<ul><li>Thousands lost their jobs amid a deepening funding winter in 2022 amid massive layoffs by the tech companies.</li><li>According to a PwC <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> report, startup funding in India hit a two-year low at $2.7 billion in the third quarter of 2022.</li><li>Seed stage rounds also experienced a contraction and dropped by 38 per cent as compared to the previous year.</li></ul> Indian startups, which saw a massive 35 per cent drop in funding in 2022 -- from $37.2 billion in 2021 to $24.7 billion (till November) -- are bracing themselves for a deepening funding winter in 2023 as recession fears loom. Although some startups, like fintech platform <keyword id="6557529" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="kreditbee" source="Orion">KreditBee</keyword> ($200 million), Foodtech platform HealthKart ($135 million) and HRtech software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform BetterPlace ($40 million), raised decent funds in December last year and in the beginning of January, the scene overall is grim as VC money has squeezed. Thousands lost their jobs amid a deepening funding winter in 2022 amid massive layoffs by the tech companies, which still continues. According to a PwC India report, startup funding in India hit a two-year low at $2.7 billion in the third quarter of 2022. In 2022, the significant drop in funding was attributed to a decline in late-stage investments, which fell by 45 per cent from $29.3 billion in January-November 2021 to $16.1 billion for the same period this year, according to data provided by <keyword id="2779670" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="tracxn" source="Orion">Tracxn</keyword>, a leading global market intelligence platform. Seed stage rounds also experienced a contraction and dropped by 38 per cent as compared to the previous year. The report said that 22 startups entered the unicorn club in 2022, as compared to 46 in the previous year.The number of big ticket ($100 million and above) funding rounds dropped by 35 per cent to 55 as compared to 85 in the reported period. The number of funding rounds saw a drop of 30 per cent, from 2,647 last year to 1,841 this year, the report said. "The funding winter, which began in Q4 of 2021, will persist in 2023 as well. In order to survive the drought, startups are taking unit economics more seriously, which has been illustrated through the series of mass layoffs that have occurred this year," said <keyword id="520013" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="neha-singh" source="Orion">Neha Singh</keyword>, Co-Founder, Tracxn. "Although we are currently experiencing a slump, the situation is prompting startups to establish clearer and more sustainable paths to growth, as investors' evaluation metrics begin to emphasise good profitability over growth at all costs," Singh had said in a statement. The startup ecosystem's funding winter could last another 12 to 18 months and the industry may face "a lot of turmoil and volatility", Flipkart CEO <keyword id="6379357" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kalyan-krishnamurthy" source="Orion">Kalyan Krishnamurthy</keyword> warned recently. According to <keyword id="12046361" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="shrijay-sheth" source="Orion">Shrijay Sheth</keyword>, Founder, Legalwiz.in, 2023 will continue to be the year of sustenance for most, and funders will continue to remain more cautious. "Both valuation multipliers and funding opportunities will go more conservative. Startups must build better units economics as opposed to expensive acquisitions driven growth channels. Geo-political issues, Global supply chain crisis and other macro issues are expected to prevail," he said. However, this also needs to be seen as a year where resilient, innovative and problem-solving entrepreneurs shall get an opportunity to stand out from the crowd. "As the macro environment gets tougher, we can expect some excellent business models to outshine the rest with high levels of innovation and frugality. Also, mostly the serious funding houses will prevail while we will see visitors in the VC world take a break," <keyword id="262579" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sheth" source="Orion">Sheth</keyword> noted. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/there-is-a-link-between-drinking-sugary-sodas-and-hair-loss-says-beijing-based-study/slidelist/96796018.cms">There is a link between drinking sugary sodas and hair loss, says Beijing-based study</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/chaman-metallics-first-sme-ipo-of-2023-subscribed-197x/articleshow/96795916.cms">Chaman Metallics, first SME IPO of 2023, subscribed 197x</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/60-of-blue-and-grey-collar-jobs-go-to-freshers-with-tech-skills-billion-careers-report/articleshow/96795198.cms">60% of blue and grey collar jobs go to freshers with tech skills: Billion Careers report</a>

India's startup economy stares at deepening funding winter in 2023

The funding in Indian startups nosedived a massive 80 per cent (year-on-year) in the third quarter (July-September period) this year, with the late-stage funding seeing the biggest fall, a report showed on Tuesday. Indian startups raised $3 billion in Q3, which was also 57 per cent lower as compared to the previous quarter (Q2) this year. The average ticket size also witnessed a drop across all funding stages, with the late stage seeing the biggest fall of over 70 per cent, from $142 million in Q3 2021 to $42 million in Q3 2022. This indicated that investors are not willing to make large <keyword id="6362476" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="investments" source="Orion">investments</keyword> until economic conditions stabilise, reports market intelligence platform Tracxn. "<keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> is currently experiencing a funding slowdown which is expected to continue for the next 12-18 months and the effects of the funding slowdown are expected to intensify going forward," said <keyword id="520013" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="neha-singh" source="Orion">Neha Singh</keyword>, Co-Founder of Tracxn. Executives across the world anticipate a recession in the near future and are making preparations to cut costs. "To add to their woes, the recent energy crisis in the UK and Europe and also the sliding GBP and EUR have increased the likelihood of a global recession," Singh added. Genomics sector in India saw maximum investor interest in Q3, receiving over $231 million in funding, which is higher than the total funding received in the year 2021. The five companies that raised funding rounds of more than $100 million in the quarter were EarlySalary, 5ire, InsuranceDekho, OneCard, and BookMyShow, with the most active investors being Better Capital, Venture Catalysts and <keyword id="6426108" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="surge" source="Orion">Surge</keyword>. Some of the other key highlights were 109 startups closing their first funding round, three startups turning unicorns, 39 startups getting acquired, and two filing for their IPOs. Molbio Diagnostics, 5ire and OneCard turned unicorns and Zopper, LifeCell, Jar, DotPe, Vegrow Bigspoon, InsuranceDekho, CUSMAT, Airtribe and Serentica Global joined the Soonicorn club. India received $752 million in funding in the month of September, down by 15 per cent as compared to August and down by 83 per cent as compared to the same period last year. "We are seeing large PE and VC funds treading cautiously led by significant changes in the investment environment in recent quarters. We expect this to continue until we see signs of stabilisation globally, said <keyword id="886686" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="abhishek-goyal" source="Orion">Abhishek Goyal</keyword>, Co-Founder of Tracxn. SEE ALSO:

