Manoj Gupta

One of the largest DLT/ blockchain based implementations in India . 1.5-1.7 billion commercial messages sent every day in India. All the major telco providers and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) implemented blockchain(hyperledger fabric) based solutions for white listing of messages using smart contracts templates. TRAI has been taking several initiatives to curb misuse of headers and content templates for ensuring a more secure , transparent and efficient telecom ecosystem. Why this important to share here because main stream print media cover in India. The Economic Times #blockchain #dlt #telecom #india Rajesh Dhuddu LF Decentralized Trust LF Decentralized Trust India Chapter Tech Mahindra

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Given the changing paradigms in technology and media, we know that the next 10 years will look nothing like the last 10 years. Thanks to The Economic Times for capturing our interactive media thesis for the years ahead. As we crystal ball gaze into the future, there has been no better time to invest in India. In the last few years, we have seen the market mature across key vectors - propensity to pay, quality of talent, capital inflows, and exits. This represents meaningful upside for founders and investors in this space over the coming decade. With the incredible shifts in tech, media and gaming, there are some exciting times ahead! 🚀 https://lnkd.in/gTfYa3Kw

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Our 'prepared mind' on India bank SaaS, i.e. companies selling SaaS to banks, NBFCs, Insurers, and AMCs. We definitely came out more positive post our work than going in. We’ve historically carried a level of scepticism in the ability of such companies to reach the coveted $100M ARR mark in the venture timeframe i.e. 10 years, primarily on account of the limited universe of large banks or NBFCs in India to sell to, which is unlike US or China. However, in light of some companies in this category (Perfios, M2P, Lentra) reaching meaningful scale, especially post COVID, we decided to refresh our view on the sector. So, here goes our key learnings on key challenges and key attractions. Top challenges include: - Banks’ existing software stack is very sticky and hard to displace - Universe of bank logos to sell to is limited, concentration risk an inevitability - No concept of MVP, need a near-final product at get-go - Long sales and implementation cycles - Need a very specific founder archetype to sell to a bank - High need for customisation and custom-integrations - Multiple products (and PMFs) needed to reach $100M ARR Top attractions include: - Existing stack is old and carries poor NPS - Expanding tech spend in banks, increasing SaaS mix  - High ACVs possible on the back of usage-based billing - High NRR with relative ease of cross-selling new products and to new buyers within bank - Network effects allowing first mover to get to dominant market share - Banks’ openness for multi-stacking can serve as a wedge to land the bank - Ability to command a price premium and high GMs (80%+) More detailed version: https://lnkd.in/gZi4--m5. Do hit us up if you're building in bank SaaS, and we'd love to chat Stellaris Venture Partners Shreyan Puri #fintech

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Eternal source of confusion in India SaaS. Terms like SMB, mid-market and enterprise are used pretty casually. Putting out a version here and inviting opinions from founders & investors on how they see the breakpoints between segments. US: SMB (upto $250mm in annual revenue), mid-market/commercial ($250mm-$1B), enterprise ($1B+). India: S (upto 10cr), MB (upto 250cr/$30mm in annual revenue), mid-market (250cr-1000cr, upto $150mm), enterprise (1000cr+/$150mm+) (note the breakpoints between segments are much lower in India and not comparable to the US)

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{New pod 🎤} "𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐬?" Was super-fun to jam with Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan (Rajan) - Managing Partner at Upekkha. We discussed how Indian startups should look at AI, including real addressable opportunities, how to differentiate and compete against global competitors, what pre-AI SaaS startups should do to stay relevant, the India domestic AI opportunity, and finally, operating learnings for US go-to-market. Some thought-provoking insights and learnings for Indian AI and SaaS startups in here. Let us know what you think! YouTube - https://lnkd.in/g8d7rSe5 Spotify - https://lnkd.in/gpzkM8Jw Apple Podcasts - https://lnkd.in/gEf_zvKM An Operator's Blog - https://lnkd.in/gRzK2nTb

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Now to India

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The abolition of #angeltax has opened many doors for #FDI, as well as domestic money. With the removal of difficult tax regulations, domestic and foreign #investors now have more freedom to support Indian #startups. As a result, more private, individual and family office money is expected to flow into the #startup ecosystem in the coming days. This will unleash Indian startups to conquer the world and will be a powerful factor in translating research into #commercialisation. I spoke to Shereen Bhan of Young Turks on various intricacies of budget and its impact on our ecosystem. Watch the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gsDzuH8b

