Moving Tech Innovations Ltd., the company behind community-led mobility apps Namma Yatri and Yatri Sathi, has raised $11 million (INR 92 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round. Google and a number of other investors joined Blume Ventures and Antler in leading the round.
The money will be put into research and development, new products, and technology so that drivers can be more empowered, public transport can be more integrated, and the customer experience can be better.
Through direct-to-driver and multimodal transportation models, Moving Tech aims to increase driver earnings while providing reliable, affordable, seamless, and sustainable mobility solutions for all, according to a statement from the company.
The mobility division of Juspay, which was backed by Softbank, was spun off into Moving Tech in April 2020. Former Juspay employees Shan M S and Magizhan Selvan are at the forefront of the newly formed mobility company.
Magizhan Selvan and Shan M S, Co-founders of Moving Tech, said, With our people-first approach, our goal is to build empathetic products and tech that are 10x better. By collaborating with Samaaj (Community), Sarkar (Government), and Bazaar (Business), we aspire to create an impact similar to UPI in India and Linux worldwide. This funding will enable us to innovate and grow further.
So, What Exactly is Namma Yatri?
Namma Yatri, which began its operations in November 2022, is a transportation app that competes with Rapido, Ola, and Uber. Drivers could retain the whole fee on Namma Yatri, in contrast to rivals, who usually take a 30% cut.
However, drivers who wished to list their services on the app started to pay a monthly fee in 2023. Up to 10 journeys each day cost the drivers INR 3.5 per trip, while an unlimited subscription costs INR 25. According to the company’s accessible dashboard, Namma Yatri has 73.9 lahks registered consumers and 4.19 lakh drivers who have earned INR 714.03 crore from 4.63 crore trips completed thus far.
Namma Yatri, Accelerating Growth by Dogging Sector Giants
Namma Yatri became the first to implement the direct-payment concept in Bengaluru. Afterwards, other major ride-hailing companies including Rapido, Ola, and Uber have shown interest in implementing this strategy to save GST fees.
Namma Yatri first appeared in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Tumkur, and Kochi when it was introduced as the Yatri app. In Kolkata, it was initially introduced as Yatri Saathi. The business has just extended its operations to Chennai, where it now lets users order “metro tickets” online.
Startup companies need a certain amount of investment for growth. Wealthy investors like to invest their capital in businesses with long-term growth in view. This capital is known as venture capital and the investors are called venture capitalists. The venture capital investment is made when a venture capitalist buys shares of companies and becomes a financial partner of their business.
The data recorded at the end of Q3 2019 states that the top 10 most active Venture Capital firms in India alone contribute to 32% of the total deal count in the startup ecosystem. The Venture Capital investment is often termed as risk capital or patient capital. This is because most VC investing capitals or rather a majority of them harbor tremendous risks of parting from the money invested if the venture doesn’t succeed. Besides, the capital coming from venture capital firms or VC funds usually needs a medium to long-term period for the investments to fructify.
The Indian startups secured over $12.1 billion from the venture capital funds in the first 6 months of 2021, which is $1 billion more than the overall funding that they received last year. Venture Capital (VC) investment in India more than doubled from its previous quarterly high of $6.7 billion in Q2 2021 to $14.4 billion during Q3 2021, according to a recent report by KPMG.
In the year 2021, the Indian startups have successfully managed to mop up $36 bn worth of funds and most of them came from the VC funding for startups and private equity investments, which increased by 3X from the earlier year. These funds are not only helping the startups find it easier to raise funds but are also adding gear to the Indian startup ecosystem, thereby making it a prominent and growing entity in the global landscape.
Citing information from Venture Intelligence, the total investments in the first half of 2023 stood at $3.8 billion, which is divergent from the substantial figure of $18.4 billion seen previously.
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Sequoia India & Southeast Asia has undergone a rebranding process and emerged as Peak XV Partners. Sequoia Capital the parent organization of Peak XV Partners is an American venture capital firm, headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Sequoia invests in both public and private companies. Sequoia Capital has invested in over 1000 companies since 1972, the list of which includes big names like Apple, Google, Oracle, Nvidia, Github, and more. It is mainly focused on the technology industry. Peak XV Partners has invested in companies such as JustDial, Knowlarity, Practo, iYogi, and bankbazaar.com. It has assets worth $5.4 billion under management in India and it is spread across seven funds.
Every six months, Sequoia shortlists 15 to 20 startups for each cohort and provides a capital investment of $1 Million to $2 Million with participation from other investors.
Accel, formerly known as Accel Partners, is an American venture capital firm based out of Palo Alto, California, US. The company has its offices in Palo Alto and San Francisco along with operating funds in India, China, and London. Some of the major companies that Accel has funded over the years are Facebook, Flipkart, Atlassian, Slack, Spotify, Etsy, and more.
Accel currently has assets of more than $1.6 billion under management. It has closed nearly six funds in India. The company’s portfolio of funding Indian businesses includes names like Flipkart, Swiggy, Blackbuck, Cure.fit, and more. The firm’s growth capital investments focus on more developed companies that require a larger amount of capital to expand their business.
Accel secured a substantial sum of $650 million in 2022 for its seventh fund, known as Accel India VII. This fund supported early-stage startups in both India and Southeast Asia.
During the first quarter of 2023, the VC firm actively engaged in 12 investment deals with promising startups. Among the recipients of their investments were Zypp Electric, Kratos Studios, Rigi, and Brick&Bolt. Notably, Accel took part in a total of 48 investment deals over the course of 2022.
Accel is a venture capital firm that concentrates on the following technology sectors: Consumer, Infrastructure, Media, Mobile, SaaS, Security, Customer care services, Enterprise software, and E-commerce.
Blume Ventures is an early-stage and seed-stage venture fund that has its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The company was founded in 2010 as a venture capitalist firm that aims to improve startup financing in India. Blume Ventures primarily focuses on tech companies. The company launched its first micro-VC fund in 2011, becoming the first institutionalized early-stage investor at that time.
Blume Ventures raised a $41 Million opportunity fund in 2020, which was one of the largest domestic opportunity funds among the Indian venture capital funds designed to invest in best-performing portfolio companies. From this fund, Blume has invested in Series B to D rounds in firms like Unacademy and Servify. The company had nearly three other funds the last one was $102 Million before the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The VC firm has nearly $225 Million in total capital under management. Blume Ventures boasts of managing capital amounting to more than $280 million and has backed 150+ startups.
During the year 2022, the venture capital fund successfully concluded a funding round, securing a total of $250 million for its operations. This enabled them to support 31 Indian startups, notable among them being Lambdatest, Pixxel, and Jai Kishan, an agritech startup.
During the first quarter of 2023, Blume Ventures engaged in funding rounds for 20 startups, providing investments to notable companies including ApnaKlub, Virohan, ElectricPe, and Aerem.
Capital Float, Firstcry, Swiggy, IndustryBuying, Aye Finance, Rivigo, Cleartax
Key Sectors
Fintech
Stage
Stage Agnostic, Private Equity
Website
Elevationcapital.com
Venture Capitalist Firm – Elevation Capital
SAIF Partners rebranded as Elevation Capital on October 20, 2020, is a stage and sector-agnostic private equity firm in Asia. The firm is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, India, and aims to make minor investments in seed-stage, early-stage, and later-stage companies. Elevation Capital (formerly known as SAIF Partners) was started as Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund (SAIF) in 2001 with a $400 Million fund where Cisco Systems and Softbank Group were the sole limited partner.
When Elevation Capital started as SAIF Partners, it was headquartered in Hong Kong and was focused on China, India, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In India, the venture capital firm has offices in Bengaluru and Gurugram. Elevation Capital had already invested in the early stages of companies like FirstCry, Just Dial, MakeMyTrip, Meesho, Paytm, ShareChat, Swiggy, and more. The firm has doubled its investment in Indian firms in 2020 into new segments like edtech, health tech enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS), entertainment, and direct-to-consumer startups.
Tiger Global Management LLC operates as an investment firm that is focused on public and private companies in the global Internet, software, consumer, and financial technology industries. The mission is to generate world-class investment returns over the long term. It builds a unique, global investment platform. They invest in high-quality companies that benefit from powerful secular growth trends and are led by excellent management teams.
Tiger Global Management was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in New York, US, and is one of the most global investors in Indian startups that has started investments of around $300 Million. It has backed more than 13 companies, including a $90 Million round in agri-tech startup Ninjacart and a $60 Million infusion in B2B industrial goods marketplace Moglix in the first half of FY19.
The company is said to have invested in more than 442 companies across the globe with 7 designated funds. It has also witnessed 64 exits since its inception in 2001. In India, this VC firm has invested in more than 97 startups. Tiger Global is reported to have raised the highest amount of capital amongst venture capital firms between 2007 and 2017. In 2020, Tiger Global helped its investors earn around $10.4 billion, which is more than any other hedge fund on the annual list of London fund-of-funds firm LCH Investments’ top 20 managers.
Razorpay had been among the companies, which includes Urban Company, Flipkart, Moglix, and more that Tiger Global Management had invested. In the first half of 2019, Tiger Global Management made its founder, Coleman, the top-earning US hedge fund manager in 2020 where the company had mopped in around $3 billion in fees and gains on investments.
In mid-2022, Fund 15 concluded its fundraising with an impressive total of $12.7 billion, showcasing a significant growth of 2 times compared to the 16th equity fund announced in October.
In June 2023, Tiger Global successfully secured $2.7 billion for its new fund, though it fell below its initial target of $6 billion.
Kalaari Capital, founded in 2006 in Bengaluru by Vani Kola. It focuses on technology-related companies in India. Till now it has made more than 92 investments across 3 funds and witnessed more than 15 exits from companies like Myntra and Snapdeal. It has also made a partial exit from Zivame.
Kalaari Capital manages $650 Million in assets under management. It boasts of a strong advisory team in Bangalore investing in the early stage. Kalaari is passionate about investing in entrepreneurs who are poised to be tomorrow’s global leaders. This firm had funded $290 Million in 2015, which was the largest fund by an Indian VC at that time.
Matrix Partners is a US-based private equity investment firm focused on venture capital investments. The firm invests in seed and early-stage companies in the United States and India. It mainly concentrates on the software, communications, semiconductors, data storage, Internet, or wireless sectors. Matrix has invested in Apple Computer, Alteon WebSystems, and Office Club. It is said to have nearly $1 Bn as assets under management (AUM). The company has invested in more than 549 companies throughout the world with its second fund. Online gaming platform Zupee raised $10 Million in a funding round led by US-based growth equity firm WestCap Group and existing investor Matrix Partners India.
The firm has also noted 120 successful exits from companies like HubSpot and Oculus. The firm entered India back in 2006 under the leadership of general partners Avnish Bajaj and Rishi Navani.
Nexus Venture Partners was founded in 2006. Silicon Valley and Mumbai-based venture capital firm, Nexus Venture Partners is the first India-US venture fund. The company has grown to be a popular venture capitalist firm that has helped a list of companies to raise funds like WhiteHat Jr., Rapido, Delhivery, Zomato, and more.
The firm makes investments in early-growth stage companies with an average ticket size of $500K-$10 Million. The firm had raised $100 Million in its first fund. It is said to have more than $1.4 Billion in assets under management as of FY 19. The firm has invested in over 100 startups such as Zomato, Snapdeal, Delhivery, Goodera, etc. Its successful exits include Gluster, Gitter, ElasticBox, and MapMyIndia among others.
By March 2023, Nexus Venture Partners had successfully raised a total of $2.6 billion in funding in a span of seven funds.
WebEngage, Wow! Momo, Druva, Box8, Faballey, Little Black Book
Key Sectors
E-commerce & Agriculture
Stage
Early Stage, Seed
Website
Iangroup.vc
Venture Capitalist Firm – Indian Angel Network
Founded in 2006, in New Delhi, India, Indian Angel Network (IAN) is a group of primarily Indian angel investors funding early-stage startups. The group had 450 members from 11 countries in 2017. Indian Angel Network, India’s first and Asia’s largest angel network brings together successful entrepreneurs and CEOs. The group has invested in companies, such as PregBuddy and SuperProfs. In 2018, one of its founders Padmaja Ruparel was ranked amongst Fortune (magazine)‘s list of The Most Powerful Women in India.
On Nov 8th, 2020, the Indian Angel Network (IAN) announced the joint with Bangladesh Angels Network (BAN). The aim is to work together to source, cross-refer, and promote linkages in technology-enabled startups in India and Bangladesh to create an enabling environment for venture investing in both ecosystems. IAN is a SEBI-registered early-stage fund with more than 470 investors from around 11 countries. It aims at investing up to $1 Million, with an average ticket size of about $400K-$600K.
By October 2022, Indian Angel Network had successfully raised a total of ₹20.5B billion in funding in a span of four funds.
Omidyar Network India was founded in 2004. Omidyar Network India is an investment firm focused on social impact. The company looks to invest in startups that are helping to build more inclusive and equitable societies for the benefit of many. It provides grants to nonprofits in the areas of digital identity, education, emerging technologies, financial services, and more. The company started ReSolve Initiative, which is designed to invest in building solutions for two long-standing themes – MSMEs and migrant workers. The initiative will look to entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and policymakers to come together to reframe and resolve the issues plaguing these areas.
It has invested over $300 Million into the Indian startup ecosystem. The company has also decided to invest an additional $350 Million (INR 2486 Cr) in the upcoming five years. By this investment, the social impact investment firm also wants to target 500 Million individuals, who have just started using smartphones.
Features of Venture Capital Investments
High-risk investment
High Tech projects
Participation in Management
Length of Investment
Illiquid Investment
How the Venture Capital Industry Works
Methods of Venture Capital Financing
Equity financing – Equity financing is the raising of funds by selling the shares of the company. Sometimes companies need money for short-term or long-term investments and the sale of shares proves beneficial in the way that they simply sell their shares or the ownership of the company in return for cash
Participating debentures – This is the form of raising capital from venture capitalists and other companies in different phases with varying interest rates. Here, the initial seed round comes without any interest, however, the successive rounds, as the startup grows, are chargeable at increasing interest rates.
Conditional loan – Conditional loans are another way of raising funds that do not carry interest. These loans can be availed by startups and other companies to meet their funding needs but they need to be repaid to the lender in the form of royalty once the company starts making revenue. The rate of royalty varies from (2-15)% based on several factors like the gestational period, external risk, and more.
Income note – Income notes can be categorized under hybrid financing that is similar to traditional and conditional loans in characteristics when combined. In this form of a fund raised the company for which they have to have both royalty and interest but at comparatively lower rates.
Convertible loans – Going by the term, “conditional” loans are the loans that are provided to startups and other business ventures on the condition that if the loan amount is not paid within a stipulated time they can then convert the same into equity.
The venture capitalist provides the funding knowing that there’s a significant risk associated with the company’s future profits and cash flow. Capital is invested in exchange for an equity stake in the business rather than given as a loan.
A venture capital investment company is an investment firm that invests in startups and mentors them for their growth. Venture capital firms are generally made up of well-off investors, investment banks, and other financial institutions.
How many Venture Capital firms are there in India?
There are over 800+ venture capital firms in India, as of 2022.
What are the top Venture Capital firms in India?
Some of the top Venture Capital firms in India are:
Peak XV Partners
Accel
Blume Ventures
SAIF Partners
Tiger Global Management
Kalaari Capital
Matrix Partners
Nexus Venture Partners
India Angel Network
Omidyar Network India
What are Corporate Venture Capital funds?
Corporate Venture Capital funds can be defined as the corporate funds that the Corporate Venture Capital firms invest directly in the external startup companies.
To list some of the top corporate venture capital firms:
Brand Capital
Amazon and Amazon Alexa Fund
Google and Google Ventures
Unilever Ventures
Samsung Ventures
Intel Capital
Microsoft
Bain Capital Ventures
Reliance Capital
Mahindra Partners
Experian Ventures
Lodha Ventures
How to raise venture capital for a tech startup?
If you are looking to raise venture capital for a tech startup that is on your mind, then here are some decent ideas that you can go for to raise some venture capital:
Set out with a powerful business idea
Make a unique and foolproof business and revenue model
Make a list of the criteria for getting funds from a specific list of venture capitals
Know your venture capital firms
Prepare your pitch
Reach out to prominent venture capital firms politely and confidently
Speak well and support your statements with research data
Communicate your ideas clearly
Establish your value propositions well
Wait for the results
What are early stage VC firms?
The early stage VC firms are the venture capital firms that are typically known to support startup businesses in their earlier stages of growth. These stages also include the beginning phase when the projects are still in the market research and development stage.
We are living in an era where fintech is taking over the world. Technology has always given us a revolutionary form in every sector, now it is the turn for fintech. India has become a hub for startups. More and more people are showing their interest in being an entrepreneur. Fintech startups are showing immense growth in the country and as of now, India has over 2,100 Fintech companies. As per reports, by 2025 the fintech market in India is expected to reach $150-160 billion.
Now, any kind of business needs funds to function, without funds, the survival of a business is not possible. The fintech industry is booming with new business ideas and opportunities alike. Now Fintech startups are experiencing growth and one of the prime reasons is the investors. They are providing these startups with the required funds that their business needs. In this article, we will talk about the different investors in India that invest in fintech startups. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.
“FinTech is not only an enabler but the driving engine” -Pierre Gramegna
How Fintech Founders are Planning to Dominate the Indian Bond Market?
Elevation Capital which is formerly known as SAIF Partners is a venture capital firm known for investing in some of the most popular startups and is one of the biggest investors in India. The company was founded in the year 2002 by Ravi Adusumalli and since then it has never looked back and provided support to some of the biggest fintech startups in India. Some of the popular Indian fintech startups that have received funding from this venture capital firm are PayTm, FamPay, Uni, Jodo Anthem, Aye Finance, Acko, and more.
