Grapevine: Amazon in investment talks with NinjaCart; DHFL may sell stake to AION

By Ankit Agarwal

  • 17 Jun 2019
Credit: 123RF.com

E-commerce giant Amazon is in exploratory talks with Bengaluru-based NinjaCart to make an investment in the B2B fresh produce supply chain company, three people in the know told The Economic Times.

News of the development comes after NinjaCart, owned by 63Ideas Infolabs Pvt. Ltd, got a $90 million cheque from Tiger Global Management in April.

Meanwhile, troubled Dewan Housing Finance Corp. Ltd (DHFL) is in advanced talks to sell a stake to private equity firm AION Capital, a joint venture of Apollo Global Management and ICICI Venture, people in the know told The Economic Times, adding that US buyout firm Lone Star is also in the race. If the deal goes through, AION Capital will become the largest shareholder in the lender, the people said.

Separately, people in the know told Business Standard that edtech startup Byju’s is closing a funding round worth up to $250 million (around Rs 1,745 crore at current exchange rate) from Qatar Investment Authority, as part of which the sovereign wealth fund will acquire less than five per cent stake.

This will mark Qatar Investment Authority’s first direct investment in an Indian startup.

In March, Byju’s, owned by Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd, raised $31.3 million (Rs 215 crore then) in a fresh round of funding from existing investors General Atlantic and Tencent Holdings Ltd.