News

HDFC will set up a dedicated team with an understanding of the startup ecosystem to do the investments, he said.

Parekh’s annoucement comes at a time when there is a lot of focus on the policy front to encourage startups with an objective of encouraging innovation and creating employment opportunities. Many corporate entities, including the country’s largest lender State Bank of India, have been creating in-house funds to invest in startups.

Good morning! Below are the top tech startups news for today, Wednesday, January 15, 2020.

Amazon pledges $1 billion to small businesses in India. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced a $1 billion investment in India, even as the e-Commerce giant faces a fresh antitrust probe and waves of protests in the country. Bezos said the $1 billion investment will be used to digitize small and medium-sized businesses in the country and that Amazon hopes to export $10 billion worth of India-made goods around the world by 2025. “I predict that the 21st century is going to be the Indian century,” Bezos said on stage, while wearing traditional Indian attire. “The dynamism, the energy…this country has something special. The most important alliance is going to be the alliance between India and the United States, the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy.”

Host raises $450,000 seed funding to connect corporations with certified and insured bartenders for their events. Host is the first application-based platform connecting corporations with certified and insured bartenders, today announced it has closed $450,000 in funding from a stellar consortium of private domestic investors. The funds will be used to scale, expand market share and focus on product development. Co-founded by Michelle Carazas and Brian Megill, the Host application helps corporate businesses secure trusted bartenders for their events on-demand. Host launched in 2018 with a multi-sided platform application. Through the application, corporations can post details about their event and secure a bartender. Host has become a go-to corporate resource as every bartender has been previously evaluated and selected through a five-step process and covered with liquor and general liability insurance to assure corporate compliance with management buildings’ requirement.

Mobile voice startup Spoke Phone raises $4.5 million in Series A funding. Spoke Phone, an Auckland, New Zealand-based mobile voice company, raised $US4.5m in Series A funding to further enhance the capability of its existing business phone solution, accelerate expansion in Australia and the United States, and commercialize Spoke Phone for enterprise, a new solution that allows large customers to move legacy phone systems to the cloud. The round was led by Australian venture capital firm, Marbruck Investments, with participation from New Zealand-based Icehouse Ventures and Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1 fund. Founded by Jason Kerr and Kieron Lawson, Spoke Phone provides a mobile-first business phone system that offers features and integrations usually available to desktop users.

Secfi secures $550M to launch first pre-wealth management platform to help startup employees navigate financial decisions from offer to IPO. Secfi, the first pre-wealth management platform helping startup employees navigate financial decisions from offer to IPO, Secfi announced it has secure a $550 million investment facility from Serengeti Asset Management. The $550 million in capital will be used to power Secfi’s business growth to help executives, employees, and shareholders preserve and diversify their wealth. Founded in 2017 by serial entrepreneur and World Economic Forum Global Shaper Wouter Witvoet, Secfi has raised $7 million in venture capital from lead investors Rucker Park Capital, Social Leverage and Serengeti Asset Management.

Microsoft issues critical Windows security fix after tipoff from NSA. Microsoft Corp on Tuesday rolled out an important security fix after the U.S. National Security Agency tipped off the company to a serious flaw in its Windows 10 operating system, officials said. The agency reported on its website that it discovered a major security flaw that could let hackers intercept seemingly secure communications in Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system. Known for keeping security flaws to its chest, this time the agency tipped off Microsoft so that it can fix the system for everyone. “This vulnerability may not seem flashy, but it is a critical issue. Trust mechanisms are the foundations on which the internet operates – and CVE-2020-0601 permits a sophisticated threat actor to subvert those very foundations,” the agency said.

dot.LA logo

It’s finally prime time for the L.A. tech scene, after many years of steady growth, and dot.LA is here to chronicle and report on what is going to be an explosive decade for L.A. tech. – Founder Spencer Rascoff

LOS ANGELES (PRWEB) January 09, 2020

dot.LA, the soon-to-be-launched news and events company dedicated to covering L.A.’s startup and tech ecosystem, today announced it has closed its $4 million seed round from dozens of top L.A. investors. Zillow and Hotwire Co-Founder Spencer Rascoff is serving as executive chairman and co-founder.

Investors include prominent companies and individuals from the Los Angeles tech scene, including:

Venture capital firms and their investing partners at: 3L, Act One, Anthos, CAVU, Comcast Ventures, Crosscut, Greycroft, Hawke Media Ventures, K5, March Capital, Maveron, m13, Mucker, NFX, Pelion, Thrive Capital, Torch Capital, Troy Capital, Upfront Ventures, Watertower Ventures and Waverley Capital

Companies such as GeekWire, Jam City, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Perkins Coie, Safire Partners, and Snap, Inc.
Executives including David Bonderman (TPG), Adam Friedman (CAA), Brad Gerstner (Altimeter), Rick Hess (Evolution Media), Gabe Greenbaum (Pritzker), Todd Lemkin (Canyon Partners), Navid Mahmoodzadegan (Moelis), Mark Mullen (Bonfire), Chris Ovitz (Future Positive), Danny Passman (Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman), Karl Peterson (TPG), Brad Ramberg (Beachbody, Idealab), Avery Rosin (Lead Edge), Elie Seidman (Tinder), Sukhinder Singh (Stubhub), Jeff Stibel (Bryant Stibel), Brendan Wallace (Fifth Wall), Brian Weinstein (Bad Robot), Jeff Wilke (Amazon), Josh Yguado (Jam City), and Jeremy Zimmer (UTA)

