same period last year. The company’s operating revenue also increased 31% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 369 Cr during the same period.

The post TBO Tek Names DidaTravel’s Former CFO Gerardo Del Rio As President Of Its International Biz  appeared first on Inc42 Media.

D2C haircare startup Moxie Beauty has raised INR 17.3 Cr ($2.1 Mn) in a seed funding round led by Fireside Ventures. 

The round also saw participation from a host of angel investors, including Unilever’s former chief marketing officer Samir Singh, Reckitt’s managing director Arjun Purkayastha and Mokobara’s founder Sangeet Agrawal among others. 

The startup will deploy the fresh proceeds for product innovation and research, expand distribution channels and onboarding new talents. 

Founded in 2023 by Nikita Khanna and Anmol Ahlawat, Moxie Beauty is a D2C haircare consumer brand that claims to make products tailored for Indian hair textures. 

While Khanna is a former consultant at McKinsey & Company, Ahlawat is a former general manager at Paytm. 

“Moxie’s approach to building products suited for Indians who have wavy, frizzy and curly hair is a refreshing innovation in the large and growing hair care and beauty space,” said Fireside Ventures’ cofounder and partner Dipanjan Basu. 

Founded in 2015, Fireside Ventures is a venture capital firm based out of Bengaluru. It has an investment portfolio of 63 companies with the likes of startups like Traya, and Mamaearth in its investment list. 

This funding comes at a time when haircare startup customised for Indian consumers are gaining traction from investors. 

Not to mention, in March, haircare brand Fix My Curls raised an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round led by Amazon’s small and medium businesses-focused venture fund Smbhav Venture Fund. 

Following this in April, haircare startup Traya raised INR 75 Cr (around $9 Mn) from Xponentia Capital in an undisclosed funding round.

It is pertinent to note that in the post-pandemic era, Indian consumers have adopted a very conscious approach towards skincare and haircare products. With this trend, a wave of D2C brands, including Pilgrim, Ravel Care, Mars by GHC (Good Health Company), and Bare Anatomy, formed a beeline to cater to their haircare needs, eventually flooding marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart and Nykaa.

Just in 2024, the Indian haircare market is projected to generate a revenue of $ 3.06 Bn, according to Statista.

The post Moxie Beauty Nets INR 17.3 Cr From Fireside Ventures, Others To Expand Its D2C Haircare Play appeared first on Inc42 Media.

EV and clean energy startup Simple Energy has secured $20 Mn ( over INR 167 cr) in its Series A funding round led by SaaS startup Klarity’s chief growth officer and existing investor Balamurugan Arumugam.

Besides this, the round also saw participation from a host of existing investors like HNIs from notable family offices like the Haran family office, Dr. A Velumani’s family office, Vasavi family office, and Desai family office—promoter group of Apar Industries, among others.

The freshly raised funds will be used to expand the startup’s footprint across India and facilitate new product development. Besides, it will fuel Simple Energy’s entry into new markets as well as scale up its two key EV scooter offerings, Simple One and Simple Dot One, it said in a statement. 

Notably, Simple Energy’s CEO and founder Suhas Rajkumar also said that the capital raised will be deployed to bolster our production capacity and expand our dealership network nationwide. 

Founded in 2019 by Rajkumar, Ankit Gupta, Kiran Poojary, Sheetal Shetty, and Shreshth Mishra, Simple Energy is a Bengaluru-based EV startup which has two electric scooters in its portfolio, namely Simple One and Simple Dot One. 

It is currently giving its offerings in a pilot phase in Bengaluru and is eyeing open dealership stores in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Chennai, Vijayawada, Goa, Vizag, Kochi, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Delhi, and Hyderabad in the coming weeks.

In February last year, it secured over $20Mn as a part of its ongoing bridge funding round to ramp up production of its electric scooter. Before that, it raised an undisclosed amount in March 2022 followed by $21 Mn funding in October 2021 in its Pre-Series round.

It competes against Ola Electric, TVS Motor, Bajaj and Hero MotorCorp’s Vida in the EV two-wheeler segment. 

The development comes at the heart of India’s EV segment witnessing abuzz with the the major Indian EV players like Ola Electric and Ather Energy eyeing for public listing in the coming times. 

Ola Electric has already outlined its date of debut in the stock market on August 2. Ola’s counterpart Ather has undergone three fundraises in the last three months amounting to INR 60 Cr, INR 200 Cr and INR 286 Cr respectively and is likely to file its draft IPO papers soon. 

