Tag: Startups

Startups in India see 108% growth in funding in 2018, says NASSCOM

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The startups in India saw a 108 percent growth in total funding from $2 billion in 2017 to $4.2 billion this year, National Association of Software and Services Companies said Thursday.

The worrying factor, however, was the decline in funding for companies at the seed stage, NASSCOM said.

“India is becoming a startup hub. Opportunity for growth is enormous, which we had never seen in our lifetime.

Challenge is how fast a company wants to transform,” NASSCOM president Debjani Ghosh said.

She was speaking to reporters at the launch of NASSCOM report on the ‘Indian start-up ecosystem – approaching escapevelocity’ on the sidelines of the 15th anniversary edition ofNASSCOM’s Product Enclave-2018 in the city.

More than 1,200 startups came up in 2018, including eight unicorns, taking the total number to 7,200 startups, NASSCOM reported.

However, the seed stage funding of Indian startups has declined from USD 191 million in 2017 to USD 151 million in 2018.

“In terms of overall funding, it is a good story. However, we are seeing a continuous decline in seed stage funding of startup companies. If you fall at the seed stage, innovation is hit. It is the area, which needs protection,” Ghosh said.

The report said there was a 50 per cent increase in number of advanced tech startups since 2017.

According to it, startup ecosystem has regained momentum after the slowdown in 2016-17.

These companies created 40,000 new direct jobs while there was three fold increase in indirect jobs.

“Post 2017, investment into startups has increased by over 100 percent, from $2.03 billion in 2017 to $4.2 billion in 2018.

The total number of startup funding deals, especially inthe late stages, witnessed a massive growth of around 250 percent from $847 million in 2017 to $3 billion in 2018,”the report said.

The key growth drivers were enterprise software, fintech, healthtech marketplace and edtech. Data analytics, artificialintelligence and IoT startups have been witnessing fastest adoption across industry verticals.

There was 120 percent funding growth for AI startups with $150 million investments made in this field in 2018.

The report said more than 400 plus startups expandedglobally including travel and hospitality company Oyo, cabaggregator Ola, edutech Byju’s, Zomato and Wittyfeed.

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

Sebi may relax norms for startup listing on bourses, says report

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) may soon relax rules for listing of startups in India including giving promoters the flexibility to categorise themselves as ordinary shareholders, exempting them from the mandatory three-year lock-in period, The Economic Times reported.

At present, all shares of pre-IPO investors in a company are locked in for one year. Further, 20 percent of the shares held by the promoter group have a three-year lock-in period. Sebi plans to reduce it to six months for all pre-IPO shareholders, which would give private equity firms to get a timely exit, the report said.

If implemented, startups like Ola, SoftBank backed Paytm, Flipkart may benefit and they may even consider listing, the report said, adding that the regulator might also relieve them of fiduciary responsibilities of a promoter.

The proposals discussed by Sebi appointed committee on startup listing will be part of the final recommendation report which is to be published next month, ET reported, citing sources familiar with the development.

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

T-HUB’s former CEO Jay Krishnan joins SRI Capital as partner, says immense untapped unicorn potential in India

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Jay Krishnan, former CEO of T-hub, India’s largest incubator for startups, is now all set to take charge as a partner in SRI Capital, a US-headquartered venture capital firm.

Krishnan will join the team’s Hyderabad unit to help scout startups for the firm’s maiden $100 million fund called the SRI Capital Fund1.

Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18, Krishnan said he is “excited by the immense untapped unicorn potential in India and SRI Capital’s deep-tech focus was the perfect fit” for him.

SRI Capital Fund1 has already invested close to $10 million out of the $100 million corpus into five startups- Indian Money, LetsMD, Sports Flashes, Foyr and Fakespot. The firm is confident of completing at least another four deals by the end of the fiscal.

Sashi Reddy, founder and managing director, SRI Capital, believes Krishnan’s vast experience at T-hub, combined with his entrepreneurial skills will help identify some of the best startups in India. “Around 75 percent of the investment will be into enterprise tech firms, while the remaining will be consumer-centric ideas,” he said.

Meanwhile T-hub has named Srinivas Kollipara as its interim CEO post Krishnan’s exit. “T-hub is a fantastic working formula and is poised for tremendous growth under the able leadership of Srinivas and the board. Some of the best minds work there and it’s a success story that many other states will want to replicate,” said Krishnan.