Entrepreneurs including Austin Allison (dotloop), Allison Checchi (Atom Tickets), Dick Costolo (Twitter), Michael Dubin (Dollar Shave Club), Rand Fishkin (SparkToro), Brad Inman (Inman News), Ross Hoffman (Headspace, Twitter), Todd Jackson (Dropbox), Josh Jones (HMC INQ), Jeff Kearl (Stance, SkullCandy), Brian Lee (BAM Ventures), Paul Levine (Sapphire Ventures), Eddy Lu (GOAT), Adam Miller (Cornerstone OnDemand), Jane Park (Tokki, Julep), Sean Rad (Tinder), JJ Ramberg (NBC News, Goodshop, Goodpods), Ken Ramberg (JOBTRAK, Goodshop, Goodpods), Keith Richman (Voi), Michael Stoppelman (Yelp), Sam Teller (Tesla, SpaceX), Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks) and musician Ciara.

dot.LA will launch on Jan. 27 with the mission of shining a light on innovation in the L.A. startup and tech community. At launch, the newsroom will have at least five journalists covering all aspects of L.A.’s startup scene, and is actively hiring several more reporters and editors. Its editor-in-chief is Joe Bel Bruno, who previously held editor positions at The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Other dot.LA journalists include Tami Abdollah, who most recently covered cybersecurity for the Associated Press; Ben Bergman, who most recently worked for NPR and KPCC; Rachel Uranga, who most recently worked at the Los Angeles Business Journal; and Managing Editor for Digital and Reader Engagement Eric Zassenhaus, who most recently worked at Pacific Standard.

Co-Founder and CEO Sam N. Adams, a former financial journalist and strategy consultant, manages business operations for dot.LA. Adams will focus on building a sustainable business driven by events, sponsorships, and proprietary data.

“It’s finally prime time for the L.A. tech scene, after many years of steady growth, and dot.LA is here to chronicle and report on what is going to be an explosive decade for L.A. tech,” Rascoff said. “Los Angeles has so many ingredients that make a successful tech ecosystem: a culture of innovation and entrepreneurialism, world-class universities, many angel investors, venture capitalists, and startup mentors. One of the only missing ingredients was journalism to highlight the incredible startups and tech companies changing the world. Now with dot.LA on the scene, Los Angeles will be able to achieve its full potential.”

Rascoff continued: “The Los Angeles startup culture is special and unique. The environment here is creative and collaborative, and also rightly concerned with creating a foundational focus on diversity and inclusiveness. Los Angeles is a global, diverse city, and there is a recognition among the tech community here that if we establish the right cultural foundation at the beginning of this decade of growth, those who work in tech in L.A. — and those around the world who use the products and services invented here — will be better for it.”

“We have assembled a team of world-class journalists who are already digging into every aspect of L.A.’s startup ecosystem,” said Bel Bruno, dot.LA’s editor-in-chief. “We are all excited to leverage those years of experience covering business, entertainment and technology to provide hard-hitting, timely news coverage that will shine a light on this fast-moving scene. We’ll cover new companies, funding rounds and the unique intersection of industries that make L.A.’s startups so interesting.”

About dot.LA
dot.LA’s mission is to celebrate and empower the Los Angeles startup and tech community, fueling innovation around the world. Launching in 2020 and co-founded by tech veteran Spencer Rascoff, its newsroom will report news about new companies, funding rounds and other aspects of the startup ecosystem. The company will also host events dedicated to bringing together the startup community.

To sign up for updates about dot.LA visit our website at dot.LA.

Media Relations Contact:
Katie Curnutte
617.640.9765
katie@kingstonmarketing.group

Airwallex founding team. Source: supplied.

At StartupSmart, we’re firm believers in the benefits of switching off for a few weeks — especially at Christmas when you really should be busy napping, swimming and munching on prawns.

So, if you’re just getting ready to hit the New Year running, and you haven’t been keeping up with business headlines, that’s nothing to fret about. Here’s a quick round-up of some of the big news you may have missed.

A tainted unicorn

Aussie fintech darling Airwallex has had $US18 million ($26 million) of its funds frozen, in connection with an alleged fraud in Hong Kong, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

According to a statement from Airwallex, two former clients allegedly defrauded an Uruguayan company, Ciklus, and used their Airwallex accounts to complete the transactions.

A spokesperson said the fintech is an “innocent third party” in the situation, that it is an isolated incident, and that it has not had an impact on the everyday operations of the business.

They also said Airwallex was not aware of the fraud at the time of the transactions, and had conducted due diligence and know-your-customer procedures of the two accused companies.

“Since being informed of the fraud, we have been cooperating and assisting the police in their investigation of the matter, and are in frequent discussions with the police,” the spokesperson said.

Money, money, money

The end of the decade saw a flurry of funding activity in Australia, with several startups closing their funding rounds just in time to clock off for the Christmas break.

Most notably, coding startup Secure Code Warrior raised $69.2 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Goldman Sachs and also included ForgePoint Capital, Cisco Investments and existing investors AirTree Ventures and Paladin Capital Group.

Pieter Danhieux, co-founder and chief of Secure Code Warrior. Source: supplied.

Harrison.ai raised a massive $29 million in its first-ever funding round, securing funding from Blackbird Ventures, Horizon Ventures, Skip Capital and Ramsay Health Care.

Buildxact raised $8.5 million, including from Aconex co-founder Leigh Jasper, and food ordering app me&u raised $8 million.

And if that wasn’t enough, we also saw mortgage marketplace startup Funding.com.au bag $3.7 million, while energy IoT startup Aurtra secured $2 million, and Fable, the meat alternative startup founded by Shoes of Prey co-founder Michael Fox, nabbed $1.5 million. Phew.

Did we miss any? Let us know.

All the fun of the fintech

Just before Christmas, Fintech Australia released its submission to the fintech and regtech Senate inquiry, outlining some of the most pressing concerns from the community.