The post Simple Energy Bags $20 Mn To Scale Up Its Electric Scooters Portfolio, Eyes New Markets appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bengaluru-based two wheeler electric vehicle maker Ather Energy is set to raise INR 60 Cr (around $7.1 Mn) via non-convertible debentures (NCDs) from InnoVen Capital. 

As a part of this dept funding, Ather will issue 6,000 Series D1 Debentures with face value of INR 1,00,000 (One Lakh) per debenture to InnoVen Capital.

“Pursuant to the order is hereby accorded for allotment of 6,000 Series D1 unlisted, secured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures (“Series D1 Debentures”) having face value of INR 1,00,000 (Rupees One Lakh only) per Series D1 Debenture, by way of private placement through issue of serially numbered private placement offer cum application letter…,” Ather said in its filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

This debt funding marks the third infusion in Ather in less than two months, following an infusion pegged at INR 286.5 Cr in a mix of equity and debt last month. 

Alongside this, Ather’s board also approved raising INR 200 Cr of debt funding from Stride Ventures by issuing up to 20,000 non-convertible debentures.

Last year Hero MotoCorp committed to acquire an additional 3% stake in Ather at up to INR 140 Cr. Not to mention, Ather secured INR 900 Cr from existing shareholders Hero MotoCorp and GIC through a rights issue in September last year. 

It is pertinent to note that Hero MotoCorp owns 40.89% stake in Ather Energy on a fully diluted basis. 

Meanwhile, reports suggesting that existing investor Sachin Bansal had sold a significant portion of his shares in Ather Energy to Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath also emerged earlier this year.

Ather Energy’s net loss widened 22.5% in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024 (FY24), as per the annual report of Hero MotoCorp.

The EV manufacturer’s net loss jumped to INR 1,059.7 Cr in FY24 from INR 864.5 Cr in FY23, as per the report. Hero MotoCorp owns 40.89% stake in Ather Energy on a fully-diluted basis.

This comes at the heart of Ather eyeing a public listing in the second half of 2024 at a valuation of around $2 Bn. In the run up to its initial public offering (IPO) launch, the startup converted into a public entity last month.

Founded in 2013 by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, Ather Energy is a major player in the Indian two-wheeler EV market and currently offers two escooters – Ather 450X and Ather 450S.

The startup has two manufacturing plants in Tamil Nadu with a combined capacity to produce 4.2 Lakh scooters annually. Now, it is planning to set up a third manufacturing facility in Maharashtra.

Additionally, Ather Energy has a network of 1,700+ fast charging stations across the country and plans to scale this number up to 5,000 by the end of the year.

The startup competes with the likes of Ola Electric, TVS Motor, Bajaj and Hero MotorCorp’s Vida.

The post Ather Energy Raises INR 60 Cr Debt From InnoVen Capital appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Coworking Space Provider Awfis has roped in Rajesh Kharabanda as a non-executive, non-independent director following board’s approval.

“The approval of the shareholders of the company was sought by postal ballot for the appointment of Mr. Rajesh Kharabanda as a non-executive non-independent director on the Board of the company, liable to retire by rotation,” Awfis said in an exchange filing.

Kharabanda heads the homegrown sports brand Nivia as managing director of Freewill Sports Private Limited, which is Nivia’s parent company. He has around 37 years of experience in the sports industry. Besides, he serves as chairman of the Sports Goods Manufacturers & Exporters Association at Jalandhar.

Additionally, Kharabanda holds directorships in six other companies.

Apart from this appointment, Awfis has also made changes to its Articles of Association (AoA) to grant specific rights to certain shareholders.

“Pursuant to the aforesaid amendment, the company has inserted Part-B into the Articles of Association to include limited special rights for certain shareholders,” the filing said.

As part of these changes to the AoA, Awfis stakeholders, including Peak XV Partners and the New Investor Group, can nominate one director each as long as they hold at least 5% of the fully diluted share capital.

Additionally, Bisque Limited and Link Investment Trust can together nominate one director as long as they own 5% of the fully diluted equity in Awfis.

Not to mention, Awfis’s promoter, founder, and CEO Amit Ramani is allowed to nominate two directors if he owns 11% or more of the fully diluted share capital. If his share capital is at or above the 5% mark, he is allowed to nominate only one director.

