The Venture Intelligence Blog

Fintech Companies grabbed 26% of all Venture Capital (VC) funding in the quarter ended June 2018 - 24 deals worth $81 million - compared to 11% in the immediate previous quarter. (Health tech investments had grabbed the top spot in Q1 2018.) Investments in Fintech were led by large investments in trade finance and factoring company Drip Capital and SME loan marketplace CoinTribe . Lending startups (12 investments worth $47 million) accounted for 50% of the Fintech investments. Overall, VC firms made 92 investments worth $392 million in Q2’18, data from Venture Intelligence   shows. Investment value increased by more than 20% compared to Q2’17 as well as the immediate previous quarter (which registered investments worth $315 million). In volume (no. of deals) terms, the figure was 12% lower compared to the 104 deals worth $318 million recorded in Q2'17 and flat compared the immediate previous quarter (which registered 95 deals). Note: Venture Capital is defined by V...

With 24 investments worth over $100-M each, Mega Deals are back with a bang. 12 Deals over $200-M each account for 64% of the total investment value Private Equity firms invested a record $8.2 Billion (across 158 deals) during the quarter ended June 2018 – up 60% compared to the $5.1 Billion (across 153 transactions) in the same period last year, according to early data from Venture Intelligence. The investment amount in Q2’18 was as much as 112% higher than the immediate previous quarter (which had recorded $3.9 Billion being invested across 157 transactions). Note: These figures include Venture Capital investments, but exclude PE investments in Real Estate. The latest quarter witnessed 24 PE investments worth $100 million or more (accounting for almost 83% of the total investment value during the period) compared to just 10 such transactions in Q2’17, the Venture Intelligence data showed. Of these, 12 were larger than $200 million each (by themselves accounting for 64...

Extracts from the recent  Times of India article on the topic: While shareholder activism, regulatory roadblocks and tightening of acquisition financing are among different reasons behind slow-moving M&As in the country, one key factor that stands out is the rise of desperate or compulsive deal-making. ...There is a struggle in marrying economic and regulatory interest in some cases. For instance, private equity firm General Atlantic's acquisition of share share registry Karvy Computershare has been waiting for nearly one year as Sebi decides on allowing financial investors control of market infrastructure institutions without adequate restrain. ...Deal-making under the Insolvency Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code - Binani Cement, Jaypee Infratech and Essar Steel - has witnessed high drama usually associated with Bollygarchs (a reference to big Indian industrialists wielding influence over social and political narratives) on the march, often putting lenders, resolutio...

India has over time acquired a reputation as a ‘difficult jurisdiction’ from an arbitration perspective, especially given heightened concerns on enforcement of foreign awards and the frequent judicial intervention from Indian courts under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the “ Act ”). The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 (“ Amendment Act ”) was an attempt by the Indian legislature to address many of these factors. This article explores some of the key issues for parties to consider to ensure a smooth enforcement process of foreign seated arbitration awards in India. How does the seat of arbitration impact enforcement in India? While the Arbitration Act mandates that a foreign award can be directly enforced in India if it originates from a country which is a party to the New York Convention (Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, 1958) and has been notified for reciprocal enforcement of awards by the Government of ...

The concept of corporate governance can be best described as a system of checks and balances within the corporate structure to facilitate long term value creation for stakeholders (and shareholders) due to the separation of ownership and management in companies. Sir Adrian Cadbury, in the UK Commission Report: Corporate Governance 1992 has correctly referred to ‘corporate governance’ being concerned with holding the balance between economic and social goals and between individual and communal goals.  Evolution of Corporate Governance in India The first reference to corporate governance in India’s legal framework can be found in the Companies Act, 1956. While our corporate governance norms have been developing over various years, the 2017 World Bank ‘Doing Business’ report ranks India at the 13th place in terms of minority protection, attesting to the progress made on this front in the recent years.  The Satyam scandal in 2009, was a watershed moment in the histor...

Economic Times has an analysis on why and how Hike has seemingly lost the plot in India's high-stakes messaging battle ground. The article builds on the late May 2018 post by Hike founder  Kavin Bharti Mittal  that foretold the  layoff of 25% of the Unicorn company's staff . Extracts: In the last 18 months, Hike’s monthly active users (MAUs) have halved (37 million to 18 million) and its daily active users (DAU) diminished by two-thirds (23 million to 8 million), according to app intelligence service App Annie.  ...The common hypothesis within Hike was that a majority of its users were from tier IIIII (sic) towns and cities and those who could be classified as SEC B and C. But it failed to get the right market niche.    ...“For loyal users of Hike, people who love the product, there is use case for one person, say using it in hidden mode. And there exist multiple replicas of that one person. Ideally, Hike should have built around that audience, ...

CNBCTV18 carried data from Venture Intelligence on PE-VC investments by Chinese and Japanese investors. 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 Mint article quotes Venture Intelligence data on PE/VC investments in infrastructure investments: (Click to view) 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.