Raja Agarwal

Invested 57 Lakhs ($87,700) in 2015 and Exited with Rs.111 Crores ($15 million) in 2024, with <200x returns, Snapdeal Founders knows the importance of a well-executed exit strategy. A solid exit strategy is as crucial to a startup's journey as its initial business plan. The recent exit of Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal from Urban Company is a perfect example. Having a solid exit strategy is as important as having a growth strategy. Here's why: 👉It provides a clear roadmap for the future. 👉It prepares businesses for uncertainties. 👉It reduces the risk of financial losses. 👉It assures investors of their returns. For investors, an exit strategy is their ticket to turning investments into returns. It's a crucial part of their decision-making process, impacting - Where, when, and how much they invest.💵 3 principles that guide an exit strategy are: 📌Clarity about expected timeline & the type of exit you aim for. Eg: merger,  IPO, etc. 📌Exit strategy should be flexible enough to adapt to changes in market conditions.  📌 Exit might take longer than expected, but the returns can be worth the wait. Here’s my analysis of this exit strategy. - Timing the exit at the right market conditions can maximize returns. - Patience in waiting for the right exit opportunity can lead to significantly higher returns. - A well-planned exit strategy provides a clear path to financial success. What’s your take on the returns made by Snapdeal founders? Source: Economic Times

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IIFL Fintech Fund Portfolio Delivers 9.5x Revenue Growth in Average Holding Span of 1.5 ...: India's only early-stage fintech-focused fund backed by a financial services conglomerate – the IIFL Group, has delivered a stellar performance ...

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"aap, aapki kahaani aur aapki mehnat, iss order me bologe to investment milega, bas itna simple hai" A seasoned investor told me this when I started raising for CUR8 and now I realize why all 3 matter in that precise order! First people have to buy you as part of the deal! If you don't seem investable as a person, you could be curing cancer and nobody will put a dime That "investable" piece could be a spark someone saw, your pedigree or something else. But they first have to buy you! Then the belief has to come that your idea is a story they would love to see progress. It's like listening to a thriller. If they know the ending already or the premise is dull, even Salman Khan can't save the movie! Finally, they have to see the promise! If the actor is great, the script works, then the actual movie must have well-put-together scenes for a trailer! Bas that is all it takes to make a great pitch! I felt the same energy when I recently met Tej Kapoor and he was kind enough to give a patient ear to know what we are building! P.S. If you want your sales teams to level up, think no further than CUR8, the only Gen-AI backed co-pilot your sales teams need! #genai #sales #investment

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#Fintechs Can Now Unlock New Revenue Streams ### How Fintechs Can Capitalize on NPCI’s 1.2% Interchange for Pre-Sanctioned Credit Lines on UPI As a mentor and recruiter in the fintech space for 14 years, I've seen many game-changing developments. NPCI’s latest initiative is one such opportunity. The National Payments Corporation of India's (NPCI) decision to implement a 1.2% interchange fee for transactions using pre-sanctioned credit lines on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is set to revolutionize digital payments. Here's how fintech companies can leverage this initiative for growth and profitability. ### Understanding the Interchange Fee Structure The interchange fee, a major part of the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR), is the commission merchants pay to the credit issuer for each transaction. With 90% of the MDR being the interchange fee, fintechs have a significant revenue opportunity. ### Revenue Distribution and Stakeholder Involvement Negotiations suggest that third-party apps (TPAPs) like PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm will receive 8 basis points (0.08%) per transaction, while PSP banks powering UPI functions will get a similar share. ### How Fintechs Can Make Money from This Initiative 1. Develop User-Friendly Solutions:   - Create intuitive interfaces for users to manage pre-sanctioned credit lines.   - Integrate seamlessly with existing UPI apps. 2. Innovate Product Offerings:   - Offer multiple product variants, such as interest-free periods and overdraft loans with immediate interest. 3. Target Niche Markets:   - Focus on loans below Rs 50,000.   - Serve segments underserved by existing credit products. 4. Leverage Data Analytics:   - Use data analytics to identify creditworthy customers and tailor products. 5. Enhance Customer Experience:   - Ensure secure authentication and provide detailed credit line information. 6. Educate and Market Aggressively:   - Educate users on the benefits and run marketing campaigns highlighting convenience and cost-effectiveness. ### Challenges and Solutions - P2P Transfer Restrictions: Focus on merchant payments to avoid compliance issues. - Bank Reluctance: Address concerns about cannibalizing credit card business by highlighting complementary nature. - Adoption and Promotion: Encourage UPI apps to market the new credit product aggressively. ### Conclusion NPCI's 1.2% interchange fee for pre-sanctioned credit lines on UPI offers fintechs a significant opportunity. By developing innovative solutions, targeting niche markets, leveraging data analytics, and enhancing customer experience, fintechs can unlock new revenue streams and drive growth. Embrace this change to lead the digital payments revolution in India. #ratneshjain #fintech #fintechhiring #npci #rbi #prepaid #payments

