'In India, the GenAI startup ecosystem is unfolding with remarkable speed, signalling a new era of technological advancement and investment opportunities.'
Education topped the table with nearly $1.755 billion as against $379 million last year, followed by real estate which received $754 million.
'In the next 15-20 years, India will have at least 50 new (AI-driven) billion-dollar companies that are going to solve problems for the largest companies around the world.'
Bharti Global, the international investment arm of Bharti Enterprises, has decided to buy 24.5 per cent equity in BT Group - a move that will make the Indian conglomerate the biggest shareholder in the UK's second-largest telecom company both in terms of market value and subscriber count. The shares are being purchased from billionaire Patrick Drahi's Altice UK through a combination of cash and debt .
Generative artificial intelligence (AI), climate tech and fintech sectors will be the hot areas for venture capitalists and founders in the next year, according to the prediction by Prashanth Prakash, founding partner of the global venture capital firm Accel Partners in India and the chairperson of Karnataka Startup Vision Group. Prakash said that about $25 billion has been invested into building Gen AI globally. But a lot of that capital has not yet come to India, opening up huge opportunities for startups in the country.
An increase in the farmer income support scheme PM Kisan Nidhi, the introduction of a 'robot tax' to fund reskilling of people who lose their jobs to artificial intelligence (AI), and a reduced income-tax (I-T) to bring relief to the middle classes - these are some of the items in the Budget wish list submitted by Sangh Parivar affiliates to Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman. Representatives of the affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), such as the farmer organisation Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS); trade union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS); Laghu Udyog Bharati, which works for micro and small industries; and Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), which works on economic and policy issues, met the FM and other officials over the last couple of weeks as part of the pre-Budget consultations.
Fund managers said investors remained positive on the pharma manufacturing activity in India, which further strengthened during the Covid-19 period, on account of restrictions imposed on pharma imports from China.
Private equity firms invested about USD 3.7 billion across 133 deals during the first quarter of 2018 as compared to USD 7.3 billion by way of 200 transactions a year ago.
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.
Despite the positive sentiment returning in the VC space, investment si still low on an year-on-year basis.
Industries such as aviation and hospitality have many silos within them and Aionos, the joint venture between Interglobe Enterprises (IGE) and Assago Group, is an attempt to bridge them and boost efficiencies using artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, Rahul Bhatia told Business Standard on Tuesday. Bhatia, the Group Managing Director of IGE, serves as the majority shareholder in India's largest airline, IndiGo. Additionally, IGE operates 21 hotels under the Ibis brand and runs a logistics company called Movin.
'I think some of us, like Mukesh Ambani, myself and those of us who head industrial units, ought to really focus on what we can really do to make the world a safer place, maybe 50 or 100 years from now.' 'For instance, how can we deal with climate change and global warming, right now?' 'The effects of it may not be felt now; in fact, we may pay a price for it today, but it will help the generations to follow.'
Leading the Indian-Americans on the list is 49-year old Aneel Bhusri.
Vijay has a lot of young and middle-aged women fans, but as voters, they are possibly now with the DMK, or remain with the AIADMK. Recapturing this constituency would have helped Vijay's political launch and the GOAT script and dialogues could have gone a long way in helping out. But the kind of script and screenplay and the unusually and equally unnecessary long run-time (3 hours, 3 minutes) that GOAT offers takes the film experience over the heads of those that are not familiar with secret agents and uranium theft in Tamil cinema, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
According to Venture Intelligence, PE/VC investors have already invested $93 million in 10 education companies so far in 2011, led by a Rs 100 crore (about USD 22 million) investment in vocational training and placement firm Teamlease Services.
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.
When its founder, Raghunandan Kamath, took a calculated risk, his Bollywood customers backed him all the way, say Rohith Potti and Pooja Bhula.
The Indian startup ecosystem recently celebrated the 100th unicorn milestone. It came after a month of no big fund announcements. Compare this to 2021, when three to four unicorns were being added every month. Nevertheless, the 100th unicorn needs to be celebrated since the first unicorn was announced in 2011 - 11 years ago.
