Tag: Mohandas Pai

Mohandas Pai says Bengaluru is badly managed, needs better governance

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

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As Karnataka gets ready for the assembly elections, Mohandas Pai, chairman of Aarin Capital on Tuesday said Bengaluru is badly managed and needs improvement in governance.

Last year in September, normal life was disrupted in Bengaluru after torrential rains set off long traffic snarls, widespread power cuts, and heavy floods that swept into homes and submerged roads. The floods damaged several homes and disrupted traffic and water and power supply in the city.

Speaking at News18’s Bengaluru Townhall, the former director of Infosys said Bengaluru is too big to be managed by one mayor, “We had 200 ward councilors, out of which 108 were real estate brokers, and they are very corrupt.”

Also Read: Karnataka CM says his government was the first in the country to provide green budget

Pai said Bengaluru needs 500 kilometers of Metro, 10,000 electric vehicles, public transportation, and footpaths. “But we don’t have that.” Bengaluru has a voter base of over 89 lakh and accounts for over 10 percent of the total assembly seats in the state.

The election to the 224-member assembly is due by May this year. The ruling BJP has set a target of winning a minimum of 150 seats.

On January 11, 2023, Congress promised 200 units of free electricity “every month for all Kannadigas” if it comes into power in Karnataka after winning the 2023 state assembly elections.

Also Read: Karnataka elections 2023: Congress promises 200 units of free electricity, launches ‘Praja Dhwani Yatra’

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

‘Moonlighting not cheating’: Ex-Infosys director Mohandas Pai differs with Wipro’s Rishad Premji

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

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A debate has ensued in the IT sector following the comments made by Wipro’s Executive Chairman, Rishad Premji, on ‘moonlighting’. Moonlighting is referred to the practice of taking projects or other work after work hours to make extra bucks.

In a recent tweet, Premji said that moonlighting is “cheating, plain and simple” which led to social media users taking to different platforms to voice their opinions on the practice. IT sector veteran Mohandas Pai also disagreed with Premji.

There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating – plain and simple.

— Rishad Premji (@RishadPremji) August 20, 2022

In an interview with Business Today, the former director of IT giant Infosys, said, “No, moonlighting is not cheating.” He explained that an employment contract is between an employer who pays an employee for working ‘n’ number of hours in a day for the company.

ALSO READ:  Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Mohandas Pai spar again, this time over NSE ‘yogi’

During that time the employee has to abide by the rules and conditions of the employer including client confidentiality. At this time, the employee can’t work for anybody else. However, what the employee does after this period is his/her freedom. They can do whatever they want.

The trend of ‘moonlighting’ or working other jobs while working for a company to earn extra income gained popularity and scope during the COVID-19 pandemic when the office shifted to home.

Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Aarin Capital, also stressed that freshers from India’s IT sector are being exploited for the past 10 years. He said that there has been no increase in compensation and seniors in the IT sector are paid significantly higher than freshers. According to Pai, this has led to several issues, like an increasing attrition rate, moonlighting, reluctance to return to the office, and several other issues.

What is moonlighting?

Moonlighting is the practice of working a second job or freelance projects outside the regular business hours to earn extra income. When an employee works a normal 9 to 5 job as the primary source of income, and at night they work for another company or project for extra income, he or she is said to be moonlighting.

ALSO READ:  India’s no toll booths on highways plan: All you need to know

While business leaders consider it as an issue, there is no overarching law explicitly explaining the legality or illegality of moonlighting by IT sector professionals.

As per a Business Today report, if an employee is caught moonlighting the company can press charges only if it is in violation of the employment contract and there is evidence that the employee has been moonlighting.

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

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Mohandas Pai spar again, this time over NSE ‘yogi’

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

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A fresh war of words broke out between Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Aarin Capital Partners Chairman TV Mohandas Pai on Twitter, this time over shocking reports that a mysterious yogi had been “guiding” NSE’s former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chitra Ramakrishna.

India’s securities regulator, SEBI, recently imposed a penalty of Rs 3 crore on Ramakrishna for sharing confidential information with an unknown person and hiring-related irregularities. As per a SEBI report, Ramakrishna was being guided by a Himalayan ‘yogi’ on Anand Subramanian’s compensation decisions. Subramanian, who had no exposure to capital markets and was a mid-level manager at Balmer and Lawrie earning Rs 15 lakh per annum, was onboarded at NSE with a Rs 1.68-crore package.

