Ashwin Srivastava

🚀 Funding Update in the Indian Startup Ecosystem Mumbai-based Luma fertility, a tech-enabled fertility care startup, has successfully raised $4 million in seed funding, led by Peak XV Partners (via its Surge program), along with participation from notable investors like Ameera Shah (Metropolis Healthcare) and Vijay Taparia (B2V Ventures). Founded by Neha K Motwani, Luma Fertility is building a patient-first platform to offer end-to-end reproductive care—covering IVF, fertility assessments, egg freezing, at-home diagnostics, and more. The startup is leveraging technology and empathy to modernize fertility services in India. 📍 With a flagship clinic in Bandra West, Mumbai, Luma now aims to expand across multiple cities over the next two years. This is yet another sign of rising investor confidence in healthtech and femtech sectors in India. As a funding consultant, I closely track such movements and assist businesses in navigating their own equity and debt funding journeys. 📩 If you're a startup or growing company looking to raise capital or explore funding options, feel free to connect. #FundingNews #StartupFunding #SeedFunding #LumaFertility #PeakXV #HealthTech #FemTech #IndianStartups #Linkedin #techindia #healthcare

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Excited to share this News, 888vc, Our Early-stage venture capital firm based in Bangalore, India has launched platfrom Gro8 backed by ₹175 crore (US$ 20M) fund to back startups focused on AI, deep tech, Enterprise SAAS and sustainability over the next three years. 💡 Key Focus Areas: 🔹 Average ticket size of ₹2–4 crores 🔹 Sector Agnostic Angel fund 🔹 Focus on globally scalable solutions 🔹 Launch of GRO8 angel platform for cross-border funding, mentorship & market access 📌 If you’re building in AI, deep-tech, or sustainability with ambitions to grow globally, let’s talk. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gtUcYkrx #888vc #gro8 #venturecapital #angelinvestments #startups

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Agilitas x Virat Kohli partnership is one of the masterstroke deals I have seen in recent times. Virat invests 40 CR in Agilitas for a 1.94% stake, putting Agilitas’s valuation around 2000 CR. 📈 In turn, Agilitas acquires one8world, making Virat a co-founder and shareholder. They now get two very important growth levers: ⬇️ 1. A powerful manufacturing (via Mochiko Shoes - a 600 CR+ footwear brand that Agilitas acquired in 2008 ), 2. India’s biggest athlete — exclusively aligned. Easily becomes a 4000 CR revenue brand in the next 5 years. Footwear + retail scale requires capital — but this partnership compresses customer acquisition, product cycles, and brand-building like few others. Even Virat said in his podcast with Abhishek Ganguly, the co-founder of Agilitas that, “I didn’t want a brand deal… I wanted to build something that outlives me.” And Abhishek said something even beautiful - “An ambition to build from India but be globally relevant.” This isn’t marketing. This is legacy building with shared skin in the game. And that is how startups work - shared ambition with one goal (to make the company big) and food (read stake) in the table for everyone! A company that can be built in the long term with culture, capital, and conviction aligned. This might be the first time in India, where an athlete joins hands with a sport company to re-imagine and build the sport ecosystem of India - truly revolutionalising the game with a clear vision. 🙌

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On February 18, during India's AI Impact Summit, a company called Sarvam shipped a 105-billion-parameter model trained from scratch in India on government-subsidized GPUs, designed for 22 Indian languages. It outperforms DeepSeek-R1 on certain benchmarks at one-sixth the size. The same summit produced $200 billion in investment pledges from Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Reliance. The headlines were about the money. The real story was Sarvam. This post examines in detail why it took this long, what changed, and whether Sarvam is the first crack in an old equilibrium or a lonely exception. "Indians Rule Big Tech. Why Can’t India Build?": Link in comments.

