India comes 2nd in unicorn race🦄
Salman Khan launches India’s first crypto-token, Meesho records 750% surge, Funding Deals & more.
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India comes second in unicorn race in Q3🥈
India has raced ahead of many developed economies, including China, the UK and Canada, in adding new unicorns during the third quarter (Q3) of the calendar year 2021, according to PwC India.
A unicorn is a startup with a valuation of at least $1 billion.
India added close to 10 unicorns in Q3, versus seven by China and Hong Kong, and four each by the UK and Canada, signaling the rapid pace of investment activity.
However, the US continued to lead the chart by a distance, adding close to 68 unicorns in the September quarter.
The quarter also saw Indian startups raise $10.9 billion across 347 deals; the first-time investments in Indian startups have crossed more than $10 billion in a quarter.
Salman Khan launches India’s first social crypto-token, Chingari’s ‘$GARI’🔥
Social Token App, Chingari unveiled its’ first-ever crypto-token, ‘$GARI’ at a public event at Taj Lands’ End, Mumbai at the hands of film star and the brand ambassador of the tech start-up, Salman Khan. With the launch, Chingari claims to be the first social network in India to have issued crypto tokens.
Recently the Indian short-video sharing platform completed a funding round of over $19 million from more than 30 venture funds and individual investors. The funding will help the startup to build ‘$GARI’ with Solana, a fast-growing ecosystem in crypto technology.
The Bengaluru-based rival of Instagram Reels, MX Takatak, Josh, and Moj boasts 50 million monthly active users and 78 million downloads to date.
Hot Shorts⚡
Tala, a Bengaluru-based fintech company, has raised $145 million in its Series E fundraising round, led by Upstart and with participation from the Stellar Enterprise Foundation. The company has so far raised $350 million, including the latest round.
Dutchie, a cannabis e-commerce platform, has raised $350 million in its latest funding round, valuing the company at $3.75 billion. This is Dutchie's second huge investment round this year.
Arrivae, a furniture startup, raised Rs 50 crore in its first external funding round led by ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. Harsh Jain (Founder, Dream 11), and Ramesh S. Damani also participated in the funding round (Chairman, DMart).
Meesho records 750% surge in user base during festive season sales🛍
Social commerce platform, Meesho, has recorded a 750% growth in users over last year during its flagship festive sale event -- Maha Indian Shopping League.
Nearly 60 percent of the total demand was driven by tier 4+ markets, including remote locations like Khawzhwal and Sopore, the company said in a statement.
Recording over 10X growth in sales over last year, the company also saw seller participation rise by 314 percent during the Maha Indian Shopping League. Ahead of the sale event, Meesho said it onboarded over 100,000 sellers with many new initiatives, including free ad credits and zero return shipping charges.
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