Tag: Startup

Zomato-backed Cure.fit sacks 120-150 employees as it limbers up for IPO

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

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Zomato-backed Cure.fit Healthcare, the parent company of fitness centre operator Cult.fit, has laid off 120-150 employees as part of business restructuring and streamlining of operations, with the aim of achieving company-level profitability in FY25.

The move is also driven by the company’s aspiration to get fit for a public listing, with plans to look at an initial public offering (IPO) after achieving profitability and sustaining it for a couple of quarters, sources told CNBC-TV18.

“As part of our regular annual operating planning process, we have reduced some redundant positions with the aim of streamlining operations. This is aimed at improving productivity and setting us up for full profitability in FY25…” said the company statement.

Employees in group businesses — CultFit and D2C arm CultSport — were impacted by the current round of retrenchment, which is the company’s most significant since 2020, when it cut 800 jobs as the pandemic-led lockdown shuttered gyms and fitness centres. By the time FY22 drew to a close, losses topped ₹700 crore.

The company soon pivoted to an asset-light, franchise model for its gyms and fitness centre vertical and saw revenue soar over 3.2 times to ₹694 crore and losses narrow by 20% to ₹551 crore in FY23.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18 in December 2022, the company had said the fitness business had turned operationally profitable and plans were in place to hit group-level EBITDA profitability in FY24 and list on the stock exchange in early 2024.

Now, the company is working with the goal post of achieving “full profitability” in FY25 as it looks to tap public markets.

Set up by Myntra Founder Mukesh Bansal with Ankit Nagori (who left the company to lead the spun-off healthy foods vertical, Eat.Fit), Cure.fit turned unicorn at a valuation of $1.5 billion in a ~$150-million funding round led by Zomato in 2021.

Before the unicorn round, Tata Digital had invested upwards of $70 million in Cure.fit. The Tata Group had also tapped Bansal to head its newest and youngest vertical. However, in early 2023, Bansal stepped down from his role as the president of Tata Digital.

Besides Zomato and Tata Digital, Cure.fit also counts Accel, Temasek, Kalaari Capital and Chiratae Ventures, among others, as its investors, who have together pumped more than $600 million in the health and wellness unicorn.

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

Indian govt urges unicorns to provide at least 30 minutes of mentorship per month to startups

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

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The Indian government has urged unicorns across India to provide at least 30 minutes of mentorship to budding startups via the government-backed MAARG Portal. Chairing a meeting with founders and representatives of unicorns, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal exhorted them to voluntarily mentor the startup ecosystem to make it more robust and help achieve India’s target of becoming the largest host country for startup unicorns. 

Attended by representatives from over 40 startups and unicorns including Car Dekho, EasyMyTrip, Zerodha, Lenskart and Boat, the meeting witnessed the companies pitch for a better funding mechanism and lower rates of interest to increase their growth prospects. 

The discussed issues included navigation of risks for startups, sustainable growth, India’s positioning in the global startup landscape and mobilization of domestic capital for the larger startup ecosystem.

Goyal on Tuesday awarded DPIIT Startup Awards and the State Ranking Awards. In its fourth edition, the National Startup Awards (NSA) received 2,324 applications, 38% more than the applications in its maiden edition.

Around 58% of the current applications came from emerging Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, while 40% of the unique startup winners were from emerging Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

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

This expert says growth opportunities outweigh concerns for India’s early-stage startups in 2024

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

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Over the last two years, Indian startup founders have faced pressures from the global downturn and corrections in the technology ecosystem. These pressures range from demands for capital-efficient growth and longer fundraising timelines to lower valuation multiples. However, according to Nitin Sharma, Partner at Antler India, the opportunities in 2024 are far larger than the challenges.

Sharma emphasises that, particularly for early-stage tech, the enthusiasm for generational platform shifts like artificial intelligence and digital public infrastructure will likely outweigh other concerns.

He highlights the addition of Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to the “India Stack” alongside Aadhaar and interoperable payment systems (UPI), predicting significant growth as millions of new buyers and sellers are expected to transact via the network in 2024.

“In 2024, this (ONDC) could go BIG, as we expect millions of new buyers and sellers to come online and transact via the network,” he said. Notably, Antler India launched a platform in 2023 to support and fund founders with ideas for building businesses on the ONDC protocol. 

In addition to Gen AI and DPI, Antler India’s strategic focus areas in 2024 will include new-age SaaS, climate solutions, Web3 infrastructure and “underserved areas for consumer tech and brands, including female health, senior care and petcare.”

In an exclusive conversation, Antler India’s Nitin Sharma also revealed the strategy behind the firm’s structured investing approach, as it backs startups out of its maiden $75 million India-dedicated fund.  

Navigating 2024: The Challenge Of Slower Deal Making In An Era Of Fast-Moving Tech

How do you anticipate 2024 unfolding for startups and investors? When do you see clarity emerging, and what notable developments are on the horizon?

Nitin Sharma, Antler India: In India, we are fortunate to be currently operating in the world’s fastest growing major economy, one that is digitising feverishly with a palpable sense of this being India’s “tech-ade”. Demographics, robust growth, geopolitics and maturing of the tech ecosystem have increased India’s attractiveness as a destination for capital, talent and innovation.

In this context, while Indian founders would of course be subject to the same pressures from the global downturn or correction in tech (need for capital efficient growth, longer fundraising timelines, lower valuation multiples), in totality, the opportunities are far larger than the challenges.

I believe we are past both the macro cycle for interest rate hikes, as well as the bottoming of the startup fundraising markets, at least in India. There is plenty of dry powder in venture capital that will get invested in 2024-25. We will not go back to the unhealthy bubbles of 2020-21, so fundraising timelines and valuation multiples will likely remain challenged, but there is no dearth of capital for strong founders building with good fundamentals.

For early-stage tech in particular, the enthusiasm for generational platform shifts (AI, DPI, etc.) will likely outweigh other concerns.

