In this video, we continue with Deepinder Goyal’s journey of building  Zomato – not the Zomato we all know today but this is the story of  Zomato’s origins. Before it was even called Zomato, it’s the story of  Foodlet and Foodiebay.

How Deepinder Goyal met his co-founder Pankaj Chaddah: At Bain & Company, Deepinder used to play foosball with this guy at lunch breaks who would keep beating him again and again. This guy was Pankaj Chaddah.  During their lunch break, Pankaj happened to look at Foodiebay’s analytics and realised that Deepinder was struggling to attract traffic to his website. As Deepinder kept looking, the number of users suddenly tripped from 3 to 10 users. He noticed that Pankaj had changed his  Google Talk status to ‘go check out foodiebay.com’ – which helped people in discovering Foodiebay. This was the moment Deepinder realised that he really needed a co-founder to help him scale this startup idea and on  10th July 2008 Pankaj joined Foodiebay as Deepinder’s co-founder.

Competition and Foodiebay’s growth: By 2008, Foodiebay was starting to see a lot of competition from food websites like Hungry Bangalore,  Burrp, Tasty Khana, Plan for Me, BiteQuest and A Place To Dine. This competition also helped Foodiebay to be a part of the competition story in the online food space that got Foodiebay the media attention that they desperately needed. By the end of 2008, Foodiebay had grown significantly -  more than 1,400 restaurants had uploaded their menus on their website and that was just in the Delhi-NCR region alone. Over the next few years, Foodiebay started to expand to cities like Mumbai and Kolkata – while also adding new features like restaurant ratings and reviews and personalised recommendations. They had managed to do all this – while still working at Bain & Company. Foodiebay was still just a side hustle for them.

Deepinder and Pankaj quit Bain & Company to focus on Foodiebay: Once Foodiebay was making more money than the two co-founders were making from their job at Bain and Company, they decided it was time for them to shift their complete focus on Foodiebay. That was the only way they could grow Foodiebay and take it to the next level. So, in 2009, both Deepinder and Pankaj quit their jobs and became full-time entrepreneurs.  

Foodiebay almost didn’t get investment from Info Edge: Now, Deepinder and Pankaj want to grow and scale Foodiebay as fast as they could. But to do that, they would need money – more money than what they were making from Foodiebay. Even when Deepinder was actively looking to invest, he had received an email from someone at Naurki.com but thinking that it was just another sales email, he ignored it. Eventually, he did open that email and he was shocked to realise that he had ignored an email from the founder of Naukri.com/Info Edge himself – he was Sanjeev Bikhchandani. He was surprised to see that Sanjeev was in fact a user of Foodiebay. So, Deepinder decided to set up a meeting with Sanjeev and within 72 hours of that meeting, Info Edge had invested $1 million into Foodiebay.

How Foodiebay became Zomato: In one of their early conversations with Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Sanjeev asked them why they had chosen the name  Foodiebay. Sanjeev even raised some objections about the name – first,  adding ‘Food’ in the name made their business a lot restrictive and then the big one was ‘ebay’ – this could turn out to be a legal issue if global e-commerce website Ebay noticed Foodiebay. So, Sanjeev urged them to come up with a different name.  That’s when they decided to used the word ‘Tomato’ to come up with ‘Zomato’. And just like that – Foodiebay became the food delivery giant that we all know today – Zomato.

This week in Indian startup news, BharatPe vs Ashneer Grover controversy, Navi Technologies planning an IPO, Ather Energy planning to launch a new electric scooter, and Razorpay’s first international acquisition.

In funding news, ElasticRun raises $300 million to become a unicorn, Livspace raises $180 million to become a unicorn, Xpressbees raises $300 million to become a unicorn, Airmeet raises $35 million, Mintifi raises $40 million, Xto10X raises $25 million, Bugworks Research raises $18 million, Karbon Card raises $15 million, and Sprinto raises $10 million.

