Pocket FM? Becoming a unicorn? That's a joke! Pockets are for keeping money, not generating it. "Unicorn banna hai ya khud ko clown samajhte hain?" Why is this even a topic of discussion?

Software Developer

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Audio entertainment platform Pocket FM is in discussions for a fresh fundraise which will likely propel it to unicorn league

Pocket FM Eyes Unicorn Tag With Fresh Infusion From ADIA

Pocket FM is raising again after the just announced round? To become a unicorn?

Operations Manager

Pocket FM is raising again after the just announced round? To become a unicorn?- Grapevine

So Zepto was the first, InCred becomes the second one. 2 unicorns this entire year 🙀

InCred becomes 2nd unicorn of 2023 after raising $60 Mn in a new round. At $1.03 Bn valuation.

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Despite the funding winter environment, higher management woes and business model doubts they raised a colossal $200mn. Any inside beans to spill here?

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- Raise Financial Services, the parent company of trading app Dhan, is in early discussions to raise $100 million, potentially boosting its valuation to $1.5 billion and entering the unicorn club.
- Investment banking firm Avendus has been shortlisted to manage the fundraising, with new and existing investors expected to participate.
- The fresh funds will be used for business expansion, including new services like financing, payments, and insurance, to compete with rivals such as Groww, Zerodha, and Upstox.
- Dhan's founder, Pravin Jadhav, previously led Paytm Money but left on contentious terms; he has since taken jabs at his former employer on social media.
- Despite a competitive market, Dhan has seen significant growth, with a 330% year-over-year increase in its active client base, while competitors like Paytm Money have struggled. 

 Source: Moneycontrol

Unicorn Alert: Dhan in Talks to Raise $100 Million at $1.5 Billion Valuation

Journalist

Source: https://the-captable.com/2024/05/pocket-fm-series-middle-america-160-million-arr/

How does Pocket FM have $160Mn ARR... woah 🤯

Product Owner

Folks from PocketFM it’s time to spill some tea.

PocketFM completes its ESOP buyback

Product Manager

Which unicorn will be first to go belly up in the funding winter

Software Engineer

LeapScholar who has raised a lot of funds in last 2 years, wanted to raise new round at 2.5B but the investors rejected the valuation as the revenue numbers are very less (Just 40- 50M). 

Funny part is that they told all the employees and everyone that they have already raised this funding, just have to do the Pr for it. 

No wonder, entire mid-management team at Leap has left and the upper management people left are so sub-par (look at their CoS(s)). Don’t even get me started on their founder.

Leap Scholar failing to become an unicorn

Growth Manager

Are there any examples of early startup founders who failed in their startup idea and then went back to regular jobs?

The point of this question is not to insult rather than to understand a different perspective of a founder’s mindset. We hear all sorts of success stories but we never get to hear the failed stories and what happened to the people who built those companies.

Kinda like in “Silicon Valley” TV show how the younger generation quickly forgot about Pied Piper.

Any founders who went back to 9-5 jobs?

Analyst

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

Krutrim has become a unicorn after securing $50m in funding, making it the first Indian AI startup with a valuation of $1bn. It seems like an extremely overvalued company being built yet again. Thoughts?

India's 1st Unicorn in 2024

Are we going back to good golden days of insane salaries. I am really curious on how was the valuation decided. On what basis? Did this platform earned a single penny yet.

Program Manager

Something seems fishy. A lot of fundraise, 200Mn+
App seems very basic for that. And I just see romantic content on it. It’s a bit tough to believe they’re doing so well, why wouldn’t people pay for better stuff in that category?

Is this really a thing?

People at Pocket FM, is it legit?

I mean how does this guy do it? He literally has half baked products that are just a copy of products innovated outside India. 
All the horseshit talk these founders do about innovation.

Krutrim AI to raise 50M $ at 1B $ valuation

Picture speaks a thousand words

Next stop - Shutdown!

https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/11/blackrock-cuts-byjus-valuation-by-95-to-1-billion/

New Unicorn🦄

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Great returns made by a visionary and finance expert, Mr. Ashneer! Funding secured for his next revolutionary startup!

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Computer scientist

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Any insights into PocketFM? Tech wise, Product wise, Founders, Pay, Culture?

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How many folks made over 10L in this buyback?  Any folks who made over 1Cr?

PocketFM Buyback worth $8.3M

Office Assistant

I had heard Waycool was also talking to raise at unicorn valuation, but they've fired like 300 people on Monday, so that's pretty uncertain. What to make of Zepto, though?

Pocket FM is raising again after the just announced round? To become a unicorn?

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