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You need to return atleast 4X the fund in a 7-10 year period to get approx 20%+ IRR. Assuming capital calls are spread around the 1st 4 years. #VentureCapital #Investing

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🚨Dhan displaces Paytm Money to enter the list of top 10 stock broking platforms ▶️ Intersting developments in the online broking space -- Dhan overtaking Paytm Money to enter top 10, Angel One within striking distance of Zerodha, PhonePe's Share .Market continues to add users at a blistering pace Anand J breaks it all down in this detailed piece⤵️ ▶️ Dhan is in talks to raise 100 million in funding at a $1.2 billion valuation. Previously, it was valued at around $150 million. ▶️ PhonePe's Share.Market continues to grow at a blistering pace, breaking into the top 25 trading and investment apps. It crossed 2 lakh active investors in August to emerge as the 21st largest broking platform. The company had only 49,000 active investors in April, registering a four times growth in five months. It added 41,000 users in the past month. ▶️Angel One seems on track to take over Zerodha as the second largest stock broking firm in the country within the next three months. In August, Zerodha had 79 lakh active investors, while Angel One had 71 lakh. https://lnkd.in/g7j7XMu7

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Hope the election chaska is being enjoyed by everyone 😁 Option trading doesn't have to be a tough business if taught in its true spirit. Whenever any business goes wrong, rather than understanding what went wrong, a loser's mindset always blames the industry. This shows lack of knowledge and awareness. Valuation matters the most in Investing which usually gets discovered in the market correction. A true option trader knows more about valuation than a fund manager. The speed at which he can spot undervaluation and overvaluation and can generate consistent alpha is just brilliant. In our journey of running a Prop desk and on a mission to rightly educate everyone about the reality of derivative trading, we have trained students, fresh out of college to a CIO of a 3,000 crores PMS/ AIFs. We have never blown up our account, this includes last 8 years of our team being in derivatives. The maximum drawdown we have lived is 28% collectively in last 6 years. When it comes to our students, till date, we have not recieved a single compliant. Majority of them have either ventured into full time trading and killing it in the business or doing it side by side. If any of our students who follow us on linkedln will agree to it 😊 YES, I agree our courses are relatively expensive and it takes a lot of thought to put that capital to learn options. I would not indulge in explaining why the cost is such. If our time to time newsletters and articles haven't left an impact, then maybe we need to work more hard. We have created this venture from scratch and its bootstrapped and we have complete rights to our calculations which we believe NO ONE IN THE NATION DOES (This the pride we carry). Again, our students will agree. There is a reason in last 8 years of us training Investors/ Traders, we have never ever offered a discount (just once for one batch, a year ago). In our journey of establishing a wholesome experience of a smart money skills and the trades they take, our performance speaks for itself. We do not trade with discount brokers. We have our Prop Ids with Prop brokers (3 of them - 2 in Kolkata and 1 in Mumbai). We keep our sessions very tight and limited to only 5-6 students in a batch. We never attend any seminars, no option conclave, nothing. WHY? That's for you to understand.. Recently, we have been planning on doing meetups and will do one very soon in Mumbai. It's time, we show everyone, how we are different and how you can be consistent profitable by just understanding Option Premiums. In that note, we were thrilled to see the response for May 2024 batch and hence to accommodate few more students, we have decided open up a parallel batch starting from 17th May 2024. Kindly fill up the form and we shall get back to you in next two days. We plan to close the registrations by friday (10th May 2024). https://lnkd.in/dwhyhyb3 #PREMIUMSNEVERLIE.

