Rules for online gaming🎮, Curefoods raise Rs 300 Cr🥗, 'Smart' gadgets 📈

Govt notifies rules for online gaming, Binny Bansal leads Rs 300 Cr funding, Indians are buying ‘smart’ gadgets, Funding Deals and more.

Rise & Shine ☀

Apr 07, 2023

Hello everyone! 👋🏻

Start your day, the smart way!

Today, we are covering:

Government notifies rules for online gaming, to appoint multiple SROs
Binny Bansal’s Three State Ventures leads Rs 300 crore funding in Curefoods
From mobiles to TVs, Indians are buying ‘smart’ gadgets
Funding Deals

Government notifies rules for online gaming, to appoint multiple SROs🎮

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Thursday notified the final rules for online gaming. Draft regulations had been issued in January.

The development comes after Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar last week said the rules were being scrutinized after “extensive consultation” and would be notified soon.

As per the final rules, the government will appoint multiple self-regulatory organizations (SROs) comprising industry representatives, educationists, and other experts such as child experts, psychology experts, and so on. To begin with, the government will notify three SROs.

Binny Bansal’s Three State Ventures leads Rs 300 crore funding in Curefoods🥗

Cloud kitchen startup Curefoods, owner of brands like EatFit and Sharief Bhai, said it has raised Rs 300 crore in funding, in a round led by Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal’s Three State Ventures.

Bansal had invested in the cloud kitchen firm back in 2021 when he was a part of a $13 million round in Curefoods led by Iron Pillar. Curefoods was hived off in October 2020 from Cultfit, which was founded by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori in 2016. Nagori is a former Flipkart executive.

Binny Bansal’s Three State Ventures has invested Rs 240 crore in this round along with existing investors IronPillar, Chiratae Ventures, ASK Finance and Winter Capital.

From mobiles to TVs, Indians are buying ‘smart’ gadgets📺

Be it smartphones, smart televisions, or smart appliances, Indian consumers are shifting towards smart electronic products, a trend that accelerated during the pandemic with premiumization and longer time spent at home.

The share of smartphones in total mobile phone sales increased from 59% in 2019 to 72% in 2022, while that of smart televisions rose from 52% to a whopping 90% over the same period.

Even purchases of smart appliances such as smart ACs, smart water purifiers and smart washing machines have gone up over the same period, leading overall premium products to outsell the mass range.

Lifebridge Senior Care Pvt. Ltd which operates the healthcare startup Kites Senior Care raised $2 million (Rs 16.4 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round from Ranjan Pai’s Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) family office.
Professional education firm Imarticus Learning has acquired Hero Group platform Hero Mindmine for an undisclosed amount.