Page 3 - Venture Capitalists

Scapia raises $23mn funding led by Elevation Capital, 3STATE Ventures

Fintech company Scapia has raised USD 23 million in a funding round, led by Elevation Capital and Binny Bansal's 3STATE Ventures. The round also saw participation from existing investors -- Matrix Partners India and Tanglin Venture Partners. "Scapia's USD 23 million Series-A fundraise is a testament to the customers' love for its co-branded credit card and delightful app experience. Within five months of launch, Scapia has distributed its card in over 7,500 pin codes," the company said in a statement. Scapia offers financial products and travel services through its co-branded credit cards. The company plans to use the funds to grow the customer base, add more banking partners, and enhance the product offerings. "This funding will fuel our efforts to grow our customer base, add more banking partners and strengthen our product suite. We are grateful to our new and existing investors who believe in our vision and are helping us deliver a compelling proposition to our customers," Scap

BS BFSI Summit 2023: No funding winter in PE investments, say experts

India is a highly favoured destination for investment in APAC, Renuka Ramnath, founder and CEO at Multiples Alternate Asset said at Business Standard's BFSI Insight Summit 2023

PE/VC investments see 60% jump to $13.6 bn in Jul-Sep qtr: Report

Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investments registered a 60 per cent year-on-year growth in the July-September quarter to touch USD 13.6 billion, according to the latest EY-IVCA monthly PE/VC roundup. According to the report, the third quarter of this year recorded an investment worth USD 13.6 billion across 209 deals, 60 per cent higher than the investments in the third quarter (3Q) of 2022. On a sequential basis, however, deal value was 5 per cent lower than the April-June quarter, the report said, adding that the number of deals in the July-September quarter was lower by 18 per cent on a year-on-year basis. "A pickup in pure-pay PE/VC investments of around 88 per cent bolstered the growth in total PE/VC investments in 3Q2023, which recorded 31 large deals aggregating USD 10.7 billion compared to 15 large deals worth USD 4.8 billion in 3Q2022," Vivek Soni, Partner and National Leader, Private Equity Services at EY India, said. According to the report, since 2018, the

Angel tax norms: Govt extends safe harbour to convertible preference shares

Issues final valuation rules for funding in unlisted startups for foreign and domestic investors

PE/VC investments into Indian entities down 23% in H1 to $27.5 billion

Private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) funds' investments into Indian entities declined by nearly a fourth to USD 27.5 billion in January-June 2023 against the year-ago period, a report said on Thursday. However, in value terms, investments were up 33 per cent against July-December 2022, the report by industry lobby Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA) and consultancy firm EY said. The first half (H1) of 2022 saw USD 35.9 billion in investments, while the second half saw values declining to USD 20.6 billion. The number of deals declined 44 per cent compared to the year-ago period and 16 per cent sequentially to 427, the report said. EY partner Vivek Soni said there has been a dip in investments into startups but the overall trend for PE/VC investments remains positive. The PE/VC funds raised over USD 10.2 billion in H1, which augurs well for the investment activity going forward, the report said. The monthly report said at USD 3.1 billion, June witnessed a

Sequoia Capital shakes up venture capital team, sheds two crypto investors

Longtime partner Michael Moritz is leaving the venture firm to focus on Sequoia Heritage, a wealth management business he helped start, Sequoia said Wednesday

VC investment in Indian startups declines by 76.4% YoY in H1 2023: Report

India is among the top five global markets in terms of both VC funding deal volume and value and has experienced a relatively higher impact compared to the US, China, and the UK

CapFort Ventures launches Rs 200 cr fund, will back 40 tech start-ups

VC firm says it expects institutional investors, family offices, ultra high net worth individuals to support fund

Venture capital Omnivore announces first close of 3rd fund at $150 mn

Venture capital firm Omnivore on Wednesday announced the first close of its third fund for agri-tech and climate sustainability at USD 150 million. Investors of the first close include KfW, Self Reliant India (SRI) Fund, FMO, SIFEM, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Inclusive Agritech Facility, Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures, the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF), the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), and Yara Growth Ventures. "We are pleased to announce the first close of the Omnivore Agritech and Climate Sustainability Fund at USD 150 million," Omnivore, Managing Partner, Mark Kahn said in a statement. The Omnivore Agritech & Climate Sustainability Fund was launched in April 2022 with a focus on startups developing breakthrough technologies for agriculture, food, climate and the rural economy. Omnivore expects to make 25-30 new investments in Seed and Series A rounds of agritech startups and

