BUSINESS
The story of Eruditus: How a Harvard alumnus saw a business opportunity where universities fell short
Eruditus started in 2010 and did not raise money for 6 years. Raising money this late, and raising money at all, changed the company's fortunes. How and why did it happen?
BUSINESS
Industry wants a peaceful resolution to Google Play Store billing issue, looking for website payments to continue
Most players want government to frame industry-friendly policies and release stronger anti-trust rules rather than get into the business of making and running an Indian app store
BUSINESS
Exclusive |Paper Boat, McDonald's owner, others in talks to acquire Raw Pressery in distress sale
Raw Pressery is best known for its cold-pressed natural sugarcane, orange and grape juices, among others. Industry insiders say its target market is too niche to build a large independent company and that too by raising large amounts of venture capital.
BUSINESS
How VCs are going beyond dealmaking to stay competitive
Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners and Lightspeed India Partners, among India’s most influential VCs, are conducting training and mentorship sessions, selecting companies for specialised support, and launching podcasts and lectures on various areas that a new entrepreneur will need help with
BUSINESS
Lee Fixel's Addition makes first India deal, leads $35 million round in InShorts
The news aggregator plans to use the funds for its location-based social media app Public that was launched in April 2019.
BUSINESS
Exclusive: PharmEasy changes internal legal structure, consolidates units for better valuation
The change in legal structure means that API Holdings will also own Ascent Health and Wellness Solutions Pvt.Ltd - a separate pharma supply chain and credit platform, which also acts as a business-to-business (B2B) distribution entity for PharmEasy.
BUSINESS
Ahead of festive season, Amazon infuses Rs 1,125 crore into India marketplace business
The e-commerce battle ahead of Diwali, Dussehra and other festivals is also heating up this year because of Reliance Jio, which has been scaling its JioMart e-commerce platform rapidly since its launch during the lockdown in April.
BUSINESS
Investment startup smallcase raises $14 million from DSP, Sequoia and others
Founded in 2015 by Vasanth Kamath, Rohan Gupta and Anugrah Shrivastava, "smallcases" are model portfolios of stocks and exchange-traded funds created and managed by registered individuals and entities and are accessible to retail investors.
BUSINESS
There is a shake-up in angel investing, and legacy angel networks are struggling to adapt
Once upon a time, angel networks were a crucial part of India’s startup scene. A decade on, these legacy networks are fighting for relevance as competition has shot through the roof, there are internal conflicts of interest, unhappy members and a business model being questioned.
BUSINESS
Unacademy acquires UPSC test preparation startup Coursavy
The acquisition comes on the heels of a large fundraise, where Unacademy raised $150 million led by Japan’s SoftBank. In the last few months, it has also acquired smaller startups such as Mastree, an online tutoring firm in the K12 space, and PrepLadder, a learning platform for medical entrance exam.
BUSINESS
The story of Wakefit: From near bankruptcy and successive failures to building one of India’s hottest new consumer brands
One Sunday night, Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Wakefit's co-founder went to withdraw Rs 3,000 from his bank account and realised that this has to last him a week, because he had no other money. All his savings were invested in his startups, and he was even paying rent only by doing part time consulting again. He was approaching burnout.
BUSINESS
Byju’s raises funds from BlackRock, Sands Capital and Alkeon Capital
Byju’s has raised over a billion dollars in 2020 alone, more than the entire Indian ed-tech industry raised in 2019.
BUSINESS
These are the startups that may go for IPO in 2021-22
Whether the US stock markets will give these startups the valuation they want, is uncertain. Further, while IPOs are considered a sign of maturity and almost regarded as a badge of honour for startups, from the company’s point of view, staying private is a much better option, as it has to cater to fewer shareholders, regulation and disclosure norms are less exhaustive and regular share price fluctuation is not a concern.
BUSINESS
In boost to startups, Centre allows companies to list overseas before listing in India
Investors, entrepreneurs and the industry at large has been asking for such an amendment for a few years now because under the current law loss-making companies are not allowed to list in India
BUSINESS
Boosted by COVID-19, global ed-tech funding crosses 2019 mark with 3 months to go: Report
Compared to this year, ed-tech startups raised $4.8 billion across 604 rounds in 2019. Despite the funding boom this year, there were only 377 rounds -- the lowest in four years -- indicating larger cheque sizes per startup, with winners raising an outsized portion of the total capital.
BUSINESS
Virtual events startup Airmeet raises $12 million led by Sequoia India
Airmeet claims to have grown nearly 2,000 percent over the last quarter organically through word of mouth and social media, gaining one new customer per hour, and by July 2020 had hosted over 10,000 events on its platform
BUSINESS
Exclusive: PharmEasy FY20 revenue nearly doubles to Rs 637 crore
PharmEasy’s trading entity, run by Thea Technologies Pvt. Ltd earned Rs 637 crore in FY20, compared to Rs 340 crore in FY19, according to its unaudited financial statements. Its losses before tax for the period also doubled to Rs 100.7 crore from Rs 50 crore a year earlier.
BUSINESS
Dream11's parent firm raises $225 million from Tiger Global, TPG, ChrysCapital
While the company did not disclose the valuation, a source said the gaming unicorn was valued at $2.5 billion, more than double the $1.1 billion it was valued at in April 2019.
BUSINESS
EkAnek raises $5.4 million from Falcon Edge fund AWI
The new-age e-commerce startup runs a beauty and grooming platform Foxy, which offers customers a personalised shopping experience that incorporates selfie-analysis and targeted curation
BUSINESS
UV air filters to holographic lift buttons, startups offer tech solutions to make offices Covid-safe
From the lobby to the desk, a CB Insights report shows how startups are offering solutions to keep the coronavirus out of the office building.
BUSINESS
Excitement is back in startup world as venture capitalists return
Investors start discussions with many firms after COVID-19 fears made them leave the scene. Dailyhunt, ShareChat, Dream11, and WOW Skin are just a few examples. India exposure of many foreign funds seeing an increase. Edtech sector still the big draw.
BUSINESS
For startups, the CFO role comes of age
Startups, so far largely driven by founders, investors and slick products, are now hunting for CFOs left, right and centre, paying top dollar, offer favourable stock options, and even a board seat in some cases.
BUSINESS
Exclusive | Dailyhunt seeks $1.2 billion valuation, unicorn tag in fundraise
If the $100-million funding round comes through, Dailyhunt will be India's newest unicorn and a rare success story in the content-startup space.
BUSINESS
This Indian startup wants to be the new CamScanner, without abusing data. Will it work?
Kaagaz Scanner, which has had 1.1 million downloads after it was launched in mid-June, works offline—for now— and doesn’t store data.