Our message to all the Day Zero founders in our portfolio and programs continues to be the same: Every sector in India creates opportunity for tech-led innovation, and the potential to build in India for the world has never been clearer. As long as the focus is on innovation, customer value and sustainable growth, there is absolutely no reason to worry. In fact, this is the best time in history to build a company in/from India.

In India, we have produced a $200 billion services industry (1990s onwards), and now a large software products industry ($50 billion in SaaS ARR by 2030), but we still haven’t produced a large platform company (like Google or Amazon). It finally feels like the seeds are being sown for such a $100 billion or a $1 trillion platform to emerge in the next 10 years. Perhaps in AI, digital public infra, climate or Web3.

Three Other Observations: 

Regulation: 2024 is an election year in India, so we may not see landmark legislation, but as we saw in 2023, the government will (often rightfully) play a far more active role in regulation especially around fintech (all forms of credit and P2P). 

Domestic SaaS: The conventional view has been that Indian businesses will not pay for software, but this is changing significantly and 2024 might be a year when the domestic SaaS opportunity becomes clearer.

Sustainability: 52% of India’s population is made up of millennials or GenZs and India now has 116 million GenZ customers who are far more conscious of climate change and sustainability as they spend their disposable income. The pie for sustainability-focused ventures in India is growing faster than many realise. 

Startup Spotlight: The Top Three Platform Shifts In India

Any 3-5 startups and sectors catching your attention in 2024? Share your thoughts on emerging trends and potential disruptors.

Nitin Sharma, Antler India: We can look through the lens of 3 platform shifts that will affect most sectors in India.

Firstly, Generative AI (no surprise), where we are excited not only about new copilots, middleware and developer tooling ventures built in India for the global market, but also areas like Indic (local language) LLMs and completely new ways of engaging Indian consumers in education or agritech, for example. Another angle is how India’s SaaS (projected to be $50bn in ARR by 2030) and IT services industries adapt to an AI-first world.

Secondly, Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), which started with the creation of the world’s largest biometric identity (Aadhaar) and interoperable payments systems (UPI) is becoming India’s unique superpower of sorts. One area where Antler dove deep (and first in the market) in 2023 was Open Network Digital Commerce (ONDC), and related protocols for e-commerce, mobility, educational skills and the new energy economy. In 2024, this could go BIG, as we expect millions of new buyers and sellers to come online and transact via the ONDC network.

Third, we expect infrastructure for Web3 to mature and for the space to make a comeback after the “cleaning up” of the last 24 months, and Indian talent will continue to play an important role in the next phase.

Finally, consumer tech and D2C brands in India evolved a lot in 2022-23, and many showed the path towards efficient acquisition, profitability and value creation. We’re excited for what comes next, especially in massively underserved or emerging spaces like female health, senior care or petcare in India.

AI’s Trajectory: Finding New Ways Of Engaging Indian Consumers & Enterprises

What’s your perspective on the future of AI? In which directions do you see it expanding? And, in your view, can any business remain unaffected by the impact of AI?

Nitin Sharma, Antler India: We are in the early days of a new “platform shift”, just like it happened with PCs, mobile or cloud. Discriminative AI has been maturing for years, and now Generative AI is leading us to rethink how any consumer engagement or enterprise workflow should work. Just like every tech cycle, we will overestimate it in the short-term and see many spectacular failures and disappointments, and we will underestimate its impact in a 8-10 year timeframe.

At Antler India, we are excited not only about new copilots, middleware and developer tooling ventures built in India for the global market, but also areas like Indic (local language) LLMs and completely new ways of engaging Indian consumers in education or agritech, for example.

Another angle is how India’s SaaS (projected to be $50 billion in ARR by 2030) and IT services industries adapt to an AI-first world, and avoid major disruption. 

Investment Strategy: From New-Age SaaS & Gen AI to Old-Age Senior Care

Could you share insights into your current fund size and the areas where you are strategically allocating capital?

Nitin Sharma, Antler India: We are investing in ~100 ventures out of the Rs 600 crore fund (~$75 million) as the first institutional cheque and then also reserving significant capital to fuel their growth in later stages. We have currently committed to 51 investments and actually increased our pace in 2023. We expect the same in 2024. 

We invest primarily through a structured investing approach (the Antler India Residency) which helps new startups validate their ideas, complete their founding teams and figure out go-to-market as part of an intensive, cohort-based experience. In 2024, we hope to expand our pan-India footprint via physical presence in Delhi NCR as well. 

Strategic focus areas include Generative AI, new-age SaaS, Digital public infrastructure (especially ONDC), climate solutions, Web3 infrastructure and underserved areas for consumer tech and brands, including female health, senior care and petcare. 

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

How Indian markets value new-age tech companies is no longer a puzzle: RTP Global’s Nishit Garg

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

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In early November 2023, Mamaearth went public becoming the first unicorn to list on the Indian stock exchanges in 18 months and marked stupendous gains for its early investors. Idea Forge, Yatra, Yudiz and Zaggle also rode to Dalal Street in what’s otherwise been a bleak year for tech IPOs in India.

However, as we step into the new year — there is hope. Ola Electric, Oyo, Pine Labs and Swiggy are all expected to contest the market’s vote in 2024. It was Ola Electric that brought an electrifying end to the year, filing its IPO papers and powering on to become the first pure-play Indian electric vehicle maker to go public and the first auto company to do so in 20 years!

All thanks to the newly-listed tech companies, these IPOs may find a soft landing. After what’s been a brutal tech rout in 2022, which crashed shares of all startup debutants in the stock market, newly listed internet businesses had to hunker down and show the fundamental worth of their businesses. Displaying improved profitability, both Zomato and Paytm even hit 52-week highs in 2023!

Following a year of leaning into efficiency, a third of India’s 102 unicorns have achieved profitability and more are expected to hit the milestone within the next 12 to 18 months as time is ticking with investors demanding IPOs-driven exits. To date, over $80 billion has been invested in the country’s billion-dollar startups.

