In a first, the 18-month-old startup Pixxel has raised what is perhaps the largest seed funding of $5 million to send satellites into space from India. This also marks the first investment in the sector by established institutional venture capital firms Lightspeed India and Blume Ventures. Started by 22-year-old Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal, the startup plans to send its first earth-imaging satellite into space in November. GrowX Venture, Inventus Capital India, Stanford Angels and Ryan Johnson, who co-founded satellite imaging firm BlackBridge, have also participated in the fund-raise. Pixxel has signed MoUs and letters of intent with leading agriculture and oil & gas firms in India and the US, who would use the image data.
NCLT will check SBI’s pleas against Anil Ambani
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) appointed a resolution professional (RP) Jitender Kothari to recommend whether to admit State Bank of India’s twin insolvency petitions against Anil Ambani to recover £120 million of loans guaranteed by him. The NCLT’s common order appointing an RP was sought to be stayed by Ambani’s senior counsel J J Bhatt. The application was rejected by the tribunal, following an objection by senior counsel Venkatesh Dhond. State Bank of India’s twin petitions for appointment of an RP under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was heard by the NCLT bench which passed the order. In 2016, Reliance Communications (RCom) and Reliance Infratel borrowed £56.5 million and £63.5 million respectively from SBI to refinance debt on the back of a personal guarantee from Ambani, chairperson of Reliance Group, along with other securities.
Subhash Chandra steps down from Zee board
Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zee) has appointed founder Subhash Chandra as chairman emeritus following his resignation from the non-executive director’s position. An advisory role, the chairman emeritus position does not carry “any remuneration”. Last November, Chandra relinquished the chairman’s office following “changes in promoter holdings”. Chandra’s stake in Zee fell to 5% after he sold 16.5% to a clutch of financial investors. Latest regulatory filings showed 21% of the promoter’s 5% shareholding in Zee is pledged. Zee, in which foreign portfolio investors including Invesco Oppenheimer and Government of Singapore hold the largest block (67%), named R Gopalan, an independent director of the company since November 2019, as its chairman.
