Innholdsfortegnelse for 21 January 2024 i Business Today

• ANKIT NAGORI, FOUNDER > KEY INVESTORS Three State Ventures, Iron Pillar, Accel, Chiratae > FUNDING $125 million so far In 2010, Ankit Nagori transitioned from his social media venture, YouthPad, to become an early employee at Flipkart. After rising to Chief Business Officer and leaving Flipkart in 2016, Nagori co-founded wellness venture Curefit with Mukesh Bansal, the founder of e-commerce company, Myntra. Four years later, wanting to go solo, Nagori carved out Curefoods, a food-oriented business. During Covid-19, Nagori noticed a big demand for food delivery and jumped at the opportunity. As time rolled on, the company shifted gears to a Thrasio-like model, snagging cloud kitchen brands in different cities and giving them a hand in growing their businesses. In FY22, Curefoods generated ₹89 crore in operational revenue while…

• MAYANK BANERJEE, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO • MATILDE GIGLIO, CO-FOUNDER AND COO • ALESSANDRO DAVIDE IALONGO, CO-FOUNDER AND CTO > KEY INVESTORS Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, Lachy Groom, Alpha Wave, Aspada (Lightrock), etc. > FUNDING Raised $20 million so far In a mission to revolutionise healthcare accessibility, Even Healthcare’s CEO Mayank Banerjee, driven by a personal tragedy, co-founded the company in 2020 with friends Matilde Giglio and Alessandro Ialongo. Inspired by a relative’s battle with cancer and the ensuing financial strain, Banerjee envisioned an integrated managed care system to eliminate the burden of hospital bills for every Indian. The name “Even” symbolises their commitment to creating an equitable healthcare landscape. Banerjee emphasises their uniqueness in India, where their innovative approach to primary care sets them apart. Even Healthcare’s managed care…

• AGNISHWAR JAYAPRAKASH, FOUNDER & CEO > KEY INVESTORS M.S. Dhoni, Venture Catalysts, WeFounderCircle > FUNDING It has raised a total of $27.3 million over six rounds > WHAT MAKES IT COOL Captain Cool M.S. Dhoni is an investor and brand ambassador. Plus, its asset-light business model is creating job opportunities in rural and semi-urban areas WHILE SERVING WITH the UN, Agnishwar Jayaprakash was exposed to new technologies. That’s when the Harvard Business School alumnus got the idea of making smart drones for the agricultural sector, defence, and the Industry 4.0 consumer space. In 2015, Agnishwar, who had represented India in swimming for a decade and traveled to almost 40 countries, started Garuda Aerospace in Chennai. But the going wasn’t easy because of a lack of awareness and policy delays. In…

• HARSH JAIN, CO-FOUNDER & COO • NEERAJ SINGH, CO-FOUNDER & CTO • LALIT KESHRE, CO-FOUNDER & CEO • ISHAN BANSAL, CO-FOUNDER & CFO > KEY INVESTORS Y Combinator, Tiger Global, Satya Nadella, Lightbridge Partners and Peak XV Partners, among others > FUNDING It has raised a total of $393 million till Series E, per Tracxn > WHAT MAKES IT COOL A one-stop shop for all things finance NEARLY A DECADE ago, investing in financial products wasn’t very easy, at least for the regular Jane or Joe. Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh and Ishan Bansal, colleagues at Flipkart then, thought they should do something about it. The process to invest had to be simplified. With that in mind, they quit their jobs to launch Groww in 2016. Today, Groww…

• SREEVATHSA PRABHAKAR, FOUNDER > KEY INVESTORS Iron Pillar, Blume Ventures, Beenext, DMI Sparkle Fund, and Singularity Growth Opportunity Fund > FUNDING It raised its Series D funding in August 2022 at $65 million, taking the total amount raised so far to more than $100 million > WHAT MAKES IT COOL Its operations are spread across the US, Canada, EU, the UK, Turkey and the Middle-East, besides India and counts top brands such as Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, Vivo, Etisalat, Panasonic, Bose and HP, among its clients IN ABOUT A year of starting up, Servify struck its first set of deals with top brands Apple and One-Plus in 2016. “This was the validation I needed, and thereafter there was no looking back,” says Founder Sreevathsa Prabhakar. The Mumbai-based B2B firm specialises…

