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Showing posts from November, 2014

Why Lightspeed said yes to mobile dating app Vee

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Extracts from a post on the Lightspeed Ventures India blog (emphasis mine):

Traditionally, young Indian women and men have struggled to meet new and like-minded people owing to various socio-cultural constructs. Consequently, most social interactions are limited to friends and family. Online dating, while promising, could not solve this problem. Fake profiles, in-appropriate behavior, cumbersome matching process, low internet penetration were some of the key challenges that prevented online platforms to flourish....Vee leverages the power of mobile along with a product approach that is entirely focused on women. Through features such as anonymous browsing, male loyalty enforcement (limited simultaneous connections), abuse reporting – Vee places the power in the hands of women with an aim to become a trustworthy platform for them. In addition, mobile based hyper-local elements enable instant and relevant matching.Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Pri…
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Deal Alert: Rajan Anandan, Patni Bros, other angels invest Rs 5-Cr in Aureus Analytics

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Singapore- and Mumbai-based financial analytics firm Aureus Analytics has raised over Rs 5 crore ($850,000) in an angel round of funding led by Steven Sule, partner in investment firm Naste Advisors with participation from Rajan Anandan and Nirvana Venture founders Amit and Arihant Patni. Murugappa Group scion Arun Venkatachalam also participated in the round, which was raised through deal-making platform LetsVenture, whose co-founder Shanti Mohan is also an investor in Aureus Analytics. 
Aureus, founded last year by former BFSI software specialists Anurag Shah, Ashish Tanna and Nitin Purohit, has an R&D team in Mumbai. The company provides predictive analytics and big data ready platforms for insurance companies and banks. 
Source: Economic Times Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including …
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How Piramals cracked the Private Equity in Real Estate puzzle

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From the Forbes India profile:
Given the scope of its services, while all realty funds have a takeover clause in their contracts, Piramal Fund Management has the actual capability to do so if a developer reneges on his commitment. Take, for instance, the fact that no other fund offers construction finance or has funds for specific situations like the apartment fund or the Mumbai Redevelopment Fund.   As a result, Piramal Fund Management has Rs 12,000 crore to invest in real estate across the country. It helps that Piramal Enterprises is flush with funds and has over Rs 4,000 crore of investment riding on the venture.    ...This is particularly relevant since, as Jijina points out, work doesn’t end once the money is lent. It is important to track the investment, he says, because, for instance, the telltale signs of a default with a developer start to show far before the actual non-payment issue crops up. For instance, if cement is being diverted from one project to another, Jijina exp…
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Deal Alert: Chennai Angels leads Rs.6-Cr investment in jewellery e-tailer Velvetcase

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Mumbai-based online designer jewellery marketplace Velvetcase has raised more than $1 million in a funding round led by Chennai Angels. Jacob Kurian, partner at PE firm New Silk Route; Arihant Patni, cofounder of Nirvana Ventures, and Jerry Rao, former CEO of MphasiS, also participated. Velvetcase also allows customers to send their own designs, which are then converted into the final piece of jewellery. 
Source: Economic Times Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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Deal Alert: Flipkart founders invest in gaming start-up MadRat Games

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Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, have made an investment in an offline games start-up MadRat Games. The other investors who have participated in the funding round of about $1 million (about Rs 6.2 crore) include the founders of IT outsourcing firm GlobalLogic - Rajul Garg, Sanjay Singh, Manoj Agarwala and Tarun Upadhyay. MadRat, founded in 2010, started out by launching a Hindi word game Aksharit. The firm, which distributes its products primarily through offline stores, plans to use the funds for branding, marketing and expansion. Its existing investors Blume Ventures and First Light Ventures did not participate in this round. 
The company started by IIT graduates Rajat Dhariwal, Manuj Dhariwal and Madhumita Halder has launched over 70 board games, puzzles and toys. 
Source: Economic Times  Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations…
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Deal Alert: Blume invests Rs 3-Cr in online travel info services firm RailYatri

