Indian Startup News Ep 28: Flipkart Quick Launch, Grofers IPO & Ritesh Agarwal's Aroa Ventures

This week in Indian Startup News, Flipkart launches hyperlocal delivery service Flipkart Quick, Flipkart acquires Walmart India’s wholesale business, Grofers to launch IPO in 2021, Swiggy lays off 350 employees, Oyo’s Ritesh Agarwal launches VC firm Aroa Ventures, Niyo acquires Goalwise.

In Funding News, Toppr raises Rs 350 crore, Ather Energy raises Rs 84 crore, BulBul raises $8.7 million, Hevo Data raises $8 million.

00:00 Intro

00:29 Oyo’s Ritesh Agarwal launches VC firm Aroa Ventures: OYO’s founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal, along with Innov8’s COO Gaurav Gulati, has launched an early-stage venture capital (VC) fund Aroa Ventures to invest in early to growth-stage startups across consumer, technology, and leisure infrastructure sectors.
https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/oyo-founder-ritesh-agarwal-launches-early-stage-vc-fund-11596034014259.html

03:19 Grofers to launch IPO in 2021: After achieving operational profitability in January this year, Grofers has witnessed an accelerated growth since the lockdown and it is now on track to launch its IPO by the end of 2021.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/ipos/fpos/grofers-advances-ipo-lisiting-target-to-2021-end/articleshow/77181390.cms

4:50 Swiggy lays off 350 employees: Swiggy has laid off another 350 employees after it laid off around 1,100 employees in May. The food delivery unicorn had expected the markets to recover in a short time but the demand has only recovered 50% of the pre-COVID levels so far. However, Swiggy has claimed that there will be no further restructuring.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/swiggy-to-lay-off-350-employees-due-to-covid-19-impact/articleshow/77203759.cms

05:37 Flipkart launches hyperlocal delivery service Flipkart Quick: Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart has launched hyperlocal delivery service ‘Flipkart Quick’ in Bengaluru to help the customers get their products delivered in less than 90 minutes. Flipkart Quick will debut in locations like Whitefield, Panathur, HSR Layout, BTM Layout, Banashankari, KR Puram and Indiranagar before it is expanded to other cities. This is Flipkart’s second attempt at hyperlocal delivery after its grocery delivery app Nearby failed within five months of launch in early 2016.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/28/indias-flipkart-launch-hyperlocal-delivery-service-flipkart-quick/

06:56 Flipkart acquires Walmart India’s wholesale business: Flipkart has acquired the wholesale business of its parent company Walmart in India. With this acquisition, the company is looking to provide an online marketplace for local manufacturers and retailers to buy and sell a wide range of products, offer easy credit options and more income generation opportunities for more than 60 million small businesses like kirana stores or neighbourhood stores spread across the country. Flipkart Wholesale will be started this month and it will be headed by Flipkart veteran Adarsh Menon.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/23/flipkart-buys-walmarts-india-wholesale-business-to-reach-mom-and-pop/

07:59 Niyo acquires Goalwise: Neobanking startup Niyo has acquired mutual funds investment platform Goalwise in a cash and stock deal with the goal of expanding into wealth management space. With this acquisition, Goalswise’s founding team join Niyo’s leadership and head Niyo Wealth to help the company expand its product offering by adding robo-advisory and auto-invest features to assist the users in their investments.
https://yourstory.com/2020/07/fintech-niyo-acquires-startup-goalwise-target-millennials-mutual-funds

09:21 Toppr raises Rs 350 crore: Edtech startup Toppr has raised 350 crore rupees ($47 million) in its series D round from Foundation Holdings and Kaizen Private Equity.

10:55 Ather Energy raises Rs 84 crore: Bengaluru-based EV startup Ather Energy has raised 84 crore rupees ($11.2 million) in fresh funding from its existing investor Hero MotoCorp.

11:50 BulBul raises $8.7 million: Social commerce startup BulBul has raised $8.7 million (65 crore rupees) from InfoEdge, Sequoia Capital and Leo Capital.

12:30 Hevo Data raises $8 million: SaaS-based data pipeline solutions provider Hevo Data has raised $8 million (60 crore rupees) from Qualgro, Lachy Groom, a former executive at Stripe, Sequoia Capital’s Surge and Chiratae Ventures.

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