• ASHOK PRASAD, FOUNDER • AMIT SINHA, FOUNDER > KEY INVESTORS Nabventures, Incofin, Orios > FUNDING Raised ₹100 Crore over 3 rounds till date > WHAT MAKES IT COOL Unnati Agri innovatively combines commerce, financing, and technology to empower the agricultural ecosystem for sustainable growth and environmental impact ESTABLISHED IN 2017, Unnati Agri aims to revolutionise agriculture by comprehensively uplifting the farming community. Co-founders Ashok Prasad and Amit Sinha, pioneers in digitising agriculture since 2010, envisioned a platform that would empower farmers, agri-input retailers, output traders, and brands. Realising the vital role of local retailers in disseminating knowledge to farmers, the founders recognised that there is an urgent need to address the issue of access in rural areas. Growing up in rural settings, Prasad and Sinha knew that the only…

(CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT) • RAVI SAJJAN, HEAD OF ENGG.-HW • NAZIR TOLAGI, CTO • OMER BASITH, CEO • GAJANANA PALKAR, HEAD OF ENGG.-SW > KEY INVESTORS Napino Auto and Electronics participated in its seed round, and continues to be a strategic manufacturing partner > FUNDING It raised its seed round in August 2020, and hopes to complete its Series A in Q4FY24 VIRTUAL FOREST, founded in 2019 by Omer Basith—an intrepid entrepreneur passionate about green energy and carbon reduction—focusses on developing energy-efficient motor control and human interface technologies for home appliances, aiming to reduce their environmental impact. The company raised its seed round in August 2020, with key investor Napino Auto and Electronics remaining a strategic manufacturing partner. Despite the presence of Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) firms and electronic component suppliers…

• VISHAL CHAUDHARY, CO-FOUNDER • RAHUL SHARMA, CO-FOUNDER • SRINATH RAMAKKRUSHNAN, CO-FOUNDER & COO • ANKIT FATEHPURIA, CO-FOUNDER • AMRIT ACHARYA, CO-FOUNDER & CEO > KEY INVESTORS Green Oaks Capital, Peak XV, Accel Partners, Lightspeed, D1 Capital Partners, Steadview, IIFL, Kae Capital > FUNDING The company has raised more than $500 million in equity till date > WHAT MAKES IT COOL It is a category creator and the only digital manufacturing unicorn in the world ESTABLISHED IN 2018 by Amrit Acharya, Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Vishal Chaudhary, Rahul Sharma, and Ankit Fatehpuria, Zetwerk was born out of a need for a managed B2B manufacturing marketplace that would enhance transparency. It operates as a business-to-business contract manufacturer with capabilities ranging from precision machining and die casting to 3D printing and apparel production. It…

BUSINESS TODAY’S HUNT for India’s Coolest Start-ups began with a robust application process. A detailed form was circulated on our social media platforms and in our circles, attracting more than 90 submissions from various start-ups. Only start-ups incorporated between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2021 were eligible to apply. Additionally, subsidiaries were explicitly excluded from consideration. The editorial team then meticulously reviewed each application, applying the stipulated criteria to shortlist contenders. The screening process resulted in a curated list of 77 start-ups, that included those who organically applied and others recommended by the editorial team. This list of 77 start-ups was then presented to a jury comprising industry veterans and experts. The jury had K. Ganesh, a seasoned serial entrepreneur and Promoter of bigbasket, Bluestone and Portea Medical; Padmaja…

IF BEAUTY LIES in the eyes of the beholder, does valuation lie in the eyes of the investor? That’s the question startups in India seem to be grappling with thanks to the new angel tax norms that kicked in this fiscal, as these question the very basis of funding for such ventures. Start-ups, already dealing with a funding winter, are trying to assess the impact of the angel tax norms that the Union Budget 2023-24 extended to non-residents. Despite several exemptions provided by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the start-up community is ill at ease over how to justify valuations as well as the higher compliance burden. According to the reply to an RTI application filed by BT, only 8,204 start-ups have received exemption from angel tax. In…