This Mumbai-based investment firm, founded in 2010 has been showing its grasp by investing in some of the seed-stage and early-seed-stage startups from all sectors of business. The venture capital firm has participated in more than 175 funding deals. Some of the Indian fintech companies it has invested in areInstamojo, Turtlemint, Slice, Zopper, Kaleidofin, Unicoin, smallcase, and more. Blume Ventures is one of the most popular venture capital firms in India that has generously invested in some of the most popular fintechs in India.
Better Capital is founded by Vaibhav Domkundwar and the firm is focused on building and investing in promising businesses. This India-based, venture capital firm has been showing its interest in fintech startups from the very beginning. Better Capital’s investment portfolio includes more than 200 companies among which 40 are related to fintech. The venture capital firm has invested in some of the popular fintech startups like Rupeek, Open, Slice, M2P, Jupiter, Rupify and others.
Kalaari Capital is a popular Indian Venture Capital firm that is founded by a woman, Vani Kola. The headquarters of the Kalaari Capital is situated in Bengaluru. The investment firm founded in 2006 mainly looks for promising and early seed-stage startups from multiple sectors to invest in. Kalaari Capital has invested in the likes of Threedots, Upstox, Toffee Insurance, AffordPlan, WeRize and other fintech startups.
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The venture capital firm mainly focuses on early-stage businesses and invests in them. The company focuses on multiple sectors including Fintech, Edtech, b2b sectors dealing with fintech, Health-tech, SaaS, consumer brands and others. The headquarters of the company is situated in Mumbai. The company has invested in more than 70 deals and among them, 9 are related to fintech startups. Some of the popular fintech startups that the venture has invested in areLendingkart, LoanTap, Upwards, Propelld, and more.
Prime Venture Partners
Founder – Amit Somani, Sanjay Swamy and Shripati Acharya
Prime Venture Partners – Fintech Investors in India
Prime Venture Partners was founded in the year 2011 and since then it has funded many fintech startups. The company was founded by Amit Somani, Sanjay Swamy and Shripati Acharya and the headquarters is situated in Bengaluru. The company has also invested in the sectors of Edtech, SaaS, and health care. Some of the major fintech startups that Prime Venture Partners have invested inareNiyo, AffordPlan, KredX, Knight FinTech, and more.
Pravega Ventures
Founder – Mukul Singhal, Rohit Jain and Vinay Menon
Another prominent fintech investor in India on the list is Pravega Ventures, founded by Mukul Singhal, Rohit Jain and Vinay Menon. The headquarters of the company is situated in Delhi. Pravega Ventures has contributed to more than 26 funding deals till now. The venture capital firm focuses on tech-related startups which include fintech as well. It has invested in fintech startups like ePayLater, Flexmoney, Mintoak, MyShubhLife, and more.
Titan Capital
Founder – Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal Founded – 2015 Investment Portfolio – LogiPe, Jupiter, Credgencies, Razorpay, Tinkerr, Astu Credit
Titan Capital – Fintech Investors in India
Titan Capital is a venture capital firm whose headquarters is situated in Gurugram. The most interesting thing is that the firm is founded by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal who are the founders of Snapdeal. The firm focuses on funding seed-stage and pre-seed-stage startups. It was founded in the year 2015 and since then Titan Capital has participated in many funding deals related to different sectors of startups. Titan Capital has invested in fintech startups like LogiPe, Jupiter, Credgencies, Razorpay, Tinkerr, Astu Credit, and more.
For any kind of business, investment is necessary. Investors willingly provide businesses that they deem to be potential with the needed funds. Fintech startups are growing in numbers in India, and it seems like it’s just the start of the real game. Naturally, investors are also looking to invest in fintech startups as financial services have become an important need and the market is growing quite fast. With time, many other venture capital firms will also start investing generously in fintech startups.
FAQs
What is Fintech?
Financial technology is abbreviated to FinTech and it comprises companies that use technology to offer financial services.
How many fintech startups are there in India?
There are more than 2100 fintech startups in India as of 2022.
Say you have got a brilliant idea for a startup that can change the way we see things, that solves a problem that everyone needs a solution or boosts the economy. But you do not have enough money to put your vision into being. Sure, there are a lot of ways in which a startup can get funding to establish the foundation of the business. But given the fact that three out of four startups fail, who would like to take the risk to invest in a newfound business?
Capital and startup go together, that is where a VC (venture capital) firm comes into the picture. But if you are not very familiar with the term. Continue reading with us to get an idea of what a venture capital firm is.
People involved in a Venture Capital firm include entrepreneurs, investors, investment bankers, and venture capitalists. A venture capital firm will invest in your business with the aim of a good ROI (Return on Investment) and have a stake which is usually less than 50% in the ownership of your startup. The other main goals include exiting the investment. Either by selling off their stake or through an IPO (Initial Public Offering) at a profit and giving back to its investors.
A venture capitalist firm is run by venture capitalists who raise venture capitalist funds by taking money from other people and investing it into promising young companies. These firms could clearly outline which industry they want to invest in. Who are the people they are looking for? What kind of funding do they want to do? At what stage of your business? And how much money are they willing to pool in?
Stages of Funding Rounds
Pre-seed funding round: Investments in startups are known as private equity or venture capital. Despite their high risk, these investments also have a greater chance of exponential growth.
Seed funding: This is the earliest stage in the process of raising capital for your startup.
The A-series: Funding is for when the company has established product and market fit, started to make some serious buzz and its customer base is growing fast.
The B Series: This represents a period when the firm generates significant revenue in particular markets and looks to expand its reach.
The C series: Eventually, the company will expand and operate globally. If it is ready for an IPO, it may be purchased by another company or continue operating as a private company.
Other Ways of Fundings for a Startup
Besides Seed Funding, there are other ways too, by which a startup can collect funds, some of the common ways are:
Bootstrapping is a method of raising pre-seed funds. When a startup bootstraps itself, it means that it launches without the help of external investors. Thus, the cash flow produced by the business itself fuels internal growth. A bootstrapped business may raise capital through customer funding, personal debt, or personal savings in its initial stages, which works as an effective model for some new companies. However, bootstrappers may face cash flow issues due to high levels of personal stress.
