The first quarter of the calendar year 2007 is already over. There is no sign of the VC story slowing down. This is a good sign for all the entrepreneurs out there with an idea!
The government on Thusday said it is examining a proposal for setting up a venture capital fund to promote drug discovery in India.
Ajit Balakrishnan on keeping an eye on democratising finance in India.
The government on Tuesday said it is considering forming a venture capital fund of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) to promote research and development (R&D) in the pharmaceutical sector.
India's share of total global venture capital (VC) funding fell to 2.9 per cent in calendar year 2023 (CY23) - the lowest since CY19 - reaching $7.3 billion as most startups struggled to raise money without compromising on their earlier valuations. Based on global data by CB Insights on VC funding, funding to Indian startups fell by nearly a third compared to CY22 when it hit $20.6 billion and accounted for 4.8 per cent of the global figure. While the data shows that the world had 71 new unicorns (21 in Asia), India contributed only two of them, as compared with CY22 when it had 22.
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.
Unperturbed by the tax benefit restrictions proposed in this year's Budget for venture capital investments to certain sectors, US based VC fund New Enterprise Associates has lined up $200 million to be invested in the country.
Accel and Google's AI Futures Fund have announced the five startups selected for the 2026 Atoms AI Cohort, focusing on enterprise, voice, and industrial AI solutions, with each startup receiving significant investment and resources.
The past few years have seen the first cycle of mergers and acquisitions, exits, and track-records being created.
Cheerio AI, an AI-powered customer engagement platform, has raised Rs 8 crore in seed funding to build multi-modal AI capabilities and expand its platform.
Venture funding in India slowed in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025 amid geopolitical uncertainty, though exit activity surged to a seven-year high, according to Venture Pulse from KPMG Private Enterprise, a quarterly report tracking investment trends globally across major regions around the world.
Banks are allowed to invest up to 10 per cent of the paid-up or unit capital in Category-I or Category-II Alternative Investment Funds
India's venture capital (VC) landscape saw a strategic shift during the first half (H1) of the calendar year (CY) 2024, with a notable increase in larger-sized investments. This was evident from a 45.3 per cent rise in disclosed funding value year-on-year, despite a 2.1 per cent drop in deal volume, according to GlobalData, a data analytics and consulting company.
When it comes to raising funds, women entrepreneurs receive a disproportionately small share.
The venture capital/private equity industry needs to be encouraged as such investments create jobs and help establish companies in new sectors. There is also a strong case for incentives for investors in these funds, says Saurabh Srivastava, chairman of the Indian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.
Country's startups are carving a unique path by prioritising local, application-led innovation over the global pursuit of scale.
'Large firms and their interests can dominate the narrative, even as smaller stakeholders and retail investors struggle to be heard.' 'Regulators therefore require deep subject-matter expertise to assess representations, recognise underlying incentives, incorporate the perspectives of less-visible stakeholders, and guard against bias or capture,' notes Ananth Narayan.
In modern investing, transparency is more valuable than zero fees and not all investing app score big on this front, says Ramalingam Kalirajan.
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has cleared a series of regulatory relaxations to ease operations for fund managers in GIFT City, along with a revamped framework for global in-house centres (GICs) and capital market intermediaries.
Skye Air Mobility has raised USD 9 million in a Series B funding round to expand its hyperlocal drone delivery services across key metropolitan markets 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.
Fintech and venture capital firms such as Recur Club, Razorpay and Trifecta Capital have come to the aid of homegrown start-ups caught in the crossfire of the Silicon Valley Bank fiasco. Alternative funding platform Recur Club said it was allocating $15 million to all Indian founders affected by the crisis. It will not charge any platform fee for the same.
'It's a changing world and the opening up doesn't mean that concerns with regards to security have gone away.'
Companies are squeezing more profits from their operations relative to the capital they put to work, the highest now since 2011. Profit after tax relative to capital employed came in at 10.47 per cent in September, shows data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), higher than the 8.41 per cent seen in September last year. This is the highest since March 2010.
Investors and startup executives are calling for extending the period for an entity to be recognised as a startup from 10 to 15 years for deep-tech companies.
Platform-style partnerships between global investors and Indian developers are expected to gain further traction over the next few years. This comes as institutional capital increasingly shifts from one-off asset acquisitions to scalable, long-term strategies.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Ayush Varshney, co-founder of Darwin Labs, in connection with the 200 million Gain Bitcoin cryptocurrency scam. Varshney was apprehended while attempting to flee the country.
Sebi on Wednesday said angel funds can raise capital only from accredited investors, as part of the revised framework notified by the regulator to streamline fundraising, investment and compliance norms under the alternative investment funds rules. In a circular, the regulator said angel funds, which are granted registration by Sebi, will be permitted to onboard only accredited investors, while existing funds have been given time until September 8, 2026, to align with the new regime.
With a modest workforce of 1,200, the 2007 start-up is already taking business from its bigger, established rivals, winning outsourcing contracts from leading US mortgage companies.
India is growing fast, but to keep growing strong, the government must make more things at home, create jobs, and spend money wisely, suggests Rajiv Memani, regional managing partner, Africa-India Region, EY.
'If we want to pivot meaningfully from a services-driven economy to a technology and manufacturing-led one.'
Nandita Lakshmanan, the feisty founder and CEO of public relations company, The PRactice, shares career tips and her success mantras for young entrepreneurs.
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.
Market experts say India's IPO ecosystem has matured to support both primary and secondary issuance, rendering the mix less consequential.
The fund, which generally funds around 2-3 companies every quarter, is expected to invest in three more companies in July.
Entities controlled by governments - sovereign wealth funds, and pension funds - have recorded higher growth in equity assets under custody compared to other foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) over the past five years.
Shares of brokerage-related companies nosedived 18 per cent on Sunday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed raising securities transaction tax on commodity futures to 0.05 per cent from 0.02 per cent in the Union Budget 2026-27.
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