Indian startups have raised US $12.1 billion from deals

Billionaire Richard Branson, who'll fly to space on July 11, said he's looking forward to talking to Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos about his ride when he comes back. Denying that he and Bezos were in a contest to see who'd go to space first, Branson said, "I spoke to him 2-3 weeks ago, and we both wished each other well."

Chennai-based Matrimony.com on Wednesday said it has signed definitive agreements to acquire a 100% stake in Boatman Tech Private Limited, the promoters of ShaadiSaga. Following the acquisition, ShaadiSaga's founders Himanshu Kapsime and Manish Garg, and CPO Niraj Patel will join Matrimony.com in senior leadership roles, it added. The company is expecting the cost of acquisition to be ₹11 crore.

A Bengaluru-based real estate company, Nitesh Estates, and its promoter, Nitesh Shetty, have been booked for allegedly defaulting ₹712 crore bank loan. In 2016, the company availed ₹712 crore loan from Yes Bank. The Cubbon Park Police added that after a few installments, the company defaulted on the loan. A case was registered based on a bank representative's complaint.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure on Wednesday said its shareholders have approved raising funds up to ₹550.56 crore. The funds will be raised through preferential allotment of 8.88 crore equity shares or warrants to promoters and VFSI Holdings. The funds raised would be utilised for long-term resources and for general corporate purposes, it said in a regulatory filing.

Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida has told a Japanese court that the company's former Chairman Carlos Ghosn held too much power, failed to listen to others and stayed on for too long. "The Nissan brand was tarnished, the workers were demoralised," he added. In 2018, Ghosn was arrested in Japan for under-reporting his salary, however, he later fled to Lebanon.

Central bankers across the world are most concerned about inflation, UBS has said citing its Annual Reserve Manager Survey. Failure to end the pandemic was cited as a worry by 79% of respondents, with 71% flagging government debt levels. Moreover, half of the participants in the survey believe the virus will be over only after 2022.