Governments or industry-specific organizations provide grants to these startups for entrepreneurs who do not wish to give up equity, grants are another alternative for venture capital.
Family, friends, and relatives are usually the first ones to support and invest in your startup. When you haven’t achieved much success or haven’t done anything, that can prove a tangible return on investment. In this scenario, your stakeholders may have limited or no experience with venture capital. Known as the three F’s (Friends, Family, and Fools), this is considered the fourth type of pre-seed funding.
Pre-seed accelerator programs are the fifth type. Through these programs, founders learn lean startup practices, develop a scalable and repeatable business plan, and show some product-market fit to attract early customers to their product.
Lastly, crowdfunding can be used for pre-seed funding, and here financing is approached differently. A crowdfunding campaign is a way of raising money from many individuals in small amounts, often online. The types of crowdfunding include equity-based, reward-based, debt-based, and donation-based.
Check out the Top 10 active VC Firms in India in 2022.
Tiger Global Management
Founder: Chase Coleman III
Established: 2001
Investment stage: Series A to pre-IPO stages of companies
Industry: Software, Consumer, and FinTech
Portfolios: 763
Headquarters: Mumbai
Tiger Global Management based in New York has affiliate offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore, and Bangalore. It is one of the most active global tech investors and follows a long-term-based investment approach to generate superior risk-adjusted returns for its investors. They started their public equity in the year 2001 and private equity in 2003 making investments in growth-oriented private companies from early to late stages.
Last year it was listed under the list of the world’s biggest unicorns with most of the co-investors in the company being Accel, Coatue, and DST Global. Some of their notable investments include companies like Shein, Meta (formerly known as Facebook), Coinbase, AirBnB, Uber, SoftBank, and more. Their latest fund size as of March 2022 is $12.7 billion.
Omidyar Network India
Founder: Pierre Omidyar
Established: 2004
Investment stage: Early-stage enterprises
Industry: Digital Society, Education, Emerging Tech, Financial Inclusion, Cities & Innovation, and Property Inclusivity
Portfolios: 100+
Headquarters: Mumbai
Omidyar Network India
Omidyar Network India is a part of the Omidyar Group, whose organizations and initiatives are supported by philanthropists Pam and Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay. This period represents a period when the firm generates significant revenue in particular markets and looks to expand its accompanies to fast-track its growth. As well as giving access to the Center of Excellence Board for strategic and operational inputs.
They have a total of 102 active investments, raising the combined fund size to around $417 million. Few notable clients of Omidyar Network India are 1mg, Quikr, WhiteHat Jr, Zest, etc.
Accel
Founders: Jim Swartz and Arthur Patterson
Established: 1983
Investment stage: Pre-seed, seed, early, and growth-stage investments
Industry: Computing and Storage, Infrastructure, Consumer, Internet & Media, Enterprise Software & Services, Mobile Networking Systems, Retail Consumer, Security, Technology Enabled Services
Portfolio: 1840+
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Formerly known as Accel Partners, Accel has backed up some of the most successful companies like Flipkart, Dropbox, Etsy, Facebook, Spotify, Slack, Vox Media, and many more over the past thirty-five years. Accel has a global community of entrepreneurs and has been investing in private companies from their pre-seed, seed, early, and growth-stage investments.
Founded in 1983, Accel has been one of the most active venture capital firms in Silicon Valley still going strong with their core principles, completing thirty-five years in the industry last year. The company values collaboration, placing the group above everything else, and creating investors from within. Accel continues to move forward with its Silicon Valley state of mind. Their most recent investment made was $57M raised by Middesk in June 2022.
3one4 Capital
Founders: Pranav Pai and Siddharth Pai
Established: 2015
Investment stage: Early-stage venture capital fund
Industry: Fintech, consumer products, SaaS, digital media, climate tech, and digital health
Portfolios: 50+
Headquarters: Bengaluru
3one4 Capital
3one4 Capital is a venture capital firm based in Bangalore, India. Specialities include investment in startups based in early stages, seed capital and early investments. The firm works with the founding team, bringing in subject proficiency to find the best strategy for the product market for defensibility, revenue growth, and creating an impact. Focused on delivering uncompromised end-user experiences, curtailing risk, uncovering new growth opportunities, and yielding rewarding outcomes for all the stakeholders involved.
Interested in the intersection of adjacency that is large, growing, and ready for unique products and services and select market categories, the VC firms’ investments are biased towards companies exploiting technology to create, grow, or dominate large markets in India. Notable investments by 3one4 Capital include companies like Licious, Darwinbox, Jupiter, Betterplace, Open, Bugworks, Koo, Dozee, and Tracxn.
Kalaari Capital
Founder: Vani Kola
Established: 2006
Investment stage: Seed and A Series
Industry: Technology-oriented companies
Portfolios: 110+
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Kalaari Capital
Started in the year 2006 by Vani Kola and headquartered in Bangalore, Kalaari Capital is an early-stage technology-focused venture capital firm based out of Bengaluru, India. Kalaari continues to empower and work with visionary entrepreneurs that build unique solutions that reshape the way Indians live, work, consume and transact. Kalaari partners early with founders and works with them to navigate the inevitable challenges of fostering ideas into successful businesses.
Kalaari believes in being authentic, perceptive, and responsive. Accelerate and enable your firm to give importance to your potential more than your pedigree.
Blume Ventures
Founder: Karthik and Sanjay
Established: 2010
Investment stage: Seed-stage and early-stage companies
Industry: Business products, business services, consumer products, consumer services, financial services, healthcare, information technology, manufacturing, cybersecurity, big data, e-commerce, blockchain, cannabis, business-to-business payments, mobile commerce, Esports, TMT, gaming, and technology-based
Portfolios: 100+
Headquarters: Mumbai
Blume Ventures
Bridging the gap in the Indian market between local angel networks and larger global venture capital firms, Blume Ventures is a key player in India’s startup ecosystem and has backed up and built many transformational networks ever since. Backing up ventures that trigger a fundamental change in consumer behaviour, impacting larger markets, and solving problems that are difficult and uniquely Indian in nature.
