Wipro, Pandorum to develop regenerative medicine tech; Walmart, IITM partner on R&D, training; Blinkit raises $100 mln more

Wipro and Pandorum Technologies, a biotechnology company working in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, have teamed up to develop technologies that shorten time-to-market and maximise patient outcomes during R&D and clinical trials of regenerative medicine; Walmart Global Tech and IIT Madras will collaborate on research, and continued education for Walmart associates; And Blinkit raises money from Zomato, ET reports. Wipro and Pandorum Technologies, a biotechnology company working in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, have teamed up to develop technologies that shorten time-to-market and maximise patient outcomes during R&D and clinical trials of regenerative medicine, India’s fourth biggest IT services company said in a press release yesterday. Walmart Global Tech is partnering Indian Institute of Technology Madras to accelerate research in new areas of technology, provide Walmart associates with continuing education and collaborate on projects for Corporate Social Responsibility for their India operations, the retail giant said in a press release. IITM students and WGT associates will work on research projects together, facilitated by the Centre for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (IC&SR) at IITM. Blinkit (formerly Grofers), has closed an additional $100 million in financing as a part of its ongoing fundraise, Economic Times reports. The funds are being raised through convertible notes from Zomato, which will later be converted into equity, according to ET. This is a part of a larger $400-million funding Blinkit is looking to raise from Zomato and other investors, which is expected to close in the next two quarters, according to ET. Ninjacart, an agri-platform provider, has acquired Tecxprt, a company with expertise in integrating cloud software. Ninjacart didn’t provide any financial details. Ambee, an environmental intelligence company that supplies hyperlocal environmental data in real-time, has launched ‘SmartFarming Data’, a new offering that brings data science techniques to farmers and agribusinesses to improve the health of their farms. ‘SmartFarming Data’ by Ambee will help farmers understand their farms better, mitigate the impact of climate change on agriculture, take measures to monitor and mitigate soil degradation, and increase agricultural productivity using environmental data, according to a press release. Loco, a game streaming startup, has raised $42 million as it looks to build what it has described to some investors as “Twitch for India,” TechCrunch reports. The startup — run by Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh, who previously co-founded content platform Pocket Aces — has raised about $51 million to date. Pocket Aces acquired Loco in 2018. Kuku FM, an audio content platform provider, has secured Series B funding of $19.5 million led by South Korean gaming giant KRAFTON, according to a press release. The round also saw participation from its existing investors including 3one4 Capital, Vertex Ventures, and India Quotient, with Founder Bank Capital and Verlinvest joining as new investors. Mentor Match, an ed-tech startup, has raised $1 million in its pre-seed round of funding from Sapient Fund a US-based seed-stage venture fund led by Karthik Sundaram, according to a press release. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds