BUSINESS
Indian SaaS firms want to ride the generative AI wave to attract customers, investors
A recent report by Stellaris Venture Partners and IFC said Indian SaaS startups that harness artificial intelligence (AI) could achieve $500-billion market value by 2030.
BUSINESS
Startups stare at compliance nightmare, possible short-term cash flow crunch over 20% TCS rule
Startups and businesses generally allow employees to use corporate credit cards for business travel, international travel expenses including accommodation and food, and for other foreign spends like subscriptions.
BUSINESS
ZestMoney to stop insurance biz, affiliate programmes as it charts revival plan
Chapman explained how it was critical for fintech businesses to diversify and have different offerings amid rising competition in the space over the last two years. But she said that most of these companies realised that the core lending business is usually the most profitable.
BUSINESS
MC Interview: We played a good game, we have no regrets, Co-founder Lizzie Chapman after resigning as ZestMoney CEO
As part of its revival efforts, ZestMoney will shut down its insurance business and affiliate programmes and will shift majority of its focus towards its core business of lending and EMI for consumer goods.
BUSINESS
ZestMoney 2.0: New leadership, assured variable pay for employees & profitability goals set
ZestMoney will be run by new leadership team of Mohit Chhajer, Mandar Satpute and Abhishek Sharma. The startup has 150 employees
BUSINESS
SoftBank offloads 2% stake worth $120 million in Paytm
Post the sale, SoftBank will have around 11.17% stake left in Paytm which is around 70,809,082 shares.
BUSINESS
Wealthtech startup Fisdom to foray into asset management space
The startup is looking to launch a PMS license initially for its High Net Worth Individual (HNI) customers, which will be accessible through its Fisdom Private Wealth platform.
BUSINESS
Zoho's new Ulaa browser takes on Google Chrome and FireFox
Google Chrome currently leads the web browser market with a 63.45 percent market share as of April 2023, followed by Apple's Safari with 20.48 percent
BUSINESS
Freshworks' drop in net dollar retention rate not a concern, says CEO Mathrubootham
Tiger Global sold its entire 23 percent stake in Freshworks just weeks ago and Girish Mathrubootham says he is happy the company fulfilled its responsibilities and generated superior returns for its early backer
BUSINESS
BluSmart raises $42 million in a mix of equity and debt from existing investors
Over 50% of the total capital infusion came from founders, Anmol Jaggi and Punit Goyal, themselves to increase their stake in the company, people added. This is part of the company’s Series A2 round.
BUSINESS
Chiratae Ventures announces close of Maiden Growth Fund-I at Rs 1,001 crore
The Chiratae Funds collectively (across 6 funds) have $1.1 billion in AUM (Assets Under Management), made around 130 investments, 48 exits, 8 Unicorns, and 3 IPOs.
BUSINESS
Freshworks clocks first-ever operating profit at $3.9 million, revenue up 20% YoY in Q1CY23
The SaaS firm had a free cash flow of $9.1 million in the quarter under review up from negative $1.4 million in the first quarter of 2022.
BUSINESS
KredX receives final approval from IFSCA to facilitate cross-border trade finance
KredX GTX Aims to execute over $500 million by the end of 2023 and an overall $2 billion worth of transactions in the next 18 months.
BUSINESS
Tiger Global-backed savings startup Jar to foray into digital lending business
Jar’s move to jump on the digital lending frenzy comes at a time when several fintech startups, including some of the most-valued companies in India, are putting their foot down on lending, as India continues to remain a credit-starved market.
BUSINESS
Signing up more public sector customers in India to be key focus area this year: Freshworks' Karthik Rajaram
To date, the company counts several central government entities and multiple state government bodies as customers using products like Freshdesk and Freshservice, like the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
BUSINESS
SAP Labs India looks to hire 1,000 employees, invest in AI technologies
The company will be looking to hire people with domain expertise in finance, supply chain, sustainability, human experience management, and artificial intelligence along with other core operations.
BUSINESS
NPCI International teams up with digital payments infra provider PPRO
The partnership between NIPL and PPRO will empower the global PSPs, Banks, payment gateways, with payment platforms to expand globally giving international e-commerce merchants access to Indian consumers.
BUSINESS
Sequoia and Tiger Global-backed Jupiter secures NBFC licence
Jupiter's founder Jitendra Gupta said the startup will be infusing an equity of Rs 100 crore for developing the NBFC business and is looking to raise another Rs 100 crore of loan from banks
BUSINESS
Taking a down round is not a big deal, startups have to move on: General Catalyst’s CEO Hemant Taneja
According to Hemant Taneja, the VC firm plans to invest 10-20% of the 11th General Fund, which has a total amount of approximately $4.6 billion, in India.
BUSINESS
Tiger Global-backed Open axes 47 jobs, founders take 50% pay cut
As a part of scale-up and profitability, Open said in the statement that it will continue the efforts to make a highly performance-oriented effective organization fit for scale, the statement said.
BUSINESS
ClearTax betting big on crypto tax offerings, expects profitability in next 12 months
Last year, Clear began offering solutions for customers to manage their cryptocurrency portfolio and taxes after the government announced a hefty 30% tax rate and 1% TDS for gains and transfers of virtual digital assets.
BUSINESS
Digital Lenders Association of India appoints Jatinder Handoo as CEO
DLAI, which presently has around 90 digital lending firms as its members, has also Inducted Alok Prasad and Meena Hemchandra as Governance Council members.
BUSINESS
Razorpay forms advisory board, ropes in former RBI deputy governor as chairperson
NS Vishwanathan, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India is appointed as the chairperson of the board. The board will help contribute to the development of Razorpay’s payment infrastructure and help engage with key institutions and stakeholders
BUSINESS
How Namma Yatri works: Can it break Ola and Uber's duopoly?
Backed by the Nilekani-led non-profit Foundation for Interoperability in Digital Economy and built by Juspay, the mobility app with a differentiated pitch is currently working on a subscription model for auto drivers and looking to build scale.