Founded in 2015 by Amit Ramani, Awfis claims to be the largest flexible space operator in India with 181 centres, around 1.1 Lakh seats and about 5.6 Mn square feet of chargeable area, as of March 31, 2024.

While the startup started as a coworking network, it has since diversified into a tech-enabled workspace solutions platform, catering to enterprises, freelancers, startups and SMEs.

The development follows Awfis’s shares hitting 20% upper circuit earlier this month on July 18. 

It made its stock market debut on May 30 with shares listing at a premium of 12.8% on the BSE.

Its IPO comprised a fresh issue of shares worth INR 128 Cr besides an Offer For Sale component of up to 1.23 shares. 

Awfis first turned profitable in the March quarter (Q4) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), reporting a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 1.4 Cr on an operating revenue of INR 232.3 Cr. 

Notably, earlier this month Ramani told Inc42 that the startup expects its top line to surpass the INR 1,100 Cr mark in FY25.

The post Awfis Ropes In Nivia Sports Executive Rajesh Kharabanda To Its Board appeared first on Inc42 Media.

India has over 1.4 Lakh startups recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), said MoS for Ministry of Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada.

In a written answer in the Rajya Sabha on Friday (July 26), Prasada said that the DPIIT has recognised 1,40,803 entities as startups as of June 30, 2024. 

Maharashtra led the list, with 25,044 startups, followed by Karnataka with 15,019 startups. While national capital Delhi is home to 14,734 startups, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat have 13,299 and 11,436 startups, respectively.

At 16, Ladakh has the lowest number of startups. Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram only have 123, 38, and 32 DPIIT-recognised startups, respectively.

The Centre has taken a number of steps over the last few years to promote startups in the country to foster innovation and create jobs. The government has launched schemes like Startup India, Startup India Seed Fund Scheme, Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) Scheme, and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups over the past few years to give further impetus to the country’s startup ecosystem. 

Earlier this week, the Economic Survey said the government committed more than INR 10,500 Cr for alternative investment funds (AIFs) under the FFS scheme by the end of FY24, which resulted in investments of over INR 18,000 Cr in startups. 

On the back of these efforts, India currently has the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world. The country is home to 115 unicorns and 112 soonicorns, and the homegrown startups have raised over $147 Bn till date, as per an Inc42 report.

In another boost to the startup ecosystem, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the abolishment of the infamous angel tax in her Budget speech this week. This was a long-standing demand of the startups and the Centre’s move was applauded by the country’s startup ecosystem.

Meanwhile, the finance minister also announced setting up an INR 1,000 Cr venture fund for spacetech startups.

The post India Home To 1.4 Lakh Startups As Of June: Govt appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Webtoon comic application Toonsutra has roped in animation OTT company Funimation’s founder Gen Fukunaga as its investor and advisory board member. 

Fukunaga is an American engineer and entrepreneur who served as the president of Funimation until 2019. Notably, in 2017, Funimation was sold to Sony Pictures Entertainment, following which Sony acquired Crunchyroll from AT&T in 2021.

He has been a producer and production manager for popular shows like Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018), Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007) and Steins; Gate (2011).

Toonsutra’s CEO Vishal Anand said that Fukunaga’s experience in scaling anime and manga platforms will contribute to the company’s expansion of offerings and enhancing user experience. 

Founded in 2022 by Shared Devarajan and Vishal Anand, Toonsutra is a Bengaluru-based webtoon comic platform available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. 

Devarajan is also the founder and CEO of the homegrown character entertainment company, Graphic India which has produced notable shows like Spider-Man India with Marvel, the Legend of Hanuman with Disney+Hotstar, Baahubali: Crown of Blood with SS Rajamouli. 

Anand is the former CPO of Dailyhunt a serial digital media entrepreneur, He was also the part of product leadership team at Amazon Web Services. 

It is pertinent to note that Toonsutra is backed by investors like Sony Innovation Fund; Maiora Capital, Crunchyroll’s cofounder Kun Gao, Lightspeed’s partner Jeremy Liew, and Twitch’s cofounder Kevin Lin, among others.

To date, Toonsutra has raised $1.1 Mn in funding. It competes against the likes of MangaToon, WenToon in the comic app segment.

According to a report by Business Research Insights, the global online comic market size is projected to touch $ 44 Bn by 2031.

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Continuing its offerings expansion spree, foodtech major Zomato has rolled out a loyalty programme initiative for select restaurants.

