Category: Growth

BSE joins hands with Telangana govt to help MSMEs raise equity funds

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Major stock exchange BSE on Monday said it had joined hands with the Telangana government, along with GlobalLinker, to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) raise equity funds.

The BSE and the commerce and industries department of Telangana, along with GlobalLinker, have signed a memorandum of understanding in this regard, the exchange said in a statement.

The partnership with the BSE would help in addressing a vital challenge of access to finance and increasing credibility of the MSMEs, it said.

As part of the association, the BSE will provide intellectual and human resources support to create awareness about the importance and benefits of listing.

The exchange said lack of awareness around this subject has led to a lot of preconceived notions that listing involves increased compliance levels, increased costs and more.

“We are pleased to partner with the BSE, as this engagement will provide the necessary hand-holding support and guidance to the MSMEs of the state,” said Telangana Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan.

He added that currently, there are few MSMEs registered on the stock exchange from Telangana and we would like to see these numbers grow soon.

BSE MD and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan said MSMEs play a vital role in the economic development of in Telangana. They are also one of the significant contributors to employment.

According to him, one of the various challenges the MSMEs face is the limited access to an alternative source of finance which increases their dependence on debt capital resulting in distorted capital structures and stifled cash flows.

“Through this association, MSMEs of the state can have access to equity financing opportunities to grow their business from expansion to acquisition,” he added.

Ajaykumar Thakur, head (SME and start-ups) at BSE, said, “We are hopeful that this initiative will help in getting a lot of SMEs (small and medium enterprises) from the state listed on the BSE SME Platform, which will contribute to their growth and generate employment.”

In 2019, the Telangana government partnered with GlobalLinker, an MSME-enablement business, and launched a digital networking platform called ‘Telangana State GlobalLinker’.

The platform provides a digital profile, access to global networking opportunities to find buyers and suppliers, economies of scale on a wide range of business services, access to industry news, articles and discussions.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Any growth sector in India a potential investment opportunity, says Edelweiss Group

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Any growth sector in India is a potential investment opportunity for us, said Venkat Ramaswamy, Vice-Chairman of Edelweiss Group in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

“We see large opportunities at this point of time. Our pipeline is meaningfully large and I would expect the team to be investing this capital at a good pace over the next two-three years,” he said.

Edelweiss Alternate Asset Advisors part of Edelweiss Asset Management has announced the final closure of its USD 900 million Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) which is called ESOF III. Ramaswamy also discussed this.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

TeaMonk raises Rs 6.5 Cr from Inflection Point Ventures & other investors

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Bangalore based premium tea brand, TeaMonk that offers more than 50 variants of a premium tea has raised Rs 6.5 crore in Pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures, one of India’s largest angel investment platforms in India.

Sarcha Ventures and Lead Angels also participated in the round. Additionally, US-based HNIs Dr Madhu K Mohan (Eminent Endocrinologist in Washington DC & member of Public Health Foundation of India), Anil Menon (Senior Advisor to Chairman, World Economic Forum) and Jai Gupta (Entrepreneur) also participated in the round. The HNIs have participated in their personal capacity.

Started in 2016, TeaMonk is backed by former Unilever senior professionals and has raised Rs 23.5 crore funding till date and plans to use the current financing for further market expansion in global markets like the US, UK and Canada. The Company also plans to launch a subscription-based platform in India to strengthen its presence in the home market further.

After Milkbasket and BluSmart, Inflection Point Ventures leads yet another late-stage round and this also marks its 16th investment in India since March this year.

Vinay Bansal, Founder & CEO, IPV says, “Tea is a socially connecting beverage. India is one of the largest consumers and exporters of tea in the World. TeaMonk presents us with a large market opportunity in premium green tea where few players are growing fast. We see premium green tea market exploding in the next three years as more people choose high immunity tea that tastes great, for maintaining their overall health. The large market opportunity internationally and relevance of tea in Indian narrative has prompted us to lead the round in TeaMonk.”

