Latest news with #YCombinator-backed
Time of India
23-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Meesho concludes reverse flip process; likely to file DRHP in 2–3 weeks
Ecommerce marketplace Meesho has concluded its reverse flip process and moved its domicile to India, said people in the know. Documents filed with the Registrar of Companies and seen by ET confirm the development. "Meesho's board met late on has approved the merger and share allotment to investors of the US entity. It is now a fully Indian company," one of the persons said, adding that the company is expected to file the draft prospectus for its upcoming initial public offering in the coming two to three weeks. The SoftBank-backed company had on May 27 received approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to go ahead with the reverse flip. The company is expected to pay $280–300 million tax in the US for its flipback. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Cardiologist Reveals: The Simple Morning Habit for a Flatter Belly After 50! Lulutox Undo A Meesho spokesperson did not respond to queries sent by ET. With this, Meesho joins Groww, Razorpay, Dream Sports, Zepto and PhonePe , which have already shifted their domiciles to India. Live Events Meesho, on the lines of other Y Combinator-backed startups such as Groww and Razorpay, was originally incorporated in the US to facilitate easier access to global capital. However, with plans to go public on Indian stock exchanges, these companies have been relocating their registered offices to India. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Meesho had applied to the NCLT for approval of its reverse merger in January. Meanwhile, it closed a $550 million funding round that saw new investors such as Tiger Global, Mars Growth Capital and Think Investments join its cap table. This transaction, which was largely a secondary deal, valued the company at around $3.9-4 billion, at a slight discount from its peak valuation of $5 billion. Meesho has appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital, Citi, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley as merchant bankers for its public issue. The company's ecommerce rival, Walmart-owned Flipkart, is also working on redomiciling from Singapore to India ahead of a planned IPO in 2026. In March, Meesho released its annual report, saying it recorded 34% year-on-year growth in orders during the April-December 2024 period, at 1.3 billion. This equalled the number of orders it clocked over the whole of fiscal year 2024. As of December 31, the company had 187 million unique annual transacting users — a 26% increase from the same period in the previous year. A March report by brokerage CLSA noted that Meesho is currently at a gross merchandise value (GMV) run rate of $6.2 billion, and is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26% over the next six years. The research note had estimated Meesho's market share at 37% in terms of the number of orders for calendar year 2024. However, in terms of GMV, its market share was around 8.5%, CLSA said.
Time of India
20-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
ETtech Deals Digest: Startups raise $159 million this week, down 7.2% on-year
Startups raised around $159.2 million during the week of June 14 to 20, a 7.2% drop from the $171.6 million raised during the same period last year, according to data from Tracxn . The tally also marked a 0.7% decrease over the $160.3 million raised last week. Deal activity, too, remained muted this week, with 14 transactions recorded during the period. This was less than half of the 36 deals seen in the corresponding week last year. ETtech Top deals of the week Aspora: Y Combinator-backed cross-border payments startup Aspora raised $53 million in Series B funding , co-led by Sequoia and Greylock, with Quantum Light Ventures also contributing to the round. Live Events Pop: Consumer payments platform Pop secured $30 million in funding from digital payments firm Razorpay. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Mahaveer Finance : Chennai-based non-banking finance company Mahaveer Finance raised around $23.1 million in an equity funding round that was led by Elevation Capital , along with participation from Banyan Tree Finance and First Bridge Capital. ETtech
Time of India
16-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Meesho secures NCLT approval for reverse flip; faces $280-300 million tax outgo in the US
The Bengaluru bench of the National Company Law Tribunal ( NCLT ) has approved ecommerce marketplace Meesho 's plan to demerge its Indian entities from its US parent – in a step towards shifting its domicile to India, as per an order by the tribunal. According to people in the know, Meesho is expected to face a tax outgo of around $280-300 million in the US to flip back to India. ET had first reported last week that Meesho's reverse flip process was in the end stages as the company finalised plans to file a draft red herring prospectus for its initial public offering ( IPO ). by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Unwind in elegant bedrooms with private decks at Sunteck City Sunteck City Learn More Undo '...we conclude that the objections/observations to the scheme received from ROC/RD (Registrar of Companies' regional director) & income tax department have been adequately explained by the petitioner companies and hence there is no impediment in approval of the scheme,' the NCLT order stated. Confirming the development, a Meesho spokesperson said that this was a part of its ongoing transition to re-domicile in India. Live Events 'With the majority of our operations, including customers, sellers, creators and Valmo partners already based here, this step aligns our corporate structure with our day-to-day business footprint,' the spokesperson said. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Meesho, like fellow Y Combinator-backed startups Groww and Razorpay, was incorporated in the US to simplify access to global capital. However, with the aim of listing on Indian exchanges, these companies have been shifting their registered bases here. Groww has already filed draft papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for a $700 million to $1 billion IPO. Razorpay in May completed its reverse flip process . Meesho had applied to the NCLT for approval of its reverse merger in January. Meanwhile, it closed a $550 million funding round that saw new investors such as Tiger Global, Mars Growth Capital and Think Investments join its cap table. This transaction, which was largely a secondary deal, valued the company at around $3.9-4 billion, which was a slight discount from its peak valuation of $5 billion. The company appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital, Citi, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley as merchant bankers for its public issue . The company's ecommerce rival, Walmart-owned Flipkart , is also working on redomiciling from Singapore to India ahead of a planned IPO in 2026. Once Meesho files for its IPO, it will join a growing list of new-age startups eyeing a public debut this year. These include edtech company PhysicsWallah, at-home services provider Urban Company, ecommerce logistics startup Shiprocket, wearables brand Boat, and wealthtech platform Groww. Shiprocket, Boat, and Groww have taken Sebi's confidential filing route, which lets companies withhold key information — such as recent financials and specifics of the offering — until closer to the listing. The development was first reported by Moneycontrol.
