The Indian equities market remained under pressure for the second consecutive week amid the start of the Q2 earnings season. While the broader market saw a decline this week, new-age tech stocks witnessed a positive week. Seventeen of the 28 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage gained in a range of 0.02% to under 15% this week.

NSE Emerge-listed blockchain and IT development startup Yudiz emerged as the biggest gainer this week, with its shares jumping 14.51% to INR 64.70. 

Other gainers this week included fintech major Paytm, Awfis, FirstCry, Zomato, Menhood, IndiaMART InterMESH, among others. 

Interestingly, Nykaa ended the week flat at INR 192. During the week, the beauty ecommerce giant projected its revenue to grow in the “mid-twenties” in Q2 FY25. It also began its foray into the quick commerce segment with the launch of a 10-minute delivery pilot in some parts of Mumbai.

Meanwhile, shares of 10 startups ended the week in the red, dropping in a range of 0.10% to just under 9%. Ola Electric emerged as the biggest loser this week, with its shares falling 8.94% to INR 90.19. Zaggle, TAC Infosec, PB Fintech, Nazara Technologies, Yatra, and MapmyIndia were among the other losers this week.

In the broader market, Sensex ended the week 0.73% lower at 81,381.36 and Nifty 50 fell 0.46% to 24,964.25. 

Geojit Financial Services’ head of research Vinod Nair said that there is a bearish sentiment due to subdued estimates for Q2 earnings. 

“The Indian market is currently in a phase of consolidation due to premium valuations and a subdued outlook for Q2 results. In contrast, FIIs are capitalising on arbitrage opportunities in the Chinese markets, driven by stimulus measures and low valuations,” he added. 

During the week, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept the interest rates unchanged. However, it changed its stance to “Neutral” even as the key focus remains on inflation.

“Looking at the current geopolitical scenario, the RBI had little choice but to remain focused on inflation and balanced growth at the same time. By keeping the repo rates unchanged and shifting from ‘accommodation’ to ‘neutral’, the MPC has taken a very calculated stance and is being watchful,” Bajaj Broking’s managing director Manish Jain said. 

Meanwhile, the initial public offering (IPO) space for new-age tech companies was buzzing with activities this week as well. While Flipkart-backed logistics startup BlackBuck received SEBI’s go ahead for its INR 550 Cr IPO, Inc42 learnt that B2B marketplace unicorn Zetwerk has also initiated initial discussions with investment banker JP Morgan for an IPO. Meanwhile, edtech startup PhysicsWallah roped in Axis Capital, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan as the bankers for its proposed IPO next year. 

Now, let’s take a deeper look at the performance of the new-age tech stocks this week. 

The total market capitalisation of the 28 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage grew to $81.48 Bn at the end of this week from $80.85 Bn last week.

Controversies Hit Ola Electric’s Ride

The share prices of two-wheeler EV major Ola Electric took a hit this week as the company found itself amid controversies and a lot of scrutiny. Ola Electric’s shares ended nearly 9% lower this week, with its market capitalisation falling to $4.72 Bn. 

Ola Electric was in the news this week for: 

• Last Sunday, Ola Electric founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal engaged in a social media spat with comedian Kunal Kamra on the latter’s comments on the after-sales services of the former.
• Following this, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued a show cause notice to Ola Electric for alleged violation of consumer rights, misleading advertisement and unfair trade practices.
• The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) asked the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to verify if the EV maker is honouring warranties and maintaining the requisite service centres.

Despite the issues, brokerages remain bullish on the company. Goldman Sachs has a ‘Buy’ rating on the stock, with a price target of INR 160. BofA Securities also initiated its coverage on the company with a ‘buy’ rating and a price target of INR 145.

Another Strong Week For Paytm

Continuing on the recovery path, shares of Paytm briefly crossed the INR 750 mark this week after many months. The stock ended the week at INR 724.15, up 4.16% week-on-week. With this, its market cap also touched $5.48 Bn.

The upswing came after CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma reiterated the fintech giant’s commitment to its core consumer payments business. Sharma said that Paytm will look to reinvest in the consumer payments business segment. 

“Payments remain our primary business, and the merchant side continues to be strong. However, we lost a significant consumer base due to regulatory constraints. Moving forward, we aim to reinvest in the consumer payments business area,” he said at a CII event on Monday. 

A day after his comments, Paytm shares surged over 15% to INR 753.60 on October 8.

The company’s decision to sell its entertainment ticketing business to Zomato for INR 2,048 Cr is expected to provide it the necessary capital to streamline operations and reinvest resources.

Earlier in October, Paytm also reaffirmed its plans to double down on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). As part of this, it recently announced the appointment of its payments CTO Manmeet Dhody as ‘AI Fellow’ to drive projects related to AI innovation in business. It also elevated senior VP of Technology Deependra Singh Rathore as its new payments CTO. 

EaseMyTrip Mulls Issue Of Bonus Shares 

Shares of travel tech startup EaseMyTrip touched a fresh 52-week low of INR 31.10 during the intraday trading on October 7. However, the stock gained later in the week to end at INR 34.20, a gain of 2.67% from the previous week. Its market capitalisation stood at $0.72 Bn at the end of the week. 

The gains come after the startup said its board will consider an issue of bonus shares on Monday (October 14).

With the announcement, EaseMyTrip ended the downward spiral which began at the end of the last month, when CEO Prashant Pitti divested a significant stake in the startup. On September 25, he sold 16.91 Cr shares for INR 37.22 apiece, 6.73 Cr shares for INR 37.42 per share, and 1 Cr shares for INR 38.28 apiece. With this, his ownership in the travel tech startup declined to around 14%, nearly half of the 28% at the end of the June quarter. 

EaseMyTrip has issued bonus shares twice in the past. In February 2022, the company issued bonus equity shares in a 1:1 ratio. Later, in October 2022, the board approved the issuance of bonus shares in a 3:1 ratio, along with a stock split.

The post New-Age Tech Stocks Gain Despite Decline In Broader Market, Yudiz Biggest Gainer This Week appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The world’s third largest startup ecosystem has been in the midst of a raging funding winter for a couple of years now. As investors tightened their purse strings, the Indian startup ecosystem has had to go through a lot of pain, which included thousands of employees losing their jobs. 

This was especially true for the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24), when the funding drought peaked. Far from the capital boom of 2021, when fear of missing out (FOMO) among investors drove a valuation bubble, FY23 and FY24 turned out to be a reality check for the startup ecosystem as many shut shop while others took the debt route to extend their runways. 

However, not everything was doom and gloom. The struggle of the funding winter brought with it sanity in valuations and forced startups to cut their expenses to chart a profitable growth. This trend was evident in the financial statements of Indian startups in FY23 and seems to have continued in FY24 as well.

Of the 53 startups that have released their financial statements for FY24 so far, 31 ended the year with profitable numbers. Their cumulative profit stood at INR 4,159.4 Cr. 

The likes of Zomato, PB Fintech, Honasa and Milk Mantra turned profitable during the year under review.

Meanwhile, the remaining 22 startups posted a cumulative loss of INR 10,125.1 Cr, with just Paytm and Ola Electric accounting for more than INR 3,000 Cr of this loss figure. However, it needs to be highlighted that many of these startups were also able to cut their losses in FY24.

In terms of top line, the 53 startups posted a cumulative operating revenue of over INR 1 Lakh Cr (INR 1,30,288.77 Cr to be precise) in the year ended March 2024. 

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the financial performance of some of these startups in FY24. 

Editor’s Note: This list is not a ranking of any kind, we have placed the companies alphabetically. This is a running list and will be updated periodically.

Inside The FY24 Financials Of Indian Startups

Note: All amount in INR Cr

[SC/]

*refers to net earned premium (GWP)

Avanse’s Profit Crosses INR 300 Cr Mark

IPO-bound non-banking financial company Avanse Financial Services posted a profit of INR 342.4 Cr in FY24, a jump of 117% from INR 157.7 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Operating revenue also jumped 74.5% to INR 1,727 Cr in FY24 from INR 989.6 Cr in the previous year. 

Its IPO will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth INR 1,000 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) component of shares worth up to INR 2,500 Cr. It plans to use the IPO proceeds to increase its capital base to fuel further expansion of its business.

Read More: IPO-Bound Avanse’s PAT Doubles To INR 342.4 Cr In FY24, Operating Revenue Surges 74%

Ather Energy’s Loss Crosses INR 1,000 Cr Mark

IPO-bound Ather Energy’s operating revenue declined 1.5% to INR 1,753.8 Cr in FY24 from INR 1,780.9 Cr in the previous fiscal year. On the other hand, its net loss widened over 22% to INR 1,059.7 Cr from INR 864.5 Cr in FY23.

Total expenses in FY24 stood at INR 2,674.2 Cr, rising marginally from INR 2,666.3 Cr in the previous year.

Read More: Ather Energy FY24: Revenue Declines On Reduction In FAME-II Subsidy, Loss Up 22% To INR 1,060 Cr

Awfis’ Loss Narrows 

Coworking space startup Awfis managed to reduce its loss to INR 17.75 Cr in FY24, a 62% decline from INR 46.6 Cr in the previous year. Though the startup was in loss for the entire fiscal year, it turned profitable in Q4 FY24. It posted a profit of INR 1.4 Cr in Q4 FY24. 

In terms of revenue, Awfis’ operating revenue jumped 55.6% to INR 848.8 Cr in FY24 from INR 545.2 Cr in the previous year. In Q4 FY24, the startup’s operating revenue jumped over 45% YoY to INR 232.4 Cr. 

Awfis went public in May this year. Its IPO comprised a fresh issue of shares worth INR 128 Cr and an OFS component of up to 1.23 Cr shares. Peak XV Partners and Bisque Limited were among the investors who sold shares via the OFS. 

Read More: Awfis Turns Profitable In Q4 With INR 1.4 Cr PAT, Operating Revenue Jumps 45% YoY

BlackBuck’s Loss Falls Below INR 200 Cr Mark

IPO-bound BlackBuck managed to lower its loss by over 30% in the financial year ended March 31, 2024. The logistics startup incurred a net loss of INR 194 Cr, a decline of 33% from INR 290.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

The Flipkart-backed startup’s operating revenue zoomed 69% to INR 296.9 Cr in FY24 from INR 175.6 Cr in FY23. It primarily earns revenue by offering payments services, telematics, load marketplace, and vehicle financing services on its platform. 

The logistics unicorn’s IPO will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth INR 550 Cr and an OFS component of up to 2.16 Cr shares (2,16,09,022 to be precise). 

Read More: IPO-Bound BlackBuck Narrows Loss By 33% To INR 194 Cr In FY24

BlueStone’s Loss Narrows By 15% To INR 142 Cr

Omnichannel jewellery brand BlueStone managed to narrow its loss by almost 15% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 142.2 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 167.2 Cr in the previous year. 

Its operating revenue surpassed the INR 1,000 Cr mark during the year under review. Revenue from operations surged over 64% to INR 1,265.8 Cr in FY24 from INR 770.7 Cr in the previous year. 

Total expenditure rose 51.4% to INR 1,445.7 Cr from INR 955.1 Cr in FY23.

Read More: BlueStone FY24: Revenue Surpasses INR 1,000 Cr Mark, Loss Narrows 15% To INR 142.2 Cr

CaratLane’s Revenue Breaches INR 3,000 Cr Mark

The Tata-owned omnichannel jewellery startup reported a 42% jump in its operating revenue to INR 3,080 Cr in FY24 from INR 2,169 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

However, net profit declined nearly 5% to INR 78.59 Cr during the under review from INR 82.08 Cr in FY23 due to rise in advertising and “miscellaneous” expenses. 

CaratLane FY24: Profit Declines 5% To INR 79 Cr, Revenue Crosses INR 3,000 Cr Mark

CarTrade’s Profit Halves 

Used car marketplace startup CarTrade saw its profit fall 50% to INR 20 Cr in FY24 from INR 40 Cr in the previous fiscal year. The decline in the loss could be attributed to the startup’s acquisition of Sobek Auto India, comprising OLX Autos C2B business and OLX classifieds business, for INR 535.54 Cr.

CarTrade reported an operating revenue of INR 489.9 Cr in FY24 as against INR 363.7 Cr in the previous year.  

Read More: CarTrade Back In The Black With INR 25 Cr PAT In Q4; Revenue Jumps 38% YoY

Delhivery’s Loss Narrows By 75% 

Delhi NCR-based Delhivery posted a 75% decrease in its loss in FY24. The logistics unicorn reported a loss of INR 249 Cr during the year as against INR 1,007 Cr in FY23. 

Operating revenue stood at INR 8,141 Cr in FY24, an increase of 12.6% from INR 7,225 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

The startup also reduced its advertising expenses to INR 16 Cr from INR 22 Cr in FY24. 

Read More: After A Profitable Q3, Delhivery Posts INR 69 Cr Loss In Q4 FY24

DevX Turns Profitable In FY24

IPO-bound coworking space provider DevX posted a net profit of INR 43.7 Lakh in FY24 as against a net loss of INR 12.83 Cr in the previous fiscal. 

The startup’s operating revenue zoomed 55% to INR 108.08 Cr during the year under review from INR 69.91 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

The coworking space provider’s total expenses rose 37% to INR 119.50 Cr in FY24 from INR 87.49 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Read More: IPO-Bound DevX Posts INR 44 Lakh Profit In FY24

DroneAcharya’s Profit Doubles

Pune-based drone startup DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations reported a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of INR 6.2 Cr in FY24, almost double of INR 3.42 Cr profit it posted in the previous fiscal year.

DroneAcharya’s operating revenue increased nearly 90% to INR 35.19 Cr in FY24 from INR 18.56 Cr in FY23. The startup attributed this increase to the company’s steady and consistent growth as a drone solution provider and a drone training organisation.

Read More: DroneAcharya’s Net Profit Doubles To INR 6.2 Cr In FY24, Operating Revenue Jumps 90%

EaseMyTrip’s Revenue Inches Closer To INR 600 Cr Mark

Online ticketing platform EaseMyTrip saw its revenue rise 32% to INR 591 Cr from INR 488.8 Cr in FY23, driven by an increase in sales of air tickets. 

Despite the increase in revenue, the startup’s profit took a hit. EaseMyTrip’s profit fell 23% to INR 103.4 Cr in FY24 from INR 134 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Increase in advertising expenses was among the reasons for the decrease in profit.

Read More: EaseMyTrip Q4: Incurs Loss Of INR 15 Cr Due To One-Time Expenses

Ecom Express Sees Its Loss Decline 67%

IPO-bound logistics startup Ecom Express managed to reduce its net loss by 67% to INR 255.8 Cr in FY24 from INR 428.1 Cr in FY23.

The startup’s operating revenue saw a marginal 2.15% increase to INR 2,609 Cr in FY24 from INR 2,553.9 Cr in the previous fiscal year, as per its DRHP. Total expenses rose marginally by 0.64% to INR 2,921.5 Cr in  FY24, from INR 2,902.8 Cr.

Read More: Ecom Express FY24: IPO-Bound Startup’s Loss Narrows 67% To INR 255.8 Cr

Fasal’s Revenue Surges Nearly 90%

Agritech startup Fasal’s revenue from operations grew 89% to INR 34.1 Cr in FY24 from INR 18 Cr in FY23. Including other income, Fasal’s total revenue grew nearly 90% to INR 35.5 Cr in FY24 from INR 18.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Meanwhile, total expenses rose 34% to INR 69.5 Cr during the year under review from INR 51.6 Cr in FY23. 

Loss increased 6% to INR 34 Cr from INR 32 Cr in FY23. 

Read More: Agritech Startup Fasal’s FY24 Revenue Jumps 89% to INR 34.1 Cr

Fino Payments Bank’s Profit Jumps Over 30%

Mumbai-based Fino Payments Bank’s operating revenue jumped 20% to INR 1,478.3 Cr in FY24 from INR 1,229.9 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Its expenses also grew almost in line with revenue. Total expenses stood at INR 1,391.5 Cr in FY24, up 19% from INR 1,164.8Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Fino’s net profit zoomed 32% to INR 86.2 Cr from INR 65 Cr in FY23. 

Read More: Fino Payments Bank Q4: Net Profit Rises 14% YoY To INR 25.21 Cr

FirstCry’s Loss Declines Over 30% 

Ahead of its IPO, kids-focussed omnichannel retailer FirstCry managed to reduce its net loss by 34% to INR 321.5 Cr in FY24 from INR 486 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Its operating revenue increased 15% to INR 6,480.8 Cr during the year under review from INR 5,632.5 Cr in FY23. Expenses rose 9.2% to INR 6,896.6 Cr from INR 6,315.7 Cr in FY23. 

FirstCry made its public market debut in August. Its shares listed at INR 651 on the NSE, a premium of 40% over its issue price of INR 549.

Read More: FirstCry FY24: Loss Narrows 34%, Revenue Crosses INR 6K Cr Mark Ahead Of IPO

Go Digit’s Profit Zooms 5X

Insurtech startup Go Digit posted strong results with a 400% jump in its profit after tax (PAT) to INR 182 Cr in FY24 from INR 36 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

With the sharp growth in health, travel, and personal accident premiums, Go Digit’s total gross written premium (GWP) increased 24.5% to INR 9,016 Cr from INR 7,243 Cr in FY23.

Net earned premium rose over 37% to INR 7,096 Cr in FY24 from INR 5,164 Cr in FY23.

Read More: Go Digit FY24: PAT Jumps Over 5X To INR 182 Cr, GWP At INR 9,016 Cr

Mamaearth Turns Profitable In FY24

Honasa Consumer Ltd, the parent entity of D2C unicorn Mamaearth, returned to the black during the year under review. After posting a net loss of INR 150.9 Cr in FY23, the startup minted a profit of INR 110.5 Cr in FY24. 

Operating revenue rose 28.6% to INR 1,919.9 Cr from INR 1,492.7 Cr in FY23. Total expenditure jumped 21.3% to INR 1,822.4 Cr in FY24 from INR 1,501.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Read More: Honasa FY24: Mamaearth Parent Turns Profitable For Full Fiscal Year

ideaForge’s Profit Nears INR 50 Cr Mark 

ideaForge reported its third consecutive profitable fiscal as the drone maker clocked a net profit of INR 47.8 Cr in the fiscal ended March 2024. This was an increase of almost 50% from INR 31.9 Cr. Its profit stood at INR 44 Cr in FY22. 

Operating revenue also soared more than 70% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 186 Cr during the year under review.

Meanwhile, expenses zoomed 81% to INR 282.9 Cr in FY24 from INR 155.6 Cr in the previous year. 

Read More: ideaForge PAT Slips 30% QoQ To INR 10.3 Cr In Q4

InCred’s Profit Surges 2.6X 

The fintech startup’s operating revenue crossed the INR 1,000 Cr mark during the year under review. InCred saw its top line grow nearly 47% to INR 1,270 Cr in FY24 from INR 864.6 Cr in FY23.

Meanwhile, profit soared 162% to INR 316.3 Cr from INR 120.9 Cr in FY23. Rising finance costs and employee benefit expenses pushed up InCred’s total expenses by over 37% YoY to INR 871.3 Cr during the fiscal year under review. 

Read More: InCred FY24: Profit More Than Doubles To INR 316.3 Cr, Revenue Crosses INR 1,000 Cr Mark

IndiaMART’s Revenue Crosses INR 1,000 Cr Mark

The B2B ecommerce major posted a 17% rise in its net profit to INR 334 Cr in FY24 from INR 283 Cr in the year-ago period. 

Operating revenue jumped 21% to INR 1,196 Cr in the fiscal ended March 2024 from INR 985 Cr in FY23. On similar lines, total expenses also rose 20% to INR 910.7 Cr in FY24 from INR 756.7 Cr in the previous fiscal year. This increase in expenditure was largely attributable to a sharp jump in employee benefit costs, which rose 27% YoY to INR 507 Cr during the year under review. 

Read More: IndiaMART Q4: Profit Surges 78% YoY To INR 99.6 Cr

ixigo’s Profit Triples 

Online travel aggregator ixigo had a bumper year as its net profit more than tripled to INR 73.1 Cr from INR 23.4 Cr in FY23. 

The travel tech major’s operating revenue increased almost 31% to INR 655.9 Cr in the reported fiscal year from INR 501.2 Cr in FY23. This came largely on the back of broad-based growth across its business verticals and healthy uptick in annual active users. 

Total expenditure jumped almost 30% YoY to INR 627.8 Cr in FY24.

Le Travenues Technology, the parent company of the travel tech startup, made a stellar debut on the stock exchanges in June 2024 and listed at INR 138.10 per share on the BSE, a 48.5% premium from the issue price of INR 93. 

Read More: ixigo FY24: Profit Jumps Over 200% To INR 73.1 Cr, Train Bookings Biggest Revenue Source

Josh Talks Trims Loss By 25%

Delhi NCR-based media and entertainment startup Josh Talks pruned its loss by 25% in FY24 to INR 9.88 Cr from INR 13.21 Cr loss it incurred in the previous fiscal year.

Revenue from operations rose 2% to INR 18.71 Cr from INR 18.29 Cr in FY23. Including other income of INR 65.40 Lakh, the startup’s total revenue for the fiscal stood at INR 19.37 Cr. This number was 3% higher than the INR 18.80 Cr total revenue for FY23. 

The startup also managed to lower its total expenditure by 9% to INR 29.2 Cr in FY24 from INR 32 Cr. 

Read More: Josh Talks FY24: Losses Come Down 25% To INR 9.8 Cr, Revenue Up 2%

MapmyIndia’s Profit Jumps 25% 

Geotech company MapmyIndia reported a profit of INR 134.4 Cr in FY24, up 25% from INR 107.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Operating revenue rose more than 34% to INR 379 in the year ended March 2024 from INR 281 Cr in FY23. Meanwhile, total expenditure increased 36% YoY to INR 240.9 Cr on the back of a sharp rise in other expenses, which rose 73%.

Read More: MapmyIndia’s Q4 PAT Jumps 35% YoY To INR 38 Cr

Milk Mantra Back In The Black

Bhubaneswar-based dairy tech startup Milk Mantra turned profitable in FY24, posting a net profit of INR 9.8 Cr as against a net loss of INR 12.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year. It is pertinent to note that the startup slipped into the red for the first time in FY23 after eight straight years of profitability. 

Operating revenue stood at INR 276.4 Cr in FY24, a marginal increase of 1.3% from INR 272.9 Cr in FY23.

 In terms of expenditure, the startup’s total cost fell a little over 7% to INR 269.1 Cr in FY24 from INR 289.5 Cr in the previous year. 

Read More: Milk Mantra Back In The Black With INR 9.8 Cr Profit In FY24, But Growth Remains Muted

Minimalist’s Profit Jumps 2X In FY24

D2C skincare brand Minimalist’s net profit more than doubled to INR 10.9 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 5.2 Cr in FY23, on the back of a strong growth in its top line.

The Rajasthan-based startup’s revenue from operations surged 89% to INR 347.4 Cr during the year under review from INR 183.8 Cr in FY23.

Expenditure rose largely in line with the growth in its sales. Total expenses jumped 84% to INR 331.7 Cr in FY24 from INR 180.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Read More: D2C Brand Minimalist’s FY24 Profit Doubles To INR 10.9 Cr, Revenue Up 1.9X YoY

Navi Finserv’s Operating Revenue Takes Hit 

Navi Finserv’s consolidated operating revenue fell 6.6% to INR 1,906.2 Cr in FY24 from INR 2,040.6 Cr in FY23. The startup’s profit from continued operations also slipped 41% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 155.6 Cr in FY24. 