Ashok Mittal, Managing Director, TeaMonk says, “We are delighted to partner with IPV towards our vision of building a “sourced in India” international speciality tea brand. During the pandemic, we have seen a marked increase in consumer preferences towards healthier beverages like green tea. We have seized this opportunity to launch a range of green tea variants focused on immunity and wellness. This includes Kadha green tea, Spice green tea and Ashwagandha green tea. There has been terrific consumer response to these introductions.”

The speciality tea market is estimated at $5.8 billion globally. In India, the market size is approximately $450 million, growing at 30% CAGR.
TeaMonk in a short span of 3 years has built a strong presence in India and 20 international markets like the US, Europe, Middle East and Japan. The Company has built their business around fresh teas which are sourced from the top tea gardens in India and claims to have made robust supply chains to ensure shortest go to market time to preserve the freshness of the tea leaves.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

STARTUP DIGEST: Top startup stories of the day

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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From three startups receiving funding to Paytm making new developments to bidding farewell to Yahoo, the startup industry had a pretty industry day today.

Here are the top startup stories of the day:

• Funding of the Day

Wow! Momo raises Rs 45 Cr debt funding from Anicut Capital

Wow! Momo Foods which owns and operates two quick-service restaurant brands Wow! Momo and Wow! China has raised Rs 45 crores in debt funding from Anicut capital with an option to raise another Rs 15 crores by April 2021. The debt goes towards old loan repayment of Rs 35 crores to Avendus Finance raised in 2018 and fresh influx of growth capital.

Pepper Content raises $4.2 M led by Lightspeed India

Content marketplace platform, Pepper Content has raised $4.2 million in Series A funding, led by Lightspeed India and leading angels across India and Silicon Valley. Pepper aims to leverage this funding to enter into newer content categories such as video and audio, expand into new geographies like Southeast Asia while continuing to scale up its current product for customers and creators alike.

TeaMonk raises Rs 6.5 Cr from Inflection Point Ventures & other investors

Premium tea brand, TeaMonk has raised Rs 6.5 crore in Pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures, one of India’s largest angel investment platforms in India. It plans to use the current funding for further market expansion in global markets like the US, UK and Canada. Will also launch a subscription-based platform in India to further strengthen their presence in the home market.

• IIFL Wealth Hurun India 40 & under self-made rich list 2020

With a combined wealth of Rs 24,000 crore, Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath tops IIFL Wealth and Hurun India’s ’40 and under self-made rich list 2020′. The Kamath brothers are followed by Divyank Turakhia with a net worth of Rs 14,000 crore.

Udaan’s founding team of  Amod Malviya ,Sujeet Kumar and Vaibhav Gupta are at number three. While, Devita Saraf (39), founder of Vu Technologies is the only woman in the list.

With a wealth of Rs 7,800 Cr, Riju Ravindran, 39, of online education platform, Byju’s secured the 6^th spot in the list. With a wealth of Rs 7,500 Cr each, co-founders of Flipkart, Binny Bansal, 37, and Sachin Bansal, 39, shares seventh position in the list. Bhavish Aggarwal, 35, and Ankit Bhati, 34, co-founders of ride-hailing company Ola Cabs ranks 10^th and 14^th in the 40 and under list with a wealth of Rs 3,500 Cr and Rs 1,600 Cr respectively,

As per the list, the entrepreneurs cumulatively added a wealth of Rs 44,900 crore, registering an increase of 59 percent compared to last year. Bengaluru is the city that houses the business headquarters the most individuals on the list – nine, followed by two each in Delhi and Gurugram.

Average age on the list is 37 and the youngest entrepreneur is Oyo Rooms’ Ritesh Agarwal (26). Logistics and Retail are the major contributors of wealth for entrepreneurs.

• Ather Energy to set up public charging infrastructure with Ather Grid across India

Ather Energy has begun setting up public charging infrastructure with Ather Grid across India. Phase one of installation of Ather Grid to be live across 135 + locations by December 2020.