KEEROS SUPERFOODS has been in existence for a little over five years now. Based in Lucknow, the start-up makes healthy, diabetic-friendly snacks. It has even raised three rounds of funding from a mix of nearly 50 institutional and angel investors. Now, Lucknow does not feature on any map as a start-up hub. But more than 300 start-ups call it home, and investors have poured in over $1 million in ventures based in this ‘City of Nawabs’. Sachin Sahni, Founder of Keeros Superfoods, says that the startup ecosystem in non-metros is rapidly changing due to a combination of public and private initiatives in which incubation centres also play an important role. “Even parents who earlier used to root for safe government jobs are opening up to the idea of their wards…

WE DON’T KNOW if the founders of OpenAI, the 2015 start-up behind ChatGPT, asked the artificial intelligence chatbot: Where will we get the money and the technology to make our dream come true? Chat-GPT would have remained silent: it had not yet built its database. In 2019, Microsoft answered by investing $1 billion in OpenAI and recently added $10 billion. OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022. Microsoft agreed to build a supercomputer by linking thousands of Nvidia GPUs or graphics processing units on its Azure cloud computing platform, allowing OpenAI to train increasingly powerful models. But not every start-up can secure the endorsement or collaboration of the world’s largest tech company. What’s the alternative? Opt for software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service, or platform as a service.…

A CITY ONCE considered an underdog now stands tall. In India’s highly competitive office real estate market, which has traditionally been dominated by cities like Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, a new protagonist is emerging—Chennai. “It is the only city that has seen growth in the office [real estate] markets this year so far,” says Chandrakant Kankaria, Joint MD of Olympia Group, which is coming up with a 1.2 million sq. ft (msf) tech park in prime Chennai office locality Guindy. The numbers bear out Chennai’s rise. With an uptake of 6.5 msf of office space in the first nine months of 2023 between January and September, Chennai has not just surpassed its entire 2022 consumption but stands shoulder-to-shoulder with major markets like Mumbai (5.6 msf), Delhi-NCR (6.5 msf), Bengaluru…

IN THE CUT-THROAT world of cab-hailing, challenging the seasoned giants Ola and Uber seemed like a David versus Goliath saga—until BluSmart Mobility decided to rewrite the story. Suddenly, the landscape shifted. BluSmart not only proved that there’s space for innovation but also redefined the game. It all goes back to 2017 when Punit K. Goyal, a successful entrepreneur in the solar power plants industry, found himself engaged in a pivotal conversation with Brent Callinicos, former CFO of Uber, during a dinner in Los Angeles. The meeting left Goyal convinced that the future of mobility lay in electric solutions, tightly woven into an energy-infrastructure-mobility network. Returning to India with a vision of setting up a born-electric, integrated full-stack EV ride-hailing service and EV charging network, Goyal, now 36, shared his idea…

A leading general surgeon, Dr.P.Prabusankar CEO, Shanmuga Hospital, Salem, Tamil Nadu, is taking forward a legacy established by his father Dr. P.S. Panneer Selvam. The hospital is making advancements in every sphere to become a truly world-class, affordable healthcare hub for the people residing in underserved districts in the neighbourhood of the commercial town of Salem. In conversation with Business Today, he shares how the landmark hospital is transforming the healthcare landscape of the state. What prompted you to make a career in Salem, unlike many who go for the lure of big cities? Salem is a picturesque place surrounded by mountains on all sides. I am a second-generation entrepreneur taking care of the hospital started by my father. As you say the returns and benefits are more in big…

