Nandini Maheshwari

Interesting article by ET Prime on Softbank’s evolving investment strategy based on The Arc scoop on the Ultrahuman deal Thanks for citing us, Manu P Toms 🙏 More on what’s working for Ultrahuman and the round here - https://lnkd.in/gcQimTAS

7

1 Comment

Commoditization of AI models Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of watching Aravind Srinivas' (founder of Perplexity) interview with Aarthi Ramamurthy and Sriram Krishnan . It's a great interview and I would recommend AI founders to watch it if possible. https://lnkd.in/gnM2NeS8 Couple of things that stuck me from the interview: 1. Aravind believes in the commoditization of AI models in the long run. His take his firms like Perplexity which focus on user problems and solve for it using relevant models will win. Perplexity does it quite well, do check them out if you haven't already. This is something that AI entrepreneurs should think about. Creating foundational models is freaking expensive! and for conservative capital allocators like us it is too risky a bet (not betting on AI is even riskier 😅, I guess we need to learn more) I am going to tag the platform Guru and distinguished IIMB alumnus Sangeet Paul Choudary for his take on this. 2. The initial employees (5-10) have to be truth seekers rather than social affirmers(?) It was great hearing him talk about the culture at Perplexity of seeking the truth through open conversations and arguments on Slack rather than provide positive affirmation. I think it's something that every founder should strive for. Truth will prevail in the longer run. This works in technology, finance, politics, society, anywhere. (Satyamev Jayate is true in itself!) But to be able to have an open conversation, the founders need to have depth themselves. This is something that I feel the Indian ecosystem lacks, as most of the founders seem to be managerial in nature. I find them shifting to jargons rather than simplicity when questioned deeper. (By the way this is a classic test to check whether someone really knows it, people who know what they are talking about will make it simpler, those who don't take the cover of jargons to increase complexity and portray intelligence) I understand my analysis could be biased due to self-selection, and I would love to be proven wrong. It's pretty cool that Aravind chose Larry Page as his favourite entrepreneur due to their common background of coming from academic research to entrepreneurship. What I definitely don't agree with Aravind on The idea that luck doesn't play a role in outcomes. Successful people generally attribute success to their hard work/smartness / enterprise without understanding their privilege. For e.g. A smarter/more hardworking/more enterprising Dalit girl from Bihar will never have the kind of opportunities that I had as a Tam Bram born in a lower-middle class but very well educated family in Chennai. One has tried to solve for it using our Sakhi Scholars programme, which supports gifted girls from underprivileged communities to achieve their dream through financial support. On a lighter note, Aravind is a 2017 IIT-M alum and has already built a $8 billion company, what the hell am I doing with my life? 🤔

1

1 Comment

The decisions and actions of our brightest minds in the coming years will play a crucial role in defining our trajectory for the century and where we land with the technology of our time. We have a special fireside chat in Bangalore this week that will explore an Investor perspective on the India opportunity in AI. We’re joined by Pratik (from Nexus VP) and Matt (from EF) who’ve been investing in AI for more than a decade. Expect us to delve into key topics like the role of capital, talent, compute, the importance of alignment and safety, and the future of AI among other things (more on this in the link). RSVP here: https://lu.ma/h589mcrs #venturecapital #technology #ai #entrepreneurship #startups #vc

10

When you find a practical use of AI in an area that has strong tailwinds in the India growth story, you know this is a venture that has a high potential not just for value creation but for job creation in the country. Delighted to back TraqCheck founders Jaibir Nihal Singh, Armaan Mehta and @rishabh jain as they make it easier for over 200 corporations to embrace the new way of work. Traqcheck's Ai-enabled background checks of employees is way, way faster and far more reliable than traditional methods of background verification. Pankaj Bansal (पंकज बंसल)Karann Mittal Danish Dogra Aman Khan Yukta Kelkar Atreyi Dass

25

It was an amazing conversation at the Lightspeed Venture Partners office yesterday with Dev Khare and Ajeet Singh from ThoughtSpot on what it takes to think big and disrupt markets dominated by giants. Bottom line: no market is locked down forever. Innovation always finds a way in. You don’t need to outsize the competition—you just need to outthink them. Opportunities are everywhere if you’re willing to look past the noise and focus on building something that truly changes the game. #SaaS #Innovation #Disruption #BigThinking

59

1 Comment

If you doubted the rise of India as a powerhouse, Pine Labs, a significant fintech player, is now relocating its headquarters from Singapore to India following approval from a Singapore court. This strategic shift mirrors other successful Indian startups like PhonePe, Razorpay, and Groww, embracing the trend of ‘reverse flipping’. The move signifies growing confidence in the Indian market and its potential. Key factors enabling this move include: - Favorable economic policies - Growing domestic market - Increasing investor confidence - Greater certainty of an exit at a higher valuation - Ease of accessing capital - Regulatory changes - Maturing capital markets - Cost-effective listing process All great signs for India! #India #Fintech #PineLabs #Startups #BusinessGrowth

91

2 Comments

Excited and looking forward to discussing the evolving challenges of raising capital for early-stage startups at SAASCON24. Join me as I dive into the current trends, what founders need to know, and how we can navigate this more challenging environment. #SAASCON24 #StartupFunding #EarlyStageStartups #SaaS #Entrepreneurship

73

1 Comment

Like to order deliveries from the comfort of your own home? Zepto's recent $665 million funding will now allow the company to set up even more store across India to serve you better. Read all about it only in my new article at Entrepreneur India. . . . Follow and connect for more industry news and updates . . . #News #Update #Zepto #Funding #Investment #EntrepreneurIndia #AdityaPranMahanta https://lnkd.in/gYvATrUE

1

Business Model: On the week Swiggy debuted on Stock Exchanges, another food delivery company was sold for mere pennies... Grubhub which was valued at $7.5Bn in 2020 was sold for $700 Mn... It was beaten in competition by DoorDash and UberEats.. My understanding is that platform business are generally winner take it all markets... There is no (value) runner-up in this business in the long run.. #Startups #Businessmodels #markets #swiggy #doordash #ubereats #grubhub

10

Celebrating One Year at Elev8 Venture Partners! What started as humble beginnings at co-working spaces like Axilor and WeWork, has finally culminated into our second home at Elev8 VP. Exactly one year ago, we inaugurated our new office on 12th Main in Indiranagar, marking a significant milestone in our journey. Initially, I was hesitant about large offices or high rentals, especially on the high street. However, thanks to Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Anuj Golecha, and Gaurav Jain, Anil G Jain, we took the plunge. We secured an office space that was more than I initially thought we could afford. Today, I can confidently say it was one of the best decisions for Elev8 Venture Partners. In the world of venture capital, office ___location and décor surprisingly play a crucial role, especially for a first-time fund. It's not about extravagance or lavish spending but about creating a welcoming, professional environment. Our beautifully done office, complete with lush plants, has greatly contributed to building a positive external perception. This perception & vibe, is our reality. Home is not built by bricks but by memories. Over the past year, we've made incredible strides. Our investments in IDfy and Astrotalk have been pivotal, marking the beginning of our journey to support high-quality tech companies at the growth stage. This journey wouldn’t have been possible without my incredible team, whose dedication and hard work have turned our office into a second home. Here’s to many more years of growth, innovation, and impactful investments. Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey with Elev8 Venture Partners. #Elev8VP #Anniversary #VentureCapital #Investment #TechStartups #GrowthStage #Teamwork #Innovation #Success Divy Chopda, Ashwini Khemka, Aman Ahmed, Abhisekh Shah, Parth Doshi, Mayank Jajoo, Komal Vichoor, Zaveria Mohammad, Mitali Rai, Eric (Jung Ho) Yoo, Donghyun Kim

510

48 Comments

India’s Oyo, once valued at $10 billion, is finalizing new funding at a $2.5 billion valuation. This marks a steep decline from its $10 billion valuation in 2019. The startup, which has raised over $3 billion from backers like SoftBank, Peak XV Ventures, Lightspeed, Airbnb, and Microsoft, has struggled to attract institutional investors. In recent months, it has aggressively pitched to high-net-worth individuals after withdrawing its IPO application twice in the past four years. Once a red-hot Indian startup active in markets including the U.S. and Europe, Oyo has now scaled back its international presence. #venture #downround https://lnkd.in/gE2GjYnM

5

Sujith Nair, Beckn's WhatsApp-averse, badminton-loving chief mover and shaker, gave us a peek into the world's first # e-commerce protocol. Imagine if Colgate wanted to sell a lot of toothpaste, would it open separate exclusive stores on every street? NO! Instead, it ensures its products are available in all stores where people come to shop, and not just toothpaste. Similarly, Beckn is a way for an online business to make its products and services available on other stores (popular daily-use consumer apps) instead of setting up its own store (its own consumer app) and waiting for customers to come in droves! The Beckn Protocol underpins Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC) and is a universal translator for e-commerce platforms. We would normally call it the Rosetta Stone for digital services, but now we have BHASHINI 😉 . It allows disparate systems to "speak" to each other seamlessly. The Beckn Protocol has become a verb in the tech world. "Just Beckn it!" has become a common phrase among developers when discussing open-source solutions for digital commerce. In fact, we like it so much that we are using Beckn use cases as our episode artwork (instead of our normal groovy cover art) to spread the word in our own little way. Some may even argue that the yellow and black in the artwork denote open mobility networks (read taxis) 😀. The even more nerdy might catch the movie reference in the title 🎬. So, is it an app? Is it an aggregator? Is it a platform? No. It is a Super Capability - #decentralised and #open. Listen, learn and use. sujith nair | Pramod Varma | Sanjay Purohit | Shankar Maruwada | Shireesh Joshi | T Koshy | Namma Yatri | FIDE | Antler | Bingepods (Ideabrew Studios) | OpenExO | Thinkers360 | IBM Alumni | Microsoft Alumni Network | The RSA (The royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce) | World Economic Forum | Digital India Corporation | nasscom | Abhishek Singh | Nilesh | Sheetal https://lnkd.in/dydrjnbU

47

4 Comments

Meet the man who built India's largest logistics company at 40,000 CR. 1. It was March 2010. The Internet boomed to 210.23 million users in India. Sahil Barua, a consultant at Bain studying the telecom sector for three years, knew the Internet would be massive. He wanted to start a startup. With two of his friends from Bain, he took a big step. 👇 2. He took a six-month sabbatical but could not find the idea for months. And one day, his food order was late by half an hour. That's when Sahil realised that online food companies could get the orders online but lacked the logistics to deliver them. He wanted to solve it. ✅ 3. He partnered with local restaurants and set up an office with six employees and four delivery persons from a 250 sq ft room in Gurgaon. Sahil started clocking 100 orders daily with deliveries in under 30 minutes, but the big wake-up call arrived. 👇 4. Food delivery was getting solved with emerging players like Zomato, but E-commerce was still an open market. Conventional players like DTDC could not make doorstep delivery. Sahil changed the plan. In January 2011, SSN Logistics started, and Delhivery was born. 🚀 5. Sahil delivered free for a month, on the condition to do thirty deliveries monthly and upgrade to 50 in the next month if satisfied. And the idea worked. By 2012, Delhivery delivered over 500 shipments across five customers and scaled to three centres within Delhi NCR. It raised 7 CR from Times Internet. 6. Delhivery skyrocketed to 2 million orders across 90 clients. They kept the pricing as low as Rs 35 for a 500-gram packet. It also opened two 10,000 sq ft fulfilment centres in Delhi and Chennai. Seeing the growth, Nexus Venture Partners pumped 35 CR. 💸 7. Delhivery kept growing and processed 9000 orders daily. 90% of revenues came from shipping, and Delhivery expanded to 180 towns and cities in India. On 8th September 2014, it raised 212 CR led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management and became a 500 CR company. 💰 8. Growing 400% yearly, Delhivery handled 3 million monthly transactions for 1,500 e-commerce companies. It had beaten the competition by focusing on 45,000 non-e-commerce enterprises for order management and warehousing solutions. As it expanded to 1 million sq. ft of warehousing space, it raised 506 CR from Tiger Global and became a 2000 CR company. 📉 9. Delhivery grew on steroids and grossed a revenue of 1073.64 CR, 15,000 pin codes and 30 fulfilment centres across 12 cities by 2018. On 24th March 2019, it raised 2766.82 CR led by Softbank and became the first unicorn of 2019. As Delhivery became a 10,000 CR company, the headline news came. 📰 10. On 11th May 2022, Delhivery went for a 5235 CR IPO and saw an oversubscription of 1.63 times. 🙌 ➡️ Today, Delhivery has shipped 2.1 billion parcels across 30,000 businesses and 99.5% of India's population. It leads with a 21.5% market share. 💪 Sahil Barua's small dream has become a 40,000 CR company today. 🙏 #india #startup #casestudy

3,245

196 Comments

How quick commerce, often abbreviated as Q-comm, is revolutionizing the investment landscape by creating new opportunities across a range of categories. This innovative model, characterized by rapid delivery and on-demand services, is not only transforming consumer expectations but also opening up avenues for investment in sectors like logistics, technology, and retail. As Q-comm continues to evolve, it presents investors with fresh prospects to capitalize on emerging trends and technologies that support faster, more efficient delivery systems. #weincapital #zitsoo

6

At BlackInk Capital & Management, we’re on a mission to revolutionise the startup ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir. My vision is to cultivate an environment where innovation thrives, and entrepreneurial dreams are realised. I believe that Jammu and Kashmir, with its rich potential and untapped talent, is poised to become a hub of groundbreaking startups. Our goal is to provide early-stage support to visionary founders and ambitious startups, helping them scale from pre-seed to Series A and beyond. By offering sector-agnostic investments and a robust support network, we aim to: 1. Empower Local Talent: Foster a thriving community of entrepreneurs by providing the resources, mentorship, and funding necessary to turn ideas into successful ventures. 2. Stimulate Economic Growth: Create job opportunities and drive economic development by nurturing startups that can contribute to the region’s growth. 3. Build a Supportive Ecosystem: Collaborate with local stakeholders, industry experts, and investors to build a cohesive ecosystem that supports innovation and business success. 4. Promote Sustainable Development: Encourage startups that focus on sustainable and impactful solutions to address local and global challenges. As we embark on this exciting journey, I invite you to join us in shaping the future of Jammu and Kashmir’s startup landscape. Together, we can unlock new possibilities and drive meaningful change.

11

🚨 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐚 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜 𝐊𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐚 𝐌𝐞𝐡𝐫𝐚 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 Krishna Mehra, ex-Meta executive and co-founder of Capillary Technologies, is now a Partner at Elevation Capital, focusing on SaaS and AI investments. Based in Silicon Valley, Mehra will strengthen the India-US corridor, aiding Indian founders in creating global leaders.  With experience driving $10B revenue at Meta and angel investments in 40+ startups, Mehra brings valuable expertise to Elevation Capital's $2.6B portfolio.  Krishna Mehra Elevation Capital #Learntransformation #SaaS #AI #ElevationCapital #IndiaUS #Startups #VC

36

1 Comment

To start the year, its great to be back at India's biggest digital conference, the India Digital Summit. I'll be speaking on 16th January on trends in VC in India, sectoral shifts and what to expect in 2025. Check out link for agenda and registrations : www.indiadigitalsummit.in #IndiaDigitalSummit #IDS2025 #DigitalLeadership #IDS25 #IDA

52

Only TWO days left to apply for the RippleX Fellowship program! If you are a student/dropout/recent grad building a b2b software company in Canada/US, this is the program for you. In our last batch we had some amazing mentors like: - Braden Ream (CEO, Voiceflow): Mastering storytelling and navigating selling into enterprises - Rahul Parmar (Prev. Senior Director of Sales, Drata): Sales 101 – Converting pilots to real revenue, creating urgency among buyers, and best practices to manage a sales process - Nicholas Chepesiuk (CEO, OnCall Virtual Care, now part of Qualifacts): Striving towards product-market fit, utilizing creative outbound strategies, and the importance of building trust with customers in the early days - Justin Sky (CEO, Rose Rocket): Identifying venture-scale markets, learning when to pivot, and building strong organizational culture - Josh Gray (CEO, Artemis): Conducting customer validation, segmenting your ICP, and advice for young founders Apply here: https://lnkd.in/e2iAu6vi

19

2 Comments

Zepto's origin story involves its co-founders, Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya V., who were 19-year-old Stanford dropouts. They founded Zepto, a 10-minute grocery delivery start-up, as their second venture after working on various projects, including a ride-hailing commute app for school kids. Zepto Raises $665 Million, Valuation Surges to $3.6 Billion. The Indian quick commerce startup, has successfully raised $665 million in a recent funding round. This substantial investment has more than doubled the company's valuation from $1.4 billion to $3.6 billion in under a year . Read more: https://lnkd.in/gwv8zrpw #startup #StartupSuccess #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #Ecommerce #TechStartups

16