Ather Grid fast charging network can be used by all electric two-wheelers and electric four-wheelers and can charge the Ather 450X at 15 km in 10 minutes. The company has signed MOUs with partners like VR Mall, PPZ mall management, restaurant and cafe chains like Little Italy, Blue Tokai, Chai Kings, retail outlets like Sangeetha mobiles, and now has access to more than 250 locations across the country.

The installations of the Ather Grid Points will begin before deliveries of the Ather 450X in November 2020.

Ather Energy has 37 fast charging stations in Bengaluru and 13 in Chennai, taking the total count to 150 fast charging stations across India.

• Paytm starts same-day settlement on its payment gateway

Digital payments major Paytm has started same-day settlement facility for all kinds of fund transfers on its payment gateway. The same-day settlement feature will help businesses that depend upon immediate availability of funds for their business. This includes e-commerce companies, government institutions, and all businesses involving inventories.

As a norm digital payments made to a merchant is usually not settled on the same day. Industry standard is that settlement happens after one day or two days, depending on the specific day of the week. However, payment startups have been innovating on same day settlements to encourage small merchants who need cash in their bank account daily to start accepting digital payments.

From Rs 50 up to Rs 2 lakh, everything can be settled daily to even three times every day depending on the requirement of the merchant.

• SoftBank Vision Fund seeking cash for blank-cheque firm: Report

SoftBank Group Vision Fund is targeting external funding for a blank-cheque acquisition company it plans to launch, according to a report by Reuters. SoftBank is likely to put also its own capital into the company, whose size is undetermined as per the report. Details of the vehicle will be revealed in the next two weeks.

• Yahoo to bid goodbye on December 15, 2020

Yahoo to shut down Yahoo Groups on December 15 as the platform usage declined over the last several years. According to a statement, creation of new groups will be disabled on October 12 and on December 15 people will no longer be able to send and receive emails from Yahoo Groups & the website will no longer be accessible.

• Amazon workers in Germany strike on ‘Prime Day’: Reuters

As per Reuters report, a German trade union called on workers at seven Amazon warehouses to go on strike on Tuesday to coincide with the global “Prime Day” promotion event that was postponed due to operational challenges from the coronavirus pandemic.

Verdi said it was organising the two-day strike as part of a long-running battle with Amazon in Germany over better pay and conditions, noting that a coronavirus bonus introduced for workers in Germany in March had been scrapped again in May.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Sep CPI at 7.34%, Aug IIP at -8%; experts discuss

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Consumer inflation for September was 7.34 percent, compared to a forecast of 6.9 percent based on a CNBC-TV18 poll. Factory output for August, as a measure of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) came in at -8 percent against a CNBC-TV18 poll average of -6.4 percent.

Indranil Pan, Chief Economist of IDFC First Bank, DK Joshi Chief Economist at CRISIL, Jayesh Mehta Managing Director and Country Treasurer of Bank of America and Sameer Narang, Chief Economist at Bank of Baroda (BoB) discussed the implications of these readings.

“It is a shocker, but I am not sure whether it will have any implications in terms of either the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) policy going forward or even in terms of the interest rate dynamics in the months ahead,” said Pan.

Narang said the average consumer inflation for this fiscal was likely to be over 5 percent and next year, it was expected to remain upwards of 4 percent.

Joshi noted that risks to any inflation forecast was on the upside.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

SBI to hive off YONO into independent platform, says Chairman Rajnish Kumar

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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State Bank of India (SBI) is planning to make its digital platform You Only Need One or YONO an independent entity and allow other banks to use its services, Chairman Rajnish Kumar said.

The country’s largest bank is looking to employ the “pay per use” model to attract small financial institutions to use the platform. The model works best when the clients only want to pay for the services they use. According to the chairman, SBI’s brand name would not be attached to the services rendered by other banks to their customers.

“Other banks can use YONO without using the brand,” he said. Banks would need to connect via the YONO API without going through SBI’s core banking system. Once the integration is successful, other banks can connect the API with their backend and use it with their branding, he explained.

