The Venture Intelligence Blog

Big Ticket investments in consumer apps Swiggy & Byju’s dominates year-end activity, even as investments in Core Sectors slow down Private Equity (PE) investments in India rose to their highest ever figure of $33.1 billion in 2018 (across 720 transactions), according to data from Venture Intelligence ( http://www.ventureintelligence.com ), a research service focused on private company financials, transactions and their valuations. While PE investments have already surpassed the previous high - $24.3 Billion across 734 deals in 2017 - in the first nine months of 2018, the mega investments in Consumer Internet & Mobile startups such as Swiggy and Byjus towards the year-end, helped the 2018 total vault by 36% year-on-year. (Note: These figures include Venture Capital investments, but exclude PE investments in Real Estate.) The year witnessed 81 PE investments worth $100 million or more (accounting for 77% of the total investment value during the period), compared to 47 s

A ToI article covering the opportunity and challenges in audio content quotes Venture Intelligence data: Since 2012, only three Indian startups in the podcasting space have received funding, and mostly undisclosed or negligible amount. The article further states that the opportunity for content creators would be in chasing the local language crowd: A KPMG report says that nine of out of 10 new internet users in India over the next five years are likely to be Indian language users. Venture Intelligence is India's longest serving provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India.

Prior to the enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“Code”), recourse for insolvency and debt recovery matters under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest Act, 2002 (“ SARFAESI Act ”)and the Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 was available only to domestic financial creditors. As things stood back then, foreign creditors could not seek recourse under these statutes. As a significant step toward creating a level playing field and extinguishing the undue advantage accorded to domestic financial creditors, the Code has now brought within its purview foreign creditors as well, encompassing both operational as well as financial creditors. Indian judiciary has played an active role in bringing about this change and ensuring recourse is provided to foreign creditors under the Code. While Ahmadabad and Mumbai benches of NCLT had admitted applications by foreign financial cred

Angel investor and former Snapdeal executive Anand Chandrasekaran has confirmed quitting Facebook after a two-year stint at the social networking giant’s Menlo Park headquarters. Anand was serving  as Director of Platforms and Product Partnerships. Prior to Facebook, the Stanford University and PSG College of Technology graduate had served as Chief Product Officer at Snapdeal and its unit Freecharge (May 2015 to Jul 2016) and before that, Airtel (2013-2015).  Anand’s exit from Facebook quickly follows Neeraj Arora’s quitting as Chief Business Officer of the Facebook owned WhatsApp, after a 7 year stint. Neeraj, who described himself as "all things business at WhatsApp" on his LinkedIn profile , had earlier worked in Corporate Development roles at Google and Times Internet. The Indian School of Business and IIT-Delhi graduate has also served on the board of Paytm. Venture Intelligence is India's longest serving provider of data and analysis on Private Compan

Sajith Pai, Director, Blume Ventures is sceptical. In an LinkedIn post titled "The Rise of Hyperlocal Vernacular Video News Apps in India" - which was abridged in The Mint -  he highlights how, in the last year, VCs have backed a clutch of hyperlocal Regional Language news apps - including LocalPlay, Lokal, Awaaz, Circle etc. - that primarily use short video snippets. Extracts: India2 doesn’t consume much text, instead it gorges on video, thanks to cheap data. Increasingly short-form video content has emerged as the dominant media unit of India today, spurring the emergence of homegrown social networks / platforms such as ShareChat, Clip, Mooshak etc., as well as the rise of news aggregators such as DailyHunt, NewsPoint, NewsDog etc. And now they are driving the rise of hyperlocal news apps built around video. ...A startup I spoke to estimated their annual cost for sourcing, authenticating, producing and distributing content (20–25 videos / day) to be close to Rs

A Business Standard article quote Venture Intelligence data on Private Equity investments in NBFCs: Private Equity (PE) investments in India’s non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in the January-November period of this year has reached $2.041 billion - 88 per cent more than full 12 months of 2017 and the highest in four years. The increase in overall PE investment value has been despite the number of deals this year being lower than last year, and the sector facing a liquidity crisis. According to data from Venture Intelligence, the NBFC sector has received a total of $2.04 billion in 25 PE investment deals so far this calendar year, compared with $1.09 billion in 32 deals during full 2017. Among the biggest such deals was the $1,06-million KKR-GIC investment in HDFC Ltd in January 2018. Besides, two major PE deals were announced last week — TPG Growth-led $42-million equity investment in Ess Kay Fincorp, and the Rs 2-billion investment by Norwest Venture Partners X, CDC Gro

Arun Natarajan, Venture Intelligence shares on funding trends with Chandra Srikanth on ET Now's Startup Central - Funding Meter. Venture Intelligence is India's longest serving provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India.