BharatPe vs Ashneer Grover controversy: BharatPe has hired PwC to audit their books and there are already reports of financial fraud. Ashneer Grover on the other hand has denied all the allegations from the leaked audio clip to financial fraud. He now is asking the board to either pay him ₹4,000 crore for his 9.5% stake in the company if they want him gone or let him run the company.

Navi Technologies planning an IPO: Sachin Bansal’s latest fintech and insurtech venture Navi Technologies is gearing up for an IPO within four years of its launch. Navi Technologies provides loans and insurance to their customers and they’ve also launched their own mutual fund to offer more investment opportunities to their customers.

Ather Energy planning to launch new electric scooter: While Ola continues to face production delays, their rival Ather Energy is gearing up to up the ante as they plan to launch a new variant of their electric scooter with a bigger battery with a longer range within the next six months. Ather’s new electric scooter is expected to have a 110-115 km range – which could give Ola a run for their money.

Razorpay’s first international acquisition: Indian fintech giant Razorpay has acquired a majority stake in Curlec, a Malaysian recurring payments solution for businesses - marking their first international acquisition.

ElasticRun raises $300 million to become a unicorn: Pune-based B2B e-commerce startup ElasticRun has raised $300 million in a round led by Softbank Vision Fund 2 at a $1.5 billion valuation – making them a unicorn.

Livspace raises $180 million to become a unicorn: Home decor and renovation platform Livspace has raised $180 million in a round led by KKR at a $1.2 billion valuation – making them a unicorn.

Xpressbees raises $300 million to become a unicorn: Pune-based logistics service provider Xpressbees has raised $300 million in a round led by Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth, ChrysCapital at a $1.2 billion valuation – making them India’s 8th unicorn of 2022.

Airmeet raises $35 million: Virtual events platform Airmeet has raised $35 million in a round led by Prosus Ventures and Sistema Asia Fund to add new experiences on their virtual events platform by investing in R&D and to expand their international business.

Mintifi raises $40 million: B2B lending startup Mintifi has raised $40 million in a round led by Norwest Venture Partners and Elevation Capital to expand their lending product portfolio by adding products like BNPL solutions for SMEs.

Xto10X raises $25 million: Binny Bansal’s scaling platform for startups Xto10X has raised $25 million to help develop learning programmes, software tools and operating capabilities - that will enable startups to scale their operations.

Bugworks Research raises $18 million: A clinical-stage biopharmaceutical startup Bugworks Research has raised $18 million in a round led by Lightrock India to support the development of its broad-spectrum antibacterial agent.

Karbon Card raises $15 million: Karbon Card, which offers corporate cards to businesses and startups, has raised $15 million to offer complete neobanking services to businesses.

Sprinto raises $10 million: SaaS-based compliance automation startup Sprinto has raised $10 million in a round led by Elevation Capital to open their first office in the US.

This week in Indian web3 news, WazirX’s co-founder Nishchal Shetty to launch Shardeum blockchain, India’s first metaverse wedding NFTs, and  India’s first blockchain wedding.

In funding news, Polygon raises $450 million, Colexion raises $5  million, Pillow raises $3 million, and Oneto11 raises $2.5 million.

WazirX’s co-founder Nishchal Shetty to launch Shardeum blockchain: WazirX’s co-founder Nishcal Shetty, along with US-based blockchain architect Omar Syed, are planning to launch a Layer 1 blockchain called  Shardeum to solve the problem of scalability and cost facing blockchain networks like Bitcoin or Ethereum. Shardeum will be using the concept of sharding, where the network is broken up into shards. So you don’t have all of the nodes in the network handling all of the transactions, you just have some shards handling some transactions, while other shards handle other transactions.

India’s first metaverse wedding NFTs: Days before this Tamil Nadu-based couple hosted India’s first metaverse wedding - they decided to drop their 12 NFTs including the invitation and bride and groom’s virtual avatars on an NFT marketplace called BeyondLife.club. While these wedding reception invites were sold out within seconds of dropping for $10 each - one of these invites was being traded at $4,450.

