Till 2024 election market will be sluggish. 
  
 Post that if geopolitical situation improves, expect stability in financial markets with low inflation. 
  
 Then only outflow will be like 2020 - 22.

Product Manager

Senior Consultant

More money in market and more funding for startups.

I feel that too but there are multiple things to do yk

Software Developer

My first thought is that, inflation adjusted returns will soon become lucrative for investors as some amount of capital returns to VC Funds.   Any other thoughts/differing PoVs?

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

My first thought is that, inflation adjusted returns will soon become lucrative for investors as some amount of capital returns to VC Funds. 

Any other thoughts/differing PoVs?

How will this impact Indian Startups/Jobs in 2024?

How will this impact Indian Startups/Jobs in 2024?- Grapevine

Too many instances of global funds entering India. This will be interesting. The big existing ones (Peak, LSIP, Accel, Elevation) will be forced to deploy because the new ones will  have a lot more appetite. 

General Catalyst investing in Zepto for example. Entering with a bang.
Glade Brook, GC, and rumours of the two biggest ones in the US - one that used to exist earlier here.

Interesting times ahead for founders and invest.

Indian VC ecosystem heating up, global funds incoming

Investment Associate

As we bid farewell to the challenges of the past, let's delve into why 2024 is poised to be a game-changer for the Indian Startups! 🚀

In 2020, the world weathered the storm of COVID, followed by unprecedented quantitative easing. We then saw that in 2021 the bull run came soaring. Investors, fueled by the appetite for riskier assets led to a funding boom for startups as salaries soared.

Fast forward to 2022, and the music is about to stop. The realization that the Fed would hike rates to curb inflation means that funding is about to dry up as big money will be invested away into debt/T-Bills. Though demand remained robust, the stock market felt the impact as JPow raised the interest rates. 

Late 2022 and 2023 saw the tech landscape experiencing layoffs, and startups facing significant headwinds. It’s a wonder  if anyone raised this year.

But here's the twist—2024 looks brighter. The stock markets have rebounded to all-time highs, signaling that things may be on the rise. Despite geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and Iraq, the macro outlook for India shines bright. 

For Indian Startups? VC Funding is still here to stay. So keep your heads down and keep building. From what I am hearing, it is set to make a roaring comeback. There is now significant rationality in the funding ecosystem leading to realistic valuations.

However, this revival will come with a plot twist. Newer companies, fueled by fresh funding, are set to rise, while most of the lofty valuations of those who raised in 2021 are about to crash and burn.

So buckle up folks. Let’s see where it takes us.

What do you think? 🤔

[Thread] Why 2024 is going to be a massive hit for the ecosystem?

Reads like an year end address from the company MD before the employees realize there are going to be no increments this year

Business Development Manager

In a landmark deal, Silicon Valley powerhouse General Catalyst has acquired Venture Highway, a seed-stage investment firm with a track record of backing winners like Meesho and Mobile Premier League.

The Deal:
- Rare instance of consolidation in the Indian VC market
- VH to be rebranded as General Catalyst India
- GC plans to invest $500 million to $1 billion in India over the next three years
- Acquisition driven by desire to build strong local team and tap into local LP network

But the move also raises important questions. Will this trigger a wave of consolidation in the Indian VC market? Will other global firms follow suit and snap up local players to gain a foothold in the country? And how will this influx of foreign capital shape the trajectory of India's startup ecosystem?

As the dust settles on this landmark deal, one thing is clear: India's startup scene is entering a new era, one where local innovation and global capital are increasingly intertwined.  Always long on India 🇮🇳

Image Credits: The Arc

General Catalyst's Venture Highway Acquisition: A Strategic Play for India 🇮🇳

Journalist

While there are lot of VCs coming out with their ‘expert’ outlook on 2024, let’s be real to share our own predictions. Idea is to share and learn and not just mudsling.

Let me go first with few of my own

1. Neobanking will go belly up - it’s really hard to make money in just Savings account led neobanking I believe. With lending increasingly difficult, I think we will see likes of Jupiter going belly up

2. Gold mine of climate tech - climate tech will become more mainstream stream (similar to content and community in 2021, D2C in 2022 and SaaS in 2023)

What are yours?

What are your predictions for 2024 Indian Startup ecosystem?

Founder

This came out of nowhere. Poor investments? Executive troubles? Both?

