Bangalore is getting itself a new venture capital fund and backed by some of the most high-profile names from the Indian information technology services sector. Former i-flex Solutions CEO Deepak Ghaisas, former Wipro joint CEO Girish Paranjpe and Aarin Capital founder TV Mohandas Pai have come together to set up a new venture capital fund […]

This is a debate that I keep having with entrepreneurs and investors alike. When you talk to entrepreneurs they correctly point out the # of angel and seed deals done in India are very few. If you remove accelerators, the number of angel-funded tech companies in India is about 60 (year 2013) and the number […]

Inventus Capital Partners has closed its second India-focused fund, raising a little over $100 million from a group of limited partners consisting of global financial institutions, pension funds, family offices and individuals from the US and Europe. The new fund, dubbed Inventus Capital Partners Fund II, is double the size of the firm’s first fund […]

Bangalore-based LabourNet Services, a company that offers vocational training and services for informal sector workers, has raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Acumen and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The company has enabled livelihoods through training for over 50,000 people to date and plans to train over 125,000 workers annually within the next five […]

ERC Eye Care Center has raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Ennovent Impact Investment Holding and Ankur Capital, reports The Economic Times. Beyond Capital Fund, angel investor Sadeesh Raghavan and Ennovent Circle have participated in the round. The stage of investment has not been specified. The company will use the funds raised to expand […]

Unitus Seed Fund, the Seattle-based venture capital firm that invests in startups focused on opportunities at the bottom-of-the-pyramid, has raised $3.3 million (about Rs 20 crore) for its Unitus Seed Fund India (USFI). The fund has a final target corpus of $9-12 million (Rs 50-75 crore). The new fund has received approvals from the Securities and […]

Gurgaon-based Giveter, a gifts recommendation engine that leverages social media, has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round of funding from a group of investors, reports TechCircle. The round was led by Mumbai-based early stage investor India Quotient and other investors include Flipkart founder Binny Bansal and 5ideas Startup Superfuel, the Delhi-based seed fund […]

Deck App Technologies, developer of Deck, an app that enables users to create and display business presentations on mobile devices, has raised $600,000 in a seed round of funding from Qualcomm Ventures and a group of angel investors led by Sabeer Bhatia, reports TechCrunch. The Bangalore-based company had earlier raised $100,000 from Qualcomm Ventures by […]

Bangalore-based GoCoop Solutions and Services has raised an undisclosed amount in an angel round of funding from Indian Angel Network (IAN). Unitus Seed Fund is a co-investor in the round. This is the second investment being made through the angel network’s recently launched IAN Impact platform which targets startups that address consumers and problems at […]

It is now my eighth year in succession of claiming a great year for venture capital. I have been in the business for all of eight years. But then, I am also an amateur marathoner and a climber. And in all of these three trades, it takes years of perseverance to scale the summit. As […]

Dell Ventures, Dell’s strategic investment arm, has launched a $300 million Strategic Innovation Venture Fund. The fund will enable Dell to invest in early-to-growth-stage companies in emerging technology areas including storage, cloud computing, big data, next-generation data center, security and mobility. The new fund builds on the $60 million Dell Fluid Data Storage Fund announced […]

Last Friday, my friend and Medianama founder Nikhil Pahwa posed an interesting question on Quora — Do Indian VCs take kickbacks? As Nikhil elaborated further, the question stemmed from a recent conversation with an unnamed friend who claims that several venture capital fund managers in India encourage entrepreneurs who approach them for funding to pitch […]

On Wednesday, we signed up for a test drive with Belita, a Mumbai startup that promises to bring the salon home. It’s a attractive idea though not new. Salon services for women have been available for a while in several upscale neighbourhoods. What Belita is trying to do is introduce consistency in an otherwise unorganized […]

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which provides venture debt to startups in India through its local arm SVB India Finance, release the Halo Report – India a couple of weeks ago. The report, a collaboration between SVB and Angel Resource Institute offers a snapshot of activity based on investments made by angel groups in the country […]

Bangalore-based big data firm Spire Technologies has raised $8 million in a Series A funding round from unnamed investor, at a valuation of $23 million, reports Techcrunch. The new capital will be used for product development and company expansion. Spire has annual revenue of about $400,000 and had raised $1 million in seed funding from several angel […]

Digital magazine store and newsstand Magzter has raised $10 million in a Series B round of funding led by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), which publishes The Straits Times. SPH has made the investment through a subsidiary which it did not name. Earlier investor Kalaari Capital, the Bangalore-based early stage investor, are participated in the round. […]

It’s turning out to be a big exit year for Helion Venture Partners, the Bangalore and Gurgaon headquartered early stage venture capital investor. After reaping decent returns from its exit from redBus in June, it has now reportedly sold its entire stake in Amba Investment Services. The company, which provides investment research and quantitative analytics […]

Bangalore-based lingerie e-tailer Zivame has raised $6 million in a Series B round of funding led by Unilazer Ventures, UTV founder Ronnie Screwvala’s investment firm. The deal was first reported by The Economic Times. Earlier investors IDG Ventures India and Kalaari Capital have also participated in the round. The company had earlier raised an undisclosed […]

The entire nation today is in a state of shock, of one kind or another, over the performance of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi elections. Having become used to misgovernance and the prior failure of newbies in making an impact in the political arena, AAP’s success has come as a welcome reinstatement of […]

Organized angel investor networks in India largely work in isolation but that seems to be changing. Some of the country’s top angel networks have come together to form an association dubbed the Angel Association of India (AAI). The outfit was formally instituted on November 21 in a closed door meeting on the sidelines of the […]