Founders ventures

Representative Image Zypp Electric, a business-to-business electric vehicle (EV) delivery service startup, has raised $25 million in debt and equity in a series B funding round led by Taiwan-based battery swapping major Gogoro. New and existing investors such as Goodyear Ventures, 9Unicorns, WFC, LetsVenture, IAN, Ivygrowth, Grip, and other angels also participated in the round. The round includes a $20 million equity round and a $5 million debt round for fleet expansion from global impact fund IIX and a large national bank. This is also the first time global impact funds and Indian banks are participating in EV debt for any fleet operator or startup in the country, the company said in a statement. "With the fund, Zypp aims to increase its fleet size from 10,000 to 200,000 (2 Lakhs) electric vehicles & expand its footprint to 30 cities in India by 2025. Further, the company will improve its driver experience, expanding its EV hub infrastructure, building sharp EV … [Read more...] about EV startup Zypp Electric raises $25 million in funding led by Gogoro

From left: AgniKul Cosmos co-founder and COO Moin SPM and CEO Srinath Ravichandran Chennai-based space tech start-up Agnikul Cosmos successfully completed the flight acceptance test of their 3D printed rocket engine that is going to be used in their upcoming space flight. The launch of Agnikul's rocket Agnibaan in the coming months, will be the second private rocket launch from India after Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-S . Like Vikram-S, Agnbaan's flight will also be suborbital, which means that it will reach below the Earth's orbit. During the test, the 3D printed rocket engine Aginlet burnt for 108 seconds, generated sea level thrust of 6 kilo Newton (kN). Unlike other rocket engines, Agnilet was built in a single step, eliminating the thousands of parts that are typically assembled in a conventional rocket engine; and they recently obtained a patent for the engine . "Humbled to announce the successful completion of the flight acceptance test of our … [Read more...] about Agnikul Cosmos successfully carries out key test ahead of planned launch

From left: AgniKul Cosmos co-founder and COO Moin SPM and CEO Srinath Ravichandran Agnikul Cosmos, the space tech startup incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, will apply for a patent for its full-scale, second-stage engine Agnilet, which it claims is the world’s first single-piece 3D-printed rocket engine. This means it’s been made in one shot without the thousands of parts that are typically assembled in a conventional rocket engine. Agnikul Cosmos has also developed its own mobile launchpad, which allows it to launch rockets from any authorised port. The startup is awaiting final approvals from the Indian Space Research Organisation to launch its rockets from Sriharikota. By developing its own mobile launch pad, the startup is in a better position to scale up its business in the future. In an interview with Moneycontrol , cofounder and CEO Srinath Ravichandran, a Wall Street trader-turned-aerospace engineer, spoke about why India’s space technology … [Read more...] about Agnikul Cosmos to patent 3D-printed rocket engine

From left: AgniKul Cosmos co-founder and COO Moin SPM and CEO Srinath Ravichandran Agnikul Cosmos, a Chennai-based space tech startup, is planning a full-scale commercial launch of their rocket Agnibaan in March/April 2023, according to co-founder and CEO Srinath Ravichandran. Agnilet, the startup's single-piece 3D-printed engine, was recently successfully tested at the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram. The startup is planning a test launch of its two-stage booster Agnibaan in December 2022. And, based on the findings of the test launch, the startup plans to conduct a commercial launch with customer payloads in March or April 2023, Ravichandran said. "There are a lot of people who have expressed interest to be part of the launch. So I think once our test is done, we will start converting them into like actual contracts," Ravichandran said. Ravichandran and Moin SPM, an operations specialist, founded … [Read more...] about Agnikul Cosmos plans commercial launch of Agnibaan around March 2023

Skyroot has indicated their interests in capturing the launch-on-demand requirement that is gaining attraction in an era of competition and conflict. (File image) Skyroot Aerospace, an Indian private sector space enterprise, created history by launching India’s first privately developed rocket, Vikram-S. This is a moment that many in India’s private space sector have been waiting for, and the expectation is that the success of the Skyroot venture will open doors for many others. The name given to the mission, ‘ Prarambh ’, means ‘beginning’ in Hindi. Many in the space community believe that this mission is a new beginning for engagement between India’s official space agency, the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), and the private space sector in India. Congratulating Skyroot Aerospace, ISRO tweeted , “Mission Prarambh is successfully accomplished”. Elated at the success, Skyroot’s CEO and Co-Founder, Pawan Kumar Chandana tweeted that: “Nov 18th 11:30 AM will be etched … [Read more...] about Private sector can boost ISRO’s space growth story