India’s first blockchain wedding: After India’s first metaverse wedding reception, a couple from Pune (Shruti Nair and Anil Narasipuram) have made their wedding official on the blockchain. The couple got married on  15th November 2021 but had to opt for a court marriage due to Covid restrictions but they thought that it wasn’t enough - so, the couple decided to get a digital priest and made their marriage ‘blockchain official’ by executing an Ethereum contract - which consecrated their commitment in the form of an NFT.

TDS on cryptocurrencies could impact crypto trades: According to Zerodha’s co-founder Nithin Kamath, the 1% TDS on cryptocurrencies could mean that a trader doing 50% trades in a day would end up having 50% of his account value being blocked by the trading platform for TDS. This could severely impact crypto trades as a lot of the money could just end up being blocked leading to a downturn in the crypto trading activity overall. 

Polygon raises $450 million: Polygon, the Ethereum-based scaling solution, has raised $450 million in a round led by Sequoia Capital. The interesting thing here is that this wasn’t Polygon selling equity to raise these funds - instead, they sold MATIC tokens to these investors.  Polygon has 2.67 million monthly active users, who generate roughly 3 million transactions per day, more than double the volume of Ethereum. Polygon will be using these funds to help make mass adoption of Web3 a reality.

the Colexion raises $5 million: Colexion, a celebrity NFT platform, has raised $5 million from the likes of Polygon, HyperEdge Capital, Titan  Ventures, Maven Capital to launch their native token $CLXN and to build their own metaverse infrastructure.

Pillow raises $3 million: DeFi investment platform Pillow has raised $3 million in a round led by Elevation Capital to add high-return generating DeFi strategies for more crypto-assets and to expand globally.

Oneto11 raises $2.5 million: Blockchain-based fantasy gaming platform  Oneto11 has raised $2.5 million from the likes of Oracles Investment  Group, Maximus Capital, NFT Technologies, Magnus Capital, Dutch Crypto  Investors to enter new markets like the Middle East, Europe and North  America.

This week in Indian startup news, Delhi becomes India’s new startup capital, Ashneer Grover probed for financial fraud, Budget 2022: startup tax holiday extended and LTCG surcharge capped at 15%, Ola rebrands quick grocery delivery business as Ola Dash, and Curefoods acquires Maverix.

In funding news, Dealshare raises $165 million to become a unicorn, Moglix raises $250 million, Chargebee raises $250 million and Scaler Academy raises $55 million.

Delhi becomes India’s new startup capital: According to the Economic Survey 2021-22, Delhi is now the new startup capital of India - taking the title away from Bengaluru. Between April 2019 and December 2021 - while Bengaluru added 4,514 new startups, Delhi on the other hand added over 5,000 startups.

Ashneer Grover probed for financial fraud: Days after BharatPe’s Ashneer  Grover went on a ‘voluntary leave’, not only did his wife Madhuri Jain  Grover (who also works at BharatPe) also went on a leave and BharatPe also announced an independent audit of the company’s internal processes and systems. According to media reports, both Ashneer and his wife are being investigated for financial fraud at BharatPe. Ashneer is already facing a hard time in the media for the leaked audio clip controversy, but allegations of financial fraud could have serious consequences for not just Ashneer but for India’s startup ecosystem. Ashneer has hired a  legal firm and is looking to safeguard his reputation and interests at BharatPe.

Budget 2022: Startup tax holiday extended and LTCG surcharge capped at 15%: While there wasn’t much talk about startups in general in the latest budget, there are a few positives for Indian startups. First of all, startups that were incorporated between 1st April 2016 and 31st March 2022 - were eligible for a tax holiday - meaning they don’t have to pay any tax on profits for three consecutive years out of the first ten years of their operations. Due to the whole covid situation, this period has been increased by one more year until 31st March 2023. Secondly - investors, startup founders and employees will now have to pay less tax on their startup investments as the long-term capital gain (LTCG) surcharge is now capped at 15%.

