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agnikul

Space Tech Firm Agnikul Raises $26.7 Million In Series B Capital

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Notable venture capital investors including Celesta Capital, Rocketship.vc, Artha Venture Fund and Artha Select Fund, Mayfield India, as well as current investors pi Ventures, Speciale Invest, Mayfield India and others, participated in the round, the press statement read

Agnikul Cosmos, an Indian space-tech firm based at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has completed its Series-B funding of USD26.7 million, bringing its total cash received to date to USD 40 million.

Notable venture capital investors including Celesta Capital, Rocketship.vc, Artha Venture Fund and Artha Select Fund, Mayfield India, as well as current investors pi Ventures, Speciale Invest, Mayfield India and others, participated in the round, the press statement read.

“We have come a long way in reaching incredible milestones with our technology, launchpad, mission control and manufacturing facility. With this capital, we will continue to drive our technology forward, building facilities and testing systems that we need to deliver a reliable product for our customers,” said Srinath Ravichandran, Co-founder and CEO, Agnikul.

Agnikul previously unveiled “Agnilet,” the first single-piece 3D-printed engine fully designed and produced in India. It successfully underwent testing in early 2021, marking a significant technological milestone for the businessand the Government of India granted it a patent for the engine in 2022.

real estate

Indian Real Estate Sees $41 Bn Domestic Capital Inflows: JLL

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The Indian real estate market is expected to reach USD 1 trillion, fueled by a number of macroeconomic drivers, including sustained GDP growth, growing urbanisation and significant inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI), the report stated

The Indian real estate sector is now looking ready for expansion, with the opportunity to tap into about USD 41 billion in domestic institutional capital, according to JLL’s research. The industry welcomed FDI in 2005. The depth of domestic capital can be shown in the fact that, of all the exits since 2010, 73 per cent were assisted by domestic investors as opposed to 27 per cent by foreign investors.

The Indian real estate market is expected to reach USD 1 trillion, fueled by a number of macroeconomic drivers, including sustained GDP growth, growing urbanisation and significant inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI).

Due to the listing of real estate companies and the three commercial REITs in 2019 and 2020, the inclusion of exit through domestic public market channels began in 2016 as well.

The government has selectively loosened FDI regulations during the past ten years, encouraging more investment and corresponding growth.

With one of the highest levels of commercial and residential space absorption in the past ten years, 2022 was a phenomenal year for real estate. Office and housing markets are on the upswing and that trend is expected to continue through H1 2023.

The real estate market is changing into an organised and structured sector and establishing financial discipline as a result of the relaxation of the FDI policy and other policy reforms like the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (RERA), Goods and Services Tax (GST), Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, adoption of REITs, etc.

Due to the listing of real estate companies and the three commercial REITs in 2019 and 2020, the inclusion of exit through domestic public market channels began in 2016 as well.

The government’s recent regulatory measures have led to an increase in the involvement of financial institutions in the real estate market. According to RBI regulations, banks are permitted to invest up to 20 per cent of their net owned funds in equity-linked equities, mutual funds that invest in venture capital and REITs or InvITs.

Private pooled investment funds in India, including real estate, private equity and hedge funds, were made easier by SEBI’s AIF regulations in 2012. In India, the number of AIFs has skyrocketed since 2013. Currently, 23 domestic real estate funds have been announced and are working to raise a total of about USD 3.6 billion for real estate. AIFs are crucial for attracting both institutional and private capital to the domestic capital market.

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Flipkart’s Expansion Plan In India May Witness Raise Of 3 Bn USD: Media Report

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Along with being open to selling to large pure-play investment firms, the world’s biggest retailer is ready to introduce strategic investors for the Indian company, according to the report. Presently, Flipkart is valued around 40 billion dollar and may dilute nearly 7 per cent to raise as much as 3 billion dollar. The retailer had raised 3.6 billion dollar in a funding round, quoting it a valuation of 37.6 billion dollar during last year

Walmart Inc-backed Flipkart is planning to raise 2 billion dollar to 3 billion dollar for a valuation of around 40 billion dollar. This will let it expand its product range in India and its challenge competitors, reported a media house on 25 October.

Along with being open to selling to large pure-play investment firms, the world’s biggest retailer is ready to introduce strategic investors for the Indian company, according to the report.

However, no formal announcement has been made by Walmart regarding inducting investment bankers to look for strategic partners and large global investors for the latest fundraising plan, the report added.

Presently, Flipkart is valued around 40 billion dollar and may dilute nearly 7 per cent to raise as much as 3 billion dollar. The retailer had raised 3.6 billion dollar in a funding round, quoting it a valuation of 37.6 billion dollar during last year.