An ET Prime article quotes assets under management (AUM) data on India-dedicated venture capital funds from Venture Intelligence: Venture Intelligence is India's longest serving provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India.

Shardul Amarchand & Mangaldas (SAM) topped the Venture Intelligence League Table for Legal Advisors to M&A Transactions in the 9 month period ending September 2018. SAM advised M&A deals worth $50.1 Billion (across 38 qualifying deals) during the period. AZB & Partners (AZB) which advised deals worth $35 Billion across 54 deals came in at second place. Advising deals worth $26.6 Billion,  Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) followed next. Khaitan & Co. ($24.2 Billion) and  Trilegal ($21.6 Billion) completed the Top 5.  Four of the top 5 - SAM, CAM, Khaitan and Trilegal - were advisors to the Walmart-Flipkart deal. The Venture Intelligence League Tables, the first such initiative exclusively tracking transactions involving India-based companies, are based on value of PE and M&A transactions advised by Transaction and Legal Advisory firms. By Deal Volume AZB topped the tables in terms of deal volume with 54 deals, followed by Khaitan & Co

Khaitan & Co.  topped the  Venture Intelligence League Tables for Legal Advisors to Private Equity & Venture Capital  deals in the 9 month period ending September 2018, advising deals worth $16.1 Billion (across 44 deals) followed by  Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas  ($15.7 Billion across 49 deals) and  Trilegal  ($14.3 billion across 20 deals). (KCO, CAM and Trilegal were advisors to $12 Billion exit by investors from Flipkart.)  Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas  ($9.7 Billion across 47 deals) and  AZB & Partners  ($7.7 Billion across 61 deals) came in at fourth and fifth respectively.  The Venture Intelligence League Tables, the first such initiative exclusively tracking transactions involving India-based companies, are based on value of PE and M&A transactions advised by Transaction and Legal Advisory firms. The tables also include Private Equity investments and exits in Real Estate advised by law firms. By Deal Volume With 61 deals AZB & Partners re-claimed

JP Morgan  ($21.2 Billion across 4 deals) topped the  Venture Intelligence League Tables  for Transaction Advisor to M&A deals in the 9 month period ending September 2018.  Barclays  ($21.1 Billion across 4 deals) came second followed by Goldman Sachs ($16 Billion). All three of the top advisors were involved in the mega $16 Billion Walmart-Flipkart deal. The Venture Intelligence League Tables, the first such initiative exclusively tracking transactions involving India-based companies, are based on value of PE and M&A transactions advised by Transaction and Legal Advisory firms. Morgan Stanley and DSP Merrill Lynch ($14.6 Billion) shared the fourth spot.  Arpwood Capital  completed the top 5 with $8.1 Billion. By Deal Volume Ernst & Young  topped the tables by deal volume advising 17 deals worth $1.7 Billion.  KPMG  came in at second place with 10 deals.  Avendus  came third with 9 deals. Other Advisory Services Inclusive of its roles in due d

Advising $3 Billion worth deals, the transaction advisory unit of Ernst & Young (EY) claimed the top position in the Venture Intelligence League Table for Transaction Advisor to Private Equity deals  in the 9 month period ending September 2018. JP Morgan came in second place advising deals worth $2.2 Billion, followed by Barclays  with $2 Billion. The  Venture Intelligence League Tables , the first such initiative exclusively tracking transactions involving India-based companies, are based on value of PE and M&A transactions advised by Transaction and Legal Advisory firms. KPMG , which advised deals worth $1.7 Billion, took the fourth spot. Evercore, Credit Suisse and UBS Securities  shared the fifth spot with $1.2 Billion. By Deal Volume Avendus  topped the table in terms of volume of PE transactions advised, reporting 12 deals. Creedcap Asia broke into the top 3 advising 10 deals.  Unitus Capital  took the third place advising 9 deals. EY, Spark Capital and

