'We will take tough calls where needed in the interest of doing what is right.'
Sequoia Capital might emerge as leading global investor in start-up space in the country, as funds from other sources dry up.
Delhi High Court judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma has recused herself from hearing a plea by Congress MP Karti Chidambaram seeking to quash a CBI FIR against him. The FIR alleges that Chidambaram helped an alcoholic beverage company over the ban on the duty-free sale of its whisky.
TeamLease Digital CEO Neeti Sharma discusses how AI is driving a structural reset in the tech industry, leading to layoffs, reshaping hiring practices, and increasing job insecurity.
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
'More and more people from the middle class will become self-employed gig workers mostly working from home, rather than as office workers with salary, promotion, bonuses, etc.'
The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a fresh case of corruption against former finance minister P Chidambaram's son and Congress MP, Karti Chidambaram, for allegedly giving relief to alcoholic beverage company Diageo Scotland over a ban on the duty-free sale of its whisky, officials said on Thursday.
'When AI comes in, coders in Bangalore or Hyderabad will lose their jobs.'
Anandan, also an investor in multiple start-ups, is slated to join venture fund Sequoia Capital.
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.
Edtech major Byju's founders Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath are planning to increase their stake in the company to about 40 per cent and have initiated discussion with investors, sources aware of the development said on Wednesday. The founders jointly hold around 25 per cent stake in the company at present. "There is an intention of Byju's founders to double their stake in the company.
This is the first investment in Asia from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which was founded by Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan
Three marquee exits accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the total exit value -- BillDesk's acquisition by PayU for $4.7 billion, Paytm's $2.5 billion initial public offering (IPO), and Zomato's public market debut of $1.3 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.
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.
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.
Investments are pouring into online portals for add-ons.
SoftBank-based e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal has deferred its Rs 1,250 crore IPO, joining the list of startups that have decided to shelve their initial public offering (IPO) plans this year. Snapdeal, which competes with Amazon and Flipkart, filed a request this week with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to withdraw its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) amid a sell-off in tech stocks worldwide. "Considering the prevailing market conditions, the company has decided to withdraw the DRHP. The company may reconsider an IPO in the future, depending on its need for growth capital and market conditions," a Snapdeal spokesperson said.
The Navi lending app, launched in May, provides instant loans of up to Rs 5 lakh, with repayment tenures of up to 36 months.
Today's smartest investors are asking about India, not China. India has seven times more impact on the US than China! Smart investors know that Indian companies' return on equity is 21 per cent compared with 10 per cent for China.
Forget Starbucks coming into India. Witness the expansion of Caf Coffee Day, which is set to mushroom across the country.
Moolchand Healthcare Pvt Ltd, the corporate entity formed by the group in 2006 with expansion in mind, is on an acquisition spree for hospital chains, IVF (in vitro fertilisation) clinics and pathological laboratories.
Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, once hailed as rising stars in India's clean energy sector, are now facing serious regulatory action.
Unacademy may see a funding dry spell for at least next 12-18 months and even last till 24 months and will cut costs to weather the lean period, said the chief executive of the education technology unicorn that recently laid off more than 600 employees. "This is a test for all of us. We must learn to work under constraints and focus on profitability at all costs. We must survive the winter," said Unacademy's co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal in a letter to the employees. "Winter is here. We are looking at a time when the funding will dry up for at least 12-18 months.
As consumers in India seek variety and innovative products, there's a lot of interest among investors for healthier products.
Samant said he has been into R&D for the past 24 years and before joining GlobalLogic, he was president at Ness Technologies and had worked at Hewlett-Packard lab in India and also has worked at IBM labs.
The Indian startup ecosystem has lauded the inclusion of startups in the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration for the first time ever in the history of G20. Industry stakeholders say that the move will lead to easier access to capital, reduce regulatory hurdles, and may revive funding activity. The Declaration, through the Startup20 initiative, recognised startups as "natural engines of growth" and key to socio-economic transformation by driving innovation and creating employment.
'What has happened at Byju's is no surprise to anyone.'
Paytm had received the approval for brokerage services from market regulator Sebi in January this year.
If you are an entrepreneur and apprehensive that the global market meltdown will strain your fund-raising plans, fear not. India-focused private equity and venture capital funds raised $7 billion (Rs 27,958 crore) in 2007, excluding real estate, last year. They had garnered a similar amount in the corresponding previous year, according to data from Venture Intelligence, a venture capital research company.
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.
The good news is that India is hitting critical mass across product categories like mobile telephony, auto and consumer electronics, to name a few.
Proto.in, a support platform for the Indian startup community picked up these young startups
Fintech firm MobiKwik on Monday filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), for its initial public offering (IPO). According to its DRHP, the company plans to raise Rs 1,900 crore, which includes a fresh issue of Rs 1,500 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 400 crore. The selling shareholders include American Express Travel, Bajaj Finance, Cisco Systems and Sequoia Capital India, besides founder Bipin Preet Singh. MobiKwik is the latest among tech majors wanting to list on stock exchanges. Food delivery start-up Zomato will launch its IPO on Wednesday.
Zomato could get added to the MSCI and FTSE indices by the end of this year, while an entry to the Nifty or the Sensex would be challenging before the second half of 2022, said Brian Freitas, an analyst at independent research provider Smartkarma, in note. "With nearly the entire pre-IPO shares locked up for one year, the free float will be very low and the stock will need to move higher to around Rs 328 per share (4.3 times over possible IPO price of Rs 76) to be included in the Nifty index (with no change in the market cap of the smallest index constituent). "We can be reasonably certain that Zomato will not be included in the Nifty index till the September 2022 rebalance at the earliest," he said.
At least 14 of the top 20 venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds in India reduced new deals with start-ups by a fifth in 2022. The number fell from 572 in 2021 to 456 this year, according to data from Venture Intelligence. Sequoia Capital, a leader in investments, retained its top slot but its number of deals fell from 110 in 2021 to 70 this year.
Nearly half of the investments by various US-based investors have been made in Reliance subsidiary Jio.
Seven companies, including lifestyle retail brand FabIndia and specialty chemical company Aether Industries, have received capital markets regulator Sebi's go-ahead to raise funds through initial share sales. Syrma SGS Technology, Asianet Satellite Communications, Sanathan Textiles, Capillary Technologies India and Harsha Engineers International too received the watchdog's nod to float Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). These companies, which filed their preliminary IPO papers with Sebi during December 2021 and February 2022, obtained observations during April 27-30, an update with the regulator showed on Monday.
Fintech unicorn Razorpay has raised $375 million in the Series F round of funding at a $7.5-billion valuation, making it India's second-most valuable start-up in this space, after Paytm. The company valuation has surged over seven times in 15 months, helping it push Walmart-owned digital payments firm PhonePe to the third spot on the country's most-valuable fintech list. Razorpay's latest round of fundraising was led by Lone Pine Capital, Alkeon Capital, and TCV.
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."
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