Animesh Mishra 👽

AI-powered blue-collar recruitment platform Vahan.ai has raised $10 Mn (INR 83.7 Cr) in a Series B funding round led by existing backer Khosla Ventures.  The round also saw participation from Y Combinator, Gaingels and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma among others 👇 The latest round takes the startup’s cumulative funding to $18 Mn till date, including $8 Mn and an undisclosed amount raised in 2021 and 2019, respectively. Vahan seeks to use the fresh money to develop its AI recruitment technology, which will support eight major Indian languages, including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Bangla and Gujarati. Currently, Vahan’s AI recruiter conducts interviews in English and Hindi. However, within the next year, the platform will expand into other languages To read the in-depth article, click here: https://lnkd.in/gSrziXGT #news #AI #startup #funding

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Edtech Unicorn PW (PhysicsWallah) Raises $210 Million in Series B Funding Edtech platform PW (PhysicsWallah) (PW) has successfully closed its Series B funding round, securing $210 million through a mix of primary and secondary transactions. This round was led by Hornbill Capital, with contributions from Lightspeed Venture Partners, GSV Ventures, and WestBridge Capital. Following this investment, PW's post-money valuation has soared to $2.8 billion, representing a remarkable 2.5X increase from its previous valuation of $1.1 billion. Founded in 2016 by Alakh Pandey (PhysicsWallah), PhysicsWallah is dedicated to providing affordable and quality education for students preparing for competitive exams. The platform is recognized for its innovative blend of online and offline learning, and it is focused on enhancing accessibility through a network of localized education centers across India. With this new funding, PW aims to further expand its reach and impact in the edtech sector, continuing its mission to democratize education. #edtech #unicorn #funding #investment #alakhpandey #physicswallah #seriesB #education #onlinelearning #affordableeducation #competitiveexams #startups #edtechnews #learning #innovation #technology #accessibility #india #startupfunding #growth #venturecapital #educationforall #edtechstartup #localization #onlineeducation #fintech #scalability #learningplatform #futureofeducation #studentcentred #educationtechnology #digitallearning #impactinvesting

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Mark your calendars for "The State of FinTech in India - 2024!" in Bangalore on July 10th, hosted by B Capital and Eximius Ventures, in collaboration with The Product Folks. ️ The Indian FinTech space is booming! This event dives deep into the latest trends and disruptions shaping the industry. Don't miss this chance to: ▶ Gain valuable insights into the future of FinTech in India. ▶ Network with key players shaping the industry. ▶ Discover new opportunities and potential collaborations. Spread the word!

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The deadline for dematerialisation for Indian unlisted startups is around the corner - 30th September 2024! So far no circulars on deadline extension have been officially released, so best to believe that these deadlines are still persistent. General behavior in the ecosystem we are seeing: - Many startups are now scrambling to get started (unfortunate, but expected). - Many had begun the process a few months ago (3-4 months back) and are unsure of the progress (haven't even gotten their ISINs created yet). - Those with ISINs issued are struggling to coordinate with their shareholders for Dematerialisation Request Form (DRF) submissions and share certificates. If you still haven't started the process so far or are struggling to collate the required information and documents, then reach out to us at www.myshareholding.com or drop me an email at - [email protected] With our automated and completely digital process, we will do all the required heavy lifting and give you the much-needed push.

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CHANNELIAM FUNDING TRACKER RECENT UPDATES: 1. #Wealthtech startup Dezerv raises $32 Mn in Series B 2. GOAT Brand Labs raises $21 Mn in debt and equity 3. Felicity Games raises $700K from DeVC, Nandan Reddy, Kunal Shah and others 4. Qarmatek Services Private Limited raises $1 Mn in pre-Series A round 5. Centriti raises Rs 6 crore in funding round led by Emergent Ventures India 6. Prosus Group to lead $100 million funding in BlueStone 7. #Recycling startup Ricron Panels bags Series A funding from Boon Sustainability, Others