Also read: Explained: Why SEBI penalised ex-NSE CEO Chitra Ramakrishna; who is the mysterious ‘yogi’

Twitter spat

“A Yogi Ran India’s Top Stock Exchange As Puppet Master: Regulator – Shocking lack of governance in NSE that was held up as a world-class SE. Were there no checks n balances?” Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw tweeted after a report from the securities market regulator came out.

A day later, Pai, a former NSE board member, replied to her tweet. 

“No yogi ran NSE! Pl stop spreading such falsehoods! Do you really believe that a very sophisticated technology based SE, one of the largest in the world, was run successfully by some vague Yogi? You are doing a disservice to all those great employees who worked 24×7 @NSEIndia,” he said.

To this, Mazumdar-Shaw said: “So, do we junk the SEBI report? The employees of NSE were innocent. But if indeed Chitra Ramakrishna did connive with an outsider, it’s dangerously outrageous.”

Not the first time 

The industry heads have a history of sparring over statements by people, from Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone to Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej.

In January 2020, the two clashed on Twitter when Padukone visited the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi to support students protesting campus violence. On January 5, 2020, over 50 masked people had attacked and injured many JNU students and teachers. This was also when Padukone’s movie “Chhapak” on acid attacks was to be released.

In this incident, Mazumdar-Shaw had termed the actor’s visit to JNU “retrograde”. 

Pai then tagged Mazumdar-Shaw and tweeted: “True very sad; @deepikapadukone was ill-advised. A good person with high values was led astray and used by Lutyens Delhi and the Khan Market Gang to further their fake narratives!”

Replying, the Biocon head said: “She was not advised by anyone. She decided on her own to show solidarity with students who were attacked by goons. Please respect an individual’s rights to do what they want.”

In another incident in July 2019, the two industry heads sparred when Godrej said that rising intolerance, hate crimes and moral policing can “seriously damage” India’s economic growth.

Sharing a news report, Mazumdar-Shaw said the Godrej group head’s comment was “well-spoken”. To this Pai said please look at data before you comment. He also warned she was falling into the “trap of fake narrative”.

Also Read: SEBI fines NSE, Ramkrishna, Narain others in key appointment case

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

Funding Rundown: HealthQuad’s pre-final close of second fund at Rs 1,134.5 crore, Monster.com raises Rs 137 crore & RIPPLR secures $12 million

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

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HealthQuad secures Rs 1,134.5 crore towards pre-final close of its second fund

Healthcare venture capital fund HealthQuad has announced the pre final close of its second fund with a total subscription of Rs 1,134.5 crore ($150 million). This amount is more than twice the fund’s target size of Rs 550 crore ($75 million). The firm will exercise its green-shoe option and intends to achieve a final close by March 2022.

“The Indian health-tech sector is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 25 percent to reach a market size of $21 billion over the next 5 years. HealthQuad is committed to creating an ecosystem of category defining companies that improve accessibility and affordability and elevate the overall healthcare standards in India,” said Charles-Antoine Janssen, co-founder and chief investment officer of HealthQuad.

The platform is backed by sponsors of Asian healthcare-focused private equity fund Quadria Capital and impact investing fund KOIS, who will also provide startups with sector knowledge, networks and market access. The fund has so far invested in Medikabazaar, HealthifyMe and Impactguru.

Monster.com raises about Rs 137 crore in funding led by Akash Bhanshali, Mohandas Pai

Business services provider Quess Corp on Wednesday said group firm Monster.com, an online talent platform, has raised up to Rs 137.5 crore in a funding round led by Akash Bhanshali of Volrado Venture Partners and Mohandas Pai of Meridian Investments. Quess Corp also participated in the funding round. After the funding round, Monster.com is valued at close to $100 million (around Rs 755 crore).

Also Read: Monster.com raises about Rs 137 crore in funding led by Akash Bhanshali, Mohandas Pai

The current close has been done at Rs 112.5 crore with an option built-in to expand the round to Rs 137.5 crore, Quess Corp said in a regulatory filing. The funds raised will be used for enhancing investments in product development and marketing in India, South East Asia and Middle East markets and help Monster.com evolve from a job-board into a talent platform, delivering a full-stack experience for both candidates and companies, it added.

