Latest news with #Solv
Business Insider
07-08-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Maestro Releases the ‘State of BitcoinFi' Report: A Clear Shift from Scaling Infrastructure to Usable BitcoinFi Products
Maestro, the leading BitcoinFi infrastructure provider, has released the 'State of BitcoinFi,' the industry's most comprehensive ecosystem-wide report on Bitcoin financial applications, infrastructure, and the ongoing expansion of Bitcoin's utility from storing value to powering global finance's transition to on-chain rails. The State of BitcoinFi research report presents data-driven protocol performance, market analysis, institutional outlooks, and the state of venture funding into the BitcoinFi ecosystem. It reveals that staking and lending have emerged as the primary areas where BitcoinFi is achieving product-market fit. Maestro expects BitcoinFi volumes to surge as a growing number of institutions add Bitcoin to their balance sheets and custodians activate idle BTC searching for yield and utility. 'We're witnessing the convergence of TradFi and DeFi into a Bitcoin‑denominated capital market,' said Marvin Bertin, Co‑Founder and CEO of Maestro. 'For the first time since 2009, the critical pieces for on‑chain financial apps on Bitcoin are in place, spanning exchanges, lending, and stablecoins. Bitcoin is evolving from a static reserve asset into a dynamic, productive financial network.' Key insights: Staking and lending: With over ₿68.5K of TVL ($7.39 billion), staking has become the most widely adopted application in BitcoinFi. An additional $3.32 billion worth of BTC is locked in restaking, meaning BitcoinFi now secures over $10 billion in value through yield-generating protocols. While Babylon ($4.79B) leads in scale, Solv, Lombard, and CoreDAO are pushing the frontier with liquid staking tokens (LSTs), restaking strategies, and dual-token security models. Liquidium has become an early leader in Bitcoin-native lending with over $500M in volume. Programmability layers: Bitcoin L2s and scaling layers have $5.52B (52k BTC) in TVL, signalling real developer and user demand driven by BTC-native smart contracts, yield, and asset issuance while preserving self-custody and Bitcoin settlement guarantees. Stacks led all layers in growth, adding ~2,000 BTC and more than doubling its TVL in Q2. Sidechains still hold the most BTC in BitcoinFi, but the architecture is rapidly diversifying, with rollups and execution layers looking promising. Metaprotocols: Runes, Ordinals, and BRC-20s accounted for 40.6% of all Bitcoin transactions in H1 2025. The BRC-20 daily volume has surged to $128 million. Ordinals, after a pullback in 2024, witnessed a strong recovery with over 80 million inscriptions created by mid-2025, generating 6,940 BTC (approximately $681M) in fees. The Runes minting and trading volume declined sharply by year-end 2024, though the activity rebounded in March and April 2025. Stablecoins: With $860M in TVL (+42.3% QoQ), stablecoins have begun to take hold in the Bitcoin ecosystem, thanks to the maturation of Bitcoin L2s and growing demand for native financial primitives. CDP-based (Collateralized Debt Position) stablecoins like Avalon's USDa ($559M) have found early traction in BitcoinFi. The introduction of high-yield stablecoins, such as Hermetica's 25% APY offering, underscores the demand for income-generating assets within BitcoinFi. Venture funding: After a period of declining investments, BitcoinFi venture funding surged to $175 million across 32 rounds in the first half of 2025. The funding activities are no longer narrowly focused on infrastructure. In H1 2025, 20 out of 32 deals focused on DeFi, custody, or consumer apps. Capital is pivoting toward usability and demand-driven products, while infrastructure bets mature in the background. The BitcoinFi infrastructure tooling has matured quickly across indexers, wallets, explorers, and marketplaces, enabling a strong layer for building consumer and institutional applications. Maestro itself is leading the charge with its BitcoinFi infrastructure platform powering more than 250 applications. Maestro prepared the report in collaboration with BitcoinFi Accelerator. The full report is available here. About Maestro Maestro is the first enterprise-grade BitcoinFi infrastructure provider. Its mission is to accelerate the world's transition to the Bitcoin Economy by delivering a comprehensive, scalable infrastructure stack optimized for on-chain finance. By empowering developers and businesses with robust software tooling, Maestro is setting a new standard for how financial applications are built on Bitcoin, fueling the evolution of a decentralized, blockchain-native financial system.