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

Meet India’s top 13 unicorns with valuations of at least $1 billion

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

We have come across the term “unicorn companies” or “unicorn startups” in our current day-to-day conversations or on the internet and social media.

According to Investopedia, the term “unicorn” was first popularised by venture capitalist Aileen Lee, founder of CowboyVC, a seed stage venture capital fund based in Palo Alto, California.

A unicorn startup or a company is a private firm with a valuation of over $1 billion.

According to CBInsights, a website that tracks private companies and startups, there are more than 260 unicorn startups all around the world.

Here are the top unicorn companies of India: 

One97 Communications: Valuation: $10 billion | Industry: Fintech | CEO: Vijay Shekhar Sharma

One97 Communications is a mobile internet company. Paytm, One97’s flagship brand is a digital good and mobile commerce platform. Paytm is also a payment solutions provider to ecommerce merchants.

Snapdeal: Valuation: $7 billion | Industry: Ecommerce/Marketplace | CEO: Kunal Bahl

Snapdeal, operated by Jasper Infotech, is a daily deal site featuring a wide range of products and services from thousands of national, international and regional brands.

Oyo Rooms: Valuation: $5 billion | Industry: Travel Tech | CEO: Ritesh Agarwal

Oravel Stays or Oyo Rooms, operates a virtual hospitality brand in India by aggregating hotels/guesthouses in the economy segment, making inventory discoverable and bookable online, and providing a standardised and trusted experience to travelers.

Olacabs: Valuation: $4.3 billion | Industry: On-Demand | CEO: Bhavish Aggarwal

Olacabs is a ride-hailing taxi service provider, having its headquarters in Bengaluru. The company has recently started services in Australia and the UK.

ReNew Power Ventures: Valuation: $2 billion | Industry: Energy and Utilities | CEO: Sumant Sinha

ReNew Power has established and positioned itself in the renewable energy market with the intention of producing clean energy and thereby reducing India’s carbon footprint.

Hike: Valuation: $1.4 billion | Industry: Social | CEO: Kavin Bharti Mittal

Hike is a mobile messaging app and simplifies how people connect and interact with content and services on mobile.

Swiggy: Valuation: $1.3 billion | Industry: On-Demand | CEO: Sriharsha Majety

Bundl Technologies, dba Swiggy, is a Bengaluru-based food ordering app. The company partners with restaurants to offer users food ordering and delivery services. The company has its own fleet of delivery personnel who pick-up orders from restaurants and deliver it to customers.

Shopclues: Valuation: $1.1 billion | Industry: Ecommerce/Marketplace | CEO: Sanjay Sethi

ShopClues.com, operated by Clues Network, is a fully managed online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers and offers a trusted and safe online shopping experience.

Zomato Media: Valuation: $1 billion | Industry: Social | CEO: Mohit Gupta

Zomato Media is an India-based online food and lifestyle portal providing advertising, ratings, and reviews for restaurants. It has an Uber booking option built in to the app, allowing users to book cabs to take them to the restaurants they wish to go to right away.

InMobi: Valuation: $1 billion | Industry: Adtech | CEO: Naveen Tewari

InMobi operates a mobile ad network with an extensive range of ad formats, analytics and monetisation tools for app businesses. The company builds mobile-first customer engagement platforms that transform the economics of influencing global consumers.

Quikr: Valuation: $1 billion | Industry: Ecommerce/Marketplace | CEO: Pranay Chulet

Quikr is an ecommerce site which provides a platform to buy and sell properties, furniture etc.

PolicyBazaar: Valuation: $1 billion | Industry: Fintech | CEO: Yashish Dahiya

PolicyBazaar helps users compare financial products like life insurance, general insurance, loans and credit cards. To enable easy and sensible comparison, the company has partnered with financial institutions disbursing loans and selling insurance in India. PolicyBazaar helps to get free insurance quotes and users can compare plans based on multiple features.

BYJU’S: Valuation: $1 billion | Industry: EdTech | CEO: Byju Raveendran

BYJU’s is a K-12 learning app which has highly adaptive, engaging and effective learning programmes for students in classes 4-12 (K-12). The app also provides learning programmes and study materials for competitive exams such as JEE, NEET, CAT, civil service, GRE, and GMAT.

