Walmart-backed Flipkart is acquiring online pharmacy startup SastaSundar to enter the healthcare segment in India as e-commerce battle intensifies in the world’s second largest internet market. Flipkart said it has signed definitive agreements to acquire a majority stake in SastaSundar, but did not disclose the size of the deal. Eight-year-old SastaSundar was last valued at…
Facebook announced Thursday that it’s running a test to give users a sliver more control over what they see on the platform. Image Credits: Facebook The test will go live on Facebook’s app for English-speaking users. It adds three sub-menus into Facebook’s menu for managing what shows up in the News Feed: friends and family,…
The new economy of space has been made possible by the new generation of launch companies — the old new generation now, actually, as SpaceX and Rocket Lab cement their reputations. Now it’s up to the likes of Astra, Firefly Aerospace, Relativity Space and Launcher to change the game — as the CEOs of those…
Stytch, an API-first passwordless authentication startup, has secured $90 million in Series B funding, pushing the company over the $1 billion valuation line. The investment, led by Coatue Management LLC with participation from existing investors Benchmark Capital, Thrive Capital and Index Ventures, comes just four months after Stytch raised $30M Series A at a valuation…
Millions of small businesses globally, especially in emerging markets, have stayed offline for the better part of the past decade. Due to that, most of them still rely on scribbles using pen and paper or ledgers for bookkeeping and storing important information. In Nigeria, some go to the extent of keeping information offhand. All these…
Baidu keeps ramping up its autonomous driving ambitions. The Chinese tech company made its name in search engines and still relies greatly on search ads for revenues. But it’s hoping that its heavy bet on autonomous driving will pay off down the road. Apollo Go, Baidu’s robotaxi service, aims to be in 65 cities by…
Facebook, errr Meta, showed off a new prototype haptic feedback glove yesterday which they detailed could eventually bring a new generation of AR/VR users closer that they’ve ever been to digital content. Today, a VR startup with that same mission called HaptX (which we’ve covered here before) released a fairly aggressive statement accusing Meta of…
Machina Labs today announced a $14 million Series A for its robotics and AI-based manufacturing. The round, led by Endeavors and featuring Congruent Ventures and Embark Ventures, brings the Los Angeles firm’s total funding to $16.3 million to date. The news also finds the company effectively coming out of stealth, following pilots with NASA and…
According to a 2019 report by Deloitte, about 80% of South Africans have a bank account but only 24% of them make more than three transactions monthly. Unlike other African countries, South Africa also has a functioning credit system with the prevalent use of credit cards. However, expensive value-added services like credit cards do not…
Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures has doubled down its bet on Velocity, which operates a revenue-based financing platform for e-commerce and direct-to-consumer businesses in India, just months after it first backed the Bangalore-based startup. The one-and-half-year-old Velocity said on Wednesday it has raised $20 million in its Series A financing round. Valar Ventures, which led Velocity’s…
