Startup news and updates: daily roundup (November 28, 2022)

Kotak Mahindra Bank ties up with actyv.ai to offer dealer finance

Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) has announced that it will be providing finance to dealers onboarded on actyv.ai, an AI-powered enterprise SaaS platform.

KMBL will provide short-term finance under the ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ category for working capital needs of dealers.

Sunil Daga, President & Head, Business Banking Assets, Kotak Mahindra Bank, said, “Small business owners often face a shortfall in their everyday capital requirements. Kotak is committed to empowering small-and medium-scale business owners by helping them address their credit requirements. Partnership with a technology platform like actyv.ai helps us ease supply chain bottlenecks for businesses with technological advancements. Additionally, it would benefit business owners across the B2B value chain with smooth, quick and safe funding options on attractive interest rates, and help them meet cash flow requirements for their businesses*.

Micelio Global Clean Mobility Summit 2022 concludes in Bengaluru

Micelio Mobility’s first ‘Micelio Global Clean Mobility Summit 2022’ concluded in Bengaluru on Monday. The flagship Global Clean Mobility Summit brought together founders, investors, and policymakers from across the globe to one platform to ideate, connect, and collaborate on clean mobility solutions in India and abroad. 

The summit was graced by many renowned personalities from the government as well as the clean mobility and investment sectors, including Randheer Singh, Director, Electric Mobility and ACC Program, NITI Aayog; Gunjan Krishna, IAS, Commissioner for Industrial Development and Director, Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Karnataka; Dr Reji Mathai, Director, Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI); Ujjwala Karle, Dy. Director, ARAI; Akshima Ghate, Managing Director, RMI Foundation (India); Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest; Arpit Agarwal, Director, Blume Ventures; Niraj Rajmohan, CTO, Ultraviolette; Avinash Sharma, Founder, ElectricPe; Anand Sri Ganesh, COO, NSRCEL, IIMB; Madhumita Agrawal, Co-Founder & CEO Oben Electric, and others. 

Randheer Singh along with Gunjan Krishna announced the launch of the Policy Report, ‘Catalysing E-Mobility: Solutions to Support India’s Startups and Innovators’’.

WazirX releases third edition transparency report

Indian crypto exchange, WazirX, has launched its third edition transparency report. The developments covered in the report occurred between April 2022 and September 2022. The exchange also highlighted that it is implementing a full-proof onboarding process to ensure the security of users.

The exchange claims that it has maintained its record of 100% compliance rate for all 828 requests received from Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA). The requests were received against a total of 10 million transactions during this period. As per the report, out of 828 queries received, 764 were by Indian Law Enforcement Agencies, whereas the Foreign LEAs made 64 requests.

Nischal Shetty, CEO and Founder, WazirX, said “We still have some way to go to prevent security risks in Crypto. The level of awareness around Crypto needs to extend to its ill uses too. Only then can mainstream adoption take place in an environment of trust. We will continue our efforts to educate Indians about Crypto, and comply with regulators to ensure any form of fraud with virtual digital assets is tackled.” 

Rajeev Chandrasekhar inaugurates Digital India Startup Hub at STPI, Davanagere

Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship, Rajeev Chandrasekhar inaugurated a Digital India startup hub at the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) centre at Davanagere in Karnataka.

The Karnataka Government has facilitated 10,000 sq. ft. built-up space in Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) Regional Centre, Davanagere, for the establishment of this STPI Centre.

This is the 63rd STPI centre in the country and the fifth in Karnataka. The minister stated that India has the fastest growing innovation system, with more than 80,000 startups and over 107 unicorns. “We have assumed the presidency of the G20, a league of world’s largest economies and also the GPAIan international initiative on Artificial Intelligence. It is the fastest growing major economy that has surpassed the UK to emerge as the fifth largest economy, receiving its highest ever FDIs of $83 billion.”