General Catalyst, a Silicon Valley investor, has acquired Indian venture fund Venture Highway. ETtech Top 5 has more on this.
Also included in the letter:# How much is FAME-III going to cost?
# ETtech Done Deals
Binance fined Rs 18,82 crore
Silicon Valley VC fund General Catalyst acquires Venture Highway; will deploy $1 billion in India
Hemant Taneja, General Catalyst and Venture Highway’s Neeraj arora (L-R).
General Catalyst, a Silicon Valley-based venture investment firm, said
Venture Highway, an early-stage investor focused on India, will be acquired by the company
In an effort to strengthen its presence locally. The fund will invest up to $1 billion dollars in India.
Driving news: This marks General Catalyst’s formal entry into India, with a team in place. The fund has supported Indian startups like Cred, Spinny, and Uni.
- Venture Highway will cease to exist after the deal. It will be replaced by General Catalyst India
- The entity will be managed by Venture Highway founder Neeraj arora and general partner Priya mohan
- The firm will operate on a single partnership, as opposed to the franchise model used by other global VCs in India.
India Opportunity
Hemant Taneja is the chief executive and managing Director at General Catalyst. He said, “We will invest between $500 million and one billion dollars in India. This is a substantial capital and far greater than we’ve done previously because now we have a dedicated team to take care of it.”
Telling ET in an Interview
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Arora explained why the merger with General Catalyst was made. “We could have made seed investments with a smaller, more stable fund that is easier to return. “But the opportunity and ambition we have to participate in India’s venture ecosystem is much greater,” he said.
Big Picture:General Catalyst’s India entry comes as multiple global venture capitalist firms have either left India or slowed their pace over the last 12-18 months.
Sequoia Capital’s India partnership merged into Peak XV Partners in the past year, while Pierre Omidyar’s Omidyar Network shut down operations here.
Indian venture capitalists need to pivot to a new model of investing
Ola electric secures Sebi nod for IPO
India’s market regulator, the
The Securities and Exchange Board of India has officially approved
Ola Electric’s bid for a listing on the bourses.
ET was first reported on June 11,
The Bengaluru-based firm has won the award.
Driving news: Sebi cleared the draft red herring prospectsus (DRHP), the country’s largest two-wheeler electric manufacturer, on June 10. The DRHP proposed a new issue of up to Rs 5,500 cr, along with an offer-for sale (OFS) component consisting of $95.2m shares. ET reported that sources said Ola Electric was aiming to raise $6 billion in the offering.
Getting into shape:
Ola Electric, which is also in the process to list on the stock exchange, is also trying cut costs and improve its profitability.
Over 600 employees are being laid off
Cost-cutting measures are being implemented across different verticals. Just over a year ago, Ola Cabs, a sister company also run by founder Bhavish Aggarwal had laid off employees.
Hemant Bakshi, the CEO of the company, had been able to see 200 employees.
Chief Financial Officer
Kartik Gupta leaves the firm
.
Public markets become attractive:The listing is the first by a startup in India to be an electric vehicle. It will likely join other firms such as ecommerce company FirstCry, and food delivery firm Swiggy who are also waiting for Sebi approvals before they can list publicly. The India unit of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motors filed draft listing documents on June 15 for what could be India’s largest-ever market debut. The India unit is valued at over $25 billion. Awfis, a company that rents out office space, and Ixigo, a travel agency recently went public.
Big payday At a valuation of $ 6 billion, Aggarwal would make around $78 millions, or Rs 650 crores, from the sale up to 47,4 million shares or around 1,3% stake. The total OFS component could fetch up to $156.7 million or more than Rs 1,300 crore. This may change depending on the final price at which Ola Electric sells their shares to investors.
Cost of FAME III: Meet local sourcing norms or face penalty
Automakers who apply for the third edition the Centre’s flagship incentive program for
Non-compliance with the new regulations will result in penalties for electric vehicles
Senior officials told ET that localisation standards have been laid down.
Requirements and Penalties: Under FAME III, companies that seek subsidies are required to undergo biannual audits of their technical and commercial aspects. These audits will ensure manufacturers adhere to the localisation guidelines mandated under the scheme. In the event of non-compliance the interest rate will be 3% above the Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate (MCLR).
Legal proceedings
Legal actions are being taken against companies like Hero Electric, Okinawa and Benling, for allegedly not refunding subsidies totaling Rs 300 crore that were claimed incorrectly under the former FAME scheme. The Ministry of Heavy Industries sent a total of Rs 469 crore in recovery notices to a half dozen companies last fiscal for violating localisation rules.
Quote: The objective of the scheme is to accelerate the adoption of electric cars by consumers and create a local eco-system to reduce their costs over time. He said that companies should source locally, as it would be against the scheme’s purpose.
ETtech Done Deals
Swapnil Mishra (left) and Saurabh Mishra founder of OrbitShift
AI startup OrbitShift raised $7 million: Artificial Intelligence-powered sales intelligence startup OrbitShift raised $7 million as part of a seed funding round led by Peak XV Partners Surge scale-up program and Stellaris Venture Partners.
The proceeds will be used for increased investments to expand the presence of the company and its customer base in the US. OrbitShift plans to expand its product line by investing in its technology teams and product teams.
Unikon.ai raises $ 2 million: The company Unikon.ai allows users to monetise time and expertise by networking , has raised $2 million. Investors include Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha, Peyush Bansal of Lenskart, Vishesh Khurana of Shiprocket, and Gaurav Khtri of Noise.
Distil, a platform for specialty chemicals, raises $3.1M: Distil , a platform for specialty chemicals raised $3.1M as part of a seed round led by Jungle Ventures with participation from other investors. Distil will use this money to expand their teams in sales, R&D and other areas.
FIU imposes Rs 18.82 crore penalty on crypto exchange Binance
Global cryptocurrency exchange
Binance was fined Rs 18.82 crore
The Financial Intelligence Unit of India, (FIU-IND), has imposed a fine of around $2.2 million (approximately $2.2 million) on a crypto entity for non-compliance to anti-money laundering laws.
Background In December 2023, Binance’s intelligence unit was responsible for overseeing the trading of virtual digital assets. The unit is also responsible for ensuring that Indian laws are followed.
ET reported the first in April, that Binance is set to return to India, after it was banned by the Indian government in January.
Market dominance Before it was banned, Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, held a significant place in India’s cryptoscape, accounting for almost 90% of the estimated $4 billion worth of crypto assets in the country.
According to CoinMarketCap it recorded a volume of $11 billion for the 24 hours prior (ending at 12pm IST on Thursday), this is 25% of global volume.
Today’s ETtech Top 5 Newsletter was curated by Riya Chowdhury in Bengaluru and Vaibhavi Knwalkar.