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HPS buys rice husk and burns it to generate gas to power its plants

Husk Power in talks to raise $5-10 million Series A funding

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Snigdha Sengupta | 0 Comments

Patna-based renewable energy startup Husk Power Systems (HPS) is in the final stages of closing a Series A round of funding from existing and new investors. The company aims to raise about $5 million in this round, top-level sources in the company told StartupCentral. Existing investors Acumen Fund, Bamboo Finance (Oasis Capital) and LGT Venture Philanthropy are among the existing…

The 4Ps to Startups’ Hiring Success

Posted on December 5, 2011 by StartupCentral | 1 Comments

With India’s GDP growing at the rate of 7-8 per cent, it’s very difficult for startups to hire the right talent to ensure their success. The young generation of today has the choice of working for multinational companies and established Indian companies that offer good infrastructure and a comfortable working environment. On the other hand, startups run on shoestring budgets…

Group Buying Business Models: Winner Takes All

Posted on June 2, 2011 by StartupCentral

There are an estimated 1500-plus Groupon clones in China and over 50 in India. While group buying business models are the flavor of the season, I do see the following inherent issues with the business model itself: Service businesses by offering huge initial discounts can only make money if they are able to convert new customers to loyal customers (repeat…

E-commerce in India: Inflection point or bubble?

Posted on April 24, 2011 by StartupCentral

In the last few months there has been lot of activity in the ecommerce space. New startups have got funded and several of the existing ones have morphed their business models ‘just in time’, to focus on e-commerce. Previously, in terms of market share, the e-commerce market has been dominated by online travel (Makemytrip, Cleartrip, etc.), ticketing (Bookmyshow) and classifieds…

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…

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…

India Venture Capital Stats: 2009

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Snigdha Sengupta

Disclosed venture capital investments in 2009, by my count, stood at just under $150 million. The total number of deals announced was 59, out of which 28 did not disclose the investment amount. This is as per numbers collated from deals reported by various media and announced in press releases. Not all these deals are verified and in many cases…

Funding Pains at TiE-ISB Connect 2009

Posted on September 24, 2009 by Snigdha Sengupta

Early stage or growth, raising capital has been tough for almost all companies since last October. Declining venture capital and private equity investment numbers over the last several months are evidence — see the latest Grant Thornton report here. For startups, especially, raising venture capital is a challenge even in fair weather. Each stage, from seed through Series A and…

Vinod Khosla on $1 Billion Venture Fund Raising Trail

Posted on July 21, 2009 by Snigdha Sengupta

Forbes reports that ace Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla is raising two new funds worth an aggregate $1 billion. One is a $250 million seed fund and the other, $750 million, is for later stage investments — read the report here. The report doesn’t say much about what exactly the two funds will invest in but, clean technology, which…

Innoz, Husk Power Systems at DFJ-Cisco biz plan finals

Posted on June 29, 2009 by Snigdha Sengupta

Tomorrow are the global finals of the 2009 DFJ-Cisco Global Business Plan competition. One out of 16 finalists — list here — will take home $250,000 in seed funding as well as mentorship from DFJ and Cisco. Two Indian companies are among the 16 finalists — Husk Power Systems and Innoz Technologies. Husk Power Systems: This cleantech company, headquartered in…