Google India on Thursday took to Twitter to announce that 650 Indian startups have benefited from startup-focused support programs like its own Launchpad Accelerator. Google highlighted Mumbai-based AI startup Wadhwani which has developed a mobile app that helps cotton farmers identify pests just by taking a picture. Google announced the same under its 'Internet Saathi' program for rural India.

SoftBank Group's Founder and CEO Masayoshi Son loaned himself around $3 billion to invest in the Japanese conglomerate's first, $100-billion Vision Fund, Bloomberg reported citing sources. The 62-year-old has pledged 38% of his stake in the Japanese firm as collateral for personal loans from 19 banks, regulatory filings revealed. The loan was swapped for equity in the fund, Bloomberg added.

Bengaluru-based online lingerie retailer Zivame has raised around ₹20 crore in an equity funding round from existing investors Zodius Capital and Avendus Capital. It raised ₹60 crore in a bridge Series C funding round in March. Founded by Richa Kar and Kapil Karekar, Zivame started as a lingerie-brand aggregator and later pivoted to a private label business in 2016.

Bengaluru-based car-rental startup Zoomcar has raised over ₹14 crore from its US-based parent entity. This comes around two months after the startup raised nearly ₹78 crore in a mix of equity and debt funding from its parent and Trifecta Capital, among others. In April, Zoomcar had confirmed it was seeking $500 million in equity and structured debt funding.

Several prominent startups including Ola, Lenskart and PolicyBazaar are reportedly in the process of submitting a petition to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) over the regulations for listing publicly. The startups reportedly want the rule for minimum promoter holding requirement of 20% to be either be removed or be considered on a case-to-case basis.

Bombay High Court quashed a sexual harassment case against angel investor Mahesh Murthy and said that the delay in filing the case 14 years later is not "properly explained". The Bandra Police had registered the case against Murthy in March 2018 on a woman's complaint. She alleged that in 2004, Murthy touched her inappropriately and kissed her against her will.

US ride-hailing giant Lyft is facing another lawsuit pertaining to its handling of alleged sexual assaults by drivers on its platform. The lawsuit alleged that the plaintiff's driver kidnapped her at gunpoint and she was raped by the driver and other men. "Alison remembers the men cheering and high-fiving each other as they continued to rape her," the lawsuit claimed.

OYO is reportedly in talks with several financial institutions to raise $200 million to buy premium and luxury hotels in America. "OYO is going to create a separate entity in the US to help it acquire and run four and five-star hotel assets," Livemint quoted its sources. OYO recently acquired Las Vegas' Hooters Casino Hotel for a reported $135 million.

Bengaluru-based Bruhat Bangalore Hotels Association contacted the Bengaluru police commissioner to conduct an investigation into alleged unfair business practices by OYO. The association accused OYO of misusing its technology to falsify booking data. OYO Founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal and two other company representatives were also recently booked over criminal breach of trust in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru-based online investments startup Groww has raised over $21 million in a Series B funding round led by US-based VC firm Ribbit Capital. The funding round saw participation from existing investors Sequoia India and Y Combinator. Launched in 2017 by former Flipkart employees Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh and Ishan Bansal, Groww operates in the direct mutual funds' space.

Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma's former secretary Sonia Dhawan, accused in CEO extortion case, had accepted the allegations against her, as per police chargesheet. Dhawan confessed to stealing Paytm's data with her accomplices for over two years with the intention of extorting ₹10 crore from Vijay. "I've made a mistake, please forgive me," she had further said.

China has abruptly halted both offline and online sale of e-cigarette startup JUUL's products a week after its launch, Bloomberg reported. JUUL was reportedly not told why its e-cigarettes and nicotine pods were removed from the stores. JUUL responded by saying that it remains steadfast in its commitment to provide China with a viable alternative to combustible cigarettes.

Kolkata-based fast-food chain 'Wow! Momo' has raised $23 million (about ₹164 crore) in a Series B funding round at a valuation of $120 million led by American hedge fund Tiger Global Management. The food chain had raised ₹3 crore from Fabindia's Managing Director William Bissell last year in June. It was valued at about $42 million then.

