Pawan Prabhat

Shashank Bijapur co-founder and CEO of SpotDraft, our portfolio company, ran a terrific panel at the Arkam Innovation Summit. He covered a lot of ground with Manish Jethani Co-founder and CEO of Hevo Data Data, and Gaurav Sharma Founder, and CEO of SaaSLabs .    Here are some key takeaways that stayed with me: Initial journey of identifying the problem statement and figuring out the solution during the early days at SaaS Labs and Hevo Data After selling his first company in the US, Gaurav returned to India. All he wanted to do was make $4-5 K living in India, so he started out by building tools for Shopify users. But when those tools rapidly grew to half a million in recurring revenue, Gaurav realized that he could build anything, be anywhere in the world, and sell it worldwide. Manish believes that your product has to solve a personal problem in addition to an industrial one. Once you start the journey as an entrepreneur, financial success will not satisfy you. “What one problem can you solve even if the financial outcome is not that great?” Deciding whether to validate the product in India and move to the US versus taking a US market-first approach Selling in India is hard, especially in the early days. As Gaurav said, "if you sell a $10 product, you must create an invoice, and then they’ll make the payment in 60 days. So, it became very hard to make a profit. From this, I realized that India is not ready to buy software yet, so the best model would be to build it in India and sell it across the world" Manish believes customer needs and expectations are completely different across India and the US. It's quite challenging to build a product for India and expect it to succeed in the US. So, from day one, he focused on the US market-first approach. Establishing product differentiation during the early days of growing in the US market? Initially, the number one challenge for Manish was to sell a product that their target audience could build themselves. Hevo Data needed needed financial and operational data from companies, which nobody shares easily. Most companies prefer to build a product in-house and work with that tool. So, Manish decided to find initial customers who meet three criteria: they should not want to build a product in-house, they should be fine with sharing the data, and they should be from the US. Aspects of the business that changed from 0-1 to 1-10 journey and beyond To get initial customers, Gaurav decided to integrate his product into larger companies to get more eyes on it. To sustain this growth, Gaurav bet on excellent customer service, which is “an unfair advantage for Indian SaaS,” as he says. His customer service and fast responses became the talk of the town amongst his customers. Here’s the full video video. Well worth your time to listen to three $10M+ ARR SaaS founders at the top of their game.   Arkam Ventures https://lnkd.in/gP_YT-gV

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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

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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

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V3 Ventures Deal Announcement: Creme Castle - A tech first driven assembly line bakery for Bharat! 🔥 While I was evaluating this file, a lot of people said - bakery? There are 100s of home bakers. How is this scalable? I would have agreed, until I met Pranjay Mittal, who brought innovation from IIT-D, FMS and CarDekho Group to his mom’s humble bakery in Noida. You might remember their Shark Tank episode where his mom famously said, “Main neend mein baking kar sakti hu” 😊 That passion is exactly what we want in founders! From a small bakery in Noida to now clocking monthly sales of over 1 Cr, Creme Castle is disrupting the $12.6 billion Indian bakery industry. 🎂 Here is why we invested… ✅Changing consumer behavior from mithai → cakes & desserts India is a land of festivals and no festival is complete without mithai. However, cakes & desserts are now taking center stage in these celebrations. as the Gen Z takes over. We all know India is trading up. So, there's a growing demand for Tiramisu in Tier 2 and 3. But, we’re lacking a player. ✅The Assembly Line Model: And, we need a player that’s standardized. The biggest problem with F&B is that when you order from the 2nd and 3rd outlet - the product isn’t as good. This is the most unique part of Creme Castle. Cakes are made in 3 components in a central kitchen - base (sponge), icing and customization. At spoke kitchen it’s only about putting these parts together - thus ensuring quality! ✅This industry is regionalized and heavily fragmented: Think about it, growing up, we all had cakes from our favorite local bakery. Every city has one, but when we moved for college or work - it wasn’t there. Cakes have a nostalgia factor associated with it and so making this change is hard. With all of this Creme Castle is can offer something India hasn’t seen before: - 100% customized cakes in just 2 hours - World's highest # of flavor profiles to choose from They have >10 Lakh loyal customers with a 60% repeat rate and we’re all geared up to expand from NCR to Jaipur and Chandigarh! We’re excited to back the mother-son duo of Veena and Pranjay to disrupt India’s cake market 🎂 What’s do you order cake? PS: Delhi-NCR folks, give us a try. Even available on Blinkit! #india #investment #startup #investor #entrepreneur

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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