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I received many DM when I pointed out that current policies are harming bootstrapped companies and especially MSME, we have seen the largest MSME closures in last 4 years compared to any other timeline. (Post : https://lnkd.in/dez5GAGG) So, I thought to share this post with the most crucial reason behind this: Most #bootstrapped and profitable startups rely on their own #cashflow instead of #investors, preferring to raise funds from banks since debt is cheaper. The #reporate, which determines the ongoing #interest rate, has increased from 4% to 6.5%(image attached), a rise of 2.5%, and it has been climbing for the past four years. A 2.5% increase in the repo rate is significant; a 62.5% change. To simplify, if someone had a #loan for 1,000 days, now with increased repo rate, they now need to repay it in 1,625 days, taking an additional 625 days to repay. For an #MSME, this is huge. This is why maximum have shut down during this period, though the #media rarely mentions it. The government provided loans to MSMEs post-#COVID under #GECL, but #banks (do read about bank reality in one of the articles by Ashneer) were reluctant to offer them. Moreover, after two years, such loans result in a significant cash outflow. For most MSMEs, #employee expenses and the cost of #capital (interest) are the two topmost expense items in #BalanceSheet, and one impacts the other’s health. My recommendation to the policy makers is to atleast provide relief in repo rate to #Micro and #Small businesses by atleast 200 #bps to ensure that largest employers in India are flourishing. Yes, you heard me right, over 60% employment in our country is provided by MSME. Image courtsey : PolicyBazaar

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Rejoice #Debt (Credit) Fund Managers Been a Long Wait !!! New 'Product' Class Proposed by SEBI. (Will Not call it new Asset Class, coz its Not). While everyone is focused on Equity Strategies (Long Short, Absolute Return, Inverse ETF), which offcourse will happen BUT The Segment Which will benefit Most and Infact get a Elixer / Sanjeevni WILL BE #DEBT Read #CREDIT (Pls dont confuse with Duration). More than Higher Credit and Exposure Limits, the Most Significant Thing is CHOICE of Deciding "Redemption Frequency". Even Yearly Redemption Possible (D,W,M,Q,Y). "Can Plan and Match Maturities with Redemption Window" (Mad Rush to Exit Fund will Not become End Game in case of Credit Event in a Portfolio Co). + Debt Derivatives; Credit Default Swaps + Side Pocketing, if allowed like in MF + "Assuming" Tax Pass thru like MF (Long Live Credit AIF) #CareerTip - If you are a new entrant in capital markets or a student, it will pay to gain expertise as #CreditAnalyst (I know Everyone wants to become Equity Analyst, but thats a crowed place, Credit is the New Game if #SEBI does allow this New Product Class. People from Rating Agencies will have a good demand immediately. #Students #SEBI #MutualFunds #PMS #AIF

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2 L invested in stock named "Network People Service Technologies" turned into 1.2 Crores in 3 years 2 L invested in stock named "Gensol Engineering" turned into ~80 L in 3 years 2 L invested in stock named "Nibe" turned into ~80 L in 2 years 2 L invested in stock named "Taylormade Renewables" turned into 1 Crore in 2 years Jaago investor Jaago ! Please start studying today and try finding good investments for yourself and your family. We are living in India’s GOLDEN DECADE. Soch kar, samajh kar, invest kar :) Many intelligent investors from all across Indian business schools and all other spheres of life are using Sovrenn knowledge to create wealth for their families Sovrenn is India's best stock discovery platform. Discover high profit growth companies at Sovrenn Sovrenn 1 month trial is Free for all women investors. Women investors can use the referral code “FREETRIAL” while signing up and their access will get started free of charge Read yesterday's Sovrenn Times absolute FREE here at the link below (post sign-up): https://lnkd.in/g4T8x87Y Sign-up is mandatory to read Sovrenn Times #StockmarketIndia #Stockmarket #Investing