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We are proud to share that the IBDIC (Indian Banks' Digital Infrastructure Company) Tokenised Deep Tier Supply Chain Financing Solution powered by Xaults platform is selected for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Regulatory Sandbox. The solution enables traditional banks to offer affordable credit to SMEs beyond Tier-1, without raising the risk. Our platform that facilitates invoice tokenisation and orchestration of the entire business workflow. Along with HDFC Bank , ICICI Bank and YES BANK we are confident that we will bring significant impact in the SME financing sector. This is a significant step in bringing digital assets in the traditional financial ecosystem by solving real problems. Suvendu Pati Sanjeev Shriya Ravindra Pandey Shubham Sharma Ajeet Khurana ⭕ Jain Jacob Jinu Thankachan Neha Joshi Shetye Swapnil Kr. Shanu Kamlesh Nagware Prasanna Lohar Ashutosh Dubey Prithvi Chachra Vatsalam Singh Margoob Ahmad Siddiqui Hitesh Sachdev #xaults #rbi #digitalpublicinfrastructure #msmefinancing #digitalassets

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𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐩 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐮𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 In the dynamic Indian startup ecosystem, incubators are crucial in nurturing early-stage ventures. These incubators provide resources, guidance, and networks that can accelerate a startup’s journey, offering invaluable support in creating a pitch deck, building a go-to-market (GTM) strategy, and connecting founders with potential investors. However, while these services are critical, they often fail to support one of the most fundamental aspects of a startup's success: 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬. Below, I’ve explored the primary areas where incubators in India could shift focus to support better product development and ultimately improve startup success rates. 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗩𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 Startups are frequently pressured to prioritize creating compelling pitches over validating their products. Without a proper focus on building a viable solution, even well-funded startups face challenges in developing sustainable businesses. 𝗟𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 Many incubators offer limited technical support. Few provide hands-on help in areas like production engineering, UI/UX, and infrastructure design, which are critical for scaling and refining products. This gap can lead to technical issues that impede growth. 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁-𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝘀. 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 Startups are often pushed to show fast traction, sometimes at the expense of developing a robust product. Sustainable success requires a “build for longevity” mindset, grounded in iterative product refinement. 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 Beyond mentorship, startups need tools for prototyping, testing, and scaling, especially in hardware or IoT-focused ventures. Incubators without access to fabrication labs, testing facilities, or prototyping tools restrict startups’ abilities to refine products effectively. Karkhana 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗩𝗣𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 Many incubators emphasize Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) primarily for fundraising. However, without additional support to refine and scale, founders often struggle to transform MVPs into enduring products that can meet real market demands. Please share your thoughts in the comments. Atal Innovation Mission Official Ministry of Education's Innovation Cell - MIC Chintan Vaishnav Durga Prasad Gouda (ଦୁର୍ଗା ପ୍ରସାଦ) Hemant Shrivastava Rajeev Kumar Maheshwer Peri MSME Innovation and Startup Summit Nandan Singh | Surajit Paul #idea #innovation #product #startup

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ZEPIC, Inc., a SaaS-based customer experience firm, has secured $2.1 million (INR 17.5 crore) in pre-seed #capital from Neon Fund and other angel investors who hold prominent positions at Apple, Chargebee, Freshworks, Microsoft, and Zoho. Neon Fund had offered $500K to the round. ZEPIC intends to expand its market presence in the US and other regions and strengthen its AI offerings with the #additional funding. Out-of-the-box connectors and no-code philosophy throughout ZEPIC will allow for rapid integration with existing #customer management tools to present the best possible 360 degree view of the customer. ZEPIC, which was cofounded in 2023 by Sunil Kumar Somarajan Pillai, Bharathi Kannan Ravikumar, Naveen Venkat, and Sreelesh Pillai, assists companies in providing excellent customer experiences across #channels and platforms. Siddhartha Ahluwalia To share your startup story write us on - [email protected] #zepic #neon #startup #funding

