The "Sky Factory" will be one of the world's largest for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL), a manufacturing and assembly process to make electric aircraft that can take off, hover, and land vertically. It will put India on the "map of next-generation aviation" and marks one of the most ambitious eVTOL initiatives in the world, said a state government statement.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI), climate tech and fintech sectors will be the hot areas for venture capitalists and founders in the next year, according to the prediction by Prashanth Prakash, founding partner of the global venture capital firm Accel Partners in India and the chairperson of Karnataka Startup Vision Group. Prakash said that about $25 billion has been invested into building Gen AI globally. But a lot of that capital has not yet come to India, opening up huge opportunities for startups in the country.
Within weeks of announcing his exit as executive chairman of the global software-as-a-service (SaaS) company Freshworks, its founder Girish Mathrubootham appears to be on an investment spree.
Indian startups raised a total of $1.65 billion (about Rs 14,418 crore) in funding at a median valuation of $83.2 million in February 2025, according to data from Traxcn. This brings the total funding in FY25 (April-February) to $25.4 billion, spread across 2,200 rounds, the data showed.
Two years after his dismissive stance on India's AI potential raised eyebrows here, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Wednesday gave a ringing endorsement to Artificial Intelligence momentum in the country -- and billed India as an important market not just for the new-age technology itself but for the ChatGPT creator as well. In New Delhi on Wednesday, Altman -- while sharing dais with Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw -- said India is the second biggest market for the company and that Open AI had tripled its users here in the last year.
The ban on taxi aggregators can put at risk investments of at least Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion), made by private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investors.
Framing the next chapter in Swiggy's journey as a responsible corporate citizen, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Sriharsha Majety unveiled the company's eagerly awaited public listing. Majety, who has largely shunned the spotlight, shared reflections on his entrepreneurial path and the strategic pivots he and his co-founders navigated in building Swiggy. "We started with code aggregation, then pivoted to logistics, and that became Swiggy.
Food and grocery delivery major Swiggy on Thursday filed its updated draft papers with capital markets regulator Sebi to raise funds through its much anticipated initial public offering (IPO). The proposed IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 3,750 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 18.52 crore equity shares by existing shareholders, according to the updated draft red herring prospectus (UDRHP). Market sources have pegged the company's IPO size at over Rs 10,000 crore.
Food delivery app Swiggy on Wednesday launched a Rs 11,330-crore initial share sale, asking investors to take a pie of Indian middle class' rising propensity of online ordering. The company, which is present in over 650 cities and towns of the country, is launching the initial public offering (IPO) amid heightened concerns on urban demand slump, and the management stressed that it is unaffected by the broader trends in the economy. "We are also reading about it, but we are not seeing that yet in the business... So far, we have not seen the impact of demand on our business," its chief financial officer Rahul Bothra said.
Foreign investment in India's start-ups has plummeted 72 per cent to $4.58 billion so far, from $16.2 billion during the same period last year.
'In India, the GenAI startup ecosystem is unfolding with remarkable speed, signalling a new era of technological advancement and investment opportunities.'
The company is in talks with investors and the deal could be closed in a few weeks. At present, it operates in 37 cities in India.
The Bangalore-based company had raised $200 million in July from existing investors.
Finally, some good news for the Indian startup ecosystem. After four consecutive half-year periods of declining funding since 2022, the first half (H1) of 2024 has shown an upward trend compared to the second half (H2) of 2023. According to the India Tech Semi-Annual Funding Report H1 2024 by Tracxn, Indian technology (tech) startups raised $4.1 billion in H1 2024, marking a 4 per cent increase from $3.96 billion in H2 2023.
Amphibious drones for maritime inspection... devices that extract pure oxygen from water for patients in need... self-balancing electric bikes...
Tiger Global-backed Koo, an Indian alternative to Twitter, has laid off 30 per cent of its workforce of 260 employees in the last year as the budding firm, like many other start-ups in the country, battles global headwinds. "It's important for businesses of all sizes to adopt efficient and conservative approaches to see this period through. "In line with this, we have acted on some role redundancies by letting go of 30 per cent of our workforce over the course of the year," said a Koo spokesperson.
The tide of startup-funding is turning in India, with a rising trend of overall funding while the deal sizes grow bigger. However, the spotlight now is on late-stage startups, many of which are seen to be headed for initial public offerings (IPOs). Record surge in stock markets and consistently improving performances of listed startups are understood to have turned the sentiment for the better, especially for those that exhibit a clear path to an IPO.
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Ola competes with Uber Technologies in India.
With this round of funding, Flipkart's valuation has reached USD 11.6 billion, and US IT major Microsoft joins the marketplace as a strategic investor.
The funding marks the first investment in the Indian food delivery category by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from the company's long-term investor, Prosus, and other existing investors Accel Partners and Wellington Management, Swiggy said in a statement. In addition, new investors Qatar Investment Authority, Falcon Edge Capital, Amansa Capital, Goldman Sachs, Think Investments and Carmignac participated in the round, it stated. This latest fundraise was heavily oversubscribed following strong interest from investors, and comes on the back of Swiggy's rapid recovery from the impacts of COVID-19 and subsequent growth in 2020-21, Swiggy said.
In just three years the online real estate portal has managed to raise about Rs 270 crore.
Freshdesk also launched an IT service management product Freshservice to offer cloud-based service desk solution for smaller companies for their internal IT support.
Food delivery major Swiggy has received approval from its shareholders for a $1.25 billion initial public offering (IPO), according to filings made with the Registrar of Companies sourced by Tofler. The Bengaluru-based firm plans to raise as much as Rs 3,750 crore (around $450 million) via a fresh issue and up to Rs 6,664 crore (around $800 million) through an offer-for-sale (OFS) component, the filings stated.
Companies don't have to be in the field to nudge people to return money they owe lenders.
Enforcement Directorate sources tell Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com that the probe into FDI received by Flipkart continues and a show cause notice will be issued to the online retailer.
Swiggy, a Bengaluru-based food ordering and delivery start-up, says it aims to revolutionise this segment.
The Chinese investor in the parent firm of Koo, India's answer to Twitter, is on its way out after other investors have pledged to buy out its 9 per cent stake, Koo's co-founder and CEO Aprameya Radhakrishna said.
Ratan Tata has made investments in his personal capacity in more than 15 start-ups over the last 20 months.
From a modest two-bedroom apartment in Koramangala, the Bengaluru-headquarted company now has multiple offices across the country.
The company did not disclose its new holding pattern.
The founder of the e-commerce firm, which specialises in procurement of industrial products, believes if he plays his cards right, his company could become a unicorn with a valuation of $1 billion in 5 years.
Yuri Milner is focussing on on consumer-driven Internet start-ups.
Leading the Indian-Americans on the list is 49-year old Aneel Bhusri.
With the launch of Woohoo, QwikCilver now targets two markets in India - the gifting market, worth $7 billion and gift cards as a category.
Mitra Biotech's personalised cancer therapy could be a game changer in the field of cancer medicine.
Venture capital investments in India's start-ups nearly halved to $1.5 billion in fourth-quarter 2015
MySmartPrice has been growing about 100 per cent a year and is profitable.
GlowRoad, a business network for homemakers, is helping women who want to earn from home.
As billions of dollars flow into India's booming online economy, some investors are beginning to fret that soaring valuations could hamper market listings.
Blablacars enables private cars to seek fellow passengers for inter-city commute.
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