Nishit Garg, Partner on RTP Global’s Asia investment team, believes IPOs are finally starting to emerge as a repeatable exit avenue for investors and a realistic milestone for founders. “For years, there was a lot of uncertainty around how Indian public markets will value tech startups. Now that puzzle is unfolding…,” he said in an exclusive chat with CNBC-TV18.

RTP Global, which closed its fourth and newest fund in 2023 with a corpus of $1 billion, has earmarked one-third of the proceeds for Indian startups. The venture capital firm’s India portfolio includes Cred, MPL, Snapdeal, Slice, DeHaat, Rebel Foods, Khatabook, Bijak and Classplus among others.

Here’s the edited transcript of the interview.

Navigating 2024: Laser-Sharp Focus Is The Need Of The Hour

Shruti Malhotra, CNBC-TV18: How do you anticipate 2024 unfolding for startups and investors? When do you see clarity emerging, and what notable developments are on the horizon?

Nishit Garg: The global business environment has been unstable for the past year and a half, affecting many countries, including India. This instability, particularly in the US public markets, has influenced the flow of capital from investors. However, what sets RTP Global apart is that we do not rely on the usual investor (limited partner) funding structure. Our deployable capital comes from the reinvestment of proceeds from previous investments. For the ecosystem at large, there has been a damp sentiment leading to some capital crunch, which will probably take its own course depending on the global macros. At the same time, sustainable business models and disruptive category-defining ideas, even if they are pre-revenue and innovative tech-powered businesses, will continue to get ecosystem interest. Founders should continue to focus on building businesses efficiently with laser-sharp prioritization and limit distractions.

Startup Spotlight: Emerging Sectors Take Centre Stage

Q: Are any 3-5 startups and sectors catching your attention in 2024? Share your thoughts on emerging trends and potential disruptors.

Nishit Garg: At RTP Global, we have tried to be among the first ones to identify and invest in emerging sectors. This approach has been a fundamental pillar of our strategy in India for the last 12-13 years, and we are committed to maintaining this trend. We are very keenly looking at climate tech, EV and AI-based businesses, whether those that are AI enablers or that are building foundational models per se. Of course, innovative ideas in consumer tech, fintech, B2B businesses, and enterprise SaaS continue to be of interest as well.

IPO Outlook: Solving The Puzzle Of New-Age Tech Listings In India

Q: Are there specific IPOs in 2024 that have captured your interest? What factors make these IPOs stand out for you?

Nishit Garg: The encouraging piece in the Indian tech startup ecosystem is that IPOs are finally starting to emerge as a repeatable exit avenue for investors and a realistic milestone for founders. For years, there was a lot of uncertainty around how Indian public markets will value tech startups. Now that puzzle is unfolding, which gives a lot of directional inputs to founders and private market investors as to what do the public markets value, the multiples and the pitfalls to avoid. Even the global IPOs are re-setting the valuation benchmarks, and all in all, the global & Indian IPOs of last year and probably the coming year will become a reference point for the foreseeable future. Additionally, global IPO trends are reshaping valuation benchmarks, offering a new perspective. The IPOs from last year, both globally and in India, are setting precedence that are likely to influence the market in the foreseeable future.

AI’s Trajectory: India’s Place In The Global Race

Q: What’s your perspective on the future of AI? In which directions do you see it expanding? And, in your view, can any business remain unaffected by the impact of AI?

Nishit Garg: The possibilities that AI offers are, of course, vast. But it is evolving at such a fast pace that startups in this segment will need to learn, adapt and innovate very quickly. Moreover, the type of businesses that will be built in AI in the US versus those in India will probably be different. In the US, there will be a lot more foundational models that will be built. India will probably see a lot more application layers on proprietary datasets using a lot of those foundational models. No business will remain unaffected, AI will elevate the base intelligence level of every sector and businesses that adapt in time will have a much higher chance of success; the ones that don’t will face the risk of becoming irrelevant.

Investment Strategy: The Logic Behind Horizontal Startup Investing

Q: Could you share insights into your current fund size and the areas where you are strategically allocating capital?

Nishit Garg: Our latest fund—RTP IV—totals $1 billion in new capital. We expect to deploy around one-third of the fund in India. We have always focused on backing founders early in their journeys, and we will continue with the same approach and do pre-series, Series A and some seed investments. In terms of sector focus, In India, we have a horizontal approach, exploring everything from e-commerce to EVs, climate tech to B2B and fintech to enterprise SaaS. Our team in India has doubled in size over the past 12 months, and we have just opened a new office in Bengaluru. It just shows our commitment and bullishness for India.

Also Read: Early-stage investing remains energetic with plenty of dry powder for investment: Lightspeed’s Rahul Taneja

Also Read: Startup founders have learnt to prioritise fundamentals over growth, says Good Capital’s Rohan Malhotra

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

Early-stage investing remains energetic with plenty of dry powder for investment: Lightspeed’s Rahul Taneja

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The icy winds that began to blow in 2022 did bring a lot of turbulence for Indian startups in 2023, with cautious investors taking a breather to re-evaluate their strategies and were quite hesitant to loosen their purse strings last year.

The venture capital pipeline did freeze over and funding slumped to a five-year-low in 2023. Startups managed to raise about $8.6 billion—just a fifth of the record high seen in 2021 and more than 60% lower compared to 2022, according to Tracxn.

While the value of investments collapsed across stages, deal-making for seed to early-stage startups remained energetic, with 1,014 term sheets signed, which represented 92% of the total 1,096 deals signed in the year gone by.

Rahul Taneja, Partner at Lightspeed, believes early-stage investing will continue to be active, with plenty of capital available to be deployed. “Founders with deep conviction and those building in large markets will not face any shortage of quality capital,” he asserted.

In 2023, Lightspeed backed one of India’s key Generative AI startups—Sarvam AI—which aims to build a ChatGPT-like large language model (LLM) to bring the power of artificial intelligence by leveraging the country’s linguistic diversity.