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Swiggy’s IPO: 5,500 Employees to Gain from ₹8,960 Crore ESOP Pool—A New Milestone in India’s Startup Wealth Creation As Swiggy prepares to go public, it’s not just another IPO—it’s a transformative moment in employee wealth creation in India’s startup landscape. With its highly inclusive and lucrative ESOP policy, Swiggy is setting new standards and turning heads across the industry. Here’s what makes Swiggy’s ESOPs stand out: 1️⃣ Inclusive Ownership for All Employees: Swiggy’s ESOP structure is unique in that it includes employees across levels and even former employees. This means that even those who have moved on from Swiggy still retain their vested shares—a rare move in a sector where stock options are often limited to a select few. 2️⃣ Fair and Balanced Vesting: Unlike the back-loaded vesting schedules common among competitors like Zomato, Swiggy’s ESOPs vest evenly at 25% each year. This ensures that every year counts toward an employee’s wealth-building journey and encourages deeper commitment. 3️⃣ Huge Wealth Creation Potential: With around 230 million ESOPs valued at over ₹8,960 crore (approx. $1.06 billion), Swiggy’s IPO stands as one of India’s largest employee wealth events. Thousands of employees are on the cusp of life-changing gains. 4️⃣ Fast Liquidity: In a significant move, Swiggy obtained a rare exemption from SEBI, allowing employees to sell shares just one month after the IPO. This provides nearly immediate liquidity, empowering employees to use their newfound wealth to invest in their dreams—whether it’s launching startups, buying property, or paying off debts. This IPO isn’t just about raising funds; it’s a testament to Swiggy’s commitment to creating lasting value for its people. A New Era for Employee Wealth? Is this the beginning of a new wave of employee wealth creation in Indian startups? Or is Swiggy an exception in an industry where ESOPs are usually more exclusive? Either way, this IPO could mark a turning point in how startups think about employee ownership and wealth.

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🚀 𝗭𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 $𝟯𝟱𝟬𝗠 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮’𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺! Zepto, the quick commerce pioneer, has secured $350 million in a funding round led by Motilal Oswal’s private wealth division, marking its third capital raise in six months. This milestone makes it the largest 100% domestic fundraising in India’s startup ecosystem. 🌟 Notable investors include: • Mankind Pharma Family Office • RP Sanjiv Goenka Group • Cello Family Office • Haldiram Snacks Family Office • #AbhishekBachchan & #SachinTendulkar With a flat valuation of $5 billion, #Zepto is reshaping India’s e-commerce sector, pushing giants like Flipkart and BigBasket to dive deeper into instant deliveries. In just over a year, the Zepto has ✅ Achieved #unicorn status ($1.4B valuation) ✅ Secured  $𝟲𝟲𝟱𝗠 in a pre-IPO round in June 2024 ✅ Expanded India’s quick-commerce market, which grew 𝟳𝟳% to $2.8B in GMV Looking ahead, Zepto plans to double its dark stores to 700 by March 2025, preparing for its much-anticipated public market listing next year. Quick commerce is no longer the future—it’s the now. With Zepto leading the way, the Indian startup ecosystem continues to set benchmarks globally. 🌏 What are your thoughts on this rapid evolution of #ecommerce in India? Let’s discuss! 💬 #Technology #quickcommerce #startup #founder #startups #founders #swiggy #zomato

