Amphibious drones for maritime inspection... devices that extract pure oxygen from water for patients in need... self-balancing electric bikes...
The government has brought in changes to the investment pattern for non-government provident funds, and superannuation and gratuity funds, enabling them to invest up to 5 per cent in the units of Category I and Category II alternative investment funds (AIFs), subject to some caveats. The development is part of the central government's strategy to channelise domestic savings and improve their returns to attract more investment in the said sectors. At present, these funds typically invest a minimum 45 per cent in government securities, besides new instruments, such as exchange-traded funds and real estate investment funds, while a portion in equity-related instruments.
Despite the positive sentiment returning in the VC space, investment si still low on an year-on-year basis.
Ola Electric, the SoftBank-backed electric vehicle (EV) maker, is likely to pursue a valuation of approximately $4.5 billion in its upcoming initial public offering (IPO), marking about 18 per cent decrease from its last funding round valuation of around $5.5 billion, according to industry sources. The Bhavish Aggarwal-founded firm aims to file for the IPO by next month, according to people familiar with the matter. "The strategy is to price the IPO attractively for investors, fostering long-term growth and wealth creation," said a source.
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.
TotalEnergies will acquire 25 per cent shareholding in Adani New Industries Ltd -- the firm that houses Adani Group's new energy business -- for an undisclosed amount, the two firms said in separate statements. "TotalEnergies has entered into an agreement with (Adani Group's flagship) Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) to acquire a 25 per cent interest in ANIL," the French energy giant said.
Family offices are increasingly looking to invest directly in start-ups rather than through investment in venture capital (VC) firms. The shift is happening because of multiple reasons. Next-generation scions of wealthy families are conversant with how the start-up world works after they have spent time in Silicon Valley; start-up investment is rising to 10-15 per cent of family offices' portfolios from single digits; and they do not want to share gains of investment with VC firms. "While earlier they would prefer to invest in this asset class via venture capital (VC) funds as LPs (limited partners), now they are making direct investment in start-ups.
A lot depends upon the crucial decision-making skills of the management. If you have any doubts about the management then you always have the choice of selling your shares or not buying stocks of those companies at all.
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.
Industry experts believe that this deal will positively impact the Indian film industry, which is struggling with fewer movie releases.
Investments by private equity and venture capital funds doubled to a record high of $9.5 billion in July mainly driven by higher investor interest in the e-commerce sector, a report said on Monday. Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investments stood at $4.1 billion in the year-ago period. The activity was higher by 77 per cent when compared to June's $5.4 billion, the report on monthly PE/VC investment activity by industry lobby IVCA and consultancy firm EY said.
Reliance Capital Ltd (RCL), part of the debt-ridden Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Group, has received 10 more bids, including from SBI Life, for its subsidiaries, sources said. Earlier this month, the Committee of Debenture Holders had extended the last date for submission of expression of interest (EoI) to December 17, 2020. Following this, 10 new bids have come in for Reliance Capital's assets, taking the total number of bids to 70, the sources said.
The drop was the result of the change in FDI rules, which was amplified by the border standoff between India and China.
'Just this year alone, close to 40 major transactions involving Bollywood stars have been recorded.'
How do you avoid being laid off? If you have been let go, what should you do next? Ask rediff Career Gurus to find out.
WhatsApp was the biggest acquisition on the Midas list since it is the largest venture-backed private exit ever.
Seed and early-stage start-ups are high-risk businesses, rarely have collateral and only 1 in 10 of them makes it to becoming a viable company.
The income tax department has notified rules for valuation of equity and compulsorily convertible preferable shares issued by startups to resident and non-resident investors. As per the changes in Rule 11UA of I-T rules, which comes into effect from September 25, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) provides that the valuation of compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) can also be based on the fair market value of unquoted equity shares. The amended rules also retain the five new valuation methods proposed in the draft rules for consideration received from the non-residents viz., (i) Comparable Company Multiple Method, (ii) Probability Weighted Expected Return Method, (iii) Option Pricing Method, (iv) Milestone Analysis Method, and (v) Replacement Cost Method.
Several exchanges are facing a cash crunch with committed investment not coming from venture capital funds and trading activity seeing a sharp decline, reports Rajesh Bhayani.
Venture Capital investments are early-stage monetary investments made in new start-up firms that have a high growth potential.
Here stood a man who embodied the legacy of whatever Brand Tata stood for, embellished it, and departed into the long night, leaving the brand legacy for others to further enrich, notes R Gopalakrishnan.
Estimates suggest about $100 million has been poured into these companies and a lot more is still to come.
For now, the concerns over bad loans have taken a back seat; a bigger challenge for the banking community is credit growth, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
I hope those who underestimate Rajeev Chandrasekhar will be proved wrong in this fight for Thiruvananthapuram's future, notes Rajeev Srinivasan.
Canara Bank, India's second largest public sector bank, is all set for an aggressive play in the venture capital business.
Jaitley assured that both the banking system and the government will make the resources available to them.
The city's 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI), recorded at 4 pm daily, stood at 417, making it the worst in the country. On Friday, the AQI level was 396.
'The expulsion of Kashmiri Pandits -- and all other non-Muslims -- is its clear objective.'
The country's two venture capital firms, Anil Ambani Group's Reliance Technology Ventures and Nexus India Capital, have been named in the Red Herring Top 100 Global Venture Capitals.
Leading the Indian-Americans on the list is 49-year old Aneel Bhusri.
'Only 20 per cent of families in India buy cheese twice once a year.'
Diversified business group Godrej Industries has set up a $50 million venture capital fund along with a set of individuals to invest in agri start-ups.
Renuka Ramnath is credited with raising the India Advantage Fund Series II, the country's largest private equity fund till date with a corpus of $810 million.
The venture capital industry is optimistic about renewed investments this year, with focus shifting primarily to the green technology sector, a survey by global consultancy KPMG LLP said.
Mukesh Ambani is planning to provide Rs 1000 crore seed capital to kick-start a new venture that would invest in innovative business ideas, including in technology and healthcare segments. Ambani, who heads the country's most valued corporate entity Reliance Industries, will probably make this investment of about USD 250 million in his individual capacity, sources close to the development said.
'We started AgniKul to show that space transportation should be as simple as road transportation.'
In a bid to ease compliance towards companies planning public offers (IPOs), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has notified norms that open more avenues to meet the minimum promoters' contribution (MPC). The market regulator has permitted promoter group entities and non-individual shareholders to contribute to the mandated promoters' contribution in the case of a shortfall without being identified as a promoter.
