Venture Catalysts’ 54 startups cross $50M💰; Crypto investors want more transparency🔍; Demand for cloud apps in India: MSFT☁️

54 startups cross $50M in valuation, Crypto investors want more transparency, Demand for cloud applications: Microsoft, Funding Deals and more.

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Nov 15, 2022

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Venture Catalysts’ 54 startups cross $50M in valuation in 7 years💰

Incubator and venture capital firm Venture Catalysts has announced that about 54 of its portfolio startups have crossed a $50 million valuation this year.

As per a company statement, despite challenging times that led to a 70 percent decline in funding this year, Venture Catalysts grew substantially, housing more than 33 soonicorns and over 100 minicorns.

The group has a combined portfolio of over 300 startups whose consolidated valuation is pegged at around $10 billion thus making it the country’s largest early-to-growth stage investing platform. The company also aims to close 100 exits and up-rounds by the calendar year 2022.

Crypto investors want more transparency after FTX’s collapse🔍

The collapse of FTX, which was among the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, while unlikely to deter retail traders in India from investing in digital coins, is expected to put the spotlight on centralised exchanges, with investors seeking more information from these exchanges about their reserves and liabilities.

Indian crypto exchanges, which have been seeking regulatory oversight, tended to agree.

Even though most Indian crypto exchanges did not have major exposure to FTX or its related entities, the collapse is expected to cause ripple effects in terms of investor sentiment.

Cofounder and CEO of CoinDCX Sumit Gupta wrote in a blog post that it is planning to periodically publish its reserves-to-liability (R2L) ratio.

Iba Cosmetics has raised $10 million (around Rs 80 crore) from Singapore-based beauty and personal care products company Believe Pte Ltd.
Yulu, a shared electric Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) player, has raised $9 million in debt financing led by the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the United States government’s Development Financial Institution (DFI).
Manufacturer of black alkaline water Evocus has received financing from Red Fort Capital Finance (Red Fort Capital), a major NBFC with a focus on logistics, industrial parks, and the manufacturing sector, for a total of Rs 10 crore.

Funding Deals

Huge demand for development of native cloud applications in India: Microsoft☁️

India is a big growth market for Microsoft Cloud, with demand across the spectrum, from modernising infrastructure to building out new platforms, a senior executive said.

Microsoft, led by India-born Satya Nadella, is seeing an uptick in its India business even as software buyers streamline technology spending due to macroeconomic headwinds.

Big Tech companies, including Microsoft, have signaled to soften demand as a worrying development, leading to job cuts and a review of expansion and investment plans.