Ola rebrands quick grocery delivery business as Ola Dash: Just like Gofers rebranded themselves as Blinkit to focus on instant grocery delivery, Ola’s latest grocery delivery business called Ola Store is now renamed as Ola Dash to focus on instant grocery as well. They already have a presence in nine cities with a network of 200 dark stores – which they are now planning to increase to 500 across 20 cities in the next six months.  

Curefoods acquires Maverix: Cloud kitchen startup Curefoods has acquired another cloud kitchen startup called Maverix Platforms - making  Curefoods the second-largest cloud kitchen in the country with 125  kitchens across 12 cities.

Dealshare raises $165 million to become a unicorn: Social commerce platform Dealshare has raised $165 million in a round led by Tiger  Global and Alpha Wave Global at a $1.4 billion valuation – making them India’s fifth unicorn of 2022.

Moglix raises $250 million: Moglix, which is a B2B marketplace for industrial products, has raised $250 million in a round led by Alpha Wave Global – more than doubling their valuation from $1 billion to $2.6  billion in just eight months.

Chargebee raises $250 million: SaaS-based subscription management platform Chargebee has raised $250 million in a round led by Tiger  Global and Sequoia Capital – raising their valuation from $1.4 billion to $3.5 billion in nine months.

Scaler Academy raises $55 million: Upskilling platform for college students and working professionals Scaler Academy has raised $55 million in a round led by Lightrock India at a $710 million valuation.

This week in Indian crypto news, India makes cryptocurrencies legal with a crypto tax in budget 2022, FanCraze launches NFTs for cricket fans,  Hike partners with Polygon to move into web3, YouTube’s head of gaming joins Polygon Studios, Stader Labs raises $12.5 million and Flint raises  $5.1 million.

India makes cryptocurrencies legal with a crypto tax in budget 2022: Indian government has introduced a 30% tax on virtual assets –  cryptocurrencies and NFTs – essentially making them legal in India. This decision has brought a lot of clarity and joy among all the crypto investors and web3 enthusiasts in the country.

YouTube’s head of gaming joins Polygon Studios: YouTube’s head of gaming  Ryan Wyatt is leaving YouTube to join blockchain technology company  Polygon - where he will be heading Polygon Studios as its CEO. According to Polygon Studios LinkedIn description, it seems like Polygon is building a blockchain-based media and content platform and their focus seems to be gaming for now. They have already launched a $100 million fund to invest in NFT-based gaming projects.

Hike partners with Polygon to move into web3: After shutting down their messaging platform last year, Hike is now focused on building their casual play to earn gaming platform Rush. The company has now partnered with Polygon to help them transition from a web2 to a web3 company as they plan to add NFTs and launch more play to earn features for their users.

FanCraze launches NFTs for cricket fans: Cricket NFT platform FanCraze has launched digital collectables or NFTs called ‘ICC Crictos’ in partnership with the ICC. This means that cricket fans around the world will now be able to own short digital clips of their favourite cricketing moments from Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s 2011 world cup winning six. And the best part is, they will be able to buy these NFTs using fiat currencies through payment methods like credit/debit cards, wallets and UPI – making them accessible to the masses.

Stader Labs raises $12.5 million: Crypto staking management platform Stader Labs has raised $12.5 million in a round led by Three Arrows Capital – raising their valuation 9X in just three months from $50  million to $450 million.

Flint raises $5.1 million: Crypto investment platform Flint has raised  $5.1 million in a round led by Sequoia Capital and Global Founders Capital to help them provide passive investment opportunities to their users in the crypto market.

This week in Indian startup news, Ola’s electric car, Memechat turns memes into NFTs, Daler Mehndi’s metaverse concert and Boat files for Rs  2,000 crore IPO.

In funding news, Darwinbox raises $72 million to become a unicorn, Swiggy raises $700 million and StanPlus raises $20 million.

Ola’s electric car: Ola’s co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal posted a  digital rendering of an electric car – hinting towards their plans to launch their own electric cars after launching their electric scooters. They have now raised $200 million at a $5 billion valuation to realise their dream of launching their own electric car.