The testimonials clearly treat companies as customers, not just as portfolios. Offering more than just financial help, being friendly, being open-minded, and collaborative in their efforts. Blume Ventures has managed over $280M+ in Capital, backed up more than 150 Startups, and made 24 Exits. Ventures like Purple.com, HealthifyMe, Dunzo, Turtlemint, Locus, and more have been backed by Blume ventures.
Helion Ventures
Founders: Rahul Chandra, Ashish Gupta, Kanwaljit Singh, and Sanjeev Aggarwal
Helion Ventures helps organizations build based on strategies and in making strategic choices. It is a $605 Million India-focused VC firm. That supports early to mid-stage venture funds investing in technology-powered and consumer service businesses in sectors like Outsourcing, Internet, Mobile, Technology Products, Retail Services, Healthcare, Education, and Financial Services. Mainly focusing on making investments based in India. Some notable investments were made in ventures like BYJU’S, Gupshup, Ola, LivSpace, Toppr, and more.
India Angel Network
Founders: Padmaja Ruparel, Raman Roy and Saurabh Srivastava
Established: 2006
Investment stage: Early-Stage Venture, Seed
Portfolios: 160+
Headquarters: New Delhi
India Angel Network
The members of the India Angel Network lead from the front, having strong operational experience as CEOs or a background in creating new and successful ventures. The advantages of working with the firm are they are willing to invest money and time, have the ability to leverage a vast network, and give quick feedback on investment decisions.
Keen to invest in startups based in their early stages, the India Angel network provides quality mentoring, and vast networks give input on strategies and move ahead with its execution. Working with sectors as diverse as Agriculture, E-Commerce, Education, Financial Services Gaming Healthcare Hospitality, information, and more. A few notable investments of India Angel Network are WOW momo, Zippr, Wiwigo, Pikkol, etc.
Mumbai Angel Network
Founder: Nandini Mansinghka
Established: 2006
Investment stage: Early-stage investments
Industry: Technology, consumer, life sciences, defence technology, space technology, electric vehicles
Portfolios: 200+
Headquarters: Mumbai
Mumbai Angel Network
The Mumbai Angel Network invests in a wide variety of domains such as—technology, consumer, life sciences, defence technology, space technology, electric vehicles, and hemp seeds. They have over seven hundred investors in more than sixty cities around the world and are focused on new venture investing. The premier private investment platform has invested more than 150 crores with a base of more than 700 investors.
The portfolio of Mumbai Angel Network includes startups like Snackible, LegalKart, Barneys, Brainwired, etc.
Founder: Nikhil Vora (Ex-Managing Director of IDFC Securities), Swati Nangalia Mehra
Established: 2014
Investment stage: Seed, A Series, B series, and more
Industry: Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain, and Storage
Portfolios: 60+
Headquartered: Mumbai
Sixth Sense Ventures
Known as India’s first domestic consumer-centric venture fund. The Sixth Sense Ventures combines foreseeing a trend together with deep insights and delivers a clear vision. The sixth sense has a focus on Indian start-ups and leads with an immensely powerful team. Having cumulative experience in the wider consumer domain, their core team has a strong Center of Excellence Board.
The company creates value for both investors and invested companies. The firm has strong consumer-centric research and investment analysis in its ecosystem, making it easy for companies to fast-track their growth. As well as giving access to the Center of Excellence Board for strategic and operational inputs. The portfolio of Sixth Sense Ventures includes startups like Ethos, Bira 91, AVG Logistics, MyHealthcare, etc.
Conclusion
The venture capital firms in India are growing at a fast pace and supporting budding entrepreneurs with not only money but also guiding them by mentoring them and helping them grow in various aspects of different industries. Helping entrepreneurs and their startups achieve success against all odds.
Blume is an inaugural investment fund that offers both capital and direct mentoring assistance to start-ups. They normally invest in technology-based startups led by entrepreneurs obsessed with addressing difficult issues, which are unique to India and have an effect on wide markets. Their vision is to be the main line to support the best new start-ups in India – encouraging them to ‘Blume.’ It is one of the most prolific and valued VCs of India today, with 22 exits, more than 75 involved portfolio startups and $225 million in capital management.
Blume has participated in the B-to-D rounds of online learning company Unacademy, the robotics company Gray Orange, the Gadget repair firm Servify and the insurance company Turtlemint, the shipping company Dunzo, the makeup company Purplle. With its third 102 million dollars fund and acquisitions in early stage technology-led start-ups, Blume has closed the fund.
In 2010, Blume Ventures was started by Karthik and Sanjay to rethink entrepreneurship funding for India. In 2010. They did so by the creation of an unconventional venture company which could operate at the pace but be institutionalized in its approach of an angel investor.
This start-up investment fund has grown and funded transformative projects and passionate entrepreneurs in three funds to become a core player in the start-up ecosystem of India. They participated in and contributed to the construction of over 100 startups, in geographical and vertical areas.
They aim to spend roughly 60–65 percent of the new fund in domestic heavy industries, including medical services, financial services, tourism, exchange and brands, employment and education, and digital media and entertainment. Other companies that innovate and engineer with local talent pools, and still scale internationally, are the software (Cloud, IT, analytics, SaaS, vertical software) and deep technology (agritech, defense, robotics, IoT, blockchain).
This list of organizations invested in by Blume Ventures:
1. Dunzo
Dunzo Logo
In pre-series A round of funding led by Aspada Investment Advisers and Blume Ventures, Chat-based regular tasks management software dunzo has increased $650K (around INR4.4 Cr). Ankur Aggarwal, Dalvir Suri, Mukund Jha and Kabeer Biswas began Dunzo in 2015. The startup features a chat gui, which enables users to create to-do lists and cooperate with partners (sellers) to accomplish them. It uses AI (artificial intelligence) and human operators to offer solutions for the everyday tasks of consumers. The rates of 10,000 ‘moments of customer enjoyment’ now run every month.
In four areas – sending, ordering, fixing, and home services – Dunzo currently offers solutions. Personal assistant chat applications easily catch up in India. These applications use chat to interrupt local exchange in the region, estimated to be an industry of $750 billion.