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Blume Ventures has led a Rs.3 crore investment round in Noida-based Stelling Technologies, which owns and operates web and mobile app RailYatri.in. The company had earlier raised funding from Ujama Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based angel investment firm. Proceeds from the latest round will be used to grow the technology platform as well as for marketing initiatives. 
Founded by Manish Rathi, Kapil Raizada and Sachin Saxena in 2011, RailYatri is a web and mobile-based tool that provides consumers rail travel-related information, including, live train status. Its monetisation model is based on taxi bookings and allowing customers to order food on the go. It has tie-ups with taxi services firms across 30 cities and food vendors across 300 stations. 
Source: Economic Times
Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our product…
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Deal Alert: Villgro invests in 7 new startups

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Social enterprise incubator Villgro has invested in seven start-up taking its incubation portfolio to 10 companies. Kamal Kisab, Flybird Innovations, VectorDoc, SustainEarth, SkillTrain, MicroX Labs and Bempu, all early-stage companies, have secured funding in the range of Rs 10-15 lakh. All seven start-ups have prototypes of products that will be ready for the market over the next six-nine months. 
Source: Economic Times Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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Fund Alert: Bill Gates invests in Unitus Seed Fund

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Bill Gates has made a personal investment in impact investment fund Unitus Seed Fund. Unitus invests in India through two funds — Unitus Seed Fund India, a Sebi-registered venture capital fund, and Unitus Seed Fund LP, an offshore venture capital fund. Gates' investment has been made in the offshore fund. The co-founder of Microsoft has joined VC investor Vinod Khosla and a group of Seattle-area techies in backing Unitus Seed Fund. 
Source: Economic Times
Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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Deal Alert: Online clothing brand VoxPop raises Rs.6-Cr in fresh funding

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Web-only merchandising brand VoxPop Clothing has raised INR 6 crore ($1 million) led by existing investor Blume Ventures. The funds would be utilised to increase product category in higher margin products, ramp up team and widen brand partnerships. The online portal develops and retails limited edition T-shirts in partnership with global and domestic entertainment and sports brands like Disney, Marvel and Mumbai City Football Club. Blume along with other investors had made a $400,000 (INR 2.4 crore) investment in the company last year.
Source: Economic Times Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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Deal Alert: YourNest, Udaan Angel Partners invest in online ads firm NLPCaptcha

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Simpli5d Technologies, which operates digital ad platforms like NLPCaptcha, NLPVideo and NLPMobile, has raised seed funding led by Your Nest Angel Fund with participation from Udaan Angel Partners. The funds would be primarily used for building the team, product & infrastructure enhancement and expanding operations to new geographies. Rammohan Sundaram, CEO - IbiboAds at ibibo Group, had joined the company's board in March 2013, regulatory filings reveal. 
Source: Nextbigwhat Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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Deal Alert: USF invests in e-marketplace operator for mini-trucks Blowhorn

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Unitus Seed Fund has led the seed round investment in Bangalore-based Blowhorn, an online marketplace for last mile logistics. Blowhorn offers a tech platform connecting owners of mini-trucks to consumers who want to move goods. Blowhorn’s technology is currently being offered in Bangalore and can used by both consumers and by truck owners & drivers, to move goods or household possessions around the city. 
Source: Nextbigwhat.com
Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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"Incremental reforms will push up growth, but fail the youth": Former Chief Economic Adviser Shankar Acharya

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Writing in Business Standard, former chief economic adviser to the government Shankar Acharya has evaluated the notable economic and financial developments during the first six months of Modi Sarkaar. Extracts:
Both the July Budget and subsequent developments have made plain this government's aversion to attempting "big bang reforms" through legislative amendments to populist entitlement laws (rural employment, food security, education), the onerous new land acquisition act, the Indira Gandhi vintage, job-destroying central labour laws or even the notorious, retrospective "Vodafone amendment". However, since the disappointing July Budget, clear signs of a pragmatic, incremental approach to policy improvements have emerged. ...Will incrementalism work? That's the big question. As Zhou Enlai reportedly said about the success of the French Revolution, it's too early to tell. One has also to ask whether there really is an alternative? The so-called "…
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Deal Alert: Kalaari Capital leads Series A funding for online payments firm Instamojo