• PARULGANJU, CO-FOUNDER & CEO • KRISHNAMURTHY NATARAJAN, CO-FOUNDER AND NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR > KEY INVESTORS Ideaspring Capital, IAN, Kotak Private Equity and Baldota Family Office > FUNDING It has raised $3 million till date > WHAT MAKES IT COOL This lifesciences company is fostering innovation and unorthodox thinking to find novel treatments for longstanding skin problems STIGMA AND FEAR are the two terrible by-products of skin diseases. For Parul Ganju, 38, and Krishnamurthy Natarajan, 63, this was more than enough reason to leverage their scientific understanding (both were academics) and couple it with an entrepreneurial spirit. And this was how Ahammune Biosciences was formed in May 2016 in Pune. The research firm’s primary aim is to provide comprehensive treatment solutions for various skin diseases, in particular vitiligo, a depigmenting disease with…

• ANKUSHTALWAR, CO-FOUNDER & CHIEF DATA SCIENTIST • CHIRAG TANEJA, CO-FOUNDER & CEO • VIVEK BAJPAI, CO-FOUNDER & CTO > KEY INVESTORS Matrix Partners India, Sequoia Capital India, RTP Global, and Think Investments > FUNDING It has raised total funding of $56.7 million over three rounds, per Tracxn Founded in 2020, New Delhi-based GoKwik is India’s largest e-commerce enabler start-up. Simply put, it helps solve problems that e-commerce brands face throughout the shopping experience, including those related to enhancing customer experience, abandoned cart recovery, increasing conversions, boosting gross merchandise value (GMV) and reducing instances of return to origin. Chirag Taneja was well aware of the challenges as he got a ringside view during his stint at Bombay Shaving Company. He also knew that these could be solved using data science…

• SHAOLIN ZHENG, CO-FOUNDER • GAURAV BUBNA, CO-FOUNDER • AJAY BULUSU, CO-FOUNDER > KEY INVESTORS CLightspeed, Alphawave, Microsoft’s Venture Fund (M12), Mirae Asset > FUNDING $37.3 million so far NextBillion.ai, conceived by Gaurav Bubna, Ajay Bulusu, and Shaolin Zheng, is rewriting the rules of enterprise mapping. Having cut their teeth at Grab, a heavyweight in South-East Asia’s ride-sharing arena, they mastered their craft by building maps from the ground up, delving into the complexities of enterprise mapping. The spark for NextBillion.ai was ignited when they realised that one standardised map falls short in a world teeming with diverse needs. They envisioned a future where geospatial control is decentralised, placing users in command of their own map stacks. Kicking off operations in February 2020, it found itself at a pivotal moment.…

• RUCHI KALRA, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO • ASISH MOHAPATRA, CO-FOUNDER > KEY INVESTORS Creation Investments, Falcon, Matrix, Norwest and Zodius > FUNDING In March 2022, it raised $200 million from Tiger Global and few other investors, pushing its valuation to $1 billion > WHAT MAKES IT COOL Captive business from parent Offbusiness and the huge opportunity outside SOME CORPORATE RELATIONSHIPS stand out not just for their professional achievements, but also for the synergy between the people involved. Meet Asish Mohapatra and Ruchi Kalra, the husband-wife duo who have created two unicorns in record time. Both passed out from IIT (she from Delhi and he from Kharagpur), and they went on to study management at Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. They finally met when working at McKinsey, and in 2015,…

• RASHID KHAN, CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER & CO-FOUNDER • RAGHU RAVINUTALA, CEO & CO-FOUNDER • JAYA KISHORE GOLLAREDDY, CTO & CO-FOUNDER > KEY INVESTORS Lightspeed India Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, WestBridge Capital, Sapphire Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures > FUNDING It has raised over $102 million so far “Why can’t we chat with companies on WhatsApp like we do with friends?” This casual observation by two friends, Raghu Ravinutala and Jaya Kishore Reddy, back in 2014 spurred the idea for enterprise AI solutions provider, Yellow.ai. Originally started as Yellow Messenger—a chat platform for customers to engage with enterprises—the duo built the weekend project over four months. Their core team of three co-founders was complete when NIT Warangal student Rashid Khan joined the start-up four months after graduating. By March 2015, they…