Q3’18 is the Biggest Quarter Ever at $9.2 B; up 60% YoY Mega Deals Rule the Roost in Q3 with 12 investments worth over $200-M each, accounting for 65% of Investment Pie Mega sized Private Equity investments in the July-September quarter have catapulted 2018 into the biggest year for PE investments in India, with the nine month total already matching the previous 12 month high recorded in 2017. According to data from Venture Intelligence (http://www.ventureintelligence.com), a research service focused on private company financials, transactions and their valuations, the total PE investments in the first nine months of 2018 touched $23.7 Billion (across 525 deals) – up 29% compared to the first nine months of 2017 (across 527 transactions). (Calendar 2017 was the biggest ever year for PE investments in India, recording $23.7 Billion across 704 deals). Private Equity firms invested a record $9.2 Billion (across 154 deals) during the quarter ended September 2018 – up 60%

Unitus Ventures has put up some interesting data and charts on the typical capital invested, valuation and equity dilution that startups - especially impact focused ones - witness in the Indian context (including at the time of exit).  In the lowest-case $20M exit, founders plus employees are making a little over $1M, while financial investors are making a tiny multiple or losing money. At the rather optimistic exit valuation of $60M, founders plus employees take home nearly $11M, and each series of investors make a fine total return, achieving overall objectives. ..life is pretty good for pre-seed investors in any exit on this chart, and they make 19-52x return between $30M and $60M. Seed investors...don’t make a ~10x return in this model until a $60M exit is achieved.  Series A investors who have a similar risk profile and return potential only see a 5x return at $60M exit. ...There have been very few examples of venture-funded businesses achieving over $50M exit valua

A ToI article, covering fund managers launching new funds, quotes data from Venture Intelligence's Fund Raising database: The article also quotes PE-VC investments data from Venture Intelligence: PE firms invested a record $8.2 billion across 158 deals during the quarter ended June 2018. That’s a 60% jump compared to the same period last year, according to data from Venture Intelligence. The latest figures have catapulted total PE investments in the first half of 2018 to $12.4 billion (across 315 deals) - a figure similar to the one recorded in first half of 2017 (across 358 transactions). Incidentally, 2017 was the biggest ever year for PE investments in India, recording $23.5 billion across 660 deals. What is driving these new fund launches? Click here to continue reading. Venture Intelligence is India's longest serving provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuati

An ET article quotes Venture Intelligence data on PE investments in road sector Private equity (PE) investments in the roads sector have shot up to a decade high of $1,827 million (approximately Rs 12,240 crore) in 2018 so far according to the data from Venture Intelligence. This was boosted by $1,487 million investment by Macquarie in a toll-operate-transfer (TOT) project of NHAI in March 2018. In 2017, PE funds had invested $465 million. Click here to continue reading. Venture Intelligence is India's longest serving provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India.

A Business Standard article quotes Venture Intelligence data on Private Equity & Venture Capital investments in space technology: PE-VC Investments in Aerospace Companies Company Investors Amount US$M Date Exseed Space Exseed Electronics Fund N.A* Apr-2017 Pinaka Aerospace Solutions KITVEN 0.6 Dec-2015 Team Indus Nandan Nilekani, Others 1.5 Mar-2015 Maini Global Aerospace Undisclosed 10 Nov-2011 Mahindra Aerospace Kotak PE N.A* Apr-2010 Trusted Aerospace & Engg. Subhkam Ventures N.A* Dec-2007 HAL Edgewood Technologies Edgewood Ventures 0.35 Mar-2007 Venture Intelligence is India's longest serving provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India.

A ToI article quotes Venture Intelligence data on Private Equity & Venture Capital exits in India: Driven by the Walmart-Flipkart deal, the year has so far seen nearly $22 billion worth of exits till date through more than 160 deals, according to data from research firm Venture Intelligence . While 2017 saw $14.5 billion for the whole year, previous years saw less than $10 billion. Analysts point out that while the Flipkart deal contributed to a chunk of the deal size in terms of value ($12 Billion), the mood among investors also favours exits. "IPOs, M&A exits and acqui-hires have contributed to the 165 deals so far. Among IPOs, the engineering firm Varroc went public where Tata Capital sold its entire stake in the company. AU finance saw Kedaara Capital and Warburg making a partial exit," said Venture Intelligence MD Arun Natarajan.  With unicorns raising funds and consequently giving exits to smaller investors, there is an emergence of funds such as TR Cap