Flipkart was acquired by Walmart with 77 per cent stake for around 16 billion dollar in 2018. It was the biggest deal ever which later in the year said to that it could take the company public in four years.

According to reports by a media agency, the Indian e-commerce company Flipkart had internally raised its IPO valuation target by nearly a third to 60 billion dollar to 70 billion dollar. It also plans a U.S. listing in 2023 instead of this year.

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HDFC To Bump Up Rs 12,000 Cr Next Week

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The secured redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) to be issued will carry a coupon rate of 8.07 per cent per annum for a period of 10 years

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC Ltd) in the coming week will raise up to Rs 12,000 crore by issuing bonds through private placement.

The base size of issue is Rs 1,000 crore and it will give an option to retain over subscription of up to Rs 11,000 crore, said HDFC during regulatory filing on 8 October. 

The secured redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) to be issued will carry a coupon rate of 8.07 per cent per annum for a period of 10 years. 

“The objective behind such issue is to augment the long-term resources of the corporation. The proceeds would be utilised for financing /refinancing the housing finance business requirements of the corporation,” said the bank.

On 11 October the issue will be opened and it will close the same day. Issue being part of company’s Shelf Placement Memorandum “AA-series” is aggregating to Rs 75,000 crore.  And mortgage lender’s board approved it in November 2021.

IPO

100-Year-Old Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Opens Its IPO

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The proceeds from the IPO would be used by Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) to boost its core capital and satisfy future capital needs.

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank’s initial public offering (IPO) began today, September 5, 2022. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank has raised Rs 832 crore from anchor investors ahead of its initial public offering (IPO). A total of Rs 363 crore have been collected.

Prior to its IPO, the organisation offered 71,28,000 shares at Rs 510 each to raise Rs 363.53 crore from ten anchor investors. Anchors include Nomura, Societe Generale, Max Life, Kotak Mahindra Life, Bajaj Allianz Life, Cholamandalam General Insurance, Authum Investment, Alchemie Ventures, Moneywise Financial Services, and Blend Fund.

The proceeds from the IPO would be used by Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) to boost its core capital and satisfy future capital needs. In addition, the business is thinking about progressively expanding its operations in various other states. This bank’s primary function is to offer banking and financial services to retail customers, agricultural clients, and MSMEs.

TMB was established in 1921 as Nadar Bank. Currently, the bank has 509 branches that are active. 369 of these are located in Tamil Nadu itself. More than 70 percent of the bank’s business comes from branches in Tamil Nadu. This bank’s net income for the fiscal year 2022 was Rs. 8212 billion.

Meanwhile, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd announced on Sunday that senior banker Krishnan Sankarasubramaniam has taken over as managing director and CEO with immediate effect. Sankarasubramaniam succeeds K. V. Rama Moorthy, and his tenure will be three years, as approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI

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Govt Revenue Rises To Rs 7,85,914 Cr In April-July Period

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A total of Rs 2,01,108 crore has been transferred to state governments as devolution of share of taxes by centre upto this period which is Rs 36,044 crore higher than the previous year

The central government has received Rs  7,85,914 crore upto July 2022 comprising Rs 6,66,212 crore tax revenue, Rs 89,583 crore of non-tax revenue and Rs 30,119 crore of non debt capital receipts.  

According to the official data released on Thursday, the non-debt capital receipts consist of recovery of loans of Rs 5,559 crore and miscellaneous capital receipts of Rs 24,560 crore. 

A total of Rs 2,01,108 crore has been transferred to state governments as devolution of share of taxes by centre upto this period which is Rs 36,044 crore higher than the previous year.

Total expenditure incurred by the government is Rs 11,26,745 crore, out of which Rs 9,18,075 crore is in the revenue account and Rs 2,08,670 crore is in the capital account. 

The Ministry of Finance said that out of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 2,83,870 crore is on account of Interest Payments and Rs 1,09,707 crore is on account of major subsidies.

Source: freepik.com

80% SMEs Expect To Pick Up In Orderbook In Coming Months: Survey

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According to the survey, 79 per cent of the respondents anticipated that access to credit will be normal in Q3, one percentage point higher than the trendline for the preceding quarter

With a pick-up in demand, as many as 80 per cent of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) anticipate an increase in their domestic order book in the third quarter of the calendar year, as per the latest ASSOCHAM- D&B small business confidence index.

Riding on improved confidence, small businesses participating in the survey intend to raise their capacity utilisation to 60 per cent in Q3 of the calendar year of 2022, up from 55 per cent in Q2 2022. 

