The availability of domestic capital to fund startups and an ability to attract talent in the early days are among the biggest challenges faced by entrepreneurs, Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy said on Thursday. "It is desirable to create a policy that makes it attractive for domestic institutions like family offices of HNIs (high net-worth individuals), insurance companies or large corporations to invest in venture capital funding," he said at the T N Chaturvedi Memorial Lecture 2024 in New Delhi's Prime Ministers' Museum and Library.
Microsoft India on Tuesday said it has collaborated with Invest India to support tech startups in the country. As part of the partnership, the Microsoft for Startups programme will work closely with Accelerating Growth of New India's Innovations (AGNIi Mission) - a programme of the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, a statement said. Housed and executed by Invest India, AGNIi Mission helps startups become enterprise-ready.
What has surprised the industry is that the Bill has been tabled without any consultation. Critics warn the ban on real-money gaming could fuel black markets, endanger 200,000 jobs and billions in tax revenue.
A deep dive into Trump's new policy and what it means for Indian professionals and companies.
'The race is now on for Indian IT firms to develop their AI prowess and focus on a software-first approach to services as the people element becomes more complicated with Trump's expected new regulations.'
These are 'hidden champions' of strategic research and innovation. They are worthy of emulation within Indian industry, and maybe even a Padma!, notes R Gopalakrishnan.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has entered into a partnership with the Startup Policy Forum (SPF), a premier industry organisation representing India's leading new-age companies.
Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) is deepening its push into data centres and defence manufacturing while keeping an eye on emerging opportunities in nuclear and thermal power, chairman and managing director SN Subrahmanyan said. The engineering and construction conglomerate has invested around Rs 2,200 crore in data centres, with 32 megawatts (Mw) already operational.
'Despite being a software powerhouse, we're not producing proportionate original IP, frameworks, or global tech products originating in India.'
Nine companies incubating at StartupVillage have made it to the second round of Nasscoms flagship programme to support 10,000 technology startups across India.
'Binary fission will happen -- startups will lead to more startups.'
Citing evolving needs and aspirations of the citizens, he said that the civil service must adapt to contemporary challenges to remain relevant.
Clearly, some of the bullishness of the early days has gone missing. Ola's market share is slipping amid rising competition from incumbents like Bajaj Auto and TVS.
Startups in India need low-cost debt for working capital, which is impossible to get.
Indian startups have raised $42 billion in 2021, up from $11.5 billion in the previous year, a report by Orios Venture Partners said. The report titled 'The Indian Tech Unicorn Report 2021' said India saw 46 unicorns (companies with $1 billion valuations) in 2021 alone, more than doubling the total number of unicorns to 90. These include ShareChat, Cred, Meesho, Nazara, Moglix, MPL, Grofers (now Blinkit), upGrad, Mamaearth, GlobalBees, Acko, Spinny and others. India - with 90 unicorns - is the third-largest unicorn hub behind the US (487) and China (301), and ahead of the UK (39).
A Hyderabad-based deep-tech startup, Simpliforge Creations, has built the world's first on-site 3D-printed bunker in Leh for military use with the help of the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad. The project, called "Prabal," is a significant advancement in construction technology, allowing for the rapid deployment of military infrastructure in remote and challenging environments.
The Indian AI market is expected to grow to over $17 billion by 2027, more than tripling its current size, driven by increased investments in enterprise technology, a flourishing digital ecosystem, and a strong pool of skilled professionals, according to BCG.
Singapore-based fashion technology startup Zilingo on Friday said it has sacked Indian-origin co-founder and CEO Ankiti Bose following an independent forensic audit into complaints of serious financial irregularities. On March 31, Bose was placed under suspension following complaints of alleged discrepancies in the company accounts. "Following an investigation led by an independent forensics firm that was commissioned to look into complaints of serious financial irregularities, the company has decided to terminate Ankiti Bose's employment with cause, and reserves the right to pursue appropriate legal action," Zilingo said in a statement.
Shift from producing graduates proficient in analysis and strategy to producing graduates capable of initiating, executing, and scaling impactful actions in real-world environments, points out Ajit Balakrishnan.
Google is building voice and text search for over 100 Indian languages and will spend $75 million to support women-led startups in the country, said its CEO Sundar Pichai at the start of his visit to India - a nation that he saw as a big export economy. India, he said, will be a big export economy and it needs to create a balance between safeguarding citizens and enabling companies to innovate with its framework. Pichai first met Telecom and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and spoke at a Google for India 2022 event before calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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.
Ajit Balakrishnan offers a recipe for creating 100,000 plus angel investors in India.
If Rakesh Sharma represented the dreams of a nascent India looking outward, Shubhanshu Shukla embodies a confident India reaching for the controls.
India's Venture Capital (VC) ecosystem exhibited robust growth in 2024, with funding surging 43 per cent year-on-year to $13.7 billion, according to a report. This recovery was fuelled by a 45 per cent rise in deal activity, with 1,270 transactions recorded, reinforcing India's position as the second largest market for venture capital and growth funding in the Asia-Pacific region, the report by Bain & Company and IVCA said.
'We will start reaching out to researchers, academics, and experts on AI from top universities and companies from across the world.'
Bessemer Venture Partners has closed $350 million in capital for its second dedicated India fund to back founders in the region, who build enduring companies.
If you are a budding developer and interested in Web3, chances are that you will be headed to one of India's largest-ever meetings of Web3 developers, being held by Polygon, a Web3 platform. The company's ongoing "Web3: Made in India Tour" is expected to see close to 4,000 developers coming together at the inaugural Polygon Connect event in Bengaluru on December 1. The event highlights the growing dominance of Web3 developers from India, as well as the sector's rising interest to investors, who continue to invest in startups despite a funds crunch.
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 IPO wave of 2025 is here, and it's bigger than ever. From fintech unicorns to financial powerhouses and infrastructure giants, some of India's biggest names are all set to make their stock market debut. PhonePe, Zepto, Tata Capital, NSE, NSDL, and JSW Cement are just a few of the highly awaited listings that have investors and analysts buzzing with excitement.
'If you align your ambition with India's rise, the peak of your careers will unfold alongside the peak of India's power.'
In a double-dose bid to boost growth and employment prospects, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs 2.07 trillion outlay for a research development and innovation (RDI) Scheme to fund private sector innovations, and an employment-linked incentive (ELI) to create over 35 million new jobs over the next two years.
Hiring trends in India's white-collar job market dipped marginally by 1.4 per cent in March compared to the same month last year, driven by a decline in recruitment in the retail, oil & gas, and education sectors, a report said on Wednesday.
A pet project of the Indian Army, four-legged robotic prototypes have been making waves at the Republic Day and Army Day parades in the past year.
Nearly a dozen firms have shown interest in building the foundation model and LLMs, while others have proposed sector-specific SLMs.
Valuations at current levels have historically corresponded single-digit returns.
Quick commerce company Zepto has completed a reverse flip from Singapore to India to become an Indian parent's entity ahead of its proposed IPO. Its co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha, in a post on LinkedIn, described it as a historic milestone for the Indian startup ecosystem and an inflection point that represents long-term confidence in the liquidity and depth of Indian capital markets.
'...hesitate to support the risk-taking it requires.'
India's largest IT services company TCS believes that generative artificial intelligence (AI) is not just another tech cycle but a "civilisational shift" which will positively benefit every industry.
As the Jaggi brothers - Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi - find themselves at the heart of the financial mismanagement in the Gensol-BluSmart saga, attention on the third BluSmart co-founder, Punit K Goyal, has taken a notably different turn.
Inputs from religious texts, scriptures of local dialects and inspirational word-of-mouth stories will also be included.