We would forgive you for not having this on your holiday reading list, so here are the headlines.

The ongoing confusion around the R&D tax incentive was highlighted as an issue of high priority, with the submission calling for guidance on how the scheme applies to software development in fintech.

The industry body also called for a review into the treatment of companies that have made software claims, and for a review into how the application process could be made simpler.

There was a focus on the new consumer data right (CDR) regime in Australia, and suggestions the government should conduct a campaign helping the public understand the new rules, and the opportunities they could bring.

However, there was also a call for clarity and certainty that the timelines for CDR and open banking, and assurance that they will meet the needs of everyone in the industry, not only the big four banks.

The paper raised concerns about the fragmented nature of regulatory responsibility, and made a suggestion that the government should reexamine the roles of each individual regulator.

Predictably, there were also concerns raised about access to capital for early-stage startups, and calls for the government to foster an educated network of angel investors.

The paper also addressed the Fintech Bridge, designed to help fintechs expand from Australia to the UK, and vice versa. Currently, the scheme is more beneficial to UK-founded startups, the paper suggested⁠ — something that should be rebalanced.

Fintech Australia also recommended establishing similar relationships with Asia Pacific countries with equivalent regulatory regimes, such as Singapore.

Uber news

On Christmas Eve, the news broke that perpetually problematic Uber co-founder and former chief Travis Kalanick has completely exited the business, selling the last of his stake in the company.

While the value of that stake wasn’t clear, in the most recent public filings, it was worth about $2.5 billion.

Uber also announced Kalanick was resigning from his position on Uber’s board, and would be gone by 2020.

Elsewhere in the land of tech giants, Facebook has been fined $US1.6 million in Brazil for ‘improperly sharing’ the data of 443,000 users for what the Ministry of Justice called “questionable purposes”.

And, prominent equities analyst Trip Chowdry has predicted Tesla shares could hit $US4,000 per share by 2030, as global demand for its products spike.

Google is also likely to be a winner of the decade, he said, but Uber, Lyft and US cycling sensation Peleton are on “life support” and will likely become ‘zombie companies’. Ouch.

NOW READ: Blazing trails and dreaming big: 12 startups to watch in 2020

NOW READ: Making money, making history: The biggest capital raises of 2019

So 2019 is almost over and what a great year it has been for the French startup scene! Newly minted unicorns, record investments and the new ‘tech talent visa schemes’ are among the highlights of this year. Here is our roundup of the top French Startup News in 2019 to close the year on a positive note.

New French Unicorns

Doctolib, a platform where people can book an appointment with medical professionals, achieved unicorn status in March 2019 when it raised a Series E funding of €150 million, bringing its post-money valuation to €1 billion. The round was led by General Atlantic, with existing investors Accel, Eurazeo, Kernel and Bpifrance also participating. Doctolib, founded in 2013, has since been operational in Germany and continues to grow both its telemedicine (consultation via phone) service in France, in addition to its booking platform.

Meero’s €230 million Series C funding in June 2019 was the most raised by a French startup this year. It catapulted this marketplace startup, which provides online editing and production tools for photographers, into unicorn status. Eurazeo led the round with more than €50 million and investment companies Prime Ventures, Avenir Growth, Global Founders Capital, Aglaé Ventures, Alven, White Star Capital and Idinvest Partners also participated in the fundraising. Meero, founded in 2016, has opened its platform to photographers, established a new office in L.A. and is on-track to increase its workforce to 1,200 employees by year-end.

La French Tech Visa

 La French Tech teamed up with the Directorate for Companies and the Ministry of Interior Affairs to come-up with the new French Tech Visa. 

As of March 1, 2019, the new, more open French Tech Visa became available for startup employees, founders and investors. For startup employees, the visa is unique and offers an easier hiring process, as employees are not required to hold diplomas or belong to a “metier” (profession) to be hired. It also automatically covers immediate family members, meaning spouses and dependent children. Additionally, unlike many work visas, the hiring companies do not have to show proof that they spent time finding the talent in the country. 

The French Tech Visa is valid for 4 years and is renewable, plus employees need not spend those 4 years tied to a single employer. The visa itself is free, with filing fees amounting to roughly €368, and it will not require a lawyer to prepare. Another benefit is that the process is similar regardless of nationality of the applicant, and there are additional concessions for companies belonging to the Pass French Tech, a list of the fastest growing French startups compiled by La French Tech. 

This new visa can also be used by founders to start or bring their companies to France as well as for investors wanting to invest in companies in France. Details and requirements are available here: French Tech Visa.

Mega-rounds of funding

Mega-rounds are traditionally defined as funding rounds of €90.7 million or more. But for French startups who traditionally attract smaller ticket funding, funding rounds from €45 million can already be considered huge. Aside from the funding received by the startups that turned unicorn, 2019 brought a record number of over 15 startups receiving mega-rounds. Here are some of those startups:

Ynsect, founded in 2011, is a startup that farms insects and transforms them into high quality ingredients for aquaculture and pet nutrition. Ynsect closed a €125 million Series C round in February 2019 with investors Talis Capital, Bpifrance, Demeter Partners, Idinvest Partners and Quadia. 

ManoMano, a gardening and DIY platform founded in 2013, raised a €110 million Series D round in April 2019. The investors for this round were General Atlantic, Eurazeo and previous investor Partech Ventures, Piton Capital and Bpifrance. 

Wynd, provider of an omnichannel cash-in and logistics platform founded in 2014, bagged a mega-round in January 2019. The €72 million Series C round was led by Natixis Alven, and also had participation by Sofina, Orange Digital Ventures, and Sodexo Ventures. 

Mirakl, founded in 2011, provides enterprise marketplace solutions for retailers, consumer brands, wholesalers and distributors. In February 2019, it raised a €62 million Series C led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from existing investors 83North, Felix Capital and Elaia Partners. 