India’s got a new unicorn start-up. Unacademy revealed a new $150 million funding round for online learning located in Bangalore. Unacademy helps students train for challenging tests and those taking graduate courses to enter a program. In its app, students view teachers’ live classes and then participate in conferences to further review subjects. In recent months, a host of high-profile personalities, such as the Indian politician Shashi Tharoor, have conducted online interviews on a variety of subjects, which have extended their reach to the students.
The health technology start-up BeatO revealed it will all enter the extremely complex Southeast Asian market. The startup will make its debut on the ASEAN market by first releasing its products on the Singapore market. This promotes the treatment and regulation of diabetes. It is the first ever international expansion of BeatO and in accordance with the company’s long-term goal of entering a region where patients with diabetes are more penetrated. Singapore is perfectly tailored to the bill because it has a 10.5% diabetes rate relative to the 8.8% global average.
The business says that the COVID 19 pandemic has helped greatly. It claimed that the COVID 19 accelerated digital healthcare adoptions and noted improved participation rates with a much higher level of blood sugar testing, diabetes educators and platform consultations. In a Series A round in early 2020, the health-tech startup raised USD 4.1 million and to date raised USD 7 million in funding. Leo Capital, Blume Ventures and several others are some of its famous investors.
LoveLocal, which was created by Akanksha Hazari, digitizes the neighbourhood shopping experience and organizes local Indian retailers. By allowing local distributor companies like e-tailers to digitize customer relations, and perform tailored promotions and loyalty, LoveLocal brings district stores across segment, internet and convenience, with the best possible distribution, operation, credit and freshness promised by local retail companies, to handle all household business and tasks in one area.
In addition to the prominent investors of angel, including Kevin Aluwi’s CEO and Co-Founder of Gojek and Survir Varma, M.Paani recently raised US$ 5.5 million in the Series A funding round led by AC Ventures, Henkel, and Candy. The round was also attended by established investors Chiratae Ventures and Blume Ventures.
Purplle is funded by Blume Ventures, IvyCap Ventures, JSW and more than 30 million dollars earned by Goldman Sachs and Verlinvest last year. The Spring Marketing Capital fund has invested in Purplle, the beauty e-commerce website, for the first quarter, $1 million from the company’s maiden fund. In late 2011, Taneja (CEO) and Rahul Dash co-funded the Mumbai-based startup, and the website came into being in January 2012.
The portal sells men and women products for skin care, make-up, hair care, body care and beauty equipment (electronics). Brands such as Davidoff, Hugo Boss, Elizabeth Arden, Victoria’s Secret, Lakme, L’Oreal and Maybelline.com are available here. The labels are the finest brands available. The business already has offices in the NCR area in Bangalore in addition to Mumbai and now plans to open a new one. Furthermore, by mid-2014, the company plans to extend the spa/salon to eight towns, such as Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai.
In Series A funding round led by Chiratae Projects, San Francisco and New Delhi-based SalesTech start-up SquadStack raised $5 million (nearly INR 36.8 Cr). This round was also attended by the company’s current investor, Blume Ventures. This funding is used by SquadStack to drive product development and attract top product, technical and data sciences talent in the United States and India.
In 2014, Apurv Agarwal, Rishabh Ladha and Vikas Gulati, Kanika Jain were formed by SquadStack. The platform increases the productivity of customers who sells high-tech goods and services in sectors like immovables, financial services, education, health care and the retail industry. In 2018, SquadVoice, which was rebranded as SquadIQ in the Indian markets, also began its Sales Acceleration.
Blume Ventures funds in the subsequent financing rounds of Funds I, IA and II portfolio start-ups. The fund has a 24-month funding cycle and startups as they have business openings. By mid-2020, the organization plans to participate in the fund. As of now, it has previously invested in Fund IIA, Unacademy, Grey Orange, Servify, Turtlemint and Dunzo, Purplle and IntrCity.
The environment of the startup circuit is highly competitive, especially in a country like India. Now, one of the most important factors that define the fortunes of a company is venture capital. These companies act as the backbone of a particular venture and help it to grow and face the obstacles that most of the startups faced in the past decade.
Now, as we move ahead in the series of venture capitals, let us have a look at the venture capital firm India Quotient, a name that is popular for being an early backer of the startups. Some of the names who have made it big in the grandest stage with the help of India Quotient are ShareChat and the digital lender Lendingkart. The company had closed its third fund of $60 million recently last year. Let’s take a tour to know everything about Anand Lulia’s India Quotient.
Quick Facts – India Quotient
Company Name
India Quotient
Headquarter
Mumbai, India
Sector
Finance
Founder
Anand Lulia
Founded
2012
Net Worth
Rs. 165 Crore
An Insight into India Quotient
The team of India Quotient believes that magic happens when concepts like Big Data, AI, and Blockchain are used to create consumer-facing solutions that disrupt large markets or create entirely a new set of markets. The team takes 2 days off every 6 months with the entire portfolio and select LP’s. The team of India Quotient has an active peer group on social media sites where every team member exchanges knowledge and insights.
The team of India Quotient has been funding companies that not many people would like to see as a future giant. The team does not consider the type of work a company does, rather, it emphasizes its growth. The process of selection is rather subjective at India Quotient. Sometimes, the team feels that the network effect is much more important than the tech, or tech is more important than the design.
Which Section of the Startup Sector is liked by the Team of India Quotient?
Well, it is safe to say that the intersection of smartphones, big data, and design is changing and revolutionizing lives. The team observes people, customers, around them and they consider that for a country as big as India, choosing a market is all about the relative size.
The team likes people who are underdogs, i.e. the people who like the struggle which, most people avoid. Apart from that, the team likes the personalities who like to hustle and have only one focus in life. Adding on, the team of India Quotient likes personalities who are very frugal and they have sacrificed their lifestyle for the development of the startup sector.
India Quotient Team
The team of India Quotient will back your company if:
You have an ideology that the present social networks will fade away, and you wish to create the new sector all by yourself.
