Welcome to News Discussion's Private Community

Marketplaces present an opportunity for a lasting impact on the country’s economy. This report illustrates where this opportunity arises from.

The Rise of Digital Marketplaces in India

Interesting report on Marketplace businesses in India

Founder

Interesting report on Marketplace businesses in India- Grapevine

- Quick commerce success in India has led to new business models in food, fashion, and pharmacy. 
- Early-stage funds like Accel and India Quotient are investing in these startups. 
- Rapid food-delivery startup Swish has raised about $2 million from Accel. 
- Blitz, a network of dark stores, is building capabilities for consumer brands and discussing a follow-on round of Rs 50 crore with IvyCap. 
- Quick commerce has compelled ecommerce majors and brands to accelerate delivery.

Source: [The Arc](https://thearcweb.com/article/quick-commerce-boom-produces-blinkit-of-x-startups-funding-swish-blitz-sgDPGBITxTov8P8v)

Quick Commerce Boom Inspires New Startups in India

Journalist

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

Is there any report/ resource on Indian D2C brands by funding, revenue and profit?

Indian D2C space

Product Manager

2021: Indian SaaS market size was at $11B

2030: Indian SaaS market expected to cross $50B

Context

The Indian SaaS ecosystem is booming - 11 companies surpassing $100M+ ARR. So let's dive into the major tailwinds in the ecosystem

1/. Explosive Growth in Early-Stage Firms

The number of SaaS companies hitting the $10M

revenue mark ~3X'd from 30 to 85 in just 6 years. Indian SaaS companies are set to capture 8% of the global SaaS market

2/. Efficiency as a Competitive Edge

Indian SaaS companies are redefining growth with unmatched efficiency. Early-stage firms are delivering a median efficiency score of 165% as opposed to global SaaS companies (making $10-$30M in ARR) delivering just 69%

3/. Multi-Product Mastery

Companies like Zoho are mastering multi-product strategies, driving sustained revenue growth without heavy external funding.

Their $1B ARR success showcases the power of cross-selling:

The larger total addressable market

Durable growth & lower churn, and higher LTV

Reduced CAC by selling new products to existing customers

This creates stronger retention and a competitive moat through an integrated platform.

*What's next?

As the global VC landscape recovers from its 2021 peak, 2024 is set to exceed 2023 by 25%, with nearly $1B in funding into Indian startups.

Al-focused companies are at the forefront, drawing $175M in 2023 and signaling where the future of SaaS is headed.

Credits:- https://youtube.com/@growthx?si=0adet2Hm4ZhZ6lmZ

Indian SaaS Market Growth

Please share some good ideas of business to do in tier-3 cities.

Business Ideas

Software Engineer

Would love to know more about the market here specifically B2B retail media ads, think Amazon ads etc......if anyone here is working on that I have one very specific question.

What's the percentage of GMV that you folks have been able to realise as Ad revenue. 

Meesho folks, please feel free to answer if you have any idea about your companies stats.....

Anyone here working on Advertising?

Budget 2024 scrapped the angel tax for all investors, creating the ultimate playground for innovation and entrepreneurship in India.

Big news for Indian startups!

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

- 42% of this will be Grocery, followed by Fashion at 24%
- 65% of D2C brand sales expected to be driven by Marketplaces (as they are today) 
- Today, 92% of retail is offline. By 2027, 89% of retail will be still offline (fair)

India D2C market expected to go from $16.9Bn in '23 to $61Bn in '27

Software Developer

Considering Edtech, Fintech, E-commerce is done

What is the next big thing in India?

Growth Manager

Well this seems to be a well thought move to penetrate Tier 2/3/4 cities in India?

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/taking-the-low-price-unbranded-route-amazon-set-to-launch-bazaar/articleshow/107861692.cms

Amazon launching Bazaar!

Has the B2B marketplace bubble burst?

Program Manager

Startups that we thought were dead, but are actually doing very good? (Lets bring some positivity here)

Welcome to Office Gossip's Private Community

- Most VCs are fraud, they never make any money and keep shifting from one fund to another to hide that they never made anyone any money. 
They also have usually no real input to add. 
They are no subject matter except negotiations which too mostly they just prey upon any founders. 

It's a thankless asset class. Most founders will always hate it as they will never get a dollar and most investors hate it as they will never net a dollar. 

