Zomato has built up its arsenal as it continues its to grind it out with Swiggy for dominance over India’s food tech space.

The fundraise values Zomato at $3 billion pre-money, which means its post money valuation is $3.15 million.

Last year, Zomato had been valued at $2.18 billion, and its latest valuation brings it neck-and-neck with Swiggy, which is valued at $3.3 billion.

The round is reportedly a part of a large $500 million round that Zomato is raising, and it’s possible that the company’s valuation could rise further in the coming months.

A few weeks later, over a thousand restaurant partners had pulled out of Zomato Gold, claiming that it didn’t make financial sense for them to continue participating in the program. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578637806.9945734/Zomato-Raises-$150-Million-From-Alibaba’s-Ant-Financial,-Valuation-Rises-From-$2.1-Billion-$3.1-Billion?ref=audio_experience

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced video-based Know Your Customer (KYC) as an option to establish a customer’s identity.

The decision comes as a major relief to fintech startups and digital non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) who have been calling for this feature as it cuts costs in a big way.

After the Supreme Court’s 2018 judgement prohibiting the use of Aadhaar by private companies, fintech companies have been requesting the authorities to come up with an alternative plan for completing the KYC process.

In May 2019, the RBI released new offline KYC rules which allowed banks to carry out Aadhaar authentication/offline-verification for individuals voluntarily allowing the use of their Aadhaar number.

The move was welcomed by fintech companies and the latest addition of video-based KYC is expected to further help startups expand their businesses. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578636107.4862618/Fintech-Startups-Can-Sign-Up-Users-Faster-As-RBI-Allows-Video-KYC?ref=audio_experience

The competition commission of India (CCI) encouraged ecommerce companies including Amazon and Flipkart this week to use self-regulation to solve issues of search rigging, reviews, deep discounting, fake goods and to uphold seller interests.

Stakeholders questioned the merit of allowing ecommerce companies to self-regulate to solve unfair practices that have been adopted by the very same companies.

He demanded that the government should constitute a regulatory authority for ecommerce companies.

Note any possibility of influencing the ranking through direct or indirect remuneration paid by business users to the company.

The statutory body also has the authority to scrutinise the contract terms between ecommerce companies and sellers. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578634208.727187/CCI’s-Self-Regulation-Relief-For-Ecommerce-Upsets-Traders’-Bodies?ref=audio_experience

Since then, online grocery options have grown slowly, as many customers still prefer to pick out their avocados and steaks in the store.

Today, customers can pick up their orders curbside for free at more than 3,000 stores, up from about 400 in 2016.

Walmart began working with Alert in 2016, as part of a broader corporate initiative dubbed “Alpha” that sought to improve the profitability of online grocery.

Still, the bots can’t pick fresh produce and other perishable items yet, so that’s handled by employees in the store.

“You cannot grow by picking one order in one shopping cart at a time.” | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578632405.252579/Walmart-unveils-robot-run-warehouse-to-whisk-food-to-your-car?ref=audio_experience

MUMBAI: Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal has acquired DHFL General Insurance from Wadhawan Global Capital (WGC) for around Rs.

100 crore, people in the know of the deal said.

The transaction is seen as a distress sale for WGC, which used to run bankrupt home financier Dewan Housing Finance , one of the persons said.Bansal’s bet on the insurance firm is part of his broader ambition in financial services industry, and comes on the back of multiple investments he has made to bulk up his portfolio of firms in the sector.The deal has been routed through Navi Technologies, formerly BAC Acquisitions which Bansal had founded along with IIT-Delhi batchmate Ankit Agarwal after selling stake in Flipkart in 2018.Sources said Bansal has bought out the entire stake in the insurer, held by Kapil Wadhawan-owned WGC.“Navi is actively scouting for opportunities in BFSI space,” a spokesperson for the company said when contacted by ET.

“Specifically, it is interested in the intersection of technology and financial services, where we believe technology can be harnessed to improve access and availability of financial services,” the spokesperson said. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578630606.387857/Cover-story:-Sachin-Bansal-buys-DHFL-Gen-Insurance?ref=audio_experience

Every aspect, every industry in the modern world is facing revolutionary changes.

The wonder of modern businessThe greatest part about modern business is that it there is literally a world of opportunity right on your doorstep.

The flip side of that coin, however, is that the landscape is getting more and more competitive by the day.

The professional landscape was already starting to heat up when the worldwide web eventually introduced ecommerce to the game – changing it drastically, from the inside out.

The future of business going forwardAs we head further into the digital era, it continues to become clearer and clearer that businesses that hope to continue their exciting reign are not only acknowledging and understanding the modern era in business, but are taking the utmost advantage of it. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578628910.003278/The-Modern-Era-In-Business-Continues-To-Get-More-Competitive?ref=audio_experience

Flipkart cofounder and former CEO Sachin Bansal has acquired Mumbai-based insurance company DHFL General Insurance from Kapil Wadhawan-led financial services group Wadhawan Group Capital (WGC) for INR 100 Cr ($14 Mn).

The deal is seen as a distress sale for WGC, which used to run the bankrupt homegrown company DHFL.

The parent company WGC also owns financial services companies such as Aadhar Housing Finance, Avanse Financial Services, DHFL Pramerica Asset Managers, DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance and DHFL General Insurance.

With the acquisition of DHFL General Insurance, Bansal has forayed into insurance space.

Last year, Bansal acquired a non-banking finance company (NBFC) called Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services (CRIDS) for INR 739 Cr ($104 Mn). | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578627005.397322/Sachin-Bansal-Acquires-DHFL-General-Insurance-For-INR-100-Cr?ref=audio_experience

world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.

The 17th edition of Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath’s annual Chitra Santhe featured over 1,500 artists this year.

See Part I of this photo essay series here, as well as our coverage of five earlier editions of Chitra Santhe: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015.

“Chitra Santhe is an event where there's always a huge turnout and the message can reach a wide audience,” she adds.

“I absolutely loved the vibrant atmosphere at this year’s Chitra Santhe. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578625206.7750459/From-climate-change-to-cultural-heritage:-how-artists-impacted-audiences-at-Chitra-Santhe-2020?ref=audio_experience

After his exit from Williams Martini, Rob has signed up for a new role: expert technical consultant with Formula 1.

The F1 CFD project used over 12,000 hours of compute time to design the race car for the 2021 season.

Formula 1 used AWS technologies to study how cars “perform in the wake of another, as opposed to running in clean air” and understand the “incredible aerodynamic complexities associated with multi-car simulations”.

Even with a team technology of 200 cores, it takes 14 days; this is not agile to build a better Formula 1 car.

From 2009, those who used data efficiently began to win titles. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578623406.3165207/Rob-Smedley-reveals-how-AWS-is-powering-Formula-1-insights,-and-helping-drivers-gear-up-to-perform-better?ref=audio_experience

Tweet DURHAM, N.C., BioSkryb, a developer of genomic amplification technologies that deliver higher coverage and fidelity for gene sequencing, today announced it raised $11.5 million in new funding.

To export BioSkryb funding data to PDF and Excel, clickClick here for more funding data on BioSkrybTo export BioSkryb funding data to PDF and Excel, click here This Seed round was led by venture capital firm Anzu Partners and included the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

BioSkryb's proprietary genomic amplification technology allows scientists working with scarce genetic material to achieve high quality gene sequencing data.

About BioSkrybBioSkryb is a venture-backed developer of genomic amplification technologies that deliver unprecedented coverage and fidelity for various gene sequencing applications.

Its proprietary genome amplification technology was developed at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578621607.405128/BioSkryb-Inks-$11.5M-Seed-Round?ref=audio_experience