Honestly the investing team lacked grit and commitment towards a founder or an investment. In late 2019 they finalised terms with us while an international investor was leading the round, they pulled out last minute because some random fuck company raised 2X the amount of our round from tier 1 vc. Now that company doesn’t exist anymore but I guess neither the fund…me too can never be an investment strategy but sadly this is pretty much how Indian vcs think. We’re still alive and growing 😁

Growth Manager

Analyst

Welcome to Personal Finance's Private Community

Interest rates will only increase. How this will impact job market a thread below! Share your opinion

Interest rates are not coming down anytime soon

Lawyer

Welcome to Business Roles's Private Community

Hey everyone. 

Thought I could do an AMA. A bit about me - have 4 years of work experience and graduated from a non engineering college. Was at a startup before (from Series B to Series D) before becoming a VC

Personally look at consumer and B2B investments here 

Happy to answer any questions around life as a junior VC, startup ecosystem, career growth etc.

AMA: I work at a large VC Fund focusing on early stage investments

This is the biggest problem with VC ecosystem 4 yoe kids taking calls on experienced, hardworking founders. Dude first learn the game then invest , judge people playing the game. VCs know nothing about how to run startups. Unless they have been entrepreneurs themselves. IMO It's a colossal waste of talent to become a VC for young PPL.

Software Engineer

There are essentially four parties in the startup economy:

1. The Consumer
2. The Enabler(read, Startup)
3. The Service Provider
4. The Investor

Now let's look at Game Theory motivations:

1. The Indian Consumer wants to minimise money spent per unit value extracted, the Western Consumer wants to maximise value extracted per unit money spent. (There's a massive difference.)

2. The Startup depending on the stage wants to maximise User Growth and Free Cash Flows.

3. The Service provider wants to maximise financial incentives.

4. The Investor is wants to maximise the XIRR of their fund. For this they need to reach a multibagger liquidity event.

Now let's look at what happens when:

1. The Consumer gets f'ed over: 

The startup attains pricing power through deep competitive moats allowing for monopolisation. They can jack up the prices to ensure nice FCF, greater rewards for Service Providers and great returns to their investors. (Think, Uber can charge anything to you now)

2. The Startup gets f'ed over: 

The users get bang for their buck, the service providers get good incentives, the investors push for higher growth but unfortunately the startup does not have enough capital to service their Cost of Operations through their unit economics, so they will either run out of cash or investor patience. Either ways, they are doomed. (Think every legit startup that failed)

3. The Service Provider get f'ed over: 

This is the likeliest scenario as they have the least power in this dynamic. Rewards will be reduced over time or made harder to achieve. They have no option because they got no option for sustenance. (Think any on-demand service providing app)

4. The investor gets f'ed over: 

Now imagine there is a startup that can balance the act very well. They have a service that users are willing to pay a margin on. They pay their service providers fairly and have decent unit economics. Now, the investor will do halla about destruction of shareholder value from little growth. (Is this the case with BluSmart?)

Maybe that's why building in India is tough.

[Rant] Here's why someone usually ends up f'ed over, for a startup to get successful in India

Welcome to News Discussion's Private Community

https://themorningcontext.com/internet/what-does-softbank-know-about-india-that-others-dont

Softbank is looking to offload India investments at any cost.

Can someone please upload a pdf?

What do you think is the next big thing for Indian Startups?

Welcome to Fintech India's Private Community

Seeing the S&P500 witness a spectacular "short" rally before popping, and then it becoming decidedly clear that even if the rate hikes were unlikely it was still going to be a long time before rates come down. Becoming much more clearer that the impact on various asset classes and securities is going to be muted for the time to be.

Unless interest rates come down, I can't possibly imagine that the VC funding will pick up again, their LPs can't put in more money unless interest rates come down. Cheap capital fuels the VC ecosystem, if capital isn't cheap then allocation in VC Funds goes down to adjust to a newly adjusted risk appetite of investors.

[Opinion] How JPow's misadventure affects me and you...

The US is in its late stage capitalist phase, a ship that's going to sink for the next 50 years. If you're a young person there it doesn't make sense to work as hard as your Grandpa the reward on average isn't as great. 

India on the other hand is poised to become a great multi-trillion $ economy.

Onto something huge. We're talking like 10x growth of the economy here.

Start-ups that have made it like Razorpay, Swiggy, PayTM, even Cred, if they survive will be really huge as capital in the country, liquidity and lifestyles go up over the next 50 years. 

Be the capitalist, take the risks, make bets, work and stack up promotions and money.

Don't join an Infosys and work 70 hours there, do it for a start up of any scale you believe is going to make it. Or better yet start your own.