Never chase VC, they are supposed to find opportunity .. Chasing them is useless, they judge you for it. 
So treat them from first day like your ex. Gf/bf. 

- Most tech startup founders are fraud,  they never make any money and keep shifting from one idea to another to hide they never made anyone any money. 
it usually takes 20 years to make a real $100 million dollar revenue company, but 20 months to be a unicorn. 
Any unicorn today is priced according to what they would make after 5-10 years... Yeah right. 

- Making real money is hard. Making fake money is easy. 
99% of startup Esops are fraud
If the company is homerun, then they won't get you stock easy. 
If the company is maybe homerun, they won't give you cash easily. 
If you get free cash and esops, just imagine it's an 18 month project. 

- Most of the humblebrags are fraud as half of them don't even understand the fine print of what they think is real money but not. 

- Most of the people who usually ask for change have no intention for it. They want to be seen as leaders, change is hard, negotiated and cried for. 

- you only live once. Go hard.. No one like people who have too much to talk but nothing to show.

Some observations after 10+ years of being in the system

Can be GMV, revenue, users, EBITDA, customer satisfaction etc. 
Curious to know what are things people here have seen 👀

Innovative ways you've seen a company/startup pump up their metrics?

Analyst

Retail media is being positioned as the holy grail answer to a lot of ad issues being faced by sellers especially on marketplaces. 

The future of marketing some people have called it. 

Want to know from folks on here what is the actual impact in terms of revenue and scale from marketplaces and D2C companies that have implemented it. 

I'm a student of this and looking to expand my horizons and understand ground reality. 


Anyone in ad sales can also pitch in on what they think about this !!!!

How effective is Retail Media in India?

Rounding up 2023, all of us learnt a ton. I'm sharing this one website which I found extremely interesting. It covers some fundamental mental models which would be helpful to many here.

Looking forward to what other Grapeviners 🍇 were upto this year.

Collection of thinking tools and frameworks to help you solve problems, make decisions and understand systems.

Tools for better thinking

[Thread] Share resources to the best thing you learnt this year.

Get me a Product Management Intern !!!!

Is Getting Jobs from LinkedIn Opportunities just a myth ??

Common "Indian Startups" do your thing🧠👨‍🦯

FOA, to y’all securing better jobs, kudos and congrats. For those who are trying to secure a better opportunity like me, it’s kinda confusing as to how do we navigate? With the way global market has been from the past 8 months and so called experts saying it’s going to be downhill for the next couple of months, considering inflation and recession, are we professionally doomed?

Interesting report on Marketplace businesses in India

Discover More

News Discussion on

by Jordon Olive

Grapevine

Quick Commerce Boom Inspires New Startups in India

Indian Startups on

by Kendall Gabriel

Series B Startup

Indian D2C space

Indian Startups on

by Kendall Carmden

Student

Indian SaaS Market Growth

Indian Startups on

by Kendall Dean

Persistent Systems

Business Ideas

Indian Startups on

by Isaiah Carmden

Stealth

Anyone here working on Advertising?

Indian Startups on

by Kendall Carmden

Student

Big news for Indian startups!

Indian Startups on

by Kalan Lee

Stealth

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

Indian Startups on

by Kendall Lee

Accenture

India D2C market expected to go from $16.9Bn in '23 to $61Bn in '27

Indian Startups on

by Matilda Taye

Stealth

What is the next big thing in India?

News Discussion on

by Dezi Lee

Nike

Amazon launching Bazaar!

Indian Startups on

by Karilyn Hyrum

Stealth

Has the B2B marketplace bubble burst?

Indian Startups on

by Matilda Lee

Stealth

Startups that we thought were dead, but are actually doing very good? (Lets bring some positivity here)

Office Gossip on

by Kendall Gabriel

MakemyTrip

Some observations after 10+ years of being in the system

Office Gossip on

by Jordon Everett

Venture Capital

Innovative ways you've seen a company/startup pump up their metrics?

Indian Startups on

by Jordon Denver

Stealth

How effective is Retail Media in India?

Misc on

by Jordon Denver

Gojek

[Thread] Share resources to the best thing you learnt this year.

Indian Startups on

by Jordon Vernon

Student

Common "Indian Startups" do your thing🧠👨‍🦯

Misc on

by Karilyn Carmden

Piaggio

How do we navigate?