B2B Quick Commerce Startup Targets 100,000 Kirana Retailers Fairdeal.Market, India’s first B2B quick commerce platform for kirana retailers, has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII). Existing investor WaterBridge Ventures returned as a cornerstone investor, while Incubate Asia Fund also participated in the round. The startup plans to use the fresh capital to expand its dark-store network, retailer ecosystem, technology infrastructure, and last-mile delivery operations across India’s urban markets. Reinventing Inventory Procurement for Kirana Stores Founded by brothers Prateek and Yash Bansal, Fairdeal is building a 60-minute replenishment network for kirana retailers.…
Author: Aman Atulya
Court Orders Six-Month Jail Term Over Disclosure Violations Byju Raveendran, founder of embattled edtech company Byju’s, has been sentenced to six months in prison by a Singapore court for contempt of court, according to reports. The court reportedly found Raveendran guilty of repeatedly violating multiple court orders related to asset disclosures since April 2024. He has also been directed to surrender before authorities and pay legal costs of $70,500. Dispute Linked to Asset Disclosure and Investor Claims As part of the ruling, the Singapore court directed Raveendran to submit documents proving his ownership in Beeaar Investco Pte, an entity that…
Ashish Kumar, co-founder of Fundamentum Partnership, has launched a new frontier-tech investment platform called F2A (Fundamentum Frontier Advisors). The platform has secured SEBI approval for its new fund, Fundamentum III – AI and DeepTech, with a target corpus of Rs 2,000 crore. F2A will also manage up to Rs 1,000 crore in co-investments, taking the total deployment potential to Rs 3,000 crore. Focus on AI, deeptech, and frontier innovation F2A plans to invest in startups across consumer AI, enterprise AI, and physical AI, with a stage-agnostic approach toward high-potential technology companies. The platform aims to back founders building next-generation infrastructure…
Direct-to-consumer footwear brand Yoho has raised Rs 23 crore, including Rs 15 crore in equity and Rs 8 crore in debt, led by Gulf Islamic Investments (GII) and Rajeev Misra, former CEO of SoftBank Vision Fund. The round also saw participation from Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and existing investors. Yoho had earlier raised Rs 20 crore in Series A funding in 2022 and Rs 27 crore in a pre-Series B round in 2024. Capital to drive offline expansion and performance category growth The fresh funds will be used to expand Yoho’s offline retail footprint and scale its performance running…
Edtech Firm Strengthens Leadership Ahead of Global Expansion Plans Edtech platform upGrad has appointed Mukesh Mundra as its new Chief Financial Officer, replacing Venkatesh Tarakkad, who had held the role for nearly two years. Mundra brings over 26 years of experience across finance leadership roles spanning media, telecom, manufacturing, and consumer sectors. He is a chartered accountant and certified financial analyst. Former JioStar and Viacom18 Finance Leader Joins upGrad Before joining upGrad, Mundra led the finance division at JioStar. Earlier, he spent more than eight years as CFO at Viacom18. His prior experience also includes leadership positions at Idea Cellular,…
Flexprice has raised $1.5 million in a seed funding round led by Shastra VC, with participation from TDV Partners and People Group founder Anupam Mittal. The funding comes amid rising demand for usage-based billing infrastructure tailored to AI-native and API-first companies. Expanding product suite beyond billing The fresh capital will be used to expand into the US and Europe while building products beyond billing, including metering, revenue recognition, and financial reporting tools. Founded in 2024, Flexprice develops open-source billing infrastructure that helps AI companies manage pricing across API calls, token usage, GPU hours, and hybrid billing models. Strong growth and…
Indian refiners have increased crude oil imports from Latin America and Africa after disruptions in Middle East supplies caused by the Israeli-US conflict with Iran and restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, according to trade and shipping data. India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, traditionally sourced most of its crude from the Middle East. However, refiners raised purchases from countries such as Venezuela, Brazil, Angola, and Nigeria in April and May to offset supply shortages. Russian Oil Remains Key Despite Temporary Decline India also continued importing discounted Russian crude, although shipments fell nearly 29.4% in March after Nayara Energy shut…
JM Financial Asset Management has launched its second credit-focused alternative investment fund, JM Financial Select Credit Fund II (SCF II), a Category II AIF with a base corpus of ₹1,000 crore and a greenshoe option of another ₹1,000 crore. The launch marks another expansion step for the firm’s growing alternative investment platform as institutional demand for private credit strategies continues to rise in India. Fund to Target Structured Credit Opportunities SCF II will invest in performing credit opportunities across sectors, focusing on businesses with stable cash flows, strong fundamentals, and credible promoter track records. The strategy aims to provide structured…
At-home salon services platform Yes Madam has raised ₹50 crore (approximately $5.2 million) in its maiden institutional funding round led by Info Edge. According to regulatory filings, the company issued 2,64,987 Series A preference shares at ₹1,885 apiece to raise the capital. Info Edge participated in the round through its B8 Fund and emerged as the sole investor. Expansion Plans and Profitability Focus As per estimates, the funding values Yes Madam at nearly ₹750 crore (around $79 million). The fresh proceeds will be used to expand into new cities, strengthen its partner network, improve technology infrastructure, and enhance customer experience…
Grab-and-go coffee chain abcoffee has raised ₹61 crore ($6.39 million) in a pre-Series B funding round led by Kliff Ventures. The round also saw participation from Hero Enterprise Partner Ventures, Merisis Venture Fund, and Stride Ventures. Expansion Plans and Operational Growth The company said the fresh capital will be deployed to expand across existing and new markets, strengthen backend and supply chain operations, improve technology infrastructure, and invest in subscriptions, customer engagement, and product innovation. Founded in 2022 by Abhijeet Anand, abcoffee currently operates more than 90 outlets across Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, and Bengaluru through compact grab-and-go store formats. The startup…