Co-working space giant WeWork is expected to halt its Initial Public Offering (IPO), The Wall Street Journal reported. Investors reportedly raised questions on how much the company is worth and raised concerns about its corporate governance. Past reports had claimed that WeWork, last valued at about $47 billion in January, could seek a valuation as low as $15-18 billion.

Amazon's world's largest campus opened in Hyderabad last month has 12 floors, each with a separate theme, with one of the floors having 'Bollywood' theme. The building has numerous 'work points' where employees can sit, in a group or solo, and work with their laptops. There are billiard tables, yoga rooms, and areas dedicated to cricket and wall climbing.

Bengaluru-based edtech unicorn Byju's has issued fresh warrants to Times Group worth nearly ₹4 crore in total, regulatory filings revealed. Prior to this, Times Group held 5 equity shares and 5 warrants, Inc42 revealed. Byju's was started in 2008 by Byju Raveendran as an offline teaching centre and has raised nearly $970 million to date, as per Crunchbase.

Paytm Money has raised ₹40 crore from its parent entity One97 Communications, regulatory filings revealed. This comes around two months after One97 had announced to put an additional ₹250 crore investment in Paytm Money in the next 12-18 months. Paytm Money is looking to step into new verticals like stock trading and NPS within this financial year.

Healthcare startup Meddo Health, started by former Foodpanda CEO Saurabh Kochhar, has raised $3 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by SRI Capital. The round also saw participation from growX Ventures, LetsVenture, Venture Gurukool and Citrus Payment Founder Jitendra Gupta, among others. Founded in 2018, Meddo claims to have tie-ups with more than 400 doctors and 200 clinics.

Online fantasy gaming startup LivePools has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Instagram influencer Dan Bilzerian, marking his financial entry in India. Bilzerian, who came to India last week, said he had been monitoring the market for a while. Founded in 2017, LivePools is backed by Bollywood actor Dino Morea and claims to have over one million registered users.

Logistics provider Blowhorn has raised an undisclosed amount in a round of funding from existing investors Chiratae Ventures and Dell Foundation. New investors Venture Catalysts, James Lee Sorenson and Japanese VC firm, Dream Incubator, also participated in the round. Blowhorn had raised over ₹25 crore in Series A funding from Chiratae Ventures along with other investors in 2017.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi announced at its flagship event, Himalayan Startup Trek (HST), that it will disburse ₹10 crore to startups in the next 5 years through its Catalyst programme. The HST event, which was held this month, saw applications from over 270 teams, of which IIT Mandi Catalyst picked 25 innovative ideas to join the incubation programme.

Digital identity solutions provider Syntizen Technologies has raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-Series A funding round from Mastercard and biometric solutions provider ACPL. The startup was founded by Siddharth Kukatlapalli, Vamsi Kotte and Dinesh Desu in 2014. It has clients like Muthoot Fincorp, Manappuram Finance, Shriram Housing, Angel Broking, Videocon Telecommunications, etc.

Global online gaming giant Nazara Technologies has invested ₹7.5 crore in Sports Unity, acquiring majority stake in the startup. The round also saw participation from Delhi-based lawyer Vaibhav Gaggar. In August, Nazara invested ₹44 crore for a 67% stake in sports media platform Sportskeeda. Founded in 2016, Sports Unity is the creator of India's number one quizzing mobile game 'Qunami'.

Credit card bill payment app Cred has raised about $9.5 million in Series B funding round from US-based venture capital fund General Catalyst. In July, Cred had raised $120 million in the same round led by fintech fund Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital, Gemini Investments, existing investor Sequoia Capital, etc. Following that round, its valuation rose to $450 million.

Several Zomato delivery partners in Bengaluru protesting over the new payment structure were suspended from the platform. They allege that a few of those whom the company has identified as organisers of the protest are being targeted. "Certain delivery partners (0.1% of Bengaluru fleet) found instigating and hindering services for other partners have been temporarily suspended," Zomato said.