1. upGrad raises $210 million at $2.25 billion valuation in round led by ETS Global, Bodhi Tree
Edtech unicorn upGrad has raised $210 million in a funding round at a valuation of $2.25 billion, led by ETS Global, one of the world’s largest providers of global entrance tests like GRE and TOEFL, and Bodhi Tree, an investment vehicle set up by media veterans Uday Shankar and James Murdoch, among others.
Singapore’s Kaizen Management Advisors, Family office of Bharti Airtel, Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office (family office of Ambuja Cements and ACC), and Artisan Investments (family office of Arcelor Mittal’s Lakshmi Mittal ) along with existing investors Temasek, IFC (International Finance Corporation) and IIFL also participated in the round, the company said.
upGrad’s founders — Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli — also invested $12.5 million in this round to maintain their ownership of over 50 percent of the edtech unicorn, upGrad said.
upGrad raises $210 million at $2.25 billion valuation in round led by ETS Global, Bodhi Tree
2. Binance and WazirX disagree over ownership two years after announcing deal
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, said on Friday it doesn’t own India-based platform WazirX despite disclosing the acquisition two and a half years ago in a move that has baffled industry players, including the Indian firm that insists the purchase did take place.
Changpeng Zhao, founder and chief executive of Binance, said in a series of tweets that the company has been “trying to conclude the deal for the past few years,” but hasn’t completed the transaction yet citing “a few issues” that he declined to elaborate.
Binance announced the acquisition of WazirX in late 2019 in a blog post. The official blog post, which carried a picture of Zhao and WazirX founders, also featured the Binance executive’s enthusiasm about the deal.
Binance and WazirX disagree over ownership two years after announcing deal
A podcast
Worth your attention
Wealth management startup Dezerv raises $21 million at $100 million valuation Link
WebEngage Raises $20 Million In Series B Link
Fintech startup Jify raises $10M in Series A from Accel, Nexus Venture Partners Link
Jodo Raises $15 Million In Series A Funding Link
Uber Eats Acquired by Zomato: Uber sells food delivery business for 9.99% stake in Zomato | India… Link
SquadStack scores $17.5 Mn from Bertelsmann, Chiratae and Blume Link
Nykaa to acquire social commerce startup LBB to push discovery shopping Link
Tiger sells 2.34% stake in Zomato Link