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With over 11,000 startups, India’s healthtech sector is brimming with talent. But a shortage of early-stage capital is pushing promising ventures overseas. This sector needs more than funding. It needs better infrastructure, public procurement support, and founders who can balance tech brilliance with business savvy. The good news is that 2025 is seeing a funding revival, and the ecosystem is warming up. With the right push—smart capital, supportive policy, and a shift towards commercial thinking—India could become the global hub for healthtech. The foundation is here. It’s time to build on it. Read more: https://lnkd.in/g-65ANC5 #Healthtech #StartupIndia #Innovation #Deeptech #MakeInIndia #EarlyStageFunding

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SEBI's Stance on VCF Tenure Extensions: A Key Lesson for Fund Managers and Trustees In a recent adjudication order, SEBI has reinforced the strict regulatory boundaries around the lifecycle of Venture Capital Funds (VCFs) under the erstwhile VCF Regulations. Though this case pertains specifically to VCF Regulations, the principles laid down here are also applicable under the current AIF Regulations. Here's a quick breakdown of the case : 1. Fund Tenure Basics: The scheme's Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) outlined a 7-year term from the first closing, extendable by up to 2 years (in two 1-year periods) with super-majority investor approval. 2. What Happened: The fund extended beyond this—adding another 4 years (total extensions: 6 years)—with super-majority consent from investors . The rationale? Delays in exiting 4 residual investments due to external factors like COVID-19 and market conditions. The fund successfully exited two of these profitably, providing over 125% return on capital to investors so far, and handled the last two via in-specie distribution. Notably, no management fees were charged during these extensions, and the fund emphasized acting solely in investors' interests. 3. Fund's Defense: They argued the extensions were investor-driven, caused no harm, and were beyond their control. They even voluntarily applied for settlement with SEBI, wound up the scheme, and surrendered registration before formal action. 4. SEBI's View: Despite investor consent and benefits, SEBI deemed this a substantive violation—not just technical or academic. The tenure in the PPM isn't merely a commercial agreement; it's a regulatory mandate. Upon expiry (including permitted extensions), winding up is mandatory under Reg 23(1)(a), with proceeds distributed within 3 months per Reg 24(2) of VCF Regulations. Extensions beyond the PPM's limits contravene the regs, regardless of consensus. 5. Trustee's Role: The trustee was held accountable for not promptly directing the fund to initiate winding up when the original tenure ended . While their powers are limited to fund documents and they don't handle day-to-day decisions, SEBI stressed their fiduciary duty to ensure compliance as guardians of investor interests. 6. Outcome: Joint and several penalty of ₹10 lakhs on the fund and investment manager; separate ₹10 lakhs on the trustee. Key Takeaways: First, investor consent does not override regulatory compliance. Second, trustees cannot remain silent when tenure expires. Their fiduciary duty includes ensuring the fund meets its fundamental obligations even if commercial decisions rest with the investment manager. Third, good intentions and good outcomes do not cure violations. No management fees, profitable exits and investor satisfaction are mitigating factors at best. They do not erase the underlying breach or immunise the parties from penalties.

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India’s boldest startups deserve long-term capital that stays the course. 360 ONE Asset’s ₹500 Cr early-stage VC strategy has been launched, with 4 deals closed across diverse sectors. A core part of our ‘Idea to IPO’ capital stack. Read Abhishek Nag, Senior Fund Manager & Strategy Head, Early-Stage VC, 360 ONE Asset’s interview in Mint here: https://lnkd.in/diBcy86N 360 ONE