PayFit, founded in 2015, simplifies payroll management. It automates payslip generation including tax deductions and social contributions. PayFit raised a €70 million Series B round in June 2019 from Bpifrance and Eurazeo.

Overall, the year 2019 is set to bring in the highest amount of funding received by French startups with YTD funding totalling €4.7 billion, already €1.1 billion higher than 2018. Bpifrance, the government funding agency reports a rise of 4.3x in funding since 2013.

Choose France 

In 2018, the prominent President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, rolled out the red carpet for startups and the business community with his “Choose France” initiative. Now in its second year, the Choose France summit in January 2019 showed a renewed commitment by the French government to make France more attractive to businesses and global talents. Attended by more than 150 of some of the world’s most influential CEOs, 18 French regions have also been invited, as well as a number of important players that actively contribute to the economic dynamism of France and its regions.

Building on the 2018 edition, this year the initiative added the new French Tech Visa on top of government sponsored measures supporting startups. The year 2019 saw the impact of measures like standardized severance caps, flexible company level bargaining and simplified contract termination take effect.  Other significant initiatives include a €1.6 billion public investment fund including €300 million earmarked for deep tech and 30% deduction of R&D expenses, 30% capital gains tax, the elimination of wealth & exit taxes and a 25% corporate tax rate by 2022. This makes France a country with the most favourable tax incentive among OECD members In addition, a comprehensive legal, tax and regulatory framework for ICOs has been created. The newly launched French Tech 120 program unlocks access to dedicated “startup correspondents” across key ministries & agencies to fast-track services, procurement & invitations to join the President on foreign visits.

Good morning! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Monday, December 2, 2019.

Cyber Monday shoppers on track to hit a record $9.4 billion, Adobe Analytics says. As of 9:00 a.m. New York Time, Cyber Monday shoppers have already spent $473 million online, according to data released by Adobe Analytics, which monitors the online transactions of 80 of the top 100 web retailers in the U.S. The firm says this year Cyber Monday online sales are on track to hit $9.4 billion. Last year, Cyber Monday sales hit $7.9 billion. Samsung TVs, Apple laptops and Amazon Echo are among the most popular electronic products, according to Adobe. Black Friday was predicted to be the busiest shopping day of the year in the U.S. for shoppers to head out to stores, but even on that day people were loading up online shopping carts. Online spending hit a record of $5.4 billion, up 22.3% from a year ago, according to Adobe data Sunday night.

Elon Musk paid nearly $1 million for abandoned car bought by a couple for $100. A Couple paid $100 for abandoned car they found in a storage unit and Elon Musk bought it from them for nearly $1 million. The Long Island, New York couple paid roughly $100 for an unclaimed storage unit in 1989.  Years later, Elon Musk bought their find for nearly $1 million. The car turned out to be a 1976 Lotus Esprit sports car used in the filming of the 1977 James Bond film. According to a post on tweeter, Musk said the car influenced the design of the newly launched Tesla Cybertruck.

Carbon capture just got cheaper and more efficient. Thanks to MIT engineers! Engineers at MIT have now created a device to trap carbon dioxide that is much less energy-intensive and costly than today’s technologies, according to a report from the journal Energy and Environmental Science. Capturing carbon dioxide from smokestacks, and even removing it directly from air, might be the only way to avert the most catastrophic effects of climate.  The device, according to the report, works a lot like a battery. It absorbs carbon dioxide from air passing over its electrodes. It could be made as small and large as needed, making it easy to use at different carbon dioxide emission sources.

London-based fintech Startup Hastee scores $270 million investments to accelerate growth. Hastee, a fintech startup that enables workers to receive a portion of their earned pay immediately, announced today it has secured $270 million (£208 million) of investment to fund the development and growth of its financial wellbeing solution that gives workers immediate access to their earned pay. This funding is led by Umbra Capital and supported by IDC Ventures and others. Founded in 2017 by James Herbert and Simon Draper, Hastee is on a mission to solve the nation’s reliance on high-cost credit, most notably payday loans, credit cards and overdrafts, by providing fairness and financial freedom to workers. Its award-winning financial wellbeing benefit lets workers access up to 50% of their earned pay on demand, via the Hastee App.

Breed Reply investees hit $194 million investment milestone in early-stage IoT startups. Breed Reply, a London, England-based Internet of Things (IoT) investor, announced today that its investee companies have attracted $194 million (£150m) in investments with over 30 institutional and industrial investors from across Europe, the United States and Asia co-investing with Breed Reply. Breed Reply’s focus is the Internet of Things over all markets, with their current portfolio in Health, Fitness & Wellness, Smart Building & Cities, Security, Industrial IoT, Big Data, Platforms and Drones. Some notable institutional co-investors include Accel, SOSV, MMC, Tikehau (Ace), Omnes, Sistema, Alliance Entreprendre and IQ Capital, while industrial co-investors have included NTT Docomo, MunichRe, Aviva, BNP Paribas, Sumitomo, Hyundai, Aquaspark, and Statkraft.

FinTech startup Uncapped scores £10M in funding. Uncapped, a London, UK-based fintech startup that helps founders fund their startups and grow their businesses, has raised £10m in funding to continue to expand operations. Investors include Global Founders Capital, White Star Capital and Seedcamp. Founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneur, Asher Ismail, and venture capital investor, Piotr Pisarz, Uncapped provides flexible growth finance to companies seeking an alternative to venture capital or traditional debt without credit checks, personal guarantees, warrants, equity, or interest. The startup helps founders to raise working capital between £10k and £1m at a flat fee of 6% to manage their fluctuating revenues can fluctuate from month to month, particularly during early and growth stages.

