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Lachy Groom to back India startup Pronto at a $200M valuation, sources say

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Pronto, an Indian instant house-help startup, is finalizing a funding round led by tech investor Lachy Groom that would value the fast-growing company at about $200 million after investment, TechCrunch has learned.

The deal is expected to bring in about $20 million in fresh capital and would mark a sharp jump from the $100 million valuation at which the company raised $25 million in a Series B round led by Epiq Capital in early March, doubling its valuation in a matter of weeks, two people familiar with the matter said.

Bengaluru-based Pronto completed about 500,000 orders last month and is currently handling around 24,000–25,000 orders daily, up from about 18,000 daily bookings in March and roughly 1,000 last year.

Founded in 2025, Pronto connects households with on-demand domestic help for services such as cleaning and chores, promising quick turnaround times through a managed network of workers.

In March, Pronto founder Anjali Sardana told TechCrunch the startup had expanded from one city to 10 — including Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, and Mumbai — and from five to more than 150 micromarkets. However, much of its activity remains concentrated in a handful of markets, with the National Capital Region accounting for about half of total bookings.

The startup has over 4,500 active professionals on its platform, around 99% of whom are women, Sardana said last month, adding that demand continued to outpace onboarding of new workers as bookings grew about 20% week over week.

Before this funding, Pronto had raised about $40 million in total. Its investors include Epiq Capital, Glade Brook Capital, General Catalyst and Bain Capital Ventures.

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Pronto and Groom did not respond to requests for comment.

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2027 election already concluded, North will give Tinubu 95% votes – Kaduna Gov, Uba Sani

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Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has declared that the 2027 presidential election has already been concluded.

Sani assured that the North would give Tinubu at least 95 percent of the total vote in the 2027 presidential election.

He spoke during the flag off of 122km Kaduna-Birni Gwari road on Tuesday.

The governor noted that the people of Kaduna State are happy with Tinubu.

He said: “We have to be happy with what he has done for us and whether we like it or not, Kaduna is the capital of Northern Nigeria, everyone is proud of Kaduna.

“Kaduna’s development is a development for all the states of Northern Nigeria, so we are happy and grateful to the president for recognizing that Kaduna is the heart of Northern Nigeria.

“We will continue to support the president, I have no doubt in my mind that the 2027 election has been concluded, and we are given President Tinubu at least 95% of the total votes. There is no doubt about that and I stand to be challenged.

“The Western bypass is ongoing from the Abuja junction to the Kawu motorpark and that is also a construction undertaken by the Federal Ministry of Works under the able leadership of Tinubu.

“We are resuming the construction of Eastern bypass which is extremely very critical for our people, it will resume according to my conversation with the Minister in the next two weeks by the grace of God, so all these are things the president is doing for the people of Kaduna State.”

The governor maintained that Tinubu is doing what no past president has done in Northern Nigeria.

“About two weeks ago, I came out boldly and said no president in the history of Nigeria has done what Tinubu did for us here in Northern Nigeria and I challenge anyone to come up with anything contrary to what I have said.

“Tinubu has done a lot, only now my brother and friend, Masari stood here and mentioned most of the projects that Mr President is doing in Northern Nigerian; again, the Minister came up here and confirmed all those projects.

“Let me ask a question, why was it that other leaders were not doing what Tinubu is doing today for Northern Nigeria, was it that Northern Nigeria was not a priority or that was not their concern? We thank Tinubu for the love for the North and humanity,” he added.

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Two deaths recorded as US battles Cyclosporiasis outbreak

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Two people have died in the United States after contracting Cyclosporiasis, marking the first known deaths linked to the country’s largest recorded outbreak of the disease.

Cyclosporiasis is an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite that thrives in human waste.

The deaths were recorded in Michigan, the state hardest hit by the outbreak.

Reuters reported on Monday that the state health authorities said both patients had serious underlying medical conditions that may have been worsened by the infection and the severe dehydration associated with the illness.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it had confirmed 6,707 laboratory cases nationwide as of 28 July, alongside more than 11,500 suspected cases awaiting laboratory confirmation.

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Michigan, the hardest-hit, has recorded 11,234 cases as of Monday, including 193 hospitalisations.

About Cyclosporiasis

Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal infection caused by the microscopic parasite known as Cyclospora cayetanensis.

According to the CDC, people become infected after eating food or drinking water contaminated with human faeces containing the parasite.

Although the disease is not usually life-threatening, it can cause severe illness in some people.

Symptoms include watery diarrhoea, nausea, stomach cramps, loss of appetite, fatigue, and dehydration.

The CDC notes that some infected people may not develop symptoms, while untreated infections can last for weeks or even months, with symptoms disappearing and returning over time.

Outbreak investigation

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has linked part of the outbreak to iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms’ operations in central Mexico and served at Taco Bell restaurants.

The affected lettuce has since been recalled.

However, investigators believe the contaminated lettuce does not explain all reported infections and are examining whether other food sources may also be responsible.

Epidemiologists suspect that more than one outbreak may be occurring simultaneously.

READ ALSO: Mendicants, Social Parasites, and Our Rights As Human Beings, By Ifeanyi Uddin

Public health experts told Reuters that recent staffing and funding cuts across US health agencies may have slowed efforts to investigate and contain the outbreak.

Paul Bollyky, an infectious disease expert at Stanford Medicine, was quoted to have said that “Cyclospora is harder to track than many foodborne pathogens because, unlike bacteria, it cannot be grown ⁠in the lab or easily genome-mapped to trace an outbreak.”

Mr Bollyky warned that reduced staffing in public health departments could make outbreaks more difficult to investigate and control.

He said the scale of the outbreak raises broader questions about the safety of the US food supply.

“Anytime you have over 10,000 people infected with a foodborne pathogen, you do have to wonder whether this is a canary in the coal mine.”


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