Page 18 - Startups

Think and Learn presents edtech Byju's 3.0 proposal to investors at AGM

Byju's says FY22 earnings were approved at the AGM as well as the reappointment of BDO as the statutory auditors of the company.

Lifting startups from the governance hole

Founders must prioritise governance from the outset rather than deferring it until just before the IPO if they want to create long-term value

Venture capital funds backing fewer women startups than men-led ones: Irani

Union Minister Smriti Irani on Friday hit out at venture capital funds for not backing women-led innovative startups, and instead taking bets on entities founded by men. The Union Minister for Women and Child Development said there are many women innovators in science and technology, but rued that their strides are not getting translated into commercial ventures. "Even today, risk taking by VCs for women-led initiatives which are based on innovation is far lower as compared to those by men," Irani said, addressing an event organised by MentorMyBoard. One has to check how many women do not become a part of the corporate boardrooms despite being innovative, she said. Irani acknowledged that her recent statement in Parliament opposing period leaves for women has caused an "uproar", but stuck to her stance saying allowing so will have deep concerns on privacy. "Can you imagine a scenario where the HR head of your company knows your menstrual cycle every month. Can you imagine the scen

Alternative debt provider BlackSoil sees 44% jump in investment in 2023

Bansal also said that the risk is getting blurred between equity and debt as entrepreneurs are unable to raise funds via equity

Cloud-lending startup Lentra launches 3 AI products for financial sector

The company launched AI products, namely Lentra Convo, Lentra Insights, and Lentra Wingman, to serve lenders with solutions that enhance the lending processes

Google supports women-led AI startups in tech innovation, sustainability

Google for Startups Accelerator programme is designed to enable women entrepreneurs who are using technology to solve complex problems and are making a positive impact on society

How Varun and Ghazal Alagh's Mamaearth became profitable D2C empire

Celebrating seven years of success, the company eyes future growth with a diversified portfolio and strong offline presence

India to create AI computing capacity for start-ups, researchers: Minister

Capacity will be created by the public sector and separately in collaboration with private companies, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Indian-American VC urges govt to reduce rules, regulations for startups

A top Indian-American venture capitalist from Silicon Valley has urged India to create a short-term inter-ministerial commission to review the rules and regulations governing the startups to facilitate them to be the next Google and Facebook of the world. The (Indian) government should focus on reducing the compliance burden on startups and businesses, Venkatesh Shukla, the former president of TiE Silicon Valley, told PTI in a recent interview here in California. I think the most important thing he could do is to create either a short-term commission or a committee, inter-ministerial, inter-departmental, to take a fresh look at the rules and regulations governing startups across all departments and figure out what makes sense and what is just a nuisance without adding a whole lot of value to the country, he said. A seed-stage investor, Shukla is the founder and general partner of Monta Vista Capital and has a proven track record of leading companies through rapid growth in his roles

CoinSwitch unveils umbrella brand PeepalCo; aims for wealth-tech expansion

The company said the leaders of each business segment will have independent operational and financial accountability

IPO-bound Oyo elevates Rakesh Kumar as new chief financial officer

Kumar will replace Abhishek Gupta, who will continue with Oyo in "an advisory and mentorship capacity

Business booms on sidelines of COP28 as 'startup village' clinch deals

The executive agreed to a demonstration of the company's spray-on surface coating that breaks down air pollutants and repels dirt to treat its solar panel arrays

ONDC poised to democratise e-com, generate $250-300 bn in GMV: Redseer

Anticipating the future, Redseer expects the next wave of DPI-driven opportunities in retail, insurance, healthcare, and agritech

IN-SPACe launches seed fund scheme for startups using space technology

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) on Monday announced the launch of a seed fund scheme for start-ups operating in the area of urban development and disaster management by using space technology. As part of the scheme, selected start-ups will receive seed funding for transforming an original idea into a prototype using space technology, ISRO facility support including Earth Observation (EO) data for validation of the concept, mentorship support, and access to data algorithm as transfer of technology from Department of Science (DoS), according to a statement. The scheme has the provision of providing financial assistance of up to Rs 1 crore in addition to mentorship support, training and networking opportunities, it said. IN-SPACe is the nodal agency in DoS, responsible for promoting, enabling, authorising as well as supervising space activities of the Non-Government Entities (NGEs). The scheme will provide opportunities for NGEs that leverage sp

