It’s not every day that a VC comes out in public to admit that they messed up real bad with an investment, but a $4.7 billion writedown would have a sobering impact on nearly anyone. Softbank Chairman Masayoshi Son has said that he regrets his deal with embattled co-working company WeWork. “My own investment judgment was really bad. I regret it in many ways,” he said at a news conference. Softbank has now officially written down…

India’s overall economy might be in a bit of a slowdown — auto sales are the lowest in years, and several IT companies are laying off employees. But there’s a bright spot in the corporate horizon– in the world of startups. India is home to 24 unicorns and another 52 are in the pipeline to attain that status. This is brought out in the latest NASSCOM report, titled Indian Tech Startup Ecosystem – Leading Tech…

India’s startups could soon spend more time working on building their products and acquiring their users, instead of filling out government paperwork. India has proposed the easing of norms for startups under the Companies Act with a view to boost entrepreneurship in the country, ET reports. Under these changes, startups will not have to make any regulatory filings for a period of 10 years. Startups currently don’t make regulatory filings for 5 years after their…

Snapdeal had raised eyebrows when it had sold off several of its non-core businesses in quick succession a few years ago, and CEO Kunal Bahl has now admitted that those were distress sales.  “Whenever you’re in trouble, everyone will try to squeeze the last drop of blood out of you. Especially when you’re selling assets, and people think that the company’s is in a bit of a distress situation,” he said in a recent podcast….

It’s common knowledge that Indian e-commerce companies are currently bleeding money, but it’s hard to appreciate how much money they’re really losing. Two of Flipkart’s largest arms, which run the company’s marketplace and wholesale business, together lost Rs. 5,459 crore during FY 19. This translated into an astonishing loss of Rs. 15 crore per day for the Walmart-owned company. The losses rose 69 percent over the last year, while revenues rose only 44 percent. These are…

Becoming a unicorn is thought to be a badge of honor for a startup — the $1 billion valuation is thought to herald several things, including growth, market dominance, and an eventual blockbuster IPO. But things don’t always go according to the script. ShopClues, which was valued at $1.1 billion and had become India’s third e-commerce unicorn in 2016, has been acquired by Singapore-based e-commerce platform Qoo10 for an estimated $70-100 million. As part of…

Paytm has sought to disrupt many industries over the last decade — payments, movie tickets, event bookings, and even gold purchases. But it might have just embarked on its most ambitious project yet. Paytm Money’s beta version now allows users to buy and sell stocks. The announcement was made by Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma this Diwali. “Bought my first share in (the) public market using Paytm Money’s share trading beta feature.” he tweeted. A similar announcement…

It had been long clear that Jio was just the beginning, and Reliance always had its eyes set on a large digital play. It now has an official company to do it through. Reliance has put $15 billion (Rs. 1,05 lakh crore) to create a holding company that will become its main vehicle through which it enters India’s digital and e-commerce space. The company will be valued at $24 billion, and Chairman Mukesh Ambani has…

The Indian economy is supposed to be in a slowdown — auto sales are down, consumer confidence is low, and the stock market is in a funk. But it seems that the memo hasn’t quite reached the venture capitalists who’re betting on Indian startups. Indian startups have raised a record $11.3 billion (Rs. 79,000 crore) in 2019, which is higher than any previous year on record. In 2018, Indian startups had attracted $10.5 billion in investment, while in…

For several years, Indian startups have bemoaned what they call the “India 1-2-3” phenomenon. India’s urban elite, or India 1, have rapidly adopted technology and new-age apps, and form a large part of India’s consuming market for tech startups. India 2 and India 3, which represent Indians living in smaller towns and villages, simply don’t have the purchasing power to be able to buy their products in large numbers, and this makes them an untenable…