Startup Digest: Here’re top stories of the day

There were many developments in the startup space during the day. Here are the top startup updates of the day:

Ecommerce marketplace Snapdeal has reported its revenue for financial year 2019-2020 at Rs 833 crore, a 2 percent fall over the last financial year, as per Tofler.

The company reported a net loss of Rs 270 crore during the same fiscal. This is 43 percent increase from the last financial year.

B2B on-demand manufacturing platform Karkhana.io has raised a seed round of $1.5 million led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India (Vertex Ventures SEA & India). The company also saw participation from several industry leaders and angel investors.

With this funding, Karkhana.io aims to fuel further growth and establish their technology platform to meet the demand for custom manufacturing in India’s manufacturing industry.

Edtech startup PurpleTutor has raised a seed round of $300 K led by IvyCap Ventures. The round saw participation from other investors including Krishna Kumar (Founder & CEO –Simplilearn).

With this infusion of capital, the company plans to strengthen its technology, consumer base, and increase footprint.

Growth equity firm Stakeboat Capital launches FUND-II to tap into opportunities in the SME sector.

It looks at targeting foreign investors, institutional investors and family offices to raise Rs 1000 crore. Stakeboat will invest in SMEs with revenue between Rs 50-250 crore and continue to focus on control and buyout transactions.

Homegrown e-commerce marketplace Flipkart has unveiled the first cohort of its startup accelerator program called Flipkart Leap.

From more than 920 applicants eight finalists were shortlisted across five categories: Design & Make for India; Innovations in Digital Commerce; Technologies to Empower Retail; SCM & Logistics; and Enabling Deep Tech Applications.

The finalists will undergo a 16-week mentorship program and receive an equity-free grant of $25,000.

Tesla is in touch with five state governments in India and is now exploring the possibility of setting up manufacturing, R&D centres in the country, CNBC-TV 18 has learnt. The news comes days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that they are looking to begin operations in India in 2021.

SoftBank Group has sold $2 billion-worth of shares in Uber, according to a document released Monday, as it took advantage of a surge in the US ride-hailing giant's value.

An affiliate of SoftBank's Vision Fund sold 38 million shares for $53.46 apiece, according to a US stock filing on Uber's website, though it still remains the firm's main shareholder, with a 10 percent stake worth about $10 billion.

US retail chain Walmart has entered a strategic partnership with investment firm Ribbit Capital to create a new fintech startup.

The startup, which will be majority owned by the world’s biggest retailer, expects growth through tie-ups and acquisitions with other fintech firms, Walmart said in a statement.

Social media platform Parler, favoured by many supporters of US President Donald Trump, sued Amazon.com Inc accusing it of making an illegal, politically motivated decision to shut it down to benefit Twitter. In an antitrust complaint filed with the US District Court in Seattle, Parler said Amazon delivered a "death blow" by abruptly cutting off Web-hosting services soon after Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google removed the Parler app from their own app stores.

Australia’s competition regulator has warned that planned laws to make the country the first in the world to force Google and Facebook to pay for news content were likely just the start of more regulation for digital platforms according to a Reuters report.

The Australian government announced legislation last month after an investigation it said showed the tech giants held too much market power in the media industry, a situation it said posed a potential threat to a well-functioning democracy.

Under the code, Google and Facebook will be subject to mandatory price arbitration if a commercial agreement on payment for Australian media cannot be reached. Digital platforms face fines of up to A$10 million ($7.7 million) if they do not comply with the decision.

The Biden administration should expand antitrust cases against Alphabet’s Google and Facebook and encourage breaking up companies, according to a group whose founder is working with the president-elect’s transition team.

The American Economic Liberties Project, an influential Washington-based anti-monopoly group, issued a report with guidance for antitrust enforcers in the next administration.

The group is led by Sarah Miller, who is working with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team and has been instrumental in making antitrust enforcement against Big Tech a mainstream issue.