”SMEs anticipate their average capacity utilisation rate to increase optimism with regard to fresh investment remaining more or less intact with 75 per cent of SMEs anticipating an increase in their fixed capital investment. It was marginally lower than the 77 per cent recorded in Q2, but remained robust, it said. 

“While the RBI has been tightening the monetary policy compelled by inflation, SMEs do not find any concern with regard to the availability of credit. Good thing is that the latest RBI credit policy statement gave an assurance that enough liquidity would remain in the system,” said Deepak Sood, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM. 

He expressed hope that the banks would continue to meet the working capital requirements of the SMEs ahead of the ensuing festive season.

Sood said it is up to the large companies both in the private and public sectors to ensure that their SME vendors are paid well in time so that the payment and receipts cycle remains smooth and seamless. 

”This is critical for meeting the working capital requirements of the SMEs well in time, more so when the festive season holds promise for faster recovery and particularly for the SMEs, both in manufacturing and services,” he said.      

According to the survey, 79  per cent of the respondents anticipated that access to credit will be normal in Q3, one percentage point higher than the trendline for the preceding quarter. 

This is despite an increase in the interest rates in recent months and the continuation of the same in the immediate future.

indian rupee

Solar Financing Platform Aerem Raises $2.5 Mn Led By Blume Ventures

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The capital raised will be used for growing the loan book, building out the tech platform that would enable end to end digital and seamless interaction with various stakeholders

Solar financing platform Aerem has raised $2.5million in pre-Series A funding led by Blume Ventures. Aerem is pioneering a full-stack solution with a vision to build India’s first asset finance and quality platform for solar. The capital raised will be used for growing the loan book, building out the tech platform that would enable end to end digital and seamless interaction with various stakeholders and to hire teams including leadership in technology, product, finance, and operations. Aerem’s platform innovatively addresses key points of friction hindering adoption of rooftop solar for MSMEs. The startup services a massive and highly scalable space and is future ready for the evolving and unfolding sustainability era.

By nature of its business, Aerem has a huge impact on mitigating carbon emissions and also leads to increased profitability of MSMEs, making them more competitive. Aerem plugs a glaring product gap that is preventing mass adoption of solar rooftops and works with solar installers and EPC companies by helping finance their solar customers leading to increase in their business and employment potential. Aerem was founded in 2021 by Anand Jain who comes with a strong background in both financial services and solar. An MBA from Yale University, he worked as an investment banker with Lehman Brothers in New York before returning to India in 2009 to pursue his passion for solar. Aerem team brings on board deep domain expertise in both finance and solar and is best placed to enable and scale the sector.

Anand Jain, Founder, Aerem, said, “Aerem is on a mission to democratize the adoption of rooftop solar and build a better, greener and sustainable future. Our innovative SolarTech platform includes AAA (Aerem Asset Assurance) ensures quality rooftop solar systems, which combined with financing from our in-house NBFC or partner banks enable significant reduction in power bills of MSMEs. We offer a fully digitalized, hassle free and seamless experience to MSMEs.”

Ashish Fafadia, Partner, Blume Ventures, added, “We are impressed with Anand’s vision and Aerem’s platform approach that includes credit. Their full stack solution provides end to end engagement and is ahead of the market by 1-2 years. Solar is in a sweet spot where macro (top down) and micro (bottom up) factors are incredibly aligned. This is extremely rare for any sector. India has targeted 280 GW of solar capacity and 50% of its energy requirement from clean energy by 2030.”

Aerem is targeting 20mn industrial MSMEs in India. The market potential is over USD 200 billion just in the MSME space.

Business men giving a handshake. Business concept

IndoStar Capital Announces Deep Jaggi as CEO

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Over the past five years, R. Sridhar has ably led the transformation of IndoStar from a corporate lender to a retail-focused financier and steered the organisation through a challenging period resulting from Covid-19

IndoStar Capital Finance Limited (“IndoStar”), one of India’s retail non-banking financial companies, today announced the appointment of Deep Jaggi as Chief Executive Officer. R. Sridhar will continue as Vice Chairman of IndoStar until the end of his five-year term on 17th April 2022.

Over the past five years, R. Sridhar has ably led the transformation of IndoStar from a corporate lender to a retail-focused financier and steered the organisation through a challenging period resulting from Covid-19.

In his current role as Chief Business Officer (CBO) of IndoStar, Deep has been responsible for the overall retail business development and collections. Under his leadership, the retail business has established a pan-India presence by adding resources in the North and East regions. Jaggi brings with him over two decades of rich experience with HDB Financial (a wholly-owned subsidiary of HDFC Ltd.), Cholamandalam and Apollo Tyres. He will now lead IndoStar through its next phase of retail growth and value creation.