Stepping into 2024, Lightspeed, which has invested nearly $1 billion in artificial intelligence over the last 18-24 months, intends to keep Generative AI squarely in its sights, while continuing to back early-stage startups in emerging categories such as climate, EVs, agri-tech, B2B supply chain and deep tech (such as space, semiconductors), which found favour in 2023 as investors turned away from the internet businesses of the years past.

Since 2000, Lightspeed has invested over $1.8 billion in more than 100 startups in India and Southeast Asia. Unicorns in Lightspeed India’s portfolio include Byjus, Udaan, OYO, Sharechat, Darwinbox, Innovaccer, Globalbees, Yubi (CredAvenue), Razorpay, Acko & Zetwerk.

In this exclusive interaction, Rahul Taneja, Partner at Lightspeed talks about investing during a down cycle, the importance of patient capital and reveals sectors of strategic importance for the firm.

Gearing Up For 2024: Challenges, Conviction & Capital

Shruti Malhotra, CNBC-TV18: How do you anticipate 2024 unfolding for startups and investors? When do you see clarity emerging, and what notable developments are on the horizon?

Rahul Taneja, Lightspeed: We are patient, long-term investors in the region and strongly believe in the opportunity unfolding in front of us thanks to rapid digitization across the economy. As such, we are very optimistic and believe that 2024 will be a great year for the ecosystem. Early-stage investing continues to be active in India – there is plenty of capital available to be deployed and will continue to come. 2023 was a defining year in terms of a move to sustainable economics and business models. And plenty of founders are succeeding in this environment. So we believe that founders with deep conviction, building in large markets, will not face any shortage of quality capital. We remain confident that 2024 will be a great year for both startups and investors alike – it won’t be without its set of challenges, but we believe the ecosystem is well-geared for it.

Startup Spotlight: Building In India, For The World

Q: Are any 3-5 startups and sectors catching your attention in 2024? Share your thoughts on emerging trends and potential disruptors.

Rahul Taneja, Lightspeed: We continue to invest in 4 core themes — a) Enterprise SaaS and infrastructure (especially AI-driven), b) Fintech, c) Consumer products & services, and d) Commerce. What we’ve particularly focused on is the now-well-established India to the world movement especially in manufacturing and continue to double down on that. In addition, we are actively investing in emerging themes such as Climate and Mobility.

IPO Outlook: The Journey From Private To Public Markets

Q: Are there specific IPOs in 2024 that have captured your interest? What factors make these IPOs stand out for you?

Rahul Taneja, Lightspeed: India has become and remains the global investment destination of choice, with the government ably managing interest rates, inflation and growth together. As profitability improves, the market for companies suited for IPOs is only deepening. We saw this happen in the last 24-36 months with offerings such as Zomato, Mamaearth, Nykaa, Freshworks and others. It’s especially encouraging to see that the domestic investors (both institutional and retail) are embracing these offerings. We believe the companies that will do well in public markets are those who have a definitive view on profitability (or a clear path to it in the near term), predictable growth machinery and a differentiated customer proposition.

AI’s Trajectory: Going Beyond The Inflection Point

Q: What’s your perspective on the future of AI? In which directions do you see it expanding? And, in your view, can any business remain unaffected by the impact of AI?

Rahul Taneja, Lightspeed: AI has been clearly an area of significant and strategic importance to the firm. We have been investing in AI for a long time and the last 18 months saw clear inflection. We have globally invested nearly $1 billion in AI in the last 18-24 months.

What we’re seeing is AI reshaping industries and in some cases giving birth of entirely new segments. Every company, in some form, will be an AI company – what this means is most companies are now actively assessing how AI impacts their current workflows, productivity, output and efficiency. This is visible across enterprise, consumer, customer support, software development and finance. In the recent past, we’ve invested across the AI stack starting from foundational models, applications and more with companies such as Sarvam, Portkey, Thena and others.

Investment Strategy: Fund Size and Strategic Allocations

Q: Could you share insights into your current fund size and the areas where you are strategically allocating capital?

Rahul Taneja, Lightspeed: We are currently deploying in India & Southeast Asia out of our early stage fund Lightspeed India IV ($500 million) and global growth stage funds Lightspeed Select & Opportunity (~$5 billion). As long-term believers of the potential of the Indian startup ecosystem, we invest across cycles and are patient investors. We believe there are multiple macro themes which are deepening and would continue to invest in them. Top themes today are — a) Cross border/India to the World – predominantly Enterprise SaaS and infrastructure, increasingly Content and Commerce as well; b) Fintech; c) Local consumption – both B2C and B2B, across consumer, commerce; and d) Emerging areas – Climate, Mobility among others.

Also Read: Startup founders have learnt to prioritise fundamentals over growth, says Good Capital’s Rohan Malhotra 

Also Read: Startup Outlook 2024: IAN co-founder Padmaja Ruparel says funding will rebound but not reach 2021 levels

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 founders have learnt to prioritise fundamentals over growth, says Good Capital’s Rohan Malhotra

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Amidst a challenging two-year period, Good Capital, a seed-stage India-focused VC fund, has observed a significant pivot toward prioritising ‘sound business fundamentals over the pursuit of growth at any cost.’

According to Rohan Malhotra, Managing Partner of Good Capital, this shift is not merely a reaction to the economic climate but also a recognition of the enduring viability of ventures. Consequently, the firm finds itself presented with increased opportunities to invest in companies boasting robust business models and clearer paths to profitability.

Having been an early investor in unicorns like Meesho and LEAD School, Good Capital recently unveiled a $50 million fund dedicated to early-stage startups. With a diverse portfolio of over 30 startups, including simsim, Orange Health, Entri, and Wealthy, the firm manages a total capital of $100 million across three funds and has reported 8 successful exits.

In an exclusive conversation with Rohan Malhotra, Managing Partner of Good Capital, we delve into the nuances of their investment philosophy and outlook for 2024.

