Category: Investment
India’s ShareChat in advance talks with Google, and Temasek to close $300-million funding with $5-billion valuation
According to reports from Reuters, Indian-based ShareChat’s parent firm Mohalla Tech has raised nearly $300-million from Google, Indian media conglomerate Times Group, and the Singapore government’s Temasek Holdings.
This latest funding puts the value of the social media firm at nearly US$5-billion with the deal set to be announced as early as next week.
This is Google’s second investment in India’s short video sector with Google previously investing in other short video apps, having previously invested in VerSe Innovation which runs a short-video company named Josh which is already valued at US$5-billion, that competes with ShareChat’s sister firm Moj.
ShareChat’s app is available in 15 languages and currently has 180-million monthly active users and more than 32-million creators according to their website.
ShareChat was last valued at US$3.7-billion in a US$266-million funding round from investors including Alkeon Capital and Temasek in 2021. The firm also includes the likes of Twitter and Snap among its investors.
The social media firm is backed by the likes of Snapchat, Tiger Global, and Twitter. ShareChat was founded in 2015 by three Indian Institute of Technology graduates – Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Pratap Singh, and Farid Ahsan.
Short video apps like Moj and Josh shot up in popularity after India 2020 banned their Chinese competition ByteDance’s TikTok and Helo etc, following a border clash with China. India’s short-video market is expected to reach 650-million monthly active users by 2025.
India’s unicorn startup, Cars24 cuts 600 jobs
The used car e-commerce platform, Cars24 backed by investors in the likes of SoftBank and Alpha Wave Innovation, has asked 600 of its employees to leave, even as it pushes ahead with its international expansion plans and attempts to steer through the gloomy market conditions.
The Cars24 layoff, which represents about 6% of the startup’s workforce, affects staff across multiple divisions. A spokesperson for Cars24 insisted in a statement that “THis is business as usual as these are performance-linked exits that happen every year.”
In December last year, Cars24 closed a $400-million round of funding, including a $300-million Series G equity round alongside a $100-million debt from diversified financial institutions such as SoftBank, Alpha Wave Global, and DST Global among its backers.
The $400-million injection of funding saw the platform being valued at $3.3-billion, about double its previous round in September 2021.
The company has recently announced the launch of seven ‘Mega Refurbishment Labs’ (MRLs) in India which is an industry first, and one MRL in the UAE which is among Dubai’s largest ever commercial leasing deals.
Vikram Chopra, Co-founder & CEO of Cars24 said that “As we continue to build the best infrastructure for the future with an end-to-end digital customer experience, we are confident that this will delight our customers with our high-touch industry experience.”
The recent layoff by Cars24, however, did not come as a surprise as investors are advising startups to cut their costs and increase the runway by as much as three years as plenty of funding rounds that were getting finalized a few weeks ago are increasingly being renegotiated, stalled or canned.
This sentiment by investors saw Indian edtech Vedantu letting go over 620 people in recent weeks, whereas Cars24’s chief rival, Unacademy, has fired about 1000 individuals. Other startups like Meesho, OkCredit, Trell, Furlenco, and Lido have also cut several roles within their firms in recent weeks.
India’s Latest Unicorn, Rebel Foods, Enters The Club After Raising $175m
Cloud kitchen startup Rebel Foods has entered the unicorn club after raising $175 million in its Series F funding round that was led by sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), with a valuation of $1.4 billion. Other investors also include existing investors such as Coatue and Evolvence.
Rebel Foods has said that it is moving towards profitability, with an annual run rate sales of $150 million, growing 100% year-on-year.
“While we are excited about becoming the next unicorn, our focus continue to remain on improving customer experience the Rebel way. This round of funding will be re-invested in building our technology, increasing our global presence and also acquiring new brands. Rebel Foods is working towards an IPO in the next 18 to 24 months,” said Piyush Kakkad, Rebel Foods’ chief financial officer.
The startup was founded in 2011 by INSEAD alumni Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee.They are the 31st unicorn to emerge from the Indian startup ecosystem this year and the first in the cloud kitchen space. A cloud kitchen restaurant prepares food only for delivery and does not offer dine-in services.
