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Startup Ecosystem
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday disbursed Rs 1,000 crore among 10 lakh beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, which is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship among the state's women. Kumar, who was recently voted back to power for a record fifth consecutive term, gave away Rs 10,000 to each beneficiary, through the DBT system, from his official residence, in the presence of cabinet colleagues and top officials. Speaking to reporters after the function, Rural Development Minister Shravan Kumar said, "A total of 1.56 crore women have received the money so far." "The beneficiaries are being encouraged to use the sum for self-employment. Those who do so demonstrably will in due course get further assistance of Rs 2 lakh each," he added. Notably, the scheme was launched in September, about a month before assembly polls were announced, at a function which was attended, in the virtual mode, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Money was disbursed among beneficiaries
Homegrown online gaming company SuperGaming has raised USD 15 million in a fresh funding round at nearly five times the valuation of its previous round around 4 years ago, a top official of the company said on Wednesday. SuperGaming CEO and Co-Founder Roby John told PTI that the company had raised USD 5 million at a valuation of USD 21 million in 2021. The fresh funds have been raised at an enterprise valuation of about USD 100 million, he added. The fresh funding round was led by Skycatcher and Steadview Capital, with support from global strategic investors such as a16z Speedrun, Bandai Namco 021 Fund and Neowiz, as well as notable Web3 Investors, including Polygon Ventures. The round also saw strong participation from Web3 ecosystem pioneers like Polygon Ventures, Sandeep Nailwal, Decentralised.co, 4th Revolution Capital, 32-Bit Ventures, Ryze Labs, Ed3n Ventures and Visceral Capital. Existing investors SkyCatcher, AET Japan, and BACE Capital also participated in the new round.
Online travel tech platform EaseMyTrip.com on Monday announced the launch of a strategic investment arm, EMT Invest, to accelerate growth-ready profitable businesses across diverse high-growth sectors. EMT Invest will focus on companies that have a proven track record of profitability with a minimum Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs 5 crore or more, EaseMyTrip.com said in a statement. With this initiative, EaseMyTrip seeks to partner with ventures that are ready to scale and are looking for capital, digital ecosystem leverage, and strategic brand support. "With EMT Invest, we are expanding our ecosystem to support ambitious, growth-oriented businesses in reaching their full potential. "Our aim is to empower founders to scale efficiently while maintaining their entrepreneurial independence. EMT Invest is about building lasting value and enabling the next generation of business leaders to achieve transformative success," EaseMyTrip Founder and Chairman Nishant Pitti said.
The government on Thursday approved a revised Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS), under which the maximum guarantee cover per borrower has been doubled to Rs 20 crore. The broad objective of CGSS is to provide guarantee up to a specified limit against credit instruments extended by member institutions to finance eligible startups. This scheme would help provide the much needed collateral-free debt funding to startups, the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) said in a notification. This notification supersedes the earlier notification dated October 6, 2022 on the scheme and comes into effect from May 8. "Maximum guarantee cover per borrower shall not exceed Rs 20 crore," it said. It was earlier Rs 10 crore. Member institutions include a financial intermediary (banks, FIs, NBFCs, AIFs) engaged in lending/investing and conforming to the eligibility criteria duly approved under the scheme. To further catalyse entrepreneurship by providing enhanced
India can expect over USD 600 billion in alternative investments in next three years to fuel the startup ecosystem, according to experts. This influx of capital is anticipated to foster innovation, support entrepreneurship, and create an enabling environment for new ventures to thrive, they said at the launch of Centre for Financial Markets (CFM) by IMT in Mumbai last week. India's startup ecosystem is poised for significant growth, with projections indicating that over USD 600 billion in private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) investments will flow into the country over the next three years, Atish Chattopadhyay, Director of IMT Ghaziabad said in a statement. This figure represents 13 per cent of the estimated USD 4.7 trillion required (including government investments, corporate retention, PE/VC funding, corporate debt, initial public offerings (IPOs), and other sources) to achieve a USD 5 trillion economy by FY2027, he added. As investors recognize the immense potential of Ind