Indian omnichannel nutrition startup HealthKart raised $153 million this 12 months in considered one of the country’s largest consumer startup deals, valuing the corporate at about $500 million, based on a source aware of the matter.

The new investment was co-led by private equity firms ChrysCapital and Motilal Oswal, with Avendus Capital serving as financial advisor. A91 Partners and Asset Manager Neo Group also participated within the new investment.

According to people aware of the matter, some existing investors sold their shares to new sponsors. HealthKart counts Peak XV, Temasek, Sofina and wealth manager IIFL amongst its supporters.

Gurugram-based HealthKart reported revenue of $118.5 million for the 12 months ending March 2024, strengthening its position as India’s largest consumer nutrition platform. The startup sells protein supplements and health accessories.

The 13-year-old startup, which grew out of online pharmacy startup 1MG, said it was also buying back $6.5 million value of stock from employees. The startup generated profitable EBITDA within the financial 12 months ending in March.

“The Indian sports nutrition market, currently underpenetrated, is expected to expand due to increased fitness awareness and the growing importance of nutrition and protein,” Arpit Vinayak, vice chairman of ChrysCapital, said in a press release.

Blizzard Entertainment first released World of Warcraft in November 2004, so The New York Times celebrated an anniversary describing how 20 years later we will still see the influence of online multiplayer role-playing games.

First, while multiplayer games and early social networks like MySpace already existed, WoW provided an actual preview of a future where anyone could connect with friends and strangers on the (*20*). Second, the sport made billions of dollars on a business model that combined monthly subscriptions with in-game purchases (including pets and animals that players could ride), becoming a large money cow for Blizzard and paving the way in which for future online business models.

The game also appeared immortal memesattracted celebrity fans and suggested epidemiologists argue that an incident involving the uncontrolled spread of a fantasy disease could possibly be investigated to realize insight into real-world epidemics.

Other than that, I didn’t think the movie was that bad.

Only two firms currently deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station, and each are based within the United States. Exploration Companywhich operates in Germany, France and Italy, wants to change that: it has just closed a big round of financing to proceed its mission to construct Europe’s first reusable space capsule.

The $160 million Series B round will fund further development of the Nyx spacecraft, which is able to find a way to carry 3,000 kilograms of cargo to Earth and back. The company, founded three years ago by aerospace engineers Hélène Huby, Sebastien Reichstat and Pierre Vine, goals to conduct Nyx’s maiden flight to and from the ISS in 2028.

“We are the first company in the world where, for the first time, it is funded primarily by private investors,” Huby said in a recent interview. This contrasts with SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, which it said was “primarily funded by NASA.”

With the brand new financing, led by Balderton Capital and Plural, the startup’s total funding now stands at over $208 million. Bessemer Venture Partners, NGP Capital and two European sovereign funds, French Tech Souveraineté and DeepTech & Climate Fonds, also participated within the Series B.

“We have managed to deliver on the promises we have made over the last three years,” Huby said. “We were able to hit our cash target every quarter… Investors could see that we were basically able to deliver on time, on cost and with quality.”

The startup has partnered with the European Space Agency (ESA), which has recognized the necessity to support indigenous space launch and transportation capabilities. Earlier this 12 months, Exploration Company was awarded a research contract value roughly €25 million ($27 million) to develop cargo return services. This contract will run until 2026, after which additional competitive contracts are expected to follow. ESA’s goal is to launch no less than one capsule to the ISS in 2028.

The structure of the contract, called the LEO Cargo Return Service Contract, is similar to the NASA Commercial Orbital Return Transportation Services program, which the agency launched in 2006. This program resulted in multi-billion-dollar transportation contracts with SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation (now Northrop Grumman).

It’s a promising start, but equally promising is the potential The Exploration Company sees on the industrial side. About 90% of the startup’s $770 million order book comes from private station developers Vast, Axiom Space and Starlab, according to the most recent reports.

The first Exploration Company demonstration vehicle was launched this summer on the maiden flight of Ariane 6, but it surely was not deployed due to an issue with the rocket’s upper stage. A second, smaller-scale demonstration mission, called Mission Could, is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 next 12 months.

“I really respect what SpaceX has accomplished,” Huby said. “We try to get the most out of it, we are inspired by what they achieved. However, we also believe that the world needs more competition and we want to build an alternative step by step. We are very aware that we are late, that we are much smaller, etc., but we have to start.”