It is pertinent to mention that Navi Finserv divested its entire holding in microfinance subsidiary Chaitanya India Fin Credit Private Ltd during the year under review. Including profit from discontinued operations, its net profit more than doubled to INR 545.1 Cr in FY24 from INR 264.2 Cr.

Total expenses saw a marginal increase to INR 1,750.4 Cr in the reported year from INR 1,743.9 Cr in FY23, with finance cost alone comprising over 37% of its total spending.

Read More: Navi Finserv FY24: Revenue Falls 6.6% To INR 1,906 Cr, Profit Down 41% YoY

Nazara’s Profit Increases By Over 20% 

Gaming major Nazara Technologies reported an operating revenue of INR 1,138.2 Cr during the year under review. This was an increase of 4.3% from INR 1,091 Cr in FY23. 

Profit jumped 21.7% to INR 74.7 Cr from INR 61.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Nazara’s total expenses stood at INR 1,112.4 Cr in FY24, an increase of 5.7% from INR 1,051.7 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Read More: Nazara Q4: Profit Shrinks To INR 18 Lakh, Operating Revenue Declines To INR 266.2 Cr

Nykaa Nearly Doubles Its Profit 

Fashion ecommerce startup Nykaa reported an operating revenue of INR 6,358.6 Cr in FY24, 23.6% higher than INR 5,143.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Its profit increased 89.5% to INR 40 Cr in FY24 from INR 21.1 Cr in FY23. 

The Falguni Nayar-led unicorn’s total expenditure grew 23.5% to INR 6,346.5 Cr in FY24 from INR 5,135.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Read More: Nykaa FY24: Despite Q4 Slide, Profit Rises By 80% For Full Fiscal Year

OfBusiness’ Revenue Crosses INR 19,000 Cr Mark

B2B marketplace OfBusiness’ consolidated operating revenue surged over 25% to INR 19,296.3 Cr FY24 from INR 15,342.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Net profit increased by over 30% to INR 602 Cr from INR 463 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Total expenses jumped 24.3% to INR 18,695.7 Cr in FY24 from INR 15,037.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Read More: OfBusiness FY24: Profit Surges Over 30% To Cross INR 600 Cr Mark

Ola Electric Breaches INR 5,000 Cr Revenue Mark

Recently listed two-wheeler EV startup Ola Electric reported a 90% jump in its revenue to INR 5,010 Cr in FY24 from INR 2,630 Cr in the previous year, on the back of increase in sales of its EV scooters. 

The Bhavish Aggarwal-led startup also managed to cap the increase in loss ahead of its IPO. Its net loss rose 7% to INR 1,584.4 Cr in FY24 from INR 1,472 Cr in the previous year. Employee benefit expenses increased to INR 439 Cr from INR 427 Cr in FY23. 

Read More: IPO-Bound Ola Electric’s FY24 Net Loss Widens To INR 1,584 Cr, Revenue Jumps 90%

OPEN’s Revenue Slumps To INR 25 Cr

Neobanking startup OPEN’s operating revenue declined 17% to INR 24.8 Cr in FY24 from INR 29.9 Cr in FY23.

Including other income, the startup’s total revenue declined 13% to INR 46.1 Cr from INR 53.1 Cr in FY23. 

With the decline in revenue, the Temasek-backed startup’s net loss also reduced 30% to INR 170 Cr during the year under review from INR 242.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Total expenditure fell 34% to INR 194.6 Cr in FY24 from INR 296.5 Cr in FY23. 

Read More: OPEN Spent INR 195 Cr To Earn INR 25 Cr Revenue In FY24

Oxyzo’s Profit Rises To Almost INR 300 Cr

Fintech unicorn Oxyzo, led by couple Ruchi Kalra and Asish Mohapatra, reported a 47% rise in profit to INR 290 Cr in FY24 from INR 198 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Operating revenue zoomed 58% to INR 903.3 Cr from INR 569.9 Cr in FY23. Oxyzo primarily earns revenue from the interest it earns by offering loans to small and medium enterprises.

Read More: Fintech Unicorn Oxyzo’s Profit Zooms 47% To INR 290 Cr In FY24

OYO Turns Profitable With INR 229 Cr PAT As Employee Costs Halve

IPO-bound OYO posted a net profit of INR 229.5 Cr during the year as against a net loss of INR 1,286.5 Cr in the previous financial year. 

However, its operating revenue remained almost flat during the year under review. Revenue from operations stood at INR 5,388.7 Cr in FY24, a decline of 1.3% from INR 5,463.9 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

The startup managed to reduce its total expenditure by 16% to INR 5,725.7 Cr in FY24 from INR 6,799.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Read More: OYO Turns Profitable With INR 229 Cr PAT In FY24 As Employee Costs Halve

Paytm’s Revenue Nears INR 10K Cr Mark

Troubled fintech giant Paytm posted a revenue of INR 9,977.8 Cr in FY24, an increase of 24.8% from INR 7,990.3 Cr in the previous year. It also managed to narrow its loss by 19.3% to INR 1,422.4 Cr from INR 1,775.6 Cr in FY23. 

However, it needs to be mentioned that the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company’s revenue is likely to take a hit in FY25 due to the RBI’s crackdown on Paytm Payments Bank. 

Read More: Paytm Q4: Net loss Widens To INR 550 Cr

PB Fintech Operating Revenue Crosses INR 3,000 Cr Mark

PB Fintech, the parent company of insurance tech platform PolicyBazaar, saw its revenue cross the INR 3,000 Cr mark in FY24. Its operating revenue rose 34.4% to INR 3,437.6 Cr during the year under review from INR 2,557.8 Cr in FY23. 

The company also turned profitable, posting a profit of INR 64.61 Cr during the year under review compared to a loss of INR 487.9 Cr in FY23. 

Read More: PB Fintech Stock Goes Through Market Swings After Reporting Profitable Q4 FY24

Porter’s Loss Declines 45% To INR 96 Cr 

The Peak XV Partners-backed startup’s loss declined 45% to INR 95.7 Cr in FY24 from INR 174.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Operating revenue zoomed 56% to INR 2,733.7 Cr in FY24 from INR 1,737.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

The startup’s total expenditure rose 46% to INR 2,862.1 Cr during the year under review from INR 1,964 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Read More: Porter FY24: Loss Declines 45% To INR 96 Cr, Revenue Crosses INR 2,500 Cr Mark

Purplle’s FY24 Sales Zoom 43% To INR 680 Cr 

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA)-backed unicorn reported an operating revenue of INR 679.6 Cr in FY24, an increase of 43% from INR 475 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Purplle’s total expenditure rose only 15% year-on-year. Its expenses stood at INR 849.6 Cr in FY24 as against INR 738.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Purplle managed to reduce its cash burn during the year under review, as a result of which its net loss plummeted 46% to INR 124.1 Cr from INR 230 Cr in FY23.

Read More: Purplle’s FY24 Sales Zoom 43% To INR 680 Cr, Loss Almost Halves

RateGain’s Profit More Than Doubles 

Traveltech company RateGain’s consolidated profit after tax jumped 114% to INR 146.3 Cr in FY24 from INR 68.4 Cr in FY23. Its operating revenue zoomed 69% to INR 957 Cr during the year under review from INR 565 Cr in FY23

Employee benefit expenses increased to INR 380 Cr from INR 252.7 Cr in FY23, indicating an increase in employee count. 

Read More: RateGain FY24 Results: Profits More Than Double To INR 146 Cr

Rebel Foods’ Loss Narrows By 42%

Cloud kitchen unicorn Rebel Foods narrowed its net loss by 42% to INR 378.2 Cr in FY24 from INR 656.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year. The Faasos-parent trimmed its loss on the back of an increase in its top line and controlled expenses.

Rebel Foods’ operating revenue jumped 19% to INR 1,420.2 Cr in FY24 from INR 1,195.2 Cr in FY23. Total expenses increased marginally by 1.6% to INR 1,857 Cr from INR 1827 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Read More: Rebel Foods FY24: Net Loss Nearly Halves To INR 378 Cr, Revenue Up 19% YoY

IPO-Bound Smartworks’ Loss Falls 51% 

IPO-bound coworking space provider Smartworks’ net loss narrowed 51% to INR 49.8 Cr in FY24 from INR 101.02 Cr in the previous fiscal year. The startup, which recently filed its DRHP to raise over INR 550 Cr via its IPO, saw its operating revenue jump 46% to INR 1,039.4 Cr during the year under review from INR 711.4 Cr in FY23. 

Total expenditure increased 34% to INR 1,180.7 Cr from INR 880.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Read More: Smartworks DRHP: FY24 Loss Declines 51% To INR 50 Cr, Revenue Crosses INR 1,000 Cr Mark

Swiggy’s FY24 Revenue Crosses INR 10K Mark

IPO-bound Swiggy managed to narrow its loss by 44% to INR 2,350 Cr in FY24 from INR 4,179.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Operating revenue stood at INR 11,247.3 Cr, up 1.3X from INR 8,264.5 Cr in FY23. 

The IPO-bound company managed to control the rise in its expenses during the year. Its total expenditure grew a mere 8% to INR 13,947.3 Cr from INR 12,884.3 Cr in FY23.

Read More: Swiggy DRHP: Revenue Crosses INR 10,000 Cr Mark In FY24, Loss Almost Halves

TAC Infosec Reports INR 6 Cr Profit

SaaS cybersecurity startup TAC Infosec reported a net profit of INR 6.33 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), a 23% jump from INR 5.12 Cr in FY23. 

Operating revenue rose 17% to INR 11.84 Cr during the year under review from INR 10.09 Cr in FY23.

Total expenditure for the fiscal stood at INR 5.49 Cr, an increase of 10% from the INR 4.97 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Read More: SaaS Cybersecurity Startup TAC Infosec’s FY24 Profit Rises 23% To INR 6.3 Cr

Tata 1mg Narrows Its Loss By 75% 

The Bengaluru-based startup’s net loss narrowed 75% to INR 313 Cr in FY24 from INR 1,254.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

The startup, which primarily earns revenue from sales of medicines, and offering lab and diagnostics test services, saw its operating revenue rise 21% to INR 1,967.7 Cr during the year under review from INR 1,627 Cr in FY23.

It managed to cut its total expenditure by 20% to INR 2,302.7 Cr in FY24 from INR 2,893.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Read More: Tata 1mg FY24: Loss Declines 75% To INR 313 Cr On Business Growth, Fall In Expenses

TBO Tek Posts INR 200 Cr Profit 

B2B travel portal TBO Tek, which made a strong market debut in 2024, reported a 35% increase in its net profit to INR 200 Cr in FY24 from INR 148.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Operating revenue jumped 31% to INR 1,392.8 Cr from INR 1,064 Cr in FY23. 

Employee benefit expense rose to INR 277.3 Cr during the year under review from INR 228.3 Cr in FY23.

TBO Tek made its public market debut in May. The stock listed at INR 1,426 on the NSE, a premium of 55% to its issue price of INR 920. Similarly, the stock listed at INR 1,380 on the BSE, a premium of 50% to its issue price.

Read More: TBO Tek Q1: Profit Jumps 29% YoY To INR 61 Cr, Revenue Up 21%

Tracxn’s Profit Tanks In FY24

In what was a sombre fiscal for Tracxn, the market intelligence platform saw its net profit shrink by more than 80% to INR 6.5 Cr in FY24 from INR 33 Cr in the year-ago period. 

Tracxn’s operating revenue rose nearly 6% to INR 82.70 Cr during the year under review from INR 78.10 Cr in FY23.

Tracxn FY24 Results: Profits Shrink By 80% For Full Year

Trust Fintech’s Profit Triples 

The fintech SaaS company’s net profit zoomed 210% to INR 12.5 Cr in FY24 from INR 4 Cr in the previous fiscal year, on the back of a healthy growth in its top line.

The company, which made its public market debut in April 2024, saw its operating revenue jump 55.4% YoY to INR 35 Cr during the fiscal year ended March 2024.

Trust Fintech’s Net Profit Jumps 3X To INR 12.5 Cr In FY24

WROGN’s Operating Revenue Slumps 29%

Virat Kohli and Accel-backed youth fashion brand WROGN’s operating revenue slumped 29% to INR 243.8 Cr in FY24 from INR 344.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Including other income, total income declined 27% to INR 264.7 Cr in FY24 from INR 361.3 Cr in FY23.

Despite the decline in revenue, WROGN’s net loss rose 28% to INR 56.8 Cr during the year under review from INR 44.3 Cr in FY23.

Read More: Virat Kohli-Backed WROGN’s FY24 Revenue Falls 29% To INR 244 Cr, Loss Up 28%

IPO-Bound Zappfresh’s Profit Rises 70% 

The IPO-bound D2C meat delivery startup reported a 70% jump in its net profit to INR 4.7 Cr during the fiscal ended March 2024 from INR 2.7 Cr in FY23. 

As per its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), Zappfresh’s operating revenue zoomed over 60% to INR 90.4 Cr in FY24 from INR 56.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Zappfresh DRHP: Revenue Surges 60% To INR 90 Cr In FY24, Profit Jumps 70%

Edited By: Vinaykumar Rai
Last Updated: 12 Oct, 6:30 PM IST

The post Indian Startup FY24 Financials Tracker: Tracking The Financial Performance Of Top Startups appeared first on Inc42 Media.

After a significant drop in funding trends leading into the month of October, investor sentiment picked up slightly in the second week of the month. Indian startups raised $114 Mn via 22 deals during October 7-12, up 32% from $86.4 Mn raised last week across 16 deals. 

This was the second week when no mega funding rounds materialised. This came after a quarter filled with heightened funding interest. In the third quarter of calendar year 2024, Indian startup funding doubled year-on-year to $3.4 Bn from $1.7 Bn in the same period last year. Late-stage investments surged 115% to surpass the $2.1 Bn mark in the September quarter this year from $984 Mn in Q3 2023. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding This Week [Oct  7-12]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• Artificial intelligence (AI)-based robotics startup Haber bagged the biggest cheque this week, securing $38 Mn (INR 317 Cr) by issuing Series C CCPS to venture capitalist (VC) firms Accel India, Beenext Capital, and Creaegis.
• On the back of Haber’s funding round, deeptech toppled enterprise tech to emerge as the investor favourite sector this week. Deeptech startups raised $45.4 Mn across three deals this week.
• However, enterprise tech saw the most number of deals materialise this week. Startups in the sector raised $7.2 Mn across four deals this week. Trailing it were deeptech and cleantech, with both the sectors seeing a similar number of three deals.
• Beenext and Lumikai emerged as the most active investors this week, backing two startups apiece. While Beenext invested in Haber and Nayan Tech, Lumikai backed Framer AI and Deftouch.
• Seed funding picked up this week to $17.8 Mn from $1.9 Mn last week.

Fund Launches This Week

• Lighthouse Canton and Nueva Capital’s joint venture LC Nueva Investment Partners announced the launch of a new fund with a target corpus of INR 150 Cr (nearly $18 Mn), with an additional greenshoe option of INR 100 Cr ($12 Mn).
• Recently listed non-banking financial company (NBFC) Northern Arc announced the launch of its category-II alternative investment fund (AIF) Finserv Fund, with a target corpus of INR 1,500 Cr (around $178.5 Mn).

Updates On Indian Startup IPOs

• Over three months after filing its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), logistics startup BlackBuck received market regulator SEBI’s go ahead for its INR 550 Cr IPO.
• B2B marketplace unicorn Zetwerk has initiated initial discussions with investment banker JP Morgan for its IPO, sources told Inc42 this week. The startup is eyeing a public listing in the next two years.
• Shortly after raising $210 Mn, edtech startup PhysicsWallah has roped in Axis Capital, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan as the bankers for its IPO. 

Other Developments Of The Week

• Fresh to the unicorn club, ride hailing major Rapido is eyeing raising $60 Mn from Prosus in a mix of primary and secondary share sales.
• In a bid to capitalise on the fintech investment boom, offline mobile payments startup ToneTag is looking to bag $50 Mn from investor Iron Pillar and others in a mix of primary and secondary share sale.
• VC firm Z47 (erstwhile known as Matrix Partners) is looking to sell shares of unicorns Ola, OfBusiness, Razorpay, and DailyHunt, cumulatively worth between $150 Mn and $180 Mn.
• Hyperlocal services startup Urban Company is likely to see a $30 Mn secondary transaction with its investor Prosus buying shares from Bessemer Venture Partners.
• The Good Glamm Group announced the complete acquisition of D2C feminine hygiene startup Sirona for INR 450 Cr this week.
• Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Consumer has sought approval from investors to turn into a public entity.

The post From Haber To Urja Mobility – Indian Startups Raised $114 Mn This Week appeared first on Inc42 Media.

India is on the brink of a major transformation in its transportation sector, with electric vehicles (EVs) poised to play a crucial role in reducing pollution and dependence on fossil fuels. However, widespread adoption of EVs faces significant hurdles, primarily concerning battery charging and replacement infrastructure. 

Two prominent solutions—battery swapping and conventional charging infrastructure—are being evaluated for their potential to accelerate EV adoption in India. Understanding these approaches and their implications can provide valuable insights into the future of India’s electric mobility.

The Present State Of Electric Vehicle Adoption In India

According to the Bain and Company report of 2023, India’s electric vehicle (EV) market is at a pivotal juncture, with EVs currently making up about 5% of total vehicle sales between October 2022 and September 2023. 

Projections indicate that EV penetration could exceed 40% by 2030, driven by strong adoption in the two-wheeler (2W) and three-wheeler (3W) categories, where rates are above 45%. This shift is expected to transform the Indian automotive market, with EVs potentially capturing over 40% of the market and generating more than $100 Bn in revenue by 2030.

Government initiatives like the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme and the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) underscore India’s commitment to accelerating EV adoption. Nevertheless, progress remains slow due to high upfront costs, limited vehicle range, and inadequate charging infrastructure. As a result, India’s EV density remains relatively low compared to global leaders, highlighting the urgent need for innovative solutions to overcome these barriers.

Battery Swapping: A Promising Alternative

Battery swapping consists of exchanging a depleted battery for a fully charged one at specialised swapping stations. This model offers several advantages over traditional charging methods, particularly in the context of India’s unique needs:

• Reduced Downtime: Battery swapping can significantly reduce vehicle downtime. Traditional charging can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours, depending on the charger and battery capacity. In contrast, swapping a battery typically takes less than five minutes, allowing drivers to quickly get back on the road. This is particularly beneficial for commercial EV fleets such as taxis and delivery vehicles, where downtime can directly impact business operations.
• Less Infrastructure Demands: Setting up battery swapping stations might require less investment compared to establishing a widespread network of high-speed charging stations. Each swapping station would need to stock a range of batteries and manage their charging, but this could be more manageable than ensuring that every public and private charging location is equipped with fast chargers.
• Reduced Charging Time and Flexibility: With swapping, the challenge of long charging times is effectively mitigated. Users can simply replace their battery and continue their journey, making it an attractive option for users who need to minimise wait times.

Challenges Of Battery Swapping

Despite its advantages, battery swapping presents several challenges:

• Standardisation: For battery swapping to be effective, a standardised battery design is necessary. This requires collaboration among manufacturers, which may be challenging in a diverse market with numerous players.
• Initial Costs: The setup of swapping stations and inventory management can be costly. Moreover, there are concerns about the maintenance and lifespan of the batteries used in swapping systems.

Charging Infrastructure: The Conventional Approach

Charging infrastruture remains the most widely adopted method for supporting EVs. It involves installing charging stations where EVs can be plugged in and charged over a period of time. This approach offers several advantages:

• Infrastructure Development: The development of a robust charging infrastructure can cater to various types of EVs and is not limited to specific battery models. With ongoing advancements, charging times are gradually decreasing, making this a more flexible solution in the long run.
• Ease of Integration: Charging stations can be integrated into existing infrastructure, such as parking lots, residential areas, and commercial spaces, making it relatively straightforward to scale up as EV adoption increases.
• Government Support: Many government policies and incentives are focused on expanding the charging infrastructure, including subsidies for setting up charging stations and regulations to support their installation.

Challenges of Charging Infrastructure

However, charging infrastructure also faces hurdles:

• High Costs: The installation of charging stations, especially fast chargers, can be expensive. Additionally, maintaining and upgrading the network to keep pace with technological advancements adds to the costs.
• Range Anxiety: Despite improvements, range anxiety remains a concern for many potential EV buyers. The perception of limited charging points, particularly in rural and underserved areas, can deter adoption.
• Grid Capacity: Increased use of electric vehicles could put additional pressure on the electricity grid, requiring significant upgrades to support widespread EV charging.

Conclusion

Both battery swapping and traditional charging infrastructure have the potential to accelerate EV adoption in India, but they address different needs and challenges. Battery swapping offers a quick and efficient solution for high-usage scenarios while charging infrastructure provides a scalable and universally compatible approach.

For India to achieve its EV adoption goals, a hybrid strategy that leverages the strengths of both methods may be the most effective way forward. Strategic investments, policy support, and technological advancements will be key in ensuring that both approaches complement each other, driving the country towards a cleaner, more sustainable future.

The post How Battery Swapping & Charging Stations Could Shape India’s EV Future appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The spate of top-level exits continues at venture capital (VC) firm Orios Venture Partners. Now, the ixigo-backer’s chief financial officer (CFO) and chief operations officer (COO) Gaurav Bindal has reportedly quit the firm. 

As per VCCircle, Bindal oversaw fund operations and transaction closure as well as other areas such as finance, legal, compliance and HR at Orios. As per the report, he led the closure of all investment deals since joining the investment firm in 2021. 

Bindal also reportedly handled legal, structuring, regulatory, due diligence, risk assessment, and commercial aspects at Orios. 

An alumnus of Delhi University, Bindal has more than two decades of experience under his belt. Prior to joining Orios, he worked at XSEED Education, ITC Infotech and Ernst & Young.

This is the third major blow to the VC firm in a year. In September last year, Orios’ two managing partners, Anup Jain and Rajeev Suri, quit the company to float their venture. 

Subsequently, their departures led to the delay in the closure of Orios’ third fund. Originally targeted to close at $150 Mn in December 2023, Fund III was delayed for the second time in July this year on account of logistical challenges in onboarding limited partners (LPs) and scheduling constraints. 

Orios Venture Partners is an early-stage VC firm, which counts names such as PharmEasy, MobiKwik, CarDekho, and Vedantu among its portfolio companies. 

Earlier this year, the investment firm returned INR 300 Cr from its first fund to its investors. Launched in 2014, Orios’ Fund I was concluded with a final close at INR 300 Cr in 2015. More recently, the investment major appointed former Omidyar Network India executive Madhav Tandan as a senior partner. 

The churn at Orios comes at a time when early-stage VC and PE firms are witnessing a surge in interest from LPs and other high-net-worth individuals (HNIs). 

Last month, early-stage VC firm z21 Ventures marked the first close of its $40 Mn Fund II at $20 Mn. In the same month, another early-stage backer Capital A launched its Fund II with a target corpus of INR 400 Cr. 

In August, early-stage VC firm Ankur Capital was reportedly looking to raise a target corpus of INR 1,200 Cr for its Fund III. Prior to that, Whiteboard Capital also marked the final close of its second fund at INR 300 Cr against an initial target of INR 150 Cr.

The post Amid Wave Of Top Level Exits At Orios, CFO & COO Gaurav Bindal Calls It Quits appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Venture capital firm Z47, formerly Matrix Partners India, is reportedly looking to offload stakes in companies such as Ola, OfBusiness, Razorpay, and DailyHunt, together worth between $150 Mn and $180 Mn. 

An ET report claimed Z47 has held talks with other funds for a multi-company transaction, as demand for secondaries heats up in the Indian market. 

As Inc42 reported a few weeks ago, there has been a wave of secondary deals in the first half of the year, where more than a dozen such deals were recorded, but many came at a discount. Early investors in the likes of Capillary, ixigo, Urban Company, Porter, and Pocket FM, among other startups, have entered into secondary deals to get exits from these startups. 

Besides this, prominent VC firms told Inc42 that the entry of new secondary funds has given a lot of comfort to LPs that have been stung by the long-horizon primary investment route at the early stage. This has also resulted in many early-stage VCs finding exits in portfolio companies.

Incidentally, Matrix Partners India split from its US partnership and rebranded as Z47 earlier this year, but has been an active investor in India since 2006. It currently manages assets worth over $1.5 Bn across more than 100 startups, including notable names such as A23, Razorpay, Ola, Ola Krutrim, DailyHunt, Country Delight, among others. 

Last year, Matrix announced the final close of its fourth fund with a size of $525 Mn. Since then, it has been actively deploying capital across various homegrown startups, backing companies such as B2B home decor brand Trampoline, GenAI startup Grey Labs AI, and D2C brand Foxtale in recent months.

Among its largest exits in recent years was Five Star Finance where Z47 saw a $300 Mn exit, after the company went public in November 2022. 

In addition, the fund has sold partial stakes in OfBusiness, Dailyhunt, and Bhavish Aggarwal-led mobility startup Ola.

Among these, OfBusiness is said to be preparing for an IPO and has kicked off discussions with investment bankers as it aims for an initial public offering by August next year.

For Matrix and Z47, the Ola Electric bet paid off handsomely during the company’s IPO. The firm held 12.66 Cr shares in the company at an weighted average price of INR 8.22 per equity share, and sold 37.27 Lakh shares worth around INR 28.33 Cr. 

This gave the firm a 9.2X return on its investment in Ola Electric. Z47 continues to hold a stake in Ola Electric and has also invested in Ola Krutrim as part of its unicorn round. 

The post Z47 Looks To Offload Stake In Four Indian Unicorns appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has driven tech innovations for decades. Its India journey started in the early 2000s when algorithms were incorporated into computing hardware. By the 2010s, AI usage was more prevalent due to the rise of big data analytics and AR-VR applications.

When OpenAI launched its GenAI (generative AI) application, ChatGPT, in 2022, it was a giant leap towards human-like creativity, conversational power and deep analysis of data and industry trends. The markets are now flooded with GenAI tools, offering various enterprise-level solutions to maximise efficiency and optimise costs.

Industry experts say this is merely the beginning. The GenAI boom will transform all businesses by improving processes, enhancing customer experiences and redefining decision-making. According to a recent McKinsey Global Survey on AI, 65% of respondents said their organisations regularly use GenAI, nearly double the percentage from the previous survey conducted less than a year ago.

While GenAI can drive business growth, one has to deal with multiple risks like data breaches, deep fakes and biases. So, enterprises must craft a well-balanced AI strategy to reduce costs, create value and increase trust in organisations by mitigating those risks.

To explore it further, Inc42 and Oracle hosted the final edition of their two-part series titled Boardroom: Powering Data With AI. Held in Delhi on August 22, the roundtable brought together 10 tech leaders from diverse sectors (travel tech, healthtech, manufacturing, electric vehicles and more) and deep-dived into the theme – Unlocking Data & AI Potential: Charting a Path to Innovation and Growth.

Moderated by Sameer Dhanrajani, CEO at AIQRATE & 3AI, the session was attended by: 

• Sushan Rungta, CTO at Absolute
• Vivek Agarwal, cofounder & CTO, Square Yards
• Diwas Sharma, principal engineer, Fashinza
• Dr Shakti Goel, chief architect & data scientist, Yatra Online
• Shiva Singh, director (engineering) at Moglix
• Sanjeev Singh, head of technology & data, Gensol EV
• Pushkar Aditya, SVP (technology), Clovia
• Gaurav Bagga, SVP and head of engineering & product, Pristyn Care
• Saravanan Palanivel, VP (cloud engineering), Oracle India

A Deep Dive Into Industry Use Cases

Dhanrajani started the discussion by emphasising that AI-GenAI was not a sudden phenomenon but a long continuum. He referred to the evolving debate over human versus AI, questioning this new-age technology’s capabilities and potential.

“With machines growing smarter and stronger, a time will inevitably come when human creativity and ingenuity have to confront a stark reality. We have long anticipated the possibility of machines surpassing human abilities, but will that happen?” he pondered.

As the conversation unfolded, Dhanrajani delved into the widespread adoption and application of AI-GenAI across industries, assessing how deeply it would be embedded into modern businesses.

Shedding more light on industry use cases, Rungta of Absolute detailed how AI transformed the platform’s on-ground advisory services for farmers, resulting in speedy reach and significant cost-cutting.

“Earlier, we spent a lot of time and money reaching the farmers in person and helping them use our agronomic solutions. But now we integrate satellite images and weather data to offer AI-powered insights, which are accurate and time-critical,” he explained.

When it comes to agritech, time-sensitive information is critical, helping farmers cope with weather patterns, pest attacks, soil conditions, crop health monitoring and more in real time. As AI applications are now extensively used in various areas of farming, farmers can optimise their harvests and gain a competitive edge, pointed out Rungta.

The shift towards a tech-led approach at the grassroots is significant, given that India’s agriculture sector contributes 18.2% to the country’s GDP and employs nearly 45% of the workforce.

Yatra’s Shakti Goel, a tech veteran with more than two decades of experience, also highlighted the remarkable journey of AI, from Lotus spreadsheets to Oracle databases to the advent of GenAI. According to him, AI has long been a trusted tech tool supporting human decision-making. But its potential to revolutionise business strategies has not been fully realised until now.

He cited how Coca-Cola introduced its cherry flavour in the US, where IoT-enabled dispensers allowed customers to add the flavour to their drinks. More interestingly, the initiative was based on data analytics instead of an on-ground market survey.

Goel revealed an interesting use case when talking about Yatra’s AI journey. Digging into its hotel data, it realised that it was selling a significant chunk of Hilton bookings. But Yatra did it for third parties and not directly for Hilton. Armed with this insight, the company approached Hilton with a proposal to supercharge their partnership. 

Gaurav Bagga of Pristyn Care (a startup specialising in elective surgery) discussed how modern healthcare providers can leverage GenAI to improve patient experience.

“We use GenAI to analyse and improve how our care co-ordinators engage with patients. The data gathered from these interactions allows us to prioritise action items so that care coordinators can make informed decisions and deliver on their commitments,” he said. 

Balancing Risk, Cost And Innovation In The Era Of GenAI 

AI has immense potential to transform businesses. But it also comes with significant risks such as data breaches, hallucinations (inaccurate/misleading assumptions), biases and lack of compliance.

According to a 2024 Orca Security report, 58% of organisations store sensitive data in the cloud. This data could leak if used for AI-GenAI training or validation purposes, leading to a breach of confidentiality and other damaging consequences. Orca Security report 

So, how can businesses confidently adopt AI-GenAI, balancing growth and efficiency with security concerns?

“It is not a one-size-fits-all solution. A single large language model (LLM) may not suit every industry. To achieve higher accuracy, you need a customised model built on your data, rather than relying solely on generic models,” said Palanivel of Oracle India.

He also mentioned Oracle’s Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology in this context, which enhances the accuracy and effectiveness of AI applications by integrating retrieval (of training data) and knowledge augmentation (without retraining) in a unified system. This mechanism helps mitigate risks like hallucination, misinformation and bias, which occur in purely generative models that cannot reference knowledge sources outside training. 

Other experts on the panel also voiced their concerns about open-source AI applications, trained on widely available data that may lack accuracy or a neutral, cognitive approach needed for reliable GenAI functions. Nevertheless, they have a cost advantage. Startups, for instance, may not find it feasible to build custom LLMs and must opt for pay-and-use models. 

It will take time to gain trust in these third-party systems. A TCS survey found that 59% of corporate functions have AI implementations in progress or completed these projects. However, only 20% of corporate leaders feel well-positioned to leverage AI to their strategic advantage. Cloud providers are stepping up data security, while businesses will increasingly depend on high-quality and customised data for enterprise usage. 

The big question remains, though: Will artificial intelligence outsmart humans? 

Until we get closer to creating artificial general intelligence that can function on a par with a human’s cognitive capabilities, the answer is – no. In the foreseeable future, the new technology will continue to complement human capabilities, but it will also redefine the future of jobs.

To begin with, AI-GenAI will enhance human productivity by automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks. Again, AI and deeptech will continue to create new opportunities, from prompt engineering and agent-specific expertise (think of Copilot skills) to AI advisory roles, LLM development and more, our panellists said. In essence, the future of work will be driven by the three A’s – AI, analytics and automation. So, enterprises and individuals must strategise and develop skills to meet the requirements of a new epoch.

The post How GenAI is Rewriting Business Strategies Across Sectors appeared first on Inc42 Media.

India’s venture capital firms and fund managers often talk about innovation, but in the age of generative AI and deeptech, such talks seem shallow.

That’s because when we look at the startups that have raised the most funds in India over the past two years, or the ones that have given exits, the innovation is only seen in the business models and commercial models, rather than technology itself.

For instance, when it comes to AI and deeptech, Indian startups have largely benefitted from the IP creation and technology created in Silicon Valley and Europe, but only a few claim to have created such an IP. And so comes the perennial question — when Indians are the ones building products and platforms for Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and other giants, why have no such companies emerged from India in the past decade?

The answer, among Indian VCs at least, is the lack of the patient and domestic capital base that was needed to create those giants in the west. And as the first wave of startups mature, it’s unlikely that such large outcomes will ever be seen in India.

But large outcomes is something that VCs should be chasing. And what can be larger than creating the next Nvidia or OpenAI in India, as foolhardy as it may seem right now?

As OpenAI’s Sam Altman said in 2023 Indian startups cannot hope to build something like a large language model (LLM) for $10 Mn or even $100 Mn. Microsoft poured in billions and so did other investors, leading to  the stage where OpenAI stands today.

Even so, it’s a loss-making company — the latest projections show a staggering loss of $14 Bn even in 2026. Yet, no one can argue that OpenAI has created the groundswell for generative AI and machine learning that will have a lasting impact.

Despite the ongoing funding challenges, the sector has continuously grown in the last three years. In 2023, deeptech startups raised $496 Mn compared to $397 Mn in 2022, according to Inc42’s latest “Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2023”.

Overall, between 2014 and 2023, deeptech startups in India secured over $1.5 Bn in funding across 343+ deals, but many of these companies are much smaller in scale versus the traditional tech giants. So what will it take for India to grow its deeptech expertise?

Deeptech Is Just Beginning

It’s perhaps not surprising to some investors that Indian companies cannot come close to behemoths such as OpenAI or Google. The DNA of tech in India is quite different from that in the West, according to a Bengaluru-based early-stage fund’s founder.

As he said, in the West, the idea in the early 1980s and 1990s was always to build something for the world to use, and export technology because the US market was limited at that time. “India began late, and therefore, we will be late on many things. When we decided to leverage tech, there was the realisation that no one is catering to Indian problems and consumers. Tech startups could only build on top of existing IP, and this also suited us because we were focussing inwards rather than outwards,” the founding partner added.

That’s something other marquee funds are also claiming. Peak XV’s Rajan Anandan told Inc42 last year that deeptech playbooks are now being written in India, and typically, Indian startups move from application to the tech side because that’s the go-to-market strategy that has worked so far. As Anandan put it, AI startups have been around for decades, and investors have backed them for years, but what India needs now is the infrastructure

And this is also why viewing AI as the primary deeptech segment is perhaps facetious and myopic. “We are seeing what’s happening beyond AI and that’s very critical for the Indian tech economy to mature beyond where we are. [At Peak XV] we have two semiconductor companies. Mindgrove is making systems on chip. InCore is building a fabless semiconductor startup, while Newtrace is working to improve India’s green hydrogen production,” Anandan added, indicating the beginning of VCs backing startups creating tech IPs in India.

The True Depth Of Deeptech

Developing a global generative AI success story from India means dealing with the reality of how expensive it is currently, even though deeptech itself allows so many varied business models, according to All In Capital founder Kushal Bhagia.

We are talking about robotics, industry 5.0, machine learning, generative AI, semiconductors, AI computing capacity and of course data refinement and enrichment. All of these are open for disruption, Bhagia said.

Most early stage investors do not have the appetite and today, startups cannot build tech IP with 10s of millions of dollars, like it was possible in the 1980s. The investor quoted above added, “The age of the garage startups is well and truly over. Today, the technology that is defining the world is being made in shiny buildings. Do you really expect Indian companies to build the same from the garage?”

What many investors are asking for is not just domestic capital, but domestic capital that is patient. To extend the analogy, Indian startups are building with a garage mindset and competing with giants. While it’s commendable, this cannot be done on a small pool of capital that demands an exit in six to seven years.

But at the same time, there is a bit of a chicken and egg problem. As one fund manager who has backed companies like LLM maker Sarvam AI, semiconductor IP company InCore and other startups in the deeptech space told us, “Till there is a big outcome from India, all deeptech bets will seem small. Just like till Flipkart, Indian ecommerce was just an India story.”

What about VCs that are very bullish and long on deeptech. The likes of pi Ventures, Bharat Innovation Fund, Exfinity Ventures, Speciale Invest, Bharat Innovation Fund among a host of other funds are specifically looking at deeptech sectors. BIF’s Ashwin Raguraman is one of the most optimistic investors when it comes to deeptech in India.

He told Inc42 that startups are more than capable of resolving some of the most pressing problems in India — from access to healthcare to agriculture to education to social welfare and governance. So far they have not been given the foundation that is needed. With the introduction of the India AI Mission, which promises compute capacity, besides access to data and network, some of the foundation is being taken care of.

“As civilisations evolve, things are bound to become complex. The more complex the problem, the deeper the technology you need to resolve them. I’m certain that the deeptech built by talent from India is going to play a big role in solving complex global problems,” Raguraman, one of the founders of the $100 Mn deeptech focussed fund, said.

Patient Capital In The Age Of Exits

This group of investors, which has put the wagon behind deeptech, surprisingly believe that deeptech investments will outlast and outperform consumer-facing sectors in the long run. These are the models that are creating foundations — both hardware and software — for the future.

“When a deeptech startup goes past the initial stage of product creation and achieves product market fit, follow-on generalist investors are willing to come in because there’s tech acting as a differentiator, thereby offering strong moats and better opportunities to scale,” BIF’s founding partner added.

But he also acknowledges that getting there is not for every deeptech startup. Finding the product-market fit is hard in the deeptech space because these companies are creating the very technology that is rapidly evolving all the time. So deeptech is not for investors without the tenacity to last this course.

Unfortunately, the current attention of most of the VC ecosystem is on outcomes such as public offerings and exits through secondary. Over the past two months, we have written about this movement, which has been necessitated by the upcoming fund closure deadlines of some of the most prominent funds in India.

Exits through IPOs are also being heralded for multibagger returns and vindication of investment. Zomato is one example, but ask any deeptech VC and they will tell you the opportunity is larger on the IP and tech innovation side than what most investors even understand.

The narratives around exits and IPOs will not be seen in deeptech for at least a decade. Do investors have the patience to endure another decade of limited outcomes, just as they are reaping the fruits of the past decade?

The post India’s Deeptech Problem: Where Are The VCs Backing Startups Creating IP, Innovation? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Micro venture capital (VC) firm Gemba Capital has appointed publishing platform Pratilipi’s cofounder and CEO Ranjeet Pratap Singh as its consumer tech venture advisor. 

In a statement, Gemba Capital said that Singh will aid its investment team in evaluating consumer tech deals along with mentoring its portfolio companies.

“His (Singh’s) operating experience further augments our investment capabilities and portfolio value-add. We are super bullish on the consumer tech domain and continue to partner with resilient founders building in this space,” Gemba Capital’s principal Govind Lohia said on the new appointment. 

In July this year, the firm floated its second fund with a target corpus of INR 250 Cr, including a green shoe option of INR 50 Cr. Gemba Capital plans to back 30 seed and pre-seed stage startups in the fintech, consumer tech, and B2B platforms space. 

It is looking to back the startups with an average ticket size of INR 5 Cr and will reserve 30% of the corpus for making follow-on investments.

Founded by Adith Podhar in 2018, Gemba Capital invests in seed and pre-seed startups. It counts startups like Plum, Grip, Threado, Zuper, LightFury Games, Volt Money, MoMoney, Docube, among others, in its portfolio. 

Meanwhile, this would be Singh’s first association with an investment firm. The FMS alumni has been helming the Indian language story-telling platform Pratilipi since 2015. 

Founded by Singh, Sankaranarayanan Devarajan, Rahul Ranjan, and Sahradayi Modi, Pratilipi connects readers and writers in 12 languages, including Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, Hindi and Marathi. The startup has raised over $80 Mn since inception and counts the likes of Alteria Capital, Nexus Venture Partners and TLabs as its backers.

Pratilipi narrowed its loss by 22% year-on-year (YoY) in FY23 to INR 152.64 Cr. 

The development comes at a time when seed stage funding has been seeing strong growth. Seed stage funding in the Indian startup ecosystem surged 126% to $360 Mn in Q3 2024 from $159 Mn in Q3 2023, as per an Inc42 report.

The post Gemba Capital Ropes In Pratilipi Cofounder Ranjeet Pratap Singh As Advisor appeared first on Inc42 Media.

It’s the season of spring for startup IPOs. After a lull in IPOs in 2022 and 2023 due to geopolitical tensions, a raging funding winter, and macroeconomic pressures, startups are lining up in droves to list on the bourses in 2024. 

Ten new-age tech companies have listed on the exchanges so far this year – Go Digit General Insurance, FirstCry, Unicommerce, TBO Tek, Ola Electric, Awfis, ixigo, Menhood, TAC Security and Trust Fintech. 

In contrast, just five startups listed in the entirety of 2023 and three new-age tech companies made their way to the bourses in 2022. 

Despite the 10 listings so far this year, the Indian startup ecosystem still has a few aces up its sleeves. Segment giant Swiggy, logistics major Ecom Express and coworking startup Smartworks are also eyeing a market debut in the next few months. 

But, what is emboldening the startups to revisit their IPO plans, a year after many of them shelved or postponed their plans? The answer is the thawing funding winter, a renewed push for profitability and a growing investor appetite for startup IPOs. 

Speaking with Inc42, angel investor Nikhil Parmar said, “Firstly, many startups have matured to a point where they are ready for public markets, driven by strong growth, robust business models, and proven revenue streams. Additionally, favourable market sentiment and ample liquidity have made the stock market an attractive option for raising capital. Investor confidence is also a significant driver”.

Concurring with this, angel investing platform BizDateUp Technologies cofounder Meet Chandan said that the IPO spring has also been fuelled by investors looking to diversify their portfolio and the promise of substantial returns from tech-driven companies.

What has also helped the ecosystem is the bumper listing of most of the new-age companies in 2024 so far. From TBO Tek and Awfis to GoDigit Insurance, Unicommerce and ixigo, all have listed at a premium, and many have even seen healthy rallies post their listing. 

Non-institutional investors (NIIs) and qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) are seeing merit in backing the growing number of Indian startups making a beeline for the bourses. However, challenges remain. 

Investors are primarily focussed on profitable and sustainable ventures and are steering clear of loss-making entities. Awfis, which reported a profitable quarter after its listing, was an outlier in this regard. Additionally, strong corporate governance guardrails and compliance with existing regulations also seem to be on the top of investors’ agenda. 

“Markets currently are receptive to IPO-bound companies with a good brand, decent unit economics and a clear path to profitability. Public markets are hungry for tech stocks and are welcoming good companies with open arms. So, it’s only natural that more founders would want to take their companies public. This is a great sign for the ecosystem,” said VC firm All In Capital’s cofounder Kushal Bhagia.

Parmar believes that the surge in IPOs amid the funding winter showcases the startup ecosystem’s resilience and adaptability. It also reflects the growing maturity of the ecosystem. 

With this in mind, Inc42 has collated a list of all top Indian startups that have listed on the bourses in 2024 so far as well as those who plan to go for IPOs in the near term. Before we dive into the list, here are the latest developments from the Indian IPO landscape: 

Latest Updates:

• Swiggy received approval from its shareholders to increase the size of the fresh issue in its IPO to INR 5,000 Cr from INR 3,750 Cr earlier

• DevX has filed its DRHP with market regulator SEBI for an IPO, which will consist solely of a fresh issue of 2.47 Cr equity shares

• CarDekho is in advanced talks to appoint merchant bankers to helm its $500 Mn IPO next year at a likely valuation of $2 Bn to $2.5 Bn.

Now, let’s take a detailed look at the list:

Startups That Have Listed In 2024

This is not a listing of any kind. The startups have been listed in an alphabetical order | Data has been sourced from Inc42, respective DRHPs, MCA filings and other media reports | Asterisk (*) specifies reported numbers:

Awfis

Founded in 2015 by Amit Ramani, Awfis has evolved from just being a coworking network to a tech-enabled workspace solutions platform, catering to freelancers, startups, SMEs, large corporates, and MNCs.

The coworking space provider filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in December last year. The market regulator greenlit the company’s public issue in April 2024 

The startup made its debut on the bourses in May this year. It listed on the BSE at INR 432.25 per share, a premium of 12.8% to its issue price. Similarly, it opened on the NSE at INR 435 apiece – 13.5 % higher than the issue price.

Awfis reported a profit of INR 1.4 Cr in Q4 FY24 against a net loss of INR 13.8 Cr in the year-ago period. Operating revenue also jumped over 45% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 232.3 Cr in the quarter ended March 2024.

FirstCry

Founded in 2010, FirstCry is an omnichannel mother and kids-focused marketplace. It sells diapers, toys, apparel and cribs, as well as provides daycare facilities and runs a chain of play schools and preschools in India.

The Pune-based startup refiled its draft IPO prospectus in April following a directive from SEBI to include key metrics in its DRHP, first filed in December 2023. The company received the market watchdog’s approval for a public listing in July.

FirstCry’s IPO comprised a fresh issue of shares worth INR 1,816 Cr and an OFS component of 5.4 Cr equity shares. However, the company later reduced the size of its fresh issue by around 8% to INR 1,666 Cr, as per its RHP. 

The omnichannel marketplace raised INR 1,885.82 Cr from 71 anchor investors at INR 465 per equity share ahead of the IPO. 

The company made a strong debut on the bourses and its shares opened at INR 651 on the NSE, a premium of 40% over its issue price of INR 549. On the BSE, the shares listed at INR 625, translating into a 34.4% premium.

FirstCry clocked sales of INR 6,480.8 Cr in FY24, up 15% from INR 5,632.5 Cr in FY23. Meanwhile, its loss declined almost 34% YoY to INR 321.5 Cr in FY24.

Go Digit General Insurance

Founded in 2016, Go Digit offers insurance policies across verticals like health, motor vehicle, travel, property, and more.

The insurtech unicorn refiled its DRHP with SEBI in March after the capital markets regulator flagged concerns over its employee stock appreciation rights scheme. 

The Bengaluru-based startup’s IPO comprised a fresh issue of shares worth INR 1,125 Cr and an OFS component of 5.47 Cr equity shares.

The Virat Kohli-backed startup made a lukewarm debut on Dalal Street in May, listing at a 5.15% to its issue price. The stock listed at INR 286 apiece on the NSE and INR 272 on the BSE. 

Go Digit’s profit after tax (PAT) surged 74% YoY to INR 101 Cr in Q1 FY25 from INR 58 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Gross written premium rose 22.2% to INR 2,660 Cr in the quarter ended June 2024 from INR 2,178 Cr in the year-ago period.

ixigo

Founded in 2006, ixigo started as a travel search website to help users compare flight deals. In FY20, it rebranded as an online travel aggregator to offer services such as flights, trains, bus tickets, hotel bookings and holiday packages.

Le Travenues Technology Ltd, the parent company of ixigo, refiled its DRHP with SEBI in February. The travel tech startup got the market regulator’s nod to launch the public issue in May.

Its IPO comprised a fresh issue of shares worth INR 120 Cr and an OFS component of 6.67 Cr shares worth up to INR 620 Cr.

The startup made a stellar debut on the bourses in June this year. While the stock opened at INR 138.10 per share on the NSE, a premium of 48.5% from the issue price of INR 93, it made its debut at a premium of 45.16% on the BSE. 

Prior to that, the OTA’s public issue also saw high demand and was oversubscribed 98X. 

In Q4 FY24, ixigo posted a PAT of INR 7.4 Cr, up 55.2% from INR 4.7 Cr in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, revenue from operations jumped 20.4% YoY to INR 164.8 Cr Cr during the quarter compared to INR 136.9 Cr in Q4 FY23.

Menhood

Founded in 2019 by Dushyant Gandotra, Divya Gandotra and Shivam Bhateja, Menhood is a D2C men’s grooming brand that sells products such as trimmers, intimate perfumes, intimate wash and moisturiser, among others.

The startup’s parent entity Macobs Technologies Limited filed its DRHP in January 2024 for an IPO that comprised a fresh issue of 25.95 Lakh shares. Menhood’s public issue saw healthy response and was oversubscribed 157.5 times. 

The Jaipur-based brand eventually listed on NSE Emerge on July 24 at INR 96 apiece, a 28% premium to its issue price of INR 75.

Ola Electric

Founded in 2017, Ola Electric is an electric two-wheeler maker that currently retails a portfolio of five scooter models. The Bhavish Aggarwal-led startup is also planning to launch an electric autorickshaw in the coming days.

The Bengaluru-based startup filed its DRHP with SEBI in December 2023 for an INR 5,500+ Cr IPO. 

Ola Electric secured approval from the markets regulator for its IPO in late June. The EV major’s IPO comprised a fresh issue of shares worth up to INR 5,500 Cr and an OFS component of up to 8.49 Cr shares.

The company had set a price band of INR 72-76 per equity share for its public issue.

Ahead of the market debut, the EV major raised INR 2,763 Cr from 84 anchor investors, including SBI, HDFC, Nippon Life, Nomura Asset Management, Government Pension Fund of Norway, among others, at INR 76 per equity share. 

The EV maker’s public issue opened on August 2 and was subscribed 4.27X at the end of the last day of the bidding on August 6. 

Afterwards, the company had a muted market debut as the stock opened at a flat INR 75.99 apiece on the BSE as against its IPO issue price of INR 76. On the NSE, the shares opened flat at INR 76 apiece. 

In Q1 FY25, Ola Electric’s net loss widened 30% to INR 347 Cr from INR 267 Cr in the previous fiscal. Meanwhile, it reported sales of INR 1,644 Cr during the period under review, up 32% from INR 1,243 Cr in FY23.

TAC Infosec

Founded in 2016, TAC Infosec (also known as TAC Security) is a SaaS-based cybersecurity startup. It offers risk-based vulnerability management and assessment solutions, cybersecurity quantification, and penetration testing to enterprises.

The Vijay Kedia-backed startup filed its DRHP in January to list on the NSE’s small and medium enterprise (SME) platform NSE Emerge. 

TAC Infosec’s IPO only consisted of a fresh issue of 28.29 Lakh equity shares. The shares listed on NSE Emerge in April at INR 290, a whopping 173.6% premium over the issue price of INR 106.

The startup posted a net profit of INR 6.33 Cr in FY24, a 23% jump from INR 5.12 Cr in FY23. Operating revenue zoomed 17% to INR 11.84 Cr in FY24 from INR 10.09 Cr in FY23.

TBO Tek

Founded in 2006, Travel Boutique Online (TBO) is a B2B travel portal that provides solutions to travel agents and tour operators. It offers white-label solutions, hotel and flight booking APIs and dynamic packages, among others.

The Delhi NCR-based company filed its DRHP with SEBI in November last year. The market regulator granted approval for its public listing in April.

Shares of TBO Tek listed on the NSE in May at a premium of 55% to the issue price. The stock made its debut at INR 1,426 against the issue price of INR 920. On the BSE, the stock listed at INR 1,380, a 50% premium to the issue price.

TBO Tek logged a 64% jump in PAT to INR 46.4 Cr in Q4 FY24 from INR 28.2 Cr in the year-ago quarter. Revenue from operations stood at INR 369 Cr during the period under review, a 31% increase from INR 281.4 Cr in Q4 FY23.

Trust Fintech

Founded in 1998 by Hemant Chafale, Heramb Ramkrishna, and Mandar Kishor Deo, Trust Fintech is an enterprisetech company that offers SaaS products and fintech solutions for ERP implementation, and offshore IT services for the BFSI sector. 

The fintech SaaS company filed its DRHP with NSE Emerge to raise funds via an IPO in February this year and listed on the SME platform just two months later in April. 

It witnessed an oversubscription of 101X for its public issue on the back of huge demand from retail investors and non-institutional investors. Eventually, it listed at a premium of 42% at INR 143.25 apiece as against its issue price of INR 101 per share.

Trust Fintech saw its net profit jump 210% to INR 12.5 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 4 Cr in FY23. Meanwhile, operating revenue jumped 55.4% to INR 35 Cr in the period under review as against INR 22.5 Cr in FY23.

Unicommerce

Founded in 2012 and acquired by Snapdeal in 2015, Unicommerce is an ecommerce SaaS startup that enables sellers to manage their inventory across all online marketplaces. It offers integrations with all major ecommerce platforms active in India.

Unicommerce filed its DRHP in January and received regulatory approval on July 1. The startup’s IPO comprised solely of an OFS of 2.98 Cr shares.

Unicommerce’s public issue opened on August 6 and was closed on August 8 with 168X subscription. Afterwards, it made a stellar debut on the bourses on August 13. 

Shares of the enterprise tech startup listed at INR 235 apiece on the NSE, a premium of 117.59% over its issue price of INR 108. It also debuted at INR 230 on the BSE, a premium of 112.96%.

Unicommerce’s net profit stood at INR 13.1 Cr in FY24 as against INR 6 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, the ecommerce SaaS startup reported an operating revenue of INR 103.5 Cr in the fiscal ended March 2024. In FY23, the startup’s operating revenue shot up 52% to INR 90 Cr from INR 59 Cr in FY22.

Indian Startup IPOs In Pipeline

*As per reports

AITMC Ventures

Founded in 2016, AITMC Ventures offers drone training and other skill development programmes in the agriculture sector. So far, it has set up 46 centres across India for research, development, training, and testing of drone technology in agriculture.

The integrated agri-drone company filed its DRHP in October last year to list on NSE Emerge. 

The Gurugram-based startup IPO will comprise a fresh equity offering of up to 2.07 Cr shares. It won’t have an OFS component.

The startup reported revenue of INR 21.44 Cr and profit of INR 4.81 Cr in FY23.

ArisInfra

Founded in 2021 by Ronak Morbia and Bhavik Khara, ArisInfra is a B2B ecommerce platform that leverages AI to simplify construction material procurement. It links real estate developers with vendors for any requirements related to building materials and offers project management services.

Backed by names such as PharmEasy chief executive Siddharth Shah, Think Partners, Logx Venture Partners and Karbonite Ventures, the startup has raised more than $25 Mn in funding till date. 

In August 2024, the startup filed its DRHP with SEBI to raise INR 600 Cr via its IPO. However, its public issue will comprise solely of a fresh issue of shares and there will be no offer for sale (OFS) component. 

The startup plans to use the IPO proceeds to repay outstanding credit, support working capital requirements, potential acquisitions and investments in its subsidiary. 

ArisInfra’s consolidated net loss jumped 11.95% YoY to INR 17.33 Cr in FY24. Revenue from operations stood at INR 696.84 Cr during the year under review as against INR 746.07 Cr in the previous fiscal.

Ather Energy

Founded in 2013 by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, Ather Energy is one of the major players in the Indian electric two-wheeler market. It manufactures and services electric two-wheelers and operates its own charging infrastructure.

The EV major has raised more than $431 Mn from Hero MotoCorp, GIC, Tiger Global, among others, across multiple rounds since its inception. 

In June 2024, Ather Energy’s board passed a resolution to convert the startup into a public company from a private entity previously. A couple of months later in September, the electric two-wheeler maker filed its draft red herring prospectus with SEBI for its IPO. 

The proposed IPO will comprise a fresh issuance of shares worth INR 3,100 Cr and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of up to 2.2 Cr equity shares. 

It was reported earlier that the unicorn is eyeing a valuation of around $2.5 Bn for its IPO.

The proceeds from the IPO will be utilised for kickstarting the construction of its upcoming manufacturing facility in Maharashtra, R&D, marketing initiatives, and other general corporate purposes.

Ather Energy clocked a net loss of INR 1,059.7 Cr in FY24, up 22.5% from INR 864 Cr in the previous year. Operating revenue rose 0.4% YoY to INR 1,789.10 Cr during the year under review from INR 1,783 Cr in FY23.

Avanse Financial Services

Incorporated in 2013, Avanse is an NBFC focussed on education financing for students and educational institutions in India. Its products cater to students looking to study higher education abroad and in India. 

The non-bank lender filed its DRHP in June 2024 for an INR 3,500 Cr IPO. The IPO will comprise a fresh issue of INR 1,000 Cr and an OFS component of shares worth up to INR 2,500 Cr.

In July 2024, SEBI returned the NBFC’s IPO paper on “technical grounds”. Later, the company refiled its IPO papers with the market regulator on July 31.

Backed by the likes of Warburg Pincus, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Kedaara Capital, the startup last raised INR 1,000 Cr in a funding round led by Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Investment Company in March 2024.

As per the DRHP, Avanse’s net profit rose to INR 342.4 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 157.71 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Operating revenue grew to INR 1,726.9 Cr from INR 989.5 Cr in FY23.

Bira 91

Founded in 2015 by Ankur Jain, Bira 91 sells craft, lager and strong beers. It also sells non-alcoholic beverages.

Backed by Peak XV Partners, Sofina and DS Group, Bira 91 has raised $449 Mn in funding across multiple rounds. 

In December 2022, the startup converted into a public company and renamed itself as B9 Beverages Limited. However, the beverage startup is yet to file its DRHP with the SEBI.

In July 2024, reports said that the alco-beverage brand was planning to list on the bourses in 2026 and has roped in investment banking firm Morgan Stanley to helm its pre-IPO process.

The Delhi NCR-based beer brand reported an operating revenue of INR 824.3 Cr in the year ended March 2023, up 15% from INR 718.8 Cr in FY22. Meanwhile, net loss jumped 12% YoY to INR 445.4 Cr in FY23.

BlackBuck

Founded in 2015 by Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and Rama Subramaniam, BlackBuck operates an online marketplace for inter-city full truck load (FTL) transportation. It claims to be the largest online trucking platform in India, and connects with suppliers with truckers.

The Flipkart-backed logistics unicorn filed its IPO papers with SEBI in July 2024. Its public issue will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth INR 550 Cr and an OFS component of up to 2.16 Cr shares.

Backed by the likes of Tiger Global, Accel, Peak XV Partners and Goldman Sachs, BlackBuck has raised more than $360 Mn in funding to date. 

As per its DRHP, the logistics unicorn reported a net loss of INR 193.9 Cr in FY24, down 33% from INR 290 Cr in the previous year. Operating revenues jumped 69% YoY to INR 296.9 Cr in the fiscal ended March 2024. 

BlueStone

Founded in 2011 by Gaurav Singh Kushwaha and Vidya Nataraj, Bluestone is an omnichannel jewellery startup that sells rings, pendants, earrings and other products. 

Backed by Prosus, Steadview Capital and Think Investments, the startup has raised more than $184 Mn in funding till date. 

The jewellery startup started its IPO proceedings in August 2024 as it raised INR 900 Cr as part of a pre-IPO funding round that catapulted its valuation to $970 Mn. As per reports, Bluestone plans to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with market regulator SEBI in late-2024.

Bluestone’s net loss declined 86% to INR 167.2 Cr in the fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 1,268.4 Cr in FY22. Operating revenue jumped 1.6X to INR 770.7 Cr during the fiscal year under review from INR 461.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

boAt

Founded in 2016 by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta, boAt is a D2C audio tech and wearables startup that sells products such as headphones, smart watches and speakers. 

Cofounder and chief marketing officer Aman Gupta, in September 2024, said that the startup plans to list on Indian stock exchanges in 2025. This is more or less in line with what cofounder and CEO Sameer Mehta said in June 2024. 

At the time, Mehta said that the startup plans to become net profitable once again in FY25 before moving ahead with IPO plans, adding that boAt would be looking to raise INR 2,000 Cr via the IPO in the next 12-18 months. 

This is not the first time that boAt has lined up IPO plans. It filed its DRHP with SEBI in 2022 for an INR 2,000 Cr public issue. However, the startup later shelved the plans amid adverse macroeconomic conditions. 

boAt slipped into the red for the first time in FY23 and clocked a net loss of INR 129.4 Cr as against a net profit of INR 68.7 Cr in FY22. Operating revenue rose 18% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 3,376.7 Cr in FY23.

CarDekho

Founded in 2008 by siblings Amit Jain and Anurag Jain, CarDekho operates an online car listing platform, insurance platform InsuranceDekho, and lending platform Rupyy. 

CarDekho has raised more than $692 Mn in funding till date and competes with the likes of CarTrade, Spinny and Cars24. It was last valued at $1.2 Bn in 2021, when it secured $250 Mn in a mix of primary and secondary funding. 

The auto marketplace is said to be in advanced talks to appoint merchant bankers to helm its IPO in 2025. The company plans to file its DRHP in March 2025 and is looking to raise nearly $500 Mn at a valuation of $2 Bn to $2.5 Bn.

Its early backers, including Peak XV, Google Capital, and Hillhouse Capital, are expected to offload a part of their stakes via offer for sale (OFS). The proceeds from the IPO will go towards funding CarDekho’s geographical and category expansion as well as for future acquisitions. 

Notably, this is not the first time that CarDekho is planning to list on the bourses. In 2021, it was mulling a listing on the bourses but its IPO plans failed to take off then. 

As per MCA filings, CarDekho Group reported an operating revenue of INR 2,331 Cr in FY23 as against INR 1,600 Cr in the previous fiscal. Meanwhile, loss rose slightly to INR 562 Cr during the period under review from INR 535 Cr in FY22.

DevX

Founded in 2017 by Parth Shah, Rushit Shah and Umesh Uttamchandani, DevX offers coworking space solutions, managed office spaces, among others.

Backed by Kalpesh Harakhchand Gala, Unmaj Corporation, and Bidiwala Family Office, the coworking startup last raised $7 Mn in a mix of debt and equity in February this year. 

DevX currently operates over 25 coworking spaces in more than 10 Indian cities, including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kochi, Surat, among others. 

The coworking startup filed its DRHP with SEBI in September 2024 for a listing on the NSE and the BSE. DevX’s IPO will consist solely of a fresh issue of 2.47 Cr equity shares and there will be no OFS component.

The fresh proceeds will be utilised for the repayment and prepayment of non-convertible debentures (NCDs), expanding its footprint and for general corporate purposes. 

As per the DRHP, DevX reported a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 43.7 Lakh in FY24 as against a loss of INR 12.8 Cr in FY23. Operating revenue stood at INR 108.08 Cr compared to INR 69.91 Cr in FY23. 

Ecom Express 

Founded in 2012 by the late TA Krishnan, Manju Dhawan, K Satyanarayana and Sanjeev Saxena, Ecom Express is a logistics solutions provider that caters to ecommerce platforms, D2C brands as well as quick commerce players. 

The startup claims to have 3,000 delivery centres spanning 9.6 Mn sq. ft. of space and delivers packages to 27,000 pin codes in 2,700 cities and towns across the country. 

The company set its IPO plans in motion in August this year after its board approved its public listing plans during an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on August 13. Quickly afterwards, the company filed its DRHP with the market regulator SEBI for an INR 2,600 Cr IPO. 

As per the draft papers, the proposed public issue will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth up to INR 1,284.5 Cr and an offer for sale component of up to INR 1,315.5 Cr. It plans to list its shares on the BSE and the NSE. 

Backed by the likes of Warburg Pincus, PG Esmeralda, British International Investment (BII), among others, Ecom Express has raised more than $275.79 Mn in funding till date. 

The logistics major trimmed its net loss by 67% to INR 255.8 Cr in FY24 from INR 428.1 Cr in FY23. Meanwhile, its operating revenue saw a marginal 2.15% YoY increase to INR 2,609 Cr in the fiscal ended March 2024.

Flipkart

Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal founded Flipkart in 2007 and later sold a majority of the company to Walmart in 2018 for $16 Bn. Since then, the ecommerce major has become India’s biggest ecommerce marketplace and has diversified into a host of new areas, including fintech, and travel aggregation. 

The ecommerce major, which is also backed by Google, was last valued at $35 Bn during a $1 Bn fundraise that saw participation from the two investors. 

Just like its sister arm PhonePe, the company is vying for a 2026 IPO. Its B2C arm, Flipkart Internet Private Limited, reported an operating revenue of nearly INR 15,000 Cr mark in the financial year ended March 31, 2023. The marketplace arm’s operating revenue zoomed 42% to INR 14,845.8 Cr in FY23 from INR 10,477.4 Cr in FY22.

Flipkart Internet primarily earns revenue through commission charges and other services it offers to merchants, including advertising of products. Including other income, the B2C arm’s total revenue rose 41% to INR 15,044 Cr during the year under review from INR 10,640.5 Cr in FY22.

Fractal

A brainchild of Srikanth Velamakanni, Pranay Agrawal and Ashwath Bhat, Fractal was founded in 2000. The SaaS startup offers artificial intelligence and advanced analytics solutions to enterprises globally. 

Backed by the likes of TPG Capital, Khazanah Nasional and Apax Partners, it has raised $685 Mn in funding till date. It turned unicorn in 2022 and was last valued at over $2 Bn. 

The enterprise tech major is now gearing up to file its DRHP by November 2024. The company is eyeing a $500 Mn to $600 Mn IPO on Indian bourses at a valuation of around $3.5 Bn.

Fractal’s public issue will likely have a “large share” of secondary share sale by existing investors, the quantum of which is still yet to be decided. 

Fractal returned to the black in FY23, minting a profit of INR 194.4 Cr compared to a loss of INR 148.4 Cr in FY22. Meanwhile, the SaaS unicorn’s operating revenue zoomed 53% YoY to INR 1,985.4 Cr in the fiscal year ended March 2023.

Garuda Aerospace

Founded in 2015 by Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Garuda Aerospace designs, manufactures and sells drones. Its offerings also include drone-as-a-service (DaaS) for use cases such as agriculture, defence, and mining. 

Backed by Venture Catalysts, Silver Swan Capital and Claris Capital, the startup has raised $28.2 Mn in funding till date. 

In a chat with Inc42 last year, Jayaprakash said that the company would commence its IPO proceedings post March 2024 and would list by October-November 2024.

Infra.Market

Founded in 2016 by Souvik Sengupta and Aaditya Sharda, Infra.Market operates a B2B marketplace that sells construction products and other range of building materials such as concrete, steel, pipes, fittings, and chemicals. 

The startup has raised over $415 Mn in funding to date and is backed by marquee investors such as Tiger Global, Accel, and Nexus Ventures.

Infra.Market has set the ball rolling for its IPO as it has reportedly shortlisted eight investment bankers, including Kotak Mahindra Capital, IIFL Capital, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, among others, as advisors for the IPO. 

While the company is eyeing raising $500 Mn -$700 Mn via its IPO, it may also increase it further depending on “market conditions”. Its public issue will comprise a fresh issue of shares as well as secondary share sale. 

While the talks are still in early stages, the proceeds from Infra.Market’s potential IPO will be utilised to repay the debt incurred for the startup’s organic and inorganic growth initiatives.

The B2B ecommerce major saw its net profit narrowing 17% YoY to INR 155.2 Cr in FY23. Operating revenue soared 90% to INR 11,846.5 Cr during the year under review from INR 6,236.3 Cr in FY22. 

IndiQube

Founded in 2015 by Rishi Das and Meghna Agarwal, IndiQube is a coworking startup that offers a range of services including workspace design, interior build out and other B2B and B2C-focussed services. 

Backed by WestBridge Capital, Aravali Investment Holdings, and Konark Trust, IndiQube has raised more than $45 Mn in funding to date across multiple rounds. 

The startup is in advanced talks to finalise its merchant bankers to helm its IPO. The company plans to file its DRHP with market regulator SEBI before November 2024. 

The startup is looking to raise INR 1,000 Cr to INR 1,500 Cr from its IPO, which will primarily comprise a fresh issuance of shares. The OFS component is expected to be small, with promoters and existing investors not looking at any major dilutions.

The coworking space provider turned profitable in FY23, reporting a net profit of INR 20.63 Cr compared to a loss of INR 18.82 Cr in FY22. Meanwhile, revenue jumped 69% to INR 592.41 Cr in the fiscal year ended March 2023 from INR 351.43 Cr in FY22. 

InMobi

Founded in 2007 by Naveen Tewari, Piyush Shah, Mohit Saxena and Abhay Singhal, InMobi is an adtech platform that offers a suite of product discovery and monetisation solutions. 

Headquartered in Singapore, the SaaS startup also has offices in Bengaluru, New York, Beijing, London, Dubai, and several other locations.

Backed by the likes of Sherpalo Ventures, SoftBank and Kleiner Perkins, InMobi has raised more than $320 Mn in funding till date and was one of the first Indian new-age tech companies to enter the unicorn club in 2011. 

The SaaS startup is eyeing a public listing in India by 2026 at a valuation of about $10 Bn. However, this will not be InMobi’s first stab at an IPO. 

In 2021, it was reportedly planning for an IPO but shelved the plans due to adverse market conditions and funding winter.

Innoviti

Founded in 2002 by Rajeev Agrawal, Innoviti is a digital payments solutions provider that allows businesses to accept payments and integrate real-time sales data into critical business processes. 

As of July 2024, the company claims to process over INR 72,000 Cr of purchase volume annually from across 2,000 Indian cities and over 20,000 offline and 3,000 online merchants. 

Backed by the likes of Random Walk Solutions, Bessemer Venture Partners, Patni Family Office India and Alumni Ventures, the startup has raised more than $87 Mn in funding to date.

In August 2024, the company said it was eyeing a public market debut within the next 12 months. 