Cofounder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal in a post on X, said, “I repeat-order from my favourite restaurants often, and so do a lot of our customers. To make this more rewarding for you, we are introducing Brand Packs – our first step towards building loyalty programmes for select restaurants on Zomato.”

As a part of this programme, Zomato claims to have already partnered with over 4,000 restaurants so far. 

The company further said in a statement that Brand Packs will cater to customers who often repeat orders from their favourite restaurants. 

Brand Packs are available in the form of coupons that can be accessed by all customers. Under this coupon, Zomato is offering a 10% discount with no upper limit on the first three orders.

Goyal also conveyed that over 10 Lakh customers have already used the Brand Packs coupon. 

Inc42 has sought clarification from Zomato on the nature of the Brand Packs programme. The story will be updated based on the response. 

This development comes a month after Zomato rolled out its restaurant services hub to cater to restaurants around hiring, FSSAI registrations, taxation and trademarking among others. 

While Zomato has its loyalty programme offering called Gold for its consumers, its counterpart Swiggy also has a similar offering under Swiggy One. 

On the broader business front, Zomato has been expanding its offerings with the introduction of its home-cooked meal service ‘Zomato Everyday’ in Mumbai marking its latest offering. 

In July, Zomato’s fully owned subsidiary Zomato Financial Services Limited (ZFCL) voluntarily withdrew its application with the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a non-banking financial company (NBFC).

In May, Zomato received a goods and services tax (GST) demand notice of INR 9.45 Cr by the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Audit) in Karnataka.

On Friday, shares of Zomato were trading at INR 222.35 at 3 PM on BSE, up 1.5% from its previous close.

The post Zomato Launches ‘Brand Packs’ To Reward Repeat Orders & Build Loyalty Program For Restaurants appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Minister of state (MoS) for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar said that the Centre’s ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’ has helped “save” more than INR 2,400 Cr worth of funds from being syphoned off by fraudsters.

In a written answer in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (July 24), the MoS said that the amount was saved in response to more than 7.6 Lakh complaints filed on the portal.

“The ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’, under I4C, has been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop syphoning off funds by the fraudsters. So far, (a) financial amount of more than INR 2,400 Cr has been saved in more than 7.6 Lakh complaints,” said MoS Kumar.

Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, or I4C, under the ambit of the home ministry, is envisaged to act as the nodal point to curb cybercrime in the country.

For the uninitiated, victims can lodge a complaint on the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System in cases involving fraudulent transactions. Thereafter, a police officer is tasked with sending a request to the concerned bank or intermediary to block the said funds. The portal is envisaged with helping financial cyber fraud victims retrieve money and identifying the cyber criminal.

MoS Kumar also said that the government has blocked more than 5.8 Lakh SIM cards and 1.08 Lakh devices reported by police authorities as part of a wide crackdown on financial frauds. 

He added that the National Cyber Forensics Laboratory has provided services such as mobile forensics, memory forensics, CDR (call detail record) analysis to multiple state law enforcement agencies in nearly 10,200 cyber crime cases. 

In response to a separate question, the MoS said that a “report suspect” feature has been added on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to report cybercrime attempts made using suspicious websites. He said that 5,252 suspect URLs have been reported so far. 

Besides this, he also said that I4C has shut down 379 illegal loan and scam applications and 91 phishing/fake websites between October 2023 and May 2024.

In the same span, I4C collaborated with the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) to deactivate 310 malicious or phishing “dot.in” domains. 

“I4C has collaborated with National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) to prevent abuse of ‘dot in’ Domains. Between October 2023 and May 2024, 310 ‘malicious/phishing’ domains have been made non functional with the help of NIXI… Further, 91 phishing/ fake websites and 379 illegal loan/ scam apps hosting websites have been made non functional by I4C with the help of stakeholders concerned,” the MoS added. 

The post More Than INR 2,400 Cr Saved From Being Syphoned Off By Online Fraudsters: MoS Home appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Mumbai-based quick service restaurant chain Charcoal Eats has raised INR 45 Cr (around $ 5.3 Mn) in an undisclosed funding round led by healthcare company Paras Pharma’s founder Girish Patel. 

The round also saw participation from a host of angel investors, including Sanghvi Erectors’s chairman Anil Singhvi, Kinetic Group’s MD Ajinkya Firodia and former banker Rajiv Jain. 

The startup aims to use the fresh capital to boost its brand operations and expand its footprint across India and overseas.

Charcoal Eats’ cofounder Krishnakant Thakur said that apart from this, the proceeds will also be deployed for scaling up its distribution network and technology integration.