In the Uttar Pradesh scenario, these lines illustrate women’s vital role in societal progress & celebrate their leadership, resilience and significant contribution to fostering positive change and growth. “The work done for empowering women in UP is being witnessed across the country. The double-engine government has constantly strived to improve the lives of the women. Uttar Pradesh is safe and full of hope and opportunities”-Narendra Modi Prime Minister Nestled in the heart of India, the dynamic state of Uttar Pradesh is undertaking a profound transformation under the steadfast leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Mission Shakti is a significant initiative that aims to enhance the security, dignity and empowerment of women. It is more than just a programme; it is a symphony that celebrates the strength and potential of every…

Women’s Power: Women’s PAC battalions established in Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Badaun. Women in Policing: A network of 10,417 women police beats at 1,584 police stations with 20,740 women beat police officers. Safe City Initiatives: 100 Pink Booths/Pink Outposts and 1090 Analytic Centers in operation under the Lucknow Safe City Project. Uttar Pradesh aims to become the first state with 18 safe cities. Women Power Line 1090: 99.55% of complaints resolved Protection for Women: One Stop Centers in every district, assistance provided to more than 1.50 lakh women. Swift Justice: 218 fast-track courts, 81 magistrate-level courts and 81 higher session courts for timely justice for women. * Ranks first in the country in conviction rate for crimes against women Mission Shakti Abhiyan: The Women’s Help Desk has resolved 11,165,461 complaints in three phases…

MANIPAL GROUP CHAIRMAN Ranjan Pai recently emerged as the saviour for two prominent privately-held start-ups, Byju’s and PharmEasy. With an infusion of ₹1,400 crore into Byju’s subsidiary, Aakash Educational Services, and a substantial pledge of ₹1,300 crore for PharmEasy’s rights issue, Pai deftly averted impending debt threats for both entities. However, these rescue missions were not without their nuances—marked by significant valuation markdowns and the concession of attractive terms, including multiple board seats. The once-soaring trajectories of these category-leading start-ups, now grappling with debt challenges, cast a discerning spotlight on the looming debt crisis within India’s dynamic start-up landscape. A lot of it can be attributed to the 2021 funding frenzy and the subsequent deceleration, leaving several Indian unicorns—start-ups with a valuation of $1 billion or more—with a substantial debt burden…

‘Green Talks’ was held in Ahmedabad by the Adani Group in December 2023 and social entrepreneurs from different parts of the country shared their stories of driving impact and bringing about positive change through their unconventional ideas. It is an open platform that unites the global network of social enterprises which are making broad transformations possible with the aim to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year’s event was the third edition of ‘Green Talks’ and among the startups that took part was Dveck Mobility Private Limited. While talking about Dveck Mobility, its founder said they had come up with a device which can be bolted on a bicycle to convert the two-wheeler into an EV (electric vehicle) within minutes. A team from Haqdarshak, asocial impact-focused tech…

IT’S A NEW YEAR, a time for new beginnings and like several other people you probably have a list of resolutions a mile long too. Everything from being more productive at work to hiking to the Mount Everest base camp is perhaps part of that list, neatly written and stuck to the refrigerator at home or pinned to the desk at office. Research shows that one of the top things on the resolution list is ‘becoming healthier’. And so in the first week of January, after all the excesses of the holiday season, we suddenly decide to detox, diet, work out, meditate, and do a hundred other things to ‘become healthier’. Three to four weeks later, we are back to our usual self and it’s all the same till it’s…

 IN THE RULE BOOK of running a successful start-up, embracing failure will probably be amongst the top to-dos. But if, in October 2015, the founders of theKarrier—a failed logistics start-up—were told that they could reach a valuation of $820 million in 2023, they would have been incredulous. In 2015, the founders decided to pivot their one-year-old start-up to what is now known as Rapido, a ride-sharing bike-taxi platform. How did the founders come together? High-school buddies Aravind Sanka and Pavan Guntupalli—who were working with Flipkart and Samsung, respectively, then—attended a summer programme in 2014. That is where their paths crossed with Rishikesh S.R. The trio decided to get together and start theKarrier as they realised that there was a market gap for intra-city trucks. But due to scaling and credit-availability…