Murthy's Catamaran plans to invest in precision manufacturing companies

Infosys founder Narayana Murthy's venture capital firm Catamaran plans to expand its portfolio by investing in precision manufacturing startups and companies exporting their products, a senior company official has said. While speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the Digital Acceleration and Transformation Expo (DATE), Catamaran Chairman MD Ranganath said the valuation expectation in startups have come down in India compared to the phase in 2022, but good ideas with good business models will continue to attract investments. "Our current focus, in addition to services, is on precision manufacturing. Now, India is attracting a lot of manufacturing investments. We are trying to invest in those companies which can export and make components in deep tech, and automobile," Ranganath said. Catamaran has invested in companies like SpaceX, deep tech energy startup Log 9, B2B e-commerce firm udaan, edtech firm udemy, and fintech firm Acko, among others. "Overall, in a market compared to 2022,

Goa poised to become nurturing ground for startup creativity: IT minister

The Goa government will introduce a number of initiatives to provide support to startups as the state is poised to become a nurturing ground for startup creativity, a minister has said. Addressing the closing ceremony of three-day-long Tech Media Startup 2023 event on Thursday, Goa Information Technology Minister Rohan Khaunte also said the government's aim is to position the state as a premier startup destination in Asia. "Goa, with its vibrant spirit, is poised to become a nurturing ground for startup creativity. In the coming months, we will introduce a spectrum of initiatives to further catalyse business growth and provide startups with the support they need," he said. "Under the leadership of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the aim is to position Goa as a premier startup destination in Asia...The state's unique blend of natural beauty, cultural heritage and burgeoning entrepreneurial spirit sets the stage for the convergence of startups and information technology," he said. The

Funding winter for Indian startups likely to end by March: Experts

Investors attending the TiE Global Summit (TGS) exuded confidence that funding winter for Indian startups will end by March but said budding entrepreneurs seeking funds must come up with credible plans to generate returns on investments, as fancy valuations will no longer impress global fund managers. Funding winter, which refers to the drying up of funds for startups, remained the overarching theme at the recently concluded TGS 2023, the eighth edition of the flagship event organised by TiE. The event, held in conjunction with the Singapore Fintech Festival, was attended by over 2,000 participants, including experts, fund managers, thought leaders and startups. As regards India, We Founder Circle co-founder Gaurav VK Singhvi said, "Things would improve for Indian startups by March next year". He said that global investors are sitting on funds and once the "uncertainty" with regard to geopolitics, especially the Ukraine war and the Middle East crisis, gets over, the "funds would st

Startups will play important role to help India be 3rd largest economy: CEA

Startups will play an important role in helping India become the third largest economy in the world, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) to the Union government V Anantha Nageswaran has said. Nageswaran said that tier-2 and 3 cities, including Kerala's capital, have become game-changers in helping startups flourish in the country due to improvements in infrastructure and supportive policies of the government, according to a KSUM release. The CEA, during his Leadership Talk on the concluding day of the Huddle Global 2023 organised by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), said that India was the fifth largest economy on course to become the third largest in a few years. "In fact, I will say 7-in-7 is the buzz slogan, that is 7 trillion USD economy in seven years. Seven trillion USD economy size by 2030 is possible if India maintains its present growth trajectory, and in that journey startup entrepreneurs are going to play an important role," he is quoted as having said in the release. He was o

India-US ink pact to improve cooperation among startups, promote innovation

India and the US have signed an agreement to promote innovation through increasing cooperation among startups, address regulatory hurdles, and share best practices on fundraising by entrepreneurs, an official statement said on Wednesday. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on enhancing innovation ecosystems through an innovation handshake under the framework of India-US Commercial Dialogue was signed on November 14 in San Francisco. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is in San Francisco. The commerce and industry ministry said that the MoU was signed at an industry roundtable meeting. Indian industry players, CEOs from major ICT companies, executives from venture capital firms, and founders of startups in the critical and emerging technology space participated and discussed ways to enhance US-India technology collaboration. "The MoU is signed with the objective to connect the two sides' dynamic startup ecosystems, address specific regulatory hurdles to cooperation, shar

Indian startup funding winter shows signs of thaw as large deals resurface

October saw a resurgence in significant funding rounds, setting the stage for a thaw in investment climate