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<ul><li><strong>Thousands lost their jobs amid a deepening funding winter in 2022 amid massive layoffs by the tech companies.</strong></li><li><strong>According to a PwC <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> report, startup funding in India hit a two-year low at $2.7 billion in the third quarter of 2022.</strong></li><li><strong>Seed stage rounds also experienced a contraction and dropped by 38 per cent as compared to the previous year.</strong></li></ul><br />Indian startups, which saw a massive 35 per cent drop in funding in 2022 -- from $37.2 billion in 2021 to $24.7 billion (till November) -- are bracing themselves for a deepening funding winter in 2023 as recession fears loom.<br /><br />Although some startups, like fintech platform <keyword id="6557529" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="kreditbee" source="Orion">KreditBee</keyword> ($200 million), Foodtech platform HealthKart ($135 million) and HRtech software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform BetterPlace ($40 million), raised decent funds in December last year and in the beginning of January, the scene overall is grim as VC money has squeezed.<br /><br />Thousands lost their jobs amid a deepening funding winter in 2022 amid massive layoffs by the tech companies, which still continues.<br /><br />According to a PwC India report, startup funding in India hit a two-year low at $2.7 billion in the third quarter of 2022.<br /><br />In 2022, the significant drop in funding was attributed to a decline in late-stage investments, which fell by 45 per cent from $29.3 billion in January-November 2021 to $16.1 billion for the same period this year, according to data provided by <keyword id="2779670" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="tracxn" source="Orion">Tracxn</keyword>, a leading global market intelligence platform.<br /><br />Seed stage rounds also experienced a contraction and dropped by 38 per cent as compared to the previous year.<br /><br />The report said that 22 startups entered the unicorn club in 2022, as compared to 46 in the previous year.The number of big ticket ($100 million and above) funding rounds dropped by 35 per cent to 55 as compared to 85 in the reported period.<br /><br />The number of funding rounds saw a drop of 30 per cent, from 2,647 last year to 1,841 this year, the report said.<br /><br />"The funding winter, which began in Q4 of 2021, will persist in 2023 as well. In order to survive the drought, startups are taking unit economics more seriously, which has been illustrated through the series of mass layoffs that have occurred this year," said <keyword id="520013" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="neha-singh" source="Orion">Neha Singh</keyword>, Co-Founder, Tracxn.<br /><br />"Although we are currently experiencing a slump, the situation is prompting startups to establish clearer and more sustainable paths to growth, as investors' evaluation metrics begin to emphasise good profitability over growth at all costs," Singh had said in a statement.<br /><br />The startup ecosystem's funding winter could last another 12 to 18 months and the industry may face "a lot of turmoil and volatility", Flipkart CEO <keyword id="6379357" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kalyan-krishnamurthy" source="Orion">Kalyan Krishnamurthy</keyword> warned recently.<br /><br />According to <keyword id="12046361" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="shrijay-sheth" source="Orion">Shrijay Sheth</keyword>, Founder, Legalwiz.in, 2023 will continue to be the year of sustenance for most, and funders will continue to remain more cautious.<br /><br />"Both valuation multipliers and funding opportunities will go more conservative. Startups must build better units economics as opposed to expensive acquisitions driven growth channels. Geo-political issues, Global supply chain crisis and other macro issues are expected to prevail," he said.<br /><br />However, this also needs to be seen as a year where resilient, innovative and problem-solving entrepreneurs shall get an opportunity to stand out from the crowd.<br /><br />"As the macro environment gets tougher, we can expect some excellent business models to outshine the rest with high levels of innovation and frugality. Also, mostly the serious funding houses will prevail while we will see visitors in the VC world take a break," <keyword id="262579" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sheth" source="Orion">Sheth</keyword> noted.<br /><br />SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/there-is-a-link-between-drinking-sugary-sodas-and-hair-loss-says-beijing-based-study/slidelist/96796018.cms">There is a link between drinking sugary sodas and hair loss, says Beijing-based study</a><br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/chaman-metallics-first-sme-ipo-of-2023-subscribed-197x/articleshow/96795916.cms">Chaman Metallics, first SME IPO of 2023, subscribed 197x</a><br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/60-of-blue-and-grey-collar-jobs-go-to-freshers-with-tech-skills-billion-careers-report/articleshow/96795198.cms">60% of blue and grey collar jobs go to freshers with tech skills: Billion Careers report</a><br />