Innoviti saw its revenue from operations jump more than 48% YoY to INR 110 Cr in the fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23). Meanwhile, loss surged to INR 86.56 Cr during the year under review from INR 73.4 Cr in FY22.

MobiKwik

Founded in 2009, MobiKwik started operations as a digital wallet. Since then, it has diversified its business to offer consumer payments, buy now pay later (BNPL), and payment gateway services. 

The Delhi NCR-based startup has also introduced a Soundbox-like device, called Vibe, to take on Paytm and PhonePe.

The fintech unicorn refiled its DRHP with SEBI in January to raise INR 700 Cr through a fresh issue of equity shares, down from its earlier attempt to go public in 2021 when it tried to raise INR 1,900 Cr. The market regulator issued the observation letter to the Delhi NCR-based unicorn on September 19. 

MobiKwik managed to turn profitable in FY24. It posted a profit of INR 14.1 Cr in the fiscal year ended March 2024 as against a loss of INR 83.19 Cr in FY23. Revenue from operations zoomed 62% YoY to INR 875 Cr in FY24.

OfBusiness

A brainchild of Asish Mohapatra, Ruchi Kalra, Bhuvan Gupta, Chandranshu Sinha, Nitin Jain, Srinath Ramakkrushnan and Vasant Sridhar, OfBusiness was founded in 2015. The startup operates a B2B ecommerce platform that sells construction materials and offers financing solutions to merchants.

Kicking off its IPO proceedings in August 2024, the startup was reportedly in talks with investment bankers such as Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley for managing the IPO, which will be launched in the second half of 2025.

As per OfBusiness CFO Bhavesh Keswani, the company is eyeing a $750 Mn to $1 Bn IPO, which will include a fresh issuance of shares worth $200 Mn with the remaining earmarked for OFS component. 

The B2B marketplace is looking to debut on the bourses at a valuation of $6 Bn – $9 Bn. 

OfBusiness saw its consolidated operating revenue surge over 25% YoY to INR 19,296.3 Cr in FY24. Meanwhile, net profit soared to INR 603 Cr during the fiscal under review from INR 463.2 Cr in the previous year.

Ola Cabs

A brainchild of Bhavish Aggarwal, Ola Cabs operates a mobility platform that offers ride-hailing and food delivery services. 

Backed by SoftBank, Ola Cabs has raised more than $3.84 Bn in funding till date and is one of the biggest players in the country in the ride-hailing space. 

Last reported, Ola Cabs was holding talks with investment banks like Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citi, Kotak, and Axis to helm its IPO. As per the reports, the company was looking to raise $500 Mn via its public listing at a nearly $5 Bn valuation. 

Ola parent ANI Technologies trimmed its loss by nearly half to INR 772.2 Cr in FY23 from INR 1,522.3 Cr in the previous year. Operating revenue rose 42% YoY to INR 2,799.3 Cr .

OYO

Founded in 2012, OYO is a travel tech startup that offers vacation homes, casino hotels, coworking spaces, budget hotels, corporate stays and more. The hospitality major is also planning to launch 13 self-operated hotels under its premium brand ‘Palette’ by 2024-end.

In May 2024, the Delhi NCR-based hospitality major officially withdrew its IPO documents from the market regulator SEBI. Interestingly, this was OYO’s second attempt at a public listing. 

In early-2024, OYO was said to be looking to raise $400 Bn to $600 Bn, nearly half of its earlier attempt in 2021 when it was looking to raise INR 8,430 Cr ($1.2 Bn).

OYO narrowed its net loss by 34% to INR 1,286.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 1,941.5 Cr in FY22. Operating revenue grew 14% to INR 5,463.9 Cr in FY23 from INR 4,781.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year.  Its cofounder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal claimed that the startup reported a net profit of INR 100 Cr in FY24.

PayMate

Founded in 2006 by Ajay Adiseshann, PayMate is a full-stack supply chain payments automation platform that offers B2B payments solutions for SMEs and enterprises. 

The Mumbai-based fintech startup filed its DRHP in 2022 for an INR 1,500 Cr IPO. At the time, PayMate said that its public issue would comprise a fresh issue of INR 1,125 Cr and an OFS of INR 375 Cr. 

Eventually, the market regulator returned the company’s DRHP and asked PayMate India to refile the IPO papers with certain updates. In early 2023, the company reportedly said that it was planning to refile its DRHP but there has been no clarity on its IPO plans since then. 

In FY23, the startup trimmed its net loss by 3.5% YoY to INR 55.7 Cr in FY23. Operating revenue jumped 11.7% YoY to INR 1,350.1 Cr in FY23.

PayU

The Prosus-backed fintech major is also gearing up for a public listing in India. In October last year, the company was reportedly mulling seeking regulatory approval for a $500 Mn IPO. 

At the time, it was said that PayU had appointed Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America as advisors for the IPO, reportedly slated to happen by 2024-end. 

In  November, the then interim Prosus CEO Ervin Tu said that PayU could be ready for a public listing in India by the second half of calendar year 2024. 

As per the Dutch investor’s annual report, PayU India clocked a revenue growth of 11% year-on-year (YoY) to $444 Mn in FY24. However, this was lower than the 31% revenue growth reported in FY23 and over 40% jump it clocked in FY22.

PhonePe

Founded in 2015 by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer, PhonePe is India’s biggest digital payments platform and accounts for nearly half of all Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments processed in the country. 

Since its inception, it has morphed into a full-fledged financial services platform, offering a host of digital payment services, insurance products, and broking services to customers. The fintech major was acquired by ecommerce juggernaut Flipkart in 2016. 

Six years later, Flipkart parent Walmart set into motion its plans to hive off PhonePe as a separate entity and redomicile the fintech company back to India. In late-2022, PhonePe flipped back to its home turf, with an eye on listing on Indian bourses. 

However, in June 2024, a senior Walmart executive said that PhonePe’s IPO could take a couple of years, setting the stage for a 2026 IPO.

In August 2024, the fintech major’s cofounder and CEO Nigam said that payments body National Payment Corporation of India’s (NPCI) plan to cap the UPI market share of third-party app providers (TPAPs) was hindering the company’s plans from going ahead with its IPO.

The fintech major saw its consolidated net loss widen 39% YoY to INR 2,795.3 Cr FY23. Revenue soared 77% YoY to INR 2,913.7 Cr during the year under review. 

Physics Wallah

A brainchild of Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, Physics Wallah (PW) was founded in 2020. The startup operates online and offline coaching centres for K-12 students and test preparation platforms for various exams. It also has a skilling arm and a study abroad vertical. 

Kicking off its IPO plans just days after raising a mega $210 Mn funding round in September, PW is said to be scouting investment bankers for its initial public offering (IPO) in 2025. The edtech unicorn is said to be eyeing a valuation of over $2.8 Bn, the number at which it raised its last funding. 

If the plan fructifies, PW will become India’s first edtech startup to list on the stock exchanges. 

PW’s net profit declined over 90% to INR 8.9 Cr in FY23 from INR 98.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year due to a sharp rise in its expenses. However, operating revenue soared 234% to INR 779.3 Cr in FY23 from INR 233 Cr in FY22.

Portea Medical 

A brainchild of Krishnan Ganesh and Meena Ganesh, Portea Medical is a healthtech startup that offers services such as maternal care, physiotherapy, nursing, lab tests, counselling and critical care. 

Backed by Accel, InnoVen Capital, Alteria Capital and British International Investment, Portea Medical has raised more than $92.3 Mn across multiple rounds till date.

The healthtech startup filed its IPO papers in July 2022 for an INR 800 Cr IPO. As per its DRHP, the IPO then comprised a fresh issue of equity shares worth INR 200 Cr and an OFS component of up to 56.25 Mn shares.

In April 2023, it received approval from the market regulator to go ahead with the public listing on the BSE and NSE. However, there have been no further updates on its IPO plans.

Portea Medical posted a net loss of INR 53 Cr in FY23, up from INR 40 Cr in the previous year. Revenue from operations declined 3.3% YoY to INR 145 Cr during the year under review. 

Pure EV

A brainchild of Nishanth Dongari and Rohit Vadera, the startup manufactures electric bikes and scooters across multiple variants. 

It has raised more than  $14 Mn in funding till date and counts the likes of Bennett Coleman and Company, Hindustan Times Media Ventures, Ushodaya Enterprises, among others, as backers. 

Setting its plans to become India’s second listed EV player in motion, the startup, in August 2024, said it plans to list on the bourses in 2025. 

However, the startup continues to be a loss-making entity and reported a net loss of INR 9.3 Cr in FY23. Meanwhile, revenue from operations also declined 42% to INR 131.28 Cr from INR 225.98 Cr in FY22. 

Shadowfax

Founded in 2015 by Vaibhav Khandelwal and Abhishek Bansal, Shadowfax is a logistics startup that offers hyperlocal and on-demand deliveries to businesses. 

The Flipkart-backed startup competes with the likes of Delhivery, Ecom Express, XpressBees, LoadShare, Ripple and Pickrr. It is also backed by the likes of Mirae Asset Venture Investments (India), IFC, Nokia Growth Partners, Qualcomm and Trifecta Capital.

The logistics services startup is reportedly looking to raise INR 2,500 Cr to INR 3,000 Cr via its public market debut at a valuation of INR 5,000 Cr to INR 8,000 Cr. While there is no clarity on the timeline for the IPO, its promoters and investors have kicked off discussions with merchant bankers for the IPO.

Shadowfax trimmed its net loss 19% YoY to INR 142.63 Cr in FY23. Meanwhile, revenue from operations jumped 42% to INR 1,415 Cr during the year under review from INR 990 Cr in FY22.

Smartworks

Founded in 2016 by Neetish Sarda and Harsh Binani, Smartworks is a shared workspace provider that offers customisable coworking solutions for enterprises. 

The startup has raised $41 Mn in funding till date and is backed by the likes of Ananta Capital, Keppel Land and Plutus Capital. 

Taking the first step towards its IPO, the startup turned into a public company in July 2024 and changed its name to Smartworks Coworking Spaces Ltd from Smartworks Coworking Spaces Private Ltd previously.

In August 2024, it filed its DRHP with SEBI for an INR 550 Cr initial public offering. As per its DRHP, the company’s IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth INR 550 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) component of up to 67.49 Lakh equity.

It trimmed its net loss to INR 49.9 Cr in FY24 from INR 101.4 Cr in FY23. Operating revenue jumped 46% YoY to INR 1,039.3 Cr during the year under review.

Swiggy

Swiggy commenced operations as an online food delivery platform in 2014. In 2020, it also entered the grocery delivery business with Swiggy Instamart.

Now, the Bengaluru-based startup has begun diversifying beyond the quick commerce grocery business. Swiggy Instamart now also offers high-value products, allowing shoppers to order fitness and electronics devices.

Initially, Swiggy filed its DRHP with markets regulator SEBI via the confidential pre-filing route for an IPO worth INR 10,414.1 Cr ($1.2 Bn) in April. In September, the company filed its updated IPO papers with the market regulator.

As per the updated DRHP, Swiggy’s public issue will comprise a fresh issuance of shares worth INR 3,750 Cr and an OFS component of 18.57 Cr equity shares.

In late September, the company received shareholders’ nod to increase the size of its fresh issue by 33% to INR 5,000 Cr. Swiggy is reportedly targeting a valuation of $15 Bn valuation for its IPO.

Swiggy posted a net loss of INR 2,350 Cr in FY24, down 44% from INR 4,179 Cr in FY23. Revenue grew 36% to INR 11,247 Cr during the fiscal under review from INR 8,265 Cr in FY23.

In Q1 FY25, Swiggy’s consolidated net loss rose over 8% YoY to INR 611 Cr while revenue from operations zoomed 35% YoY to INR 3,222.2 Cr during the quarter under review.

Ullu

Founded by the husband-wife duo of Vibhu Agarwal and Megha Agarwal, Ullu Digital is a Mumbai-based OTT platform that deals with the distribution, promotion, exhibition, marketing and delivery of video content on its streaming platform Ullu. 

It filed its DRHP with the BSE SME for an IPO in February this year. As per the draft papers, the company’s IPO would comprise a fresh issue of 62.63 Lakh shares and would not have OFS component.

Ullu Digital plans to raise INR 135-INR 150 Cr via the IPO, which, if approved, would become the biggest SME IPO till date. 

The platform plans to use the net proceeds raised via the IPO to meet its expenses for production of new content, purchase of international shows, tech investment, and to meet the working capital requirements.

While Vibhu Agarwal holds a 61.75% stake in Ullu Digital, Megha Aggarwal owns 33.25% of the company. 

In March 2024, the OTT streaming platform came under the scanner of multiple government authorities including SEBI, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for allegedly selling “pornographic” content using school children.

Zappfresh

Founded by Deepanshu Manchanda and Shruti Gochhwal in 2015, Zappfresh is a D2C meat startup that supplies meat from farms to customers within 90 minutes. 

Taking its first step towards IPO,the startup converted into a public entity in April 2024 after dropping “private” from its name. As per its RoC filings, the company changed its name to DSM Fresh Foods Limited from DSM Fresh Foods Private Limited previously. 

The startup’s parent filed its DRHP for listing on BSE SME in August 2024. Zappfresh’s IPO will comprise a fresh issue of 59.06 Lakh equity, with no offer for sale component.

Zappfresh plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to fuel acquisitions, meeting marketing and capital expenditure requirements and for general corporate purposes.

Zepto

Founded in 2021 by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto is a quick commerce startup that claims to offer 10-minute deliveries of groceries and other items. 

In September 2024, it was reported that the quick commerce major commenced active discussions with domestic and global merchant bankers, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, for a potential IPO by August 2025. 

The startup plans to raise $450 Mn via fresh issuance of shares and an undisclosed amount through the offer for sale (OFS) component.

Zepto’s net loss ballooned 3.35X YoY to INR 1,272.4 Cr in FY23 from INR 390.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, revenue from operations soared 14.3X to INR 2,024.3 Cr in the fiscal year ended March 2023 from INR 140.7 Cr in FY22. 

Last Updated: October 08, 8:00 AM IST

The post Indian Startup IPO Tracker 2024 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Non-banking financial company (NBFC) Northern Arc announced the launch of its category-II alternative investment fund (AIF) Finserv Fund, with a target corpus of INR 1,500 Cr (around $178.5 Mn).

In a statement, the financial services company said that the fund will also have an additional green shoe option of INR 500 Cr (around $59.5 Mn).

Introduced via its subsidiary Northern Arc Investment Managers (NAIM), Finserv Fund will offer long-term debt to financial intermediaries which are primarily focussed on “underserved and unserved” segments.

A Northern Arc spokesperson told Inc42 that the fund will back around 45-55 entities with an average ticket size of INR 40 Cr per company. The new fund will target financial intermediaries across six segments – micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME), affordable housing, vehicle finance, agriculture finance, microfinance and consumer finance. 

“… It will invest in a well-diversified portfolio across 45-55 entities within our key sectors. This fund targets gross returns of 14.00-14.50% XIRR (extended internal rate of return) over its four-year tenure, with a deployment period of approximately six months from the final close,” Northern Arc Investments CEO Bhavdeep Bhatt said.

He added that the latest fund marks the launch of 11th AIF by the company, besides the two portfolio management services (PMS) funds that the NBFC already manages. “We have successfully closed and exited four funds at higher-than-targeted returns to our investors,” Bhatt said.

Founded in 2009 by Dvara Holdings initially, Northern Arc is an NBFC, which offers a suite of solutions including lending, placements and investments across multiple sectors. It has backed startups such as Rebel Foods, ProsParity, slice, BharatPe, among others, so far. 

Since 2009, Northern Arc claims to have cumulatively financed over INR 1.81 Lakh Cr for its clients across 671 districts of India. 

The development comes close on the heels of Northern Arc Capital making a strong debut on the bourses on September 24. The NBFC listed at a premium of INR 351 on BSE against an issue price of INR 263. 

Its IPO was oversubscribed 110.91X, with significant interest from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), who subscribed the public issue over 240.79X.

Prior to that, the NBFC secured INR 229 Cr (around $27.4 Mn) from marquee anchor investors last month in the run up to the IPO. The non-banking lender then said that it plans to deploy the fresh proceeds to meet its future capital requirements towards onward lending.

Earlier this year, the company raised $75 Mn from Dutch FMO and an additional $80 Mn in a mix of equity and debt from World Bank Group’s private-sector investment arm  International Finance Corporation (IFC). 

On the financial front, Northern Arc clocked a revenue of INR 1,890 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), up 44% from INR 1,304 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, it reported a profit of INR 317.69 Cr during the fiscal under review as against INR 242.21 Cr in FY23. 

The post Northern Arc Unveils INR 1,500 Cr Fund To Back 45-55 Financial Intermediaries appeared first on Inc42 Media.

There was a bloodbath in new-age tech stocks on Monday (October 7) as the decline in the broader market continued in today’s session.

Twenty two out of the 28 stocks under Inc42’s coverage fell in a range of 0.64% to over 8% in today’s session. Ola Electric emerged as the biggest loser, with its shares plummeting 8.3% to end the day at INR 90.82.

It was followed by fintech SaaS startup Zaggle, which fell 8.14% to INR 422.80. The startup announced the appointment of Kotak Mahindra Bank’s consumer banking head Virat Sunil Diwanji as an additional director to its board. 

While Paytm declined 6.27%, Awfis fell 6.13% today. Nazara, Cartrade and FirstCry were among the other major losers today.

Meanwhile, NSE SME listed D2C startup Menhood continued its bull run from last week to emerge as the biggest gainer today. Shares of its parent Macobs Technologies ended today’s trading session at INR 149, up 2.58% from previous close. Go Digit, Nykaa, Honasa, RateGain and Yudiz were the other new-age tech stocks which ended in the green today. 

Overall, the cumulative total market capitalisation of the 28 new-age tech stocks declined $2.3 Bn to stand at $78.52 Bn at the end of today’s session as against $80.85 Bn on October 4 (Friday). 

In the broader market, benchmark indices Sensex fell 0.78% to 81,050 and Nifty50 declined 0.87% to 24,795.75. BSE SmallCap index crashed 3.27% to 54,117.72 and BSE Midcap went down 1.85% to 47,019.08. 

Commenting on today’s market performance, Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP of technical and derivatives research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates, said, “Nifty started the day flat to positive but remained under pressure after an initial bounce, ultimately closing on a negative note at 24,796. Technically, on the daily chart, the index (Nifty 50) formed a red candle, signalling weakness. However, the index managed to defend the 24,750 level, providing some relief for the bulls.”

“As long as the index holds within the 24,700–24,750 range, a short-term pullback could be possible. However, if Nifty sustains below 24,700, deeper declines could follow,” he added. 

It is pertinent to note that markets were on a downward spiral last week as well. While Sensex slumped 4.5% to 81,688.45 in the previous week, Nifty50 went down 4.4% to 25,014.60.

Rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have kept the investors on tenterhooks. Besides, the stimulus measures announced by China have led to global investors shifting their focus to the Chinese market from the Indian market.

The post New-Age Tech Stocks Lose Over $2.3 Bn In M-Cap In A Day Amid Decline In Broader Market appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Kunal Bahl, the cofounder of Snapdeal and Titan Capital, has joined TV show Shark Tank India as a shark for its upcoming season. 

In a LinkedIn post, Titan Capital said, “We’re thrilled and elated to announce that our co-founder, Kunal Bahl, is joining Shark Tank as the newest Shark.”

“From co-founding Snapdeal | AceVector Group to backing some of India’s most promising startups with Titan Capital, Kunal’s entrepreneurial journey has been extraordinary. Now, he’s ready to bring his passion for building and scaling businesses to the Shark Tank India stage!”

The development comes a couple of days after it was reported that Zomato cofounder and CEO Deepinder Goyal won’t appear as a judge on the upcoming season of the TV show as the foodtech major’s competitor Swiggy sought his removal as part of a deal to sponsor the Shark Tank India.

IPO-bound Swiggy is said to be in talks to finalise a deal to sponsor the upcoming season of the TV show for INR 25 Cr.

In a teaser posted by Sony Entertainment Television for the fourth season of Shark Tank India, other sharks like Anupam Mittal of People Group, Namita Thapar of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Ritesh Agarwal of OYO, and Aman Gupta of boAt were also seen, besides Bahl.

Bahl cofounded Snapdeal in 2010 and is also the promoter of recently listed SaaS startup Unicommerce. 

He founded venture capital firm Titan Capital in 2015, along with Rohit Bansal, to provide capital to startups across consumer internet, D2C, fintech, SaaS, and Web3 sectors. 

In August, Titan Capital raised a target corpus of INR 200 Cr to exclusively invest in follow-on rounds of breakout startups from its seed portfolio. Before that, the VC firm exited Urban Company in July. 

The firm counts over 200 startups, including Urban Company, OfBusiness, Razorpay, Ola Cabs, Mamaearth, among others, in its portfolio.

The post After Deepinder Goyal’s Exit, Snapdeal & Titan Capital’s Kunal Bahl Joins Shark Tank India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In its recent India Development Update, the World Bank reported that India continues to post healthy growth despite subdued global conditions. The World Bank revised the growth forecast for FY25 to 7% from the earlier estimate of 6.6%. 

This positive development came just after the IMF revised India’s FY25 growth forecast upwards to 7% from its earlier estimate of 6.8% on account of improved prospects for private consumption, particularly in rural areas. 

The IMF’s latest data release shows that the Indian economy has outperformed the major economies in the last ten years. India’s GDP has doubled from $2 Tn in 2014 to $3.9 Tn in 2024, a massive increase of 93.1%.

India is expected to become an $8 Tn economy by 2032, while our household wealth has the potential to become $40 Tn. We are in a scenario wherein our HNI population is growing at 16% while our UHNIs are increasing at a double-digit growth, which is exceeding our overall population’s growth. 

It is interesting to note here that the HNIs and UHNIs are unlocking value from their traditional businesses by selling promoter stakes and ESOPs, leading to huge wealth creation in the country. This segment of investors has traditionally invested a large part of their wealth in real estate and now is focusing more on growth-oriented assets (equity products such as mutual funds, PMS, AIFs, or alternate asset classes). 

In the alternate space, their maximum allocation is towards the unlisted space and international investments. Although there are many options for investing in global markets, one of the emerging segments in this space is the GIFT City. This is turning out to be an attractive option to several HNIs and UHNIs who wish to invest via India’s only approved International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

GIFT City Offers An Array Of Benefits To HNIs And UHNIs

The GIFT City aims to become a hub for international businesses and a price setter instead of a price taker for a few financial instruments, namely bullion. By encouraging entrepreneurship, helping startups expand their domestic businesses, and setting up a world-class infrastructure, GIFT City is making all efforts to be comparable to any other leading IFSC in the world. 

The opportunities and services provided by the GIFT City can help HNIs/UHNIs diversify their portfolios, create assets, and gain exposure to overseas markets.

• Indian residents can easily invest in this option by opening a foreign dollar-denominated bank account with a bank branch based in GIFT City. Both individuals and non-individuals can make outbound investments in equity, debt, or commodities. 
• Individuals’ investment amounts are restricted to LRS Limits of $ 250K. Non-individuals, on the other hand, can invest up to 50% of the entity’s net worth via the Overseas Portfolio Investment (OPI) route.
• NRIs and foreign investors can also invest in Inbound funds (funds that invest in Indian securities). These investments can be made without a PAN card and remain in dollars, too.
• For individuals and non-individuals, the taxation is 20% post-indexation if held for 36 months and 20% post-indexation after 24 months for listed securities on IFSC. The other tax benefits are exemption from STT, CTT, and stamp duty for transactions carried out on IFSC exchanges.
• Additionally, for AIFs registered in IFSC, there is no limit on outbound investments, and a 100% tax exemption can be claimed for ten consecutive years out of a block of 15 years. There is no GST, STT, or CTT, and no concentration norms, while funds can be heavily concentrated, and the setup and operating costs are lower.

