startups | Pixr8 News

24Aug By PriyankaNo Comments

INDIA

India beats Pandemic, created 53 Unicorns in 2021

Indian startups received about $6.5 billion in funding in the April-June 2021 quarter, while 11 of them entered the coveted unicorn club, a report by Nasscom-PGA Labs said. During the second quarter, 160 funding deals were closed up 2% from the January-March period. "Q2 2021 has been impeccable for the start-up growth story. From being the most funded quarter, it has also added the most number of unicorns. Standing tall during the pandemic second wave headwinds, the Indian start-up ecosystem has shown strong resilience in this quarter," the report said. Funding raised in the June quarter was at $6.5 billion, up by 71% quarter-on-quarter. The biggest deal during the quarter was the $ 800 million fundraisings by food delivery platform Swiggy, followed by ShareChat ($502 million)...

26Jan By AdityaNo Comments

FUNDING

Back Office Startup Pilot Raises $60M in Series C Funding

SAN FRANCISCO, 26th Jan 2020-- Pilot, the largest provider of back-office services for startups and small businesses in the US raises $60 million in Series C funding led by Sequoia Capital, doubling its total funding to $120 million including investments from Index Ventures and Stripe. The additional raise enables Pilot to expand its breadth of back office services that remove distractions and help companies focus on success in a challenging business environment. Back office operations like bookkeeping can be painful, expensive, and time-consuming, especially for small businesses,” said Pat Grady, partner at Sequoia. “Pilot combines intelligent software with a concierge approach to deliver a painless and even delightful back office experience. Pilot is doing for the back office wha...

Lightspeed India raises $275 Million Fund

18Aug By AdityaNo Comments

FUNDING

Lightspeed India raises $275 Million Fund

NEW DELHI, 18th Aug 2020-- Lightspeed India Partners closing of its third fund Lightspeed India Partners III with $275 Million of committed capital. Lightspeed has invested over $750 Million in India since its inception in India and with this fund, Lightspeed will continue to partner and support bold entrepreneurs building for tomorrow, right from inception through growth stages. This year began with a crisis like no other. It is always tough to start a company, it requires passion & leadership and in these times, it requires more courage than ever before. Lightspeed believes this is when the best entrepreneurs and companies of the future will emerge. Strong founders are utilizing the tailwinds of India’s digital ecosystem growth to build out a new future and Lightspeed is ...

No More startup after WhiteHat $300 million Sale: Karan Bajaj

16Aug By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

Entrepreneurs Talk

No More startup after WhiteHat $300 million Sale: Karan Bajaj

After the blockbuster sale of WhiteHat Jr for USD 300 million to Byju's, the former's founder Karan Bajaj said he is a "wanderer" who will neither go back to creating another startup nor follow in the footsteps of other entrepreneurs who dabble in the space as investors after a successful exit. Bajaj said he is a "minimalist" who does not think a lot about money and stressed that all his investments are long-term ones where he does not fret about those. Earlier this month, Bajaj's edtech venture was acquired by Byju's in an all-cash deal for USD 300 million within 20 months of its incorporation in one of the largest deals in the upcoming space. "I feel there is an endpoint of a journey. With this chapter, I'm kind of putting a lot of myself into it, and I feel I reached a very lo...

MENA $659 million investment boost for startups during COVID-19

27Jul By PriyankaNo Comments

MIDDLE EAST

MENA $659 million investment boost for startups during COVID-19

The Middle East startup ecosystem is set to uncover another startup unicorn, according to experts amid a $659 million investment boom during the COVID-19 crisis. The record-breaking regional funding surge comes despite global startup funding in the first quarter of this year seeing the biggest downturn since the 2008 financial crisis, according to research from Crunchbase. Across the Middle East there are ongoing efforts to build VC Communities and startup ecosystems from scratch, as part of region-wide economic diversification efforts. One woman at the forefront of driving this movement is Areije Al Shakar, Fund Director of Al Waha Fund of Funds, the Bahraini government fund established to kickstart a VC community across MENA. Now, experts like Al Shakar are predicting that conditi...

Arkam Ventures- Indian Founders led Investment fund raises $42 Million

9Jun By AnkitaNo Comments

BUSINESS

Arkam Ventures- Indian Founders led Investment fund raises $42 Million

New Delhi, 9th June, 2020: Arkam Ventures, a VC fund led by Indian entrepreneurs raises around $42 Million (325 crores) in its first funding round. Arkam Ventures previously known as Unitary Helion looking to support founders with bold and unconstrained ideas that reshape the largest markets in India and positively impact the lives of hundreds of millions of Indians. "We announced our first close with INR 325 CR in committed capital en route to our target of INR 700 CR for the fund. We have already made two investments with three more to be announced shortly", the company said in a blog post. Indian entrepreneurs like Vijay Shekhar, Binny Bansal, Sanjeev Bhikchandani, Rajesh Magow, Mekin Maheshwari and Kumar Sudarshan, among many others, are supporting this fund. The Arkam ...