Pacifico Energy closes $265.8 million (29 Billion Yen) for its Second Solar Fund. Pacifico Energy, a privately held utility-scale renewable energy developer, today announced today that it has closed $265.8 million (29 Billion Yen) for the launch of its second solar investment fund (“Fund II”). According to the company, the Fund II will be comprised of five Japanese solar power plants totaling over 216 MWdc. Concurrent with the initial closing, Fund II completed the acquisition of its first solar plant, a 35MW project located in Tochigi Prefecture and will acquire the remaining four solar plants next year. Founded in 2012, the Tokyo, Japan-based Pacifico Energy is a privately held utility-scale renewable energy developer. Since inception, Pacifico has developed 11 mega solar power projects totaling close to 1 GW. Pacifico has a pipeline of additional development projects totaling over 300 MW of which all four projects are expected to begin construction in 2020.

Harlem Capital closes $40 million Inaugural Fund to invest in minority and women founders in the U.S. Harlem Capital Partners (HCP), an early-stage venture capital firm that is focused on investing in minority and women founders in the United States, today announced the closing of Harlem Capital Partners Venture Fund I, LP at $40.3 million (“Fund I”). The fund was oversubscribed from its target of $25 million and above its initial cap of $40 million. Founded in December 2015, HCP is an early-stage venture capital firm on a mission to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1,000 diverse founders over the next 20 years. HCP makes investments of $250k to $1 million in Seed and Series A rounds startups. The firm was founded in a Harlem living room as an angel syndicate by Managing Partners Henri Pierre-Jacques and Jarrid Tingle, who worked together at ICV Partners, alongside Venture Partner Brandon Bryant.

The list of EVs getting unveiled in Los Angeles this week is not as long as in previous years. But the importance of those vehicles is extraordinary. The week starts with the wraps coming off the Ford Mustang Mach-E. And it ends with the first look of the Tesla Cybertruck. It’s a big week for EVs. Here are a few of the highlights from the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show. 

News about Mustang Mach-E specs and prices leaked out a few days ago, pre-empting some of the excitement about Ford’s legendary All-American sports car going electric. The extended range version will have 300 miles of estimated range. No fewer than four variants will be offered with the base 230-mile Mustang Mach-E starting at $43,895 before incentives. The vehicle goes on sale in about a year, with a mighty 459 horsepower GT version following in early 2021.

We took a ride in the Mustang Mach-E yesterday and will share our impressions and official photos Sunday at 6:30 pm, right after the live-show reveal.

On Monday, we’re expecting to get our first look at the Lincoln Corsair Plug-in Hybrid. Lincoln says the new model reveals the brand’s “commitment to electrification,” which means hybrids and plug-in hybrids.

Lincoln Corsair

The Corsair, formerly the MKC, is the smallest vehicle in Lincoln’s renewed lineup. It debuts with the 2020 model year. Judging from Ford’s current plug-in hybrid system, the Corsair PHEV will likely provide about 25 miles of all-electric from a 9-kilowatt-hour battery pack. We’ll know for sure in a couple of days.

Faraday Future’s FF 91

Carsten Breitfeld, who became Faraday Future’s CEO in September, will be speaking at the Automobility LA conference on Tuesday morning. Breitfeld was formerly Chairman and CEO of Byton – and before that led BMW’s i8 vehicle program. The Wall Street Journal’s Tim Higgins will ask Breitfeld about how the brand plans to reestablish trust after a few rocky years. 

Karma Revero GT

Later this same morning in the same place, Karma Automotive will hold a press conference. We’ll be there for the global introduction of both the Karma Revero GTS, a performance version of the 2020 Revero GT luxury electric vehicle, and the SC2, a new concept car.

Karma is also going to show the next evolution of the SC1 Vision Concept unveiled earlier this year. The company is expected to provide more insight into its business strategy.

2021 Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid

Toyota is smarting from the growing #ToyotaTrump boycott movement. California announced yesterday that starting next year, state agencies only buy vehicles from manufacturers that recognize California’s ability to set its own air pollution standards, which under threat by the Trump administration. The state will exclude Toyota, as well as GM and Fiat-Chrysler.

That’s the context in which Toyota will unveil a plug-in version of the RAV4, which will likely have an all-electric range of 25 miles. The RAV4 PHEV may come standard with all-wheel drive like the regular non–plug-in-hybrid model. An electric motor drives the rear wheels.

The LA Auto Show media days wrap up on Thursday morning. But the EV world will then turn its attention that night to the unveiling of the Tesla CyberTruck pickup at the company’s Hawthorne design center. It was first supposed to be unveiled this summer, but it was pushed to the fourth quarter.

Elon Musk has hinted that the CyberTruck will have exciting options, like 400 to 500 miles of range, a dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain, and 300,000 pounds of towing capacity. Musk is teasing that it will cost less than $50,000 and “be better than the Ford F-150.”

The show opens to the general public on Friday, Nov 22 and runs through Sunday, Dec 1.

Stay tuned to Electrek for all these LA happenings and others we discover while in Los Angeles. What are you most excited about? What questions should we pose to auto execs?

Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.

Here is all the news about startups in Europe this week — from green happy buttons to ThingTesting — brought to you by our pan-European team of Sifted journalists. If you want the news (and so much more) in your inbox three times a week, sign up to our newsletter.

😀 If you ask the team at HappyOrNot how happy they are this week, they would probably push the dark green, big smiley-face button. The Finnish customer-feedback startup raised $25m to supercharge the 9-year-old company’s growth in existing markets throughout Europe and the US.

🥕 Danish plant-based meal delivery service Simple Feast raised another €30m to launch its business in the US, hoping to find new customers among health-conscious Californians.