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A founder who has spent 32 Years building IP-Owned Tech in India's Defense Sector. Ashok Atluri, Founder of Zen Technologies Limited shares a growth story bootstrapped from Hyderabad: -Revenue: ₹60 Cr (FY21) → ₹930 Cr(FY24) -Market cap: 40 Cr (2012-13) → 13000 Cr today -Growth: 400X in 12 years Takeaways from our conversation: 1. India historically imported 65–70% of its defense equipment. Today, defense exports have grown more than 30× over the past decade, with the private sector contributing around 60% of exports. Domestic defense production has increased to ₹1.27 lakh crore, a 174% rise since FY 2014–15. 2. For over two decades, Zen built advanced simulators but struggled to sell them in India because single-vendor bids weren’t accepted. The IDDM policy in 2015 gave preference to IP-owning Indian companies and allocated 75% of the capital acquisition budget to local sourcing. And decades of R&D became a real market worth ₹200 billion. 3. Defense tech startups in India have raised $184 million in VC funding since 2020. Zen’s journey shows that IP-owned Tech built with self-funded R&D can build the most defensible advantage, similar to how Apple captures value through IP rather than manufacturing. 4. Zen’s anti-drone systems were proven in field operations, leading to export inquiries from over 20 countries. This mirrors the broader trend of India’s defense exports growing from ₹1,940 crore (FY14) to ₹21,083 crore (FY24). Field-tested solutions build trust far faster than lab demos or pilot projects. 5. Government fundings are rewarding innovation over manufacturing. Programs like iDEX provide up to ₹10 crore for proven concepts, while DRDO offers ₹50 crore per system under the Technology Development Fund. This shift allows companies to reinvest profits into next-generation R&D. 6. Ashok believes that not all technologies should be patented. Highly secretive or complex innovations can be reverse-engineered if patented. Instead, patent what is obvious to outsiders to protect your competitive edge. 7. Build with a focused approach on Pareto technologies with maximum impact. Instead of chasing every opportunity, Zen concentrated on the 20% of technologies delivering 80% of results, anti-drone systems and simulators. Prioritizing high-leverage areas compounds impact effectively. 8. Time market entry around overlooked gaps: In 2018, drones were a hot topic, but there was little attention on anti-drone systems. Zen entered this gap and was ready when the need became urgent, from regional conflicts to domestic security. Opportunities often lie where others are silent. 9. Create policies around your innovation: Self-funded R&D firms face unique risks that conventional procurement rules often overlook. Zen advocated for new categories rather than adapting breakthrough technologies to unsuitable frameworks, ensuring their innovations could be evaluated on merit. Full Episode https://lnkd.in/gnAFEj3f

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“Beyond IPOs: How Secondaries Are Rewriting India’s Exit Playbook” 2025 has not been the blockbuster IPO year many anticipated. Globally, it’s on pace to be the weakest market in a decade—and India hasn’t been immune. Even the few large-cap listings that made it through priced well below their last private rounds, reminding founders and investors that the IPO window, while slightly ajar, demands a far higher bar than before. From Growth to Governance In India too, the narrative has shifted. Growth stories alone don’t move the needle. Public markets are demanding profitability, resilient revenues, and governance structures that can withstand scrutiny. Defense, fintech, AI, and even crypto-adjacent players are aligning with national priorities and policy support—making them stronger IPO candidates compared to traditional consumer internet unicorns that still struggle with unit economics. The Rise of Secondaries in India As IPO timelines stretch, secondaries have stepped in to fill liquidity gaps. Globally, Q2 saw $61 billion annualized in VC direct secondaries. India’s secondary market, though smaller in scale, is growing rapidly. Large unicorns like Flipkart, Swiggy, and Razorpay have all run secondary rounds to provide founder and employee liquidity. What was once seen as a distress signal is now a strategic tool—for price discovery, retention, and investor entry into late-stage leaders. Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) are also gaining traction in India. They offer flexibility for family offices and new-age micro-funds to participate in growth-stage secondaries without the friction of traditional fund structures. Tender offers, once rare, are becoming vital to attract and retain top talent in a tight startup talent market. What This Means for Indian VCs For Indian VCs, this liquidity evolution presents both a challenge and an opportunity: Challenge: Exit timelines are stretching. LP patience is wearing thin, and traditional IPO exits are harder to underwrite. Opportunity: Secondaries provide a mechanism to return capital, recycle proceeds, and manage fund vintages better. Strategic SPVs and co-investment platforms are letting Indian investors tap into marquee unicorns that might not IPO soon. Looking Ahead 2025 may not be the year of record exits, but it is laying crucial groundwork. As macro conditions stabilize, a rebound in primary dealmaking and IPO activity in 2026 could help reprice assets, create transparency, and open wider doors for Indian late-stage startups. Bottom line for India: The liquidity playbook is changing. IPOs will remain aspirational, but secondaries are becoming the bridge that keeps the VC flywheel turning. Founders, VCs, and employees who adapt to this dual-track reality will be best positioned when the rebound comes. AKCJ Ventures LLP Amit KC Jain Yashh Jhawar Harshul Chopra Divyam Khandelwal Sanil Khullar #designtheundesigned #IPOliquidity #secondaries #strategictool

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