Mint
05-08-2025
- Business
- Mint
Former Standard Chartered Research CEO moves for insolvency over unpaid dues, wrongful dismissal
Amit Bansal, the recently terminated chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Research and Technology India Pvt. Ltd (SCRTIPL—known as Solv), has approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking insolvency proceedings against his former employer. Bansal has alleged non-payment of dues and wrongful termination in his filing under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016. He has sought ₹1.05 crore in unpaid and statutory dues—including ₹12.4 lakh in salary up to his termination date, three months' notice period pay of ₹54.9 lakh, and encashment of 45 days' unavailed leave of ₹38 lakh. Bansal has also sought compensation for 832,330.5 vested employee stock options (ESOPs), valued at ₹24.9 crore, alleging these were lawfully earned but 'wrongfully denied or forfeited" by Solv. His total claim aggregates to ₹25.95 crore. Bansal insisted that Solv acknowledged liability for due salary, notice, and leave encashment in correspondence but failed to pay, while 'wrongfully" denying his vested ESOPs without justification. The NCLT will assess whether Bansal's claims are recognized as 'operational debt" under the IBC and if any default on payment justifies insolvency proceedings. Admission of the case could subject Solv to a court-supervised resolution, potentially altering management or asset ownership. Bansal, in his petition before the Bengaluru bench of the NCLT, said that after taking charge as CEO in April 2021 he led Solv's rise as a prominent marketplace for micro, small and medium enterprises. Solv reached nearly $400 million in valuation and $650 million in gross merchandise value by early 2025, serving over 400,000 small businesses, he added. On 19 February 2025, Standard Chartered Research dismissed Bansal. In his petition, Bansal alleged the dismissal was abrupt, without due process, and retaliatory as he had raised concerns over corporate governance issues and his exclusion from Solv's merger talks with Jumbotail Technologies. As per Bansal's petition, the termination letter specified payment of salary, notice period dues, and leave encashment. These, he alleged, remain unpaid. Bansal filed his petition on 29 July. During the hearing on 1 August, Standard Chartered Research sought time to file its response to the petition. The court has not year notified the next date of hearing. Claims before NCLT The NCLT's role in adjudicating such disputes goes beyond employment claims, said legal observers. 'The NCLT's jurisdiction includes examining whether removals of key managerial personnel are simply contractual or rise to the level of shareholder oppression or poor governance," said Shri Venkatesh, founding partner, SKV Law Offices. He pointed to high-profile precedents: while the tribunal upheld Tata Sons' right to dismiss Cyrus Mistry, in the McDonald's–Vikram Bakshi dispute, the NCLT sided with Bakshi, finding executive removal had crossed into shareholder oppression. Amir Bavani, founder of AB Legal, Hyderabad, said senior-level disputes at multinational corporations are always highly charged given the nature of the parties involved. 'Proceedings initiated by top management can change the complexion of the dispute. If the operational creditor succeeds, it could pave the way for other instances where insolvency threats prompt multinationals to proactively resolve such disputes. However, such petitions can easily be settled by compensating the personnel as per the employment contract," Bavani said. Under Section 9 of the IBC, operational creditors are entitled to seek insolvency proceedings if companies neglect undisputed dues after a formal demand notice. Bansal, who is represented by Waseem Pangarkar, partner at MZM Legal, asserted that all such procedures had been followed. Registered in India in 2019 as part of Standard Chartered's digital innovation push, SCRTIPL, under the Solv brand, became a significant business-to-business (B2B) platform for MSMEs, incubated by SC Ventures. Earlier this year, Jumbotail, a leading e-commerce and retail platform, acquired Solv India—operated by SCRTIPL—after receiving clearance from the Competition Commission of India. Jumbotail now owns 100% of this entity, fully integrating Solv's offerings with its nationwide network of neighbourhood stores and business clients. In July, Jumbotail raised $120 million in a Series D fundraising round led by SC Ventures, the investment arm of Standard Chartered Plc. 'As the matter is sub judice, SCRTIPL (Solv) will refrain from commenting at this stage. Our position has been clearly articulated in our submissions to the court, and we have full faith in the fairness and integrity of the judicial process," Solv said in response to Mint's queries. Jumbotail and Amit Bansal did not respond to Mint's requests for comment.