• RIBINMARHEW, FOUNDER AND CEO • EBIN SUNNY, FOUNDER, COO • RAGHU V., CO-FOUNDER AND BUSINESS HEAD • RAJ MOHAN, CO-FOUNDER AND CTO > KEY INVESTORS Genify Capital, IKP EDEN > FUNDING $350,000 pre-seed > WHAT MAKES IT COOL Advanced AI technology; user-friendly interface; and unique combination of advanced technology, customisation, safety, and cost-effectiveness Robotics can be an exciting field. But India’s prowess in this area is still to match up to countries like Japan, South Korea, China and others. Trying to change this, back in 2020, during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, a bunch of young minds, hailing from diverse backgrounds, started ANSCER Robotics, with the aim of developing indigenous methods to build and manufacture high-quality mobile robotic platforms. According to Raghu V., the Co-founder and Business Head,…

• CHAITANYAPEDDI, CO-FOUNDER & PRODUCT HEAD • JAYANT PALETI, CO-FOUNDER • ROHIT CHENNAMANENI, CO-FOUNDER > KEY INVESTORS TCV, Salesforce Ventures, Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India), Lightspeed India, Endiya, 3One4Capital > FUNDING Latest was the Series-D fundraise of $72 million in January 2022, which took its total funding so far to around $120 million > WHAT MAKES IT COOL This unicorn start-up is taking on legacy multibillion dollar MNC players such as SAP and Oracle “A FOUNDER HAS to be everything. We have to wear multiple hats in a day,” says Darwinbox Co-founder Jayant Paleti. He would know. The Hyderabad-based HRtech start-up is taking on legacy multibillion dollar players such as SAP and Oracle by providing cloud-based human resources management software for 2.2 million employees across 850-odd companies such as…

• DARPAN SANGHVI, GROUP FOUNDER & CEO • PRIYANKA GILL, CO-FOUNDER • NAIYYA SAGGI, CO-FOUNDER > KEY INVESTORS Warburg Pincus, Prosus and Bessemer Venture Partners > FUNDING It received $150-million in Series D funding in late 2021, making it a unicorn The extra “m” in Good Glamm was the result of many pleasant coincidences. Darpan Sanghvi allows himself a broad smile before saying all the domain names were gone and hence the name followed. An engineer by training, Sanghvi (44) went abroad for his Master’s. After working overseas for some years, he returned. “That was in 2008 and what struck me was the dearth of beauty brands,” he recalls. He saw a niche in beauty services; first came a franchise for L’Occitane, then D2C MyGlamm. In 2020, he acquired POPxo,…

• SWAPNIL JAIN, CEO & CO-FOUNDER • JITHENDRA VEPA, CTO & CO-FOUNDER > KEY INVESTORS It has 22 institutional investors including SoftBank Vision Fund, Scale Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, and Y Combinator > FUNDING It has raised $213 million in funding over five rounds > WHAT MAKES IT COOL It is one of those rare companies that has its own vertical AI stack AROUND 2015, WHEN Swapnil Jain, a fresh graduate from IIT Delhi started working at X (then Twitter), he noticed how the microblogging platform was often used for customer complaints—hinting at the broken call centre industry processes. Soon, he quit his job and found himself exploring things from ground zero in the Philippines, the call centre hub of the world. He spent two years doing just…

• GIRISHREDEKAR, CO-FOUNDER & CEO • RAGHUVEER KANCHERLA, CO-FOUNDER > KEY INVESTORS Accel Partners, Blume and Elevation Capital > FUNDING It raised $11.5 million in 2022 After cutting his teeth in US-based companies for half a decade, Girish Redekar, an IIT Madras alumnus, co-founded Recruiterbox in 2010, specialising in B2B SaaS. However, during this journey, they hit a roadblock of security challenges, prompting them to bring in a compliance consultant, that turned out to be time-consuming and costly. In 2020, he exited Recruiterbox. After taking a year off, he set his eyes on security compliance for cloud-based tech companies, carving out a niche by exclusively catering to cloud-hosted entities. That’s how Sprinto was born. His partner was Raghuveer Kancherla, his IIT mate who was also at Recruiterbox. As an automation…

