EARLY STAGE VC FIRM
Former defence secretary Ajay Kumar joins VC play with early-stage fund
Ajay Kumar, a former bureaucrat who retired as India’s defence secretary in 2022, has set up a new venture fund, Mounttech Growth Fund, to back early-stage startups. The Rs 250-crore fund has secured approval from Sebi. The fund will look to back startups in the space, aerospace, and deep tech sectors.
Uptick in IT hiring; ex-bureaucrat turns VC
Happy Monday! IT hiring has shown a glimmer of hope in Q1. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
PE, VC funding slows in first half of 2024; secondary deals become prominent
Secondary stake sales and buyouts are driving most of the larger deals being made by private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funds in new-age firms, data from investment banking firm DC Advisory showed. In the first six months of 2024, when 37 deals took place in the $50-500 million range, 62% were secondary transactions or buyouts, with external primary investment rounds making up only 13%.
Rise & rise of secondary deals; advantage desi data centres
Happy Friday! Total funding raised by Indian startups fell in the first half of 2024, but late-stage activity showed signs of revival, as per data. Decoding this and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Global firms buy PB Fintech stakes from early backers
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have lapped up shares in Gurugram-based listed fintech firm PB Fintech, as its founders and early investors sold their shares, in full or in part, in multiple tranches. These transactions happened through bulk deals when several early-stage investors of the company exited the firm fully or partly after 2021, when it went public.
8X Ventures closes India-focused deeptech fund at Rs 200 crore
8X Ventures announced the first close of its second India-focused deeptech fund at Rs 200 crore, with a green shoe option of Rs 100 crore, aiming to back 18-20 early-stage Indian deeptech startups over three years.
Early-stage VC Z21 Ventures planning $40 million second fund
Z21 Ventures, an early-stage investment firm focusing on the India-US corridor, has fully deployed its first $5-million fund and is gearing up to launch a $40 million second fund. The firm, founded in 2022 by Abhinav Shashank and Raj Shekhar Singh, targets enterprise software and hardware startups with investments ranging from $100,000 to $150,000, backed by a community of Indian-origin technology executives like Google, Amazon, and Meta.
100X.VC invests $2.7 million in 17 startups
100X.VC, a Mumbai venture capitalist firm, injected $2.7 million into 17 startups in their 11th cohort. This brings their total portfolio to 161 companies. Ninad Karpe, founder and partner at 100X.VC, said they invested Rs 1.25 crore in each startup and provided mentorship to help them refine their products and go-to-market strategies.
Ecommerce in slow lane; PhonePe-BharatPe truce
Happy Monday! Online sales haven’t picked up during the final quarter of FY24, industry officials said. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Here are the key mistakes that founders make at different stages of building startups
When you a building a startup you must know what are the things that could go wrong while launching your dream project. To make it easier for you, we have made a list of mistakes that founders are likely to make at different stages of growth and funding of a startup.
Venture capital funding in crypto rises to $2.4 billion: PitchBook
Funding was spread across 518 deals and rose by 40.3% from the previous quarter, according to data firm PitchBook. Global venture capital investments dropped to a near five-year low in the same period.
ThinKuvate launches Rs 100 crore maiden India fund
Technology-focused ThinKuvate India Fund will take a sector-agnostic approach and invest up to Rs 3 crore as initial amount.
Wipro Consumer VC looks for more follow-on rounds
Sumit Keshan, managing partner of Wipro Consumer Care – Ventures, said the fund's approach has been to invest $1-3 million per deal with a follow-on investment that can go up to $4 million. The second fund will make a portfolio of around 15-16 companies, largely with the same ticket sizes, with a little more focus on follow-on funding, he added.
VC funding for women-led startups declined in 2023: report
A new report reveals a decline in VC funding for women-led businesses in India. According to WinPe, a non-profit organisation focused on gender diversity in private equity, the share of funding going to female founders dropped to just 9.3% in 2023, compared to 14.7% in 2021.
SoftBank back at deal counter with Icertis deal talks
Tech VC in funding talks with portfolio co Icertis, which is stitching up a $150m secondary round
Early stage VC IvyCap Ventures announces final close of third fund at Rs 2,100 crore
The fund is allocating a significant portion of its third fund to invest in around 25 early-stage startups. These initial investments will typically range from Rs 30 crore to Rs 50 crore. Some of the startups that have already received funding include Dhruva Space, Snitch, Celcius Logistics, GradRight, Eggoz, and Flexifyme.
Mohit Gupta, Mukesh Bansal’s omnichannel fashion startup Lyskraft raises $26 million in seed funding
Former Zomato executive Gupta will steer the venture as CEO, Bansal to stay away from operations. The fashion startup will focus on offline play in the premium women's wear fashion category and expand into other lifestyle segments later.
Nexus MD Sameer Brij Verma quits; will launch multi-stage fund
The fund will likely be $150-200 million in size, Verma will be a solo partner with a team of around a dozen executives.
8i Ventures launches seed funding initiative 'Origami' to back early-stage startups
Early-stage venture capital fund 8i Ventures has introduced Origami, a seed funding initiative offering investments of $250,000 to $2 million for startups. The program aims to streamline the investment process and has allocated $10 million to back eight to ten startups this year.
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