Puneet Gupt

Thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Harbinder !! We are at an inflection point in India on Consumer health !! Bio science + Data/AI will massively disrupt this space !! Do write to me if you are an entrepreneur disrupting this space !! #consumerhealth #innovation

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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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If you doubted the rise of India as a powerhouse, Pine Labs, a significant fintech player, is now relocating its headquarters from Singapore to India following approval from a Singapore court. This strategic shift mirrors other successful Indian startups like PhonePe, Razorpay, and Groww, embracing the trend of ‘reverse flipping’. The move signifies growing confidence in the Indian market and its potential. Key factors enabling this move include: - Favorable economic policies - Growing domestic market - Increasing investor confidence - Greater certainty of an exit at a higher valuation - Ease of accessing capital - Regulatory changes - Maturing capital markets - Cost-effective listing process All great signs for India! #India #Fintech #PineLabs #Startups #BusinessGrowth

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Is fractional ownership of real estate safe? Here's how SEBI is making it safer for retail investors

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Only TWO days left to apply for the RippleX Fellowship program! If you are a student/dropout/recent grad building a b2b software company in Canada/US, this is the program for you. In our last batch we had some amazing mentors like: - Braden Ream (CEO, Voiceflow): Mastering storytelling and navigating selling into enterprises - Rahul Parmar (Prev. Senior Director of Sales, Drata): Sales 101 – Converting pilots to real revenue, creating urgency among buyers, and best practices to manage a sales process - Nicholas Chepesiuk (CEO, OnCall Virtual Care, now part of Qualifacts): Striving towards product-market fit, utilizing creative outbound strategies, and the importance of building trust with customers in the early days - Justin Sky (CEO, Rose Rocket): Identifying venture-scale markets, learning when to pivot, and building strong organizational culture - Josh Gray (CEO, Artemis): Conducting customer validation, segmenting your ICP, and advice for young founders Apply here: https://lnkd.in/e2iAu6vi

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Co-lead a workshop (with Sumathi my business partner and Komal lath of Tute Consult) on branding and communication and why/how its' strategic & important for the portfolio companies of an early stage growth focused PE fund in Mumbai this noon. very interactive session. lots of takeaways. one of the biggest benefits of doing such workshops with founders and CXOs of growth companies is that you get to first hand understand their pain points and priorities. which makes you realize there is a long road ahead laden with great opportunity for those in PR & comms if we take off our hats and look at it from their perspective.

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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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UPI Transactions in India India's digital payment landscape is booming, and UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is at the forefront. Did you know nearly half of all UPI transactions are processed through PhonePe? This dominance has other players scrambling! PhonePe's success extends beyond just UPI, but its grasp on this popular method is undeniable. Here are some key takeaways: 1. PhonePe is a major force in payment aggregation, processing billions of dollars monthly. 2. Large clients like Bharti Airtel and IRCTC solidify their position. 3. PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm handle a staggering 96% of UPI transactions by value. 4. P2P transactions are more common than business payments, with most transfers exceeding ₹2,000. The future of UPI payments is bright, but there are regulatory considerations. P.S. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) might extend the deadline for a 30% market cap on UPI transactions yet again. This cap, introduced to prevent any one company from dominating the market, has been delayed once already. This suggests a focus on maintaining a balanced market to foster UPI growth. #UPI #DigitalPayments #India #FinTech

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I wrote a piece for YourStory Media about “How account aggregators are reshaping the borrower-lender relationship” It covers how account aggregators are driving a paradigm shift in the financial sector, transforming the way financial data is accessed, utilised, and shared. The article is pinned in the comments Would love your thoughts on it. 

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I recently read an insightful essay by Andreas Klinger, the CTO of Product Hunt, about his trip to India 🇮🇳: https://lnkd.in/d8B2Cn4M. Here are some interesting takeaways: 1.❗️More than 40% of unicorn founders return to India due to the significant opportunities the market offers 🦄. 2. All internal meetings in English 3. Skill levels are high. Nearly all founders can code, and the current generation is increasingly proficient in deep tech and complex R&D projects. 4. Founders are top hustlers. Founders are ready to jump on calls at 2-3 AM local time without expecting VCs to know the local time in India. 5. Top talent. The competition for entry into top Indian universities is several times higher than at Harvard or MIT. 6. India's e-government platform is regarded as one of the best in the world, featuring a seamless KYC system and billions of transactions via QR codes.

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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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OYO, the Indian budget hotel chain, has withdrawn its IPO application from SEBI for the second time. The company, once valued at $10 billion, is now seeking to raise funds at a valuation between $2 billion and $2.3 billion. Backed by investors such as SoftBank, Peak XV, Lightspeed, Airbnb, and Microsoft, Oyo has raised over $3 billion in equity and debt. The IPO applications, first filed in 2021 and refiled in 2023, are still under SEBI's review, highlighting important considerations about its valuation and position in the secondary market. For the latest secondary coverage and trading SaxonWeber | ShareWell #secondaries #saxonweber

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Did you know PhonePe has their very own appstore called Indus Appstore to rival Google Play and App Store? The company is spear-heading to have their appstore pre-loaded in top smartphone companies. Read all about it only in my new article at Entrepreneur India . . . . Follow and connect for more industry news and updates . . . #News #Update #PhonePe #Google #Apple #PlayStore #AppStore #Mobile #EntrepreneurIndia #AdityaPranMahanta https://lnkd.in/gKDfKQTu

