Benu Aggarwal

Excited and looking forward to discussing the evolving challenges of raising capital for early-stage startups at SAASCON24. Join me as I dive into the current trends, what founders need to know, and how we can navigate this more challenging environment. #SAASCON24 #StartupFunding #EarlyStageStartups #SaaS #Entrepreneurship

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#D2C Brands: #QuickCommerce—A Game-Changer or a Threat? Over the last 1-2 years, I’ve been urging D2C brands to embrace Quick Commerce (QC). Today, it’s no longer optional—it’s the most transformative shift in consumer behavior since marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart emerged. If you still have the relationships and the window, this is land-grab time! How Did We Get Here? The Early Marketplace Era (Amazon/Flipkart): • These platforms disrupted traditional distribution, creating challenges for legacy brands. Sales attribution, conflicting regional offers, and the alienation of local distributors made it hard for older players to adapt - while customers were loving the home delivery (behaviour change #convenience over #familiarity) • Challenger brands thrived: Delivering to 1-2 locations with monthly POs, better margins, and national visibility. Marketplaces made them discoverable, even if delivery took 2-3 days (customers were still happy). The Shift to Quick Commerce: • QC has redefined online retail, emphasizing speed, convenience, and instant availability (huge change / #convenience over #novelty). • Unlike marketplaces, QC tilts the game in favor of older brands, thanks to: - Multiple delivery points engaging local distributors. - Weekly POs and instant stock replenishment, a system legacy players already excel at. - Profitable unit economics, making QC sustainable for established players. What Does This Mean for D2C Brands? The channel that once gave challenger brands a platform is now leveling the playing field—and if D2C brands don’t act fast, legacy players will reclaim dominance. Why? • QC’s dark store model stocks limited options, prioritizing what’s available fastest. • Customers won’t wait—they’ll pick brands they recognize or that are ready to deliver within minutes. Lessons from Abroad #Gorillas (Europe), a QC pioneer, opened doors for newer, niche brands. But legacy FMCG giants quickly leveraged their deep supply chains to stock dark stores at scale. With faster fulfillment, they edged out smaller brands, proving that in QC, availability and recall trump novelty. #Deliveroo (UK) disrupted grocery shopping with its Deliveroo Hop service, promising 10-minute deliveries. While niche brands initially gained visibility, large FMCG players reclaimed dominance, consistently stocking shelves to match consumer demand for speed. The result? Brands that couldn’t match delivery speed and availability lost ground—no matter how innovative they were. How Can #D2C Brands Win? To stay ahead in QC: • Be Available: If you’re not listed, you don’t exist. • Scale Inventory: Deliver weekly POs (or faster!) and meet QC’s demands for instant replenishment. • Leverage Speed: Build fulfillment systems that mirror legacy efficiency but with challenger agility. QC offers a window of opportunity for agile D2C brands—but that window is closing fast. It’s time to scale up or risk losing your spot to legacy giants. What’s Your Take?

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How did Freshworks achieve ARR $597 Million? Recently in a podcast: https://lnkd.in/gXRbFXMt Girish Mathrubootham mentioned how SEO helped them build a huge awareness, eventually resulting in traffic and a lead pipeline Making it possible to do product-led growth. That's how important SEO is for any SaaS business Start investing in SEO today to build a sustainable growth engine #seo #SaaS #marketing

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If you're an entrepreneur venturing into building SaaS for a global audience, heed the wisdom of those who have successfully navigated this path.

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CLSA published a detailed research report on India quick commerce. Recommended reading. Who will be the first to create a $50-100Bn company in India internet? #Zepto #Zomato #IndiaInternet

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**Founders & GTM leaders ** -- only 2 days left to sign up for Lightspeed India'a #MastersOfSaaS session with the creator of MEDDIC - John McMahon known widely as the BEST salesperson in the world. John is a board member at companies such as Snowflake MongoDB ThoughtSpot and more! This will be an online session on JUN25th 8-9PM IST / 730AM PST. Please RSVP early to reserve your spot: https://shorturl.at/ZPLxH We'll discuss: - common mistakes in setting up sales teams - learnings from being a CRO at multiple 100M+ ARR businesses - how to hire A+ talent, every. single. time. - and much more!

