Tag: startup

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Startup

Good News For SMEs! BSE Joins Hands With Yes Bank to Empower Small And Medium Enterprises

Startup Growth
Startup Growth (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Mumbai, September 30: Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Monday said it has signed a pact with Yes Bank to empower the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) listed on the platform. In a statement, BSE said that the pact aims at empowering the SME segment through awareness and knowledge-sharing programmes.

According to a PTI report, BSE and Yes Bank will conduct knowledge events for SMEs, export promotion of SMEs, in addition to providing banking and financial solutions. The bank will also offer customised services and products to the listed SME members of the platform.

Ajay Thakur, head BSE SME and startups said, “We are happy to associate with Yes Bank and jointly work towards helping SMEs scale and develop themselves. BSE is the largest SME Platform which will provide the SME clients of Yes Bank.”

SME sector generates maximum employment in the country and is a key priority segment for the bank. The bank will remain focused on playing an active role in contributing to this vital economic growth engine and further strengthen the share of the SME segment in the total loan book. The entire objective is to empower SMEs to become more competitive and fast-track their growth through solutions that address their business challenges.

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Startup

Indian Startups Can Now List Overseas Before Going Public in Country

Startup
Startup (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

New Delhi, September 21: In a big relief to Indian startups, the government has finally allowed Indian companies to list abroad before getting themselves listed in India. According to a Moneycontrol report, this was part of a series of amendments under the Companies Act, 2013, including moves to decriminalise various offences and improve the ease of doing business in India.

This move will now enable dozens of loss-making domestic startups to opt for an initial public offering (IPO). The amended law will “permit the direct overseas listing of Indian corporates securities in permissible foreign jurisdictions through an enabling provision.”

Most Indian startups want to list in US, the country which has the maximum investors. In India, the investors and entrepreneurs have ben asking for this amendment for the past few years, because under the current law, loss-making companies are not allowed to list in India.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected the market everywhere, from job losses to companies being shut, the economy of most nations is in the doldrums. Despite COVID-19, global stock markets, including US have held up. Technology stocks have also performed better than many sectors.

The amendment of the law surely comes as a positive sign to the startups who have been waiting to go public. There are reports, that Zomato, Policybazaar, Delhivery have expressed their desire to go public in the next 12-18 months.

 

 

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Startup

Early-Age Investment Firms Like Blume Ventures, 3one4Capital & Others Set up Buildup Funds to Support Top Startups in Their Portfolios

Investments (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Mumbai, September 4: A number of big early-stage investment firms are now setting up buildout funds to continue to support top startups in their portfolio. According to an Economic Times report, the objective is to stay invested and earn bigger returns from these potential winners.

Blume Ventures, 3one4Capital, and DSG Consumer Partners have all set up opportunity funds which have the ability to cut larger cheques in companies that are highly valued, and are seen as breakouts in their respective segments.

With a tremendous rise in funds vying for mid and later-stage companies, smaller-sized venture capitalists are trying hard to keep their ownership intact as much as possible, according to people quoted in the report.

The advantage with early-age funds is that they may have an advantage in striking competitive deals in later rounds due to their reputation and familiarity after backing a venture in a usually pre-revenue stage when their business success is highly uncertain.

 

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Startup

Startup Ranking 2019: Gujarat, Andaman & Nicobar Islands Emerge As Best Performers in Implementing Policies to Uplift Startup Ecosystem

Startups (Photo Credits: Unsplash)

Gujarat has been named as the best performing state by the government in terms of implementing policies for uplifting the startup ecosystem.  While Gujarat was the best performing state, Andaman & Nicobar Islands was adjudged as the best performer amongst Union Territory and North Eastern states. On Friday, the ‘Startup Ranking’ framework 2019 judged states and Union Territories on seven broad reform area, consisting of 30 action points.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that to establish uniformity and ensure standardisation in the ranking process, ‘States and UTs’ have been divided into two groups. “While UTs except Delhi and all States in North East India except Assam are placed in Category ‘Y’. All other States and UT of Delhi are in Category ‘X’”, the statement read.

While releasing the result of the second edition of ‘Ranking of States on Support to Startup Ecosystems’ through a virtual felicitation ceremony, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal called upon the high networth individuals, venture capitalists to finance ‘Startups’. During his address, Goyal said that the COVID-19 pandemic should not be seen as a problem or challenge but as an opportunity to reimagine and reinvigorate India. The Minister recommended that ‘Startups’ should come up with imaginative, relevant and innovative products, undertake reengineering and reform of processes, and orient their ideas to be people-centric.