“We are expecting revenues to grow five times over the next two years. Coupled with a capex and opex light model, we aim to achieve exponential growth in a very capital-efficient manner. We are excited and optimistic to introduce our brands to more consumers and make their days more yummy-licious!,” he said.

Founded in 2015 by Thakur and Anurag Mehrotra, Charcoal Eats is a B2C food tech startup offering quick-service restaurant service via its app. The company operates brands such as Charcoal Eats for Biryani and B Burger across Mumbai, Pune and Delhi NCR.

It has around 40 outlets, mostly cloud kitchens, across Mumbai, Pune and Delhi-NCR.

In 2020, the startup raised INR 16 Cr in an undisclosed funding round led by Lokmat Investments, a division of multi-platform media company Lokmat Media.

It competes against the likes of Curefoods, Rebel Foods, Biryani By Kilo and FreshMenu in the cloud kitchen offering segment. 

India’s QSR chain space has been witnessing traction from investors lately.

For instance, last month, QSR chain BIGGUYS secured $2 Mn from a host of NRIs in a mix of equity and other instruments. Before that, WoW! Momos raised INR 70 Cr from homegrown investment firm Z3Partners. 

This comes at the heart of the QSR segment in India facing a decline owing to low demand, macroeconomic conditions, and lower consumer spending among others. 

According to brokerage BNP Paribas’ report, the revenue growth for listed QSR companies was down by 9% year-on-year in Q4 FY24, against an 18% increase in FY23 for the same quarter.

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Two days after rolling out its largest-ever open source AI model Llama 3.1, social media giant Meta has said that it will be helping Indian startups with synthetic data generation support to overcome real-world quality data issues in the local language.

Meta launched its Llama 3.1 on Tuesday (July 23) with 405 Bn parameters, trained on 15 Tn tokens using powerful Nvidia GPUs. With this LLM model, the company will compete against AI models like GPT-4.0 and Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

“We think of Llama as this general base model, that companies and developers like (Indian AI startup) Sarvam should be able to customise to bring the nuances of language and culture,” Meta’s vice president of product management Ragavan Srinivasan was quoted as saying by ET.

This comes at a time when it is being seen that general-purpose large language models are struggling with language nuances. However, Meta believes that Llama can generate synthetic data to better understand languages like Hindi, Kannada, or Marathi.

On the launch of Llama 3.1, Meta in its blog post said, “We’re taking a different approach with this release. We’re building teams internally to enable as many developers and partners as possible to use Llama, and we’re actively building partnerships so that more companies in the ecosystem can offer unique functionality to their customers as well.” 

The new model will include features like enabling developers to create their custom agents and new types of agentic behaviours, a reference system and new security and safety tools. Besides, the company also plans for a feedback facility on the Llama Stack API to make it easier for third-party projects leveraging Llama models.

This comes close on the heels of Meta ramping up language options for its AI chatbot across all applications, including WhatsApp.

Meta AI will now be available in seven new languages, including Hindi and Hindi-romanised script. Besides, it will also support other languages such as French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

Currently, Meta AI is available in 22 countries, with the latest additions being Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Cameroon.

Earlier this month, Meta expanded its verified service to Facebook and Instagram users after rolling out the service for WhatsApp business users.

Meta Verified is a subscription service that helps brands enhance credibility with new audiences with a “blue tick”, enhanced account support, impersonation protection, and additional features to support discovery and connection.

India is home to the largest user base of Meta’s family of apps. While Facebook accounts for 378 Mn users in the country, WhatsApp and Instagram have 478 Mn and 362 Mn users respectively, as per Statista.

The post Meta’s Llama 3.1 To Help Indian AI Startups Fend Off Data Quality Issues appeared first on Inc42 Media.

US-based AI chip giant Nvidia is now providing its latest chips to its Indian partners, such as Tata Communications and Jio Platforms, to help build AI-cloud infrastructure in India.

As per Moneycontrol’s report, citing Nvidia’s Managing Director for South Asia, Vishal Dhupar, and Tata Communications Managing Director and CEO, A.S. Lakshminarayanan, the company is delivering GH200 AI chips, which is its advanced computing architecture designed for AI, high-performance computing and data analytics.

Lakshminarayanan said that the full launch of the AI Cloud with Nvidia is expected in the third quarter of this fiscal year for Tata Communications. 

This development follows Nvidia’s partnerships with Reliance and Tata Group companies in September last year to create AI-powered supercomputers, AI clouds, and generative AI applications.