Udaan: Valuation: $1 billion | Industry: Ecommerce | Founders: Sujeet Kumar,  Amod Malviya and Vaibhav Gupta

Udaan is a B2B platform designed specifically for small and medium businesses in India, bringing together traders, wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers and enabling logistics and payments through the platform.

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

In a first, WalmartLabs acquihires Bengaluru based startup Appsfly, says report

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

In its first ever Indian acquisition, WalmartLabs, the technology arm of US based retailer Walmart ‘acquihired’ a six-member Bengaluru based company Appsfly, which built a system for micro apps to get hosted and streamed on any platform, Business Standard reported.

The team of AppsFly will join WalmartLabs to produce engaging and consistent shopping experience to its Walmart customers, the report said.

“As a key market of growth and expansion, this is an important step we have taken in India. At Walmart, innovation is our DNA and our teams are invested in creating a seamless experience to let customers shop anytime and anywhere,” Hari Vasudev, country head and vice-president for technology at Walmart Labs India, was quoted in the report.

Earlier this year, Walmart bought one of India’s leading e-commerce website Flipkart for $16 billion.

The retailer is on the look out to acquire more Indian startups, added the report.

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

Here’s why startups like Xiaomi, Uber and Airbnb succeed

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Startup as an industry has evolved over the years with hundreds of them being introduced each year across the world. In recent years, startups have been redefined with the founders focusing primarily on innovations, making the best out of technology. However, not many enjoy the fruits.

Startups don’t win just because of better technology or features; they win because they solve real problems that demand clear and simple solutions, says Thomas Appong, founder of Alltopstartups.com in his report ‘Learning From Billion Dollar Startups’.

Appong’s report throws light on some of the most successful startups and decodes the reasons behind their unstoppable success.

Here’s a look at some of them:

Xiaomi: China’s Smartphone Sensation

China’s largest smartphone vendor is one of them. The company, in just four years, turned the biggest smartphone seller in the country. It was recognised as the world’s most highly valued startup in December 2014, after closing a new $1.1 billion round of funding at a $46 billion valuation.

Except Apple Inc. and Google Inc., very few tech companies can compete with the firm, said the report.

The company keeps costs down by selling most of its products online and having its fans help it do marketing through word of mouth. It has been proven as a great formula so far. However, it’s being tested further as the company is looking to expand overseas.

Xiaomi has always maintained it is actually an Internet company, not a smartphone one, the report said.

Why Uber is Booming

The founders struck gold in 2009 as the idea was a win-win for all. Passengers loved the convenience; drivers found an extra source of income and Uber built a business by pocketing 20% of each ride. With its model proven, Uber plotted a rapid global expansion, bringing the service to more than 270 cities around the world in five years, according to the report.

Among the many problems Uber is tackling, as mentioned in the report, are: poor cab infrastructure in some cities, poor service and fulfillment–including dirty cabs, poor customer experience, late cars, drivers unwilling to accept credit cards, and more.

How Airbnb Disrupted The Hotel Economy

Despite the initial turbulence over the idea of the business and the difficulties in distinguishing itself from other firms, the company later came up with rebranding plans, focusing on  becoming a more inclusive hospitality brand.

Claiming that he was able to distill it all into a single concept—belonging, Brian Chesky, CEO of the company, explains, “Airbnb is about belonging anywhere. The brand shouldn’t say we’re about community, or our international [reach], or renting homes—it’s about belonging.”

In February 2011, Airbnb announced its 1 millionth booking since its inception in August 2008. Then, in January 2012, Airbnb announced its 5 millionth night booked internationally through the service. In June 2012, the company announced 10 million nights booked, doubling business in 5 months.

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

Ex-Flipkart Sachin Bansal looks to raise $1 billion for investing in startups, says report

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

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Flipkart co-founder and former chief executive Sachin Bansal is looking into raising a fund between $700 million and $1 billion for investing in startups, Mint reported.

Bansal could contribute up to 40 percent of the fund, sources told Mint, adding that Bansal was looking into investing and running an artificial intelligence startup.

He is likely to take a final decision about his next venture before the year ends, added the sources.

The report said that Bansal was keen to move on to his next venture and prove his entrepreneurial skill all over again by launching either a fund or another startup.

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