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The Credit card industry in India is growing at a high CAGR of 22-25% YoY. 9.1 crore - credit cards in India 5.5 Crore - unique customers in India who have credit cards (approx - 50-60%) 95 crore - debit cards in India Can you guess how many credit cards are in China? 100 crore! Unbelievable How can we increase the numbers in India? 1) Focus on other cities other than the top 20 cities in India 2) Keep an eye on NTC 3) Giving Co-Branded credit cards by having alliances with Merchants A detailed discussion with Ramanathan RV, on co-branded credit cards. Please use this link - https://lnkd.in/ghf_HUqd #manispeaksmoney

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Funding Update - INDIA - E-commerce & SaaS startups grabbed maximum funding Growth Stage #Atlan: Data and AI governance company raised $105 mn in its Series C funding round, co-led by GIC and Meritech Capital.   #NephroPlus: Dialysis chain raised $102 mn from Quadria Capital.   #GreenCellMobility: Shared electric mobility startup raised $36.7 mn from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) for its electric bus project in Uttar Pradesh.   #K12TechnoServices: Provider of full-stack education, content, and technology services raised $27 mn from Venturi Partners Pte. Ltd, acquiring a 5.12% stake.   #Lendingkart: Lending firm raised $10 mn from external commercial borrowing (ECB) from BlueOrchard Fund.   #MyelinFoundry: Deeptech AI startup raised $4 mn led by SIDBI Venture Capital, with participation from Endiya Partners, Pratithi Investment Trust, and Subh Labh.   #BharatRohan: Agritech firm focused on drone-based hyperspectral remote sensing raised $2.3 mn in a pre-IPO round from Villgro Innovation Foundation, Caspian, RevX, Venture Garage, and UHNI individuals.   Early Stage #Superplum: Direct-from-farm produce supply chain startup raised $15 mn in a Series A round led by Erik Ragatz.   #Poshn: Foodtech startup raised $4 mn in equity and $2 million in debt in a pre-Series A funding round led by Prime Venture Partners and Zephyr Peacock India.   #Parseable: Log analytics startup raised $2.75 mn in a seed funding round led by Surge, with participation from NP-Hard Ventures.   #Cornext: Agritech startup raised $2.2 mn in a seed funding round led by Omnivore.   #Regrip: Re-engineered tyre startup raised $2 mn in a funding round co-led by Sirious One, Inflection Point Ventures, and Let’s Venture.   #ICON: Startup raised $1.2 mn in a seed round led by DSG Consumer Partners with participation from angel investors.   #Atomgrid: Startup raised $1.2 mn in a seed funding round led by Merak Ventures, with participation from Dexter Ventures, Upsparks, Point One Capital, and UniCards's founders Nitin Gupta and Prateek Jindal.   #Eternz: Startup raised $1.15 mn in a pre-seed funding round led by Kae Capital, with participation from Gemba Capital, IIMA Ventures, TDV Partners, and Venture Lab.   #Knit: Startup secured $1 mn from Endiya Partners, Axilor Ventures, and angel investors.   #SelectBrands: Startup raised $778k in Pre-Series A funding led by Agra Gwalior Pathways and Airen Holdings, with contributions from We Founder Circle, Prataap Snacks, Apricot Foods, Workie, and IVY League Ventures.   #50Fin: Startup raised $550k from Arali Ventures and Nitin Gupta.   #Treacle: Cybersecurity startup raised $479k in a pre-seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures.   New Fund Launch #InCredAlternativeInvestments: Marked the first close of its inaugural private equity fund.   #ClientAssociates: Wealth management and investment banking firm announced the first close of its inaugural Cat II AIF @$36 mn. Like it? Follow me for more updates like this.

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Startup Investment - Returns on Acquisition Vinay Kumar Sankarapu is the Co-Founder & CEO of Arya.ai, a platform that offers the ‘AI’ cloud for Banks, Insurers & Financial Services institutions to find the right AI APIs, Expert AI Solutions & comprehensive AI Governance tools required to deploy trustable and self-learning AI engines. When Arya.ai first pitched their vision of revolutionizing conversational AI for Indian languages, it was met with skepticism. However, a few visionary investors saw the potential & took a chance. Fast forward to today & their conviction has paid off handsomely !! With Arya.ai's groundbreaking technology & unwavering execution, they've attracted the attention of a tech giant, resulting in a blockbuster acquisition !! The initial investors who believed in the Founders' dream from the start are now reaping the rewards of their foresight !! Some of them have reportedly seen returns exceeding 50x on their initial investment, turning their modest contributions into life-changing windfalls. This acquisition is a testament to the power of backing innovative ideas & the potential rewards that await those who dare to invest in the future !! If you would also like to have such kind of opportunities to create wealth for yourself then please join my network. https://lnkd.in/d6r8DVZS

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Thanks E2E Networks Limited for having me over to participate on this wonderful panel at #InnovAI deliberating on the “Future of AI - Opportunities and Challenges for Startups”, alongside a diverse set of panelists moderated by Ankit Bose, and great insights from Prayank Swaroop Tanvi Lall & Nirant Kasliwal. Here’s a gist of the broader conversation: - what specific qualities or attributes do investors look for in AI startups when making investment decisions? - How do AI startups go from the PoC or prototyping stages to the commercialising stage where their products are made available in the market? - Is it possible to build AI for India without building large foundation models? - How can India build and democratise access to robust digital infrastructure to support AI development and deployment? - How can India bolster its national AI startup ecosystem to project global competitiveness? What are the key strategic priorities given India’s unique challenges and opportunities? Fabstastic to see an engaging audience of ~300 at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore on a Saturday morning, all ears and with questions for a technology that is expected to bring about a massive shift in / for research, academia, industry, governments and citizens. Startup Réseau Jagruti Bista Anshul Ajay Gaurav Kulkarni Kanish Goratela #GenAI #ArtificialIntelligence #DeepTech

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