Rebel Goods manages more than 45 brands and 450 kitchens globally across 10 countries and regions. These include India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdoms, and Bangladesh. It also operates over 4000 internet restaurants.
Goldman Sachs acted as the exclusive financial adviser and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas acted as the legal adviser to Rebel Foods on the transaction.
AirAsia Thai Subsidiary To Undergo Restructuring Amidst $100.41mil Investment
Thai AirAsia, a subsidiary of Asia Aviation Public Company Ltd (AAV) under the low-cost airline AirAsia Group Bhd has approved its capital restructuring plan. The Thai unit of AirAsia will be seeing a $100.41 million (3.15billion baht) capital injection by an anonymous investor.
The Covid-19 pandemic has clearly incurred a great blow to the aviation industry since early 2020 last year. To sustain operations, AAV has mitigated the loss by allocating loans from new investors and offering initial public offering (IPO) to maximized the company’s liquidity.
As the main operating unit of Asia Aviation (AAV), Thai AirAsia has a 45% ownership control by AirAsia Group Bhd.
The investment will be provided in the form of a convertible loan agreement or an interest-free, convertible bond (zero-coupon bond). Investors can expect to gain stakes in Thai AirAsia by converting their loans or bonds to regular shares of $0.65 (20.3925 baht) per share once it has been offered in the IPO.
As AirAsia mentioned, “Once the conversion conditions occur, the status of the new investor will change from a creditor into a shareholder of Thai AirAsia.” They furthered that the anticipated date of completion for the whole process would be around mid-May of 2021 with the transaction completed in June.
As for the IPO, AirAsia said that the preparation should be taking more than seven months before it is up for offer.
AirAsia emphasized that various measures have been implemented to alleviate the effects of Covid-19 such as reduction of employee working hours. Yet, all efforts were unable to improve the group’s financial circumstances.
Although there have been several claims such as that by MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd on the recovery of the aviation and air travel industry presuming to improve in 2021, it maintains a struggle as that travel restriction has not been fully lifted yet.
Other than the currently announced capital restructuring, AirAsia has yet to receive any monetary support from any financial institution or soft loans from the government.
1Mil US Dollar Raised by Docosan for Online Healthcare Services in Vietnam
Docosan, an online startup platform designed to connect patients to the right doctor 24/7 in Vietnam, has announced that it raised more than USD 1million in seed capital.
AppWorks, a Taiwan-based technology venture company, led the capital investment, which was considered one of the most significant seed investments for a healthcare startup in Vietnam.
The seed round was joint by Huat Ventures, a Singaporean venture capital company, and a biotechnology entrepreneur, David Ma.
In an earlier interview, Beth Ann Lopez, co-founder of Docosan, has pointed out the inauspicious state of health sectors in the absence of digital transformation and shared what inspired its establishment.
“Despite being plagued by chronic inefficiencies such as long lines, unpredictable hours, and uncertain quality, the health sectors of many emerging markets remain largely unchanged by new technology,” said Beth Ann Lopez.
“I’ve seen how smartphones have changed the way that businesses are run in Vietnam – it’s possible to order a motorbike on Grab, or a bowl of phở on Now, or anything else you want on Shopee. However, one area that hasn’t been affected by this digital transformation is healthcare,” she added.
Beth further explained that bringing the same convenience and transparency in other digital market forums into health sectors would greatly benefit both patients and doctors, and saves more lives.
The demand for digitalized healthcare has been seen on the rise, especially since the outbreak of Covid-19.
Since 2020, Docosan has registered more than 300 trusted medical practitioners in different medical fields, ranging from general clinical services to specialized medical areas such as neurology.
Registered doctors are mainly located in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and Docosan seeks to expand its web across Vietnam in the future to connect patients to doctors all over the country.
Patients can easily avoid the hassle of lining up to register for a doctor’s visit simply by downloading the app. The app allows patients to compare healthcare providers, make an appointment, engage in live chat for inquiry, and manage their health data free of charge.
The company enforces operational efficiency through cloud-based scheduling and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, and data privacy by integrating HIPAA (America’s Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) for greater security.
Focusing on expansion within Vietnam, Docosan has also hoped to expand its reach globally in the future.