Also, if you were denied a loan from the bank and you wish to raze down all those big and humongous buildings and shrink them into an app, then the team of India Quotient will help you out.
Well, if you wish to eliminate the hustle of student life and create something for the betterment of the students, then you will be welcomed by India!
Else, if you wish to make consumer hardware in India, even though your batch-mates think that you have gone mad to stay back there, then team India Quotient is here for you!
If you find this insight about India Quotient interesting, then you might wish to reach out to the team of India Quotient. If you wonder how do you reach out to them, well you can use the help of social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, or simply, by writing an e-mail. As per the team, it is never late to reach out to them, hence, if you think your work has the capability of making it to the big stage, then you should reach out to them on Sunday evenings!
Importance of Companies like India Quotient
A company like India Quotient has been helping many entrepreneurs to get a chance to showcase their skills and make a name for the country and the startup ecosystem. Now, with the lock-down affecting multiple companies, the role of companies like India Quotient has been increased. This is mainly because the entrepreneurs are likely to face difficulties and these companies can help them out to make it through the obstacles!
We keep hearing about the milestones and challenges that startups keep facing in their initial years. One of the most prominent ones is that creative entrepreneurs and businesses have to struggle a lot to monetize their events with also bringing the audience to these events.
Therefore to empower these entrepreneurs to explore their endeavors and grow their business while taking it to the customers across the globe, Santosh Panda launched Explara in 2008. Explara helps creative entrepreneurs and small businesses to monetizefromevents, online selling, community, and crowdfunding.
Explara is a SaaS (Software as a Service) based platform that sells tickets in different event categories like sports, travel, and food, and has tied up multiple theatres and multiplexes in states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat. Explara is a great combination of an event platform combined with a me-too ticketing site which is a boon for event organizers.
So ideally, Explara takes care of pre-event, event-day & post-event needs of the organizations. Cutting the long story short, it covers the end-to-end needs of an event and therefore becomes the go-to place for organizations that want to create mega-events.
Explara has events majorly in:
Biz & tech
Learning & classes
Entertainment & shows
Sports & outdoor segments.
Explara offers the following products:
Event Ticketing & Registration
Online Selling & Payment Solution
Crowdfunding & Donation
Community & Membership
Explara’s Enterprise Products ranges in:
Event Management Cloud
Membership Cloud
Event Day Mobile App
Submission Software
Explara – Target Market Size
According to a RedSeer report, the online ticketing market in India has recorded quarterly revenue of $28 million.
Moreover, RedSeer’s Online Ticket Market Updates states that 50% of the industry revenue has been coming from movies, with the next big contributor being events. Sporting events, concerts, and other live entertainment shows were the significant money-making aspects of the almost $330 million in revenue generated by the online ticketing industry in 2017.
With the big guns relentlessly acquiring smaller competitors in this domain, according to Wikipedia, a CAGR of 20% is expected in the online ticketing industry by 2020. According to reports, the global online event ticketing market size is expected to reach USD 67.99 billion by 2025.
Explara is co-founded by Santosh Panda and Ashok Kumar.
Co-founders of Explara
Santosh has an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School and is CEO and Co-founder of Explara. Before launching Explara which was formerly known as Ayojak, he was a member of the board of advisors of Target and was a Senior Software Engineer at eBay.
Explara founder Santosh has a decade of diverse experience in the software industry in the UK, USA, Finland, and India. He has extensive experience in product development, consulting for FTSE 100 companies, and start-up companies across the globe. Some of the organizations for whom Santosh, owner of Explara, was involved in building products are BBC iPlayer, eBay UK, Cyclone Commerce, OnStation, William Hill, Spoke Software, and Vodafone.
Ashok has an MBA from the University of Bradford. He is the co-founder and Vice President – Operations at Explara. Before Explara, he was a tech lead at MindTree Ltd.
Explara – Startup Launch
When Santosh launched Explara in 2008, he did see that this industry was an unorganized marketplace. But fortunately, it started through a supplier marketplace route. This means that the startup is offering a robust platform paired with a set of event ticketing/registration & management solutions to make it easy on the event organizers & promoters.
Explara – Startup Challenges
One of the biggest milestones that Explara faced was an intense competition. And to combat that and to engage more users on its platform, it has devoted consistent efforts and has been seen innovating in the existing features and also launching new and exciting features from time to time.
Going along the same lines, Explara came up with a solution for solving the event discovery on the social horizon by launching a new feature called “Event Discovery Solution”. This new feature brings all the events at one platform of the users’ interest. Also, one such initiative in the past was when Explara had launched a feature called Community Solution platform.
As we know, Explara is a cloud-hosted event solutions platform, it mainly focuses on four service areas namely event ticketing/registration, payment processing (online, offline), merchandise selling, event marketing, and logistics.
Explara Logo
Now, a user can create an account on the platform for free and organize free events at zilch cost. And if you’re wondering how does Explara make money? This is how. Explara charges a nominal fee applicable when the event organizer uses the platform for a paid event/conference/meet-up.
Explara – Competitors
The top competitors of Explara are Townscript, MeraEvents, BookMyShow, KyaZoonga, Nearify, Magnet, AllEvents.in and Events High.
“There has been competition from the day we launched in 2009 to date. Our focus has been to remain focussed on customer needs and build to solve their pain points. We as an organization believe in the culture of heads down work-in-progress models. Hence we didn’t pay much attention to how competitors were doing”, said Santosh Panda, the founder of Explara.
The investors include Harvard Business School (HBS) Alumni Angels, Srijan Capital, Blume Ventures and angel investors including Google India MD Rajan Anandan, Kishore Warrier, businessman Ness Wadia, Singapore Angel Network and Hyderabad Angels.
Explara – Acquisitions and Mergers
In April 2015, Explara acquired IndianStage. It is an event ticketing platform for performing arts. With this, Explara was all set to add more cities to its kitty with access to the theatre and entertainment segments.
“Our current focus is India, though we are digitally growing in other countries. We intend to serve India fully before we look for our physical business presence in other countries”, concluded Santosh Panda.
Anga Mahatara