Our Take On The GIFT City

The Gift City is an interesting investment opportunity because it allows investors to diversify their portfolios globally rather than parking all their surplus into one asset class/geography. The relaxed investment limit, taxation, regulatory, and operational norms for businesses set up in IFSC make this an exciting option to explore in the coming years. 

In addition, many investment opportunities have opened up for foreign investors, which could only boost foreign inflows into India. Although GIFT City is only in an evolving stage, it has the potential to reshape India’s financial landscape and contribute significantly to India’s journey toward becoming a global economic powerhouse. 

As India continues to be the fastest-growing large economy in the world, the huge wealth creation and the financialisation of savings can significantly benefit investment options like the GIFT City, as investors will continuously look to diversify their portfolios.

The post GIFT City: A Game-Changer For HNIs Seeking Global Investment Opportunities appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The tremors of the explosion of India’s startup ecosystem are now being felt in smaller towns and cities, too. While Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, and Mumbai continue to wear the crown for being the top tech startup hubs of the nation, their reign is being challenged by cities like Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Jaipur, which are currently being touted as more conducive for budding entrepreneurs.

Interestingly, per Inc42’s report, ‘Indian Tech Startup Funding Report H1 2024’, Pune is the most promising emerging startup hub to have garnered significant investor interest. With a total of $4.7 Bn raised across 355 deals between 2014 and 2023, the city is also one of the fastest-growing startup hubs in India. 

In the first half of the year alone, Pune-based startups cumulatively raised more than $241 Mn across 18 deals. In fact, Pune was one of the top emerging startup hubs of 2023, when it raised $211 Mn in 30 deals.

Notably, some of the top investors who have shown faith in Pune’s potential to foster startups are InnoVen Capital, Elevation Capital, and Accel. Consequently, the city has become home to some of the most promising startups, including FirstCry, logistics unicorn Xpressbees, lending platform Fibe, SoftBank-backed B2B ecommerce unicorn ElasticRun, and cloud data protection unicorn Druva.

In the first half of 2024, Fibe raised $90 Mn in its Series E funding round led by TR Capital, Trifecta Capital and Amara Partner; housing finance startup Altum Credo bagged around $40 Mn in its Series C funding round, and deeptech startup Ecozen raised $30 Mn in funding.

Among the other top Pune-based startups raising funds in H1 2024 were OneCard, AmberStudent, and EV manufacturer EKA Mobility.

Speaking with Inc42, Aditya Oza, cofounder and chief marketing officer of Pune-based EV maker Emotorad said that the city has grown by leaps and bounds from where it used to be a decade ago. Until 2019, Pune wasn’t on the list of cities with unicorns, but now, the city has minted close to 10 unicorns in just four years, he noted.

The electric bicycle manufacturing startup, Emotorad has been operating from Pune for more than four years. It is backed by MS Dhoni and VC firms like Green Frontier Capital, Panthera Growth Partners, and more. The startup has raised more than $23 Mn to date.

Meanwhile, it is imperative to note that several factors align to elevate Pune’s position as the next Bengaluru in the making. For one, Pune has a location advantage like none other due to its proximity to India’s financial capital, Mumbai. 

Besides, it is a renowned industrial hub and one of the top contributors to Maharashtra’s economy. The city enjoys pleasant weather around the year.

So, What Else Makes Pune A Worthy Candidate? 

Alongside geographical advantages, several key factors contribute to Pune’s growing role in the startup ecosystem. For instance, the city benefits from a strong industry-academia interface, a supportive state government, and the rising zeal of the young to become entrepreneurs.

“Recent years have witnessed significant improvements and policy initiatives aimed at bolstering the city’s startup landscape. Moreover, a significant number of Pune’s 5 Mn residents are between the ages of 15 and 35, making the city an ideal location to attract young, ambitious talent,” venture principal at Green Frontier Capital, Karan Mehta, said.

Green Frontier Capital, which is a climate-focussed VC fund, has invested in two Pune-based startups so far – Emotorad and agritech startup Nutrifresh.

Mehta added that the Maharashtra government has introduced a range of policies to foster entrepreneurship in the region. He also noted that Pune has become home to multiple incubators and accelerators in the recent past, including Venture Center, T-Hub, and Startup Oasis, which offer mentorship, funding, and networking opportunities to aspiring entrepreneurs. 

Consequently, VC funding in startups based in Pune is also witnessing a noticeable increase, especially in sectors such as fintech, health tech, and edtech.

Meanwhile, Emotorad’s cofounder observed that the city’s startup fervour has given a positive nudge to salaries in the region. He said that the rise in salaries in the past few years has increased the cost of living to some extent. 

However, a 2023 report by Stanza Living suggests that the cost of living in Bengaluru is about 15% higher than in Pune. This makes the city an attractive proposition for entry and mid-level talent.

“The city has exploded in population, especially the young folks… what will happen to Pune in the next ten years is what happened to Bengaluru,” Oza said. 

Meanwhile, Green Frontier’s Mehta believes that the proximity to esteemed institutions like the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) and the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) has also facilitated collaborations between academia and industry, driving innovation.

Roadblocks On The Way

Despite optimism, the city is far behind Bengaluru, Delhi NCR and Mumbai in several areas. For instance, talent is still a challenge in smaller cities like Pune. Another major challenge is that the city is an industrial hub, Maharashtra’s second largest, and therefore the availability of tech talent is scarce.

“Talent availability is increasing in some areas only. But we still have a lot of catching up to do compared to Gurugram and Bengaluru,” Oza said. 

Besides, Green Frontier’s Mehta notes that Pune needs to improve its connectivity to major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru. This would help the city enhance market access and capital flows for its startups.

“Pune is also facing challenges related to infrastructure and public transport, leading to increased travel time within the city… However, it has the potential to expand beyond the city limits. One potential solution could involve the government establishing large complexes similar to GIFT city, along with tax incentives on income and investments,” Mehta added.

He believes that streamlining bureaucratic processes and improving the overall ease of doing business will also support the growth of startups in Pune.

Overall, Pune is carving out a prominent spot on India’s startup map, thanks to the state government’s seriousness towards fostering entrepreneurship. Nourishing this is the growing interest of investors who have seen several unicorns galloping from the region. 

In addition, the industry-academia interface in the region is worth noting, given the city’s deep industrial roots. While much has yet to be done, Pune is only slated for a north-bond journey in becoming a crucible of Indian startups going ahead.

Meanwhile, despite the funding winter that plagued the ecosystem for the past two years, India’s startup funding surged past the $150 Bn mark in the first half of 2024.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post How Pune Is Fast Becoming A Hotbed For Startups In India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In a tumultuous week for the broader Indian market, new-age tech stocks witnessed mixed investor sentiment. Eleven of the 28 stocks under Inc42’s coverage gained in a range of 0.15% to just a little under 13% this week. 

Jaipur-based D2C male grooming brand Menhood emerged as the top gainer this week. Shares of Menhood’s parent Macobs Technologies ended the week at INR 145, up 12.93% from last week.

Other gainers of the week included Paytm, PB Fintech, Go Digit, RateGain, among others. 

Meanwhile, 17 startups ended in the red this week, falling in a range of 0.88% to over 7%. Car marketplace CarTrade emerged as the biggest loser this week, with its shares tanking 7.36% to end the week at INR 907.75.

Delhivery, EaseMyTrip, Nykaa, Awfis, Ola Electric, and Zomato were among the other losers this week.

It is pertinent to note that the market was closed on October 2 on account of Gandhi Jayanti. 

Meanwhile, the week saw the four-week momentum in the broader market coming to a screeching halt. While Sensex fell 4.5% to end the week at 81,688.45, Nifty50 went down 4.4% to 25,014.60.

Escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East triggered a decline in the global markets this week over their impact on fuel prices. Besides, the stimulus measures announced by China led to global investors shifting their focus to the Chinese market from the Indian market.

Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said that the decline in the Indian market was broad based this week. He expects the market to be under pressure for some time. 

“The spike in oil prices due to the mounting tensions in the Middle East may add input cost inflation and thereby impact the earnings visibility of domestic companies. The market is likely to witness a consolidation phase as the expensive valuation and unfavourable macro situation may influence investors to adopt a sell-on-rally strategy,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP of technical and derivatives research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Interrmediates, said that the indices broke their key support base and are indicating fresh weakness, which may lead to further downward movement.

Meanwhile, 41 companies filed their IPO papers in September, the highest ever recorded in a single month, amid the bull run in the broader markets. 

In the startup context, coworking space provider DevX became the latest to file a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). Its public issue will consist solely of a fresh issue of 2.47 Cr equity shares. 

Besides DevX, foodtech major Swiggy, which filed its updated DRHP with SEBI on September 26, got shareholders’ nod this week to increase the size of fresh issue in its IPO to INR 5,000 Cr from INR 3,750 Cr earlier.

Commenting on the IPO trends, Pantomath Financial Services Group’s founder Mahavir Lunawat said, “Increasing number of growth stage businesses shall hit the street. Moreover, we will have a trend of multinationals coming to tap the Indian capital market. Besides, several other market liquidity parameters, notably monthly mutual fund flow has doubled since last quarter and we are getting close to INR 40,000 Cr of money every month. This has fuelled capital market buoyancy phenomenally.”

With that said, let’s take a deeper look at the performance of the new-age tech stocks this week. 

The total market capitalisation of the 28 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage dipped to $80.85 Bn at the end of this week as against $81.69 Bn last week.

Honasa’s UAE Troubles

Shares of Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumers plunged 6.27% to end the week at INR 427.95. With this, its market cap also fell to $1.65 Bn. 

It is pertinent to note that the stock touched an all-time high at INR 546.50 on September 10. 

The primary reason behind the decline in the stock price this week was a ruling by a Dubai court in connection with the company’s dispute with its former UAE distributor RSM General Trading. 

Honasa said on Friday that a Dubai court upheld its order directing attachment of its assets. However, the court rejected the RSM General Trading’s demand to cancel the trading licence of Honasa’s subsidiary Honasa Consumer General Trading LLC. 

The company said that it will appeal against the Dubai court’s latest ruling. Honasa also said that the order will have no financial impact, adding that it is in the process of initiating contempt proceedings against RSM General Trading in the Delhi HC for failing to comply with the court’s previous ruling.  

Despite this, the stock ended over 4% lower on the BSE on Friday.

On Saturday, the company clarified that it does not own any asset in the UAE and its Dubai subsidiary has been exempted from the attachment order. 

CarTrade Continues To Fall 

In its third consecutive week of loss at the bourses, shares of CarTrade saw a big dip this week. The stock crashed 7.36% to end the week at INR 907.75. Besides, its market cap also fell to $510 Mn. 

During the week, Goldman Sachs Asset Management said that it increased its stake in the startup to 7.19% from 5.15% at the end of the June quarter. Goldman Sachs, along with its associated entities, acquired an additional 9.78 Lakh shares of CarTrade via open market transactions, it said in an exchange filing. 

In the previous week, Warburg Pincus exited the startup by divesting its entire 8.64% stake in the auto marketplace for INR 375.1 Cr. Most of the shares were picked up by Mirae Asset Mutual Fund, which bought 30.22 Lakh shares at INR 920 per share. 

It must be mentioned that shares of CarTrade gained 6.02% to touch a 52-week high at INR 1,034.50 on the BSE during the intraday trading on September 25. However, the stock has fallen about 12% from there. 

TAC Infosec Gains On The Back Of International Expansion

Shares of NSE Emerge-listed TAC Infosec ended the week at INR 723, up 10.40% from last week. Its market cap also jumped to $90.16 Mn. 

The startup made multiple acquisition announcements this week. In an exchange filing on September 30, the cybersecurity startup said it acquired US-based CyberSandia with an aim to enhance its regional presence and expand its global operations. CyberSandia holds an exclusive government contract to provide IT services to New Mexico, it said.

Last month, the startup had said that it would acquire CyberSandia for $25,000.

TAC Infosec also announced the acquisition of WOS, a wholly owned subsidiary of TAC Cyber Security Consultancy LLC, based in the UAE. The move is aimed at meeting the growing demand for advanced cybersecurity services in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

“Both developments are part of TAC Security’s consistent growth and focus on innovation in the cybersecurity space. Its ESOF (Enterprise Security in One Framework) platform continues to be adopted by enterprises and governments worldwide to combat evolving cyber threats, enabling the company to lead the way in comprehensive vulnerability management and cybersecurity solutions,” the startup said in a statement. 

The new UAE subsidiary will enable the company to diversify its client base and provide cybersecurity services to cross-border clients throughout the GCC, according to the statement.

Earlier, TAC Infosec said it acquired 590 new customers in the first quarter of FY25, of which 149 clients came from the US. Back then, it said it was looking to bolster its global expansion. 

The post Mixed Week For New-Age Tech Stocks Amid Bloodbath In Broader Market, Menhood Top Gainer This Week appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Investment activity across the Indian startup ecosystem saw a dip this week after bucking upward trends. In the week between September 30 and October 5, startups managed to raise $86.4 Mn via 16 deals, more than 80% drop from $432.2 Mn raised across 24 deals in the preceding week.

It is pertinent to note that the week was sans mega funding and further marks the beginning of festivity in India. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [ Sep 30 – Oct 5 ]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• On the back of the week’s top funding round, which saw Mstack raising $40 Mn, entrerprisetech retained its top spot as the most funded sector.
• Ecommerce witnessed the most number of deals materialise this week. Startups in the sector raised $6.7 Mn via 4 deals.
• Seed funding dipped this week, with startups at this level only managing to raise $1.9 Mn as against $44.5 Mn raised last week.

Startup Fund Launches Of This Week

• Angel investment network ThinKuvate marked the first close of its maiden India fund, ThinKuvate India Fund – I, at INR 25 Cr. The firm is targeting a total corpus of INR 100 Cr for the fund.
• Early-stage focused venture capital firm Trillion Dollar Ventures (TDV) floated its second fund with a target corpus of NR 50 Cr ($5.9 Mn). The fund will back 10-12 pre-seed and seed stage startups annually with an average ticket size of INR 1-2 Cr.

Updates On Indian Startup IPOs

• Enroute to its initial public offering (IPO), foodtech major Swiggy received approval from its shareholders to increase the size of the fresh issue in its IPO to INR 5,000 Cr from INR 3,750 Cr earlier.
• Ahmedabad-based coworking space provider DevX filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with market regulator Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) this week. Its proposed IPO will consist solely of a fresh issue of 2.47 Cr equity shares.
• CarDekho is in advanced talks with bankers for a $500 Mn IPO, which it plans to file by March 2025.

Mergers and Acquisitions This Week

• Edtech startup Adda247 has bought placement preparation platform PrepInsta to foray private and public sector jobs test prep space.
• Listed cybersecurity startup TAC Infosec acquired US-based cybersecurity firm CyberSandia to strengthen its presence in the US and expand its global footprint. It also acquired WOS to strengthen its position in the UAE market.
• Fruits and vegetables platform Pluckk acquired D2C nutrition brand Upnourish for $1.4 Mn.
• FirstCry’s rollup startup arm Brainbees’ completely acquired  D2C brand The Butternut Co by investing an additional INR 8 Cr for a 100% stake in the startup.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Angel investment firm BizDateup’s cofounders Jeet Chandan and Meet Jain picked up an undisclosed stake in Swiggy.
• Peak XV Partners pared the size of its $2.85 Bn fund by 16% or $465 Mn more than a year after it split from Silicon Valley-based Sequoia Capital.
• Ratan Tata partially exited broking platform Upstox with 10X returns after the startup concluded a buyback of 5% of Tata’s stake in it.
• Fabless semiconductor startup FermionIC Design is looking to raise $6 Mn in a funding round led by Lucky Investment Managers’ Ashish Kacholia and his associates. The startup has already raked in $2.5 Mn as part of the investment round.
• Belgium-based VC firm Verlinvest is looking to double its annual investment in India in three years. Its managing director and head of Asia Arjun Anand has invested over $110.3 Mn annually in India over the last few years and aims to double this in the next two-three years.

The post From Mstack To Waycool – Indian Startups Raised $86 Mn This Week appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Belgium-based venture capital (VC) firm Verlinvest, which invested in Blue Tokai last month, is looking to double its annual investment in India in three years. 

Verlinvest’s managing director and head of Asia Arjun Anand told Reuters that the VC firm has invested over $110.3 Mn annually in India over the last few years and aims to double this in the next two-three years. Lifestyle and healthcare will be the key focus sectors.

“India is the winning market for Verlinvest in Asia, and we are allocating more resources as returns on investments continue to improve,” Anand was quoted as saying. 

However, he also pointed out challenges in the Indian market, including longer time to exit startups and rupee depreciation, which negatively impacts returns.

Despite this, Anand said that India “offers a much greater growth opportunity and that makes returns attractive”. 

Verlinvest entered India about 15 years ago. The VC firm has backed Indian startups like Purplle, BYJU’S, Lahori Zeera, Wakefit, Veeba, Epigamia, Ferty9, among others. 

Its most recent Indian bet was speciality coffee chain Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters when it led its $35 Mn Series C funding round. 

Besides its startup bets, the Belgian firm also backed early stage VC fund V3 Venture, which launched its India operations in April last year. The fund is eyeing making cumulative investments of 100 Mn euros (about INR 896.5 Cr) in India, Europe, and the US.

The fund, which is helmed by Arjun Vaidya, invests primarily in pre-Series A and Series A rounds in consumer centric brands. Its average ticket size is in the range of $1-$5 Mn. Since inception, V3 Ventures has backed Kuku FM, Eka.care, Entri, Go Zero, Dil Foods. 

Anand’s comments come at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem is seeing renewed investor interest. As per Inc42’s ‘Indian Tech Startup Funding Report, Q3 2024′, the first three quarters of 2024 saw Indian startup funding zoom 20% year-on-year to $8.7 Bn from $7.2 Bn in the corresponding period a year ago. The deal count also grew to 766 deals from 691 deals in 2023.

The post Purplle-Backer Verlinvest To Double Its India Investments appeared first on Inc42 Media.

A total of 38 founders of 21 Indian new-age tech companies took home INR 179.3 Cr in cumulative annual salary in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24)!

However, the average founder salary plummeted 33% to INR 4.21 Cr in FY24 from INR 7.1 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

This comes at a time when the startup ecosystem continues to be in the grip of the funding winter, which began in 2022. As investors tightened the purse strings following the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, there was mayhem in the Indian startup ecosystem, which was riding high on the bull run of 2020 and 2021.

Consider this: The total funding raised by Indian startups fell to $25 Bn in 2022 from $42 Bn a year ago. This number further plummeted to $10 Bn in 2023 and there was no improvement in the first half of 2024 as well.

This acute funding crunch has meant that Indian startups have had to take drastic measures to cut their costs and extend their runways. Following the onset of the funding winter, startups reduced their advertising and marketing budgets to cut losses or turn profitable in FY23. They also resorted to massive restructuring exercises which resulted in thousands of employees losing their jobs. Some of them even shut down operations.

Amid all these, Inc42 launched ‘Founder Salaries Tracker FY23’ to keep you updated with the salaries of the founders at a time when employees were losing jobs and taking pay cuts.

Continuing that, we are bringing to you the tracker for FY24, which was not much different from FY23. Consolidation remained the main theme in FY24 as well, as startups looked to improve their bottom lines even if they had to compromise on growth in their top lines.

As per the data collated by Inc42, the 17 aforementioned startups posted a cumulative operating revenue of INR 47,309 Cr in FY24. Of these, five startups reported a combined loss of INR 3,899 Cr, whereas the remaining reported a total profit of INR 2,209 Cr. 

For a deep dive into the financial numbers, take a look at Inc42’s ‘FY24 Financials Tracker’.

Now, let’s delve deeper into the salaries that the startup founders earned in the last financial year. The tracker will keep you informed about the remuneration earned by the founders in FY24, the percentage increase/ decrease in their salaries compared to FY23, and more.

Editor’s Note: This list is not a ranking of any kind. The companies have been placed alphabetically. This is a running list and will be updated periodically.

Founder Remuneration Tracker FY24

Companies are placed in alphabetical order | Data has been sourced from MCA filings, annual reports, and DRHPs |

*Note: Includes Share-based payments, reimbursements, bonus, variable pay, among others

Supam Maheshwari | FirstCry

Supam Maheshwari, the founder of recently listed ecommerce marketplace FirstCry, retained the top spot in terms of annual remuneration in FY24 as well. As per the startup’s red herring prospectus, the founder took home INR 103.8 Cr as remuneration in FY24, which was almost 50% lower than INR 200.7 Cr a year ago.

However, it needs to be highlighted that this amount includes short-term employment benefits, share based payments accrual, and excludes provisions for gratuity, compensated absences and other long term employment benefits which have been actuarially determined and the amounts pertaining to the key managerial personnel (KMP) are not material.

FirstCry reported an operating revenue of INR 6,480 Cr, with a loss of INR 321.5 Cr in FY24. 

Vijay Shekhar Sharma | Paytm

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the managing director of fintech giant Paytm, was at the second spot with an annual remuneration of INR 4.4 Cr during the year under review. Sharma, who is one of the most active angel investors in the county, saw a 10% hike in his annual remuneration in FY24 compared to INR 4 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Varun Alagh | Mamaearth

Varun Alagh, the CEO of publicly listed beauty care startup Mamaearth, took home INR 3.97 Cr in annual remuneration in the recently concluded financial year. He received a hefty increment of 166.4% compared to INR 1.49 Cr he took home in the previous year. 

In comparison, his wife Ghazal Alagh, who is the cofounder of the startup, took home INR 1.79 Cr in remuneration in FY24, a jump of 80.8% higher than INR 99 Lakh in the previous fiscal year. 

The Delhi NCR-based startup reported an operating revenue of INR 1,919.9 Cr during the year under review with a profit of INR 110.5 Cr. 

Edited By Vinaykumar Rai

Last Updated On October 4, 6:35 PM IST

The post Founder Salaries Tracker FY24: How Much Did Startup Founders Earn? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Inc42 hosted the second edition of India’s largest angel & VC conclave, MoneyX, on September 26, 2024 at The Oberoi in Gurugram. The ultra-exclusive event brought together over 250 leading family offices, venture capitalists, angels and other institutional investors under one roof. 

The enthusiasm of the attendees made the day full of insightful sessions even more engaging. Their unwavering support created a vibrant atmosphere throughout the grand day, focussing on India’s hottest asset class, investment strategies and emerging trends shaping the startup funding landscape in India. 

The attendees actively interacted with over 40 speakers, each bringing unique insights and expertise to the table. This remarkable event, filled with 14 hand-crafted sessions, featured some of the brightest minds. 

The speaker lineup included Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Lumikai founding general partner Salone Sehgal, Stellaris Venture Partners partner Ritesh Banglani, Livespace cofounder & COO Ramakant Sharma, Wipro Consumer Care managing partner Sumit Keshan, Eximius Ventures founder and MD Pearl Agarwal, Peak XV Partners managing director Mohit Bhatnagar, among others.

