Startup Around

Coronavirus has literally brought the global economy to a halt with joblessness on the rise, and startups are in a very vulnerable position.

The VCs which have provided the note are: Accel, Bessemer Venture Partners, Chiratae Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Lightspeed, Matrix Partners India, Nexus Venture Partners, Omidyar Network India, SAIF Partners, and Sequoia Capital India.

Self-assessment: Startups need to be clear and realistic about how they are going to be perceived by potential acquirers depending on the various circumstances.

Strategic relationships: During an M&A process, there are various factors which come into play like inter-personal relationship between the founders or startups looking at adjacencies for their market reach.

It is also important for startups to take the help of advisors or bankers during an M&A process. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1586134805.3000922/Fundraising,-M&A,-and-strategic-partnerships-for-startups-in-the-time-of-coronavirus?ref=audio_experience

Mention comics and superheroes, and more often than not, global brands like Marvel and DC come to mind.

“When I started TBS Planet in July 2016 with the comic book ‘Ved’, it was more of a hobby.

Currently, TBS Planet has approximately 14,000 subscribers.

The 22-member TBS Planet team also caters to customers from countries like Dubai and the US.

Since they started using WhatsApp, Rajeev says they have seen high growth rates, up to 40 percent month on month. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1586133005.2998466/How-this-startup-helps-small-town-India-get-daily-access-to-superhero-stories-they-can-relate-to?ref=audio_experience

It provides end-to-end services, starting from GRE to shortlisting, helping with the VISA application, loans, forex and finally the accommodation.

The 100 universities on its platform include Northeastern University, University of Texas Dallas, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Binghamton, and University of Utah.

On its platform, Yocket has students, universities, and other allied service providers, including student loan and forex providers.

Yocket uses machine learning (ML) to recommend students the right university, after analysing data from the past.

“Based on the student’s profile, Yocket uses ML to refer universities,” Sumeet says. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1586131205.1705937/Starting-up-with-less-than-Rs-10k,-this-edtech-startup-now-clocks-$1M-in-revenue?ref=audio_experience

JCB, the earthmoving and construction equipment manufacturer, has joined hands with Asian Institute of Medical Sciences to aid in India’s fight against COVID-19.

Part of the company’s CSR initiative, JCB will be providing the Faridabad-based medical body funds to purchase personal protective equipment.

The company will also funding Asian Institute of Medical Sciences' purchase of medicines, testing kits, security suits, and other consumables for doctors and healthcare workers.

Speaking about the initiative, Subir Kumar Chowdhury, Managing Director and CEO of JCB India, said, “We have initiated a multipronged prevention, mitigation, and ongoing support strategy with Asian Institute of Medical Sciences to deal with COVID-19 related patients.

Apart from this financial support, JCB is also supplying food and essentials in communities where it operates. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1586130141.605577/JCB-joins-hands-with-Asian-Institute-of-Medical-Sciences-to-battle-COVID-19?ref=audio_experience

Hospitality firm OYO said it is suspending payment of monthly benchmark revenue to its hotel partners as it is finding impossible to discharge its obligations under the master service agreement due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO of OYO Hotels and Homes.

"This abrupt, extra-ordinary and unprecedented drop in your hotel's revenue as a result of the COVID-19 can hardly be considered to be in the ordinary course of business.

OYO's performance and obligation in relation to the benchmark revenue under the agreement has become extremely onerous and commercially impracticable," it added.

The company has decided to invoke the force majeure clause, via which they are completely suspending payments to hotels and which isn't even in the agreement that hotels have signed, he added. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1586128340.5096216/OYO-suspends-payment-of-monthly-benchmark-revenue-to-hotels;-invokes-force-majeure?ref=audio_experience

Through the week, YourStory focused on stories that spotlighted the work that startups are doing to help tackle COVID-19.

Dr Velumani A, Thyrocare,Image credit: BizencyclopediaNow, let’s talk about apps that are taking the fight to coronavirus.

YourStory spoke to a few startups from Tier II and III cities of India to understand how they are dealing with the unfolding coronavirus crisis.

Focusing on medical workersWhile India continues to observe the coronavirus lockdown, healthcare providers do not have the luxury to afford social distancing.

Tech to the rescueIn this week’s Techie Tuesday, we meet Kanav Arora, the textbook definition of a techie. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1586126439.8774776/The-week-that-was:-from-a-textbook-techie-to-startups-taking-the-fight-to-coronavirus?ref=audio_experience

Q: Which VC firms are still reviewing fundable deals during the Covid-19 quarantine?

Many bigger firms have “tapped the brakes” and at least made a decision to slow down their investing pace for now.

Many bigger firms want to reserve capital for deals later in the year when valuations “reset” a bit.

AND, lots of angels and small seed funds have a history of investing over Zoom , have fresh capital, and the least triage to deal with.

And at the margin, for now, it will be easier to pull off seed and small Series A investments. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1586124006.134735/VC-Firms-Are-Still-Open-For-Business.-Just-Assume-It-Takes-2x-Longer-and-2x-Harder.?ref=audio_experience

National carrier Air India has stopped bookings for domestic and international flights till April 30 as it awaits a decision from the government on the lockdown that ends on April 14, according to a spokesperson.

No-frills carriers IndiGo, SpiceJet, and GoAir said they were taking bookings for domestic flights starting April 15.

An IndiGo spokesperson said bookings for international flights remained suspended.

The Air India spokesperson said bookings had now been closed till April 30 from Friday.

Spokespersons for SpiceJet and GoAir said bookings were open for travel on domestic flights from April 15 and for international flights from May 1. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1586122827.0380237/Coronavirus:-Air-India-stops-bookings-for-flights-till-April-30?ref=audio_experience

The company claims to be the first in the world to develop a technology that uses UV light to kill viruses.

“A report published by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that UV light can actually decontaminate or kill a SARS virus.

If that particular light can kill SARS virus, why can’t it kill COVID-19?” asks Pankaj, the company’s MD and co-founder.

Its patent-protected technology can focus on the necessary energy on the entire surface of an object that is kept inside this box to kill SARS, COVID, and even bacteria.

Log9Materials has already listed the Corona Oven on the government’s e-marketplace, and is in touch with the authorities to help supply it to hospitals. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1586120532.4291468/Coronavirus:-this-Bengaluru-based-firm-has-an-‘inside-the-box’-solution-to-fight-COVID-19?ref=audio_experience

Tailscale, a Toronto, Canada-based corporate VPN company, raised $3m in seed funding.

The round was led by Heavybit with participation from Uncork Capital and others.

The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach.

It is based on Google’s BeyondCorp architecture, and built using the WireGuard protocol.

Tailscale reduces VPN setup by using a team’s existing identity provider such as GSuite and Office365, connects authorized devices in a peer-to-peer mesh, minimizing latency and improving reliability. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1586118728.1733186/Tailscale-Raises-$3M-in-Seed-Funding?ref=audio_experience