Author Archives: Snigdha Sengupta

Vikram Vora on MyDentist’s run to 150 clinics

Mumbai-based affordable dental care services company MyDentist raised its Series B round of funding this Monday from new investor Asia Healthcare Fund and existing investor Seedfund. For Vikram Vora, MyDentist’s founder and CEO, the round spells growth at an accelerated pace over the next 18 months, at the end of which he expects his four-year…More

How Lok Capital is making the best of the MFI crisis

Betting on microfinance has turned out to be not quite as rough as expected for Lok Capital, the Rockefeller Foundation-backed social venture capital firm. Last week, the firm staged its fourth exit from the sector with the sale of its stake in Delhi-based microfinance institution (MFI) Satin CreditCare Network. Sources close to the firm say…More

Former Genpact chief Pramod Bhasin on upskilling and social impact

In his earlier life as the CEO of Gurgaon-headquartered BPO Genpact, Pramod Bhasin often found himself interviewing prospective recruits. But instead of dwelling on academic or professional qualifications, Bhasin found it more interesting to delve into the person’s background, often looking for anecdotal evidence of struggle, passion and life skills. In May 2011, after stepping…More

Anunta Tech founders on moves post-funding

Anunta Technology Management Services, a Mumbai-based cloud startup that offers applications delivery as a service (ADaaS), has spent most of the past two years evolving its own identity. The company started out in early 2010 as a spin-out subsidiary of BSE-listed BPO company Firstsource Solutions and became an independent entity only last year. In February,…More

Pankaj Chaddah on Zomato’s next moves

Gurgaon-headquartered Zomato Media, which runs restaurant listings and reviews site Zomato, is currently in the market to raise a reported $10 million round of funding to power its expansion into overseas markets. Founded in 2008 by IIT Delhi alumni Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, the company (earlier known as Foodiebay) has raised $6.5 million in…More

How Ashish Dhawan is building India’s first VC fund for non-profits

“I can still connect the dots but I know it (the ability) is starting to fade,” says Ashish Dhawan. The 43-year old Dhawan has been Indian private equity’s most influential and successful dealmaker for over a decade. Last year he stepped back from his private equity career to focus on philanthropy. These days he doesn’t…More

SAIF Partners’ Mukul Singhal on Inkfruit-Zovi

Last Friday, SAIF Partners portfolio companies Inkfruit (Fingerprints Fashions) and Zovi (Robemall Apparels) announced a merger that creates one of the strongest private label ecommerce players in the country. SAIF Partners, a private equity investor that plays in early stage and growth deals, has invested a combined $35.5 million in the two companies over multiple…More

What you didn’t know about the Inkfruit-Zovi merger

The past fortnight has been intense for the 200-odd people who work out of Fingerprints Fashions’ corporate digs in Mumbai. Most of them will relocate to Bangalore over the next three months as the company completes its merger with Robemall Apparels. The merger brings together two of the country’s leading private label ecommerce brands, Inkfruit…More