Last year, the company achieved very healthy growth across all metrics, Monster.com CEO the Asia Pacific and the Middle East, Sekhar Garisa said, adding “we have an exciting product and business road map in line with our view on how hiring will evolve in the next few years.” Pai said the platform is poised to “redefine the jobs market by building tech workflows that put the candidate at the centre of the universe of innovation and possibilities”.

Quess Corp had acquired Monster.com’s businesses in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, UAE and Saudi Arabia in 2018, as a strategic investment to strengthen its HR services portfolio by establishing end-to-end offerings across the employee lifecycle management space.

Digital distribution platform RIPPLR secures $ 12 million in Pre- Series B funding

RIPPLR, a tech-enabled distribution and logistics platform has raised $12 million in Pre-Series B funding led by Japanese conglomerate Sojitz Corporation and Stride Ventures. This Equity and Debt funding round saw participation from existing investors 3one4 Capital, Zephyr Peacock India Growth Fund & Chand Family Office – Yukti, supported by eminent early-stage angel investors Vivek & Abhay (Licious founders), Aniketh & Ashish (Solution Infini (now Kaleyra) founders).

Also Read: How fintech innovation is changing personal finance in India?

The firm plans deploy the fresh funds towards amplifying the company’s tech capabilities, product development, attracting new talent, expansion to new markets, and scaling of operations, it said in a statement. The company will continue to focus on providing sophisticated distribution solutions and stretching boundaries. The company had earlier closed its Series A at $3 Million in January 2021.

Veefin gets $3 million in Series A funding round

Supply Chain Finance (SCF) technology provider Veefin has raised $3 million in Series A funding led by Dubai-based entrepreneur Rajesh Rajendran. The fresh funds will be used to build product and engineering teams to enhance SCF technology based on the market’s evolving dynamics, the firm said in a statement.

“With this funding, we will further amplify Veefin’s feature rich platform, add further product lines, and ensure seamless customer servicing for our global clients,” said Raja Debnath, co-founder and chief executive officer of Veefin. Veefin provides financiers with the shortest implementation timelines for SCF.

Gobillion bags $2.9 million in seed round from YCombinator and others

B2C social commerce platform Gobillion has bagged $2.9 million in a seed funding round led by YCombinator, Justin Mateen (Founder of Tinder, through the JAM Fund), and Pioneer Fund. The funding round also saw participation of Soma Capital, Goodwater Capital, Olive Tree Capital, Chris Golda Investments, Oliver Jung, Venture Souq, Shanti Mohan (Founder, LetsVenture), Vikas Choudhury (President, Reliance Jio), Acacia Venture Capital Partners, Soma Ventures, Asymmetry Ventures, Dileep Thazhmon (Founder, Jeeves), Vikalp Sahni (co-founder, Goibibo), and Harsh Pokharna (Founder, OkCredit), among others.

Also Read: Planning to use Buy Now, Pay Later cards? Know these pros and cons

The fresh funds will be used for business expansion, launching more categories, and strengthening the operations, product development and technology teams, the firm said in a statement. The startup aims to build extensive social and gamified e-commerce experiences for customers in small towns in India and Southeast Asia, it added. Gobillion plans to launch its services across 12 cities in the next 18 months, and in 100 more cities in four to five years.

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

Monster.com raises about Rs 137 crore in funding led by Akash Bhanshali, Mohandas Pai

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Business services provider Quess Corp on Wednesday said group firm Monster.com, an online talent platform, has raised up to Rs 137.5 crore in a funding round led by Akash Bhanshali of Volrado Venture Partners and Mohandas Pai of Meridian Investments. Quess Corp also participated in the funding round.

After the funding round, Monster.com is valued at close to USD 100 million (around Rs 755 crore). The current close has been done at Rs 112.5 crore with an option built-in to expand the round to Rs 137.5 crore, Quess Corp said in a regulatory filing. The funds raised will be used for enhancing investments in product development and marketing in India, South East Asia and Middle East markets and help Monster.com evolve from a job-board into a talent platform, delivering a full-stack experience for both candidates and companies, it added.