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🐝 Beekeeper, a Swiss workplace comms platform, raised $45m. Unlike Slack, Beekeeper is aimed at “non-desk” workers in sectors such as hospitality, manufacturing and retail. There are plenty of them; apparently, 80% of the world’s workers don’t work at a desk.

✈️ ZeroAvia has a £2.7m from the UK government and plans to develop a hydrogen fuel system that could fly a 20-seater plane.

☕ Coworking company Huckletree opened three new spaces: in Oslo, Dublin and Manchester. Each will be themed: the Manchester site will be geared towards digital lifestyle and media, the Oslo site (acquired from Pier X) will be focused on VC and scale-ups, and the Dublin site on fintech.

👎 London VC firms remain woefully behind on diversity and inclusion, according to Diversity VC‘s latest report.

🍅 ThingTesting, the Instagram account turned product review startup, has raised a small pre-seed round in a bid to become the “Rotten Tomatoes of brands”. The plan is to launch a website and a paid-for membership scheme for big fans of new direct-to-consumer brands.

☁️ Fashion, fertilizers and forecasts – all winners at the Norrsken Awards. Among hundreds of nominated impact startups in the Nordics, three winners, Re:newcell, N2 Applied and Ignitia, were picked at Norrsken Impact Week’s closing gala in Stockholm last night. Keep an eye out for these in the future.

🏖️ In holiday rental news:

• Holidu, a Munich-based startup that compares the prices of listings across sites like Airbnb and Booking.com, has raised €40m. It wants to be like Skyscanner, but for accommodation.
• Meanwhile, in an odd plot twist, Lavanda (which began life as a laundry service) has raised $5m to grow its short-term rental platform. It helps real estate firms and landlords rent out their properties for short periods (ie. while a flat is being sold).

🛒 Amazon Go competitor Trigo has raised $22m to further develop its check-out free shopping system. The Israeli startup was only founded in 2018, but has already landed partnerships with supermarkets in Europe and Israel.

🏘️ Swedish peer-to-peer lending platform Lendify is looking to add mortgages to its product range. Over recent years, big banks have been losing customers to new providers with better rates.

👔 International recruitment startup Next Station has raised €1m. It’s operational in France, Spain and Germany. Have you used it? Let us know.

🛴 In mobility news:

• Ride hailing firm Bolt has taken on AOC at her own game and announced a “Green Plan”. It will invest €10m between now till 2025 to offset the carbon emissions of its rides. (In 2016, road transport made up 20% of Europe’s Co2 emissions.)
• ViaVan, a joint venture between Via and Mercedes-Benz in Europe, has launched its first on-demand service in Finland. It’s partnered with Helsinki’s regional transport authority to pick up passengers travelling to and from train and metro stations. The question is whether it will be convenient and cheap enough to convince commuters to cut down on their car use.
• Electric scooters have caused 74 accidents and hundreds of traffic offences in the three months since they were legalised in Berlin, according to police.

StartUPDATES is a member feature of MedCitizens, a community of MedCity News startups. To join, register here. 

NeuroFlow is one of 13 companies to receive a grant from Philadelphia’s StartupPHL program. The company is working with several leading providers in the region to improve health outcomes with technology. Currently, the team has 21 full-time employees.

MetaMe, which is developing a hypnotherapy-based digital therapeutic for the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, raised a $3.8 million seed round led by Israeli venture capital firm LionBird Ventures. The business will use the funding to conduct a pivotal trial for Regulora as part of its pathway towards FDA clearance. To read more, click here.

Exo, a portable ultrasound developer capable of producing 3D images, has closed a $35 million Series B round. Intel Capital led the round with participation from Applied Ventures, Bold Capital, Creative Ventures, Longevity Vision Fund, Magnetar Capital, Nautilus Venture Partners, OSF Healthcare, Rising Tide Fund, Sony Innovation Fund and Wanxiang Healthcare Investments. To read more, click here.

NextStep Interactive, a digital healthcare training platform focused on health-related jobs, such as nurses aids and home health aids, has raised $3 million. Companies taking part in the round include SEI Ventures, JAZZ Venture Partners, Learn Capital’s Learn Start Fund, Springrock Ventures, City Light Capital, Frontier Angels and managing directors from Pioneer Square Labs.  To read more, click here.

MedCity News has launched a careers section. Employers can now submit open positions to the Careers section on the MedCity News website. These jobs will be posted in the section and will remain on the website for a month. We have made the process as easy as possible. For $295, you supply a brief description of the company, the main responsibilities and requirements of the position, and how to apply. Content should not exceed 500 words and you can include a company logo.

Why use MedCity to support your recruitment efforts? Our 10 year-old publication has 40,000 newsletter subscribers spanning providers, payers, biopharma, medical device and health tech companies. We recently rolled out a weekly biopharma newsletter. Additionally, we attract 425,000 unique visitors each month and have a social media following of more than 38,000.

Best of all, members of the MedCitizen startup network receive 50 percent off job posts for the rest of 2019.

If you are interested in posting your open position, please contact Winnie Liu at winnie@breakingmedia.com today.

Image: akindo, Getty Images

We bring to you the latest edition of News Roundup: Indian Startup Stories Of The Week!

This week under UK-India Tech Partnership announced last year, the governments have now launched the Go Global programme. As part of this programme, some of India’s most innovative and cutting-edge ‘tech for good’ startups will have the chance to take part in the new programme to improve their business skills, build links with the UK’s thriving digital sector and pave the way for future economic partnerships.

The successful Indian startups will be expected to act as Go Global champions and share the skills they have learned with other firms across India.

