In Brief: Grofers may raise fresh funds; Amazon, Flipkart to expand warehouses

Online grocery delivery platform Grofers may raise up to $70 million in fresh funding, The Economic Times reported. Existing investors including SoftBank Vision Fund, Apoletto Asia, Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global might back the Gurgrugram headquartered company. 

Read: The classic hyperlocal model is back in a new grocery avatar. Will it work?

Ecommerce majors Amazon, Flipkart to lease 3 mn sq ft warehousing space 

Ecommerce giants Amazon and Flipkart will lease over three million square feet warehousing space across major consumption centres, The Economic Times reported. This move is in line with companies’ expectations of an increase in demand once the Covid-19 pandemic ends, the report said. Earlier, Amazon India has contracted two million sq ft for warehousing, while Flipkart has contracted one million sq ft across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, and Coimbatore. The warehouses are expected to start by the end of this year.

Byju’s may raise up to $400 mn in fresh funding

Edtech startup Byju’s is in talks to raise about $400 million in fresh capital at a $10 billion valuation, TechCrunch reported. This new addition will be a part of an ongoing financing round, has already seen Tiger Global and General Atlantic invest $300 million to $350 million into the Bengaluru headquartered startup.

Read: Byju’s offers free access to app for school students until April end

Club Factory forays into grocery delivery business 

Ecommerce platform Club Factory has forayed into grocery delivery business, according to a report by the Economic Times. The firm was recently alleged to have shipped cheap products to India directly from China after labelling them as gifts to avoid the customs duty. Post its run-in with the law, Club Factory came up with a marketplace model of operations, which is in line with India’s laws. The report revealed that Indian sellers are listed on its site.

OYO appoints Troy Alstead as an independent member of the board

Budget hospitality chain OYO has appointed Troy Alstead as an independent member in the company’s board of directors.  In his new role, Alstead will supervise and provide guidance to the founder and the management on key business decisions, according to a statement. He will join the board that already consists of Industry experts like Gerardo Issac (Gerry) Lopez, operating partner at SoftBank Vision Fund, Betsy Atkins, CEO and founder of Baja Corporation, Munish Varma, SoftBank Investment Advisers, and Bejul Somaia, managing director, Lightspeed Venture Partners, among others.

Ozonetel rolls out CloudAgent Mobile app

Hyderabad-headquartered Ozonetel Systems, which provides on-demand cloud communication services for enterprises, has launched CloudAgent Mobile application. This will enable call centre agents to work remotely via their mobile phones, according to a statement. Agents can download the application from the Google Play store.

SaaS platform FarEye appoints Amit Bagga as CRO

SaaS-based logistics platform FarEye has appointed Amit Bagga as its chief revenue officer. Bagga, who has previously worked with digital fulfilment platform and supply chain solutions provider Blue Yonder, will focus on leveraging key revenue opportunities across sales and operations, enhanced customer experience, marketing, and partner strategy. He has also worked with Oracle and HP.