Angel investment platform IPV makes 12 exits in 2022, logs 160% IRR

Some of the key exits include high-performing startups like BluSmart, Otipy, Stage, Kazam and Buyofuel

Unicorn list declines in 2023, indicates slowdown in funding: Hurun report

New additions in the coveted unicorn list declined sharply in 2023, indicating a slowdown in the Indian startup ecosystem, a report said on Tuesday. India added only three unicorns startups having a valuation of over USD 1 billion in 2023 against 24 in the year-ago period, as per the ASK Private Wealth Hurun Indian Future Unicorn Index 2023. The slowdown in unicorn additions is indicative of a "slowdown in India's startup ecosystem", the report -- which comes amid a slowdown in investor interest in what is being termed as "funding winter" -- said. The overall number of unicorns also declined to 83 from 84 in the year-ago period. ASK Private Wealth's chief executive and managing director Rajesh Saluja said unsustainable business models adopted by startups have led to a dip in valuations but stressed that funding to the right companies continues. Hurun India's chief researcher Anas Rahman Junaid, however, said that the Indian startup story has high potential and he sees the overall

In Indian start-up technology churn, generative AI gets edge over Web3

Raise $7.1 million in funding across eight deals until June 1

Sequoia India renames itself as Peak XV Partners; to operate independently

The rebranding happened after Sequoia Capital (US/Europe), Sequoia China and Sequoia India and Southeast Asia decided to become independent firms with distinct brands

Allow Indians to work on US defence projects, says venture capitalist

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US, an eminent Indian-American venture capitalist has said Indians should be allowed to work on US defense projects as it would give a big boost to the bilateral ties and reduce the cost of innovation in the US defense sector. Prime Minister Modi, when he comes here, should ask for that, said Venkatesh Shukla, general partner, Monta Vista Capital, and former TiE Global chairperson. Opening up of the US defense sector for Indian software companies would help reduce the security vulnerabilities of the US defense sector, would give a big boost to bilateral ties, boost the innovation ecosystem in India and reduce the cost of innovation in the US defense sector, he asserted. "One area that is huge here. It's completely untapped by India, and that area is ..it's software for the Department of Defense and all the critical infrastructure," Shukla told PTI in an interview. The former chairman of TiE Global said the critical ...

Proposed angel tax norms: Start-ups may get a funding boost, say top VCs

They said the proposed norms aim to expand valuation methodologies and eliminate price differentials between resident and non-resident investors

Speed Kitchen raises undisclosed amount in funding led by Inflection Point

Cloud kitchen services provider Speed Kitchen has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures with participation from high net-worth individuals and angel investors. The kitchen-as-a-service provider for delivery-focused brands will use the funds for expansion and swell the footprint pan-India. Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) has so far invested over Rs 550 crore across over 170 deals. "We at Speed Kitchen are aiming to become the leading Cloud Kitchen infrastructure in the Indian market, the first step of which is to expand to 20-plus locations and cross 200 operational kitchens by the end of FY23-24," Paurav Rastogi, Founder of Speed Kitchen, said. At a CAGR of 39 per cent, the cloud kitchen industry has been valued at USD 800 million in FY22, which is expected to reach USD 1.9 billion by 2026.

Foreign VC investors cut telecom allocations by 97% since 2018-19

Overall investment across sectors remains higher in 2022-23 than before

Stride Ventures raises $100 mn for onlending to new-age companies

Stride Ventures, which provides debt capital to new-age companies, on Tuesday said it has raised USD 100 million (about Rs 820 crore) for onlending. This is the first close of the third venture debt fund by the firm, and the company is targeting to raise another USD 100 million as part of the fund, as per a statement. The first close was achieved within four months of getting a license for the third fund, the statement said, adding institutional investors -- including banks, insurance companies and family offices -- have backed the fund. The company counts on over 100 clients, including Sugar Cosmetics, Mensa Brands, Exotel and has so far sanctioned over Rs 5,000 crore to the Indian startup ecosystem, it said. The company statement said the Indian venture debt market is expected to witness an annual deployment of over USD 3 billion by 2025. "We see a growing demand for venture debt as startups look to optimise their capital structure and preserve equity for future rounds," its ...

Venture capital investments down 70% across globe in Q1CY23: KPMG study

Despite the current slowdown, macro factors in India remained stronger than elsewhere, driving optimism that the country will see a bounce back in VC investment in H2 of 2023

India gets over $60 bn in PE-VC investments for third year straight: Report

Country 'bright spot' in Asia Pacific region where capital flow is decelerating, it says