Further this week, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is reportedly in talks to finalise the intermediaries guidelines amendments by the end of this month. The final guidelines will include the amendment on intermediary traceability by government agencies but will drop the proactive content monitoring and takedown mandate proposed in the draft of Information Technology Intermediaries Guidelines (Amendment) Rules, 2018. MeitY had proposed these amendments to the IT Act, with an aim to curb the misuse of social media platforms and spread of fake news.

In a digitisation move this week, the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) introduced web-based application for Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). The system has been introduced for contribution from AIFs under Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS). With the online portal, now available on SIDBI website, the AIFs can fill up a form online and track the status of their application.

In his maiden visit to the UK as India’s minister for commerce and industry, Piyush Goyal addressed global CEOs and assured them that there will be easing of rules for single-brand retail soon. However, restrictions on multi-brand retail would continue, Goyal added. He said that India had opened up opportunities for single brand retail and will ease some “detrimental clauses’’ of the policy in the next few weeks which will help foreign investors.

The week was filled with interesting developments across policies on retail and e-cigarettes, Amazon’s edtech launch and much more. Here’s a look at the important Indian startup news stories of the week.

Important Indian Startup News Stories Of The Week

Amazon Launches IIT JEE Preparation App

Amazon has introduced the JEE Ready app in beta phase, which lets students take free mock tests for their preparation of Indian engineering test i.e. IIT JEE. The app, which has been released on the Google Play Store by Amazon Mobile LLC and was launched last month. JEE Ready lets users take mock tests to prepare for real entrance exams and has over 1K installs so far.

Paytm’s Japan Entity PayPay Reaches 8 Mn Users

In October 2018, Paytm tied up with SoftBank and Yahoo Japan to launch PayPay payments service in Japan. The QR code-based mobile payment service incentivises users with “relays” i.e. cashbacks and now Sharma has claimed that PayPay has 8 Mn users in the country with “incredible traction”. It must be noted that PayPay has over 10 Mn installs on Android’s Google Play Store, plus an unknown number of users on iOS as well.

Delhi, Bengaluru Join In Crackdown Against Chinese Ecommerce

Custom officials at the courier terminals in Bengaluru and Delhi have started to stop clearing parcels shipped under the CB-12 (gift and samples) route. Such parcels were being earlier stopped in Mumbai and now even Chennai customs port is considering a similar action. Apart from these four courier ports, Kochi and Kolkata airports also receive a large number of packages under the same manner.

Cars24 Shuts Down Outlets In Delhi

Gurugram-based online used car marketplace Cars24 received nearly six legal notices from landlords in Delhi for non-payment of rent for months. They have alleged that the company then shut down the stores at various places in “violations” of the lease agreements. The report claims that Cars24 has already shuttered about a dozen outlets in Delhi. The legal notices further allege that Cars24 has breached the contract for terminating leases before the lock-in period ended.

MeitY Threatens TikTok, Helo With A Ban

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has issued notices to TikTok and Helo seeking answers over allegations of “anti-national” activities. The notices reportedly have a set of 21 questions on the allegations by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM). They have alleged that the platforms are being used for anti-national activities. Meity has reportedly asked for assurance that the data of Indian users is not being transferred at present and will not be transferred in future also “to any other foreign government or any third party or private entity”.

Innoviti Sues Pine Labs

Bengaluru-based digital payments provider, Innoviti Payment Solutions said it had filed an infringement suit against Pine Labs Pvt Ltd over sale of payment products that infringe on Innoviti’s patent on the payments processing technology that enables UPI payments at retail POS terminals. Innoviti also said that it has been granted an ex-parte ad interim injunction from the Bengaluru High Court effective immediately that will prevent Pine Labs from manufacturing, selling, distributing, advertising, exporting, offering for sale, procuring and dealing with this technology through its ‘Plutus Smart’ or any other device in India.

Karnataka HC Asks CCB To Drop Homigo Case

After Karnataka High Court’s interim stay order on the Homigo fraud case investigation, the Central Crime Branch (CCB) Bengaluru is set to drop the case. Speaking to Inc42, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Girish S said, “The High Court has given an order that it is a civil dispute and has pulled up the police for registering the case.” The High Court has directed the complainants against Homigo in the alleged fraud case to approach the civil court in this case, the DCP added.

OYO Introduces Workspaces

OYO Workspaces is launching three coworking brands including Workflo and PowerStation in its mid to budget category, while Innov8 is part of its premium category. Led by Rohit Kapoor, CEO, New Real Estate Businesses, OYO Workspaces is a fully controlled workspaces solutions provider, designed to meet the needs of over 80% of the working population in the country. With this launch, OYO Workspaces is opening up over 21 workspaces, with more than 15K seats across 10 cities in India.

WhatsApp Payments Closer To Launch

WhatsApp Payments is reportedly reaching out to the Reserve Bank of India to submit its audit report. In April, WhatsApp told the Supreme Court of India that it will rely on a third-party company to audit its payments system and ensure that it complies with Indian data localisation rules. A WhatsApp spokesperson reportedly said, “WhatsApp looks forward to providing WhatsApp Payments based on the UPI standard to all users in India and we continue to work with our local partners towards a shared goal of supporting a more Digital India.”

Snapdeal Grows Revenue By 73% In FY18-19

The company has issued details of its performance for FY19 saying that Snapdeal grew its consolidated revenues by 73% YoY to INR 925.3 Cr in 2018-19 as compared to INR 535.9 in 2017-18. At the same time, Snapdeal also managed to reduce its loss by 71% to INR 186 Cr in FY19 from INR 611 Cr reported in FY18. Revenue from operations for Snapdeal (standalone) grew by 87% YoY from INR 436.1 Cr in FY18 to INR 813.8 Cr in FY19. Kunal Bahl in a LinkedIn post said that company’s transacting customers grew 2.2X and traffic surged 2.3X to 70 Mn unique users/month.

