Page 10 - Indian Startups

Stride Ventures announces first close of third venture debt fund at $100 mn

Firm invests in startups that exhibit robust business models and strong unit economics

Implosion of India's tech startups reveals fundamental flaws in the system

By some estimates, 92 companies in the sector have laid off over 25,000 employees since the beginning of the year

ED searches: Byju's CEO says brought more FDI to India than any other firm

After financial crime-fighting agency ED searched Byju's premises, the education platform's CEO Byju Raveendran wrote to employees saying the company brought more FDI to India than any other startup and that the firm fully complies with all applicable foreign exchange laws. India's most valuable startup, Byju's was once valued at USD 22 billion and has attracted global investors such as General Atlantic, BlackRock and Sequoia Capital. "As we are funded by 70+ impact investors who have satisfactorily done due diligence on our operations, including all FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) compliance, we are confident that the authorities will also come to the same conclusion," Raveendran said in the memo sent late on Saturday, which was seen by PTI. ED had on Saturday searched three premises in Bengaluru linked to the company over alleged foreign exchange law violations. Searches at 'Think & Learn Private Limited' (Byju's online learning platform) yielded "various incriminating ...

Layoffs continue at startups; funding winter, macro uncertainty to blame

New-age companies like Byju's, Unacademy, social media firm ShareChat, MyGate, and automobile-servicing startup GoMechanic were among the leading names that fired employees in large numbers

Zomato, Zypp join hands to deploy 100K e-scooters for last-mile delivery

Zomato says association will enable it to 'significantly reduce carbon emissions'

Meesho's monthly active users count about 55% of Amazon, Flipkart: Report

Meesho is India's third largest e-commerce retailer with CY22 GMV of $4.5 bn and 7 per cent market share, growing much faster than overall e-commerce market, according to the brokerage firm Jefferies.

Number of startups rose to 90,000 in nine years, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said that in the last nine years, the number of startups in the country increased to 90,000 due to promotion of the startup culture by the Modi government. He said the central government is trying to make Rajasthan the first IT hub of the country but it is possible when the state government also cooperates on this front, according to a release. The minister was speaking at the inauguration of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) centre here. To meet the growing needs of IT industry and entrepreneurship in the state, STPI has set up an incubation facility at Sitapura Industrial Area. He said that setting up of the STPI centre in Jaipur would help in making Rajasthan an electronics manufacturing hub. Jaipur MP Ramcharan Bohra, mayor of Jaipur Greater Municipal Corporation Somya Gurjar and others were also present.

Indian startups move court to stop Google's new in-app billing system

The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) last month asked India's antitrust regulator to investigate Google for devising a new system startups say still charges them a high service fee

Funding in Indian startups dips 75% in Q1 2023, no new unicorn in 3 months

Indian startups raised a total of $2.8 billion in funds in the first quarter of 2023, a massive 75 per cent lower compared to the same period in the previous year ($11.9 billion)

Indian consumer tech sees huge value creation with $250 bn in valuation

The last five years have seen 4,351 consumer tech deals and $54 billion in deal flows in India, a new report has shown, adding that the Indian consumer tech space

Byju's lenders ready for loan restructuring but want $200 mn prepayment

Byju's has volunteered to raise the interest rate for the loan by about 200 basis points (bps), but it has not agreed to the prepayment clause so far

Indian start-ups see apex tribunal's order against Google as a win

But fees charged by Google for app purchases remain a concern

GoMechanic Business acquired by a consortium led by Lifelong Group

According to sources, there is no clarity on what happens to the founders

India's start-up story remains robust

The ecosystem would experience rationalisation of valuations in the current period, with funding expected to gradually increase from Q3 2023-24

MeitY Startup Hub, Google to support 100 Indian early to mid-stage startups

About 50 per cent of the cohort comes from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, including Varanasi, Ernakulam, Surat, Dehradun, Allahabad, and many others

Govt's steps ensured Indian startups were not impacted by SVB: Vaishnaw

Immediate action by the government to help Indian startups in the aftermath of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse ensured they were not adversely impacted by the "minor crisis", Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday. He also exhorted the entire startup community to think of the Indian banking sector as their trusted partner. Vaishnaw, Minister for IT and Communications, also noted the rapid strides taken by India in areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and quantum computing. Speaking at India Global Forum event, the Minister said while there was a time when India was only seen as a consumer of technology, today "many global developers like to have Indian start ups, entrepreneurs and academicians as their partners, as technology gets developed". "... In these two technologies, we would like use of Indian talent for developing solutions for India and for the world," he said. To a question on whether India can produce something equivant to ChatGPT, the Minister said "wait f

20 women-led startups in pipeline to become unicorn, finds a study

Around 18 per cent of India's unicorn startups are founded or co-founded by women and 20 other firms are in pipeline to become unicorn, a joint study said on Tuesday. The study conducted by TiE Delhi NCR, research firm Zinnov, Google, NetApp and venture capital firm Indian Angel Network found that despite comparable metrics, success, and high entrepreneurial intent, socio-cultural barriers hinder women founders' growth. "Approximately 18 per cent of India's total unicorns are founded by women, with 20 Potential Unicorns in the pipeline," the study said. The startups that are in the pipeline to become unicorns include WinZO, Doubtnut, Infinity Learn, Locus, Pratilipi, Portea, SirionLabs, etc. Women founded or co-founded start-ups that have already become unicorns include acko, BYJU's Pristyn Care, MyGlamm, MobiKwik, Open etc. The total valuation of unicorn built by women founders stands at over USD 30 billion and total equity investments raised by them is over USD 12 billion. The

As cost of capital rises, VC funding for new-age firms drops to $26 bn

The global economic downturn has made investors reconsider their commitments towards the deployment of capital into new-age firms

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