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.
'There are multiple ups and downs.' 'You should be able to withstand all that.' 'You need to have the temperament to run a marathon.'
N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, blamed the venture capitalist community for inculcating a culture among entrepreneurs to chase growth at all costs. He said the VC model of investment looked like a ponzi scheme. "I would hold venture capitalists responsible who propounded the theory that only the top-line is important and not the bottom-line. "I think that is completely wrong. In many ways it looks like a ponzi scheme.
The Indian startup ecosystem has lauded the inclusion of startups in the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration for the first time ever in the history of G20. Industry stakeholders say that the move will lead to easier access to capital, reduce regulatory hurdles, and may revive funding activity. The Declaration, through the Startup20 initiative, recognised startups as "natural engines of growth" and key to socio-economic transformation by driving innovation and creating employment.
Thakur had on December 25 said Hindus have the right to respond to those who attack them and their dignity as she spoke about the killing of Hindu activists.
Ajit Balakrishnan on keeping an eye on democratising finance in India.
Around $200 million worth of deposits of Indian start-ups have been withdrawn from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which was taken over by US banking regulators last week after it collapsed, and moved to the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) IFSC, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state (MoS) for electronics and information technology said on Thursday. "It turns out that there was over a billion dollars of deposits of Indian start-ups in SVB. "The existential, solvency crisis that was there six-seven days ago has become much more manageable, even the short-term liquidity crisis is being addressed as the bank allows access to deposits," the minister said while speaking at Lenovo's Tech World India Edition event.
Zudio was the standout performer as it tapped into the pentup demand in small-town India, at a pace never seen before, notes Indrajit Gupta, co-founder and director, Founding Fuel.
rediffGURU Chandu Nair advises entrepreneurs and enterprises about how to create and build their business.
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.
'Being financially independent is crucial.' 'This spares women a lot of grief if the marriage, especially in large business families, breaks down.'
As a charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), entrepreneur-turned venture capitalist, Sateesh Andra has been actively involved in creating a common platform for entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and academicians to interact and help build successful enterprises.
Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman and more than a dozen former US women's national team players have formed an ownership group to set up a professional women's soccer team in Los Angeles from 2022. The new team, which has yet to be named, was announced by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) on Tuesday.
The turmoil, if you read the headlines, is about the so-called funding winter. Deep down, though, the question is one of the common direction in which founders and investors need to pull, points out Suveen Sinha.
Bootstrapping has put Nithin Kamath of Zerodha in a position where he can trifle with talk about valuation, points out Suveen Sinha.
With regulatory uncertainties clouding the future of online pharmacies, deals in the space are showing signs of slowdown, as also fresh investment from private-equity (PE) firms and venture capitalists (VCs). The data from Venture Intelligence shows so far in 2023 (as of June 13) there has been one deal with PE-VC funding. In 2022 there were four, a sharp fall from the 12, totalling $1,520 million, the sector had attracted in 2021.
According to Outlook, Adani Group and the RP-Sanjeev Goenka Groups are no more the favourites to bag the new teams.
After raising Rs 10 crore in seed funding last week from investors like Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Freshworks founder Girish Mathrabootham and Silicon Valley based venture capitalist firm Hourglass Venture, Chennai-based social media startup Pepul told Business Standard that it is looking to raise around Rs 200 crore by June this year for expansion. The social media platform, focused on online ethical practices, will be launched by 1,000 entrepreneurs across the country on January 26. Pepul, founded by G Suresh Kumar, will be using an Aadhaar-based user verification system to get rid of fake accounts on its platform. "We are planning to raise around Rs 200 crore by June this year.
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.
World over, venture capitalists have become the most popular source of funding for upcoming entrepreneurs
Indian-American venture capitalist Vinod Khosla will join the Board of Directors at mobile payment start-up Square, founded by Twitter chairman Jack Dorsey.
Indian-American Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and his wife Neeru are among the latest billionaires to have pledged half of their vast fortunes to charity either during their lifetime or after death.
According to Dow Jones VentureSource, a VC industry tracking firm, investments grew in almost every venture hub globally in the April-June quarter, a sign of recovery in the global economy.
Ramesh said he would file a case against Thakur in the apex court as the police in Karnataka would not act against the BJP MP.
According to the data by Dow Jones VentureSource, global venture investment in companies across the world rose 13 per cent in January-March period this year.
Indian venture capitalists and private equities are expected to invest over $8.5 billion (about Rs 42,000 crore) in the next five years in sectors like biotechnology, life sciences, film production and education, an Assocham-Deloitte study said.
Venture capitalists and seed fund providers receive around 500-1,200 business plans every year. The trend continued even among the student fraternity. Venture firms such as Morpheus Venture Partners and Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship that work closely with students and incubator centres have seen a spurt in activity.
Here's what could be ahead for India: A $10-trillion economy by 2030-32, a Sensex at 1,00,000 by 2025, monthly GST revenues at Rs 2 trillion by 2024-25, 100 new unicorns by 2025, and poverty below 5 per cent by 2030, predicts R Jagannathan.
Investors seem to be shying away from stocks of companies in the 'digital' space with most counters that comprise the Nifty India Digital index giving negative returns over the past year. The index tracks the performance of a portfolio of stocks that broadly represent the 'digital theme' within basic industries, such as software, e-commerce, IT-enabled services, industrial electronics, and telecom services. The fall in some of these stocks over the past year has been steep; the sharpest decline of around 60 per cent was seen in shares of PB Fintech (parent company of Policybazaar).
"We plan to raise $10 million through private equity and venture capitalist and will be investing the same in expanding our operations to new geographies like West Asia and new regions in Asia," Total IT Solutions Managing Director Rajiv Mishra told PTI.
In India, US venture capitalists invested $101 million in 13 deals in the first quarter, 29 per cent less than the $142 million via 22 deals in the March quarter of 2008, as per data compiled by research firm Dow Jones VentureSource. Venture capitalists put $1.87 billion, the lowest quarterly total since 2004, via 250 deals for emerging companies in India, China, Europe and Israel in the first quarter as fund managers prefer assured returns from portfolio investment.
Proto aims at providing these innovators a space to attract mindshare, investment, advisory capital, and the attention of the venture capitalists.
Indian start-ups are likely to experience a fillip as around 40 US venture capitalists and private equity holders have already lined up $400 million to invest in the country.
The IPL franchises are now expanding their bouquet of teams across leagues in the West Indies, UAE, South Africa and now the US is another untapped market that wasn't explored despite the Asian diaspora craving for some cricket.
The dinner Jill Biden and her husband US President Joe Biden hosted for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, June 22, at the White House brought together, Indians and Americans from so many firmaments.
The proposed India-Israel trade pact should be beneficial to both nations and until New Delhi gets a good deal, it would not do an agreement, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said. India and Israel are negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) since May 2010. "With Israel, until we get a good deal, we will not do an FTA. It has to be reciprocally beneficial," the minister said in San Francisco on Tuesday while interacting with the Indian community.
At the time of the media maelstrom around her non-dom status, she hit back at implications that it was in some way indicative of her stronger bond with India than the UK.
Venture capitalists and private equity players have slowed investments in Indian start-ups.