Bobby Parikh, Chairman, IndoStar, said, “With this change, we are paving the way for a seamless leadership transition. We thank Sridhar for his contribution and believe IndoStar will benefit tremendously from Deep’s extensive retail lending experience. We wish Deep and Sridhar the very best.”

R Sridhar, Vice Chairman, IndoStar, said, “Deep has not only been an effective Chief Business Officer but has also proven himself to be a successful leader. He is the perfect choice to lead IndoStar through its next phase of growth and scale-up. I wish him all the best in the new role.”

Deep Jaggi, CEO, IndoStar, said, “IndoStar is a well-capitalized NBFC. We have built a pan-India retail platform by investing ahead of the curve in teams and technology. I am honored to take on the new responsibility and excited about the growth potential of IndoStar.”

modi

PM Meets PE, VC Investors, Seeks Suggestions To Make India An Investment Hub

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The Prime Minister sought suggestions towards improving ease of doing business in India, attracting more capital and furthering the reform process in the country.

As preparation for next year’s Budget gathers steam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met with leading private equity/venture capital players to seek suggestions on making India a more attractive investment destination. 

The Prime Minister sought suggestions towards improving ease of doing business in India, attracting more capital and furthering the reform process in the country.

”He appreciated the practical suggestions received from the representatives and said the government is committed to working to resolve the issues and challenges highlighted,” an official release said.

During the meeting, Modi discussed the efforts undertaken by the government to bring in more reforms, the future potential of initiatives like PM GatiShakti, and steps taken to reduce the unnecessary compliance burden.

He also mentioned the innovation happening in India at the grassroot level and the boost to the startup ecosystem.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who also participated in the meeting, is due to present on February 1 the Budget for the next fiscal year that starts on April 1, 2022.

Since coming to power in 2014, the BJP government has unveiled a series of reforms that has helped India climb on the global ease of doing business ranking.

It is now pushing for making India a manufacturing hub. Production-linked incentive schemes for sectors from automobiles to semiconductors and solar have been announced to attract global manufacturers to set up base in the country.

The release further said the venture capital and private equity fund representatives also talked about the entrepreneurial potential of the country, and how it can be leveraged so that India’s startups can attain global scale.

After the interaction, Munish Verma from Softbank said the investment climate in the country has become much more positive.

This, he said, could be seen in the amount of capital that has come to India, entrepreneurs that are being created and companies that are listed.

”So, overall I think it was a great interaction with the Prime Minister,” he said, adding that Modi gave some very good suggestions.

Sandeep Naik from General Atlantic said such interactions inspire funds to bring more capital to India, and to back up the great startup entrepreneurs of the country.

”…we plan to invest several billions of dollars in India. We already have about USD 5 billion invested in India. And I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next 10 years we invest about USD 10 to 15 billion in India, because this is one of the most critical destinations for us globally,” Naik said.

Lauding the initiatives taken to boost the startup ecosystem in the country, Siddarth Pai from 3one4 termed Modi as the ‘Startup Prime Minister’. Accel’s Prashant Prakash highlighted the opportunities that are present in the agri startups space, while Rajan Anandan from Sequoia suggested working towards making India the global hub in education by leveraging technology.

Vipul Roongta from HDFC said it was his first personal interaction with the Prime Minister and praised the policy initiatives that have been taken by the government in the housing sector, especially in the affordable housing segment.

The release further said Shantanu Nalavadi from India Resurgent praised the reforms undertaken by the country in the last 7 years, especially the step to set up the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Blackstone’s Amit Dalmia opined that India is among the best performing geographies for Blackstone funds globally.

”The representatives also discussed the opportunities that are emerging because of India’s exemplary climate commitments including the ones in the sphere of energy transitions,” the release said.

They also gave inputs about areas like fintech, financial management, and Software as a Service (Saas). They also praised the Prime Minister’s vision of making India a USD 5 trillion economy. Others who were part of the interaction included Gopal Srinivasan from TVS Capitals, Renuka Ramnath from Multiples, Manish Kejriwal from Kedaara Capital, Ashley Menezes from Chrys, Vineet Rai from Aavishkar, and Shweta Jalan from Advent.

Ankur Gupta from Brookfield, Mukul Arora from Elevation, Sehraj Singh from Prosus, Ranjit Shah from Gaja Capital, Sunil Goyal from Yournest and Padmanabh Sinha from NIIF too attended the meeting with the Prime Minister.

Officials of PMO and the finance ministry were also present during the interaction.

(PTI)

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