Corporate India is likely to witness a surge in private equity deals by the last quarter of current fiscal as inflation is likely to cool down and bulls are expected to be back in the stock market, as per PE deal tracker firm Venture Intelligence.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
Blue-chip names such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Google, JP Morgan Asset Management are taking strategic bets in the Indian market.
Why are financial-technology (fintech) players moving back to India, or doing the reverse-flipping?
At a time when the Indian startup space is going through a funding winter, marked by investors tightening their purse strings, angel investments in fledgling firms have maintained their momentum. While overall deal volumes among startups have fallen, investment activity among the country's most-active angel investors have been relatively steady. We Founder Circle (WFC), a Mumbai-based network of angel investors, emerged as the most-active angel investment platform for the second consecutive year in 2023 with 82 investments.
Zuckerberg said the AI burtler would look like Jarvis from Hollywood blockbuster film Iron Man
Deals shrink to $396 million this year, compared to $793 million in 2011.
During the quarter, venture capital firms have invested $144 million through 21 deals, a sharp decline compared to the corresponding period previous year which had recorded 28 deals worth $173 million. The maximum VC investment was attracted by online travel portal Cleartrip.com of about $18.5 million from DAG Ventures.
Digital literacy is emerging as the professional language of 2024. It is the ability to process complex data sets, deploy critical communication technologies appropriately and validate your importance at your workplace, explains Jagdeep Kochar, managing director, Baker & Taylor India.
With 16 start-ups gaining unicorn status in 2021, India's tally has touched the 50 mark. The newest entrant to this list include Pune-based MindTickle, which is close to finalising a $100-million funding round from Softbank's Vision Fund 2, taking the company's valuation to $1.1 billion.
While 2017 was a record year for private equity investments in India after $23.5 billion in 660 deals, 2018 too has begun with a bang.
Amphibious drones for maritime inspection... devices that extract pure oxygen from water for patients in need... self-balancing electric bikes...
Food delivery major Swiggy has received approval from its shareholders for a $1.25 billion initial public offering (IPO), according to filings made with the Registrar of Companies sourced by Tofler. The Bengaluru-based firm plans to raise as much as Rs 3,750 crore (around $450 million) via a fresh issue and up to Rs 6,664 crore (around $800 million) through an offer-for-sale (OFS) component, the filings stated.
According to Venture Intelligence, a research service focused on private company transactions, PE firms invested $8,853 million this year, compared to the $10,378 million across 483 deals a year ago.
Nikkei 225 index hit the 40,000 mark for the first time ever on Monday, continuing its bull-run that saw the index reclaim its 1989 peak of 34,000 levels in February. as global investors latched on to Japan's biggest companies on improving shareholder returns, the weaker yen and booming corporate profits. Analysts remain bullish on Japan, mostly aided by gains in technology shares. Adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), according to a note by Morgan Stanley, is likely to benefit Japanese companies, which is almost at par with the US-based companies.
Technology companies continue to be the most valued brands globally, with the top five most valued companies from the technology sector, according to Brand Finance 2024. Samsung has entered the top five most valued brands globally. Apple secured the first position after falling to the second spot in 2023.
'Investing abroad helps mitigate currency risk for foreign-currency denominated goals, such as children's higher education and international travel.'
Private equity investments in the January-March quarter of the 2011 calendar year were about 57 per cent higher than the $ 2.1 billion worth of PE investment registered in the year ago period and more than double October-December's $1.5 billion, according to data provider Venture Intelligence.
According to the PwC MoneyTree India report, a quarterly study of private equity investment activity based on data by Venture Intelligence, private equity PE firms invested $2.5 billion across 97 deals in Q3 of 2012, against USD 2.4 billion from 121 deals a year ago.
Company identifies areas like cognitive technologies, artificial intelligence, man-machine interface, robotics
In 2024 so far, 20 startups have already visited the campus with 80 placements.
I hope those who underestimate Rajeev Chandrasekhar will be proved wrong in this fight for Thiruvananthapuram's future, notes Rajeev Srinivasan.