Memechat turns memes into NFTs: Meme creating and sharing platform  Memechat has launched their own NFT marketplace called The Meme Club  (TMC) - allowing creators to create and sell their own memes as NFTs.  After witnessing the craze of NFTs across the world, Memechat wants to replicate the same success in India through memes.

Daler Mehndi’s metaverse concert: On 26th January - India’s 73rd  Republic day, Indian singer Daler Mehndi performed in a concert in the  metaverse. This concert also marked the launch of Partynite - a  metaverse platform launched by Hyderabad-based gaming company  Gamitronics which hosted the metaverse concert.

Boat files for Rs 2,000 crore IPO: Imagine Marketing, the parent company of consumer electronics brand Boat, has filed for an IPO. They want to raise up to ₹2,000 crore through the IPO - which would value them at over $1.5 billion - which is considerably higher than their previous  $300 million valuation last year. Out of ₹2,000 crore - ₹1,100 crore will be offer for sale - which means giving their investors an option to sell their shares and the remaining ₹900 crore will consist of fresh issue - which will be used to pay off their debts.

Darwinbox raises $72 million to become a unicorn: SaaS-based HRtech platform Darwinbox has raised $72 million in a round led by TCV – making them India’s fourth unicorn of 2022. The startup wants to use the fresh capital to add more products to their HR management portfolio and  expand into the US market.

Swiggy raises $700 million: Food delivery giant Swiggy has raised $700  million in a round led by Invesco at a $10.7 billion valuation – making them a decacorn. Swiggy is now even bigger than Zomato in terms of valuation and they will be using the fresh capital to further expand their rapidly growing instant grocery delivery business.

StanPlus raises $20 million: Ambulance service provider StanPlus has raised $20 million in a round led by HealthQuad, Kalaari Capital, and  HealthX Capital Singapore to bring down ambulance response time from 18  minutes to just 8 minutes using their ambulance fleet.

This week in Indian startup news, EVage raises $28 million to build electric trucks, nCore Games raises $10 million to enter metaverse gaming, India gets its first metaverse wedding reception, Boat to file for IPO next week, BharatPe’s Ashneer Grover controversy, Reliance acquires Addverb Technologies, INDMoney raises $75 million and Arya.ag raises $60 million.

EVage raises $28 million to build electric trucks: Electric commercial vehicle startup EVage has raised $28 million in a round led by RedBlue Capital to help them build their flagship electric truck Model.X.

nCore Games raises $10 million to enter metaverse gaming: nCore Games, the developer of FAU-G, has raised $10 million in a round led by Animoca Brands and Galaxy Interactive to help them enter metaverse space with the launch of new Web3 and play to earn games. They are expected to launch their own NFTs and tokens in the next few months.

India gets its first metaverse wedding reception: With the pandemic forcing people to get married over Zoom, an Indian couple in Tamil Nadu will now be hosting their wedding reception on the metaverse – being the first ones to do so in India. It will be a Hogwarts-themed event that is going to be hosted by a Chennai-based startup called TardiVerse.

Boat to file for IPO next week: D2C wearable brand Boat is expected to file for an IPO next week as they plan to raise Rs 2,000 crore. This will make them the first D2C startup to go public and a profitable one at that.

BharatPe’s Ashneer Grover controversy: BharatPe’s co-founder Ashneer Grover is going on voluntary leave. The whole thing started with a leaked audio clip in which Ashneer Grover was allegedly heard abusing and threatening a Kotak Mahindra Bank employee for not getting allocation for the Nykaa IPO. While Ashneer has called the audio clip fake in a deleted tweet, he and his wife had filed a lawsuit against Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Reliance acquires Addverb Technologies: Reliance has acquired a 54% stake in a robotics startup Addverb Technologies to help them scale and automate their warehouses as they plan to strengthen their e-commerce play with JioMart across categories like grocery, fashion and lifestyle, pharma, and furniture.

