🇮🇳 Roundup: Ecom Express gears up for $650m IPO, more (Updated)

Startups in India, including Scaler and Chargebee, raised at least US$305 million in disclosed funding over the past day from international and local investors.

Here’s a snapshot of the fundraising:

Here’s some important tech news from India today:

Ecom Express next in line to join IPO frenzy

The logistics startup is looking to raise 48 billion rupees (US$650 million) from its upcoming public listing, Entrackr reported. It will offer a fresh issue worth US$288 million and an offer for sale worth US$361 million for existing shareholders. 

Launched in 2012, Ecom Express provides services in more than 2,650 cities and towns in India and has over 2,930 facility centers and 36,000 employees. It is backed by Warburg Pincus, Partner Group, and CDC Group, among others. 

Recently, Delhivery, Ecom’s rival SoftBank-backed rival, got the regulatory nod for a US$1 billion IPO. Delhivery, however, is reportedly mulling delaying its listing because of the recent performance of firms like Paytm, Zomato, and CarTrade in the market after listing.

Messaging unicorn Gupshup buys Knowlarity

Gupshup has acquired Knowlarity Communications, a cloud-based communications solutions provider. Financial details of the deal were not revealed, but it is likely worth US$100 million, according to a Bloomberg report.

Founded in 2009, Knowlarity caters to more than 6,000 customers across 65 countries. Gupshup said the acquisition will help develop its leadership in the conversational engagement space.

Gupshup, a messaging-focused startup, became a unicorn in 2021 after raising US$240 million from Tiger Global, Fidelity Management, and others. In September last year, Gupshup had acquired US-based Dotgo, a rich communication services platform, for an undisclosed sum. (Read:
How a drastic pivot saved one of India’s newest unicorns)

Indian govt pulls up internet firms over fake news

Indian officials have reprimanded internet firms, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter, for not proactively removing fake news on their platforms, Reuters reported.

The “tense” and “heated” discussions saw officials point out that the internet firms’ inaction in removing such content had compelled the government to issue takedown notices. Notably, the government has drawn criticism for suppressing free speech because of the takedown notices.