iWorld
Cyanogen raises $80 million from Rupert Murdoch, Twitter & others
MUMBAI: Cyanogen Inc., a mobile operating system (OS) pure-play, has completed an $80 million round of Series C financing. With offices in Palo Alto and Seattle, the company will leverage the infusion of new funding to hire talent and accelerate the development of its open OS platform.
The financing was led by Premji Invest and includes participation from new strategic investors namely News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch, Twitter Ventures, Qualcomm Incorporated, Telefónica Ventures, Smartfren Telecom, Index Ventures, Access Industries (the US-based industrial group headed by Len Blavatnik), Vivi Nevo, and several yet to be announced partners.
Existing investors Benchmark, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, and Tencent Holdings Ltd. also participated.
“We’re committed to creating an open computing platform that fundamentally empowers the entire mobile ecosystem from developers to hardware makers, and most importantly, consumers around the world. We’re excited to have the backing of an amazingly diverse group of strategic investors who are supporting us in building a truly open Android,” said Cyanogen Inc CEO Kirt McMaster.
“We invested in Cyanogen because we’re big proponents of what they’re doing in opening up Android and supporting global and local ecosystem players. Cyanogen is well positioned to become the 3rd leading mobile OS, and we’re excited to back them in growing their business on a global scale,” added Premji Invest technology sector lead Sandesh Patnam.
To date, Cyanogen has received a total of $110 million in funding. Cyanogen is known for both its commercial distribution, Cyanogen OS, and open-source project CyanogenMod.
iWorld
Pocketful appoints Prateek Singh as CEO to drive next growth phase
Ex-Bajaj Broking executive to scale digital investing platform in India
MUMBAI: Pocketful has appointed Prateek Singh as its chief executive officer, marking a key leadership move as the company looks to scale its presence in India’s fast-evolving investment market.
Backed by the three-decade legacy of Pace Group, Pocketful is positioning the appointment as a strategic step to accelerate growth and strengthen its foothold among retail investors.
Singh brings over 13 years of experience in building digital financial platforms, with expertise spanning customer acquisition, product development and business expansion. He joins from Bajaj Broking, where he served as chief growth officer and played a key role in enhancing the company’s digital capabilities and platform experience.
Commenting on the appointment, Pocketful co-founder Sarvam Goel said, “Prateek’s appointment represents an essential milestone for Pocketful as we expand our operations and strengthen our position in the Indian investment market.” He added that Singh’s experience aligns closely with the company’s vision of building a user-focused, technology-driven platform.
For his part, Singh said, “I am truly excited to join Pocketful at such a pivotal stage of its growth journey,” highlighting the rising retail participation and shift towards digital investing in India. He added that the focus will be on simplifying the investing experience and enabling more informed participation in capital markets.
Pocketful offers zero brokerage on equity delivery trades, along with no account opening charges and lifetime zero annual maintenance fees, positioning itself as an accessible platform for new-age investors. It also caters to active traders with advanced tools and features such as margin trading and its in-house intelligence layer, Pocketful GPT, designed to assist with trade ideas and portfolio analysis.
The company has recently expanded into mutual funds, signalling its ambition to evolve into a full-stack investment platform. With Singh at the helm, Pocketful is looking to ride the wave of India’s growing retail investor base and sharpen its competitive edge in the crowded brokerage space.
