Chennai-based WayCool Foods, an agritech startup working to improve food supply chain and farmer livelihood, has raised $32 million in a combination of equity and debt in its Series C round.

Karthik Jayaraman, Co-Founder and CEO, WayCool Foods, said,“Lightbox’s deep experience in technology and brand building will greatly help us as we strengthen our digital backbone, and our move into value-added products.

The company operates a soil-to-sale model, engaging deeply with a base of nearly 40,000 farmers to improve farm income, while bringing efficiency through its direct supply chain model.

Prashant Mehta, Partner at Lightbox, added,“We’re thrilled with the achievement and the focus WayCool has on leveraging technology to solve the massive challenges in the food supply chain.

Linda Broekhuizen, Chief Investment Officer at FMO, said,“The company leverages technology and innovative concepts to improve logistics and distribution services. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1581055206.1553774/[Funding-alert]-Lightbox-leads-$32M-investment-in-agritech-startup-WayCool-Foods?ref=audio_experience

That may explain the success to date of HopSkipDrive, a six-year-old, L.A.-based company that pairs drivers with both families but also, crucially, school districts.

Specifically, the now 100-plus person company has deals in place with school districts in 13 markets across eight states where it works with more than 7,000 contractors.

We work with families, but we also contract with school districts and counties, and that has a strong path to profitability.

TC: What do your contracts look like then with these school districts?

JM: Our business for families is growing organically, there’s such a need for it, but 70 percent of our revenue comes from [school districts]. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1581053407.6156924/Ride-share-startup-HopSkipDrive-raises-$22-million-to-focus-on-school-transportation-–-TechCrunch?ref=audio_experience

Uber lost $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019, about 24 percent more than the same time last year.

Analysts polled by FactSet predicted Uber would lose $1.18 billion, or 67 cents per share, during the quarter.

Uber brought in $4.1 billion in revenue, up 37 percent from a year ago.

The fourth quarter was marked by painful disclosures at Uber.

Its losses in the fourth quarter included 243 million in stock-based compensation. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1581051605.9731867/Uber-loses-$1.1B-investing-in-food-delivery,-driverless-cars?ref=audio_experience

Legendary activist investor Paul Singer is taking on one of his most high-profile targets yet: Masayoshi Son Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. has built a stake of close to $3 billion in SoftBank Group Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

At the last earnings call in November, Son said he was committed to improving corporate governance.

In the case of Oyo , the India-based hotel company, antitrust regulators are now examining its business model.

Elliott has engaged privately with SoftBank’s leadership and is working constructively on solutions to help SoftBank materially and sustainably reduce its discount to intrinsic value,” the activist firm said in an emailed statement.

It declined to comment on the size of its stake in SoftBank. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1581049806.5338027/Activist-Paul-Singer-builds-close-to-$3-billion-stake-in-SoftBank?ref=audio_experience

This week Resonate, the non-profit organization that aims to better connect individuals, and Horasis, the international think tank, announced their global collaboration, looking to create positive economic impact for communities and charities.

Angela Beardsley, Founder at Resonate, has been working with Horasis Chairman Dr. Frank-Jürgen Richter since last year to bring the idea forward.

“We are very glad to enter this partnership with Resonate – together we have an opportunity to inspire the future of community leadership and the future of our planet,” said Dr. Richter, who founded Horasis in 2005.

“Powered by Resonate, this global collaboration project will accelerate and scale up quickly.”The launch announcement video is available on Resonate’s Facebook.

Featured photo of Horasis Chairman Dr. Frank-Jürgen Richter | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1581048006.5048385/Resonate-and-Horasis-announce-global-partnership?ref=audio_experience

The division will be headed by AJ Jindal, who has previously headed the research and development (R&D) at Tata Motors.

The company’s last electric vehicle model was Tata Tigor in 2017 for government fleets.

However, Tata Motors has been vocal about its aim to become a disruptor in the electric mobility segment, just like it has been in the fuel run vehicles.

We have taken up the mission that we should be ahead in terms of EV technology,” Shailesh Chandra, the president of Tata Motors’ electric mobility business, said.

For this, Tata Motors also launched a Ziptron power train in September 2019, which comprises of “highly” efficient permanent magnet alternating current (AC) motor. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1581046307.57801/Tata-Motors-To-Set-Up-Separate-Division-For-Electric-vehicles?ref=audio_experience

NEW DELHI: Amrish Rau , who was heading PayU India’s fintech investments and partnerships, has resigned.

Rau was a former chief executive of PayU India In a series of tweets on the popular microblogging platform, Rau said it was “time to have another new experience,” without disclosing his upcoming plans.Rau served as the head of Naspers-owned PayU’s domestic arm for about two-and-a-half years, stepping into the position almost immediately after selling CitrusPay, the homegrown payments company that he had co-founded with Jitendra Gupta and Satyan Kothari, for $130 million to PayU in 2016.The transaction stood out at the time given that it was an all-cash deal, a rarity in the Indian startup ecosystem, and was also among the largest venture capital-backed fintech deals in the country.Along with co-founder Gupta, he took over at PayU India – valued at about $2.5 billion – steering it from just a payments gateway into consumer credit, among others, while making a string of strategic investments and acquisitions along the way.Former Reliance Industries executive Anirban Mukherjee took over as CEO of PayU India after Rau stepped down in February last year.Rau went on to oversee a broader role within the company, focusing on fintech partnerships and investments. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1581044487.8648782/PayU-India’s-head-of-fintech-investments-Amrish-Rau-steps-down?ref=audio_experience

Posted by admin on 2/07/20 • Categorized as In the NewsA new online PR platform, e-PR Inc., is set to launch in March of this year.

In doing so, the platform will become a one-stop-shop for clients who are interested in advertising with various media websites, which in turn will increase Google and Yandex searches.

The company’s CEO Yury Mosha firmly believes that to grow in this new digital age means to expand your online presence and image.

Not only will the platform be simple to navigate, but it will also be prompt.

A client can purchase a package, submit an article, and have it published within 24 hours, granting quick results. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1581042607.5680373/A-New-Online-PR-Platform-–-e-PR-Inc.---Young-Upstarts?ref=audio_experience

When it comes to business intelligence integration for the needs of growing businesses, or BI integration, there are some challenges.

Other Data Integration TechniquesEnterprise Information Integration (EII)EII is a complementary approach to both ETL/ELT.

The Bottom Line of BI IntegrationEach data integration strategy carries its own opportunities and restrictions.

To reap the rewards of successful BI integration, you need to set your goals regarding your data first.

For example, you might use it to implement a BI solution, increase the overall productivity of the enterprise, or ensure business process continuity. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1581040805.6101537/What-You-Need-to-Know-About-BI-Integration-–-Running-Your-Business?ref=audio_experience

And Neetu Kurian has built her digital marketing startup on this idea.

Neetu KurianBased out of Kochi, Kerala, OnPageOne is an ROI-driven digital marketing startup that delivers value-driven content marketing solutions through numerous distribution channels.

The need for an exclusive, professional, transparent and result-oriented digital marketing agency was evident, and this incited me to embark on an entrepreneurial journey."

Every business gets customised and tailor-made solutions in digital marketing, and all services are handled in-house.

Today, the 10-member team is able to have much deeper conversations with users, most of who now have a digital marketing budget. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1581039005.1817818/[Startup-Bharat]-This-Kochi-based-digital-marketing-firm-offers-customised,-ROI-driven-solutions?ref=audio_experience