Early this week, Sebi notified AIF regulations for private equity, hedge funds, venture capital funds and real estate funds, among others.
Tata has invested in over 10 start-ups in personal capacity.
The government on Monday proposed removing the sectoral restriction on venture capital funds, a move that will allow more startups beyond the current nine sectors to get access to growth-stage capital.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group has pulled out of a loan deal with a US agency to fund a port terminal in Sri Lanka, saying it will use its own resources for the project. In an exchange filing late on Tuesday, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) said the project "is on track for commissioning by early next year". "The project will be financed through the company's internal accruals and capital management plan," the firm said.
Alternative investment funds (AIFs) are yet to fully demat the outstanding units even as the deadline ended on October 31. Industry players say they are working on the transition from physical to electronic with the depositories Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL) and National Securities Depository Limited (NDSL). Some said they are hoping for some relaxation from the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), given the teething problems they are facing.
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.
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.
Private equity and venture capital funds' investment in the country continued to fall in May, with the overall values declining by nearly 44 per cent to $3.5 billion, a report said on Monday. The dedicated funds had invested $6.2 billion in May 2022 and $7.4 billion in the preceding month of April 2023, representing a dip of 44 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively, as per the report by industry lobby IVCA and consultancy firm EY. "Despite a recovery of sorts being seen in tech sector indices and some of the large global tech names, sentiment in India for tech sector investments has been lacklustre, and fundraising by Indian startups has been sluggish," the firm's partner Vivek Soni said.
ABCL owns the TV9 media house, which runs satellite television channels in several regional languages, including Telugu. iLabs is promoted by Raju.
VCFs plan to disinvest their IT holdings to ITeS firms and gain from local markets
This is in addition to the $3 billion (around Rs 15,000 crore) infrastructure fund being set up in association with the Macquarie group and International Finance Corporation. Though SBI would be a late entrant to the private equity space, Bhatt was confident that it would not be a deterrent.
Tech tycoon Azim Premji's global investment arm, Manipal Group Chief Ranjan Pai's family office and 360 ONE Asset have sought approval from fair trade regulator CCI to acquire stakes in domestic carrier Akasa Air's parent company SNV Aviation. "The proposed transaction involves the acquisition of certain shareholding by each of PIOF, Claypond and 360 Fund (through its various schemes and affiliates) in Akasa Air," said a notice filed with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday.
'Binary fission will happen -- startups will lead to more startups.'
The department of science and technology, government of India, is planning to introduce an incubation fund for budding entrepreneurs.
The venture, on the lines of Kishore Biyani's Future Ventures India, will focus its investments in the information technology sector, said a source familiar with the development.
It has rejected a proposal by Subash Chandra-promoted Wire and Wireless India, which has sought permission to issue partly paid-up equity shares, pursuant to its rights issue. WWIL is in the cable network business. The shares were to be issued to non-residents, which also included FIIs, venture capital funds, multilateral and bilateral development financial institutions, and eligible NRIs for cash aggregating up to Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion).
Kunal Shah has funded over 266 startups including Razorpay, Snapdeal, Zetwork, BlueSmart, Unacademy, Bliss Club, and Spinny, amongst others.
Global technology venture capital firm Norwest Venture Partners, has announced the formation of $650 million fund.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced a fresh Rs 15,000 crore 'SWAMIH Fund' for completion of 1 lakh units in stalled housing projects across various cities, a move aimed at providing relief to distressed homebuyers whose investments are stuck. In November 2019, the Centre announced a stress fund named 'Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing' (SWAMIH), to complete stalled housing projects across India.
Private Equity and Venture Capital funding in India needs to increase three-fold to $30 billion annually from the current level to shore up funding for small but promising companies, said a KPMG-CII report.
Investments by private equity and venture capital funds declined by 44 per cent to $3.7 billion in February compared to the same period a year ago, a report said on Monday. The bets by the long-term investors were 13 per cent lower when compared to the investments in the preceding month of January, the report by industry lobby Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association and consultancy firm EY, said. "...rising global recession concerns, increasing cost of capital and mismatch in valuation expectations between sellers and investors are turning out to be major impediments in the deployment of capital," EY's partner Vivek Soni said.
Catamaran Management Services, the venture capital fund promoted by Infosys Technologies Chairman N R Narayana Murthy, is free to exit SKS Microfinance.
PM Manmohan Singh is keen on addressing the issues of global warming in India and has promised a Venture Capital Fund to promote green technologies.
Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, once hailed as rising stars in India's clean energy sector, are now facing serious regulatory action.
Alternative investment funds (AIFs) have not seen any significant redemptions from financial institutions even though the 30-day timeline provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to liquidate their holdings or make full provisions ends recently. Sources said the industry is awaiting certain relaxations or extensions based on the recommendations submitted to the banking regulator. On December 19, the RBI restricted financial institutions and banks from investing in AIFs where there is any downstream link or exposure to a debtor firm.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in India have moved into the slow lane, dropping 43 per cent in terms of deal value to touch $13.37 billion since January this year to date, compared to the same period in the last year. According to data sourced from Bloomberg, Indian companies reported deal value worth $23.5 billion between January and March 22, 2023. Data Infrastructure Trust's acquisition of American Tower Corporation's India telecom towers business for $2.5 billion was the top deal for the ongoing quarter so far, followed by the Highway Infrastructure Trust's acquisition of PNC Infratech's road projects for $1.08 billion.
Thanks to a booming market, India now has more than 300 family offices, up from 45 in 2018, according to a PwC report. The number is expected to grow rapidly, with promoters establishing more businesses in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Family businesses play a crucial role in India's booming economy, spanning manufacturing, retail, real estate, healthcare, and finance.
If completed, this deal would place OpenAI among the most valuable private companies globally, alongside Musk's SpaceX and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, according to The New York Times.
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.
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.
Ahmedabad-based Torrent Group has completed the acquisition of a majority 67 percent stake in Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Gujarat Titans.
Why are financial-technology (fintech) players moving back to India, or doing the reverse-flipping?
Under Sebi guidelines, AIFs can operate broadly in three categories.
A non-strategic investor like Poonawalla brings in not only capital but also creative freedom. Indian cinema needs more investors like him, reports Vanita Kohli Khandekar.