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⏩ ⏩ Antler is coming to Mumbai: October 25, Friday Announcing the 24-hour Fastrack to the Antler India Residency for AI founders on the sidelines of the NVIDIA summit in Mumbai The Why and What? In line with our commitment to investing $10M in 20+ startups by the end of the year, we are doing a fast-track option to bring exceptional founders (individuals or teams) into the Antler India Residency within 24 hours of us meeting you, with the potential of investing in 4 weeks or less. The Who? We are living through a generation-defining technology wave. With the unprecedented pace of AI breakthroughs changing consumer behaviours and disrupting a wide range of industries; here are some of the themes we’re particularly excited about: * Vertical SaaS, especially in industries with low digitization * Agentic automation for complex workflows in industries such as BFSI and Healthcare * Modern AI stack such as testing and monitoring of AI models, model security, retrieval infra, agent infra, specialized small language models and edge AI * Developer productivity in SDLC using AI * Models for new ‘languages’ such as robotics, genetics and material science * Differentiated consumer plays in education, health, media, gaming and personal AI hardware * Startups ‘selling outcomes, not software’ Over the past two months, via Fastrack, we have met over 150 founders and accelerated 13 of them into Residency. We have some exciting new investments from this to be announced soon! The Perks: Antler is the best place to start your company. Besides the capital commitment of up to $500K, we are uniquely positioned to help companies ‘build from India for the world’. Visit us to learn how we support our companies from inception to scale. We also provide a host of perks; some relevant ones for AI founders include up to $25K AWS credits, up to $250K GCP credits, $150K worth of perks from Microsoft, preferred pricing from NVIDIA, $100K of cloud solution credits from OVHcloud and $3K credits from OpenAI and Anthropic. The How? Send us your working demo link on the form in the first comment. Bonus: To strengthen your chances, you can also get someone in our network to refer you to me or any of our team members over email with a strong, specific, warm intro All shortlisted founders will get a direct slot with Antler India on Oct 25 to meet us IRL in Mumbai. The location will be conveniently located just a few minutes from Jio World Convention Centre incase you are attending the NVIDIA summit. You will get a decision to get into the Antler India Residency (through which we commit up to $500k for each early-stage startup) over the weekend. The deadline for being referred or sending us your demo is Oct 21 With Nitin Sharma Gowri Shankar Nagarajan Ishavasyam Dash

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My new piece is up on The Story Board!! This is the 1st segment of a two-part essay diving into Account Aggregators— the new addition to the Indian fintech landscape. Account Aggregators have been discussed with much fervour in the past 3 years, and have been heavily touted as “the next UPI”. To find out if that is truly so, give this essay a read as I explore: 1️⃣ What Account Aggregators even mean 2️⃣ The AA workflow breakdown through the life story of Saha, an average Indian resident 3️⃣ Existing and possible use cases of the AA infrastructure Let me know your thoughts/questions and stay tuned for part 2, where I lay out the traction and adoption of the AA technology, existing and potential revenue models for monetization, and the actual incentives for financial institutions to join this ecosystem. 

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Here's one more theme that has played out over the past decade in India SaaS: SaaS companies that sell into India/Asia (non-China/Japan). There's been a reasonably large set of investors in India who have been default no in this category, based on perception of limited TAM and GTM challenges. However, there is reason to be optimistic for this theme (we are!). A reasonable set of companies in the ecosystem have scaled, such as MoEngage, Darwinbox, Capillary Technologies, Yellow.ai, Unicommerce , Gupshup, CRMNEXT, LeadSquared. Companies like Salesforce, SAP etc have reached multi-hundred million ARR in India. As a result, the potential scale from sales in India has grown from the $15-20mm that people used to talk about 5 years back to perhaps $50mm in India, overall $100mm-150mm in Asia. I think we'll see more companies continue to get funded here as IT demand in India/SEA deepens and local requirements (mobile, India Stack, regulations, languages) get addressed. Founders and investors will need to tune into this being a solid path to go but will take longer to get to impact than US/EU-focused companies. Some characteristics we see at India/SEA-facing software companies: * Many start out in SMB but then find scale & success selling into enterprises. India market has a ton of SMBs (10mm+), a relatively light mid-market and a significant set of large enterprises. * Products tend to have feature sprawl and design-deficit but this can be fixed. * Some large sectors that are pulling at enterprise level e.g. BFSI, multi-sector conglomerates. Early traction from digital native companies (but naturally capped market). * Natural to go to SEA & Gulf countries. Product could remain fairly similar but sales & marketing motion can be quite different. To get really large, feels like will have to end up going to US/EU markets eventually. * ~10 years to $100mm ARR, with market leadership in Asia * Gross margins start out perhaps 10-15 points lower than corresponding companies in the US/EU but trend up over time. * Most India-facing SaaS companies are starting as India Pvt. Ltd. today, compared to 5 years ago (versus US C-corp), with a view to going public in India at $50-100mm revenue level.

