Haptik founder Aakrit Vaish wants to create a WhatsApp for product support

Early this week, Aakrit Vaish, a Mumbai based technology entrepreneur and angel investor, had a windfall. One of his more recent investments, online real estate listings and search startup Flat.to got acquired by Bangalore company Commonfloor for an undisclosed amount. Vaish had angel funded the company less than a year ago (the amount was undisclosed).…More

Commonfloor buys Flat.to in cash-and-stock deal; angel investor Aakrit Vaish exits

Mumbai based Flat.to, the online real estate search and listings platform targeted at students and single working professionals, has been acquired by Commonfloor barely a year after it was founded. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed. However, founder Gaurav Munjal told us that the deal is a cash-and-stock transaction. Post-acquisition, Munjal…More

Aditi Shrivastava on the I3N model and growth plans for the next 12 months

Among the several sessions that we’re looking forward to at the 2014 Sankalp Uncovention Summit that gets underway today is the one that will see four portfolio companies from the Intellecap Impact Investment Network (I3N) showcase their businesses. Apart from the companies themselves, the session will be an interesting look into how the I3N model…More

Mayank Khanduja on Appiterate and SAIF Partners’ big focus on seed deals

Earlier this week, SAIF Partners, the Gurgaon headquartered early-to-growth stage investor, disclosed a $500,000 seed investment in mobile app A/B testing startup Appiterate. What’s interesting about that deal is that SAIF brought in angel investors Greg Badros and Prashant Malik as part of the seed round, after it had decided to invest in the company.…More

Google Capital emerges from stealth; bets on education

Search giant Google has taken the lid of off its growth equity investment arm Google Capital. Backed by proprietary capital from its parent, the firm is being led by partners David Lawee, Scott Tierney and Gene Frantz. It is also announcing its first bet on the education sector with a $40 million investment in Renaissance…More

Mayfield raises $108 mn India Fund II

Mayfield Fund, the Menlo Park headquartered early-to-growth stage venture capital investor, is announcing the closing of its $108 million second India focused venture capital fund, dubbed Mayfield India II. A total of nine institutional investors have participated in the fund, the firm said in an SEC filing yesterday. Earlier in January this year, the firm…More

Omidyar Network India chief Jayant Sinha quits firm

Jayant Sinha has stepped down as managing director and head of India investments at Omidyar Network, the impact investment firm backed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam. An Omidyar Network spokesperson at the firm’s Mumbai offices confirmed the development to StartupCentral today. The firm is currently in the process of evaluating candidates…More

Former Mumbai Angels chief Anil Joshi raising $25 mn pre-Series A fund

More pre-Series A money is on its way for early stage startups. Former Mumbai Angels president Anil Joshi is raising $25 million for a new fund dubbed Dev Venture Fund. The technology sector-focused fund will invest at the pre-Series A stage. Joshi plans to raise up to 60 per cent of the fund corpus from…More