Commenting on the fundraise, Monster.com CEO the Asia Pacific and the Middle East, Sekhar Garisa said, “The participation of visionary investors with long term outlook is a tremendous vote of confidence in Monster’s ability and vision in building India’s premier talent marketplace platform”. Last year, the company achieved very healthy growth across all metrics, he said, adding “we have an exciting product and business road map in line with our view on how hiring will evolve in the next few years. Pai said the platform is poised to “redefine the jobs market by building tech workflows that put the candidate at the centre of the universe of innovation and possibilities”. Stating that the next two years will see a huge increase in available jobs, thanks to high economic growth, he said “job seekers will find a high-quality platform to plan their careers here”. “As employers also prepare for a new decade and an employee-first mindset, the platform will help them create a differentiated experience and build deeper relationships with their teams from day one. Meridian Investments is proud to partner with Monster.com in this exciting and important vertical,” Pai added.

Quess Corp had acquired Monster.com’s businesses in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, UAE and Saudi Arabia in 2018, as a strategic investment to strengthen its HR services portfolio by establishing end-to-end offerings across the employee lifecycle management space.

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

RBI move to restrict Mauritius FDI in NBFCs illogical, discriminatory says Mohandas Pai

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

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After the government restricted the foreign direct investment (FDI) from China without any clarity on the threshold, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has now said that it does not want Mauritius based funds to provide foreign direct investment to the Indian non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) sector.

The sector is cash-starved and the private equity and venture capital industry focussed on this space are largely using Mauritius as a choice of jurisdiction.

TV Mohandas Pai, Chairman at Aarin Capital feels the move is illogical, and feels the ‘fit and proper’ criteria followed by RBI is good enough to decide who should be allowed to invest in NBFCs.

Pai said most FDI in the financial sector is now coming through the automatic route, and the RBI as such has no oversight on the new money coming into the financial sector, and added that the central bank’s view on Mauritius-based funds wanting to invest in NBFCs would appear as discriminatory

What does this rule mean for the sector at large? Pai,  Renuka Ramnath, Founder & CEO at Multiples Alt Asset Management, Punit Shah, Partner at Dhruva Advisors and Usha Thorat, former Deputy Governor at RBI –discussed this on Big Deal.

Watch 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

Best package any startup needs is a thriving economy, says Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma

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

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The government’s overall fiscal relief package to stimulate the economy and to protect businesses from the impact of COVID-19 have been welcomed by several businesses.

However, there was no relief specifically for startups in government’s  Atma Nirbhar package. This garnered mixed reactions from the startup ecosystem.

“The best package any startup needs is thriving economy. I will prefer even more stimulus for SMEs and other large number of companies that move wheel of economy and not just startups. Every one of us is automatically ultimate beneficiary of India’s growth,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm.

He added, “To honest, I was not expecting anything for startups. We need support from the government for bringing back India’s economy and our economy is driven by small shops. Startups don’t carry the burden of India’s economy neither are the champions.”

However, Nasscom president Debjani Ghosh said, “I am completely crushed with the way startups are being treated. We need to do much better for the segment”.

Echoing that sentiment was Mohandas Pai who said, “We must not let startups die and the government must keep its commitment. The whole bailout has been focused on the bottom 70 percent of the society, the top 20 percent got nothing.”

While startups did not specifically get any mention in the relief package, government officials confirmed that they were eligible to avail relief measures announced for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) under this scheme.

All startups have to do is register at register as MSMEs on the Udyog Aadhaar portal. While, some VCs are advising their portfolio startups to register, other players are tallying weighing options and tallying this move will benefit them or not.

Decoding that was Siddarth Pai, founding partner, 3one4 Capital who said, “Startups who register as SMSEs cannot avail all the benefits. One of the problems that all startups in India face is that they lack access to credit. This is why startups raise equity rounds or rounds of financing in order to subsidise working capital operations. Bank and NBFC penetration for startups is very low. Even with the announcement of the 3 lakh crore credit guarantee scheme, it only applies to those MSMEs who have a loan outstanding as of February 29, 2020.”

3one4 Capital estimates that out of the out of the 50,000 India startups, only 7,500 startups may have access to credit facility from a bank of NBFC. That’s the only alarming stat, a survey put together by Nasscom suggests reveals that 70 percent startups have a runway of less than three months, 90 percent startups are seeing a decline in revenue and 40 percent have temporarily closed operations. The impact can be felt on ground, with the ecosystem being flooded with massive lay-offs due to the lockdown and economic fallout.

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