New Delhi, Jun 15 (PTI) Walmart-owned Flipkart on Monday announced the expansion of its furniture category with the launch of 'Perfect Homes Junior' that will include products made locally in the country.

"Manufactured in India locally, the selection includes beds, study desks, kids seating/table and chair set and storage/wardrobes. Consumer research has shown that children who are provided with their own space and furniture experience a heightened sense of independence," a statement said.

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Based on this insight, the products under the Flipkart Perfect Homes Junior range are specifically 'designed for children – and not downsized', it added.

The kids' furniture category is pegged to grow at 20 per cent year-on-year, according to industry reports.

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**** Inflection Point Ventures invests USD 150K in edutech platform Edvizo

*Bengaluru-based Edu-tech startup Edvizo on Monday said it has raised over USD 150,000 (around Rs 1 crore) in a seed round from Inflection Point Ventures.

Edvizo acts as an online marketplace to search, compare and enrol in the best institutes for competitive exam preparation. It enables coaching institutes to get more students through their platform, thereby helping them reduce their expenses on marketing and branding. Edvizo has been associated with 2,650 institutes already.

"Edvizo intends to utilise these funds to strengthen the technical and sales team, along with acquiring more users and expanding to more cities," a statement said. Ravi Nishant, founder and CEO of Edvizo, said the education sector is undergoing an enormous transformation due to the COVID-19 lockdown but most institutes are currently facing a lot of difficulties from conducting online classes to getting students for their new session. "We are trying to tap into this opportunity," he added.

**** HCL to set up 100 bed-COVID-19 isolation and treatment units in AP's Krishna district

*HCL on Monday said it will set up two 50-bed COVID-19 centres with both isolation and treatment facilities at the District Hospital in Machilipatnam and Area Hospital in Gudivada this month.

The two care centres will provide L-1 and L-2 bed facilities to help with early management of positive cases, a statement said.

The facilities are being set up in partnership with Doctors for You (HCL Foundation's NGO partner) and the district administration, it added.

HCL's support will also include providing two ventilators to treat critical cases.

Additionally, PPE kits to the health care workers and hygiene kits to the vulnerable population in the city will be provided to curb the spread of the virus.

**** Gabbardeals secures funding from Venture Catalysts

*Venture Catalysts on Monday said it has recently invested in Gabbardeals, an omnichannel O2O (online to offline) platform for mobile phones and accessories.

The latest funding will allow Gabbardeals to ramp up its operations, expand services and forge new partnerships, a statement said.

"We now have the cash runaway to scale our operations, develop technology and achieve sustainable growth," Niraj Raka, founder and CEO of Gabbardeals said in a statement.

Gabbardeals has tied up with over 30 mobile phone franchise stores. It has sold more than 26,000 mobile phones and over 17,000 accessories, registering a gross merchandise volume (GMV) of over Rs 50 crore.

**** Principal Asset Management appoints Bharat Ravuri as MD

*Principal Financial Group on Monday announced the appointment of Bharat Ravuri as managing director of Principal Asset Management in the country.

He will be focusing on improving financial inclusion, providing better access to solutions and, enhancing long-term financial security for customers, a release said. Prior to this, Ravuri was managing director for Principal Retirement Advisors Pvt. Ltd.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)