From left: AgniKul Cosmos co-founder and COO Moin SPM and CEO Srinath Ravichandran Chennai-based space-tech startup Agnikul Cosmos has secured a patent from the Indian government for its full-scale second-stage engine Agnilet, which they claim is the world’s first single-piece 3D-printed rocket engine. Unlike other rocket engines, Agnilet has been made in one go, without thousands of parts that are typically assembled in a conventional rocket engine. It was successfully test fired in early 2021, the startup said. Earlier, Moneycontrol was the first to report that the startup was going to apply a patent for this engine. Srinath Ravichandran, co-founder and CEO of Agnikul, said, “Rocket engines usually have 1000s of parts in them - starting from injectors that inject fuel into the engine, to the cooling channels that cool the engine, to the igniter that is necessary to ignite the propellants.” “Designing Agnilet as a single piece of hardware has not been an easy ride, … [Read more...] about Chennai-based space-tech startup Agnikul Cosmos secures patent for its 3D-printed rocket engine

Many once-promising financial startups are cash-strapped; others have broken business models. By Jeff Kauflin & Emily Mason ; Illustration by Matt Chase for Forbes ON November 15, the cofounders of Ribbon Home, a five-year-old financial technology company that promised to fix a “broken” homebuying market by offering buyers the ability to make all-cash offers, sent a cryptic and disconcerting email to its entire staff. “During this time of uncertainty, we ask team members who are not customer- or finance-facing to shift their focus from work to self-care, spending time with family and doing things that bring you comfort,” it read in part. Six days later, New York City-based Ribbon dismissed 85% of its staff—190 people—and cut severance to one week’s pay versus the six weeks employees had been previously promised. Fewer than 30 people remain today, and the company recently announced that it has paused all new business. Ribbon’s days are … [Read more...] about Merge Or Perish: 25 Struggling Fintech Startups

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Turno , the India-based commercial electric vehicle platform, will today announce it has raised $13.8 million of Series A funding just a year after is launch. The business has won a 20% market share since it began trading in five states of India in January 2022, and now has plans to expand rapidly. Launched by founders Hemanth Aluru and Sudhindra Reddy, who met when working at car sharing business Zoomcar, Turno aims to make it far easier for small and medium sized enterprises in India to secure commercial electric vehicles (EVs). With these SMEs accounting for around 90% of the country’s logistics industry, the project has the potential to substantially accelerate adoption of commercial EVs in the country – driving significant sustainability benefits. “We can see an inflexion point around EVs,” says Aluru of buyers’ willingness to switch away from vehicles that depend on a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) … [Read more...] about How Turno Plans To Electrify India’s Commercial Vehicles Market

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Chenyu Ren is the co-founder and co-CEO of Markai , a venture-backed cross-border e-commerce startup. Are you a cross-border e-commerce brand looking to make a splash on Amazon? Advertising on the platform is crucial for driving sales and building brand awareness. In fact, Amazon's advertisement revenue hit $31 billion in 2021 , with brands seeing a significant return on investment from their ad spend, especially when it comes to their advertising cost of sales (ACoS) on Amazon. In 2021, Amazon's ACoS was around 20% to 30% across different categories . However, many cross-border e-commerce brands struggle to navigate the platform and run profitable brand-driven campaigns. There is no permanent "hands-off" approach to Amazon advertisements. Brand owners should visit the Activity Manager two to three times a week to check the advertising campaign performance report and make targeted optimization based on the … [Read more...] about How To Run An Effective Amazon Campaign As A Cross-Border Brand

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK This year’s steady stream of staff layoffs by technology companies began in the summer of 2022 when fintechs started cutting staff as valuations fell. In an article titled In Fintech, 2022 Is Becoming The Year Of The Layoffs , Jeff Kauflin wrote: “Rising interest rates, worries of an impending recession and an abrupt slowdown in venture investment has caused fintech founders to aggressively reduce expenses. Every corner of the fintech industry is feeling the squeeze.” In the early part of 2023, the layoff parade has continued and spread to BigTech and established fintech companies. PayPal, for example, announced it would reduce its workforce by about 7%, roughly 2,000 jobs. That comes on the heels of news from Google that it plans to terminate 12,000 jobs and from Microsoft who will slash 10,000 positions. A comment from PayPal CEO Dan Schulman could have come … [Read more...] about The Hypocrisy Of Layoffs At Google, Microsoft, And PayPal