 

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Finance Startup

iStandup 2.0: ICICI Bank Launches Dedicated Offering for StartUps in India, Offers Current Account in 3 Variants

ICICI Bank. (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
ICICI Bank. (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Mumbai, September 12: India’s second-largest private sector lender ICICI Bank on Thursday launched a news offering — iStandup 2.0. With this new offering, ICICI is aiming to catch hold on the growing number of startups in the country. Though the new improved features, its customers will get a current account in three variants, offering additional features.

Under the iStandup 2.O, the ICICI bank offers premium savings accounts for the promoters, salary accounts for employees and a dedicated relationship manager. For its effective reach, ICICI has tied up with vendors to offer a ‘concierge-like’ service. This will enable the startups to access various services like company registration, taxation, compliance, logistics, facility management, staffing and digital marketing.

On the issue, the charges of the account, ICICI bank’s Head of Self-Employment Segment Pankaj Gadgil said that the bank will waive average quarterly balance requirement on the current account for a year. Adding more, he said that around 20,000 startups were registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in July 2020, which went up in August 2020. Since the trends are encouraging, the bank launched the new offering.

As per details, all the startups — up to 10 years old — including partnerships, private and public limited as well as limited liability partnerships, will be able to opt for current account. It is to be known that ICICI bank already serves an undisclosed number of startups as part of earlier offering and other offerings that also include a current account.

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Startup

Starting Up a Business: 5 Things Young Entrepreneurs Should Know to Make Their Business a Success

Entrepreneur (Photo Credits: Unsplash)

It might seem hard to start to a business, but when the entrepreneurial project gets going, the brain behind it rejoices. However, in order to make your business a success, there are several things that you need to consider before you start your business. Young entrepreneur venturing into a new business, keep looking for ways and means to help them achieve their goals. Young entrepreneurs are at an age where they need a platform to prove their caliber. They want to run something of their own, create more job opportunities and be a part of the growing India.

Here Are 5 Things That Young Entrepreneurs Ought to Keep in Mind:

  1. Know your product: The first important thing before starting any business is that the entrepreneur should know in and out about his product. He should first, himself, know what is product is all about, how well he can pitch about it in the market, what is the demand of the product, and so many other related questions. A young individual will always know what is in trend and things that work in a market.
  2. Know your market: Understand who your target audience is! Before starting up a business, a young entrepreneur should very well understand what the need of the hour. Of course, there are other competitors in the market, so a beginner should consider all the risk factors before venturing into something new.
  3. Do what you love: Take your time and understand what you love. Let your passion be the driver for your product or service, which will always keep you motivated and get you going through the tough times. Before starting up a business, one should think with a calm mind as to what one loves because when you work on something that you actually care and love, you’ll probably be happy and make the idea a reality.
  4. Find a mentor: No matter how intelligent you are, you may falter! Hence, it becomes really important to find a mentor who can guide you and let you know when you go wrong. Find someone who can open your mind and share your ideas with. Surely, your ideas will be shaped in a better manner which will be easier for execution.
  5. Perseverance and Patience: The most important trait of any businessman is perseverance and patience. These 2 Ps go hand-in-hand and help people to get better and win laurels in their work. Once you have thought about an idea, don’t give up and work on it until you make it a success. For young entrepreneur, it is an added advantage that they have time, even if Plan A doesn’t work, then be ready with Plan B. There might be rough moments in your entrepreneurial journey but you have to keep working towards your goal.
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Motivational Startup

Startup World Excitement Returns Amid COVID-19 Pandemic as Venture Capitalists Show Faith And Deal Discussions Heat Up

Startup (Representational Image Only, Photo Credits: NeedPix.com)

Mumbai, September 11: Coronavirus pandemic had badly affected businesses all over. Over the last few months, we saw numerous job losses, businesses being shut amid the lockdown. However, with the relaxation in the lockdown norms, the situation is improving. According to reports, venture capitalists are slowly returning to the startup world.

According to the Moneycontrol report, investors have started writing cheques, making big bets, something that was expected would take longer. Some names include Dailyhunt, ShareChat, skincare brand WOW Skin Sciences, and meat delivery startup Licious deal discussions have heated up.

Last month, fantasy gaming startup Dream11 emerged as the title sponsor of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).  The Indian unicorn replaced Chinese handset company Vivo, which opted out of sponsorship this year amid India-China border standoff. Infact, the company is counting on a bumper IPL for business recovery.

