Page 3 - India Startup

SoftBank to resume investing in Indian startups after 18-month hiatus

SoftBank is now actively pursuing investments in new-age enterprises and expanding its portfolio in India

Majority of Indian startups eyeing IPOs in 2024 struggle with losses

Of the 12 startups looking to launch IPOs this year, eight have incurred a cumulative loss of Rs 8,000 crore, including Swiggy, and Ola Electric

Agritech startup Fasal raises Rs 100 cr from investors to expand business

Agritech startup Fasal, which is into precision horticulture, on Friday said it has raised Rs 100 crore from investors to expand its business. Founded in 2018, Fasal leverages AI, crop sciences, and Internet of Things (IOT) to provide farm-level, crop-specific and crop-stage-specific intelligence, enabling resource optimisation and higher farm productivity. It also procures high-quality, traceable produce for an end-to-end optimised value chain play. In a statement, the company announced raising Rs 100 crore in its series-A funding round led by TDK Ventures and British International Investment (BII), with contributions from the ITI Growth Opportunities Fund, Navam Capital and Aureolis Ventures. The round also saw participation from all existing investors, including 3one4 Capital, Omnivore, Wavemaker Partners, Genting Ventures, and The Yield Labs Asia Pacific. Fasal plans to "allocate the funds to advance research and development, accentuating innovation in their proprietary farm ..

Proptech startup HouseEazy raises $1 million from investors as seed funding

HouseEazy, a vertical marketplace for resale homes, on Tuesday said it has raised USD 1 million (over Rs 8 crore) from investors as seed funding led by Antler. Other notable investors in the round include India Accelerator, AC Ventures, Agility Ventures, Finvolve Ventures and industry veterans like Pirojsha Godrej (Executive Chairperson at Godrej Properties) and Sandeep Aggarwal (Founder at Droom), the company said in a statement. Seeking to bring trust, transparency and convenience to secondary real estate transactions, HouseEazy is building a full-stack, data-driven technology platform to provide the best prices and instant liquidity to sellers and title-checked, refurbished, ready-to-move-in homes to buyers. HouseEazy founders Tarun Sainani and Deepak Bhatia, who previously worked together at Godrej Properties, bring over 25 years of combined experience in the real estate industry. According to Housing.com data, proptech companies have received USD 4 billion in funding since 200

AI startups that help fight cancer, fraud picked for Google accelerator

20 companies will be mentored for solutions that 'positively impact various industries and transform lives', says tech giant

Stars align for astrotech: Astro startups' revenues get festival fillip

Despite an apparent dip in investments, several firms have reportedly been in talks to raise fresh capital this festival season

Edtech firm Unacademy appoints Sandhydeep Purri as chief people officer

Before joining Unacademy, Purri held the position of chief people officer at Sapphire Foods, overseeing HR strategies for brands like Pizza Hut and KFC

Banking fintech MobiKwik posts second quarter of PAT at Rs 5 crore

The Gurugram-based fintech has a registered base of 140 million users and over four million merchants

Indian startup funding hits 5-year low in Q3 2023 at $1.5 bn: Tracxn

The quarter saw five funding rounds cross the $100 million mark, including the likes of Perfios, Zepto, Ola Electric, Ather Energy and Zyber 365

Razorpay acquires digital invoicing, customer engagement startup BillMe

With this acquisition, Razorpay will get access to BillMe's client base of over 4,000 merchants

Green shoots of profitability finally emerging among Startups in India

Many companies such as Zomato, Meesho, and MobiKwik have now turned profitable while others like Paytm, Delhivery, and Zepto have showcased a clear path to profitability

Byju's accuses lenders of manufacturing fake debt crisis to extort money

The company chalks up its current debt predicament to aggressive distressed-debt investors who, in its view, were never supposed to be able to buy the loan

Gaming unicorn Mobile Premier League goes into global expansion mode

MPL recently launched its app in Nigeria, marking its first foray into the African gaming market. With this move, MPL is now present on four continents: Asia, North America, Europe, and Africa

Entrepreneurs take reins of IAMAI, big tech sidelined for the first time

Harsh Jain's appointment as chairperson of IAMAI has signalled a shift in the association's leadership and organisation's priorities after IAMAI was criticised for aligning with Big Tech's interest

Angel investment at high premium under Income-Tax department scanner

Notices seeking explanation served to start-ups

Speciale Invest announces new Rs 200 crore fund for deep tech start-ups

Speciale Invest, a venture capital firm that has funded space and technology startups such as Agnikul Cosmos and QNu Labs, on Wednesday announced a new fund with a Rs 200 crore corpus to provide series A and above funding to initiatives in the deep-tech sector. The Speciale Invest Growth Fund I, with an initial investment of Rs 100 crore, has received approval from market regulator SEBI to provide series A and above funding to high-potential technology startups, supporting India's enterprise and deep-tech startup ecosystem, a company statement said. The fund expects to close the corpus at Rs 200 crore in the next three-four months, it said. "Our new Growth Fund I is an extension of our vision and commitment to expand our investment strategy to support high-performing technology startups from our portfolio at the Series A and beyond stages," Arjun Rao, General Partner at Speciale Invest said in a statement. Founded in 2017 by Vishesh Rajaram and Arjun Rao, Speciale Invest had a ...

Snacks start-up Kikibix raises $300,000 from founders of nine unicorns, VCs

Nutrition snacking start-up Kikibix has raised USD 300,000 from founders and co-founders of nine unicorns, including Mama Earth, Pristyn Care, Fashinza etc, the company said on Friday. Early-stage venture capital firms Blume Ventures led the funding round and US-based Angelist also participated in the fundraising. Founded by paediatrician Ridhi Kaur in 2022, the company makes cookies in flavours such as Cranberry Oats, Gur Chana, Ragi Mocha, Coconut, Figs, and Date Almonds. Mama Earth Founder Varun Alagh, Mosaic Wellness Co-founder and CEO Revant Bhate, Pristyn Care Co-Founders Vaibhav Kapoor and Garima Sawhney, EaseMyTrip Co-Founder Prashant Pitti, Fashinza Co-Founder Abhishek Sharma participated in the funding round. Kaur said that in the last six months, the company had seen 10 times growth in its monthly revenues. The organization plans to use the funds to launch more product categories, build a team and enter more distribution channels across the country.

Fundraising gets tougher, 2023 super challenging for startups: Report

Amid a deepening funding winter, only 53 per cent of startup founders had a positive fundraising experience (71 per cent of those who attempted to raise) in 2022, down from 92 per cent in 2021.

10 yrs tax holiday, less holding period of ESOP shares: Startups on Budget

Indian startup founders on Monday said that to explore a comprehensive digital India, the Union Budget for FY24 must leverage the full inherent potential of the homegrown technology industry

TMS Ep356: Google unbundling, Indian start-ups, PSU, capex stocks, BharOS

What will Google unbundling mean for Indian apps? Is there a governance deficit in Indian start-ups? How to trade PSU, capex stocks ahead of Budget 2023? What is BharOS? All answers here