Companies have been approached to set up incubation centres that will offer financial and non-financial support to manufacturing startups at various levels.
As AI becomes central to upskilling, a growing number of learners -- from seasoned professionals to school students -- are eager to explore and experiment with technology.
Indian startups received about $6.5 billion in funding in the April-June 2021 quarter, while 11 of them entered the coveted unicorn club, a report by Nasscom-PGA Labs said. During the second quarter, 160 funding deals were closed -- up 2 per cent from the January-March period. "Q2 2021 has been impeccable for the start-up growth story. From being the most funded quarter, it has also added the most number of unicorns. "Standing tall during the pandemic second wave headwinds, Indian start-up ecosystem has shown a strong resilience in this quarter," the report said.
Quick commerce startups hope to race towards better days. Can they crack the execution code?
MobiKwik employees exercised their ESOPs (Employee stock ownership) in a recently opened window by selling part of their shares in a secondary sale. "The secondary round was led by ex-Blackstone India head, Mathew Cyriac, who topped up his holding at almost double of his previous price," the sources said.
There seems to be no dearth of funds to fuel this growth, report Peerzada Abrar and Shivani Shinde.
$47.6 bn capital invested across 921 deals in India in 2020, despite pandemic.
So, how is it different from the 150cc Honda CB Unicorn? Naveen Soni reports on what the Unicorn 160 has to offer!
'We handle close to 3 million rides daily, making us one of the largest players in this segment'
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
Cummins is one of cricket's most recognised players as a top performer in all three formats (test, one day and T20) who led Australia to the test and one-day world championships last year.
Kunal Shah has funded over 266 startups including Razorpay, Snapdeal, Zetwork, BlueSmart, Unacademy, Bliss Club, and Spinny, amongst others.
Over 10,000 km in a year but the bike still offers adequate amount of power on tap and a fuel efficiency figure to keep the pocket happy, says Naveen Soni
'It is our duty to keep space sustainable and free of debris.'
'Cricket as a pathway in the US was not something people thought about 10 years ago, even like five years ago.' 'But now that there is a pathway you can see.'
Sanayi Gupta is a chameleon when it comes to style.
The Karnataka government is planning to levy a fee of 1-2 per cent on aggregator platforms like Swiggy, Zomato, Flipkart, Amazon, Uber, etc., a government source said on Friday, adding that an announcement in this regard could come following a sub-committee meeting next week. "There is a sub-committee meeting scheduled in the coming week.
However, while Splendor's annual sales surged 31.7 per cent to 3.638 million units between 2019 and 2024, Hero's other models suffered sharp drops.
A large part of the work that CEO Sumit Gupta does is focused on educating users and the larger community about investing in cryptocurrencies, reports Neha Alawadhi.
For India startups, pulling in the reins now may enable them to live longer - even if it means shedding their unicorn status, says Una Galani.
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.
A 2014 study had ranked IITs as fourth among the top 50 universities globally, whose graduates were entrepreneurial.
'Many were caught in a burnout race, chasing unsustainable growth without innovating.'
Co-founders of India's latest unicorn expected Covid-19 to be a speed breaker; instead it accelerated sales. Cars24 now enjoys more than 90 per cent market share among all other similar online transaction platforms. Dhruv Munjal traces the birth of this used-cars platform.
'Son believes India has a significant opportunity in chip design, especially in creating IP that will be uniquely Indian.'
Replying to a question about women empowerment, Sitharaman insisted that patriarchy is a concept invented by the Left.
'In the second half of 2024, about 60% of startup jobs will be taken by entry-level candidates with 0-3 years of experience.'
Going back to the board, analysing mistakes and efficiently addressing them can help entrepreneurs establish successful start-ups in the long run, says Vikram Bhandari, the chief technology and innovation officer at Riveron, a business advisory firm.
In 2024 so far, 20 startups have already visited the campus with 80 placements.
Honda, the largest manufacturer of two-wheelers in the world, unveiled its Unicorn model, its first motorcycle to ever enter the Indian market.
'Our brothers and sisters are headed to Paris, hungry for medals. A billion of us will be watching them nervous and excited as our athletes set foot in the tracks and fields and courts and rings.'
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) today launched a new variant of its 150 cc bike - CB Unicorn Dazzler, priced up to Rs 66,198 (ex-showroom, Delhi).
For the startup ecosystem in India, the scorecard so far has been a mixed bag, observes Akhil Gupta.
India is among the fastest-growing markets for Google in the cloud services segment, a senior executive has said, adding that the tech giant is looking to partner companies in their business transformation through its offerings. Google Cloud India is seeing an "increased adoption" of its offerings across segments from the public sector to small and medium businesses and from startups and digital-native companies, Google Cloud India vice president and country managing director Bikram Singh Bedi told PTI.
Byju's has emerged as the leader in the Indian education-tech sector. They are pioneering technology shaping the future of learning for millions of school students in India.
BlackBuck, India's leading online trucking platform, has closed a $67 million round of equity financing. The round was led by Tribe Capital, IFC Emerging Asia Fund and VEF. Existing investors Wellington Management, Sands Capital, and International Finance Corporation also participated in the round. The investment has made the Bengaluru-based company a 'unicorn,' or a startup valued at more than $1 billion, according to the firm. The company will use these funds to further penetrate the market and launch new service offerings for its customer base.
The firm has raised $204 million from nine investors such as Sequoia Capital, Light Speed Ventures, and Aarin Capital, and hopes to hit the $ 1 billion valuation mark this year.
'Within India, people want high-quality, personalised banking services, and the demand for such services has exploded.'
'India has undeniably become the GCC capital of the world.'
Funding winter and corporate governance woes separated the men from the boys in the country's startup space in 2023 that saw funds into the segment tapering to just around $8 billion. All said, investors are hopeful of strong growth of the maturing startup ecosystem in the new year. Edtech and health tech segments that grew exponentially during the pandemic plunged into an abyss of financial uncertainties, with several firms shuttering their business, and valuation of prominent players like BYJU'S and PharmEasy plummeting 85-90 per cent.
