Venture Capital giant Sequoia India & Southeast Asia has rebranded itself to Peak VX Partners. The VC firm will now manage its assets under management (AUM) in the region of over $9.2 billion across 13 funds independently. The rebranding exercise followed Sequoia Capital's break-up into three independent entities across the globe. Besides Sequoia India & Southeast Asia, Sequoia China business has adopted the name HongShan in English (it will
Bira 91 founder Ankur Jain and his family have stepped down from the board and executive positions of B9 Beverages, the parent company, after reaching a settlement with the craft beer maker's lenders and investors.
Fintech unicorn Razorpay has confidentially filed draft documents with SEBI for an Initial Public Offering, with market sources estimating the issue size between Rs 5,000-6,000 crore. This move comes as a rival firm, PhonePe, has paused its IPO plans.
Prism, the parent company of OYO, has filed updated draft papers with Sebi for a Rs 6,650 crore initial public offering (IPO) consisting entirely of a fresh issue of shares, with no offer-for-sale component from existing investors.
Info Edge, the parent company of naukri.com, has invested over 1,000 crore in more than 50 artificial intelligence (AI) and deep-tech startups since 2020, demonstrating its commitment to fostering India's emerging technology ecosystem.
Sarvam AI, an Indian full-stack sovereign artificial intelligence company, has achieved unicorn status after raising $234 million in a Series B funding round led by HCLTech and Bessemer Venture Partners, with HCLTech acquiring a 10.46 per cent stake.
Semiconductor startup C2i Semiconductors announced it has taped out a smart power stage chip designed for artificial intelligence infrastructure, marking a significant milestone for India's ambitions in domestic semiconductor production.
Country's startups are carving a unique path by prioritising local, application-led innovation over the global pursuit of scale.
Indian artificial intelligence (AI) startup Sarvam launched two indigenous large language models (LLMs) specifically trained on Indian languages on Wednesday.
Billionbrains Garage Ventures, the parent company of stock broking firm Groww, on Thursday fixed a price band of Rs 95-100 per share for its upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO), targeting a valuation of over Rs 61,700 crore (about $7 billion). The company's Rs 6,632 crore IPO would open for public subscription on November 4 and conclude on November 7, according to a public announcement.
As fintech major Pine Labs gears up for its initial public offering (IPO), its Draft Red Herring Prospectus has highlighted its top executives' pay and stock options, including those of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amrish Rau. Rau's net worth is estimated at Rs 850 crore-1,000 crore following the IPO.
Shares of Billionbrains Garage Ventures, the parent of online broking platform Groww, soared nearly 30 per cent on their market debut on Wednesday, defying the recent trend of muted listings. The stock opened at Rs 112 and hit a high of Rs 134.4 before settling at Rs 128.85 on the NSE - a gain of 28.85 per cent over its issue price of Rs 100.
'The essence of RMG is that users participate in skill-based games for financial reward, so this law would directly affect this operating model for both users and gaming companies.'
Indian startups are expected to raise $8-12 billion this year, a top official of venture capital firm Peak XV said on Monday, highlighting that the country's startup ecosystem is the most vibrant in the world. Speaking at StartUp Mahakumbh, Peak XV managing director Rajan Anandan said around $20 billion of private capital is lying uninvested and is committed for investment in private firms and startups in India.
Naukri.com-parent Info Edge, whose long-term bets on Indian startups ranging from Zomato to Policybazaar yielded blockbuster returns, has been named the country's most successful venture investor, cementing its reputation as a standout player in India's startup ecosystem. The firm, helmed by Sanjeev Bikhchandani - often referred to as India's Warren Buffett- invested a total capital of Rs 3,959.16 crore across platforms over the last one and a half decades.
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.
Venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds had, in 2024, taken bets on traditional businesses rather than tech-first domains like consumer tech, software as a service (SaaS) and software. According to data from Bain & Co, Pitchbook, Venture Intelligence, VCC Edge and AVCJ, prominent VC funds like PeakXV saw their share in this traditional space go up sharply from 14 per cent in 2023 to 23 per cent in 2024.
'They have got the advisory council, a CEO has been appointed finally, and they have made some headway on the term loan B.'
Karnataka high court on Wednesday refused to stay an emergency shareholder meeting called by select investors of Think and Learn Pvt Ltd -- the owner of Byju's -- to oust the company's Founder and CEO Byju Raveendran and his family from the leadership in the edtech firm. Byju's had approached the Karnataka HC seeking a stay on the EGM but the court only gave an interim relief that any resolution passed at the EGM on Friday cannot be implemented before the next court hearing. "It is further submitted that the conditions for convening the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) are not complied and no notice is issued as contemplated under Section 100 (3) of the Companies Act 2013," the court order said.
Edtech firm Think and Learn, owner of Byju's brand, credited partial salaries of employees for the month of March, according to sources. Byju Raveendran, the Founder and CEO of Think and Learn, has raised debt in his personal capacity to pay the salaries of employees for March. Byju's salary expenses for partial payouts is estimated to be in the range of Rs 25-30 crore.