INDMoney raises $75 million: Wealth management platform INDMoney has raised $75 million in a round led by Tiger Global, Steadview Capital and Dragoneer at a $640 million valuation – as they plan to offer credit cards to their users and grow their user base to 25 to 30 million in the next 12-18 months.

Arya.ag raises $60 million: Agritech startup Arya.ag has raised $60 million in a round led by Asia Impact SA at a $300 million valuation to offer insurance and logistics to farmers across the country.

This week in Indian startup news, Pine Labs files for confidential IPO  in the US, Edtech startups looking to self-regulate the edtech sector and GlobalBees acquire three more D2C brands.

In funding news, Lead School raises $100 million to become a unicorn, Refyne raises $82 million, FPL Technologies raises $75 million, and  Curefoods raises $62 million.

Pine Labs files for confidential IPO in the US: Indian fintech giant Pine Labs, which offers an end-to-end payment solution for merchants,  has filed for a ‘confidential’ IPO in the US - planning to raise around $500 million which would value the company anywhere between $5.5 to $7 billion. Unlike traditional IPOs, while filing a confidential IPO – a company does not need to disclose any details or their DRHP to the public until it is approved by the regulatory body.

Edtech startups looking to self-regulate the edtech sector: A few weeks back, the Indian government had issued an advisory for parents and students - cautioning them against misselling done by some edtech companies. Amid all this, 15 edtech companies which include some of  India’s biggest edtech startups like Byju’s, Unacademy, Vedantu, and upGrad have come together to set up an autonomous body called ‘India EdTech Consortium’ under the Internet and Mobile Association of India  (IAMAI). With this, these companies want to create a self-regulatory  code for the industry and adhere to a ‘common code of conduct’.

GlobalBees acquires three more D2C brands: Thrasio-style D2C house of brands unicorn GlobalBees has acquired three more D2C brands this week - including The Butternut Company (a healthy snacks brand), Mush (a sustainable clothing brand) and Strauss (a sports and fitness equipment brand). With these acquisitions, GlobalBees already has 11 brands in their portfolio. The startup plans to acquire more than 100 brands within the next three years - across categories like FMCG, sports, lifestyle and home organisation.

Lead School raises $100 million to become a unicorn: Edtech startup Lead School, which is focused on providing technology solutions to schools enabling them to conduct online classes via virtual classrooms, has raised $100 million in a round led by GSV Ventures and WestBridge Capital – making them India’s 3rd unicorn this year.

Refyne raises $82 million: Early wage access platform Refyne, which allows employees to access their salaries on-demand without waiting for  the end of the month, has raised $82 million in a round led by Tiger Global Management.

FPL Technologies raises $75 million: Fintech startup FPL Technologies, which operates credit scoring platform OneScore and issues its own credit card called OneCard, has raised $75 million from QED Investors, Janchor Partners, Sequoia Capital India, Matrix Partners and Hummingbird  Ventures at a $750 million valuation.

Curefoods raises $62 million: Cloud kitchen startup Curefoods has raised $62 million from Iron Pillar, Chiratae Ventures, Sixteenth Street Capital, Accel Partners and Binny Bansal (Flipkart co-founder).

This week in Indian startup news, Tax department crackdown on crypto exchanges for tax evasion, Good Glamm Group launches influencer marketing venture ‘Good Creator Co’, Curefoods acquires five food brands and ESOPs buyback at an all-time high.

In funding news, Fractal Analytics raises $360 million, Dunzo raises $240 million and Zupee raises $72 million.

Tax department cracks down on crypto exchanges for tax evasion: Binance-owned Indian crypto exchange WazirX was investigated by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) department - alleging a tax evasion of ₹40.5 crore by the crypto exchange. The tax department has now recovered  ₹49.2 crore from WazirX - which includes the unpaid GST plus interest and penalties. Following this, the tax authorities are now also investigating other crypto exchanges in the country including crypto unicorns CoinSwitch Kuber and CoinDCX, BuyUCoin and Unocoin.