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B2B sales startup Revrag.ai has secured $600K in pre-seed funding, led by Powerhouse Ventures with notable participation from investors including Viral Bajaria, Kunal Shah (CRED), Deepak Anchala, and Vetri Vellore, among other angel investors. The funds will be used to launch Revrag's AI-BDR product, enhance sales and marketing processes, and explore new markets. Founded in 2022 by Ashutosh Prakash Singh, Neeraj Gupta, and Pankaj Gupta, Revrag aims to revolutionize sales efficiency by automating repetitive tasks that don’t close deals. Their AI-BDR product is set to transform how businesses generate revenue. Based in Bengaluru, Revrag’s AI tools, including its flagship AI agent, Emma, optimize initial client outreach. The AI agent handles large-scale prospecting, smart lead qualification, and meeting scheduling, allowing sales teams to focus on more nuanced aspects of customer interactions. Emma also provides data-driven insights to improve decision-making and adapt to technological changes. Revrag is designed to elevate sales teams by handling repetitive tasks and utilizing AI to identify prospects, craft engaging personalized emails, and solve complex challenges, creating a clearer picture of the sales landscape. #RevragAI #B2BSales #BengaluruStartup #PreSeedFunding #FundingAlert #FundraiserAlert #PowerhouseVentures #VentureCapital #SalesTech #AIinSales #SalesEfficiency #AIProduct #SalesAutomation #Investors #LeadGeneration #SalesInnovation #AIForBusiness #AllBoutCorps

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🚨 Healthify slashes losses by 38% in FY24, reducing net loss to ₹88 crore. Revenue fell to ₹206.3 crore as the company streamlined expenses and laid off 27% of its workforce. Backed by Khosla Ventures, Healthify raised $45M, blending AI with expert coaching to serve 40M users across 300+ cities, delivering personalized health solutions. Now gearing up for a US launch, Healthify aims to expand globally, focusing on impactful health outcomes through innovation. Read more  https://lnkd.in/dHFeyPc9 By Bhuvana Kamath #HealthTech #AI #Wellness #StartupIndia #Funding #Healthify #GlobalExpansion

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Like to order deliveries from the comfort of your own home? Zepto's recent $665 million funding will now allow the company to set up even more store across India to serve you better. Read all about it only in my new article at Entrepreneur India. . . . Follow and connect for more industry news and updates . . . #News #Update #Zepto #Funding #Investment #EntrepreneurIndia #AdityaPranMahanta https://lnkd.in/gYvATrUE

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SaaS startup Rocketlane has raised $24 million in its Series B funding round co-led by 8VC, Matrix Partners India, and Nexus Venture Partners. Rocketlane offers a purpose-built unified workspace for collaborating with customers for onboarding projects. It helps businesses shorten their time-to-value, streamline their software implementation, and provide real-time visibility. Rocketlane claims to have tripled its revenue and reached over 500 customers, including enterprise companies that have switched to Rocketlane from legacy Professional Services Automation (PSA) tools. The company’s customers include Chargebee, Pando, parcelLab, Yellow.ai, LinkSquares, Appcues, and Netcore. Founders: Srikrishnan Ganesan, Vignesh Girishankar and Deepak Bala Previously, the trio built an in-app messaging startup Freshchat that was acquired by NASDAQ-listed SaaS firm Freshworks in 2015. Follow Rise & Shine for daily startup updates. Stay informed, stay ahead ➡️ www.riseshine.in #saas #funding #venturecapital #automation #nasdaq

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50 Gen AI Startups in India: A compendium of select cutting edge Gen AI ventures, market trends & landscape.  The report curated by 3AI Quants team has been incorporated with inputs & viewpoints from 3AI Thought Leaders & it encapsulates the primary & secondary research components of Gen AI ventures that are driven by innovation and supported by robust investment activities. Gen AI segment per se is set for significant growth with the projections indicating it will surpass $100 bn market size by 2027 with a CAGR of 34%. Reach to us at: [email protected] for more details. #GenAI #IndiaGenAI #AIStartups #3aiQuants Sameer Dhanrajani Nandakumar Ramaiah Kapil Gandhi

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50 Gen AI Startups in India: A compendium of select cutting edge Gen AI ventures, market trends & landscape.  The report curated by 3AI Quants team has been incorporated with inputs & viewpoints from 3AI Thought Leaders & it encapsulates the primary & secondary research components of Gen AI ventures that are driven by innovation and supported by robust investment activities. Gen AI segment per se is set for significant growth with the projections indicating it will surpass $100 bn market size by 2027 with a CAGR of 34%. Reach to us at: [email protected] for more details. #GenAI #IndiaGenAI #AIStartups #3aiQuants Sameer Dhanrajani Nandakumar Ramaiah Kapil Gandhi

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Is there a recipe to building a cockroach of a start up? Only time will tell if in Solv we have been able to create a cockroach. Learnings from my journey: - Team - flexi, resilient & high integrity (models will come and go). Hire for values over hard skills, most roles. Take good care of them...period. - Culture & execution, together > strategy. The founder needs to be the ninja that drives all 3. - solve a large enough problem - Right to exist (why is your maggi sauce different), does it reflect in your metrics? - Multiple revenue streams - Be anal about unit eco (base camp) - Operating leverage - Org wide frugality - 24 months runway - keep the cap table healthy - Governance (yes, even in early stages) - it gets lonely - have people you can talk to & above all Have a purpose (beyond ebidta, IPO etc) ! Eg: Improve livelihoods of MSMEs in India Feel free to add if I missed any.