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Continuing on the question of what themes have driven India SaaS over the last decade: one of the themes has been the me-too model in SaaS - this has been a majority of early-stage financings historically in India. I think starting a new company today with this model may be tough, given rise in keyword costs and intense competitive clutter. The model has assumed: - target a large, mature market - build 60-80% of functionality (or pick off a part of the workflow) with some technical innovation - offer at a fraction of the price of the market leader - target SMB first, then work your way up to lower mid-market - aggressive GTM through SEO, SEM, self-service and remote sales - differentiate through price and support - category leadership is not the goal - 10 years to $100mm ARR (if successful)- which is ok-ok growth rate, not top quartile

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💰 Surat-based IVY Growth Associates launches a ₹250 Cr VC fund, Arigato Capital aimed at investing in pre-Series A startups. 🤖 The fund, led by Prateek Toshniwal and team, targets sectors like agritech, cleantech, and generative AI, with an average investment size of $500,000. 🌍 Special focus on building global connections in the Middle East, US, and Europe. First close at ₹100 Cr expected by mid-2025. 🔗 Read more on the link in our comments section 👇

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Trying to understand what's happening between Indian fintech companies and the regulators? We dive into that and a lot more on the latest drop of The India Opportunity Show! 💥 Watch Ep 16 here: https://lnkd.in/gNt5crvE 💥 We've talked about all things Fintech: > The Landscape of the Fintech Ecosystem, opportunities, and different business models > How Axio evolved from MSME lending to consumer lending post the pandemic > Are the regulators (RBI & SEBI) unsupportive of Indian fintech companies? > How should fintech founders navigate the tough fundraising environment? > Public markets, investing in equity vs debt + Akshay's personal investing strategy > The High-Risk, High-Reward Nature of Angel Investing > Do you need a NBFC license to succeed as a fintech company? > The Frenzy Around SME IPOs and Risk Appetite > The Importance of Profitability and Cost of Funds in Determining Margins Must watch for all fintech founders and investors in the country!

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Driven by increasing consumption and the rising integration of AI, fintech revenue is expected to surge from $20 billion in 2023 to $260 billion by 2030. This rapid growth is fuelled by several factors, including a robust domestic economy, increasing digital adoption, and a supportive government ecosystem. By focusing on solving real customer problems and building dynamic business models, India’s fintech market has the potential to be a global leader. Let us continue to foster innovation and growth in this promising sector. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gGEuVweD #IndianFintech #StartupEcosystem #Innovation #FinancialInclusion

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India’s Oyo, once valued at $10 billion, is finalizing new funding at a $2.5 billion valuation. This marks a steep decline from its $10 billion valuation in 2019. The startup, which has raised over $3 billion from backers like SoftBank, Peak XV Ventures, Lightspeed, Airbnb, and Microsoft, has struggled to attract institutional investors. In recent months, it has aggressively pitched to high-net-worth individuals after withdrawing its IPO application twice in the past four years. Once a red-hot Indian startup active in markets including the U.S. and Europe, Oyo has now scaled back its international presence. #venture #downround https://lnkd.in/gE2GjYnM

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Establishing a deep-tech focused VC fund would greatly benefit entrepreneurs at the idea, seed, pre-Series A, and Series A stages. Moreover, startups also require grants, joint investment opportunities with deep-tech vendors (both public and private), mentorship, orders, timely payment of invoices, prompt approvals, and access to a global knowledge-sharing platform. These supports enable them to build upon existing foundations rather than starting from scratch. Indian entrepreneurs are currently emphasizing the development of consumer-centric products such as food brands and cosmetics, rather than investing to build deep-tech assets that could enhance production capabilities. We anticipate that this will change with the backing of all stakeholders. Startup India | Invest India | Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India | MeitY Startup Hub | SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd | SiriusOne Capital | Angel Scions | O2 VC Fund (fund under process)| o2 Angels Network https://lnkd.in/dtfBpWUF?

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A series where we highlight Gemba Capital's Portfolio companies' every week. Simple post - no gyaan and no bakwaas :) This week meet Pramod Rao and Abhishek Nalin from Threado AI Kamini Shivalkar Aditya Vargante Govind Lohia Vipul Rawal ↗️ ️Anupreet Singh 📈 Sujoy Chakravarty #meetourportfolio #earlystage #venturecapital #startups #tech #india #portfolio

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Regulatory clarity is paramount for the successful integration of tokenisation into India's financial landscape. Transparent guidelines governing token issuance and trading, aligned with existing financial regulations, are necessary to ensure market integrity and investor confidence. Read more at YourStory Media

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