Shruti Malhotra, CNBC-TV18: In the transition from the apprehensions of a funding winter in 2022 to the survival challenges witnessed last year, the funding landscape for Indian startups took a notable hit, reaching a five-year low in 2023. With a staggering 65% drop to approximately $8.5 billion from the $25 billion recorded in 2022, as per Tracxn data, Q3 of 2023 marked the worst quarter in five years. Despite this, the past two years have seen an unprecedented accumulation of dry powder, with a record $20 billion in new India-dedicated funds and an additional $40 billion expected to be allocated by global private equity and venture capital investors to Indian startups. Many home-grown VCs have also witnessed substantial growth in fund sizes. Against this backdrop, and considering the contrasting scenarios, how would you evaluate the funding environment for venture capital investors?

Rohan Malhotra, Good Capital: 2023 has been a tough year for fundraising for both startups and funds. The data you mention is essentially for funds that are 2021/2022 vintages and even some of them have not been able to hit their target corpus. Top-tier funds with global brand names run a well-oiled machine for fundraising, but further downstream, even marquee crossover funds have seen their sets of issues with both redemptions and fundraising. Home-grown funds could have grown dramatically had things been on a larger upswing, but most Family Offices and allocators in India have considerable exposure into the asset class across several managers and are now waiting on liquidity.

While there is global capital available and it is evident that India is the most exciting place in the world to invest, there has been a lot of fence-sitting in terms of committing to India, primarily due to some of the recent implosions. Most allocators are happy to wait and watch. A lot of managers are at a crossroads where they have tapped out their prior LPs (who are waiting on liquidity to redeploy) and are forced to look to raise in other markets but may not be large or mature enough to raise from E&Fs yet.

Venturing into 2024: A Landscape Unveiled

Q: How do you foresee the landscape unfolding for startups and investors in 2024? When can we expect clarity, and what notable developments are on the horizon?

Rohan Malhotra, Good Capital: While India’s public markets have held strong, there’s some amount of uncertainty as to when liquidity events will happen for a lot of unicorns. Given high-interest rates and macro uncertainty, the venture landscape is going through a global shake-up. Thankfully, lots of funds in India are well capitalised and there’s no shortage of exceptional talent or capital in the country. In terms of clarity, I expect some amount of normality creeping in post-election. A sense of further stability will give global institutions more comfort and confidence in India.

In terms of notable developments, in the last year, we witnessed how the economic downturn has given rise to a breed of entrepreneurs who embody unparalleled resilience. This has fuelled our excitement as investors as we see a steady stream of exceptional deals flowing through our pipeline. One of the most striking aspects of this trend is the newfound emphasis on sound business fundamentals over the pursuit of growth at any cost. Founders are recognizing the value of building a solid foundation rooted in sustainable practices and strong business practices. This shift in mindset is not only a response to the economic climate but also an acknowledgement of the long-term viability of their ventures. As a result, we are increasingly presented with opportunities to invest in companies with robust business models and clearer paths to profitability.

Global sentiment has certainly made investors more judicious with their capital. Entrepreneurial teams of senior operators from unicorns and successful businesses who would’ve been able to raise money with just a pitch deck during 2021-2022 are now hunkering down for a longer fundraising period. There is also greater pressure on these teams to construct reasonable deal terms and display a clear plan for the use of funds. With investors at Series A becoming more stringent with their requirements (and capital!) for what constitutes a business with traction, there is an even greater pool for us to evaluate at the pre-seed and seed stages and deploy at the right entry prices.

We continue analysing the exciting opportunities that we are seeing from our expansive sourcing networks and evaluating the proximity of the founder(s) to the problem. By identifying founders who demonstrate a deep understanding of their market, exhibit strong leadership skills, and prioritize sustainable growth, we are confident in our ability to cultivate successful ventures that can withstand these short-term fluctuations in the market.

Strategic Capital Allocation: Beyond Conventional Wisdom

Q: Could you provide insights into your current fund size and shed light on the strategic areas where you are allocating capital?”

Rohan Malhotra, Good Capital: We are at $100 million in AUM and recently launched a $50 million fund focused on early-stage startups. We aim to invest up to $1.5 million per startup and prefer leading every pre-seed or seed transaction that we invest in.

Our core areas remain Bharat-focused opportunities, solving real problems in underserved markets. Since we don’t have a top-down approach to investing, we don’t have any one sector that we focus on more than the other and are instead looking to partner with founders who approach problems from unexpected angles. We look for unconventional business models that challenge assumptions and see possibilities where others see limitations.

Startup Spotlight: Navigating Uncharted Territories

Q: Which startups and sectors are grabbing your attention in 2024? We’d love to hear your insights on emerging trends and potential disruptors.

Rohan Malhotra, Good Capital: We don’t have a top-down view of specific sectors or companies. Our philosophy is to look for business opportunities that serve underserved markets and work with founders who are near the problem they are solving. We have been big believers in enablement as a theme- to ensure trust and deliverability we believe in enabling intermediaries vs. cutting them out of transactions. We have seen this work across different sectors through our seed investments – Meesho in commerce, simsim in social
commerce, Wealthy in the financial advisory space etc.

IPO Outlook: Navigating the Choppy IPO Waters

Q: Are there any specific IPOs in 2024 that have captured your interest? What factors stand out to you in these IPOs?

Rohan Malhotra, Good Capital: There is no doubt that today’s global environment is a challenging backdrop for Indian startup IPOs. Towards the end of last year, we started seeing a lot of companies adopting a wait-and-watch approach given the volatility in the West. However, given that India was already an insulated market from the global sentiment, we are seeing some positive signs emerge.

Recent startup IPOs of companies like Mamaearth and IdeaForge are holding steady. Businesses with strong fundamentals will shine through in 2024 as the markets are still apprehensive of loss-making digital business models and high valuations relative to profits. There is an expectation that the election season will also bring some buoyancy in the system, especially if the current government comes to power again. IPO plans remain on the horizon for companies like Meesho, Ola and Pine Labs but getting the timing right will be critical to their public market success.