The speakers covered a diverse range of topics – the golden age of startup IPOs, venture investing for the modern-day LP, new shades of venture capital in India, fintech regulation, the electric vehicle revolution, the role of domestic capital in the startup ecosystem, among others. 

The flagship event was driven by the enduring support and collaboration of our partners and supporters who joined forces with us to turn our vision of uniting top investors at one place to uncover India’s investment potential for the startup ecosystem. We would like to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to our enablers. 

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Peak XV Partners

Peak XV Partners, formerly known as Sequoia Capital India and SEA, is a global venture capital and growth investing firm which invests in India, South East Asia and beyond. It manages over $9 Bn in capital across 13 funds and has more than 400 companies in its portfolio, with approximately 40 of them surpassing $100 Mn in revenue. 

Peak XV’s portfolio includes 33 Indian unicorns, including names like Ola and Zomato. The VC firm also provides assistance to startup founders through its community-based programmes such as Surge, Sparks, Pathfinders, Pitstop, Build and Guild. 

At MoneyX 2.0, Peak XV’s MD Mohit Bhatnagar joined Inc42’s Vaibhav Vardhan for a fireside chat on ‘New Shades Of Venture Capital In India’. 

Mobavenue

Founded in 2017 by Tejas Rathod, Kunal Kothari and Ishank Joshi, Mobavenue is a tech platform that empowers the advertising industry with its martech and adtech solutions to drive growth, engagement, acquisition and monetisation. It delivers mobile performance for brands by unique programmatic solutions developed in-house. 

With a global presence spanning cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Dubai, Singapore, Sydney, New York, and London, the bootstrapped startup serves over 150 direct clients across industries such as banking and fintech, sports, healthcare, travel, OTT and media, retail, real estate, ecommerce and more. 

Venture Catalysts++

Venture Catalysts++ is a Mumbai-based sector-agnostic multi-stage venture capital firm. Founded in 2016 by Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Anil Jain, Anuj Gulecha and Gaurav Jain, the VC has expanded its footprint across 50+ cities including India, the USA, the UK, Thailand, Canada, Singapore and more. 

VCats++ claims to have syndicated $720 Mn across 360-plus portfolio startups. Besides investment, VCats++ provides mentorship, industry connections, and sector-specific expertise to prepare its portfolio startups for global markets. In India, its portfolio includes notable startups such as Beardo, BharatPe, ClanConnect, and Dukaan.

Apart from being an enabler for Inc42’s MoneyX 2.0, VCat++’s Dr Sharma also joined the event for a panel discussion around ‘Family Offices: The Quiet Revolutionaries Of Indian Tech’. The discussion also featured Dinesh Hinduja Family Office’s Jai Rupani, Salarpuria Group’s Apurva Salarpuria and Huddle Ventures’ Sanil Sachar. 

Associate Partner

Bower School of Entrepreneurship

Bower School is a new-age undergraduate business school focussed on entrepreneurial education. It provides students with knowledge, skills, and network needed to launch and scale their ventures from the ground up. 

Founded by Pavan Alleva, the Hyderabad-based school equips students with entrepreneurial skills and mindset at the undergraduate level to transform their ideas into successful ventures. 

Ecosystem Partner

Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA)

Established in 1993, Delhi-based IVCA is a non-profit organisation which promotes alternative capital investments to strengthen India’s investment ecosystem. It serves as a bridge, facilitating dialogues between government bodies, policymakers, and private equity and venture capital investors with high-growth potential startups.

IVCA has the likes of chairman & managing director of TVS Capital, Gopal Srinivasan, and cofounder and managing partner of Blume Ventures Karthik Reddy on its board. A91 Partners, 9Unicorns, 108 Capital, and 8x Ventures are among its notable members.

With over 390+ members, it has a combined AUM of over $340 Bn. Among SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), 46% of them are IVCA members. Of these, 74% actively manage AIFs.

The post A Heartfelt Thank You To Our Partners For Making MoneyX 2.0 A Resounding Success appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The last couple of years have been rough for Indian startups — layoffs, a long funding winter, and even some unfortunate shutdowns. However, amid all these challenges, one positive shift has emerged — founders have started focussing on building sustainable, resilient businesses that prioritise profitability over chasing rapid, unsustainable growth. The world’s third-largest startup space has undergone a massive shift in mindset, which is all about long-term success, rather than celebrating quick wins.

However, amidst these challenges, there is a silver lining. While late-stage and growth funding have taken a hit, seed funding has seen an upward trend. This indicates that innovation is thriving at the grassroots level, with entrepreneurs continuing to develop breakthrough solutions.

This innovation spans various sectors. In this 51st edition of Inc42’s flagship series — ‘30 Startups To Watch’, powered by Google Cloud, we’re showcasing some of the most exciting young companies from across sectors like deeptech, SaaS, semiconductors, D2C, spacetech, AI, fintech, and healthtech. These startups are pushing boundaries and finding new ways to solve real-world problems.

As India’s startup ecosystem gears up to hit a cumulative $170 Bn in funding by 2025, the nation’s top three startup hubs — Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, and Mumbai — currently account for 88% of the total funding and 80% of deals. Reflecting this, 60% of the startups featured in this edition hail from Bengaluru, followed by Delhi NCR.

Moreover, of the startups featured in this 51st edition, only six have raised more than $2 Mn, while the majority are either bootstrapped or have raised under $1 Mn. This broader trend highlights the ability of Indian startups to thrive on limited resources.

So, in a bid to celebrate the perseverance and ingenuity of Indian founders who continue to push the boundaries of innovation, we present to you the 30 startups that caught our eyes in August.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups alphabetically.

Algorithmic Biologics

Tech For A Bountiful, Healthy World

Founded in 2021 by Manoj Gopalkrishnan, Algorithmic Biologics aims to transform the field of molecular diagnostics with its software solutions that integrate seamlessly into standard molecular testing workflows. The startup’s platform enables the execution of advanced computing applications, enhancing the precision and efficiency of molecular testing.

Their technology is agnostic to the type of molecular test, meaning it can integrate with any existing infrastructure without disrupting workflows. This flexibility positions Algorithmic Biologics as a pioneer in improving diagnostic capabilities across a wide range of medical and molecular applications.

The company’s vision is to create a healthier world by bringing scalability and efficiency to molecular discovery and diagnostics.

Algorithmic Biologics’ first product, Tapestry, is a regulatory-approved, award-winning solution designed to provide affordable, large-scale Covid-19 testing.

AltiusHub

Redefining The Future Of Supply Chain Tech

Having spent years in the life sciences and supply chain management ecosystems, Siddharth Reddy and Abiram Vijaykumar realised a pressing need for robust solutions to ensure the integrity of supply chains, especially in critical sectors like life sciences and pharmaceuticals.

In a bid to solve this problem, the duo developed a sophisticated platform called AltisHub. At the core of AltiusHub’s offerings is a state-of-the-art supply chain visibility system that provides comprehensive end-to-end visibility for all stakeholders involved in the supply chain, including manufacturers, third-party logistics providers (3PLs), distributors, warehouse operators, and brand owners.

The platform utilises advanced tracking and monitoring technologies, enabling stakeholders to gain real-time insights into product movement, inventory levels, and potential disruptions. AltiusHub primarily operates in India and the United States and is focussed on the expansive pharmaceutical ecosystem.
In the short term, the company aims to strengthen its presence among contract manufacturers, brand owners, 3PLs, and distributors in India, facilitating operational efficiencies and risk mitigation through its visibility system.

Looking ahead, AltiusHub intends to diversify its services to cater to other sectors, such as fertilisers, defence, tobacco, and alcohol.

Atomgrid

An R&D Platform For Specialty Chemicals

Atomgrid is an R&D-driven platform focussed on contract development, manufacturing, and sourcing of speciality chemicals. Founded by IIT-BHU alumni Lakshit Bansal, Siddharth Gupta, and Pratik Chowdhury, Atomgrid addresses key challenges faced by Indian speciality chemical manufacturers, such as limited R&D access, raw material sourcing, and global market connections.

Imperative to mention that China currently accounts for approximately 15-17% of the world’s exportable speciality chemicals, whereas India accounts for merely 1-2%, indicating that the country has a large scope for improvement and widespread opportunity.

However, with the global market shifting away from China, Atomgrid positions Indian manufacturers to become global players by enhancing production capacity and export potential.

Atomgrid’s larger mission is to establish a global footprint, starting from India, in the high-value speciality chemicals sector, ultimately driving the country’s role in the global supply chain.

BetterInvest

Easy Funding Solutions For Content Creators

BetterInvest addresses a critical challenge in India’s rapidly growing media and entertainment industry — the difficulty content producers face in securing timely and reliable financing.

Traditional funding methods can be slow and burdensome, delaying the production of movies, web series, and other content. BetterInvest solves this by offering fast, affordable, and hassle-free funding, bridging the gap between investors and the substantial financing needs of the entertainment sector.

Founded in 2022 by Pradeep Somu, Sethu Rajendran and Sriram Anax, BetterInvest specialises in invoice discounting by advancing funds against future receivables from OTT platforms, satellite channels, and audio rights. This innovative model helps content producers access capital swiftly.

The platform is powered by tailored data models specific to the entertainment sector, ensuring smarter investment decisions. With over 115 deals financed and backed by prominent angel investors, BetterInvest is driving growth in the media industry. By connecting investors with media projects, BetterInvest unlocks the potential of India’s entertainment industry.

BigEndian Semiconductors

Semiconductor Solutions For Surveillance

Founded earlier this year by Sunil Kumar, Renuka Prasad, Harpreet Wadhawan, Dinesh Annayya, Kanagaraju Ponnusamy, and Jansen Cheng, BigEndian is developing semiconductor solutions for the surveillance sector. The company is currently building its first System on Chip (SoC) for surveillance cameras, intended for both enterprise and consumer applications.

BigEndian specialises in designing integrated circuits, microprocessors, and custom semiconductors for an array of industries, including consumer electronics and automotive.

BigEndian Semiconductors recently raised $3 Mn in a round led by Vertex Ventures SEA & India. The startup plans to use the funds to develop new semiconductor intellectual property (IP), marking a significant milestone in its growth.

ClearTrust

New-Age Fraud Mitigation Platform For AdOps & Media Buying Teams

ClearTrust is a SaaS platform that offers robust protection against Invalid Traffic (IVT) for publishers and media buyers, ensuring compliance with media rating guidelines. Equipped with over 100 built-in filters, pre-configured filter profiles, transparent reporting, and dedicated support, ClearTrust has become a leading solution for SMEs and SMBs seeking reliable IVT protection.

The platform scans more than 100 Bn events monthly, positioning itself as a fast-growing leader in the space. Backed by Modulor Capital and Pentathlon Ventures, ClearTrust leverages a self-learning system, advanced intelligence, and an open filter framework that enables it to quickly adapt to emerging IVT threats.

Designed for businesses involved in revenue monetisation, media buying, or the advertising supply chain, ClearTrust offers a free trial, making it accessible and affordable without compromising on quality. Its rapid adaptability and cost-effective solution make it the go-to option for effective traffic scanning and protection at the right price.

Convrse.ai

AI-Driven 3D Mesh Optimisation

Founded by Anshul Padyal, Vikrant Singh, and Vishesh Khatri in 2021, Convrse.ai is a 3D mesh optimiser designed to transform how over 100 Mn 3D creators bring their content online and into real-time 3D environments.

Tackling long-standing issues such as mesh optimisation, format inconsistencies, interactivity, and deployment, Convrse.ai offers a user-friendly, AI-driven solution.

The platform streamlines the creation process for industries, including gaming, architecture, manufacturing, healthcare, and simulations, making 3D workflows more affordable, accessible, and configurable.

One of the standout features of Convrse.ai is its intelligent and automated polygon reduction, which improves with each use while preserving the intricate details of the original design.

It supports lightning-fast performance, enabling seamless interaction with optimised 3D models for efficient design workflows. Convrse.ai handles over 30 file formats, including FBX, GLB, GLTF, OBJ, and CAD files like DWG, DXF, and STL, ensuring smooth conversions across platforms.

Additionally, Convrse.ai supports over 16 CAD formats such as STP, SMF, IFC, and OCA, converting them into triangular mesh and optimising them for real-time applications. The platform prioritises the security and privacy of creators, ensuring that all creative assets remain confidential during optimisation.

DeepMatrix

An Integrated Platform To Ingest GIS Data

The drone industry in India is leveraging AI across sectors such as agriculture, defence, logistics, and surveillance. However, the adoption of AI in drones poses significant challenges due to poor infrastructure in the country, high development costs, and a lack of skilled professionals.

Naresh Soni encountered firsthand the difficulties businesses faced in effectively utilising AI within the drone industry. He teamed up with an IIT Kharagpur batchmate, Kaustubh Tripathi, to democratise AI technology. The result was DeepMatrix, a startup that specialises in offering geospatial data to a broad range of industries.

DeepMatrix provides AI-powered data analytics platforms for geospatial data analysis, photogrammetry, and platforms for utilities, mining, and urban mapping. It also offers data management and extensive storage solutions to sectors like mining, utilities, and urban mapping, ensuring high accuracy and quick turnaround times.

Recently, the startup raised $1.6M from YourNest, Arali Ventures, and angel investors, including Tracxn’s Abhishek Goyal. With funds in place, the deeptech service provider will now look to improve its product offerings and expand its presence in key markets such as the United States and Australia.

Elevate Now

Elevate Your Weight Loss Journey

Struggling with weight loss can feel like a never-ending battle for many individuals, especially when typical diets and fitness routines fail to address the root causes. This is where ElevateNow steps in, providing a solution that tackles weight management holistically by combining medical expertise with sustainable lifestyle changes.

ElevateNow’s programme is designed to help individuals achieve lasting weight loss through a doctor-led therapeutic plan that focusses on addressing the underlying factors contributing to weight gain. With personalised support, participants receive guidance on nutrition, fitness, and stress management, ensuring a well-rounded approach to health.

The programme offers two solutions — a 15-18% weight loss in six months plan and a 10-15% weight loss in 16 weeks plan with the Allurion Gastric Balloon — an innovative, non-surgical method for fast and effective results. ElevateNow prioritises long-term habit formation with precision nutrition and medicine-assisted interventions.

Backed by science and real results, ElevateNow helps participants not only lose weight but also build healthier, sustainable lifestyles.

Hyperbots

Automating Finance & Accounting Functions With AI

Hyperbots is an AI startup that focusses on automating finance and accounting functions. The startup has developed proprietary AI assistants, which have human-like intelligence, to automate manual, analytical, and strategic tasks in finance and accounting, reducing human involvement by 80%.

Founded in 2023 by Rajeev Pathak, Niyati Chhaya, and Ram Jayaraman, the leadership team brings deep expertise in AI and SaaS. Focussed on the US mid-market, Hyperbots targets companies with revenues between $50 Mn and $1 Bn, embedding AI into processes such as procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, and expense management.

The company recently secured $2 Mn in a seed funding round led by Kalaari Capital, with participation from Sunicon Ventures and Athera Venture Partners. This funding will accelerate Hyperbots’ go-to-market strategy and further develop its proprietary generative AI models for finance and accounting.

Kaatil

Desi Hot Condiments

Kaatil is an Indian chilli-focussed hot condiments brand, offering a range of products that highlight the heat and flavour of Indian chillies.

Founded by Sagar Merchant and Arjun Panwar under Smerc food and beverages, Kaatil’s product line includes hot sauces, hot ketchups, and chilli oils, all crafted using a variety of Indian chillies. The brand emphasises creating bold, spicy condiments that cater to those who enjoy authentic, fiery flavours in their food.

The brand’s products are available on its direct-to-consumer website, Amazon, Big Basket, Nature’s Basket, and at offline retail stores in Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad. Additionally, Kaatil has expanded its footprint internationally, with products now sold on Amazon USA and in stores in Canada and New Zealand.

The startup recently raised an undisclosed amount in its seed round led by Mumbai-based Prajay Advisors. Kaatil plans to use the funds to expand its product lines and distribution channels both nationally and internationally.

The brand is also focussing on building a dedicated B2B supply chain aimed at serving restaurants, hotels, and cafés. With its roots in Indian spices and a commitment to exploring new avenues for distribution, Kaatil is positioning itself as a growing player in the hot condiment space.

Kommunicate

AI-Powered Customer Service Automation Platform

Kommunicate was born out of a clear problem that its founders, Devashish Mamgain and Adarsh Kumar, experienced while running their previous venture, Applozic, where they managed customer support.

They noticed the inefficiencies in traditional support systems and the lack of effective automation. This challenge sparked the idea to create Kommunicate in 2020, a customer service automation platform that combines AI and human support to improve customer interactions.

Kommunicate is a Gen-AI-powered platform designed to automate over 80% of customer service processes, enabling businesses to deliver seamless 24/7 engagement across websites, mobile apps, and messaging platforms. Trusted by over 400 companies worldwide, the platform serves industries such as education, banking, ecommerce, insurance, and healthcare. Kommunicate helps businesses drive superior customer experiences by improving operational efficiency and reducing costs.

The company’s flagship products include Kompose, an NLP bot builder, a Gen AI chatbot, and a fully integrated live chat solution. Kommunicate stands out with its low-code, no-code platform that simplifies both building and maintenance. Its AI-agnostic nature allows businesses to choose the AI model that works best for them, while features like bot training, webhooks, and custom APIs enable seamless integration with existing support tools.

Operating on a flexible subscription-based model, Kommunicate offers tailored plans to meet varying business needs. With a presence across the US, the UK, Canada, India, Australia, the Middle East, and Europe, Kommunicate continues to scale its AI capabilities and expand globally.

Kwei

Simplifying Live Streaming Infrastructure

Founded in April 2024 by Khush Chandawat, Kwei.io simplifies live streaming for businesses by removing the complexity of setting up infrastructure. With its hybrid mesh architecture, it eliminates the need for complicated server setups, allowing companies to focus on creating great content.

Kwei.io supports a variety of applications, including video conferencing, live event streaming, conversational AI, and even robotics. Kwei.io has been built to reduce latency, enhance stream quality, and simplify scalability, making high-quality live streaming accessible to a broader audience. Users can launch their streaming services in three easy steps: connect with Kwei’s team, integrate their SDK, and go live.

With real-time analytics and multi-cloud support, Kwei.io offers a powerful and affordable solution for businesses of any size.

Maidaan

A Social Gaming & Competitions Platform For Students

Maidaan, founded in 2022 by Judhajit Bal and Shashank Awasthi, delivers a unique learning experience to school students through social gaming.

Growing up as Army kids in small cantonments, the founders only faced real competition during college entrance exams. They realised that Indian students belonging to middle-class families needed exposure to competition much earlier, which led to the creation of Maidaan.

Positioned as India’s largest inter-school contests platform, Maidaan enables students to engage in competitions focussed on subjects such as English, mathematics, science, and general knowledge. The goal is to make learning fun and competitive for students across the country.

The platform partners with schools to host multi-round tournaments that test critical thinking and problem-solving skills of students. The candidates can compete with peers beyond their school and city, receiving detailed performance analyses after each round. Merit rankers win awards, and the cycle continues throughout the year, providing students with ongoing opportunities for growth.

Launched in 2023, Maidaan has quickly grown, amassing over 10,000 users and partnering with 30+ schools, particularly in Pune. Backed by Inflection Point Ventures and We Founder Circle, Maidaan is focussed on expanding its reach and innovating its game formats to make learning more practical and engaging.

Meri Bhakti

All-In-One Hindu Devotional App

Founded in 2024 by Rachit Jain, Meri Bhakti aims at making faith and devotion more accessible in today’s digital world. The idea came during Jain’s solo trip to Ayodhya, where he saw the deep emotional connection people had during the Pran Pratishtha Ceremony. Jain realised, unlike many aspects of life, digitisation had yet to reform how people worship.

His research confirmed the need for more comprehensive digital services for devotees, leading him to launch the startup. Today, the platform offers a range of services designed to cater to your spiritual needs. The platform offers features like astrology consultations via call and chat, a global temple locator, daily religious stories, personalised greetings, and a pocket mandir feature for on-the-go pooja.

Currently, Meri Bhakti generates revenue through astrology consultations, but there are plans to expand into other areas such as religious tourism, pooja booking services, and an online shop for spiritual needs. With short-term goals of achieving product-market fit by the end of 2024, Meri Bhakti’s long-term vision is to serve over 1 Cr devotees worldwide by 2026.

Mitra

Nutrition-Focussed FMCG Startup

Founded by Abhishek Kaushik in 2023, Mitra is an FMCG brand offering nutrition-focussed products made using a 300-year-old stone grinding method. Its product line includes flours, gram flour, edible oils, millet-based goods, and spices.

With a 1.5-acre manufacturing unit in Mathura, Mitra caters to Tier II and III city consumers who want affordable, high-quality branded products.

The startup’s flagship offerings include pearl millet, corn flour, black wheat flour, and keto flour, all stone-ground, rich in fibre and roughage, and packaged to meet modern affordability standards.

In a market where premium goods are often out of reach, Mitra bridges the gap by providing reasonably priced alternatives that don’t compromise on quality. The brand operates through a strong offline distribution network of 500 distributors and 15,000 retail points in Delhi NCR and western UP.

Recently, the brand achieved significant milestones, including launching a mustard oil plant with 3 Lakh litres of monthly capacity, reaching a 78% repeat purchase ratio, and securing a funding of INR 11 Cr. Looking ahead, Mitra plans to expand exports to the Middle East and Europe and aims for an IPO by 2026.

Nautical Wings Aerospace

Electric Propulsion Solutions For Aviation

As the world shifts towards electric aviation, Nautical Wings Aerospace is tackling the dearth of domestic solutions for electric propulsion in India.

The startup focusses on developing state-of-the-art electric propulsion systems, specifically integrated electric propulsion units (iEPU). These systems are designed to be versatile, reliable, and safe, providing a complete solution for UAV and eVTOL manufacturers.

By offering plug-and-play iEPU options, Nautical Wings simplifies the integration process, allowing aircraft manufacturers to concentrate on other critical aspects of their designs while ensuring they have access to cutting-edge propulsion technology.

Founded in 2016 by Shiv Varun Singh Rajput during his college years, the company initially aimed to create India’s first submarine-launch aerial vehicle. However, recognising the pressing need for advanced propulsion technology in 2020, Shiv pivoted the company’s focus. With the help of college friends Praveen and Vikas, Nautical Wings is now committed to leading the electric aviation transition in India.

Currently, the company holds several patents pending in India, particularly for propeller technology, and operates on a B2B revenue model, collaborating with leading UAV and air taxi companies both domestically and internationally.

In the short term, Nautical Wings aims to redefine the medium and heavy-lift unmanned aerial propulsion market, while by 2026, it plans to introduce a 750 kW propulsion system, facilitating India’s first electric aircraft and eVTOL.

ORIGHT

Building Highly Efficient Supply Chain For The Dairy Industry

Cofounded in 2019 by Utkarsh Kapoor and Rame Kachroo, ORIGHT is a Gurugram-based dairytech startup. The company recently raised $1 Mn in a seed round led by Aeravti Ventures, following an earlier raise of $847K from Loyal and others. ORIGHT aims to transform the dairy supply chain with its IoT-driven milk traceability solutions.

Its IoT devices monitor key factors like temperature, humidity, water content, FAT, SNF, and potential adulterations in milk. The technology tracks the milk throughout its journey — from farm to chillers, transport vans, and the packing stage — sending real-time data to a blockchain network for secure and transparent recording.

