Navpreet Randhawa

💰 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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At Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, we used to do a Wealth Creation Study every year under the guidance of Raamdeo Agrawal. In 2021, we did one on "Atoms to Bits" (https://lnkd.in/gdyic6Ny). Key insight when we were researching was Digital Business Design is about business first, design second and digital third. A simple framework that comes from this (Think of it like a 2x2) 1. Quality of Business Design and 2. Degree of Digitization When we started interacting with Namma Yatri, it struck us that this is one of the rare teams which not only has the most simple and innovative use of a protocol but also innovated on business design. The enduring moat of the business actually comes from their frugal DNA which supports this innovation. It is invisible like the best moats are :) Their data is transparent on https://lnkd.in/gARxQEsA which is also a window into one of their other key facets of culture - Collaboration and Transparency I have no doubt in my mind that this is one of the most exciting population scale companies being built and it is a privilege to be a yatri with Magizhan Selvan Shan M S. More details from Nitin Sharma https://lnkd.in/gbgzTPdp

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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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As an investor its fascinating to watch founders tackle a complex market, nail a sticky value proposition and figure out global GTM. When we met Shashank Bijapur Madhav Bhagat and Rohith Salim a couple of years back it was still early. In a short while Spotdraft has changed the way mid-market businesses leverage AI to make contract management more efficient and intelligent. The company has seen strong market pull by scaling to 400+ customers, 120% NRR, 85%+ gross margin while doubling revenue in each of the past three years. Here is their journey straight from the founders. SpotDraft Arkam Ventures

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Now to India

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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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There is a prevailing trend of SaaS roll-ups across the world and across industries as investors grapple with a lack of critical mass. B2B fintech SaaS in India is entering its best era in terms of customer spend. Young, India-focussed start-ups are in a great place with a lot to look forward to. There will absolutely be a handful of market leaders that build $50M+ ARR standalone companies on rapid organic growth. But as more and more fin-tech SaaS companies emerge, servicing a limited number of large customers, it’s hard to see how most of them can scale independently with an India only focus. There is a compelling case for value creation via acquisitions and a smart roll-up strategy. This is what Perfios has demonstrated, and other investor-funded combinations are likely not far behind. Here is my article in Forbes India on the India B2B fintech SaaS market cross roads and strategy choices for founders and start-ups. Would love to get your views on this topic. Arkam Ventures #fintech #saas #b2b #banking #PE #founders #investors

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The fintech sector in India is not just growing; it's exploding with potential as it aligns with the government's aggressive export targets. This industry stands at the intersection of technology and financial services, uniquely positioned to witness India's vast IT talent pool and deepening internet penetration. It would be great to see how this grows.

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Interesting article by ET Prime on Softbank’s evolving investment strategy based on The Arc scoop on the Ultrahuman deal Thanks for citing us, Manu P Toms 🙏 More on what’s working for Ultrahuman and the round here - https://lnkd.in/gcQimTAS

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Titan Capital Closes Rs 333 Crore Winners Fund! 🚀💼 Kunal Bahl's Titan Capital has announced the final close of its Rs 333 crore Winners Fund. This fund is aimed at backing early-stage startups across India. 💰 The Winners Fund will focus on pre-seed and seed-stage investments, offering financial support to high-potential entrepreneurs building innovative businesses across sectors like tech, consumer goods, and fintech. 📈 Founded by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, the duo behind Snapdeal, Titan Capital has already built a robust portfolio, backing over 200 startups, including Mamaearth, UrbanClap, and Razorpay. 🔥 “Our mission is to support visionary founders who are building the future of India’s startup ecosystem,” said Kunal Bahl, Co-founder of Titan Capital. 🌟 What are your thoughts on this fund’s potential to shape the startup landscape? 👇 #TitanCapital #KunalBahl #WinnersFund #StartupEcosystem #EarlyStageInvestments #IndiaTech #StartupFunding #Startup #FundRaising