AI’s Trajectory: A Horizon of Possibilities

Q: What’s your perspective on the future of AI? In which directions do you see it expanding? And, in your view, can any business remain unaffected by the impact of AI?

Rohan Malhotra, Good Capital: AI is now table stakes for any startup. Much like the platform shift to mobile in the past, the success of tech businesses will depend on how they leverage AI. Startups leveraging AI intelligently will have the right to win, regardless of the sector they are building in. Our newest fund is a recognition of this momentum in AI adoption. We don’t look at AI as a vertical opportunity as much as a horizontal one. Businesses can drive significant improvements to their operations by leveraging AI to enhance productivity, customer experience or personalisation.

Also Read | Startup Outlook 2024: IAN co-founder Padmaja Ruparel says funding will rebound but not reach 2021 levels

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 Outlook 2024: IAN co-founder Padmaja Ruparel says funding will rebound but not reach 2021 levels

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Indian startup ecosystem experienced a challenging 2023 with funding hitting a seven-year low at about $8 billion, witnessing a stark 65 percent decline from the previous year’s $25 billion, according to Traxcn.

The prolonged funding winter resulted in consecutive quarterly declines, with Q3 2023 being the worst in five years. A significant drop in late-stage funding was the primary contributor, causing India to slip from the 4th to the 5th position among the highest-funded global geographies.

Despite the overall slowdown, certain sectors like AI, deeptech, environment, climate, and Spacetech gained traction, with space-tech achieving a record year, raising over $120 million in 2023 due to the government’s emphasis on privatization.

This funding slump coincided with a flurry of fundraising activities by investors. As of the close of 2023, an estimated $20 billion was waiting to be deployed. Prominent investors, including Peak XV, WestBridge Capital, Elevation Capital, and Accel, secured India-dedicated capital ranging from $2 billion to half a million dollars.

Additionally, domestic investors strengthened their positions through successful fundraising or fund size increases in the period between 2022 and 2023. Early-stage investor Chiratae Ventures finalized the closure of its ‘Growth Fund I’ at Rs 1,001 crore. Epiq Capital closed its second India-dedicated fund at $235 million, 3one4 Capital raised $200 million, and Arkam Ventures launched a $180 million fund.

In an exclusive conversation, Padmaja Ruparel, Co-founder of IAN, disclosed key insights and strategic goals for 2024 as the seed and early-stage investment platform, IAN’s Alpha Fund, saw its first close at an impressive Rs 355 crore.

Anticipating 2024: Unveiling the Path for Startups and Investors

Shruti Malhotra, CNBC-TV18: How do you anticipate 2024 unfolding for startups and investors? When do you see clarity emerging, and what notable developments are on the horizon?

Padmaja Ruparel, IAN: 2024 will be a better year than the last one. The anomalies of business models, like companies with high revenues and negative EBITDA, have driven home the key point that businesses without profits don’t work. Even investors have shed FOMO and doubled down on diligence. Both these have led to startups building well-governed businesses and investors who seek value, rather than valuation. So, fundraising should rebound though not to the dizzy heights of 2021. Technology will remain the mainstay, bringing innovation in sectors like manufacturing, and hardware, semiconductors should see a big fillip.

Spotlight on 2024: Pioneering Startups and Emerging Sectors

Q: Any 3-5 startups and sectors catching your attention in 2024?

Padmaja Ruparel, IAN: Sectors on the radar include spacetech, cybersecurity, healthtech and biotech. The startups I like are Dhruva Space, Zypp, WebEngage, Wow Momo, Manastu, Seringen, Ahammune, Yellowsky and Noccarc.

Emerging Trends and Disruptors: A Vision for the Future

Q: Share your thoughts on emerging trends and potential disruptors.

Padmaja Ruparel, IAN: Technology being driven from Tier 2, 3 cities is interesting. The focus on innovation solving real problems can disrupt markets both in India and globally. The focus on IP-driven startups is likely to increase as India moves into value creation mode and not just scaling.

IPOs in 2024: Capturing Interest and Charting a New Course

Q: Are there specific IPOs in 2024 that have captured your interest? What factors make these IPOs stand out for you?

Padmaja Ruparel, IAN: Apart from IPO companies necessarily driven by top lines and positive bottom lines, it’s important that they improve lives. 2024 could well see the early discussions for IPOs to be enabled for IP-led/non-revenue-earning companies (such companies do list in the US, Israel, and other countries, and India should also enable them to go public). This will ensure that the IP is retained in the country, investors can participate in high-value innovation, and we move faster towards a $5 trillion economy.

AI’s Trajectory: Navigating the Impact on Businesses

Q: What’s your perspective on the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI)? How do you see it expanding? And, in your view, can any business remain unaffected by the impact of AI?

Padmaja Ruparel, IAN: AI, for me, is augmented intelligence. Smart applications of AI can enable high growth and value for companies. Gradually but surely (and perhaps faster than we expect), AI can change the way businesses are run and provide strategic inputs. It will permeate practically every sector. But it does need to be embedded carefully. AI will also drive massive upskilling of talent, and this could then improve productivity effectively.

Investment Strategy: Fund Size and Strategic Allocations

Q: Could you share insights into your current fund size and the areas where you are strategically allocating capital?

Padmaja Ruparel, IAN: IAN Alpha Fund, a Rs 1000 crore fund, has just completed its first close at a slightly higher amount than the entire fund size of our previous fund. It has started to invest, and the focus is on innovation solving real problems. Sectors like Healthtech, biotech, fintech, manufacturing tech, space-tech, deep tech, cybersecurity, edutech, agritech, and consumer look good. The fund is an early-stage fund building a well-risk-mitigated portfolio across India (including tier 2 & 3 cities), women entrepreneurs, and some overseas firms. It will invest in well-curated & mentored IAN portfolio companies as well as new companies and actively explore co-investment opportunities.