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📊 From Free to Fee: UPI needs pricing to sustain innovation and growth 📊 In the past, I’ve written about how RTP A2A payments are the future of payments. But across the world, the real time payments are priced. In India it's not ✅ In India, both P2P & P2M are not charged: the cost is borne by the participating players. This isn’t to say that NPCI isn’t trying. PPI on UPI are now charged 1.1% MDR on transactions above INR 2k. Rupay Credit Cards on UPI have an MDR of 2%. Credit Lines on UPI have an MDR charge of ~1.2%, of which UPI Apps get 5bps. These are all recent developments that have come over the course of the last few years. ✅ So then the expectation would be as this scales further, pricing on savings account UPI txns will come in. And that’s the bet that all the 75+ UPI apps operating in the market are taking. That despite the small % that they stand to capture,(seeing that the top 3 apps have ~95% mkt share) the TAM is enough to operate sustainably ❓But what is the TAM? 💡💰 P2P transactions contribute to ~72-75% of total value. In Sep ‘24, out of a total of 20.6 Lac Cr transactions, P2P contributed 14.97 Lac Cr, and P2M contributed was about 5.6 Lac Cr or ~$70B. But this P2M value will not be charged: RBI does not want to charge the micro merchants (P2PM) 💡💰 Assuming that only txns above AoV 2k are non P2PM merchants, as of Aug‘24, the P2M market of transactions above 2k was ~400M transactions, and INR 3.7 Lac Cr, or ~$46B. This seems like a sizeable market: there is enough volume coming in through here to make money. And this is projected to hit $1.6T by FY30 💡💰 Pix (closest equivalent) charges 0.3% MDR for RTP. Assuming same break-up among stakeholders as cards payments, this is ~1-2 bps / UPI txn value that goes to UPI Apps. In any case, if we look at Credit Line on UPI pricing, this will not be higher than 5 bps / txn for UPI Apps  💡💰 Two models emerge: either you win based on scale, such as the Top 3 UPI Apps, which are processing more than 1 Lac Crore per month, or you win on AoV: fewer txns to reduce cost, but greater AoV, since MDR comes on txn value. Ex: Groww,~13M txns in Sep '24, but AoV of ~INR ~7k. (avg is 1.5k) But 1-2 bps is the bare minimum pricing ✅ Innovations cost money. And private players need to see profitability at some point in the future to invest more ✅ Pricing is inevitable. It will have to come in, and as UPI takes a bigger share of the retail payments landscape, a “free method such as UPI” will not encourage, but rather, discourage innovation. Because there is no incentive to bear the costs, especially when critical mass and customer adoption is achieved, and market share concentration is skewed. And my own view: pricing suddenly makes UPI Apps interesting for a lot more players, and this would probably be a step in the right direction in helping NPCI maintain a 30% market share cap on UPI transactions. To read the full deep dive, click here: https://lnkd.in/gZ8vHgpy

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Enterprise tech startup Clueso (YC W23) has raised $1.4 Mn (about Rs 11.6 Cr) in its seed funding round, led by f7 Ventures. The round also saw participation from existing backer Y Combinator. Clueso leverages generative AI (GenAI) to help companies create instructional videos and documentation for employee training and customers. Clueso claims that its AI auto-removes fumbling and rewrites the transcript to cover the same content 60% of the time and replaces the audio track with a “professional, natural-sounding AI voiceover”. Besides, it also creates a written article for every video with screenshots and GIFs. Clueso was also selected in the winter cohort of Y Combinator’s early-stage startup accelerator program in April 2023. With its participation in the three-month-long initiative, the startup netted an investment of $500K. The fundraise comes at a time when the Indian GenAI market is heating up in terms of investments. Founders: Akash Anand, Prajwal Prakash, and Neel Balar Follow Rise & Shine for daily startup updates. Stay informed, stay ahead ➡️ www.riseshine.in #enterprisetech #genai #seedfunding #ycombinator #startup #iitm Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

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We are super-excited to partner with Merak Ventures and Venture Catalysts++ | India's 1st Multi-Stage VC with a USD 1.25M Seed Round. AbleCredit's mission is to bridge the $5T #Credit Gap in India, and similar #credit gaps in other Emerging Economies. We have built a unique combination of very affordable Voice, Vision and Language AI models (#LLM), custom-trained to handle Financial Data, Accounting Principles, and even Laws. With this round, we expect to scale our #GenAI models to be fully applicable in complex, field-based #loans for our #NBFC, #Fintech, and #Bank partners. Welcoming onboard Merak Ventures, Venture Catalysts++ | India's 1st Multi-Stage VC, Manu Rikhye, Sheetal Bahl Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Ashita Gupta, Dilsher Dhupia, Miloni Ghatalia. Onwards and upwards ... With Utkarsh Apoorva, Harshad Saykhedkar, Ashwini Prabhu, Anubhab Bandyopadhyay (cofounders) and Sanjeev Davanam, Chahat Naiyareen, Tejas H G, Donald D'Silva, Gautam Dhingra (Founding Team). https://lnkd.in/gCf7zZYr

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