E-Cigarettes: CAIT Recommends Setting Up An Expert Committee

Small traders representative, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has taken their concerns to minister of health, Dr. Harsh Vardhan and asked to set up an expert committee to examine the matter. CAIT has suggested to form a committee to be set up to deliberate of appropriate regulations for Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) such as e-cigarettes and vapes.

In a hearing on July 12, Delhi HC passed an order directing the Delhi Government to file an affidavit showing steps taken by them for regulating ENDS in the state. The court noted the urgency of the matter by highlighting that many children are picking up ENDS such as e-cigarettes without knowing the harm it can cause.

Here’s What Government Was Doing This Week

• India’s Department of Telecommunications has reportedly approved plans to implement WiFi interoperability that will allow users to stay connected across all public WiFi hotspots in India when users are in range. Called Bharat WiFi, the DoT has jointly proposed it with all telecom companies, internet service providers, and virtual network operators.
• With the growth in the network of Common Service Centres (CSC), the government has asked village level entrepreneurs (VLEs) to aim for a turnover of $43.58 Bn (INR 3 Lakh Cr) in the next five years, from around $10.16 Bn (INR 70K Cr) annually. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, said the government intends to promote self-help groups, and added that CSC could act as a catalyst for such a movement.
• A report filed by a committee set up by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has identified the need to establish a specialized body called National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) which is to be based on similar models as seen in the likes of UIDAI and GSTN. The report is open for public comments till August 4.
• Indian Minister of Communications and Minister of Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government is aiming to make India a major export hub of electronics manufacturing. According to the minister, India is the second biggest manufacturer of smartphones in the world. India has 282 mobile factories as compared to just two factories in 2014, he added.
• The World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network will launch a drone-delivery project called ‘Medicine from the Sky’ in Telangana. The project will be conducted in partnership with the government of Telangana and Health Net Global. It will include a comprehensive study of drone-based deliveries for blood, vaccines, medical samples and organs.

Other Indian Startup News Stories Of The Week

Netflix To Launch Low-Cost Mobile Subscription Plans For India

Global video streaming platform Netflix has announced plans to roll-out a low price mobile-only subscription plan for Indian market. The plan is expected to be launched in the third quarter. The California-based company has been beta testing this mobile plan in India for several months now. Earlier in March, this mobile-only test plan was reported to be priced at INR 250 per month which is half the price of company’s existing basic monthly plan of INR 500.

Amazon Expands Alexa Skill Set To Include Hindi For Developers

Amazon’s Alexa will now let developers build Alexa skills for customers in India using the new Hindi voice model on the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK). Alexa Skills are essentially apps that can be used to expand the functionality of Amazon’s AI assistant. Alexa Skills range across categories such as finance, productivity, news, weather and more.

Twitter Gets Localised With Seven Indian Regional Languages

The micro-blogging network Twitter redesigned its website to help users localise content in seven Indian languages —  Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Urdu, Tamil, Bengali and Kannada. The move is part of a global rejig that will be rolled out over the next few weeks to all users. The aim of the new localisation features on Twitter.com on the web is to encourage more conversations on Twitter, and it is backed by an improved translation engine on the website.

Google Might Face Another Fine Of INR 136 Cr From CCI

Competition Commission of India (CCI) is reportedly mulling over a fine of INR 136 Cr ($21 Mn) on the internet search giant Google. Since May of this year, CCI has been investigating Google over company’s alleged abuse of its dominance in the Android mobile operating system to suppress its rivals. The referred investigation is likely to take another two years to complete.

Amway, Oriflame Products Not To Be Sold Online Without Authorisation: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has ruled that ecommerce players such as Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and others cannot sell direct selling companies products on their platform without the direct sellers authorisation. Direct selling companies include names such as Amway, Oriflame and Avon, who sell products directly to consumers and are not usually found at typical retail locations.

Flipkart Incentivises Sellers With Concessions On ‘Flipkart Plus’ Discounts

Indian ecommerce major Flipkart has urged online sellers to give discounts for its loyalty programme (Flipkart Plus) users, in order to avail concession on its platform fees. A Flipkart letter, reviewed by Inc42, asked sellers to opt for extra 5% discount on fashion products when selling to users who have opted to join Flipkart Plus. Another condition is that sellers have to keep the cancellation charge at 0.5% for products they sell under this offer.

Google’s Internet Saathi Reached 26 Mn Women In India

Google announced that over 70K women across 260K villages in 18 states are using the power of the internet to drive positive change in their communities and have already benefited over 26 Mn women. The Internet Saathi programme focusses on educating women to use the internet, who then impart training to other women in their community and neighbouring villages. Google has now expanded the Internet Saathi programme to Punjab and Odisha.

Droom Launches Eco Lab

Gurugram-headquartered automobile marketplace Droom has launched Eco Lab. Enabling the Eco Lab with IoT cloud and large fleet management services, Droom aims at leveraging emerging technologies to build new innovations in and evolve Eco Inspection, India’s premier doorstep auto inspection service for pre-owned vehicles.

UrbanClap Ties Up With Skill India Mission

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and UrbanClap entered into a partnership to collaborate for the mobilisation, training and certification of service professionals across India. The MoU signed between the two organisations also recognise UrbanClap as a key strategic partner of the Skill India mission. As a part of the MOU, NSDC will support UrbanClap to become a 100 % Skill India certified organization under RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) component of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY). UrbanClap will also create micro-entrepreneurship opportunities for candidates already certified under PMKVY 2.0 and additionally train 30K new partners over the next one year under short term skilling and upskilling programs.

Stay tuned for the next week’s edition of Indian Startup News Stories Of The Week!