India's startup economy stares at deepening funding winter in 2023

<ul><li>It only took 60 days for the digital lending startup <keyword id="6557529" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kreditbee" source="Orion">KreditBee</keyword> to issue 100,000 credit-based payments cards.</li><li>The company claims that its $2 billion loan book of 5.5 million users has set the pace of this growth.</li><li>KreditBee claims that the trigger for this card has been the consumption habits of its users.</li></ul>Credit-based payment cards are getting quite an uptick as people’s consumption habits have taken a turn towards all things digital. As more and more users are getting comfortable spending online, the lack of payment solutions is not helping in any way. <br /><br />This has pushed many Indian brands to roll out credit-based digital payment offering for customers to directly transact with the merchants. Over the last three months, PayU co-founder Nitin Gupta's Uni startup and Motilal Oswal-backed digital lending platform KreditBee have been trying to do just that.<br /><br />It only took 60 days for the digital lending startup KreditBee to issue 100,000 credit-based payments cards. Impressed by the short timeline of this milestone, the fintech startup is now aiming to issue a million such cards by the end of March 2022. It claims to be well within the pace to achieve this target. <br /><br />The company claims that they are adding about 5,000 users on a daily basis at the moment and that is the basis of the latest target.<br /><br />Madhusudan Ekambaram, co-founder and chief executive of KreditBee, told Business Insider that the company will issue another 120,000 such credit-based payment cards in the month of October.<br /><br />This will take the total tally to 220,000 since the launch of the card in August 2021. <br /><br />The card offers a limit of ₹10,000 and increases up to ₹1,00,000 based on know-your-customer (KYC). The customer has to repay the amount in 45 days.<br /><br />KreditBee — founded by Ekambaram and Karthikeyan K in May 2018 — is an instant personal loan platform for self-employed and salaried professionals. The company is backed by Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, PremjiInvest and others.<br /><br />Target audience for KreditBee<br /><table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Criteria<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">What do they do?<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Set 1<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Self-employed and salaried individuals from Tier II and III cities. Employees of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Set 2<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">People from metro cities who don’t have a banking history and are looking for convenience. <br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Set 3<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">New age gig workers — delivery persons of ecommerce companies or food aggregatory businesses whose salary majorly consists of incentives.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody><tr id="last-child" class="last-child"><td contenteditable="false" colspan="3">Edit</td></tr></tbody></table>The company offers flexi-loans as well as personal loans starting from ₹1,000 to ₹2,00,000 to individuals and hosts several licensed non-banking financial companies (NBFC) to facilitate these.<br /><br />Ekambaram claims that KreditBee has given out loans ₹15,000 crore ($2 billion) in the short span of three years and has over 5.5 million credit users on their platform. The launch of these credit-based payment cards has been on the basis of consumption habits of these individuals. <br /><br />Therefore, the target audience for its lending business will be a target audience for these cards as well.<br /><br />KreditBee had found that most of its users were getting loans in order to buy consumer durables like a mobile phone, laptop, earphone and more. This pushed the fintech startup to test out a digital card that will allow its customers to directly buy products online.<br /><br />In addition, the card also allows KreditBee to interact with merchants directly and expand its data bank further. <br />                                                                          <div type="image" title="kreitbee revenue" msid="87161182" hostid="261"></div><br />The company’s profitability took a hit in the financial year 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic, but it is back on track to report another profitable year, Ekambaram said.<br /><br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Who else does KreditBee need to watch out for?" text="Who else does KreditBee need to watch out for?"><span data-til="noop">Who else does KreditBee need to watch out for?</span></cmsannotation><br /><br />Uni, which too offers digital credit-based payments cards, has issued over <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/only-3-in-100-indians-have-a-credit-card-this-former-payu-india-cofounder-is-hoping-to-change-that/articleshow/86089396.cms">50,000 customers to date and is adding over 1,000 new additions</a> on a daily basis. The company — launched last year and started operations in June 2021 — issues a special Visa 1/3 card, in partnership with RBL Bank and Mauritius-based SBM Bank, to its customers. <br /><br />This offering works pretty much like a credit card, but divides all of the customers transactions into three installments that have to be repaid over a period of three months without any interest. The recently launched company aims to issue a million cards by the end of March 2022. It will be looking to launch physcial credit card by November 2021.<br /><br />Fintech startup One Card has also recently partnered with Federal Bank to launch its mobile phone-based credit card. Meanwhile, Mastercard is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/28/business/mastercard-buy-now-pay-later.html">experimenting</a> with the buy now, pay later option to allow shoppers to style their payments in four installments. <br /><strong><br />SEE ALSO</strong><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/facebook-plans-to-rebrand-itself-to-a-metaverse-company-with-a-new-name/articleshow/87150303.cms">Facebook plans to rebrand itself to a metaverse company with a new name</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/ril-jubilant-foodworks-bajaj-auto-and-other-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-october-20/slidelist/87148904.cms">RIL, Jubilant Foodworks, Bajaj Auto and other stocks to watch out for on October 20</a><br />

This Motilal Oswal-backed startup is planning to issue a million credit-based cards in the next 150 days relying on the $2 billion worth loans it disbursed

<ul><li><keyword id="10181413" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bharatagri" source="Orion">BharatAgri</keyword> is a startup that serves farmers in India with customised crop advisory calendars and is also an ecommerce platform.</li><li>Other than Arkam, the latest capital raise round also saw participation from Capria Ventures and existing investors India Quotient, 021 Capital and Omnivore.</li><li>The company has built prediction algorithms that provide advisory customised to crops, region and climatic changes.<br /></li></ul><br /><br />In every market cycle, select sectors attract more capital as they tend to promise higher growth in the future. After the mega funding boom that platform and online commerce saw, agritech and manufacturing are new boom sectors for private investors now. BharatAgri, an advisory led ecommerce platform for farmers, on Thursday announced that it had raised <keyword id="6793689" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="series-a-funding" source="Orion">Series A funding</keyword> of ₹35 crore ($4.3mn) led by <keyword id="9361494" type="General" weightage="60" keywordseo="arkam-ventures" source="Orion">Arkam Ventures</keyword>, India’s first early-stage venture fund dedicated to Middle-India startups.<br /><br />Agritech startups are playing a key role in leading the charge when it comes to innovation in the farm sector as they are riddled with inefficiencies. BharatAgri is a leading agri-tech company in India. It is solving the problem of low production and low income from Indian farms. Lack of scientific knowledge and access to affordable crop-inputs at the farm level is the core reason for this problem. <br /><br />BharatAgri is an advisory driven crop-input e-commerce platform for farmers. Farmers get personalised scientific crop calendars for their respective farms that give them real time guidance about how to grow the crop.<br /><br />The company has built prediction algorithms that provide advisory customised to crops, region and climatic changes. Farmers can access this custom advisory that would help them increase farm yield, lower input costs and labour effort. Its ecommerce platform offers 10000+ agricultural products such as fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, insecticides, farming equipment, among others and is delivered pan-India across 20,000 + pin codes. The seamless integration of advisory and ecommerce will enable BharatAgri to increase farmers’ production by 30%, reduce cost by 10% and improve their earning by 100%.<br /><br />Commenting on the fund raise, Siddharth Dialani, Cofounder, BharatAgri said, “In the next 3 years, 50 million+ farmers will use the internet for the first time and we want BharatAgri to be their bridge to the digital era of agri that is now dawning. With 10L+ unique monthly users, 10k+ SKUs, 100+ marketplace partners and 20k+ serviceable pin codes, BharatAgri is making a significant impact on farmers' lives. With this investment, BharatAgri aims to further strengthen its rural supply chain, expand the user base and become the largest and the de facto e-commerce platform for farmers.”<br /><br />The latest round of funding marks Arkam’s third investment in the agri-tech space, furthering its commitment to support builders of Bharat. The round also saw participation from Capria Ventures and existing investors, India Quotient, 021 Capital, and Omnivore. The funds will be used to scale BharatAgri’s ecommerce platform into new geographies and strengthen its last-mile delivery. Rahul Chandra, MD, Arkam Ventures will join the board of the agritech startup.<br /><br />Arkam Ventures is also an investor in Jai Kisan, one of India’s fastest growing rural fintech platforms for farmers and retailers, and Jumbotail, India’s leading B2B food &amp; grocery marketplace and retail platform. Digitisation of the fragmented Indian agri industry is one of the key themes under Arkam’s Middle-India thesis. The fund has been consistently backing early-movers and market winners that are empowering farmers and strengthening the agri-value chain with technology.<br /><br />Talking about the latest investment in BharatAgri, Rahul Chandra, MD, Arkam Ventures said, “Agri inputs is a $44B market in India and suffers from stock outs, misinformation and non-scientific usage behaviour. The quintessential Indian farmer is now seeking digital information and is concerned with farm yields, crop as well as personal safety and household wealth. BharatAgri is a fantastic combination of custom advice and ready assortment of products - reducing confusion around usage of chemical products and giving fastest access to the best quality agri brands.”<br /><br /><strong>About BharatAgri</strong><br /><br />Headquartered in Bangalore, BharatAgri is a leading agri-tech company in India. It is solving the problem of low production and low income from Indian farms. Lack of scientific knowledge and access to affordable crop-inputs at the farm level is the core reason for this problem. <br /><br />BharatAgri is an advisory driven crop-input e-commerce platform for farmers. Farmers get personalised scientific crop calendars for their farm, which gives them real time guidance about how to grow the crop. The guidance includes selection of right seeds, fertilisers and pesticides which farmers can buy from the platform. It currently serves more than 20k pincodes and is expanding rapidly to other remote parts of the country. <br /><br />BharatAgri is backed by Arkam Ventures, India Quotient, 021 Capital, Capria Ventures and Omnivore.<br /><br /><strong>About Arkam Ventures</strong><br /><br />Started in 2020 by two seasoned venture capitalists, Rahul Chandra (formerly - Co-founder &amp; MD, Helion Venture Partners) and Bala Srinivasa (formerly partner at Kalaari Capital), Arkam is a pioneer in investing in the massive Middle India opportunity. Unlike its predecessors and peers who have largely backed start-ups serving the top of the pyramid, Arkam backs a new generation of founders focused on building tech-led solutions for the next 400 million Indians.<br /><br />From its USD 106 million Fund 1, Arkam has invested in Middle India opportunities across financial services, skilling, food, <keyword id="6355165" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="agriculture" source="Orion">agriculture</keyword>, mobility, healthcare and SaaS. Its portfolio currently consists of 16 new-age companies, including fintech firms such as Jar , and Kreditbee, Food/Agritech companies like Jai-Kisan and Jumbotail, Skilling companies like Smartstaff and Cusmat as well as SaaS companies like Spotdraft and Signzy.<br /><br />The fund recently launched its second fund with a target size of USD 180 Mn. It will continue to focus on existing sectors such as financial services, skilling, food, agriculture, healthcare, mobility, and SaaS as well as identify category leaders in promising areas like Manufacturing Tech and EVs.<br /><br /><br /><br />

BharatAgri raises ₹35 crore in Series A funding led by Arkam Ventures

51 start-ups from India likely to become unicorns in three years

<ul><li>In Q1 2023, Indian <keyword id="6362513" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups" source="Orion">startups</keyword> raised a total of $2.8 billion, which is 75% lower compared to the same period in the previous year ($11.9 billion).</li><li>The report attributes the drop in funding to rising inflation and interest rates, which have impacted investments significantly.</li><li>There were no new unicorns created in January to March 2023, compared with 14 unicorns created during the same period last year, as per Tracxn report.</li><li>The report highlighted that India is the second highest-funded geography after the US in Q1 2023.</li><li>Though India is in second place, the funding is still on a declining trend.</li></ul>The ongoing macroeconomic challenges have hit the Indian startup industry in terms of funding from investors. In Q1 2023, Indian startups raised a total of $2.8 billion, which is 75% lower compared to the same period in the previous year ($11.9 billion), according to Tracxn Geo Quarterly Report: India Tech - Q1 2023. <br /><br />The report attributes the drop in funding to rising inflation and interest rates, which have impacted investments significantly. <br /><br /><keyword id="17097014" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Early-stage-startup-funding" source="Orion">Early-stage startup funding</keyword> dropped 4% to $844 million in Q1 2023 as compared to the previous quarter. Meanwhile, seed funding slipped 16% to $153 million from the previous quarter.<br /><br />Adding to it, <keyword id="17097015" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="late-stage-rounds" source="Orion">late-stage rounds</keyword> in Q1 of 2023 also witnessed a sharp fall of 79% to $1.8 billion from a year ago. <br /><br />There were no new unicorns created in January to March 2023, compared with 14 unicorns during the same period last year.<br /><br />Although funding has decreased on a yearly basis, the month-on-month comparison is encouraging as Indian startups saw a significant uptick in funding  – a 54% rise to $1.2 billion in March 2023 from $777 million in February.<br /><br /><strong>India is second highest-funded geography after US<br /></strong>The report highlighted that India is the second highest-funded geography after the US in Q1 2023. Despite taking second place, the funding in India is still on a declining trend. <br /><br />The total overall funding in India declined by 21% in Q1 2023 as compared to Q4 2022 and by more than 75% when compared with Q1 2022. The number of funding rounds in Q1 2023 experienced a drop of 10% and 63% when compared with Q4 2022 and Q1 2022 respectively. <br /><br />Companies like PhonePe, Lenskart, Mintify, Insurance Dekho, FreshtoHome Foods, TI Clean Mobility and KreditBee were big ticket deals in the January-March quarter, the report said. <br /><br />As per the report, Bangalore cornered the largest share of the total funds raised in the March quarter, followed by Delhi and Mumbai. <br /><br />The leading sectors in terms of funding this quarter were fintech, retail and enterprise applications. The fintech segment witnessed a funding growth of 150% compared to Q4 of 2022. However it saw a drop of 51% compared to Q1 2022. <br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO: </strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/interest-on-home-loans-of-75-lakh-and-above-can-increase/articleshow/99397263.cms">Looking for a home loan of ₹75 lakh or above? The RBI rate hike pause might not bring you relief</a><br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/super-20-equity-funds-that-have-managed-to-not-only-beat-benchmarks-but-delivered-the-best-returns-in-the-last-one-year/articleshow/99388892.cms">Super 20 equity funds that have managed to not only beat benchmarks but delivered the best returns in the last one year</a>

Indian startup funding slumps 75% YoY to $2.8 billion in Jan-Mar, as macro challenges weigh

Bengaluru, Bengaluru-headquartered <keyword id="2461546" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="FinTech">FinTech</keyword> lending startup <keyword id="6557529" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="KreditBee">KreditBee</keyword> on Monday said it has concluded its Series C equity round worth $75 million (about ₹545 crore) from <keyword id="648852" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Premji-Invest">Premji Invest</keyword>, Mirae Asset Naver Asia Growth Fund, Alpine Capital and <keyword id="9361494" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arkam-Ventures">Arkam Ventures</keyword> consisting of both primary and secondary investment.<br /><br />With the current round of fund raise, the company wants to drive credit uptake in the economy especially for the unserved and underserved segment of the population.<br /><br />"With a larger portfolio of loan products, our objective is to provide credit to over 180 million New-to-Credit customers who were not provided formal credit earlier. This investment would help us take more positive steps towards achieving that," <keyword id="229206" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Madhusudan">Madhusudan</keyword> E, Co-Founder &amp; CEO of KreditBee, said in a statement.<br /><br />The holding entity previously raised over $43 million cumulatively in equity from marque investors including ICICI Bank and Arkam Ventures.<br /><br />Registered in March 2016, the group entity also holds Krazybee Services Private Limited -- a non-deposit taking non-banking financial company (NBFC-ND-SI).<br /><br />The group launched its flagship brand KreditBee in May 2018, focused on full-stack digital lending for young professionals. <br /><br />The platform specialises in providing digital personal loans and consumer durable loans to both salaried and self-employed. <br /><br />The loan amount disbursed can go as high as ₹2 lakh while the tenures range from two months to 15 months. <br /><br />The company said it currently has over 1,200 employees and a user base of over 20 million with over 4 million credit customers. <br /><br />The platform plans to diversify its product offering by venturing into digitally-enabled secured loans, home loans and credit line.<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-galaxy-s21-ultra-5g-review-the-best-android-smartphone-yet/articleshow/80913148.cms">Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G review – the best Android smartphone, yet</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/this-startup-helps-you-watch-shows-shop-online-and-access-the-internet-even-without-a-data-connection/articleshow/80918896.cms">This startup helps you watch shows, shop online and access the internet even without a data connection</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/research/news/worlds-oldest-beer-factory-discovered-in-egypt-was-producing-50000-pints-at-a-time/articleshow/80920087.cms">Drink like an Egyptian: Historians discover the world’s oldest beer factory in Egypt</a><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/elon-musk-wants-major-holders-of-cryptocurrency-dogecoin-to-sell-most-of-their-coins/articleshow/80920866.cms"><strong>Elon Musk wants major holders of cryptocurrency Dogecoin to sell ‘most of their coins’</strong></a><br />

Lending startup KreditBee gets ₹545 crore from Premji invest, Mirae Asset and others

<ul><li><keyword id="6557529" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="KreditBee">KreditBee</keyword>’s holding company Finnov has raised $70 million from TPG-backed NewQuest Capital Partners and Motilal Oswal Private Equity.</li><li>The company’s latest round comes just a month after it had raised $75 million from the likes of Azim Premji’s Premji Invest and South Korean investment firm Mirae Assets Ventures.</li><li>KreditBee claims to have a registered user base of over 25 million.</li></ul>Fintech lending startup KreditBee’s holding company Finnov has raised $70 million from new investors TPG-backed NewQuest Capital Partners and Motilal Oswal Private Equity. <br /><br />The company’s latest round comes just a month after it had raised $75 million from the likes of Azim Premji’s Premji Invest and South Korean investment firm Mirae Assets Ventures, with participation from Alpine Capital and Arkam Ventures.<br /><br />KreditBee’s funding comes when fintech continues to be a hot sector in India, with lending startups having got a bigger push during COVID-19. During the pandemic, as people lost their jobs, or merchants looked to save their businesses, they <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/digital-lending-apps-continue-to-see-robust-demand/article34037180.ece">turned </a>to a lot more lending apps for financial support.<br /><br />In fact, according to a Boston Consulting Group and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) report, the alternative lending sector is going to see increased investments – from $2.5 billion between 2016-2020 to $5.6 billion between 2021-2025.<br /><br />KreditBee claims to have a registered user base of over 25 million. The three-year old company now hopes to use the funds to ‘expand the lending portfolio to different products, and develop an offline-online lending capability to bridge the consumer financing needs of Bharat (the term coined for India’s next millions of internet users from rural India)’.<br /><br />“A complex demography like India requires simple, effective and impactful lending solutions, that comes with a deeper understanding of the consumer financing needs of the ecosystem. We are happy to onboard investment partners with us who share the same vision as we do as to how personal finance should graduate from a luxurious aspiration to a trivial commodity, available at the click of a button”, added Madhusudan E, co-founder and chief executive of KreditBee’s holding group entity.<br /><br />Interestingly, KreditBee joins the list of startups, which are giving exits to their Chinese investors. KreditBee’s investor the Chinese investment firm Shunwei Capital had <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/funding/kreditbee-gets-70-million-more-in-series-c-funding-round/articleshow/81620486.cms?from=mdr">reportedly </a>exited the firm last month. Shunwei had also recently exited another investment in India – Koo, the microblogging platform. “The conclusion of this round has led to an exit of most of the early-stage investors,” said KreditBee in a statement.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/barbeque-nation-ipo-to-raise-180-crore-by-selling-54-5-lakh-shares/articleshow/81626158.cms">With an IPO on its plate, Barbeque Nation hopes to clear off some of its debt and double down on not just dining but its new delivery business</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zerodha-founder-nikhil-kamath-flipkart-ceo-kalyan-krishnamurthy-and-others-buyout-chinese-investor-shunwei-capital-stake-in-koo-app/articleshow/81548852.cms">A flurry of Indian A-list entrepreneurs buyout Chinese investor Shunwei Capital’s stake in Koo – the microblogging site that’s taking on Twitter</a><br /></strong><br /><br />

Lending platform KreditBee raises $70 million in its series C round, a month after it got $75 million

<ul><li>With Fund II, Arkam Ventures intends to maintain its strategy of creating a focused portfolio based on well-defined investment theses. <br /></li><li>Fund II aims to construct a portfolio consisting of 20 technology <keyword id="428085" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="start-ups" source="Orion">start-ups</keyword>. <br /></li><li>The firm also plans seeking out potential category leaders in emerging domains such as manufacturing tech and electric vehicles (EVs). <br /></li></ul>Arkam Ventures, an <keyword id="1397791" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="early-stage" source="Orion">early-stage</keyword> <keyword id="17820987" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="technology-venture-capital" source="Orion">technology venture capital</keyword> fund, has announced the launch of its Fund II, aiming to raise $180 million. With this new fund, Arkam Ventures intends to maintain its strategy of creating a focused portfolio based on well-defined investment theses. <br /><br />The firm plans to further explore its current sectors of interest while also seeking out potential category leaders in emerging domains such as manufacturing tech, and EVs. The firm will continue its emphasis on financial services, skill development, food, agriculture, healthcare, mobility, and <keyword id="753967" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="software-as-a-service" source="Orion">Software-as-a-Service</keyword> (SaaS) ventures, in the area of middle-India digitisation. <br /><br />Fund II will aim to construct a portfolio consisting of 20 technology startups. The limited partner (LP) base for this fund will be composed of global institutional investors, and family offices. Notably, Arkam's previous Fund I had attracted investors such as British International Investment, SIDBI, Evolvence, Quilvest, US institutional investors, and significant family offices. <br /><br />Arkam Ventures, established in 2020 by venture capitalists Rahul Chandra, and Bala Srinivasa, focuses on investing in the significant <keyword id="3525881" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="middle-india" source="Orion">middle India</keyword> market. In contrast to many other investors who primarily support startups catering to the affluent population, Arkam focuses on a new generation of founders dedicated to developing technology-driven solutions. These startups perceive an opportunity to leverage digital platforms, and India's digital infrastructure (such as UPI, eKYC, and Aadhaar) along with the accelerated digital adoption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. They aim to transform the delivery of essential products and services, making them more accessible, efficient, and affordable.<br /><br />Through its initial Fund 1, valued at USD 106 million, Arkam has assessed prospects in sectors including financial services, skill development, food, agriculture, mobility, healthcare, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Its portfolio currently comprises 16 innovative companies, including fintech firms like Jar and Kreditbee, food/agritech companies like Jai-Kisan and Jumbotail, skill development companies like Smartstaff and Cusmat, as well as SaaS companies like Spotdraft and Signzy.<br /><br />Says Rahul Chandra, Managing Director, Arkam, “Six of Arkam's Fund I investments are already leaders in their respective categories. They are redesigning markets with a tech-based business model and scaling rapidly to serve hundreds of millions of customers. We believe the middle India digitisation and SaaS opportunity will lead to the creation of 100 new mega businesses over the next decade.” <br /><br />Arkam plans to utilise Fund II to invest a greater amount of capital, and support its most promising founders, and companies during subsequent funding rounds. Additionally, the fund aims to enhance its portfolio advisory services, specifically concentrating on areas such as organisational structure, go-to-market strategies, and finance and operational aspects.<br />

Tapping early-stage tech companies – Arkam Ventures announces launch of $180 million fund

<ul><li><strong>VC investments in India softened in the first quarter of 2023 but expected to pick up in the latter half of 2023 says a KPMG report.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>This quarter, VC investors were inclined to make smaller investments in startups with more reliable valuations.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>In Q1 2023, VC investment in Asia declined significantly, dropping from $25.5 billion in Q4 2022 to just $13.5 billion.</strong></li></ul>VC investment in India has softened in the January-March quarter of 2023 as investors were picky and scrutinized potential deals more intensely, says a Venture Pulse report by KPMG. <br /><br />VC investments went down to $2.1 billion in the quarter, down by 77% as compared to the same quarter last year when VCs poured in $9.1 billion into the market. <br /><br />“Despite the current slowdown in VC funding, macro factors in India remained relatively strong compared to other jurisdictions, which is driving optimism that the country will see a bounce back in VC investment in the later half of 2023,” said the report. <br /><br /><strong>The FOMO effect <br /></strong><br />VC investments in Q1 of 2023 hit a 11-quarter low, as VC investments were at $2.1 billion last in the second quarter of 2020 – right when the lockdowns had started. <br /><br />Soon after however came a boom time. KPMG says that Fear of Missing Out or FOMO drove a lot of VC investment in India in 2021 and early 2022. However, without the FOMO effect is now gone and VCs enhanced their focus on startup performance and profitability.<br /><br />“The biggest change in India is that the euphoria for deals has died down. The FOMO has gone. The big ticket deals have also dried up, which has had an outsized impact on our total investment numbers,” says Nitish Poddar, partner and national leader, PE KPMG in India. <br /><br />Fintech was still a major area of investment, with large deals such as PhonePe, NoBroker, KreditBee, and Insurance Dekho. Agtech and gaming also saw increased interest. However, edtech interest declined in Q1 2023 after a period of high enthusiasm. <br /><br />“But despite the visible decline, it’s important to know that a lot is still happening in India. The macros here are still very good. We’re still seeing a lot of funding in pre-series A deals. And we’re still seeing a lot of new micro funds being raised in the country — funds under $100 million with check sizes from $1–5 million,” says Poddar. <br /><br /><strong>VC investments in Asia decline, Down rounds go up <br /></strong><br />In Q1 2023, VC investment in Asia declined significantly, dropping from $25.5 billion in Q4 2022 to just $13.5 billion. This was the lowest quarter for VC investment in the region since Q2 2015, with several factors contributing to the decline. <br /><br />In China, a surge in Covid-19 cases impacted VC activity prior to the New Year holidays. Hong Kong was affected by rising interest rates and a slowdown in IPO activity, while India experienced investors becoming more selective with their investments. <br /><br />Japan was the only country in the region to see an increase in investment during Q1 2023, but the total was still far lower than Q1 2022. The data also shows that down rounds (when the pre-money valuation of a fundraising round is lower than the post-money valuation of the round previous) has gone up significantly in 2023 as compared to the last year, the report reveals. <br /><br />In Q1 2023, the global VC investment trend showed a decline in each quarter following its peak of over $200 billion in Q1 2022. By Q1 2023, the total VC investment worldwide had dropped significantly, falling well below $60 billion. <br /><br />The uncertain global market, which is impacted by factors such as rising interest rates, domestic and geopolitical challenges, economic concerns, and the war in Ukraine, meant that no region was immune to the changing market conditions. This resulted in investors becoming increasingly cautious and risk-averse, leading to a reduction in VC investment activity.<br />

FOMO out, scrutiny in: VC investments fall 77% in Q1 2023 says KPMG

<keyword id="46431" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="india-inc" source="Orion">India Inc</keyword> recorded 2,007 deals worth $127 billion last year, a 6 per cent decrease in deal volumes over 2021, despite the global macroeconomic conditions, a report showed on Friday.<br /><br />The year also recorded 11 multi-billion-dollar deals amounting to $82.5 billion and 97 deals valued between $100 and $999 million, amounting to $26.2 billion, according to <keyword id="10410446" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="grant-thornton-bharat" source="Orion">Grant Thornton Bharat</keyword>'s annual deal tracker report.<br /><br />The year 2022 also saw a 47 per cent increase in the values on the back of a few marquees deals that no other year witnessed.<br /><br />"It is worth noting that even against the global recession outlook, <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> has been faring well. However, deal activity witnessed two different phases, as the second half did not see the highs of the first half," said <keyword id="53115" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="shanthi" source="Orion">Shanthi</keyword> Vijetha, Partner-Growth at Grant Thornton Bharat.<br /><br />The Indian mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;A) space saw 477 deals worth $91.4 billion in 2022, a 200 per cent increase compared to 2021.<br /><br />Deal values were driven by the <keyword id="45123" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="hdfc" source="Orion">HDFC</keyword> and HDFC Bank merger ($40 billion), which was the biggest deal ever in Indian history. However, barring this deal, the year witnessed a significant increase in values showing the positive outlook of the Indian markets.<br /><br />The start-up and IT sectors dominated the space with 44 per cent of total volumes, while the banking and manufacturing sectors led the values, said the report.<br /><br />"Domestic and outbound M&amp;A continued to see momentum on the back of a resilient domestic economy, whereas private equity (PE) investments and inbound M&amp;A slowed down due to funding winter and global uncertainty," said Vijetha.<br /><br />The PE space saw 1,530 deals worth $35.4 billion, including four deals in the billion-dollar category and 66 deals valued between $100 million and $999 million, accounting for 63 per cent of total PE deal values with only 5 per cent of deal volumes.<br /><br />The start-up space attracted the most investment ($7.4 billion across 991 deals) with a slight decline of 8 per cent in volumes, compared to the 34 per cent decline in investments indicating lower ticket size investments, followed by e-commerce, which pulled in $6.6 billion and declined by 56 per cent in investments.<br /><br />Bengaluru topped the charts in volumes as most companies were born there, and Mumbai topped in values and accounted for 27 per cent of total values.<br /><br />The year witnessed the second-highest number of initial public offerings (IPO) listings in the last 11 years. However, this translated into 40 IPO listings raising $8.3 billion, a 38 per cent decrease in volumes and a 53 per cent decrease in values, the report said.<br /><br /><b>SEE ALSO:<br /></b><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/kreditbee-closes-200-million-series-d-from-advent-international-mufg-bank-others/articleshow/96791309.cms"><strong>KreditBee closes $200 million Series D from Advent International, MUFG Bank, others</strong></a><b><u><strong><br /></strong></u></b><b></b><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/lt-rvnl-ril-and-other-stocks-in-focus-on-friday/articleshow/96780357.cms"><strong>Sensex, Nifty50 end the first week of 2023 in the red – IT, financial services amongst top losers</strong></a>

India Inc logs 2,007 deals worth $127 bn last year, 6% down from 2021: Grant Thornton

<ul><li>The secondary investment round was led by TCV, D1 Capital Partners and Falcon Edge.</li><li>Interestingly, TCV is an early investor in companies like Netflix, Airbnb.</li><li><keyword id="6214644" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dream11">Dream11</keyword>'s <keyword id="51393" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="valuation">valuation</keyword> has doubled to $5 billion with the <keyword id="10986871" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="latest-funding">latest funding</keyword>.</li></ul><br />Dream11's parent company Dreamsports has raised $400 million in its latest funding round. With the same, the sportstech platform's valuation has reportedly almost doubled to $5 billion. <br /><br />Dream11's new<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/dream-11-valued-at-close-to-5-billion-after-400-million-fund-raise/articleshow/81668237.cms"> valuation</a> brings it to the league of India's most valued unicorns like Paytm ($16 billion), BYJU'S ($12 billion), OYO ($9 billion), Zomato ($5 billion) among others.<br /><br />The secondary investment round was led by investors TCV, D1 Capital Partners and Falcon Edge, while the company's earlier investors Tiger Global, ChrysCapital, TPG Growth, Steadview Capital and Footpath Ventures too participated in the round. <br /><br />Earlier in August last year, Dream Sports had raised $225 million from Tiger Global, TPG Tech Adjacencies (TTAD), ChrysCapital and Footpath Ventures.<br /><br />Interestingly, TCV is an early investor in companies like Netflix, Airbnb.<br /><br />"India is home to the world's largest and most energetic sports fan base with a dynamic mix that is unique to the subcontinent. Dream Sports is serving this community with a highly innovative product offering,” said Gopi Vaddi, general partner at TCV.<br /><br />Dream11's funding comes as the Indian Premier League is set to take place between April and May, 2021. The fantasy gaming platform sees a majority of its revenue coming from the IPL. <br /><br />The 13-year old startup had also become the title sponsor for the last edition of the Indian Premier League.<br /><br />Last year, the company had also entered into sports merchandising. <br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/dream11-gets-225-million-in-fresh-funds-valuation-could-hit-2-5-billion-for-the-gaming-unicorn/articleshow/78101706.cms">Dream11's parent firm gets $225 million in fresh funds – valuation could hit $2.5 billion for the gaming unicorn</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/peter-thiel-backed-vc-firm-valar-ventures-invests-in-indian-fintech-startup-velocity/articleshow/81663073.cms">Peter Thiel-backed VC firm Valar Ventures invests in Indian fintech startup Velocity</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/personal-loan-platform-kreditbee-app-raises-70-million-in-its-series-c-round/articleshow/81626620.cms">Lending platform KreditBee raises $70 million in its series C round, a month after it got $75 million</a></strong><br />

You Searched For "kreditbee startup" and got 11 results

India's startup economy stares at deepening funding winter in 2023

IANS

This Motilal Oswal-backed startup is planning to issue a million credit-based cards in the next 150 days relying on the $2 billion worth loans it disbursed

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BharatAgri raises ₹35 crore in Series A funding led by Arkam Ventures

BI India Bureau

51 start-ups from India likely to become unicorns in three years

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Indian startup funding slumps 75% YoY to $2.8 billion in Jan-Mar, as macro challenges weigh

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Lending startup KreditBee gets ₹545 crore from Premji invest, Mirae Asset and others

IANS

Lending platform KreditBee raises $70 million in its series C round, a month after it got $75 million

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Tapping early-stage tech companies – Arkam Ventures announces launch of $180 million fund

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FOMO out, scrutiny in: VC investments fall 77% in Q1 2023 says KPMG

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India Inc logs 2,007 deals worth $127 bn last year, 6% down from 2021: Grant Thornton

IANS

Dream11 parent co raises $400 million from Netflix, Airbnb investor – valuation doubles to $5 billion

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