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Kalaari Capital is leading the Series A funding for Mumbai-based Instamojo with participation from existing investors Blume Ventures and 500Startups. Two-year-old Instamojo helps small business owners, like private tutors and office lunch service operators, collect payment directly from their customers by sharing a link through their website, social media and mobile channels such as SMS or WhatsApp.
Source: Economic Times
Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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Deal Alert: Outbox Ventures, angels invest $400-K in travel site Tripoto

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Travel community portal Tripoto has raised seed level funding of $400,000 led by Outbox Ventures with participation from Palaash Ventures and angel investors. Tripoto provides a platform for travellers to share and discover travel itineraries & stories, plan their trips, upload travel photos and maps, write reviews and connect with like-minded individuals. Angel investors that participated in this round include Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal – Founders of Snapdeal; Sachin Bhatia – Founder, Makemytrip; Shanti Mohan – Founder, LetsVenture; Nikunj Jain – Founder, Inoxapps; Arvind Vohra – Director, Gionee India and Romi Mahajan. 
Tripoto was founded in 2013 by ISB alumni Michael Lyngdoh and Anirudh Gupta. The website claims around 300,000 monthly unique visitors and over 650,000 unique page views.
Source: Nextbigwhat.com Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their …
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Deal Alert: Nexus Venture Partners invests in SDN Analytics company Arkin Net

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Arkin Net is coming out of stealth mode with $7 million in funding, led by Nexus Venture Partners,to revolutionize the Software-Defined Networking (SDN) market – projected to be $8B by 2018. Arkin Net is building the industry’s first multi-vendor SDN operations platform that will transform how enterprises operate their software-defined datacenters. With Google-like ease-of-use, organizations will have an entirely new way to search, view and share operational data without spending significant time or money on retraining their staff. 
Enterprises moving to software-defined datacentersface a big challenge
As organizations adopt a software-defined datacenter strategy, they are virtualizing their networks.The operational visibility required to successfully maintain these new software-defined networks is non-existent; the transition from initial deployment to day-to day operations is the biggest challenge. IT departments quickly realize that they are missing the right solution and will need…
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Deal Alert: Bookmycab acquires Hyderabad's CabonClick.com

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Mumbai-based Bookmycab.com has acquired Hyderabad-based CabonClick.com, an fellow online taxi booking service provider. The acquisition gives Bookmycab access to over 150 cabs. Bookmycab plans to increase the number up to 1,000 in a span of six months.

Source: Business Standard


Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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Selling a Rs.400 bulb for Rs.10 and other Brilliant Ideas to Reduce the Fiscal Deficit

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Dr. Ajay Shah has timely and extremely well argued post on the government's plans to subsidise LED bulbs costing Rs.400 to be sold for Rs.10! Hopefully the decision makers will take note and switch off this yet-another-money-sucker-in-making proposal before it, well, sees light of the day. Extracts from Dr. Shah's post:
The guiding question, in all design of government, should be: What's the market failure? I am not able to see a market failure in the working of the market for LED bulbs. ...Energy efficiency is just one part of economic efficiency. An LED lamp is a big up front payment and then a stream of gains in the future. Whether the LED lamp is worth putting in depends on (a) The magnitude of each gain (i.e. how much you use that lamp) and (b) The discount rate. If the interest rate is high, it will make sense to buy a Tungsten bulb instead.  ...we should be hard headed in how we thinking about what government does. Most of what government in India does is not the jo…
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Why Everyone & His Uncle Likes Doing Dr.Raghuram Rajan's Job