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Shashank Bijapur co-founder and CEO of SpotDraft, our portfolio company, ran a terrific panel at the Arkam Innovation Summit. He covered a lot of ground with Manish Jethani Co-founder and CEO of Hevo Data Data, and Gaurav Sharma Founder, and CEO of SaaSLabs .    Here are some key takeaways that stayed with me: Initial journey of identifying the problem statement and figuring out the solution during the early days at SaaS Labs and Hevo Data After selling his first company in the US, Gaurav returned to India. All he wanted to do was make $4-5 K living in India, so he started out by building tools for Shopify users. But when those tools rapidly grew to half a million in recurring revenue, Gaurav realized that he could build anything, be anywhere in the world, and sell it worldwide. Manish believes that your product has to solve a personal problem in addition to an industrial one. Once you start the journey as an entrepreneur, financial success will not satisfy you. “What one problem can you solve even if the financial outcome is not that great?” Deciding whether to validate the product in India and move to the US versus taking a US market-first approach Selling in India is hard, especially in the early days. As Gaurav said, "if you sell a $10 product, you must create an invoice, and then they’ll make the payment in 60 days. So, it became very hard to make a profit. From this, I realized that India is not ready to buy software yet, so the best model would be to build it in India and sell it across the world" Manish believes customer needs and expectations are completely different across India and the US. It's quite challenging to build a product for India and expect it to succeed in the US. So, from day one, he focused on the US market-first approach. Establishing product differentiation during the early days of growing in the US market? Initially, the number one challenge for Manish was to sell a product that their target audience could build themselves. Hevo Data needed needed financial and operational data from companies, which nobody shares easily. Most companies prefer to build a product in-house and work with that tool. So, Manish decided to find initial customers who meet three criteria: they should not want to build a product in-house, they should be fine with sharing the data, and they should be from the US. Aspects of the business that changed from 0-1 to 1-10 journey and beyond To get initial customers, Gaurav decided to integrate his product into larger companies to get more eyes on it. To sustain this growth, Gaurav bet on excellent customer service, which is “an unfair advantage for Indian SaaS,” as he says. His customer service and fast responses became the talk of the town amongst his customers. Here’s the full video video. Well worth your time to listen to three $10M+ ARR SaaS founders at the top of their game.   Arkam Ventures https://lnkd.in/gP_YT-gV

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In this brief interaction with Kashmir Life , I talk about how HelpRush is going to make life easier by connecting users with verified local experts in sectors like home services, beauty, and more. I also touch on how HelpRush attempts to reimagine Kashmir's gig economy by empowering local professionals. Watch and share your views with me. https://lnkd.in/gJTzBiCD

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Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) fintech startup BharatX has acquihired healthcare finance startup Zenifi (Acquired by BharatX) for an undisclosed sum, thus making its foray into the healthcare lending space👇 As part of the deal, Zenifi’s cofounder and chief executive Padam Kataria will join BharatX to spearhead its healthcare vertical. Kataria has held key roles in companies like Navi, Zenly, Asteria Aerospace Ltd and Sprinklr. Mehul Nath J., cofounder and chief executive of BharatX said that this acquisition will allow BharatX to go deeper into the healthcare vertical where currently no fintech or traditional players can disburse credit instantly, which is critical in emergency healthcare. #acquisition #healthcare #fintech

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🚀 Masterclass on navigating 0 to 1 product building + GTM for startups. 🚀 Here is the WEEKEND OFFER valid till Sunday Midnight only. Join our Product Management Workshop on Building Product Startups and gain the skills to take your startup to the next level. 📅 June 29th, Saturday 📍 IIM Kozhikode ⏰ 10 AM - 5 PM 🎟 https://bit.ly/HSKwkp3 Who is this for? For Founder/Teams building: 1. B2C/B2B Marketplaces 2. B2C Tech Solutions 3. SaaS Products Not Relevant For: - Offline-first distribution startups - Tech/Non-tech services businesses - Hardware Startups Hands-on session to cover: 1. Problem Discovery & Qualification: 2. Finding the First 10 Power Users & Defining Tablestakes Roadmap for V0 3. Identifying Metrics That Matter 4. Hard Skills That Matter for Founders/Founding PMs 5. Development Approach 6. Building your team Register Now: https://bit.ly/HSKwkp3 Hamad Jowher Nevin Robert Mittu Tigi Sana Thayyil Rabin Baby Murshid Basil Muhammed Haris T M Reema A Raheem Ashwathy Venugopal Geethu Agit Vaishnav Nair S IIMK LIVE Abraham Varghese Jofin Joseph

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