STARTUPCENTRAL 2010 July | STARTUPCENTRAL

Grow VC: Pitch to the crowd

Posted on July 31, 2010 by Snigdha Sengupta

A few weeks ago, Grow VC, a community funding platform for startups that seeks to help entrepreneurs raise seed money, launched operations in India. Their local partner is Springboard Ventures. It works on a subscription model, whereby you can sign up as a member for Rs 1,000 per month. 75 per cent of your membership fee goes into the community…

MakeMyTrip aims for $12-14 per share on Nasdaq

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Snigdha Sengupta

Travel portal MakeMyTrip, which is headed for a Nasdaq listing shortly, has set the price band for its initial public offering (IPO) at $12-14 per share (Source: SEC Filing). It expects to raise $44.3 million, which will be used to expand operations by acquiring or investing in strategic businesses or assets as well as for working capital purposes. The Mauritius-registered…

IAN invests in Pune startup InnovizeTech

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Snigdha Sengupta

Pune-based InnovizeTech Software, a software product company, has received an undisclosed quantum of investment from Indian Angel Network (IAN). The company has a patent-pending product called Sapience which delivers solutions to measure and analyse enterprise effort and time productivity. It sits on each person’s computer and un-intrusively measures work activity, while ignoring usage for private purposes. The company supports on-premise…

MakeMyTrip files for Nasdaq listing

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Snigdha Sengupta

Gurgaon-based travel service portal MakeMyTrip will list on the Nasdaq under the symbol MMYT. It has filed a registration statement with the SEC for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its ordinary shares. The number of shares to be offered and the price range has not yet been determined. Morgan Stanley will be the sole bookrunning manager and Oppenheimer…

DFJ Cisco biz plan contest (edition 2)

Posted on July 23, 2010 by Snigdha Sengupta

I’m picking this up about a month late, but it is worth writing about anyway. The second edition of the DFJ and Cisco Global Business Plan Competition concluded on June 29. This year’s winner is Ambiq Micro, a ubiquitous computing startup incubated at the University of Michigan, US. The company is developing next generation, energy efficient micro-controllers. Their prize is…

SKS IPO: Sequoia’s home run?

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Snigdha Sengupta

Update: SKS Microfinance today announced Rs 850-Rs 985 per share as the price band for its upcoming IPO, which opens on Wednesday — read the Bloomberg report. At the upper price band, it can expect to raise as much as Rs 1.65 crore (about $344 million) says the report. VCCircle reports that Sequoia Capital could make 16 times its money…

Hum a tune, find a mate

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Snigdha Sengupta

Alex Parish, a musician from London with the band Years Of Rice And Salt, wrote in a few days ago to introduce a new startup — Tastebuds.fm. Parish and fellow band member Julian Keenaghan have set up a match-making portal that aims to get single people to connect based on common or complementary tastes in music. I checked out the…

Komli raises $6 million series B round

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Snigdha Sengupta

Komli Media, a Mumbai-based advertising network startup, has picked up $6 million in Series B funding from existing investors Nexus Venture Partners, Helion Venture Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The fresh funds will be used to grow the company’s presence in the Asia Pacific region. The funding follows Komli’s acquisition of PostClick in Australia last month, as part of its…

Healthcare Startups: Piramal Prize 2010

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Snigdha Sengupta

Some news for healthcare entrepreneurs. The Piramal Prize 2010 is inviting applications from high-impact business models and ideas that address India’s healthcare crisis. There are two categories — emerging ventures and established organizations. The winner in the emerging ventures category, who must be less than three years old, will receive structured funding worth Rs 10 lakh and additional support such…

Nexus Invests Rs 7 Crore in MagicRooms

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Snigdha Sengupta

Bangalore-based MagicRooms has raised Rs 7 crore ($1.5 million) in Series A funding from Mumbai venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners. The startup has developed a web-enabled platform that aggregates hotel room inventory from across the country. The funding from Nexus will be used to build infrastructure and increase marketing capabilities. The company’s founder and managing director, Niranjan Gupta, earlier…