After a prolonged winter, the Indian edtech sector seems to be witnessing some signs of a thaw. The sector has received $608.8 million of funding across 68 deals in 2024 so far - 153 per cent more than the $240.9 million across 106 deals during the same period last year - according to data from market intelligence platform Tracxn.
The currency appreciation has increased the capital (in dollars) required for starting a business in India. The rising cost (in rupees) of employees, building space and infrastructure has only made matters worse.
Singapore Airlines will make an additional investment of Rs 3,194.5 crore in Tata Group-owned Air India post-merger of Vistara in November. The merger, announced on November 29, 2022, and set to be completed on November 11, 2024, will result in Singapore Airlines having a 25.1 per cent stake in the enlarged Air India. Full-service carrier Vistara, which started flying on January 9, 2015, is a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines, where the latter holds a 49 per cent shareholding.
The fund will close in two tranches, with the first tranche of $ 100 million expected to close in two months. However, the company has not set any time-frame for raising the entire corpus of the fund. In addition, Dewan Housing Finance, the parent entity, is also looking to raise Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion) to bolster its operations. The fund-raising may also be in the form of equity dilution.
While the fresh issue portion of IPOs has been going down over the years, this financial year has been abysmally low at only Rs 2,663 crore, 82 per cent lower compared to the last financial year.
The growth was primarily driven by domestic investments, which accounted for 60 per cent of the total inflows during the first quarter of the financial year.
Nokia Growth Partners, a global mid to late-stage venture capital fund, has invested $3 million in Bangalore-based telecom research and development firm Sasken Communication Technologies to pick up an equity stake.
'I tell young entrepreneurs if you don't have a great idea, if you don't have a good business model, don't think of a start-up.'
Mobile application vulnerability detection start-up, Appknox is in talks to raise funds from Singapore-based Jungle Ventures, along with a slew of angel investors including Google India head Rajan Anandan.
As consumers in India seek variety and innovative products, there's a lot of interest among investors for healthier products.
This article broadly explains the various steps of the evaluation process carried out by venture capitalists while financing a project.
Simplifying investment policies at the micro level and introducing a time-bound framework will be critical for India's growth targets, notes Krishna Ella.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has rejected a proposal by Tata Investment Corporation (TIC) to issue zero coupon convertible bonds (ZCCBs) with detachable warrants to its shareholders.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India on Monday approved guidelines for real estate mutual funds.
Luckily for him, the bumps on the way got forgotten, thanks to his expertise in earning high returns for investors through patient exits.
The NSE, along with financial institutions like IL&FS and IDBI, has proposed to set up a special exchange.
An early stage venture capital fund recently raised a Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) Mauritius-based fund to invest in Indian real estate and plans to raise a similar fund later this year.
Food and grocery delivery major Swiggy on Thursday filed its updated draft papers with capital markets regulator Sebi to raise funds through its much anticipated initial public offering (IPO). The proposed IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 3,750 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 18.52 crore equity shares by existing shareholders, according to the updated draft red herring prospectus (UDRHP). Market sources have pegged the company's IPO size at over Rs 10,000 crore.
Alternative investment funds (AIFs) have crossed Rs 5 trillion in terms of funds raised, while the investment commitments have surpassed Rs 12 trillion for the first time as of September, according to data released by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
Quick commerce major Zepto has raised $340 million in a follow-on financing round at a valuation of $5 billion as it gears up for an initial public offering (IPO). This is Zepto's third big-ticket fundraise within a year. With this, the company has raised more than $1 billion in 12 months.
Adani Group on Friday raised Rs 4,850 crore from the sale of 13.5 per cent of its stake in Fortune oil maker Adani Wilmar as part of a strategy to exit non-core activities to focus on main infrastructure business. The conglomerate, which last month announced its exit from Adani Wilmar by selling the bulk of its stake to a joint venture partner, had on Thursday announced sale of 17.54 crore shares (13.50 per cent equity) in the company on January 10 (to non-retail investors) and on January 13 (to retail investors) at a floor or minimum price of Rs 275 apiece.
Indian software product companies, which are planning to raise venture capital funding, will have to ensure that their domestic and emerging market focus is sharp. Indian IT start-ups, which are introducing software products, have better prospects of availing VC funding, according to many VCs. It has always been difficult for start-ups in the software product space to compete with the global software giants, even in the domestic market, they note.
It is raining private equity funds in the logistics and warehousing space.
Alternative investment funds (AIFs) - pooled investment vehicles catering to high net worth individuals (HNIs) - saw a 30 per cent increase in investment commitments during financial year 2022-23 (FY23). At the end of March 2023, the total investment commitments raised stood at Rs 8.33 trillion, up Rs 1.92 trillion from Rs 6.41 trillion at the end of March 2022. A commitment is the money clients are willing to put into AIFs.
There is money to buy the central public sector enterprises, but buyers will need a firm assurance that the disvestment programme will keep environment issues front and centre of their corporate plans.
At a recent meeting of the high level coordination committee of regulators on capital markets, the RBI clarified that no approvals for VCFs will be issued since the Finance Ministry is reviewing the policy for investment in the realty sector for both foreign direct investment (FDI) and portfolio investments by foreign institutional investors.
The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Thursday quashed a Sebi order that barred NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy from the securities market for two years in an insider trading case. However, the appellate tribunal partly set aside an order against Vikramaditya Chandra, the group's chief executive officer during the relevant period, and remitted the matter back to Sebi to decide the issue. It further said that trades executed by Chandra during PSI-3 (price-sensitive information) are required to be reconsidered, according to the order passed by SAT.
Focussed on growing its business in India, networking giant Cisco said it invests as much as $1.7 billion annually in its operations in the country across areas like R&D and employee training.
Earlier in 2012, the Gurgaon-based firm with 5,000 employees and top line revenue of close to $100 million, had put on hold plans for a Nasdaq listing citing market conditions.
PE/VC investors keen on bolder bets in sect#8744 rise in investment enquiries, growth
Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai is in early discussions to invest in Byju's-owned Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL). According to sources in the know, Byju's founder and chief executive officer Byju Raveendran, who owns a 30 per cent stake in Aakash, is expected to partially offload his holding to Pai for $80-90 million (about Rs 650-740 crore). Raveendran may use the money to repay a large part of the Rs 800 crore loan that Byju's raised from US-based investment firm Davidson Kempner Capital Management in May, after facing a 'technical default', the sources said.
Roughly 40% of this projected outlay is expected to go towards emerging industries, including green hydrogen, clean energy, semiconductors, and electric vehicles.
'We want to look at very strong entrepreneurial teams.' 'I want to focus on a full team and not just the entrepreneur, which is building innovative and amazing differentiated businesses in large markets.' 'We also look at business models that are proven and have reasonably good gross margins, which show that this is where a lot of value is getting built.'
'We look at the opportunities that are going to come in various fields in the next 5 to 10 years, do some research and come up with business plans.' 'Then, we go and seek out founders who will run the actual business.'
The 'angel tax' provision in the Finance Bill will not impact startups in India, a senior government official said on Tuesday. Startups which are registered with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade do not come under the purview, Anurag Jain, the secretary in the department said while speaking at the IVCA Conclave. "Let me put one thing very clearly. It doesn't affect startups in the least," he said, addressing the audience at the event organized by the venture capital industry lobby grouping.
