After graduating from Hindu College, Delhi University, Akshay Gupta began exploring ideas to start a business. Gupta, who was inspired by Comic-Con, the globally popular entertainment and comic book convention, zeroed in on the pet care industry to start his events business. “Events around pets do very well in the West and the space offered a promising business opportunity in…
Traditionally known for a steady, measured approach to business growth, America's Heartland is becoming a scene for fast-paced startup innovation and consequently, a focus for investors. This setting provides numerous benefits for founders and startup teams as previous barriers to entry give way to momentum, and new founders face less friction in their endeavors. When we were evaluating cities for…
Seven startups together raised around $50 million in angel, seed and venture capital funding across sectors including agriculture, financial technology, big data, healthcare and artificial intelligence last week. The funding activity was primarily led by global investors such as Singtel Innov8, China’s Fosun, Quona Capital. U.S.- and Bengaluru-based big data startup Qubole raised $25 million (Rs 163 crore) in fresh…
Those reports from the summer that Volvo's parent company had snapped up flying car startup Terrafugia? They were true. Geely has officially completed its acquisition of Terrafugia, turning it into a fully-owned subsidiary of the Chinese automotive giant. Terrafugia will remain based in the US and will continue working on flying cars, but it will have Geely's deep pockets and…
Bengaluru and New Delhi may be the big boys of India’s startup club, but a bunch of smaller cities are increasingly making their presence felt. Driven largely by incubators and tech parks, startup ecosystems are mushrooming in tier 2 and tier 3 towns, and the likes of Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Indore, and Kochi are emerging as new hubs. A fifth of…
THE INTERNET LOVES a good outrage, even over something as mundane as taxes. Over the weekend, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs fumed at a provision in the Senate Republicans’ proposed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that would affect how stock options are taxed. The change threatens to upend the way startups pay their employees, which has historically been a key advantage…
Arcus Biosciences, with its intriguing cancer pipeline and big shot CEO, has been a VC favorite since its inception in 2015. Now, Google’s venture arm is backing the Bay Area startup in a new $107 million round, bringing the company’s total haul to a quarter billion in startup capital in two years. The latest infusion of cash was led by…
Chinese electric vehicle startup Nio has raised more than $1 billion in its latest fundraising round, led by existing investor Tencent Holdings Ltd, valuing the firm at about $5 billion, two people with knowledge of the matter said. New investors in the round include U.S. hedge fund Lone Pine Capital, Chinese investment firm CITIC Capital and Scottish fund manager Baillie…
Personal finance management startup Fisdom has raised its second round of institutional funding of Rs 25 crore led by Quona Capital. Venture capital fund Saama Capital, which led the first round of Rs 7 crore last October, also participated in this round. Fisdom is a platform that allows users to make financial and investment decisions for long-term financial planning. The…
Paytm, India's largest online payments and mobile wallet company, will invest another Rs 5,000 crore in the business over the next three years, founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said, while playing down competition from deep-pocketed global giants including Google. "The biggest threat for us will be us, not anybody else," Sharma said in an interview. But the entry of global companies,…