The development comes against the backdrop of reports Indian government eyeing a deal with the US-based chipmaker NVIDIA to procure graphics processing units (GPUs) for its artificial intelligence (AI) mission. 

Under this, the government will reportedly be exploring two potential methods to furnish AI computing infrastructure to its companies, namely “rent-and-sublet” model and the marketplace method. 

Earlier in March this year, NVIDIA’s Dhupar outlined that Nvidia is keen on partnering with more Indian companies to deploy its AI solutions. 

Notably, Nvidia has already made its first major AI bet in India via real estate mogul Niranjan Hiranandani-backed Yotta Data Services by providing it with 16000 chips. 

What makes Nvidia’s products most sought-after is the fact that they are essential for the development of AI and are essential for training large language models (LLMs) and building apps such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

It is pertinent to note that India currently lacks adequate GPUs. Moreover, those companies that are considering using computing power from other countries, are finding it difficult to do so because it costs them a lot.

The post Now, Nvidia Begins Delivering Its Latest AI Chips To Indian Partners appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bhavish Aggarwal-led electric vehicle maker Ola Electric is reportedly looking to launch its widely anticipated initial public offering (IPO) as early as in the first fortnight of August.

According to Moneycontrol’s report, citing multiple sources, through the proposed listing, the SoftBank-backed company is looking to raise around $740 Mn via a combination of a fresh issue and an offer for sale.

Just over a week ago, Inc42 reported that the startup is likely to be valued at around $4.5 Bn for its upcoming IPO, a decline of 16-20% from its last funding round.

Inc42 reached out to Ola Electric for comments on the development, the story will be updated based on the responses from the company.

Ola Electric filed its draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an INR 5,500+ Cr IPO in December last year. Last month, it received the regulator’s nod for the public issue.

Founded by Ola Cabs cofounder Aggarwal, Ola Electric is an EV manufacturer with five scooter models. It is one of the biggest players in the two-wheeler EV space in the country. It operates a comprehensive omnichannel distribution network, which included 935 experience centres and 414 service centres, as of October 2023.

Earlier this year, Ola Electric secured INR 410 Cr (around $50 Mn) in debt funding from EvolutionX Debt Capital via non-convertible debentures (NCDs). The company raised funding by issuing 41,000 NCDs at an issue price of INR 1 Lakh each, as per its filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

As it gears up for its IPO, the company has undertaken a company-wide restructuring exercise to cut costs and streamline operations. The EV player was also said to be planning to sack nearly 400-500 employees.

Ola Electric’s net loss widened 88% to INR 1,471.6 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 783.4 Cr in the previous year. Operating revenue surged 605% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 2,630.9 Cr in FY23. 

(The story will be updated soon)

The post Ola Electric Likely To Launch Its $740 Mn IPO Next Month: Report appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In an effort to further provide impetus to the automobile industry, the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for automobile and auto components has been increased to INR 3,500 Cr in the budget for 2024-25, a 624% jump from INR 484 Cr in the revised estimates of 2023-24. 

Meanwhile, for the National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage, the government has increased allocation to INR 250 Cr from INR 12.01 Cr in the revised estimates for the financial year 2023-2024.

The PLI scheme corpus for the above two categories reflected the same numbers even in the interim budget of February.

Notably, in the Economic Survey of 2023-24, the government had said that the auto PLI has attracted an investment of INR 67,690 Cr, of which INR 14,043 Cr has been invested till March 31, 2024. So far, 85 applicants have been approved under the auto PLI scheme, which has a budgetary outlay of INR 25,938 Cr from FY23 to FY27.

The PLI-Auto Scheme was introduced in September 2021 with the focused on Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) which include EVs as well as Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicles. 

Ola Electric, Rajesh Exports, and Hyundai Global Motors Company are among the beneficiary entities under the scheme. Other beneficiaries include Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Autocomp, Mitsubishi Electric, Toyota Kirloskar, Motherson Sumi, Bosch, and Lucas-TVS.

However, the budget did not mention the third phase of the much anticipated Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme. 

The report added that The initiative has led to the creation of 28,884 jobs out of the 1.48 Lakh jobs projected. To date, 85 applicants have received approval under the scheme.

Apart from this, the government also outlined an outlay of INR 493 Cr under the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) to support the EV manufacturing ecosystem in the country. 