• RAGHUNANDAN G., FOUNDER & CEO > KEY INVESTORS Tiger Global, Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alkeon Capital Management, Founder Collective > FUNDING $55 million IN SEPTEMBER 2021, Raghunandan G., former CEO of Taxi For Sure, wanted to address the challenges faced by individuals relocating between continents. That’s how Zolve was born. Simply put, the pain point that it is trying to solve is enabling access to financial products in the US for those that do not have a credit history or a social security number. This it does by focussing on providing cross-border neo-bank services, specifically addressing the hurdle of accessing financial products in the US. It offers a suite of products to assist immigrants in becoming financially prepared upon arrival in the US, reducing the financial disadvantages often faced…

In the past few years confidence has grown around India’s potential to produce IPO-ready companies IN THE INTRICATE world of venture capital, a critical aspect that is often overlooked is its dual nature of a two-sided marketplace. This ecosystem is not just about the founders, but equally about the limited partners (LPs) who back the general partners, or the venture capitalists (VCs), and indirectly fund all the risk-taking. While much has been discussed about the founder side of the equation, the LPs’ perspective remains less explored, particularly in the Indian start-up landscape. The ecosystem’s Achilles heel, arguably, is the scepticism of global LPs born of the perceived lack of a predictable playbook for exits and liquidity for their investments. The venture fund LP base (in absolute dollars) is dominated by…

DLF is developing a new 740,000 sq. ft integrated campus for Standard Chartered Global Business Services at its Downtown property in Taramani. It will be Standard Chartered’s largest campus globally India’s largest private lender HDFC Bank leased 306,200 sq. ft in CommerZone IT Park in Porur Wind turbine maker Vestas leased 250,000 sq. ft in ITP Ascendas - Phase I in Taramani Hitachi Energy leased 230,000 sq. ft in Porur’s CommerZone for its largest Global Technology and Innovation Centre. Comcast India Engineering Center (CIEC) leased 93,700 sq. ft in Chennai One – Phase 2 Murugappa Group firm Cholamandalam Finance leased 80,000 sq. ft in Guindy’s Tamarai Tech Park Flexi-working space provider IndiQube leased 165,000 sq. ft in Guindy NOTE THESE ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR DEALS FOR OFFICE SPACE IN…

CHANDIGARH HAS A long and storied legacy in almost every major sport that includes cricket, hockey, athletics, boxing and golf, among others. On December 16, 2023, the city added another chapter to its illustrious sporting history; it hosted the Royal Ranthambore Business Today Golf tournament, a highly sought-after, invite-only corporate golfing event in India. This is the first time BT Golf has returned to the city after the pandemic. In the early hours of a bone-chilling mid-December Saturday, when both the sun and the city were still in deep slumber, the first golfer strolled in to sign up for the fourth leg of the invite-only BT Golf 2023-24 season at the Panchkula Golf Club. The picturesque Panchkula golf course is spread over 135 acres on the outskirts of Chandigarh. Much…

DELVING DEEP INTO India’s captivating tale of wealth creation, some of India’s most prominent business luminaries gathered at the BT500 Wealth Creators Summit, held in Mumbai on December 13. The event saw them exchange numerous insights and ideas, ignite conversations that explored the multiple facets of India’s economic prowess and the unparalleled opportunities it presents. While the discussion on India’s financial road map to a $5-trillion economy, featuring V. Vaidyanathan, MD & CEO of IDFC First Bank, headlined the evening’s discussions, other eminent panellists, such as Anas Rahman Junaid of Hurun India, Ramesh Iyer of Mahindra Finance, Sunil Singhania of Abakkus Asset Manager, and Nomura’s Aurodeep Nandi, among others, discussed a range of aspects that are either doing well for India’s economy or are posing challenges. For instance, Navneet Munot…