By leveraging cutting-edge technology, ORIGHT seeks to create an efficient and synchronised supply chain in the dairy industry. ORIGHT’s solutions focus on ensuring transparency, quality, and sustainability from the point of production to the consumer’s table, empowering farmers, processors, and distributors alike.

plutosONE

Digital Bill Payment Solutions

Founded by Rohit Mahajan and Rajjat Gulati, plutos ONE is a licenced and empanelled Technical Service Provider (TSP) for the Bharat Bill Payments System (BBPS). The startup aims to enhance digital transaction capabilities for banks and improve the accessibility of digital bill payments.

Armed with a comprehensive suite of products and services, plutos ONE specialises in innovative solutions such as conversational AI for bill payments via WhatsApp and web interfaces. The company also provides incentives and engagement strategies for every transaction, along with complete billing solutions, including onboarding, settlements, refunds, and customer support.

In addition, plutos ONE operates the largest merchant-funded offers platform in India, featuring over 400 online brands. It manages card activation and offers platforms for various banks, networks, and large brands, partnering with key players like NPCI, Visa, HDFC, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The company is PCI-DSS and ISO 27001:2013 certified. Its application stack operates on MeitY-certified data centres by Google, reinforcing its status as a preferred partner for Google Cloud.

Schmooze

India’s First Meme-Based Dating App

Founded by Vidya Madhavan and Abhinav Anurag in 2021, Schmooze wants to transform the dating experience by tapping into the way Gen Z and millennials communicate and express themselves — through memes.

Madhavan recognised a shift in how younger generations seek connection, Schmooze connects people based on their meme taste rather than just physical appearances. While at Stanford, Vidya saw that Gen Z was tired of the conventional photo-swiping model and wanted something deeper and more authentic in their dating experiences. Memes, being universally consumed and expressive, became the perfect medium for this connection.

Schmooze’s flagship product is an AI-powered meme-based dating app that uses humour to bring people together. The app presents a stream of memes, and based on user interactions, it builds a personality profile.

This data is then used to find “vibe matches”— other users who share similar humour or personality traits. Beyond dating, Schmooze helps users combat loneliness with its AI-powered “Roast and Rant” features.

Roast AI mimics the experience of chatting with a stand-up comedian, while Rant AI acts as a comforting diary that listens and responds to users. Additionally, the app’s resident AI assistant, Genie, supports users throughout their dating journey by offering pick-up lines, conversation starters, and guidance.

Trainn

Accelerate Product Adoption & Customer Retention

Customer education for B2B SaaS companies often faces significant challenges due to fragmented tools and inefficient processes that waste valuable time and resources. Trainn addresses this critical issue by providing a comprehensive platform that changes how businesses educate their customers.

Founded by engineers Vivekanandhan Natarajan and Sumana Abirami Ammaiyappan, Trainn enables organisations to create, distribute, and measure training content effortlessly, transforming the landscape of customer education. With AI content authoring capabilities, users can generate engaging videos, interactive walkthroughs, and support documents with AI assistance.

Additionally, Trainn offers a help centre that allows organisations to scale a self-serve resource hub for all training materials. The platform also provides detailed analytics on engagement, retention, and feedback, giving businesses valuable insights into their training efforts.

By helping organisations save time, boost support productivity, and create brand advocates through personalised training experiences, Trainn eliminates the need for clunky tools and siloed programmes.

Tuco Intelligent

Intelligent Skin & Hair Care For Kids

Founded in 2023 by Aishvarya Murali, Tuco Intelligent aims to address the growing personal care needs of kids, from managing grime and sun exposure for younger children to tackling pre-adolescent concerns like body odour and oily skin.

The product line includes soaps, lotions, creams, makeup, and deodorants made from natural, time-tested ingredients like beetroot, turmeric, saffron, and rosehip. These formulas, inspired by traditional Indian remedies, provide effective, safe solutions for young skin and hair.

What sets Tuco Intelligent apart is its commitment to sustainability. All products are packaged in 100% landfill- and ocean-reclaimed plastic, emphasising the brand’s mission to create a greener future for children.

With a growing base of repeat customers and availability on platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, and Firstcry, Tuco Intelligent is poised for rapid expansion, aiming to reshape the future of kids’ personal care.

The startup recently raised $2 Mn in a seed funding round led by Fireside Ventures and Whiteboard capital.

Umrit

AI-Powered Health Companion

A lot has changed after the pandemic, especially when it comes to people giving priority to their health and well-being.

Founded in 2024 by Subhendu Panigrahi, along with Akash Gehani and Sanmaya Dhal, Umrit offers an AI-based health companion designed to empower users to maintain their health.

By creating a digital twin for each individual, it generates a health score based on assessments of various functional systems, providing personalised recommendations and timely nudges for enhanced longevity.

Its flagship product, MO, analyses blood reports and assigns health scores across eight systems of human health using systems biology concepts. This holistic approach helps users better understand their health and receive tailored protocols to improve their scores, guiding them toward better health.

Operating on a freemium model, Umrit offers a free version with limited features and subscription plans for enhanced access. Recently, the platform has enabled over 50 users to identify chronic conditions and begin their journey to improved health. In 2024, Umrit plans to test its product with over 5,000 beta users, aiming for a user base of 5 Lakh by 2026, with 1% subscribing to premium plans.

Unscript.ai

Create Studio-Quality Videos In Minutes

AI startup Unscript aims to transform video creation by making it accessible and effortless for everyone. Founded in 2021 by Ritwika Chowdhury, Akhil Menon and Apurv Jain, Unscript wants to democratise video production, eliminating the need for expensive equipment or time-consuming editing processes.

The platform leverages advanced AI technology to simplify the entire process, allowing users to create professional-looking videos with lifelike AI presenters, personalise video marketing at scale, and unlock a range of creative possibilities.

Unscript aims to empower individuals, businesses, and content creators to produce compelling video content quickly and affordably. With video becoming the dominant medium for communication and marketing, Unscript is at the forefront of making this essential tool available to everyone. By removing technical barriers, the platform enables storytellers to focus on their creativity, not the complexities of video production.

The startup’s vision is to transform the future of content creation by allowing anyone, from individuals to large companies, to narrate impactful stories through video.

Valyx

Automating Revenue Management For B2B Companies

While serving Stripe, a multinational financial services and SaaS company, Avishek Ray and Anirudh Bhargava discovered that Indian B2B startups face significant challenges in managing receivables. They also found that most of these companies were stuck with outdated manual processes like Excel and emails, leading to further inefficiencies.

This led to the inception of Valyx in 2023. The startup aims to shape the future of finance for fast-growing businesses. Valyx makes revenue management error-free. It eliminates tedious and repetitive tasks by automating billing, invoicing, and collections.

Through its integration with banks, payment gateways, and ERPs, the startup provides businesses with a real-time, comprehensive view of their cash flows.

The platform simplifies complex billing scenarios, such as usage-based pricing, tiered structures, and volume discounts. Tasks that traditionally consume hours using Excel can also be automated.

The platform also helps businesses automate their receivables process by enabling customised collection strategies. It can send out invoices with embedded payment links, run collections on autopilot, and ensure faster payments.

Valyx also automates reconciliation by matching payments to outstanding invoices, integrating with payment gateways and ERP systems to eliminate manual posting, ensuring faster and more accurate financial reporting.

Venttup

Pioneering Industries 5.0

Venttup is an Industries 5.0 startup focussed on building a global network of scalable manufacturing and engineering capacities, with India as its central hub.

Founded by Sandeep Nair, M. Wasim Ankli, and Joseph Panakkal, the company aims to transform the manufacturing landscape by bringing millions of MSMEs onto a single digital platform, improving supply chain efficiency and enabling localised production of critical engineering components.

The startup focusses on sectors such as energy, electric vehicles (EV), aerospace, and defence, offering customised, complex engineering solutions. Venttup’s platform allows large enterprises to outsource their engineering needs while reducing carbon footprints through cloud manufacturing and sustainable practices. This localised production model helps businesses enhance operational efficiency and meet sustainability goals.

Since its inception in 2023, Venttup claims to have achieved INR 2 Cr in annual recurring revenue (ARR). It boasts an order pipeline of INR 20 Cr. With recent seed funding from Unicorn India Ventures, Venttup plans to accelerate its business growth and technology development for its Indigenisation Program Management. The company aims to increase its revenue fivefold in the next year by securing 50 new clients, positioning itself as a key player in the future of global manufacturing.

Vidyo.ai

AI-Curated Short Clips

The social media and content creation industry faces several challenges, from ideation and creation to publishing and management. Many businesses and professionals struggle with managing diverse platforms, maintaining quality content, and keeping up with fast-evolving trends. Traditional tools often require multiple applications to handle various tasks like video editing, scheduling, and analytics, creating inefficiencies and bottlenecks.

Vidyo.ai aims to solve these challenges with an AI-first solution that streamlines the entire social media process. Founded by Vedant Maheshwari & Kushagrs Pandya in content creation and AI development, Vidyo.ai simplifies ideation, video creation, editing, publishing, analytics, and automation. Its flagship products include an AI-powered video editor and smart social media publishing tools that allow automatic video creation, editing, and distribution across multiple platforms.

With a freemium SaaS model, Vidyo.ai has already gained traction globally, especially in the US, with a $2 Mn ARR within 18 months of launch. They recently onboarded three major entertainment companies as enterprise clients and launched a dedicated offering for teams and agencies.

Short-term goals for 2024 include launching four new products and closing their seed funding round. By 2026, the company aims to hit $10 Mn ARR and offer a comprehensive platform for social media marketing that covers every aspect in depth.

Wundrsight Health

Revolutionising Mental Healthcare With AI, VR

Wundrsight Health aims to revolutionise mental healthcare by integrating Virtual Reality (VR) and AI to address the problem of therapy adherence.

Traditional therapy can be dull and ineffective for many patients, leading to missed sessions and incomplete treatment. Wundrsight offers clinician-led care management with immersive, tailored virtual worlds, delivering evidence-based therapies for various mental health conditions like anxiety, stress, and substance use disorders.

Using data and analytics, therapy is personalised, and progress is tracked in real time. Wundrsight’s flagship products — ReviveXR for substance use disorders, ReliefXR for stress management, and BoostXR for neurodiverse learners — provide patients with a more engaging, accessible form of care.

Founded by Raunak Swarnkar and Nishtha Budhiraja in 2022, Wundrsight aims to bridge the gap in quality care by using cutting-edge technology. Nishtha’s psychology background and experience in the UK’s National Health Services, combined with Raunak’s product expertise, have led to the creation of this platform.

With a B2B platform-as-a-service revenue model, Wundrsight is already operational in India and South Asia. Recent milestones include seed funding, onboarding hospitals, and conducting clinical trials.

Zippee

Enabling Same-Day Deliveries For D2C Brands

Zippee was founded in 2021 by Madhav Kasturia after he faced ecommerce delivery delays during the pandemic lockdown in Delhi.

Kasturia claims Zippee to be India’s first quick commerce logistics-as-a-service platform for over 1 Lakh ecommerce brands. The solution allows brands to offer two-hour or same-day delivery directly through their websites and channels. It has an extensive network of dark stores and last-mile fleets across the country.

Zippee’s flagship product, Zippee Blaze, enhances web conversions, reduces RTO rates, and boosts customer loyalty for participating brands. While the company does not hold any patent, it has developed a proprietary tech stack to support its operations.

The startup recently launched quick delivery services for notable brands like ITC, Mondelez, and Haagen Dazs. Zippee’s short-term plan includes expanding to 20 cities, while it wants to become India’s largest enabler of quick commerce across 50 cities by 2026.

Zivy

An AI Tool To Prioritise Workplace Messages & Tasks

The overwhelming influx of notifications, emails, and messages has become a universal bugbear for professionals, who often find themselves drowned in the sea of alerts and notifications.

This resonated deeply with Prashanth YV and Vivek Karna during their time at leading startups Razorpay and Flipkart, respectively.

Despite their best efforts, the constant barrage of communication made it nearly impossible to focus on what truly mattered. They realised that this struggle was not unique to them.

Determined to address this pervasive issue, they launched Zivy to empower managers and team leads. Zivy serves as a personalised copilot, filtering through various work applications, starting with Slack, to curate only the most relevant conversations and tasks.

By adapting to users’ changing priorities, Zivy simplifies workflows and enhances productivity. Currently, the platform features a priority inbox for Slack messages, specifically designed to help managers focus on what truly matters and break free from the chaos of modern work life.

Going forward, Zivy aims to manage communication overload for managers across all the work tools, including Slack, WhatsApp, Teams, Discord, Gmail, Jira, Linear, Notion, and Google Docs. By 2026, Zivy plans to develop an AI copilot that automates tasks like report generation, survey management, and performance data collection.

[With Inputs From Anne Florentyna, Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eyes In September 2024 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Shares of new-age tech stocks plummeted on Thursday (October 3) as the broader equity market crashed due to rising tensions in the Middle East.

Sensex plunged 2.10% to end today’s trading session at 82,497.10, while Nifty 50 also fell 2.12% to end the day at 25,250.10. 

In line with the decline in benchmark indices, 22 out of the 28 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage ended in the red today, falling in a range of 0.53% to a little under 6%. 

Leading the pack of losers was car marketplace CarTrade, with its shares falling 5.84% to INR 932.15.

It is pertinent to note that new-age tech stocks witnessed a similar decline last week. Nineteen of the 28 stocks under Inc42’s coverage fell in a range of 0.2% to over 16% in the past week. 

Last week’s biggest loser, EaseMyTrip continued its downward journey this week. Shares of the online travel aggregator fell 2.26% to end today’s session at INR 33.25. With this, the travel tech startup is approaching its 52-week low of INR 32.83. 

Last week’s top gainer TBO Tek’s shares also plummeted 3.08% to close today’s session at INR 1,755.

Zomato, Paytm, Ola Electric, Nazara Technologies, PB Fintech, and Delhivery were among the other major new-age tech stocks which ended in the red today.

Meanwhile, Menhood emerged as the biggest gainer among the six startups whose stocks ended in the green today. The D2C men’s grooming brand’s shares zoomed 9.96% to close at INR 138.50. Other gainers of the day were Go Digit, RateGain, Zaggle, TAC Infosec and FirstCry. 

The total market capitalisation of the 28 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage stood at $87.61 Bn at the end of today’s trading. 

Commenting on the broader market crash, Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP of technical and derivatives research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Interrmediates, said that bearish sentiment took over the Indian market in line with the global dip. 

“The domestic benchmark indices opened with a gap-down, in line with global cues. Nifty started the day on a negative note and remained under pressure throughout, ultimately closing negatively at 25,250. Technically, on the daily chart, the index formed a large red candle, signalling further weakness. Moreover, the index has broken its key support base and trend line support at 25,350, indicating fresh weakness,” he said. 

The downward spiral of the market today was triggered by the surge in oil prices due to the escalating tensions in the Middle East. 

The post New-Age Tech Stocks Bleed As Broader Market Crashes, CarTrade Tanks Nearly 6% appeared first on Inc42 Media.

With one quarter to go in 2024, we are beginning to another inflection point in the Indian startup ecosystem, with VC funds and investors, in particular, displaying a lot more optimism than just one year ago. And in particular, we are seeing a shift from valuations to value.

Much of this bullishness was on display at MoneyX by Inc42 last week, but even outside the spotlight of the stage, conversations revolved around true valuations, monetisation and profits, the IPO frenzy and exits. When just last year, perhaps the mood was a bit more sombre.

Indeed, over the past two months, we have delved into the factors that have given Indian venture capital firms this brighter view of things — including the improving outlook for exits through IPOs and the secondary market for startups.

But what’s often unspoken in these conversations is the rationalisation in startup valuations. The discussion around valuations is usually restricted to the public markets where we have seen debates on Zomato’s staggering rise to $30 Bn and beyond, and on the flipside, Paytm currently trading at over 70% lower than its listing price.

These fluctuations in valuations are pretty much expected in the world of publicly listed companies, but for startups, the conversation has pretty much always been about rising valuations, or when things go pear-shaped and there’s a big erosion — think, BYJU’S or Pharmeasy.

That’s until now. In 2024, there is a more measured and rational view on valuations and the fact that many startups are now coming closer to their true value than before. In particular, the fact that even smaller IPOs are gaining a lot of traction and interest is also a great sign for startup investors, and another factor behind the shift from vanity valuation to real value.

From Vanity Valuation To Real Value

Several noted investors told Inc42 last week that if the past decade was about backing the potential of Indian startups, the next few years will be about backing the value that has been created from this potential. And for many VCs, the age of unicorns is over, or perhaps the metric by which a unicorn is defined has changed.

Until FY23, only a handful of unicorns were profitable. But this tide seems to be turning in FY24 as companies have figured out ‘comfortable’ monetisation models. Zomato, Honasa, OYO have shown that companies can scale up and yet remain profitable.

It’s no longer the choice between profits and revenue that it used to be, and valuations, therefore, are not the metric by which to judge the startups that need to be celebrated.

Peak XV Partners’ managing director Mohit Bhatnagar admitted to having a problem with the term unicorn, because as an investor, it gives the wrong signal. He believes that valuation only truly matters at the time of an exit, and to get this valuation, investors have to back value.

“It’s time we look at redefining what it means to be a unicorn. While surely, it cannot always be about profits, we have to judge companies on how much revenue they are generating and are they closing the gap when it comes to going breakeven. This is the real metric and the days of chasing these vanity valuations are over,” he added.

In a similar vein, early-stage and angel investor Rajesh Sawhney believes that the wave of smaller IPOs, which have also delivered the returns to pre-IPO investors, shows that valuation was never the right north star for founders.

“Of course, valuations are important when you exit, but that cannot be the reason you invest in startups. Founders bargaining for a higher valuation is a red flag in most cases, and only in a fraction of investments does this pay off. But why take that risk at all? Venture investing is already risky,” Sawhney told Inc42.

Why Valuations Don’t Matter For Some VCs

Others such as Hiro Mashita, founder and director of Singapore-based m&s Partners, had a different take on valuations. Mashita said that as early investors, the potential upside can be so big that valuation at the time of investing is often immaterial.

Mashita pointed to his experience of investing in Razorpay’s seed round in 2015, when the company had just started out and was not making much revenue to its current valuation of over $7.5 Bn. He claimed his investment has grown by over 700X since the seed round. So for him, it was not about the valuation but the value that Razorpay could unlock.

Interestingly, Mashita also cited the example of Y Combinator founder Paul Graham, who once said, “Valuation matters far, far less than the decision of whether to invest or not. The spread between bargain and outrageous startup valuations can’t be more than 5X, in a world where the best investments can return 1,000X.”

Incidentally, Y Combinator also invested in Razorpay’s seed round, and the company is now looking to list in India by FY26 or next year.

IPOs & Indian Startup Valuations

Speaking of IPOs — many VCs have seen the writing on the wall for a number of years, and have held onto the belief that private valuations are just a number on a paper that does not matter for many years.

The fact is that many VCs feel vindicated about their thoughts on valuations today, than a few years ago, because of the fact that today startups are at the stage where they can grow into their valuations more easily.

The ripe market for IPOs is a big part of this vindication. Relatively small size of some new-age tech public listings this year and the spate of SME IPOs (even accounting for the potential bubble there) have also justified their patience.

When criticism around bloated valuations first came up in 2021 during the ZIRP investing bubble, Blume Ventures’ partner Sajith Pai wrote, “VCs found that the techniques that public market investors used couldn’t hold for younger, fast-growing companies with unpredictable revenue. Through long years of iteration, they came with the practice or protocol of playing long-term multiparty staging games to take the company from idea to IPO.”

At the time, Pai claimed the VC valuation process has been honed and has evolved over the years, and can at times lead to situations where certain startups seem to have ‘absurd’ valuation for their particular stages. But also he warned that comparing these valuations with public markets misses a big point.

“Over time, these ‘derived valuations’ correct themselves out, and in the long run, as the startups move to an IPO, the values converge with those of their public market counterparts,” Pai wrote in 2021

This seems to have presaged what we are seeing in 2024. A lot of the private market valuations are either sobering to meet public market benchmarks and when private companies go public, their valuations reach more rational levels seemingly automatically.

In many ways, this too is a sign of maturity of the market, of a necessary step in the evolution of Indian startups. Even the most absurd valuations tend to get corrected in the long run. And when they do, as they have now, the real value comes to the fore.

The post From Valuation To Value: Indian VCs Shift The Gears appeared first on Inc42 Media.

While the Indian startup ecosystem saw muted funding trends in the first half (H1) of 2024, the funding picked up pace in the third quarter (Q3) of the year. During July-September period of 2024, the total funding raised by homegrown startups shot up 100% on a year-on-year basis to $3.4 Bn, as per Inc42’s ‘Indian Tech Startup Funding Report, Q3 2024’ report.

A major driver of this growth was the significant uptick in late stage funding. During the three-month period, the startup ecosystem saw 10 startups pocket cheques north of $100 Mn. In fact, the number of mega deals during the quarter were the highest since Q2 2022. 

The period saw Zepto, PhysicsWallah, Rapido, OYO, Whatfix, Purplle, Drip Capital, BlueStone, M2P Fintech, and InMobi raise over $100 Mn in a single round. 

The jump in mega deals also translated to more startups attaining the unicorn tag in the September quarter. Three startups entered the unicorn club in July-September period as against three startups in the first half of 2024.

Interestingly, the most recent entry to the unicorn club, fintech startup Moneyview raised a mere $4.6 Mn in equity funding from Accel India and Nexus Ventures at a valuation of $1.2 Bn. 

Just a few days prior to Moneyview, ride hailing startup Rapido raised $200 Mn in its Series E funding round at a valuation of $1.1 Bn. 

Prior to Rapido, EV major Ather Energy bagged $71 Mn from existing investor National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) at a post-money valuation of  $1.3 Bn in August. Following that, the two-wheeler manufacturer filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI for an INR 3,100 Cr IPO. 

It is pertinent to note that three startups – Bhavish Aggarwal-led Krutrim, fintech SaaS startup Perfios, and travel tech SaaS startup RateGain – entered the unicorn club in the first six months of the year. 

On the back of the spurt in mega deals, late stage startup funding zoomed 115% to $2.1 Bn in the September quarter from the $984 Mn raised in the year-ago period. With 40 deals, the Indian startup ecosystem also saw a 135% increase in the late stage deal count. 

Notably, the number of mega deals in Q3 2024 was 42% higher than the seven deals in the first half of 2024. In H1 2024, late stage startups cumulatively bagged $2.7 Bn, 18% lower than the $3.3 Bn raised in the first half of 2023. 

Overall, Indian startups cumulatively raised funding of $5.3 Bn in the first six months of 2024, down 1.8% from $5.4 Bn in H1 2023. 

Despite late stage funding seeing a decline in the first six months, seed and growth stage funding saw a notable increase. While seed stage funding zoomed 23% to $589 Mn in H1 2024 from $479 Mn a year ago, growth-stage funding rose 21% to $1.7 Bn from $1.4 Mn in H1 2023. 

Seed and growth stage funding continued H1’s momentum in Q3 2024. Seed stage startups bagged $360 Mn via 125 deals in the September quarter, up 126% from $159 Mn raised via 129 deals in the year-ago period. Similarly, startups at growth stage raised $847 Mn through 65 deals in Q3, a jump of 91% from $443 Mn raised through 32 deals in the September quarter of 2023.  

The post India Gets 3 New Unicorns In Q3 2024 As Startup Funding, Mega Deals Soar appeared first on Inc42 Media.