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Imagine a world where technology meets healthcare at every corner, enhancing every aspect of medical care. Yet, in India's bustling #startup ecosystem—a realm that celebrates billion-dollar valuations in fintech and e-commerce—health-tech lingers in the shadows, underfunded and undervalued. In 2023, out of the impressive $10 billion funnelled into Indian startups, a mere 4% made its way into #healthtech. This stark disparity not only highlights a significant oversight but also underscores a critical gap in a sector that impacts the very essence of human well-being. Investing in health-tech is not merely a financial decision; it's a commitment to securing a healthier future. Enhanced #healthcare technologies can lead to improved diagnosis, treatment efficiencies, and overall public health management. Globally, nations like the USA and Germany are pouring significant investments into health-tech, recognising its profound impact on health outcomes and economic stability. Contrastingly, India’s conservative investment patterns could lead to long-term challenges in the healthcare system’s capacity to manage emerging health issues. In this under-explored frontier, Flabs is making a difference. Our mission is clear: enable every individual to access quality healthcare, beginning with the diagnostic labs that form the backbone of medical diagnosis. Our innovative SaaS platform is revolutionising how these labs operate, significantly boosting their accuracy and efficiency. This enhancement in lab operations directly translates into improved healthcare services for the end consumer. "The image below illustrates the stark contrast between India's rapid tech advancements and its outdated healthcare practices—time for change."

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Not many people know the amount of focus we have on Tech at GGI. I am part of a generation in which Edtech has a bad name. I genuinely think the honest objective with which Edtech started has been lost somewhere in the rounds of #funding, exits, youtubers bashing each other game. Edtech was started to ensure the child without books, infrastructure or desk studies realizes her full potential - because of the power of internet. In a world where majority of Edtech are now investing in offline centres -(too much on the name of Edtech). We at GGI are continously building larger and purposeful technology to teach #Reimagined Management and Public Policy to those who are in the remotest corner of not just India but the globe. It's been 4 years since we are building and rebuilding #TheTrinity by GGI (link in comment). It hosts few of the top masterclasses by legendary CEOs and Chairman on our internal platform (BlackRock Asia Chairman, McKinsey & Company Global CEO, BCG Chairman etc). And I always tell our scholars to not do Netflix and chill. Replace it with Trinity and chill while at GGI. Why ? Because getting entertained is easy but getting educated is tough. I am very proud of the tech interns who have contributed to our mission to only later join Google, Bain and Amazon. Hence to bring Edtech on the main map again- We need players who are focussed on mission and not driven by IRRs or short term investor game. (nothing wrong with investors if you can stay true to your long term mission). And we at GGI are proud to be contributing to India's 🇮🇳 Management and Policy #Education story with one Good Tech at a time!

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HSBC's recent assessment values Byju's at $0, along with other unicorn startups like Meesho, Pharmeasy, and StackOverflow Valuation down from previous round. This highlights the importance of focusing on value creation over valuation in the startup ecosystem. An exemplary case is Zoho, which revolutionized the software as a service market without external funding, emphasizing customer success. #startup #funding #valuation [Read more](https://lnkd.in/dPk7i8Jh)

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Thank you Avinash Tripathi & YesUsers . Interesting questions which were out of syllabus 😁 made it very natural! My favourite question is finally addressed in open. It is already asked more than 100 times one-to-one. It was once asked in our Rashtra Bhasha I remember, "Ab aapko khane ke vandhe toh nahi honge, achi khasi naukri mil sakti hai, fir kyu vapas startup life mai ja rahe ho?" Listen it Out for the answer! & By the way talking about decade of #fintech just means we started our career early! Good years in hand for Forbes 40Under40 still 😬 ! Syncing in with Srikanth Gundavaram #podcast #entrepreneurs #startuplife

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Finsire has recently started its learning series - Ideally by chatting with the best folks in the Industry. Here, with Siddharth Shetty, Co-founder and CTO of Account Aggregator (AA) from DigiSahamati Foundation, we speak about the data exchange's inception, growth, and future in India. - We use AA for various reasons, including pushing boundaries in India's data exchange layer with various use cases. - It's been about three years since it went live, and over 70 million cumulative Indian accounts are linked. - One-of-a-kind data sharing network from India that is not seen anywhere across the globe, baring Singapore with https://lnkd.in/gyrCQtVQ - Different approach to protect consumers as compared to the previous models that existed to attain consumer data by various methods used by Plaid or Salt Edge Onemoney Finvu (Cookiejar Technologies) Protean eGov Technologies Anumati by Perfios AA NADL - Account Aggregator Computer Age Management Services Limited KFin Technologies Ltd. Enjoy - Please click on the link below and watch the video!

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I wrote a piece for YourStory Media about “How account aggregators are reshaping the borrower-lender relationship” It covers how account aggregators are driving a paradigm shift in the financial sector, transforming the way financial data is accessed, utilised, and shared. The article is pinned in the comments Would love your thoughts on it. 