Time of India
16-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Cross-border digital payments startup Aspora raises $93 million from Sequoia Capital, Greylock and others
Y Combinator-backed cross-border payments startup Aspora has raised $93 million over three equity funding rounds between September 2024 and May 2025, giving it a $500-million valuation, according to its founder, Parth Garg. The London-headquartered startup, which offers remittance services to immigrant diaspora, raised the funds over three rounds in the last eight months. Its first institutional funding of $5.8 million from Hummingbird Ventures had come in 2022. Garg told ET that the startup raised $5 million in an extension of the first round in September 2024, after which came a $35-million infusion led by US-based venture firm Sequoia Capital along with participation from US-based Greylock Partners. Last month, Aspora secured another $53 million in financing, led by Sequoia Capital and Greylock Partners, with participation from London-based venture fund Quantum Light. Angel investors Balaji Srinivasan, ex-CTO of Coinbase, Sundeep Jain, previously the CPO of Uber, and Prasanna Sankar, cofounder of Rippling, were among the other participants in the round. Overall, the startup has raised more than $98 million since inception. 'Aspora's current valuation is $500 million,' Garg said from London. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Garg had started the business in Bengaluru, but earlier this year shifted base to London, which he said made it easier for him to coordinate global operations of the brand. For the California-headquartered venture firm Sequoia Capital, this is the first major investment in an Indian-origin startup offering services to Indian consumers. In the middle of 2023, Sequoia Capital had separated from its units in China and India and Southeast Asia. While the Chinese unit was renamed HongShan, the India entity was rebranded into Peak XV Partners . Peak XV Partners has set up a team in the US to scout for early investment opportunities in that part of the world. ET had reported in April that Peak XV Partners is looking to raise $1.2 billion for its first independent fund after the spinoff from Sequoia Capital. Aspora was previously known as Vance, but the company had to overhaul the brand's identity after JD Vance became the US vice president. Garg said all his brand promotions and online marketing efforts were getting branded as political advertisements because of the similarity in names. The company has around 250,000 users who use the platform to remit money back to India. The startup offers services to consumers in the UK, European Union region and the UAE. 'We are launching in the US in July, and Canada, Australia and Singapore by the end of the year,' he said. While headquartered in London Aspora has around 30 out of its 50 people in Bengaluru and the remaining mostly in the UK and the UAE. 'People use our platform to send money home to their parents, for investments to buy property or invest in alternative assets, we target communities and social groups of Indians in these countries to popularise our product,' Garg said. Aspora gets around 55% of its customers via referrals and around 20% from performance marketing channels. The startup has kept its customer acquisition costs at a fraction of competition, mainly by leveraging local Indian communities which are socially very active in these countries. Aspora competes with the companies such as Remitly and Wize and is disrupting the business which used to be dominated by banks and the likes of Western Union.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tesla sues former Optimus engineer over alleged trade secret theft
Tesla sued a former engineer for allegedly stealing trade secrets from its humanoid robotics program, Optimus, and using them to launch a rival startup. The lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday and originally reported on by Bloomberg, accuses Zhongjie 'Jay' Li of stealing trade secrets regarding Tesla's development of 'advanced robotic hand sensors' to launch his startup Proception, a Y Combinator-backed company building robotic hands. The complaint states that Li, who worked at Tesla from August 2022 to September 2024, downloaded confidential information about Optimus on two separate personal smartphones. The complaint also added that during the last few months of his time at Tesla, Li researched 'humanoid robotic hands' on his workplace computer in addition to making internet searches regarding venture capital and other startup funding sources. 'Less than a week after he left Tesla, Proception was incorporated,' the complaint stated. 'And within just five months, Proception publicly claimed to have 'successfully built' advanced humanoid robotic hands—hands that bear a striking resemblance to the designs Li worked on at Tesla.' Proception's website states the company is working to 'revolutionize human-robot interaction by building the world's most advanced humanoid hands.' TechCrunch reached out to Proception and Tesla for more information. Tesla's Optimus robotics program has been on a bit of a rocky path since the company unveiled it was building a humanoid robot, Tesla Bot, in 2021. In 2022, the company said that the bot, alongside other new products, would be introduced in 2023. But Optimus has remained in development. In July 2024, Tesla's Elon Musk said that the company would begin selling the robot in 2026. Just a few months later at Tesla's 'We, Robot' event in October 2024, Tesla's Optimus bots in attendance were largely controlled by humans offsite.