Work hard and build in India 🇮🇳

I'm tired of this bullcrap. India will not keep growing if the US goes under. And all that growth shit is exaggerated. Divide those numbers by our population and it doesn't amount to shit. 
 All your fancy startups don't even combine up in value to even a single big tech company. 
 Yes we are growing but the inflation is also going up. On the whole I barely see any improvement.

Been spending way too much time on Grapevine lately - absolutely loving it @Micheal_Scott!

Posted the Prosus report takeaways yday - lots of you DMed asking questions. Then I saw NewsAnchor break down the entire Prosus Annual Report - great stuff.

I was an Associate at one of the largest VC funds in India, so I enjoy going through new reports and summarising them - found my notes from Bain's India Venture Capital Report 2024. Thought of sharing the unedited summary that I shared with the Partners at the fund, have a bunch of these - can share more if of value to any of you here (ofc removing the confidential parts)

Notes:
1/ India's maintaining its gravitational pull despite the global funding crunch. Sure, overall funding nosedived 63% to $9.6B, but we're still the #2 destination in Asia-Pacific. Might not necessarily be a crash, it's a necessary course correction.
2/ Early-stage investing is showing remarkable resilience. Seed deals now comprise 70% of all deals, up from 60%, with average check sizes holding steady at $1.4M. Smart money is quietly positioning itself for the next wave of innovation.
3/ The tech-only playbook is being rewritten. While consumer tech, fintech, and SaaS still command 60% of funding, traditional sectors like BFSI are gaining ground, with average deal sizes jumping from $8M to $15M. We're witnessing the birth of tech-enabled, not just tech-centric, growth stories.
4/ The unicorn factory has hit pause, with only 2 new billion-dollar valuations vs. 23 in 2022. Mega-rounds ($100M+) plummeted from 48 to 15. This isn't a drought; it's a return to fundamentals. The era of grow-now-profit-later is firmly behind us.
5/ Generative AI isn't just hype; it's reshaping the landscape. Funding exploded from $15M to $250M, with 80% flowing to existing companies integrating AI. India's quickly becoming a laboratory for practical AI applications, not just speculative moonshots.
6/ Electric mobility is rewiring itself. While overall funding dipped slightly to $600M+, charging infrastructure investment surged 50%. The real opportunity isn't just in vehicles; it's in building out the entire EV ecosystem.
7/ Exits are defying gravity, leaping 1.7x to $6.6B. Public market sales led the charge at 55%, even as IPOs cooled. LPs are getting liquidity, and the secondary market is proving surprisingly robust. There's still appetite for quality assets.
8/ PE is no longer just watching from the sidelines. These players doubled their share to 25% of investments, going toe-to-toe with traditional VCs. The lines between growth equity and venture capital are blurring, and it's changing the game for late-stage rounds.
9/ We're watching natural selection in real-time. Yes, 35,000+ startups shuttered and 20,000+ layoffs hit the headlines. But companies like Groww and Indifi turned profitable. This isn't a bubble bursting; it's an ecosystem strengthening its foundations.
10/ Domestic VCs are coming of age. While overall fund-raising halved to $4B, homegrown VCs led 90%+ of raises. They're not just following; they're specializing, with thematic funds like Omnivore's $150M agritech vehicle. The ecosystem is bootstrapping its own future.
11/ Regulation isn't just tightening; it's evolving. Angel Tax expanded and lending norms got stricter, but we're also seeing innovative policies like UPI for foreign travelers. India's crafting a uniquely balanced approach to fostering innovation while maintaining stability.

Topics we can discuss during our standup:
1/ Can India produce global tech giants if it's primarily adopting rather than pioneering in areas like AI? How do we enable this?
2/ How will the shift towards profitability impact India's ability to foster truly disruptive innovations? Implications for us, how should we be evaluating deals differently?
3/ With domestic VCs leading the charge, how will this change India's startup narrative on the global stage?
4/ Is this maturation setting the stage for more resilient, globally competitive Indian startups, or are we risking our innovation edge? How do we look at thesis driven investing v/s fomo investing?

Link to Bain's report - https://www.bain.com/insights/india-venture-capital-report-2024/

P.S. Do note that this is 6+ months old - data points mostly look diff now but sharing it anyways. Will post more as and when I get time :)

My notes on Bain's 2024 VC report as a VC Associate

Investor

When will the job market improve at start ups in India? What factors will drive the improvement? Job market = availability of jobs, better salaries, minimal layoffs

How will this impact Indian Startups/Jobs in 2024?

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