A Business Standard article covering rising Private Equity investments in Real Estate companies quotes Venture Intelligence data: "According to research firm Venture Intelligence, South-based players saw fund infusion of $6.5 billion (Rs 456 billion) from large fund houses, starting 2014 till date. In this calendar year, PE entities infused $1.6 billion in many large realty firms based out of Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, across 16 deals. In the period from 2014, realtors in the western region (led by Mumbai and Pune) saw the highest amount of PE investment, of $10.3 billion. Those in the National Capital Region (NCR) attracted nearly $5.3 billion. In the south, Hyderabad-based Phoenix Group saw the highest amount of investment - $652 million - from PE players Indiabulls, Altico Capital and Canadian pension fund CPPIB, among others. Bengaluru-headquartered Embassy Group had investment of $638 mn from global PE majors Blackstone, Warburg Pincus and Xander Group,

In the first interview of our " How I Raised Funding ?" Series, Priyanka Aggarwal, Wishberry shares Q: In your seed round, you raised funding from the who’s who of Angel investors like Rajan Anandan, Sharad Sharma, Deep Kalra, Sunil Kalra, etc through the Letsventure platform. How did you kick off your fundraising process on Letsventure? How did you end up convincing so many stalwarts to invest in the company? Priyanka: While raising money on an angel platform it’s extremely helpful to have a lead/anchor investor. Having said that, most of our lead investors were syndicated offline and we only listed on the platform to raise the remaining 20%. Having Rajan Anandan and Sharad Sharma as our lead investors convinced other angels to back Wishberry. So how did you meet and convince Rajan Anandan and Sharad Sharma? Click here to continue reading. Venture Intelligence is India's longest serving provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financi

A Mint article titled  Venture capitalists strike out on their own as investors back small funds  quotes Venture Intelligence data on recent funds launched by VC professionals who quit to strike out on their own. The article also further shares on why managers quit to launch their own funds: Click here to continue reading. Venture Intelligence is India's longest serving provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India.

India is a frequent user of anti-dumping measures, having levied duties on 609 investigations since the inception of the World Trade Organization (“ WTO ”) in 1995. There have been several changes in the trend of anti-dumping duty investigations conducted by Directorate General of Trade Remedies (“ DGTR ”) recently. Consolidation of trade remedy forums and creation of DGTR The Government of India, through an amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 on May 7, 2018, has consolidated multiple trade remedial forums under the umbrella of the “Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties” (“ DGAD ”).  The DGAD, previously in charge of conducting anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations, has accordingly been rechristened the DGTR.  The amendment creates a single integrated authority which will oversee both outbound as well as bound investigations on various trade remedial measures such as anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, safeguards and

CAM, Trilegal take no.2 and no.3 slots; KCO also tops by deal volume, followed by AZB and CAM Khaitan & Co. topped the Venture Intelligence League Tables for Legal Advisors to Private Equity & Venture Capital deals in H1 2018 advising deals worth $15.9 billion (across 37 deals) followed by Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas ($13.7 billion across 33 deals) and Trilegal ($13.3 billion across 14 deals). Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas ($8.1 Billion across 31 deals) and AZB & Partners ($5.9 Billion across 36 deals) came in at fourth and fifth respectively. KCO and CAM advised PE-backed company Flipkart, while Trilegal advised Naspers in the $12 Billion exit by investors from Flipkart when it was acquired by Walmart. The Venture Intelligence League Tables, the first such initiative exclusively tracking transactions involving India-based companies, are based on value of PE and M&A transactions advised by Transaction and Legal Advisory firms. The tables also i

AZB & Partners, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas claim the No.2 & No.3 slots Propelled by the $16 Billion Walmart-Flipkart deal, Shardul Amarchand & Mangaldas (SAM) topped the Venture Intelligence League Table for Legal Advisors to M&A Transactions in H1 2018. SAM advised M&A deals worth $48.4 Billion (across 34 qualifying deals) during the period. AZB & Partners (AZB) which advised deals worth $33 Billion across 35 deals and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) ($24.2 Billion across 19 deals) followed next. Khaitan & Co. ($22.8 Billion) occupied the fourth spot, while Trilegal ($21.4 Billion) stood fifth. Four of the top 5 - SAM, CAM, Khaitan and Trilegal - were advisors to the Walmart-Flipkart deal. The Venture Intelligence League Tables, the first such initiative exclusively tracking transactions involving India-based companies, are based on value of PE and M&A transactions advised by Transaction and Legal Advisory firms. Khaitan t