2Jun By AdityaNo Comments

FUNDING

Knorish raises $323k in funding for business expansion

New Delhi, June 2, 2020: IT start-up Knorish has raised $323000 (Rs 2.4 crore) in a funding round from Standard Greases Family group and former business head of Sony Liv, Uday Sodhi, to expand operations, the company said on Tuesday. Earlier in December, it had raised funding from venture capitalist firm 100X.VC as part of its seed funding round. "Knorish has raised USD 3,23,000 (about Rs 2.4 crore) as part of its pre-series A as a follow up to the seed round raised in December last year by 100X.VC. The current round saw participation from the Standard Greases Family group and Uday Sodhi, ex-business head of Sony Liv," the company said in a statement. Knorish provides software tools to professionals for launching online platform. "We are looking at global growth to touch lives...

19May By AdityaNo Comments

INDIA

70% of Indian Startups are going to collapse says Nasscom Survey

70% of Indian startups have a cash runway of less than 3 months, with early stage and mid stage startups the worst affected, a report by Nasscom said. Revenues are squeezed for 90 per cent of over 250 startups surveyed by Nasscom in April this year. Over 250 startups with diverse profiles participated in the survey which included 45% mid-stage startups, 30% mature startups, and 25% early-stage startups. The Indian tech startup ecosystem is the third largest in the world with over 9,300 tech startups, providing direct employment to over 4 lakh people. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has come as a jolt and put the brakes on the flourishing growth story. As per the report, 28% of startups are hit by funding shortage which can affect long term sustainability, 21% startups are...

Wamda Launches ‘State of Pre-Seed Startups in Mena’ Report

10Mar By AnkitaNo Comments

MIDDLE EAST

Wamda Launches ‘State of Pre-Seed Startups in Mena’ Report

Dubai, 10th March 2020: Wamda, the Middle East region's leading startup ecosystem enabler has launched 'The state of the pre-seed startups in Mena' report in collaboration with STEP Conference, the leading technology festival for emerging markets. The report features findings based on data from 627 startup founders who applied to the Wamda X fellowship programme and includes research supplemented by STEP. The UAE remains the regional hub for entrepreneurship with 35.5% of the startups surveyed based in the country, followed by Egypt with 26.5% in sectors ranging from e-commerce, fintech, healthcare, and marketplaces among others. Only 32% of startups are currently registered of which 60% are registered in either Egypt or the UAE. Ray Dargham, CEO of STEP said, “We are delighted to b...

30Oct By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Jungle Ventures Raises $240 Million

SINGAPORE, Oct. 29, 2019-- Jungle Ventures, one of Southeast Asia's largest early-stage venture capital firms closed its third fund Jungle Ventures III. The firm raised a total of $240 million, which includes $40 million raised in separately managed account commitments, for investments in innovative technology and digital-driven consumer businesses across Southeast Asia. Jungle raised more than double the amount of its previous fund, Jungle Ventures II (2016), with nearly 60% of committed capital coming from outside Asia. More than 90% of the capital came from institutional investors spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with new investors accounting for nearly 70% of the fundraising, and returning investors for the rest. Investors range from endowments, fun...

5Jul By NitishNo Comments

INDIA

Indian Govt Proposes Exclusive Channel for Startups

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to set up an exclusive television channel for start-ups that will serve as a platform for discussing issues affecting their growth, funding requirement and tax planning. Presenting the Budget for 2019-20, Sitharaman proposed to start a television program exclusively for start-ups that will be executed by start-ups themselves. "This shall serve as a platform for promoting start-ups, discussing issues affecting their growth, match-making with venture capitalists and for funding and tax planning. This channel shall be designed and executed by start-ups themselves," she said. Commenting on the announcement, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said that it would be within the DD (national broadcaster) bouquet of channels. The chan...

5Jul By AnkitaNo Comments

INDIA

To Remove Angel Tax, Indian Government Proposed Series of Steps

India Finance Minister proposed a series of steps to remove angel tax woes of start-ups and relaxation from income-tax scrutiny. In her maiden budget, the finance minister noted that start-ups in India are taking firm roots and their growth needs to be encouraged. "To resolve the so called angel tax issue, the start-ups and their investors who file requisite declaration and provide information in their returns will not be subjected to any kind of scrutiny in respect of valuations of share premiums," she said. The issue of establishing identity of investors and the source of funds will be resolved by putting in place a mechanism of e-verification, she added. "With this, funds raised by start-ups will not require any kind of scrutiny from the income tax department," the minister...