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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

Exampur delays pay, holds dues to ex-staff for months after upGrad calls off buyout

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Test prep startup Exampur has stopped paying staff salaries and held off full and final settlements to former employees for months, four people aware of the development told Moneycontrol. The revelation comes almost a year after edtech unicorn upGrad shelved its plan to acquire Exampur.

According to multiple sources, the company has not paid salaries to most of its employees for months with backlogs going as far back as July. Exampur has also not made the full and final settlements to many of the employees who departed this year, they said.

“There was a potential acquisition that did not work for us and we had to scale operations down because we were running out of funds. We could have stopped the operations, maybe eight months back when there were no liabilities. It was an easy thing to do. But we wanted to continue so we sold our personal holdings and mortgaged our belongings… There were months where salaries were delayed during this time,” Vardaan Gandhi, founder of Exampur, told Moneycontrol.

In August, upGrad acquired Exampur for an undisclosed amount. However, according to media reports that followed, the acquisition fell through due to a conflict in alignment of business and valuation of Exampur in the deal. Gandhi added that upGrad remains on Exampur’s cap table without sharing details on the shareholding pattern.

Founded in 2018 by Gandhi and Vivek Kumar, Noida-based Exampur offers over 200 test preparation courses for government jobs where most of the content is delivered through the company’s more than 24 YouTube channels, with a user base of over 10 million students, it said back in 2022.

Gandhi told Moneycontrol that the company which ran 24 channels till the beginning of 2023 scaled down to nine after the acquisition fell through. He added that it shuttered about 15 channels as they were still making losses and with depleting funds it could not afford continuing them.

“Out of these nine channels, we used to get 97% of our revenue. Only those channels have been cut down, which were not giving us revenue but we were just building them for next two to three years. We wanted to continue running all the channels but seeing the circumstances, I don’t think it would have been possible for us to survive if we went on with it,” said Gandhi.

This came in a year when investor scepticism towards edtech coupled with an overall funding winter pushed many startups on the brink of collapse. To be sure, the funding to Indian edtech companies dramatically plummeted to $712 million in 2023, down from $5.33 billion in 2021, according to data by Tracxn. Many companies made severe cuts in costs and let go employees in an attempt to increase their cash runway with uncertainty on the next round of funding.

In the process of scaling down, Exampur’s workforce went down from about 650 in January to close to 200 as of date. While Exampur laid off some employees, others left the company due to the delay in salaries.

According to the data on EPFO website, the company only paid provident fund to 30 employees in November. This number has been declining from 61 since July this year. Gandhi clarified that a part of the 200 employees are contractual employees and not on the company’s payroll, without divulging further details on the bifurcation.

Gandhi claimed that the company will be able to pay the entire dues off in the next three to four months as it has become cash positive. In FY23, the company booked a profit of about ₹15 lakh on a topline of ₹23.62 crore.

Exampur expects to pay off the December salaries and then offer its existing employees to either convert the accrued amount into equity or pay the cash off by the end of February.

As for the former employees, the company plans to pay off the entire amount in the next three to four months with the first tranche of payment to be made by January 31. “We have committed to everyone that we will be paying interest on the due amount considering it as a fixed deposit with the company so that they do not miss out on anything,” he said.

In addition, Gandhi said that the company is making efforts to raise a new round which will take another four to five months to close. Back in November 2021, the company had raised from a consortium of Singapore-based angel investors, including current and former executives of Coca Cola, Vivendi, Citibank, Qualcomm and Interpublic group.

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: Sarvam AI raises $41 million, Venture Catalysts partially exits Insurance Samadhan, Myntra EORS sale to begin from December 9

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Sarvam AI raises $41 million in Series A funding round

Sarvam AI, an Indian startup in Generative AI much like Open AI or Google DeepMind, has raised $41 million dollars in its Series A funding round led by Lightspeed, with participation from Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures.

The five-month-old AI startup aims to focus on India’s unique needs and accelerate adoption of Generative AI in the country by training AI models to support the diverse set of Indian languages and voice-first interfaces. The startup will also work with Indian enterprises to co-build domain-specific AI models on their data.

In July 2023, Sarvam was set up by two founding members of Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani-backed AI lab—AI4Bharat. While Pratyush Kumar comes with research experience at IBM, Microsoft and IIT Madras, Vivek Raghavan brings over a decade building India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), especially Aadhar.

AllTrak secures Rs 4.2 crore from Inflection Point Ventures    

B2B healthcare platform AllTrak has raised Rs 4.2 crore in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The funds will be allocated towards team expansion, technology enhancement, and logistics operations expansion across multiple cities in India, a statement said.

The firm offers a single point patient data entry and integration across platforms via SaaS to reduce turnaround time of diagnostics.

It is currently operational in 50+ cities, engaging with 3000+ healthcare professionals, with over 200,000 monthly visits, at 10,500+ pickup locations collecting over 3,50,000 + patient samples per month, the firm said.

Chainrisk raises pre-seed funding from Antler

Chainrisk, an economic risk management software for Web3, has raised an undisclosed pre-seed funding round led by Antler in India. The funds will be mainly used in product engineering and early distribution.

The company claims that its custom engine is 150x faster than the current test-driven tools, helping create a robust security ecosystem with built-in analytics, risk monitoring and alerting dashboards.

“We at Chainrisk are building the tech to enable protocol engineers to take a simulation-driven approach against a test-driven approach. This will encourage them to test their protocol in near-production environments & changeless deployments to mainnet. Also, in contrast to a test-driven environment used in security audits, they will be able to test the composability risk of their protocol,” said Sudipan Sinha, Co-founder & CEO, Chainrisk.

Venture Catalysts partially exits Insurance Samadhan with returns upto 3.65x

Early-stage investment firm Venture Catalysts has partially exited from its portfolio company Insurance Samadhan, an insurance grievance redressal platform, with 3.65x returns on its initial investment.