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Every time a monetary policy review is round the corner (like now), everybody from the Finance Minister to twitter-friendly industrialists decide to front run Dr.Rajan to get media attention. In a new column titled "Celebrity central bankers" Prof. Kenneth Rogoff, who like Dr. Rajan is a former chief economist of the IMF, says "much discussion of central-bank pronouncements and decisions grossly exaggerates their economic significance" and highlights some vested interests that benefit from the hoopla. Extracts (emphasis mine):
For starters, the public perception that central bankers are omniscient makes them an attractive whipping boy for politicians. Moreover, the digital revolution in media has elevated the role of business news, one of the few profit centres for print and broadcast journalism in many countries. Central bankers' pronouncements are of interest to businesspeople - especially in the financial sector - and businesspeople are of interest to adver…
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Deal Alert: Paypal Start Tank to incubate two new start-ups

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PayPal India has selected two new tech start-ups - Clockwork Interviews Pvt Ltd and Demach Software India Pvt Ltd - for its ‘Start Tank’ Incubation Center in Chennai from among 11 other startups that presented their business pitch at the Start Tank Incubation Challenge final on October 31, 2014. The selection was organized as part of PitchFest in partnership with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Chennai. Clockwork Interviews is a hiring analytics company. Demach Software is the maker of Konotor, an user-engagement solution for mobile apps. 
Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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Deal Alert: POPxo.com secures INR 3 Cr from Rajan Anandan, Chennai Angels, others

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Google India Head Rajan Anandan, Chennai Angels (represented by CaratLane’s Mithun Sancheti), Hussein Kkanji and others have invested INR 3 crore in POPxo.com, a 7-month old digital lifestyle website focused on women. Started by Priyanka Gill, a lifestyle journalist and Namrata Bostrom, a management consultant, POPxo claims to have crossed more than a million users and gets more than 4 million page views monthly. It is currently run by a team of 10 women based out of Delhi and Mumbai. 
Source: Yourstory.com Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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Deal Alert: Kalaari leads $2-M Series A for real estate portal Grabhouse

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Grabhouse, the property search and listings site owned by Mumbai-based Cryptopy Technologies, is raising $2 million in a Series A round of funding led by Kalaari Capital. Seed stage investor India Quotient will participate in the round.
From the Venture Intelligence PE Deal database: India Quotient had invested in Grabhouse in Nov-13 and Jul-14. 
Source:Economic Times  Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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Deal Alert: Nexus invests in big-data powered marketing SAAS company: Blueshift

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Blueshift Labs, a big data-powered marketing SaaS company, today announced that it has raised a $2.6 million Series-Seed round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Nexus Venture Partnerswith participation from angel investors including Tim Kopp (former CMO of ExactTarget), Neil Tolaney(Personalization Mall.com and former investor at Technology Crossover Ventures), and Anand Rajaramanand Venky Harinarayan (founders of Kosmix, @WalmartLabs, Junglee and MilliwaysVentures). 
Blueshift’s Predictive Marketing Automation software enables ecommerce marketers to convert visitors into repeat buyers and increase activation& retention rates. By using Blueshift, marketers can easily create behaviorally targeted campaigns across multiple channels including email, Display RTB and mobile push notifications. By abstracting away heavy-duty data science into actionable intelligence, Blueshift helps marketers zoom in on the right customers with the highest purchase intent, and helps craft the…
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Deal Alert: Vishal Gondal invests in Flipsicle

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KK Raghava founded Flipsicle, a New York-based startup focused on creating a new kind of social network, has attracted $2 million in angel funding from 10-12 investors, including Vishal Gondal, founder and CEO of technology and fitness firm, GoQii, Neeraj Arora of Whatsapp, and Kleiner Perkins' design partner John Maeda. The venture wants to build a social network that brings together different perspectives on a variety of subjects. It does that by allowing users to ask questions and respond to them with pictures. 
Source: Economic Times Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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Deal Alert: Khosla incubates start-up to enable bank transactions via kirana stores

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Khosla Labs, launched by investor Vinod Khosla, has incubated a technology startup to drive financial inclusion Novopay Solutions in Bangalore under the guidance of Srikanth Nadamuni. Novopay is a mobile payment company that uses the Aadhaar biometric scanner to allow people to conduct banking transactions from neighborhood shops. Novopay has launched services in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore, and plans to offer them across the country. 
Source: Business Standard
Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
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