Ajit Balakrishnan on keeping an eye on democratising finance in India.
Tata Sons' unlisted ventures, including Air India, Tata Digital, and Tata Electronics, reported combined net losses of approximately 25,568.8 crore in FY25, a 58.3 per cent increase from the previous year, despite Tata Sons itself remaining profitable for over a decade.
India's venture capital (VC) landscape saw a strategic shift during the first half (H1) of the calendar year (CY) 2024, with a notable increase in larger-sized investments. This was evident from a 45.3 per cent rise in disclosed funding value year-on-year, despite a 2.1 per cent drop in deal volume, according to GlobalData, a data analytics and consulting company.
The venture capital/private equity industry needs to be encouraged as such investments create jobs and help establish companies in new sectors. There is also a strong case for incentives for investors in these funds, says Saurabh Srivastava, chairman of the Indian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.
The first quarter of the calendar year 2007 is already over. There is no sign of the VC story slowing down. This is a good sign for all the entrepreneurs out there with an idea!
When it comes to raising funds, women entrepreneurs receive a disproportionately small share.
Accel and Google's AI Futures Fund have announced the five startups selected for the 2026 Atoms AI Cohort, focusing on enterprise, voice, and industrial AI solutions, with each startup receiving significant investment and resources.
'Large firms and their interests can dominate the narrative, even as smaller stakeholders and retail investors struggle to be heard.' 'Regulators therefore require deep subject-matter expertise to assess representations, recognise underlying incentives, incorporate the perspectives of less-visible stakeholders, and guard against bias or capture,' notes Ananth Narayan.
Country's startups are carving a unique path by prioritising local, application-led innovation over the global pursuit of scale.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, 68, will retire as chairman of Airtel Africa in July after the conclusion of this year's annual general meeting (AGM), the board of the African arm of India's second-largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel said in a statement to the exchanges on Wednesday.
Banks are allowed to invest up to 10 per cent of the paid-up or unit capital in Category-I or Category-II Alternative Investment Funds
Venture funding in India slowed in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025 amid geopolitical uncertainty, though exit activity surged to a seven-year high, according to Venture Pulse from KPMG Private Enterprise, a quarterly report tracking investment trends globally across major regions around the world.
Fintech and venture capital firms such as Recur Club, Razorpay and Trifecta Capital have come to the aid of homegrown start-ups caught in the crossfire of the Silicon Valley Bank fiasco. Alternative funding platform Recur Club said it was allocating $15 million to all Indian founders affected by the crisis. It will not charge any platform fee for the same.
'It's a changing world and the opening up doesn't mean that concerns with regards to security have gone away.'
A consortium led by Kal Somani, a tech entrepreneur, has acquired Rajasthan Royals for $1.63 billion, marking a significant milestone in IPL's history.
India's share of total global venture capital (VC) funding fell to 2.9 per cent in calendar year 2023 (CY23) - the lowest since CY19 - reaching $7.3 billion as most startups struggled to raise money without compromising on their earlier valuations. Based on global data by CB Insights on VC funding, funding to Indian startups fell by nearly a third compared to CY22 when it hit $20.6 billion and accounted for 4.8 per cent of the global figure. While the data shows that the world had 71 new unicorns (21 in Asia), India contributed only two of them, as compared with CY22 when it had 22.
Skye Air Mobility has raised USD 9 million in a Series B funding round to expand its hyperlocal drone delivery services across key metropolitan markets in India.
Cheerio AI, an AI-powered customer engagement platform, has raised Rs 8 crore in seed funding to build multi-modal AI capabilities and expand its platform.
Naukri.com-parent Info Edge, whose long-term bets on Indian startups ranging from Zomato to Policybazaar yielded blockbuster returns, has been named the country's most successful venture investor, cementing its reputation as a standout player in India's startup ecosystem. The firm, helmed by Sanjeev Bikhchandani - often referred to as India's Warren Buffett- invested a total capital of Rs 3,959.16 crore across platforms over the last one and a half decades.
One consortium is led by Manipal Hospitals' Dr Ranjan Pai along with US private equity firm KKR and Singapore investment major Temasek. The other is a combine of Swedish private equity firm EQT and Premji Invest, the investment office backed by Wipro founder Azim Premji.
The past few years have seen the first cycle of mergers and acquisitions, exits, and track-records being created.
In modern investing, transparency is more valuable than zero fees and not all investing app score big on this front, says Ramalingam Kalirajan.
There are hopes of a turnaround in overall corporate earnings after six quarters of single digit growth.
Nayara Energy, a private fuel retailer in India, has increased petrol and diesel prices following a surge in global oil prices due to Middle East tensions. This move contrasts with state-owned retailers who continue to freeze prices.
'In culture, patriotism and modernity, the dream of a developed India, you see the pulsating energy of a New India.'
Platform-style partnerships between global investors and Indian developers are expected to gain further traction over the next few years. This comes as institutional capital increasingly shifts from one-off asset acquisitions to scalable, long-term strategies.
Companies are squeezing more profits from their operations relative to the capital they put to work, the highest now since 2011. Profit after tax relative to capital employed came in at 10.47 per cent in September, shows data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), higher than the 8.41 per cent seen in September last year. This is the highest since March 2010.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Ayush Varshney, co-founder of Darwin Labs, in connection with the 200 million Gain Bitcoin cryptocurrency scam. Varshney was apprehended while attempting to flee the country.
Investors and startup executives are calling for extending the period for an entity to be recognised as a startup from 10 to 15 years for deep-tech companies.
The government on Thusday said it is examining a proposal for setting up a venture capital fund to promote drug discovery in India.
The government on Tuesday said it is considering forming a venture capital fund of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) to promote research and development (R&D) in the pharmaceutical sector.
A student from Maharashtra drowned and another went missing after entering the sea in Chennai. The Maharashtra government is coordinating with Tamil Nadu authorities for search and rescue efforts.
The deferral of Natarajan Chandrasekaran's re-appointment as Chairman of Tata Sons has sparked questions regarding a previous unanimous resolution by Tata Trusts and potential internal disagreements.
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has cleared a series of regulatory relaxations to ease operations for fund managers in GIFT City, along with a revamped framework for global in-house centres (GICs) and capital market intermediaries.
'If we want to pivot meaningfully from a services-driven economy to a technology and manufacturing-led one.'
Unperturbed by the tax benefit restrictions proposed in this year's Budget for venture capital investments to certain sectors, US based VC fund New Enterprise Associates has lined up $200 million to be invested in the country.
India is growing fast, but to keep growing strong, the government must make more things at home, create jobs, and spend money wisely, suggests Rajiv Memani, regional managing partner, Africa-India Region, EY.
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