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Why there is so much emphasis to have an Aadhaar Card for NRI investors. If NRIs do not have Aadhaar, or if their Aadhaar is not linked with the PAN, then their mutual funds investments do not go through. Funds are refunded upon "PAN-AADHAR NOT LINKED" status. If their KYCs are conducted using overseas as well as Indian address proofs, then why do they still require Aadhaar Card mandatorily? Additionally, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), if resident investors have their Aadhar Linked with PAN, but their KYCs are done using Passport or other Valid Address Proofs, then why do they need to do Re-KYC using Aadhaar Card to be able to invest in new folios? If investments are supposed to be declined by AMCs due to non Aadhaar based KYC, then why is there no standard turn around time? Because, a few AMCs declined sooner and a few AMC held transactions hanging, neither declined nor accepted, leading to investor's funds being stuck for a longer period of time. Surprisingly, one AMC accepted the transaction. Neil Borate you have raised a valid concern, but how online Re-KYCs have a higher failure rate? Can you please share the industry analysis? According to us, online Re-KYCs have a higher success rate. Try doing Re-KYC through UTI Mutual Fund website. https://lnkd.in/dfaUp2gu #amfi #mutualfunds #sebi #kyc #nri #rekyc #aadhaar

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Building Factorwise: Supply chain financing (#SCF) in India. Exploring why SCF is facing scalability challenges in India. 🔍 Are #Treds scaling in SCF? 🔍 Are 3rd party SCF platforms experiencing growth? 🔍 Why isn't the bank-led tech approach expanding? 🔍 Can enterprises adopt a tech-led approach to boost SCF scalability? Grateful for engaging discussions with numerous thought leaders in this sector. Sharing insights on the current state of SCF in India. Is it possible to build new models which could create incremental capital efficiency for Enterprises and can directly support MSMEs/SMEs with better WACC( Weighted avg cost of capital) If you are a bank or enterprises let's engage in conversation to unlock more possibilities with Factorwise #SupplyChainFinance #Finance #India #BusinessInsights

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Indian FinTech ecosystem should take a harder look at these numbers : Stripe insiders sold almost $700M in shares at a $65B valuation (up 30%) and is trading above $80B in some secondary markets – weeks after announcing that it passed $1 trillion in 2023 payments volume, Schroders marked its Revolut stake at a $26B valuation (up 45%), Rippling is in talks to raise $870M at a $13B valuation (up 20%), Ramp raised $150M at a little under an $8B valuation (up 32%), Mercury* launched personal banking and passed 100,000 startup customers, Sweden's Klarna launched its credit card in the US, as it gears up for a potential $20B IPO, and Brazil's Nubank announced plans to offer its own mobile phone provider. Hong Kong financial services firm Agba and social media app Triller announced plans to merge and create a $4 billion fintech and social platform.

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P2P industry is on reset post updated RBI guidelines with these instrumental changes - 🛎 Prohibiting Platform for assuming Credit Risk, entire risk has to be borne by lender 🚫 Ultimately, platforms cannot offer guaranteed return to lenders ❌ Ban on Secondary Transfer or Secondary Exit ❎ Ban on Closed Group Lending with fintechs 👀 P2P platforms are required to publicly disclose their portfolio performance including NPA on monthly basis Looking back this year though norms have tightened here, investors yet stand to gain with extension of asset class & easing on bonds min. investment amount.

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Big: Whatfix announces $58 Mn liquidity event for employees & investors => Second-largest liquidity event of 2024, following Swiggy's $65 Mn => This comes soon after Whatfix's $125 Mn Series E from Warburg & SoftBank => Its valuation jumped to $900 Mn from $600 Mn in Series D

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