India lends the P2P way: This month, we saw two unicorn startups - CRED and BharatPe entering the Peer-to-Peer lending space. This matchmaking between borrowers and lenders not only provides excess liquidity for borrowers, but also helps lenders earn extra money as interest.
Make way for Ola EV: After successfully launching the Ola Electric Scooters, founder Bhavishh Aggarwal announced that Ola Electric is gearing to produce electric cars and is likely to launch as early as 2023. Ola Electric has been the talk of the town as it is eyeing a potential fundraise at a valuation of $2.5 Billion.
Microsoft sees potential in Oyo – Oyo raised $5 Million from Microsoft at a valuation of $9.6 Billion ahead of its IPO.
Something cooking for India Inc. – Paytm and HDFC Bank entered into a strategic partnership to launch digital payments, lending, and PoS-related products, in semi-urban and rural India.
Amazon enters Indian Fintech – The US tech major has made its maiden investment in India’s wealth management sector as it participated in a $40 Million round of Fintech startup Smallcase.
2 new Edtech Unicorns – India saw 2 new Edtech unicorn, viz. Eruditus and upGrad. Even Unacademy raised $440 Million at a valuation of $3.4 Billion. Byju’s is still 5 times bigger than the next big Edtech.
Raining Unicorns: Other Startups which turned Unicorn this month were B2B contract manufacturer Zetwerk, Fintech - BharatPe, Crypto Exchange - CoinDCX, and SaaS firm Mindtickle.
Startup IPO: Nykaa files its draft prospectus with SEBI to join the list of other companies from the Indian Startup Ecosystem who are going public, viz. Paytm, MobiKwik, Cartrade, and PolicyBazaar. Ola is also expected to announce its IPO soon.
In one of the largest Indian Fintech deals, PayU acquires BillDesk at $4.7 Billion.
This article is a part of August'21 edition of our Startup Newsletter. Here's the complete publication:
