In Brief: Droom may raise $150 mn pre-IPO round; Ranjit Tinaikar joins Ness as CEO

Automobile marketplace Droom Technology is looking for a $150 million pre-IPO fundraising round, The Economic Times reported. This will be the company’s sixth funding round, according to the report. The company has raised around $125 million so far. Its investors include Lightbox, Singapore-based global fund Beenext, Japanese firm Beenos, Tokyo-based VC firm Digital Garage, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, and Hong Kong-based multi-billion family office Integrated Assets Management.

Watch: Droom founder Sandeep Aggarwal on harnessing AI to deliver B2B, B2C solutions  

Ness Digital Engineering gets new CEO

Teaneck, New Jersey-based digital transformation solutions provider Ness Digital Engineering has appointed Ranjit Tinaikar as its CEO, effective immediately. Tinaikar replaces Paul Lombardo and will be based at the Ness headquarters in Teaneck, according to a press statement. Prior to the current role, he served as president of Fitch Solutions, a data and analytical services business. He has also served companies like media firm Thomson Reuters and management consulting company McKinsey & Company. Tinaikar started his career in technology as a faculty member in Information Systems at Carnegie Mellon University and also worked at the Software Engineering Institute.

Read: Outlook 2020: Why used car platforms are poised for explosive growth

Mahindra & Mahindra to launch cab aggregator for corporates Alyte

Multinational car manufacturing corporation Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) aims to roll out a cab aggregator service for corporates, The Economic Times reported. Named Alyte, this move is aimed at expanding its fleet of electric vehicles for taxi services and bring all of its mobility business under a single business vertical. This mobility services vertical will house Alyte, run under Mahindra Logistics; Meru Cabs, in which Mahindra group owns 55%; etaxi service Glyd; and First Choice, M&M’s used car business, the report said. Last year in September, it had tied up with the self-drive rental platform Revv to offer its range of vehicles on a subscription basis.

Intuit QuickBooks inks deal with Visa to help SMEs

Intuit QuickBooks, a subsidiary of global financial software company Intuit, has signed a strategic agreement with global payments company Visa to strengthen their business propositions for SME (small and medium enterprise) customers in India. Under the collaboration, Visa cardholders will be able to subscribe to Intuit QuickBooks features, which include any time, anywhere access to data, GST  (goods and services tax) compliance, expense management, automated bank reconciliation, and document management, among others, a statement said. QuickBooks will also enable small businesses to collaborate with their (CAs) chartered accountants in real-time, the statement added.

OYO accused of piling debt from hotel partner

Budget hospitality chain OYO has allegedly breached a contract for monthly payments of about Rs 13 lakh every month since May 2018, Hyderabad-based hotel partner Conclave Infratech has said in its insolvency application to the Ahmedabad bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), The Economic Times reported on Monday. OYO confirmed the development, in an emailed response to TechCircle. “OYO continuously engages with all its vendors, towards resolving any issues and is committed to ensuring the best outcomes. Unfortunately, in this situation, the partner chose to disengage and pursue the matter in the said forum which also as per established judicial precedence isn’t maintainable given this is a disputed matter,” a company spokeswoman told TechCircle in an emailed statement. The Ritesh Agarwal-led startup has disputed the liability. The matter, being a corporate commercial dispute, is not maintainable in front of the tribunal, the statement added.

NIDHI-Seed Support System gets Rs 5 cr seed fund

Zone Startups India will offer Rs 5 crore to support the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations -Seed Support System (NIDHI-SSS) scheme, which is launched by the (DST) Department of Science and Technology, according to a press release. Zone Startups India is a joint venture between Ryerson University (Toronto) and Bombay Stock Exchange Institute (BSE), a subsidiary of the stock exchange. The corpus will be used to provide financial assistance to select startups incubated under the programme. "The NIDHI- SSS  seed fund will help our startups for their early-stage funding requirements which will help them to raise further funds and to scale up. The process of being mentored and making a pitch to an esteemed jury adds value to the startups in their growth journey," Hemant Gupta, MD, Zone Startups India said.