Start-Ups

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated on Tuesday that India has emerged as the world’s second largest startup hub, thanks in large part to students from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The Prime Minister during the 54th convocation ceremony of IIT Kanpur said, “In this 75th year of independence, we have over 75 unicorns, over 50,000 start-ups. Of these, 10,000 have come only in the last 6 months. India has emerged to be the second biggest startup hub in the world, and this feat has been achieved majorly with the help…

Awais Ahmad, co-founder of the Indian geospatial technology startup Pixxel, is excited for the New Year. His startup is finally set to launch the first of its planned low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, after multiple delays due to operational issues and a variety of other factors. Similarly, GalaxEye, another startup developing its own satellite constellation, has stated that the first member of its 15-satellite constellation will be launched in early 2023. Back on the ground, the geospatial survey company Genesys International recently announced a plan to create high resolution 3D maps…

Neobank Jupiter has raised $86 million as part of its Series C fundraise according to regulatory filings accessed through Tofler, The round was led by US-based QED Investors and Sequoia Growth Fund, and other existing investors such as Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, 3one4 Capital, and BEENEXT participated. This is Jupiter’s second round of funding in 2021, a year that saw an unprecedented surge in startup funding. Jitendra Gupta, the startup’s founder and CEO, confirmed the funding and stated that the company’s valuation has now increased to $710 million. This represents…

Total funding for Indian startups increased threefold over last year, reaching $39 billion by 2021. While the total number of startups founded during the period was 3,476, approximately 1,700 companies saw 2,055 funding rounds, according to the most recent data from Tracxn, a company that tracks startups and private companies. This year, 40 of India’s 76 unicorns (each worth more than $1 billion) joined the club. In 2021, approximately 40% (85) of the total number of’soonicorns’ (companies with the potential to become unicorns in the near future) were created. Companies…

Serving a notice period can be difficult for many employees for obvious reasons, but one startup is taking a different approach than its peers in the industry. At a time when many companies’ notice periods can last up to three months, Kartik Mandaville, CEO of blockchain-based HR startup Springworks, has tried to change that by announcing that his company’s notice period will be reduced to just two weeks. In a statement issued on December 23, Kartik Mandaville stated that Springworks will reduce the notice period to two weeks effective immediately….

Apeksha Gourmet Jar Private Ltd, the parent company of The Gourmet Jar, a Noida-based company that produces artisanal spreads, dips, preserves, and sauces, has raised $150,000 in a round led by DevX Venture Fund, the investment arm of DevX Co-working & Accelerator. Existing investors also participated in the round, according to the company. The Gourmet Jar was founded in 2012 and operates a 14,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Noida with an all-female production team. DevX co-founder Umesh Uttamchandani stated, “Our investment approach largely revolves around having a strong founding team since…

Students graduating from educational institutes are finding it difficult to find a job due to the changing dynamics of job requirements in a highly competitive market. While there is a shortage of industry-ready skills and a mismatch in supply and demand, students from Tier II, III, and IV cities are also having difficulty engaging with English-language online learning content on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other platforms, resulting in poor learning and career outcomes. This is where NxtWave comes into play. The Hyderabad-based startup, founded in September 2020 by…

With the Indian startup ecosystem rapidly expanding, a division of Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs announced on April 12 that it is bullish on the space and will be looking to invest up to USD 10 million in domestic financial technology companies. Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments (GSPSI), which invests from the bank’s balance sheet, has two “legacy investments” in India, including the NSE and NCDEX, according to its head Alokik Advani. While GSPSI continues to manage these investments, the arm is excited about new opportunities and is looking…