Zetwerk Manufacturing, a $3.1 billion company in the contract manufacturing space, is planning to come up with an initial public offering within the next 15-24 months, a top company executive said on Saturday. The Bengaluru-based company aims to raise at least $500 million, targeting a valuation of around $5 billion.
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.
'In the next 15-20 years, India will have at least 50 new (AI-driven) billion-dollar companies that are going to solve problems for the largest companies around the world.'
120 Bahadur is not just a war movie. It is a tribute, a history lesson, and an emotional journey into the heart of military courage, states Lt Gen Devendra Pratap Pandey, Retd.
'There is need for India-specific pricing.' 'Google, Microsoft and others also have different pricing.' 'It is important for OpenAI to think on these lines as the global pricing may not work in the Indian context.'
'20 per cent of the global AI researchers are of Indian origin, and we should bring them back.'
'Despite the animosity shown by some of the investors in pursuing uncalled for legal actions, we continue to show good faith towards all our shareholders.'
Edtech major Think and Learn, which operates under Byju's brand name, is learnt to have received a commitment of $300 million from investors for its ongoing rights issue which will close by the end of February, sources aware of the development said. Byju's floated a rights issue in January to raise $200 million at an enterprise valuation in the range of $220-250 million which is a 99 per cent reduction in its peak valuation of $22 billion. Sources also shared that Byju's has offered miffed investors to appoint two independent directors to enhance transparency but only after the rights issue and declaring its financial results for the 2023 fiscal.
'It's the second-largest market for us after the US, and should be the largest market at some point.'
Troubled edtech firm Byju's founder Byju Raveendran on Thursday said that he is willing to pay back the entire money to lenders if they are willing to work with him. During a two-and-a-half-hour call with the media, Raveendran said that lenders will not get any money if the process of insolvency against the company continues. "If they are willing to work with me, I am willing to give them money back before I take a single rupee out.
Arjun Mohan, CEO of India operations of Think and Learn, which owns Byju's brand, has resigned from the beleaguered firm, which on Monday also announced a business rejig consolidating its operations into three verticals. Mohan had joined Byju's in July last year as the CEO for international business after quitting rival UpGrad in February as CEO. Later, he was given charge of India operations in September after Byju's then CEO Mrinal Mohit resigned. After taking over the charge, Mohan undertook restructuring of the organisation which led to layoffs of around 4,000 employees at Byju's.
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.
An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of Byju's shareholders got underway on Friday to vote on a resolution brought by some investors to ouster founder CEO Byju Raveendran and his family over alleged "mismanagement and failures". Raveendran and his family stayed away from the EGM, calling it "procedurally invalid."
Cash-strapped edtech firm Byju's is likely to pay its employees the April salaries this week, according to sources. The company is grappling with the issue of delays in paying salaries to employees. "There has been a delay in salary. It is expected to be now paid sometime this week," said a person.
Edtech company Byju's, which was once India's most valuable start-up worth an estimated $22 billion, will face insolvency proceedings for failure to pay Rs 158.9 crore to cricket board BCCI. The Bengaluru bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday allowed bankruptcy proceedings against the firm and appointed an interim resolution professional, suspending the company's board of directors and freezing its assets.
Edtech firm Think and Learn Private Ltd, owner of Byju's, on Thursday said neither the company's founder and CEO Byju Raveendran nor any other board member will attend the extraordinary general meeting called by some select investors. Shareholders at Byju's are set to vote on Friday on a resolution brought by some investors to oust founder CEO Byju Raveendran and his family members over alleged "mismanagement and failures". Byju's has called the EGM "procedurally invalid" and contractually in contravention of the company's article of association and shareholder's agreement.
With the number of start-ups reaching the unicorn level falling drastically in 2023, the Hurun Unicorn Index said it has demoted eight gazelles - start-ups that were founded in 2000 and have the potential to go to unicorn in three years - to cheetahs.
In a breather to the troubled edtech company, the steering committee of lenders has agreed to amend a $1.2 billion term loan with Byju's by August 3, 2023, the lenders announced on Monday. Successful execution of the amendment would "immediately" solve the loan's acceleration and end all open litigation while avoiding further enforcement actions, they in a statement. An e-mail sent to Byju's did not elicit a response.
The move comes barely a week after fellow crypto unicorn CoinDCX laid off 12 per cent of its workforce - an estimated 80 employees - amid challenging macroeconomic conditions and regulatory uncertainty in the sector. CoinSwitch has 519 employees, according to its LinkedIn profile. This means around 8 per cent of its workforce were shown the door.
Byju Raveendran, CEO and founder of the eponymous edtech giant, has told shareholders that the company will set up a board advisory committee (BAC). This was part of a discussion on July 4 with shareholders at an emergency general meeting (EGM). Raveendran also said that in the next EGM in three weeks will give details about BAC's members and composition.