UpGrad Becomes India's Newest Unicorn with $185M Funding

Daily Crunch: August 9, 2021

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Welcome to Daily Crunch

Greetings and a warm welcome to Daily Crunch for August 9, 2021. We are pleased to have you join us.

This edition features global startup coverage, updates on space exploration, news regarding a car-rental IPO, and additional information.

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Consider this a comprehensive overview of technology and financial news, conveniently compiled into a single email. Let's begin!

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The TechCrunch Top 3

Turo is preparing to enter the public market with its car rental service. The U.S.-based startup, which facilitates peer-to-peer car rentals, has submitted a confidential filing for its initial public offering (IPO).

We are particularly interested in reviewing the company’s financial disclosures. This is due to a long-standing anticipation for its S-1 filing, as well as a desire to understand how Turo adapted to the challenges of the pandemic and the evolving transportation landscape over the past year and a half.

Further details will be available once the filing becomes public, marking a significant step in the company’s growth.

China's Ongoing Tech Regulation

Regulatory actions from the Chinese government continue to impact the technology sector. Tencent and the broader gaming industry may face increased scrutiny.

This instability prompted NetEase, a prominent Chinese gaming company, to postpone the Hong Kong listing of its music division. It’s worth noting that Tencent Music is already a publicly traded entity.

SpaceX Expands Connectivity Capabilities

SpaceX has acquired Swarm Technologies, further solidifying its position in the connectivity space. This acquisition is particularly relevant given the increasing visibility of SpaceX’s Starlink service.

Swarm Technologies operates a network of 120 small satellites, alongside a corresponding ground station infrastructure. The precise integration of Swarm’s technology with SpaceX’s existing projects remains to be seen.

The acquisition highlights SpaceX’s commitment to expanding its reach in satellite-based communication solutions.

Startups and Venture Capital Updates

Let's begin by examining a couple of noteworthy unicorn success stories before shifting our attention to developments within earlier-stage startups, shall we?

Growth in Indian Edtech: The edtech sector in India continues to demonstrate strong momentum. UpGrad, a Bangalore-based company specializing in higher education and skills enhancement programs, has recently secured $185 million in funding, resulting in a valuation of $1.2 billion. Temasek spearheaded this investment round. Interestingly, the funding occurred in two phases, with an initial $120 million tranche previously valuing UpGrad at approximately $600 million.
Turkey's First Decacorn: Reaching a $1 billion valuation is impressive, but achieving $10 billion is truly remarkable. Consequently, Turkish e-commerce platform Trendyol can be considered noteworthy. At least, General Atlantic and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 believe the company warrants a $16.5 billion valuation. According to our reports, the platform serves around 30 million customers and processes approximately 1 million packages daily.

Now, let’s turn our focus to some startups in their earlier stages of development:

RentCheck Aims to Simplify Deposit Returns: The company has successfully raised $2.6 million to support its mission. The core problem this company addresses is well-understood, making their proposed solution for rebalancing the rental market in favor of renters particularly interesting. As reported by TechCrunch, their software facilitates remote, guided property inspections for property managers. Facilitating the return of security deposits to renters is a positive development.
Canopy Secures $15M for Loan Servicing Technology: While the operational aspects of the financial world may not be immediately captivating, they represent a substantial and potentially profitable market. Canopy Servicing is targeting the fintech industry by developing software designed to improve loan origination and servicing processes. Given the significant challenges surrounding credit access, the $15 million in new funding will be crucial in observing the growth trajectory of this API-driven startup.
CommandBar Launches Publicly with $4.8M Funding: Today marks the official launch of CommandBar, exiting its beta phase, alongside the announcement of a $4.8 million funding round. The company’s technology introduces a search layer for web applications, enhancing their search functionality. This is a genuinely valuable innovation. Locating specific information within web apps can be frustrating, especially when time is limited or users are unfamiliar with the application interface – a situation everyone encounters regularly.
LawVu Develops a Legal Team Platform: Returning to essential, though perhaps not overtly exciting, areas, let’s consider software solutions for legal teams. LawVu is actively developing a platform for legal professionals and has recently raised $17 million NZD to further its efforts. The platform provides a centralized digital workspace for document sharing, communication, and other collaborative tasks.
Moove Facilitates Car Financing in Africa: Recognizing the lower rates of car ownership in Africa compared to other continents, the founders of Moove sought to address this disparity. The startup is initially focused on providing asset-backed financing to individuals who rely on their vehicles for income and has secured $23 million in funding.

The Advantage of Influencer Marketing for New Brands

Prior to engaging a marketing consultant unfamiliar with your offerings, or a Chief Marketing Officer lacking specific industry experience, explore the potential of influencer marketing.

The concept isn't limited to high-profile celebrity endorsements; an influencer could be a dedicated enthusiast on platforms like Reddit, effectively managing your Telegram community.

Jonathan Martinez, growth marketing manager at Uber, highlights a key strategy:

“Focusing on influencers with smaller, more engaged audiences is often more effective. This approach delivers cost-effectiveness and allows for sponsorship of a wider variety of individuals.”

Microinfluencers provide a valuable testing ground for campaigns.

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Big Tech Inc.

Advertising is expanding within the Instagram shopping environment. Instagram is integrating ad placements, featuring both individual images and carousel options, into its e-commerce functionality.

This development represents an effort to strengthen Instagram’s advertising revenue stream.

Cultivating an Antiracist Workplace

Twilio is actively working to establish a culture that goes beyond simply promoting diversity. The company aims to be explicitly anti-racist, according to discussions with Twilio executives reported by TechCrunch’s Ron Miller.

This initiative is seen as a positive step, with hopes that other organizations will adopt similar approaches.

Facebook Faces Scrutiny Over Research Access

A recent decision by Facebook to restrict access for a misinformation research project has drawn criticism from Congress. The company terminated accounts associated with the project last week.

Several senators are now requesting explanations from Facebook regarding this action.

This move has simultaneously resulted in negative media attention and increased congressional scrutiny for the social media giant.

The efficiency with which Facebook achieved this outcome has been noted.

TechCrunch Insights: Growth Marketing Professionals

daily crunch: bangalore-based upgrad becomes india’s newest unicorn with $185m funding round

Did you have a chance to review last week’s articles focusing on growth marketing strategies? The previous coverage can be found here if you missed it.

TechCrunch is currently seeking recommendations for accomplished growth marketers. Expertise in areas like SEO, social media, and content creation is highly valued.

Seeking Growth Marketing Recommendations

If you are a growth marketing professional, please share this survey with your clients. We are interested in gathering feedback regarding positive client experiences.

We want to understand the reasons clients appreciate your services.
Client testimonials will help identify top performers in the field.
The survey focuses on expertise in SEO, social media marketing, and content strategy.

Your clients’ input is crucial in building a comprehensive list of leading growth marketers. Their perspectives will be invaluable to TechCrunch’s reporting.

Participation in this initiative will contribute to recognizing and celebrating excellence within the growth marketing community.

Engage with the Tech Community

TechCrunch’s Managing Editor, Danny Crichton, will host a Twitter Spaces discussion tomorrow, August 10th, starting at 3:00 PM PDT / 6:00 PM EDT.

This event will feature Noah Giansiracusa, the author of “How Algorithms Create and Prevent Fake News: Exploring the Impacts of Social Media, Deepfakes, GPT-3, and More.”