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🔥 🎙 We spoke with Winny Patro, CEO & Co-founder of Recordent a pioneering SaaS-based platform aiming to tackle the significant issue of unpaid dues that MSMEs encounter, which is estimated to be around INR5L cr across the sector. Recordent provides a technology platform designed to help SMEs manage their credit and collections more effectively. The company offers a suite of services that includes: 1. Payment Reminder Automation: Automating reminders for payments to ensure timely collections. 2. Invoice Management: Streamlining the invoicing process to reduce delays in payments. 3. Credit Registry Reporting: Similar to a CIBIL report, it allows businesses to report defaults and track credit history. 4. Collections Analytics: Providing insights to make informed decisions regarding collections and credit risk management. Recordent has made significant strides in helping SMEs improve their cash flow and reduce collection cycles. For instance, manufacturers using the platform have reportedly reduced their collection cycles by 40 days and converted a substantial portion of previously non-paying customers into paying ones. The company has effectively facilitated the resolution of outstanding dues for SME/MSME entities, enabling the clearance of INR4699 cr out of a total of INR5657 cr. With over 8.75L+ customer dues submitted on the platform, Recordent caters to the likes of Furlenco, Guarented, Bigsams, Udaan, RateGain and many others. With Sharath Toopran TRANSFIN.

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The Middle East is quietly leading the way on instant payments. The region has seen some of the fastest transformations to instant real-time transfer systems in the world. Witnessing the success of community driven instant payments, like UPI in India, and infrastructural instant schemes, like Faster Payments in the UK, has allowed most of the markets in MENA to skip a few generations. 🇦🇪 The UAE 👉🏻 The Funds Transfer System has been “near instant” for years now - with 75% of all transactions processing in under 30 seconds. Some banks are still manually processing payments with the Central Bank and so can take longer to settle. 👉🏻 In 2023, Al Etihad Payments announced Aani - a payment scheme modelled off of UPI in India - to settle payments of up to 50,000 AED (c. $13.6k USD) instantly 24/7 peer to peer using QR codes, request-to-pay payment links, and split payments. 🇸🇦 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 👉🏻 In 2021, Saudi implemented Sarie which, amongst many other things, introduced instant 24/7 payments to the Kingdom. The service operates on both IBANs and NationalID, Phone Numbers, and Email Addresses. It’s a cool hybrid of UPI and Faster Payments. 🇪🇬 Egypt 👉🏻 The Instant Payment Network launched in 2022 to enable instant transfers on weekdays between all regulated banks. Interestingly, IPN also links mobile money and wallets to the national payment systems - massively reducing reliance on cash. 🇧🇭 Bahrain 👉🏻 Last year Bahrain was ranked 2nd globally for its real time payment systems. This year, Bahrani citizens are expected to each make over 83 instant payments per month. 🇴🇲 Oman 👉🏻 Last year Oman launched a new Real-time-gross-settlement system that operates 24/7 - allowing all national banks to settle to eachother instantly. Even in the UK, the RTGS system (CHAPS) doesn’t run 24/7. 🌍 Another really exciting payment rail is AFAQ, an instant payment scheme for cross border payments around the gulf region - allowing funds to move between each country in the GCC instantly even when not transacting in the same currency. These are just a few examples of MENA driving payment innovation! 🚀 #instantpayments #mena #crossborder

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Zerodha launches new fund to support global open source projects. This is the first kind of fund which support open source projects. Great initiative Nikhil Kamath The fund represents a structured effort to provide financial support to FOSS projects, ensuring long-term sustainability for developers and contributors. A dedicated $1-million annual fund aimed at supporting Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FOSS/FLOSS) projects globally. emphasised the importance of FOSS in Zerodha's success, acknowledging that the company has been built on open-source tools and technologies — from programming languages to databases. #opensource #community #developers The Linux Foundation Open Source India Zerodha https://lnkd.in/duVh2tWV

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First Cheque, a MUMBAI-based venture capital firm, TARGETS 15 to 29 startups within the next 18 months with INVESTMENTS averaging $500,000 each ✦ The firm focuses on SEED to early-stage SOFTWARE, AI, and IT companies across INDIA ✦ Adapting to the GROWING pre-seed MARKET, First Cheque enhances FINANCIAL support for promising businesses #VentureCapital #StartupInvestment #MumbaiStartups #AI #TechInnovation

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How quick commerce, often abbreviated as Q-comm, is revolutionizing the investment landscape by creating new opportunities across a range of categories. This innovative model, characterized by rapid delivery and on-demand services, is not only transforming consumer expectations but also opening up avenues for investment in sectors like logistics, technology, and retail. As Q-comm continues to evolve, it presents investors with fresh prospects to capitalize on emerging trends and technologies that support faster, more efficient delivery systems. #weincapital #zitsoo

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