Venture Catalysts had invested in Insurance Samadhan early in a Seed and Pre Series A round of funding, and has partially exited within less than 3 years. As per a statement, other angel investors also made a successful exit with a 3X return.

The company has raised $2 million in a Series A round, led by IIFL and said its revenue has grown 100% year on year.

Ashneer Grover asked to prove maintainability of plea by NCLT against BharatPe

Ex BharatPe founder and managing director, Ashneer Grover has been asked by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to establish maintainability of his petition filed with the latter, seeking relief from actions taken by BharatPe against him and his wife Madhuri Jain, the fintech’s former head of controls.

The tribunal, on December 6 heard arguments on the issue of how much stake Grover holds in the company. Giriraj Subramanium, Grover’s lawyer stated that compulsory coverable preference shares (CCPS) issued to investors of fintech are in no way equivalent to equity shares.

Grover filed his case with the NCLT in January this year, asking the tribunal to look into and declare the actions of the management of BharatPe, led by Rajnish Kumar as not being in the company’s best interests. Grover also asked that his wife’s termination of employment be revoked.

ACKO General Insurance partners with PhonePe to offer car, bike policies

ACKO General Insurance has joined forces with PhonePe to offer comprehensive car and bike insurance products directly to consumers on the PhonePe platform. The collaboration will see ACKO extending its product offerings to include health insurance and other lines in the future.

ACKO’s integration with PhonePe is powered by the latest partnership API stack, designed for modularity and seamless integration, ACKO General Insurance said.

Speaking about the partnership, Sanjeev Srinivasan, CEO of ACKO General Insurance said, “By combining ACKO’s customer-first approach and PhonePe’s vast distribution network, we are positioned to offer convenience to customers.”

Myntra’s EORS 19 to kick off with early access for 8 million insiders!

The 19th edition of Myntra’s End of Reason Sale (EORS), is set to begin on December 9, with Early Access for Myntra Insiders (members of Myntra’s exclusive loyalty programme) beginning on December 8.

On December 8, over 8 million Myntra Insiders will have early access to the event as well as many other benefits. Myntra Insiders will receive additional benefits. Grand Opening promotions will be available from midnight to 2 am on December 9.

The categories that are expected to receive increased consumer attention during EORS 19 are Men’s Casual Wear, Men’s and Women’s Ethnic, Women’s Western Wear, Beauty and Personal Care, Watches and Wearables, Winter Essentials, Accessories, Sports Footwear, and Kids Wear.

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS

EU thrashing out landmark AI rules in marathon overnight talks

EU lawmakers and governments were still wrangling on Thursday over several key issues on landmark rules governing artificial intelligence, as talks extended through the night into a second day, Reuters reported.

The two sides agreed to a provisional deal on how to regulate fast-growing generative AI systems such as ChatGPT in the early hours of Thursday, overcoming one of the biggest stumbling blocks to a final agreement.

The other one, the use of AI in biometric surveillance, and source code access were yet to be debated after 20 hours of talks.

Meta oversight board to examine Israel-Hamas war content

Meta’s independent Oversight Board said it will review how the company has handled violent content on its social media platforms in two cases involving hostage-taking and bombing in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The cases will be the first to use a new expedited review mechanism announced earlier this year that requires the board to make decisions within 30 days. The board usually deliberates for several months on its cases.

The board’s decision to take on the cases comes as social media platforms have been flooded with violent, hateful and misleading content in the two-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement in Gaza which carried out the Oct. 7 attack on Israeli towns that set off the conflict.

Meta to start fully encrypting messages on Facebook and Messenger

Meta Platforms has started to roll out end-to-end encryption for all personal chats and calls on Messenger and Facebook.

The end-to-end encryption feature will be available for use immediately, the social media giant said, but it may take some time for all Messenger accounts to be updated with default end-to-end encryption.

Messenger previously had the option to turn on end-to-end encryption, allowing a message to be read only by the sender and its recipients, but with this change messages would be encrypted by default, Meta said.

US bitcoin ETF issuer talks with SEC have advanced to key details

Discussions between the US securities regulator and asset managers hoping to list bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have advanced to key technical details, in a sign the agency may soon approve the products, industry executives told Reuters.

Thirteen firms including Grayscale Investments, BlackRock, Invesco, and ARK Investments, have pending applications with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for ETFs that track the price of bitcoin.

Proponents argue that a regulated product, like an ETF, tied to the spot price of the cryptocurrency, offers investors the best way to invest in bitcoin. But the agency has long rejected such products, arguing they fail to meet its bar for investor protections.

Apple exec behind iPhone screen and touch ID is leaving: Report

Apple senior executive Steve Hotelling, who oversaw iPhone screen and touch ID technology that transformed the way iPhones feel and function, is leaving the company, Bloomberg News reported.

Hotelling is named on multiple patents that relate to the iPhone and iPad’s touch screen features along with being one of the inventors of Apple devices’ Touch ID feature.

The report also said Steve oversaw the company’s camera engineering team and led efforts on developing depth-sensing technologies for augmented reality.

Musk’s SpaceX approaches investors for another tender offer: Report

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has approached investors about another tender offer that would value the company at above $175 billion, a Bloomberg News reporter said in a post on X.

Tender volume could go up as it is not finalised that could value the firm even higher, the post added. SpaceX’s current valuation of about $150 billion makes it one of the most valuable private companies in the world.

Billionaire investor Ron Baron, who according to CNBC owns more than $1 billion worth of shares in the rocket company, last month said that SpaceX will be worth about $500 billion by 2030.

X to start hiring engineers in Japan: CEO

Social media platform X will start hiring engineers in Japan, chief executive Linda Yaccarino said in a post.

Nikkei earlier reported Yaccarino as saying X would start hiring engineers in 2024 and establish an app development team to develop functions and advertising products for the Japanese market.

The development team will create a mechanism for low-cost ads in order to explore demand from small and midsize businesses in Japan, the report 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