Infact during the lockdown as well, in March and April, online education, healthcare and gaming startups were the direct beneficiaries.

This surely comes as good news because when the pandemic hit India, investors hit the panic button and made their exits from the already finalised deals, postponed their fundraising plans and went aggressive on cost-cutting measures.

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Startup Strategy

Happiest Minds Technologies IPO Receives Great Response After Going Public Amid COVID-19 Pandemic; Here Why Ashok Soota’s Second Startup Saw Huge Demand

Happiest Minds Technologies (Photo Credits: Wikimedia commons)

Mumbai, September 10: The coronavirus pandemic has brought over a gloom to the Indian economy and Happiest Minds Technologies took the brave step of launching IPO amid the lockdown.

Ashok Soota was 68 when he started Happiest Minds. He had quit as the Chief Executive Officer of Mindtree — a company he co-founded and took public in 2000. In 2011, Soota left Mindtree and co-founded Happiest Minds.

Happiest Minds IPO was oversubscribed 150 times. According to experts, the Happiest Minds Technologies IPO was a good opportunity for an investor at a time when the entire IT space is witnessing a huge demand for a digital solution. The Rs 702 crore issue was subscribed 151 times, as per data available on NSE.

According to a Business Standard report, The impact of heavy subscription in Happiest Mind was also felt in the subscription data for another IPO that opened this week — Route Mobile. Ashok Soota, the promoter, wants to sell around 84.14 lakh shares. Also, there were reports that investor CMDB II, which owns 19.4 percent in Happiest Minds, is looking to exit after the IPO.

 

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Startup

Startup India Scheme: Here’s How to Apply And the Eligibility Criteria to Avail Government of India’s Startup Business Loan

Loan, Representational Image (Photo Credits: Pixabay.com)

Bangalore, September 8: India is home to several startups and it has the third-largest startup base in the world.  Startups require loan to help them to boost their business initially giving the necessary machinery and equipment. So startup loan is the business loan which basically caters to the main funding of a business with which you wish to start.

Eligible companies can get recognised as Startups by DPIIT, in order to access a host of tax benefits, easier compliance, IPR fast-tracking & more. In order to avail the benefit of Startup India, the company should have an annual turnover not exceeding Rs. 100 crore for any of the financial years since its incorporation. The entity should not have been formed by splitting up or reconstructing an already existing business. Period of existence and operations should not be exceeding 10 years from the date of incorporation.

Here Are Details About Start-Up India Business Loan: 

The Stand-Up India Scheme offers Government loans for business ranging between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to at least one Scheduled Tribe or Scheduled Caste borrower to set up a Greenfield enterprise. It is also granted to at least one woman borrower per bank branch to promote woman entrepreneurship among the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe. The tenure of the loan is 7 years.

Startup India scheme was launched on April 5, 2016, by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the backing of Department of Financial Services and is being monitored by the Ministry of Finance.

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Startup

What is a Unicorn? Here Are 4 Ideas to Help Startups Become a $1 Billion Company

Startup
Startup (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

A unicorn is a term used in the venture capital industry to describe a privately held startup company with a value of over $1 billion. The term was coined in 2013 by venture capitalist Aileen Lee, choosing the mythical animal to represent the statistical rarity of such successful ventures.

According to Investopedia, companies with valuations of over $10 billion are sometimes referred to as decacorns.

According to the Hurun Research Institute’s Global Unicorn List 2020, India is home to 21 unicorns, valued at $73.2 billion. Paytm is India’s highest-valued unicorn, at $16 billion. Top 10 Indian unicorns make up 78 percent of the total value of unicorns, while Paytm alone claims nearly 22 percent of the total valuation share of these unicorns.

Find the right idea

The most essential work of your startup if you are aiming to become a unicorn is to find the right idea for your business. The idea has to be innovative and should have the potential to work. The idea should create a change in customer behaviour and also improve their lifestyle.

Understand the potential of your product

It is very important to understand whether your product will fit the crowded and the cluttered market and has the potential to stand out. Your product should also be attractive enough to encourage customers to pay a premium price on a regular basis.

Keep your customers in the centre 

The job of a startup is to find a solution to a problem that customers want to solve.

Recognise your weakness & Keep an eye on the competition.

Never lose sight of how the industry and competitors are evolving, especially start-ups with new and potentially disruptive ideas. If you have to succeed, along with your strength, it is also very important to identify your weakness. If you understand your gaps and imperfections, you can always make away with them. This ability defines the success of a startup.