A91 Partners may invest $10 mn in Atomberg Technologies; Govt to ease FDI norms for digital media

Mumbai-based appliance maker Atomberg Technologies might get $10 million investment from venture capital firm A91 Partners. Government is considering easing FDI rules in digital media and contract manufacturing. 

VC firm A91 Partners might invest $10 mn in Atomberg Technologies

Bengaluru-based venture capital firm A91 Partners might invest $10 million in Mumbai-based home appliance maker Atomberg Technologies, The Economic Times reported.

The startup is expected to have a post-money valuation of $25 million while A91 Partners will get a 40% stake in Atomberg Technologies.

Founded in 2012 by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay graduates Manoj Meena and Sibabrata Das, the startup sells its products both online and offline. 

Atomberg Technologies sells products in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad, and has over 300 service centres. 

In May, the family office of Hero Group’s additional director Sumant Kant Munjal had invested an undisclosed amount in the startup.

Centre to ease norms for FDI in digital media, contract manufacturing

The government is considering a proposal to relax foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in several sectors including single-brand retail trading, digital media and contract manufacturing, The Economic Times reported.

The existing rules allow 100% FDI in the manufacturing sector under the automatic route but investment rules for contract manufacturing remain vague, the report said. 

Under the new proposal, the government might allow 100% FDI in contract manufacturing.

The government is also looking to ease FDI norms in digital media. Currently, about 26% FDI is allowed through the government approval route in print media and 49% in broadcasting content services. 

Media reports had earlier indicated that the government might relax the mandatory 30% local sourcing norms for FDI in the single-brand retail sector.

Truecaller has  1 mn paying subscribers

Caller identification app Truecaller has crossed one million paying subscribers globally.

The company said in a statement that it has added a series of new features to its paid subscription service Truecaller Premium. 

The new feature will offer advanced and more powerful spam blocking features which include automatically updating and blocking top spammers in your region. The feature is currently available to Android users across all global markets of Truecaller, it added.

Logistics startup DOT starts operations in Ranchi, Jamshedpur

Logistics startup DOT has expanded operations to Ranchi and Jamshedpur.

The Gurugram-based startup will now have a presence in 30 cities and is majorly present in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, it said in a statement.

It has a fleet of more than 700 electric vehicles, the statement added.

“DOT’s continued growth and profitability enable us to expand our operations to new hubs and fortify our footprints in tier-2 & tier-3 cities. Each location in these upcoming cities will be modelled on the company’s motto of Life Electric and Delivering Electric, ” said Vineet J Mehra, managing director, DOT.