16th January 2018 | Daily Business Digest
To explore the adoption of blockchain in government services, backed by the Karnataka state government, a ‘Blockchain Hackathon for Governance’ is set to be held between January 19–21 at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium.
It will be a fast-paced event designed to create demonstrable prototypes utilising blockchain in government applications.
#Bitcoin: Researchers find that one person likely drove Bitcoin from $150 to $1,000
Researchers Neil Gandal, JT Hamrick, Tyler Moore, and Tali Oberman have written a fascinating paper on Bitcoin price manipulation. Entitled “Price Manipulation in the Bitcoin Ecosystem” and appearing in the recent issue of the Journal of Monetary Economics the paper describes to what degree the Bitcoin ecosystem is controlled by bad actors.
#Indian Startup News
#1. Karnataka Government To Engage Blockchain For Governance, Announces Hackathon
When asked about blockchain technology during a press meet on the sidelines of Bengaluru Tech Summit in November 2017, Karnataka State IT Minister Priyank Kharge had told Inc42, “We still don’t know, what will come out of this blockchain technology!”
#2. India Israel Business Innovation Forum: Israel Invites Indian Startups, Collaborations With Israeli Companies
On the eve of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s six-day visit from January 14 to January 20, the India Israel Business Innovation Forum was also launched today to take the collaboration between the two countries further.
#3. Israel India Technology Group Launches $50 Mn Fund At NASSCOM Tech Triangle Summit
Coinciding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s six-day visit to India, NASSCOM in partnership with Indiaspora organised the Tech Triangle Summit today, in a bid to strengthen the trilateral ties between India, Israel and the US for innovation and entrepreneurship.
#4. Ratan Tata Commits $4.7 Mn For Startup Research Setup Under FISE
Ratan Tata has committed $4.7 Mn (INR 300 Mn) to set up startup research facilities under his social impact fund and business incubator FISE. FISE or the Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship was set up by Manoj Kumar, who serves as Tata Trusts’ senior advisor.
#5. Razorpay Raises $20 Mn Series B Funding From Tiger Global And Y Combinator
After raising an undisclosed amount of funding in a venture round from Mastercard in 2016, digital payments startup Razorpay has closed its Series B funding round of $20 Mn. The round was led by existing investors Tiger Global and Y Combinator; the Series B funding also saw the participation of Matrix Partners.
#6. Edtech Startup Rubix108 Technologies Raises $1 Mn Pre Series A Funding
Pune-based edtech startup Rubix108 Technologies has secured $1 Mn Pre-Series A funding led by Polaris Fund. Ayush Kankariya, an HNI and financial services expert, also participated in the round. The deal was structured by Mumbai-based financial and business advisory firm Creago Advisors.
#7. DIPP Orders SIDBI To Infuse $252 Mn More To AIFs From Fund Of Funds
With the onset of 2018, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has brought new hope for Indian startups. As revealed in a recent tweet of DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek, SIDBI can now commit an additional $252 Mn (INR 1600 Cr) to AIFs from $1.5 Bn (INR 10000 Cr) Fund Of Funds by March 2018.
#8. AI Focussed VC Fund pi Ventures Announces Second Close Of Maiden Fund At $25 Mn
AI, Machine Learning and IoT focused early stage VC fund pi Ventures has announced the second close of its $30 Mn fund at $25 Mn. Key contributors to the fund include Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman of Hero Enterprise Electronic Development Fund (managed by Canbank Ventures), Hero Electronixs and leading HNIs and entrepreneurs.
#9. Chinese Bike Rental Service Ofo To Launch In India In Tie-Up With Paytm
Beijing-based bike rental service Ofo will launch its services in India in a tie-up with Paytm. Reportedly, the Ofo bicycle sharing app will be available on Paytm app along with its standalone mobile app.
#10. Morgan Stanley Marks Up Valuation Of Foodtech Unicorn Zomato To $2.5 Bn
The research firm of Morgan Stanley has marked up the valuation of homegrown foodtech unicorn Zomato to $2.5 Bn. As per reports, the estimation of Zomato’s valuation was done by the global financial services firm while taking stock of the startup’s largest shareholder Info Edge, which runs job portal Naukri.com, real estate site 99acres and Jeevansaathi.
#Tech News
#1. Facebook ‘Portal’ to rival Amazon Echo Show, likely to launch in May
#2. Xiaomi became a $100 billion phone brand without wooing the West
#3. Franklin Templeton gets 40 acres to set up tech campus in Vizag
#4. Instagram allegedly withholds “likes” to keep users coming back for more
#5. Google’s “Arts and Culture” App Finds Your Painting Doppelgänger
#6. Latest YouTube app update hints at a dark theme, Incognito mode, and more
#7. Google pulls kids games containing AdultSwine malware
#8. Google Arts and Culture app now shows your fine art lookalike
#9. Apple’s CarPlay is finally coming to Toyota and Lexus vehicles
#10. Sanders calls out Amazon after 2-year-old orders Batman toy using Echo
#11. Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus visit the FCC, revealing minor details
#12. Ford is throwing $11 billion at its electric car problem
#Global Startup News
#1. Swedish fashion e-commerce company NA-KD raises $45M Series B
#2. True Fit, the personalisation platform for apparel and footwear, raises $55M Series C
#3. London proptech startup Goodlord appoints LoveFilm co-founder William Reeve as CEO
#4. Brit + Co had a round of layoffs this month as part of a ‘reorganization’
#5. Irish startup SoapBox Labs is building speech recognition tech for kids
#6. Peer-to-peer real estate marketplace Homie wants to replace your realtor with a bot
#7. GV co-leads $27.1M Series A in Oxford Uni life sciences spinout Vaccitech
#8.
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