Subsequently, the bank will also use YONO as an outside application. Meaning, it will pay to use YONO’s services. However, before taking this big step, they want to utilise its full potential and test its security aspects. “There is no point in bringing a half-baked product in the market,” Kumar pointed out.

SBI prepared a separate balance sheet for YONO for the June quarter, which showed a net profit of Rs 200 crore with around 3,85,675 transactions taking place daily.

The lender aims to increase the customer size by 50 percent to 4.2 crore by March 2021 from the current user base of 2.7 crores, Financial Express reported.

The app has added 71 lakh new customers amid the pandemic, with the number of transactions rising from 66 lakh in March 2020 to 1.1 crore in August.

Although no independent agency has valued the app yet, according to their internal valuations it is worth $40 billion.

“YONO is not just a mobile application, but an ‘omnichannel’ experience,” Kumar added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Dream11 parent company raises $225 million, valued at $2.5 billion

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Dream Sports, the parent company of Dream11, FanCode and DreamX, announced on September 14 that it had completed a primary and secondary investment led by Tiger Global Management, TPG Tech Adjacencies (TTAD), ChrysCapital, and Footpath Ventures worth $225 million.

The company said that it is now valued at $2.5 billion.

Harsh Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Dream Sports said in a statement, “We are excited to welcome our new partners, who share our passion for sports and have extensive experience in building highly valuable tech companies in India. As a homegrown Indian company, we are proud to continue adding value to our 10 crore Indian sports fans, investors, employees and the overall sports ecosystem in India. In the last two years, we have grown beyond fantasy sports to sports content, merchandise, streaming, experiences, and there is much more to come. Our vision is to ‘Make Sports Better’ for India and Indian fans through sports technology and innovation.”

Talking about the development, MD of TPG Akshay Tanna said, “The sports sector has high growth potential in India. There is a significant opportunity to enhance the fan experience and we are excited to partner with Dream Sports to leverage technology in ways that will deepen the connection between Indian fans and the sports they love.”

This investment represents growth of the Indian sports technology sector and its potential to transform sports in the country. Commenting on the development, Vice President of ChrysCapital Kshitij Sheth said, “Dream Sports is the largest and fastest-growing Sports Tech platform in the country with a phenomenal track record. ChrysCapital is excited to be a part of their vision to transform the way sport is consumed through technology and innovation.”

In a series funding round last year, the fantasy sports platform raised $100 million from Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent Holdings.

Speaking about the growth of the company, Bhavit Sheth, COO and Co-Founder of Dream Sports said, “We welcome our new partners in this phase of our growth. We have grown from one to many brands and from 200 Sportans (employees of Dream Sports) to 450 in the last two years. I am proud of our lean yet highly efficient team that has been the driving force behind the creation of ‘Sports Tech’ as a new industry category in India.”

Dream11 replaced Chinese phone-maker Vivo as the title sponsor of the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL), scheduled to commence from September 19 in the United Arab Emirates.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Functioning at 60% capacity utilisation, 20% lower YoY, says Ramco Group

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Under unlock India, the cement sector has been in focus and this August demand has been lower when compared to July. PR Venketrama Raja, Chairman at Ramco Group is in conversation with CNBC-TV18 to discuss the company’s experience in terms of demand for cement.

Ramco Cements had a good set of numbers in Q1, on all fronts whether it be revenue, EBITDA or margins, which beat street expectations.

Speaking about demand Raja said, “We had good demand early in May and June because of the lockdown bounce back, but now we are seeing demand slowing down because of the rains and the eastern sector and all that has lots of rains. Demand is definitely muted and we expect it to be like this for the next 2-3 months.”

He added, “Post monsoon, I think whether it will normalise very much depends on how the public sector projects pick up and the government spending picks up. They have announced a lot of public sector projects and so on, if that picks up then I think we will see a good surge in demand.”

Speaking about capacity he said, “We are only at 60 percent of our capacity and we are doing about 20-25 percent less than a year ago.”

Watch the video for more.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow