Karthik Sridharan

Thank you, Siddhartha Ahluwalia, for hosting me on The Neon Show India has 6000+ SaaS/ AI companies, 15 companies have crossed $100M in revenue. Key insight from building and exiting Eka Software Solutions, an enterprise focused vertical global SaaS company - for those looking to build and scale software products from India, remember that it's not just about the technology but also about Go to market, understanding the global customer, continuous product innovation, and staying adaptable. This podcast captures the essence of building a global company from India through some very good questions. 🎧 Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gvnZsvq8 #SaaS #B2BSaaS #Podcast #Entrepreneurship #India #Startup #Tech #Innovation SaaSBoomi Together

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✨ Our Managing Partner, Jatin Desai, shares his insights with Entrepreneur India on the current landscape of seed funding in India. He states how the 'Startup India' initiative has significantly influenced investor sentiment towards tech startups, particularly at the seed-stage level. 💼 Dive deeper into Jatin’s insights by reading the full article on Entrepreneur India! #inflexorventures #innovation #seedfunding #seed #funding #venturecapital #india https://lnkd.in/gMaKnaav

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💰 Surat-based IVY Growth Associates launches a ₹250 Cr VC fund, Arigato Capital aimed at investing in pre-Series A startups. 🤖 The fund, led by Prateek Toshniwal and team, targets sectors like agritech, cleantech, and generative AI, with an average investment size of $500,000. 🌍 Special focus on building global connections in the Middle East, US, and Europe. First close at ₹100 Cr expected by mid-2025. 🔗 Read more on the link in our comments section 👇

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Amid the rising competition in the quick commerce space, Zepto is looking to raise $650 Mn from new and existing investors. The funding round, which will be led by existing backer Nexus Venture Partners and its limited partner StepStone Group, will bump up the startup’s valuation to $3.5 Bn from its last valuation of $1.4 Bn, Moneycontrol reported. 🚀 Join the startup revolution! Follow StartupTrak for the latest and hottest startup news, inspiring stories, and game-changing innovations! 💯❤️🔥 . . #Zepto #QuickCommerce #FundingRound #StartupFunding #VentureCapital #NexusVenturePartners #StepStoneGroup #StartupValuation #TechStartups #Ecommerce #FundingNews #Investment #GrowthFunding #ZeptoGrowth #IndiaStartups #BusinessExpansion #Innovation #TechInvestment #MarketLeadership #Moneycontrol #StartupNews #StartupTrak

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We asked our customers recently to record what they think of Naarica ! And the videos and comments we got were so motivating for the team. Here's one for you to see 👇👇 #smallbusiness #founder #startup #startupsinindia #startupindia

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What Value Addition does a VC has to make? Gear up folks! Hosting Prapti Patel for an exciting session today on “Value Addition by VCs.” Prapti will also be sharing insights from her personal experiences as a VC and the value she added as a VC to her portfolio companies. Requesting all the fellows to be on time and take part in this interesting conversation. #venturecapital #valueaddition #vccareers

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[For founders & investors] Most underrated practice while making an investment decisions. I just found this beautiful short video of Amit Singh. Founders can fake passion & resilience in a short calls /meets but can't do it in a longer calls / meets. Amazing strategy. Thanks Prashant Choubey for the the video.

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#Funding Alert : EvolveX Accelerator for Pre Seed Startups After successfully investing in 28 startups across 4 cohorts in last 18 months, we are inviting investment proposals from young pre-seed and seed startups. We at We Founder Circle have started this dedicated funding & mentoring program to support extremely early ventures. And already we have some great successful high growth companies like oll.co ParkMate In Plus Gold Humors Tech UcliQ Ugees Ambitio EcoRatings NIKOL EV CHARGING STATION Maidaan The Energy Company & many others. What you'll gain: 👉 Upfront #seed funding of $30K 👉 Expert mentorship from seasoned entrepreneurs and industry leaders 👉 Network and collaborate with like-minded founders… WFC portfolio is now 100+ startups 👉 Personalized guidance to address your unique challenges 👉 Showcase your idea to bigger investors and partners on Pitch day/Demo day For more info, refer FAQs: https://lnkd.in/gsEEwuKa Founders can also email us at pitch@evolvexaccelerator.com Requesting our community to please help us finding deserving entrepreneurs. Happy to collaborate with #incubators #ecells #accelerators #communities LetsBuildItTogether Avinya Ventures Invstt

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Market Shifts / Trends are always fascinating to us. Currently SDReady is seeing an increase in India based Founders, *with US funds, seeking US based sales teams! Context: Seed2C only takes on 1 new client per month, and 3 of our 4 newest clients have India based Founders, that raised US capital, now seeking US sales teams. Where previously we saw more US based Founders, with US Capital, outsourcing Dev and Support to India. #Sales #SalesDev

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When I started my business, I didn't have any fancy degrees or a huge network. Just a DREAM to BUILD something big. Had the Aakash of 7 years ago found an ecosystem which could guide him to the right path, the 7-year journey would’ve taken 4. This is exactly what I want to do… What Ananta Capital did for me, I want to do for entrepreneurs. I’m on the hunt for dreamers like me who want to build, and are ready to join my pack! If you are a young entrepreneur with predatory instincts and a vision to disrupt the market, you belong at Wolfpack Labs. We are the next-generation venture studio, a community built on the strength and support of a pack. We're here to enable passionate founders, the ones with ideas that can change the world but lack the resources to do so. No matter what stage you’re at, 1. At Inception, still polishing your idea? We’re There.✅ 2. Early stage? Reaching towards the next level? We’ll Back you.✅ 3. Doing decent revenue but facing challenges in scaling? We enter via Wolfpack and help you scale with the right GTM.✅ This is Wolfpack Labs. This is the future. 🐺 Join the pack. More updates from Wolfpack on my profile soon! www.Wolfpacklabs.vc #WolfpackLabs #BellaVita #entrepreneurship #venturestudio #venturecapital #entrepreneurlife #startupdreams #community #letsbuildsomethingawesome Thank You YourStory Media Payal Ganguly

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📣 Announcing: Fastrack to Residency through a Warm Intro If you are an exceptional founder (individual or team) that’s just starting up, Nitin Sharma & I are spending 2 full days next week at the Antler India Residency office (in Bangalore) on Aug 1st & 2nd to directly talk to you!    The only twist - you need to reach us through someone who knows you - and knows us too! Why are we doing this - we announced last month that we are investing $500k in 20 companies (amounting to $10Mn in the next 6 months). This is our endeavour to deliver faster and bigger on this promise!  What we promise - is a decision into the Residency within 24 hours of us meeting you (over one of those 2 days). Here’s how it will work -  (1) Find someone in our networks (cue: some of them would have shared this post on their LinkedIn / Twitter) or would have engaged with us in the past   (2) Show us you are super resourceful :) Ask them to email us / Whatsapp us / tweet to us / message us on LI - any of the Antler team members that they know (there’s 18 of us!) - to give a warm intro to you. Convince them to write at least a good line or two about you :)   (3) Send us your best pitch deck once we connect with you (4) All shortlisted individuals and teams (best of the best) will get a direct slot with Antler India on Aug 1/2 to meet us IRL  (5) You will get a decision to get into the Antler India Residency (for a $500k commitment) before Aug 3rd! What about the other cities - Rest assured, we plan to do this in NCR and Mumbai very soon! Looking forward to meeting many of you exceptional builders next week!

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upGrad Secures $35M Debt Funding from EvolutionX Indian edtech unicorn upGrad has now secured $35 million loans in Debt Funding from EvolutionX. The latest fund-raise happens to be the first this year from a debt perspective for the Mumbai-based company. The board at upGrad has approved issuance of a total of 28,75,000 fully - convertible debentures (FCD) for an issue price Rs 1000 each to secure these funds from the Mauritius-based Kalpavriksha Foundation. The funds will be used to support growth initiatives, operating expenses and for general corporate purposes. Including this round of funding, upGrad raised over $265 million to date. That includes the $36.5 million it had lured in via a rights issue from Temasek, founder Ronnie Screwvala and other in May of last year. upGrad, which is backed by Temasek had been in talks to raise $100 million for acquisition of online education startup Udacity As per TheKredible report with 20.7% stake, the largest investor in upGrad is Temasek and co-founder & chairperson Ronnie Screwvala owns a significant chunk as well at 22.4%. In 2022, upGrad expanded into the offline higher education space, investing $30 million to establish ten global campuses across India, the US, and other regions. The company has seen significant growth, with operational revenue increasing by 72% to Rs 1,194 crore in FY23, up from Rs 692 crore in FY22. However, this growth has been accompanied by an 82% rise in losses, reaching Rs 1,114 crore in FY23. upGrad has yet to file its annual results for FY24. #EdTech #Funding #Investment #DebtFunding #upGrad #EvolutionX #HigherEducation #EdTechNews #StartupGrowth #CorporateFinance #EducationTechnology #TechInvestment #RonnieScrewvala #Temasek #BusinessExpansion

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India's deeptech landscape is at a crucial point. Nasscom’s latest report shows that 70% of deeptech startups are worried about not having enough capital for computing operations. On the flip side, over 70% of investment firms are hesitant because these high-potential ventures need patient capital due to their long gestation periods. It's a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation! To really support our deeptech startups and their groundbreaking innovations, we need to rethink our funding approach. This is where we hope the government can step in with some help. Co-investment programs, grants, and tax credits for R&D could make a huge difference. By working together, we can ensure our deeptech startups have the support they need to push boundaries and lead the way in technological innovation. #Deeptech #StartupEcosystem #Innovation #Funding #VentureCapital #GovernmentSupport #IndiaTech #RnD

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CHANNELIAM FUNDING TRACKER RECENT UPDATES: 1. #Wealthtech startup Dezerv raises $32 Mn in Series B 2. GOAT Brand Labs raises $21 Mn in debt and equity 3. Felicity Games raises $700K from DeVC, Nandan Reddy, Kunal Shah and others 4. Qarmatek Services Private Limited raises $1 Mn in pre-Series A round 5. Centriti raises Rs 6 crore in funding round led by Emergent Ventures India 6. Prosus Group to lead $100 million funding in BlueStone 7. #Recycling startup Ricron Panels bags Series A funding from Boon Sustainability, Others

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One reason for my failure as founder was that I blindly followed - "You Must Think Big" advice. BTW - Thinking Big is good. Everyone should do it. The problem? We don't "think" Big We copy other's Big I had 100s of conversations (especially with VCs, new founders), that go like this - Me: I want to build a 100-crore business People: you are thinking small, think 1000-crore minimum Me: I want to build a 1000-crore business People: you are thinking small, think 10000-crore minimum For, some founders, unicorns are big For, Elon Musk, unicorns are breakfast Point? No matter how big you think. It will be small for someone. What is a truly "Think Big"? Something that's - 1. scary but reachable 2. inspires everyday 3. not rooted in comparison We must Think-Big because it's only when we push our limits that we feel the most satisfied. Ask this question next time - Would I still be pursuing this goal if I am the first one ever to pursue this and if no one else is watching me or will watch me ever? The answer to the above question will give your own Think-Big. PS: I have made this mistake a couple of times, before finally learning from it. ***** Follow Shubham Bansal for unfiltered life stories & learnings

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Huddle Ventures, a Gurgaon-based venture capital firm, announced that its second fund, initially targeted at ₹100 crore, has been oversubscribed and will close at ₹150 crore. This demonstrates growing investor confidence in the firm’s ability to support early-stage startups across various sectors. Founded by Ishaan Khosla and Sanil Sachar, Huddle Ventures focuses on early-stage investments, providing both capital and strategic support. The firm plans approximately 20 investments from this fund, with initial amounts ranging from $500k to $1 million per company. #VentureCapital #StartupFunding #EarlyStageInvesting #HuddleVentures #Fundraising #InvestorConfidence #TechStartups #AgriTech #FinTech #HealthcareInvesting #startup77

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Mumbai-based edtech unicorn upGrad has reported raised Rs 287.5 crore (approximately $35 million) in debt from EvolutionX, Entrackr reported, citing the company's regulatory filing. The report said the edtech unicorn will use the raised capital for growth, operating expenses, and general corporate purposes. #edtech #bengaluru #unicorn #debt #loan #funding #indianstartupnews

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