ESOPs buyback at an all-time high: 2021 was the best year for Indian startups in many ways than one - Indian startups funding reached an all-time high of $39 billion - that’s more than 3X of what they raised in 2020. But the entrepreneurs weren’t the only ones who profited from the funding craze - a lot of this money even went into the pockets of the employees of these startups. Thanks to the ESOP buyback conducted by these startups worth $440 million – which is again a record for the ecosystem.

Good Glamm Group launches influencer marketing venture ‘Good Creator  Co’: D2C beauty brand Good Glamm Group has acquired influencer marketing platform Winkl and video analytics platform Vidooly - to launch ‘Good  Creator Co’ - their influencer marketing platform – clubbing together the products from their latest acquisitions along with MissMalini and Plixxo. This strategy will allow Good Glamm Group to earn money by to helping brands connect directly with influencers to boost the reach of their products.

Curefoods acquires five food brands: Curefoods, a cloud kitchen startup,  has acquired five more food brands to add to their growing portfolio.  With these acquisitions, Curefoods now has more than 20 food brands under their brand – operating across 20 cities.

Fractal Analytics raises $360 million: AI-based analytics startup  Fractal Analytics has raised $360 million in a round led by TPG – making this 22-year-old company a unicorn.

Dunzo raises $240 million: Hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo has raised  $240 million in a round led by Reliance Retail - valuing them at $775  million. This will allow Reliance Retail to access Dunzo’s hyperlocal delivery network for their merchants on JioMart and enable Dunzo to expand into eight new cities and strengthen their quick commerce play.

Zupee raises $72 million: Skill-based real-money gaming platform Zupee has raised $72 million in a round led by Nepean Capital – closing their series B round with $102 million and at a valuation of $600 million.

This week in Indian startup news, Capillary Technologies files for IPO, Ola Electric disappoints customers, and MamaEarth acquires Momspresso.

In funding news, MamaEarth raises $37.5 million to become a unicorn, GlobalBees raises $111.5 million to become a unicorn, Zetwerk raises  $210 million, and Jupiter raises $86 million.

Capillary Technologies files for IPO: SaaS-based customer engagement startup Capillary Technologies has filed for an IPO and they plan to raise Rs 850 crore. Out of the Rs 850 crore, Rs 650 crore will come from existing investors selling their stake – which means the primary aim of the IPO is to provide their investors with an exit.

Ola Electric Disappoints Customers: Now that Ola has finally started shipping their electric scooters after multiple delays, they are now facing new problems. This time the customers are disappointed with their Ola S1 and S1 pro as they complain about receiving defective products with scratches and dents. While some even complain of receiving scooters that do not hold up to the promise of the range offered by the startup. On the other hand, the startup is now busy setting up their EV chargers as they plan to set up 4,000 chargers by the end of 2022.

MamaEarth acquires Momspresso: Honasa Consumer, the parent company of D2C baby care brand MamaEarth, has acquired women-focused parenting platform Momspresso and its affiliate micro-influencer marketing platform Momspresso MyMoney. This acquisition is a part of MamaEarth’s strategy of leveraging content to grow their D2C brands.

MamaEarth raises $37.5 million to become a unicorn: D2C baby and mother care brand MamaEarth has raised $37.5 million in a round led by Sequoia –  making them India’s 42nd unicorn of 2021.

GlobalBees raises $111.5 million to become a unicorn: Thrasio-style D2C  house of brands GlobalBees has raised $111.5 million in a round led by  Premji Invest at a $1.07 billion valuation – making them India’s second fasted unicorn and 43rd unicorn of 2021.

Zetwerk raises $210 million: B2B marketplace for manufacturing services Zetwerk has raised $210 million in a round led by Greenoaks Capital doubling their valuation from $1.33 billion to $2.68 billion in just four months.

Jupiter raises $86 million: Neobanking startup Jupiter has raised $86  million in a round led by Tiger Global Management, QED and Sequoia  Capital at a $711 million valuation to develop and add more banking products for their customers - they plan on introducing a lending feature by April and a wider range of investment products later in the year.