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Glance appoints Amit Bansal to spearhead the future of AI led commerce with Roposo
Glance, the consumer technology company pioneering AI native experiences, today announced the appointment of Amit Bansal as Senior Vice President & General Manager of Roposo, its next generation commerce platform that empowers individuals to launch and scale personalized, content-driven leadership appointment comes as Glance prepares to accelerate its vision with Glance AI, a transformative AI commerce platform built to change the way the world shops. By harnessing generative AI, real-time content orchestration, and immersive visual intelligence, Glance AI offers a discovery first experience that connects users to products through inspiration, not just intent. In his role, Amit will be responsible to scale Roposo into a future-ready, AI led commerce ecosystem that merges content and communities, enabling millions of digital storefronts to thrive in a rapidly evolving market. He will also work closely with Glance and InMobi's broader global platforms to drive innovation and market expansion. 'India is at an inflection point, and Glance is building what comes next.' said Naveen Tewari, Founder & CEO, InMobi & Glance. 'As content, AI, and commerce converge, a whole new paradigm of discovery led shopping is emerging; one that's immersive, intelligent, and deeply personal. Amit has a rare ability to build at scale with bold vision, and we're excited to have him lead this pivotal next chapter for Roposo.' Amit brings over two decades of experience in shaping India's digital commerce landscape. Most recently, as Founder & CEO of Solv, he built one of the country's leading B2B commerce platforms, serving over 400,000 MSMEs and achieving $650M in GMV and $24M in ARR, all on a capital efficient, zero inventory model. Under his leadership, Solv fostered a high trust, performance driven culture with best-in-class team engagement and leadership scores. Prior to that, Amit played critical roles in shaping the country's digital journey, from helping Flipkart scale into a $15B enterprise, to leading rapid expansion at Reliance Retail, and building Ezmall from the ground up. His work has consistently focused on unlocking access, opportunity, and scale for businesses and consumers alike. 'Glance isn't just building a product; it's architecting a new digital economy.' said Amit Bansal, SVP & GM, Roposo. 'We're shifting from transactional commerce to a world where discovery, content and AI define how people shop and how entrepreneurs grow. Roposo has the potential to power millions of vibrant storefronts, and I'm excited to lead its journey in shaping the future of commerce.'
The Hindu
30-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Jumbotail raises $120 mn, acquires B2B platform Solv India
Jumbotail, a Bengaluru-headquartered B2B marketplace and a platform for food and grocery, on Monday raised $120 million in a funding round led by SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered Plc. The platform also completed its acquisition of Solv India, a B2B commerce and financial services platform incubated by SC Ventures. The deal was approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Existing investors, including Artal Asia, participated in the round. With this, Jumbotail has so far raised $263 million. Ashish Jhina, Co-founder and COO of Jumbotail, said, 'Together with Solv, we now help thousands of brands and MSME sellers reach over 500,000 small retailers across more than 400 cities and towns in India.'' Jumbotail said it would invest the capital to build AI-native solutions and capabilities to scale up its markets. Jumbotail and Solv, together being horizontal B2B e-commerce platforms, serve kiranas, MSMEs, and brands across food and grocery, apparel and fashion, home furnishing, toys and sports, footwear, and consumer electronics.
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Business Standard
30-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Jumbotail raises $120 million in funding round led by SC Ventures
B2B e-commerce firm Jumbotail has raised $120 million (about Rs 1,027 crore) in a funding round led by the investment arm of Standard Chartered, SC Ventures, the company said on Monday. With this fresh funding, the company has raised $263 million so far. "Jumbotail, India'sB2B marketplace and New Retail platform for food and grocery, has raised USD 120 million in a funding round led by SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered Plc," the company said in a statement. The company will invest the capital to build AI-native solutions and capabilities to cement its leadership, the statement said. Jumbotail also announced the completion of its acquisition of Solv India, which is a B2B commerce and financial services platform incubated by SC Ventures. The deal was approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). "Together with Solv, we now help thousands of brands and MSME sellers reach over 5,00,000 small retailers across more than 400 cities and towns in India," Ashish Jhina, Co-founder and COO of Jumbotail, said. Jumbotail and Solv together are serving kiranas, MSMEs, and brands across food and grocery, apparel and fashion, home furnishing, toys and sports, footwear, and consumer electronics. "This integration represents a leap forward in our shared mission to empower MSMEs through technology and financial inclusion, which is a core theme for SC Ventures. Jumbotail and Solv now form a platform committed to responsible innovation with real impact for India's entrepreneurs," Gautam Jain, member of SC Ventures, said. Both companies will open new opportunities for brands to quickly and efficiently scale nationally by leveraging their e-commerce platforms, credit, and go-to-market/ marketing solutions. "With strong fundamentals, a clear path to profitability and a motivated mission-driven team, Jumbotail and Solv are together well positioned to lead India's B2B commerce transformation across categories of mass market consumption," Jumbotail Co-founder and CEO, S Karthik Venkateswaran, said.