This scheme was tenured for 4 months between April 1 and July 31 and was targeted to support 3.72 lakh EVs. However, it was earlier reported that the scheme managed to achieve only 3.6% of its targeted vehicle sales to date.

The breakup of the EMPS outlay marks INR 333.39 Cr for electric two-wheelers, INR 33.97 Cr for electric three-wheelers, electric rickshaws, and e-cart. Besides, an outlay of  INR 126.19 Cr was also earmarked for electric three-wheelers in the L5 category.

Meanwhile, earlier this month union minister for heavy industries and steel, HD Kumaraswamy said that the centre is working on the implementation of the third phase of the FAME scheme but it is unlikely to be implemented in the upcoming Union Budget FY25. The FAME-III scheme was reported to have a budget outlay of INR 10,000 Cr.

This comes at the heart of the EV segment witnessing various developments in the adoption as well as regulatory front. 

Just last week, automaker Bajaj Auto’s managing director (MD) Rajiv Bajaj reportedly said that regulatory uncertainty makes it “tough” to predict profitability for the electric vehicle (EV) segment.

The government in March also introduced a new EV policy that offers a reduced tariff on the import of EVs.

On the broader EV adoption front, the cumulative EV sales in India reached 41,35,077 units by the end of FY2024, as per a report by JMK Research and Analysis. 

Just in FY24, the EV sales surpassed the 1.7 Mn mark with over 55% of the share coming from registered e2Ws, followed by passenger electric three-wheelers (E3W P) with 32% market share.

The post Budget 2024: Ministry Of Heavy Industries Ups PLI Allocation For Auto Industry By 600% appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Shares of traveltech majors EaseMyTrip and Yatra soared during intraday session today (July 23) after  finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of initiatives during her Union Budget 2024-25 (FY25) speech to fuel growth of India’s tourism industry.

While EaseMyTrip’s shares touched the intraday high of INR 43.6 each, up 8.86% from the previous close on BSE, Yatra’s shares traded as high as INR 127.35 during the day’s trading session, up 4.9% from the previous close.

Notably, shares of both EaseMyTrip and Yatra closed the trading session at INR 42.25 and INR 125.85, respectively, on Tuesday.

Sitharaman announced that the government has allocated INR 2,479.62 Cr for the tourism sector for FY25, up 46% from the revised allocation of INR 1,692.10 Cr in FY24. 

It is pertinent to mention that the estimate for the tourism industry in the interim budget was pegged at INR 2,449.62 for FY25.

“Tourism has always been part of our civilization. Our efforts in positioning India as a global tourist destination will also create jobs, stimulate investments and unlock economic opportunities for other sectors,” Sitharaman said.

The finance minister also made some key announcements to boost the spiritual tourism sector.

“In FY25, the government announced the development of Vishnupad Temple at Gaya and Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya in Bihar. “Comprehensive development of Vishnupad Temple Corridor and Mahabodhi Temple Corridor will be supported, modelled on the successful Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor, to transform them into world class pilgrim and tourist destinations,” Sitharaman said.

The government has also proposed a comprehensive development initiative for Rajgir. “Rajgir holds immense religious significance for Hindus, Buddhists and Jains. The 20th Tirthankara Munisuvrata temple in the Jain Temple complex is ancient. The Saptharishi or the 7 hotsprings form a warm water Brahmakund that is sacred. A comprehensive development initiative for Rajgir will be undertaken,” she added.

Besides this, the FM also announced a simpler tax regime for foreign shipping companies operating domestic cruises in India to boost cruise tourism in the country.

Meanwhile, EaseMyTrip’s cofounder Rikant Pittie, said, “The government’s attempt to position India as the global tourist destination is evident in the Union Budget 2024-25. We are optimistic that this will enhance the overall experience of the tourists visiting these religious sites and will uplift state tourism.”

At the heart of this announcement lies the growing emphasis of the government on spiritual tourism with the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya in January earlier this year. Even the hospitality and tourism sector welcomed this move by the government. 

According to a report by IBEF, India’s travel market is expected to reach $125 Bn by FY27 against $75 Bn in FY20. Additionally, projections indicate that international tourist arrivals are poised to reach 30.5 Bn by 2028.

The post EaseMyTrip, Yatra’s Shares Jump After FM Unveils Initiatives To Boost Tourism appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Tech-focused skilling and hiring startup HackerEarth has made a top deck reshuffle, with the company roping in Vikas Aditya as new chief executive, while its current CEO Sachin Gupta will be moving to the executive chairman’s role.