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THE LARGEST FUND RAISE OF 2024 IS HERE $665 M raised in the latest round of #venturecapital valuing the #ecommerce company at $3.6 B This one’s the largest fundraisers this year abd clearly signaling the spiralling growth of #quickcommerce in the country and thd changing consumer preferences in terms of his regularly grocery needs Big shout out to Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya V. These two young guns are creating history in the country with Zepto What’s interesting is that the venture partners like Nexus Venture Partners who had been part of the Series A and now this latest massive round also reinforces the point that the investors who believe in a product #startup continue to invest in the same while it’s the Founder’s vision who they really support We can only see more competitive offers for consumers be it from Blinkit Swiggy and bigbasket.com https://lnkd.in/dZAeBFSd

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Startup Investment - Returns on Acquisition Vinay Kumar Sankarapu is the Co-Founder & CEO of Arya.ai, a platform that offers the ‘AI’ cloud for Banks, Insurers & Financial Services institutions to find the right AI APIs, Expert AI Solutions & comprehensive AI Governance tools required to deploy trustable and self-learning AI engines. When Arya.ai first pitched their vision of revolutionizing conversational AI for Indian languages, it was met with skepticism. However, a few visionary investors saw the potential & took a chance. Fast forward to today & their conviction has paid off handsomely !! With Arya.ai's groundbreaking technology & unwavering execution, they've attracted the attention of a tech giant, resulting in a blockbuster acquisition !! The initial investors who believed in the Founders' dream from the start are now reaping the rewards of their foresight !! Some of them have reportedly seen returns exceeding 50x on their initial investment, turning their modest contributions into life-changing windfalls. This acquisition is a testament to the power of backing innovative ideas & the potential rewards that await those who dare to invest in the future !! If you would also like to have such kind of opportunities to create wealth for yourself then please join my network. https://lnkd.in/d6r8DVZS

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Co-lead a workshop (with Sumathi my business partner and Komal lath of Tute Consult) on branding and communication and why/how its' strategic & important for the portfolio companies of an early stage growth focused PE fund in Mumbai this noon. very interactive session. lots of takeaways. one of the biggest benefits of doing such workshops with founders and CXOs of growth companies is that you get to first hand understand their pain points and priorities. which makes you realize there is a long road ahead laden with great opportunity for those in PR & comms if we take off our hats and look at it from their perspective.

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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

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After a successful chapter in Mumbai with 150+ founders, GrowthX is coming to Namma Bengaluru to impact the revenue journeys of 400+ founders. This masterclass is designed to be extremely high ROI for founders solving pure DHANDA. Also gives you a taste of the experience which helped 350+ founders inside GrowthX clock $150Mn in revenue last year. I’m attending the masterclass to uncover three things: 1️⃣ An intense learning session - Design a low CAC distribution channel for your product. - Learn to attract, build and retain early growth stage talent. 2️⃣ Founder-focused fireside chat Growing revenue is a lonely battle, hear from Saurabh Jain, Sudarshan Ravi, Rasik Pansare & Arvind Singh on how they navigate through this journey. 3️⃣ Founder-focused networking session Speak to a diverse selection of Seed to Series B+ founders. Build your inner circle to learn & soundboard with each other. The current market demands revenue growth & If you’re defining the 1-year revenue growth roadmap this will be a super high ROI for your time. Register here - https://lnkd.in/gavwD3VZ

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if you know, you know Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures. nerd. founder. wise. man. been there done that sv. wisdom. it's missing. let's face it. it's always been missing over time. for.ever. so it's a blessing truly to have an o.g. that keeps it for reals. yes we are a fan. much like Jensen Huang Fei-Fei Li ilya sutskever ...and other good people in sv. they are the ones who make this place so special. indeed they do. here https://lnkd.in/exWqey9K we have sam i am that's all that i am sam (alt)man having a 1-1 with the man. this is a must watch to provide a foundational (no llm required here) mindset as to how sv is at it's best (and worse). caution. watch out for the truth bombs. vinod is (in)famous for this style and we <love> him for it. thank g-d he exists. if you meet the dbags in sf/bayarea your experience you will be quickly lonely, dazed and confused. best to listen to these wise words from vinod and from that determine your spot in the sv landscape. with an insight on the sv playbook from a master. well. need i say more. it's about the very spirit of sv that makes it so special. and this is indeed embodied in a few who are masters. deserve our attention. yeah. yeah. i know attention is all you need. although what happens if your attention is being distracted from building. being in the company of those who will join your mission ala brian chesky of Airbnb. missionaries. search for the good missionaries in sv. keep away and keep in mind of the mercenaries. they are there. pg. he's another gift (as opposed to the grifters) paul graham wrote about this too https://lnkd.in/eEYmQwqZ - being a chesky-esque missionary. these are good things to follow on the path of achieving escape velocity as an (ai) startup. oh. hollywood has entered the ranks of sv. yes it has. so there is a bit of performance art that is required. not enough that you've created something that's novel (truly, novel). also requires a bit of showmanship. audacious in fact. it's a well known sentiment that audacious ideas motivate people. sun microsystems. audacious. juniper. audacious. OpenAI. vinod as an early investor. audacious. Vinod Khosla was born audacious. so fitting he found a place in this world where many have benefitted from this sentiment. perhaps years ago a bit on the abrasive side. now with those white hairs. the elder statesman. non-diplomat. rules, the roost of that which allows for others to flourish. note if you manage to thread the needle of vinod means that it's a very very very good beginning. nothing is guaranteed of course. as my lawyer 'friends' like to say. * buyer beware. be aware. Vinod Khosla is. are you (ai)? are you?? perhaps yes. perhaps, non. < . >