Gupta made this announcement in his LinkedIn post. He said that going forward, he will dedicate more time to the product vision, supporting the team in exploring adjacent opportunities and spending more time with customers and partners.

He further added that the changing role of software developers in coping with the evolving AI landscape required passing on the baton to Aditya. 

“As we go into an AI-first world, the skills landscape will be fundamentally changed. The role of a software developer of the future will be very different from what it has been in the past 5 decades. I have spent the past many months collaborating with Vikas thinking through many of these changes. As I hand over the baton to him, I am extremely excited about what lies ahead.”

Aditya had previously served as CEO of cloud-based software development company Veridic. Apart from this, he also held key roles in tech companies like Intel Corp, TEKnuova and FTS Solution, among others.  He is also the founder of search solution provider startup QuikFynd. 

Founded by Gupta and Vivek Prakash in 2012, HackerEarth helps tech organisations recruit developers via its platform. It also helps companies upskill their employees via its platform Sprint.  

In 2020, the startup secured $6.5 Mn in its Series B funding round led by the family office of ZIGExN CEO Jo Hirao and other existing investors.

It counts the likes of Beenos Partners, BizReach, BEENEXT, Prime Venture Partners, Smile Group and TA Ventures, among its investors. 

This also comes over a year after it laid off over 8% of its workforce owing to unfavourable macroeconomic conditions including economic downturn, funding crisis and impending recession in the US market.

This comes at the heart of several other startup heavyweights in the likes of Flipkart, Inshorts, BharatPe, and Freshworks undergoing leadership rejigs. 

The post HackerEarth Reshuffle: Sachin Gupta Moves To Chairman Role, Vikas Aditya Roped In As CEO appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In a highly competitive global environment due to its ample talent endowment and cost advantage, India remains a Global Capability Centres (GCC) favourite, the Economic Survey 2023-24 said.

Citing a NASSCOM report, the survey said that GCCs have established more than 15 incubators, over 40 accelerators, and multiple partner programmes to drive collaboration with Indian startups.

GCCs are established by organizations worldwide to make use of global talent, resources, and expertise. 

Not to mention, these GCCs have explored various forms of collaboration, such as innovation labs, hackathons and startup incubators.

In sectors like healthcare and pharmaceuticals, GCCs are increasingly partnering with startups and universities to access new technologies, the report said.

Notably, engineering, research and development Global Capability Centres have grown by over 30% to about $25 Bn in financial year 2022-23.

Additionally, the information technology and business process management sectors grew faster in percentage terms but on a smaller basis. GCCs within the IT segment grew by 30% Bn, while the BPM segment grew about 27% to $10.7 Bn in FY23.

The report further underlined that GCCs in India have grown significantly, from over 1,000 centres in FY15 to more than 1,580 centres, with over 2,740 units by FY23. These centres contribute to economic growth by providing high-quality employment. 

In FY23, more than 16.6 Lakh people were employed in Indian GCCs. Out of these, over 42% worked in engineering, research and development, 34.5% in business process management (BPM), and 23.4% in IT services. The software, internet, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sectors together make up about 58% of India’s IT GCC workforce. 

The revenue from India’s GCCs has grown from $19.4 Bn in FY15 to $46 Bn in FY23, with an annual growth rate of 11.4%, the report noted. 

In terms of numbers, there were about 760 GCCs in India in 2012. By 2016, this number increased to over 1,000 and as of March 2023, India has more than 1,600 GCCs.

The survey attributed this growth to the government’s strategic interventions under initiatives like ‘Digital India’ as well as policies towards easing doing business that streamlined online approvals and licensing processes for GCCs.

Additionally, streamlined tax regulations and compliance procedures for foreign companies to set up GCCs, flexible labour laws, and single-window clearance systems for faster approvals have also contributed to this surge in GCC. 

In terms of the state’s approach toward the GCC ecosystem, the survey outlined that states undertook a multi-pronged approach by identifying high-potential industries.

For instance, Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu governments’ R&D policies to expand the GCC landscape in sectors such as auto and electric vehicles, electronics, pharma and life sciences.

While Telangana contributes to over 30 per cent of India’s pharma production, the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) aims to increase the state’s contribution to India’s digital economy to $300 Bn by 2026.

The post GCCs Set Up 15 Incubators, 40 Accelerators To Drive Collaboration With Indian Startups: Economic Survey 2024  appeared first on Inc42 Media.