India startup sector sees 80% drop in Q3 funding, slowdown to continue

<ul><li>The fintech space saw five funding rounds surpassing the $100 million mark.</li><li>The sector saw 31 acquisitions, and two initial public offers in 2023.</li><li>Alternative lending, payments, BankingTech raised the most funds in a tough year. </li></ul>As the funding winter rages on, India’s fintech sector saw fund inflows decline by 63% in 2023. The sector raised a mere $2 billion for the year – lower than $5.4 billion raised in 2022 and $8.4 billion in 2023, says a report by Tracxn. In spite of the fall, India ranked third globally in 2023 in terms of <keyword id="12790780" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fintech-startup-funding" source="Orion">fintech startup funding</keyword>. Globally, funds have become tight for startups due to rising interest rates, as well as tough and uncertain macroeconomic conditions. “Despite a 63% decline, the sector stands strong as the third-highest funded ecosystem globally, affirming its position as a hub of innovation. The implementation of regulatory measures and the government's commitment to digitalization have set the stage for a promising future,” said Neha Singh, co-founder at Tracxn. Only one unicorn this year The year witnessed five funding rounds surpassing the $100 million mark. Perfios, a real-time credit decision platform, raised $229 million in a Series D round led by Kedaara Capital. Mintifi, an online marketplace for business loans, secured $110 million in a Series D funding round led by Premji Invest. The sector also saw only one unicorn – <keyword id="4331504" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="incred" source="Orion">InCred</keyword> that was created in the year. But the sector also saw consolidation. There were 31 acquisitions, similar to the previous year. TrillionLoans was acquired by BharatPe for $36 million, Goals101 acquired by M2P for $30 million; and Upwards acquired by LendingKart for $12.1 million. Two companies, Zaggle and Veefin, announced initial public offers in 2023, compared to five companies that went public the year before. Slowdown in funding was seen across stages of deals. While late-stage rounds witnessed a 56% drop, early-stage rounds fell much sharply at 73%. Seed-stage rounds were also not immune to this downward trajectory, seeing a 69% drop. Fintech’s funding worries <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;"><colgroup></colgroup><col /><col /><col /><col /><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Stage of funding </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Funds raised in 2023 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Funds raised in 2023 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">% change </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Late-stage </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1.4 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$3.2 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-56% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Early-stage </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$489 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1.8 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-73% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Seed </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$145 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$474 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-69% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$2 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$5.4 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-63% </td></tr></tbody></table>Source: Tracxn Alternative lending, BankingTech shine Even as funding was scarce, sectors within fintech like alternative lending, payments, and bankingtech saw a good run. Alternative Lending received funding of $835 million in 2023, down from $2.28bn in 2022. The BNPL (buy now pay later) segment saw significant growth due to its adoption within the country, which contributed to the growth of the sector. “The digital lending space, which increasingly relies on customer data for its product marketing and development, is also likely to grow owing to the government’s recently launched Digital Personal Data Protection Act, which will ensure more transparency and customer trust in the sector,” the report added. Banking Tech received funding of $331 million in 2023, which halved compared to last year. But the segment substantially benefited from digitalization, and digital banking has seen widespread adoption due to rising internet and mobile device penetration in cities as well as rural areas. “Additionally, the Indian government has recently allocated about $16.7 billion towards the BharatNet project to increase broadband connectivity within rural areas, which will help widen the reach and potentially attract more investments into the sector,” the report said. Peak XV Partners, Y Combinator, and LetsVenture were the top investors in the space. We Founder Circle, Y Combinator, and 100X.VC led seed investments; while Accel, Omidyar Network India, and Elevation were prominent investors in early-stage investments. OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund was the leading late-stage investor in 2023. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/late-stage-deals-are-back-but-funding-winter-is-far-from-over-say-vcs/articleshow/105389287.cms">Late-stage deals are back but funding winter is far from over say VCs</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/a-billion-little-pieces-unicorns-lose-bragging-rights-as-funding-winter-deepens/articleshow/104356885.cms">A billion little pieces: Unicorns lose bragging rights as funding winter deepens</a>

India’s fintech funding shrinks over 60% to $2 billion

<ul><li>Two startups – <keyword id="12437554" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zepto" source="Orion">Zepto</keyword> and <keyword id="18141109" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zyber-365" source="Orion">Zyber 365</keyword> – turned unicorns during the quarter.</li><li><keyword id="2924060" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup-funding" source="Orion">Startup funding</keyword> declined QoQ, but showed an impressive MoM growth in September.</li><li>Fintechs raised as much as $436 million, marking a 68% QoQ growth. </li></ul>Indian startup funding hit a five-year low in the third quarter of the calendar year, says a report by <keyword id="2779670" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="tracxn" source="Orion">Tracxn</keyword>. Startups raised $1.5 billion in Q3 – shrunk by almost a third on a when compared to the previous quarter, and halved year-on-year. Early-stage and seed-stage funding plummeted by 74% and 75% respectively, on a YoY basis. Late-stage rounds, in comparison, witnessed a 33% reduction. “Despite the decline in funding, India remains among the top-performing tech ecosystems globally. A promising sign in the report is the month-on-month funding growth, with an impressive 91% increase from $376 million in August 2023 to $720 million in September 2023,” said Abhishek Goyal, co-founder of Tracxn. Fintechs received $436 million in funding, marking a 68% QoQ growth – making it the best performing sub-sector. “The investment growth in fintech is propelled due to the rapid growth seen in the adoption of UPI both in the domestic market and international markets like Bhutan, France, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Singapore,” Tracxn said. Enterprise applications funding rose by 51%, while transportation and logistics tech raised $375 million, showing a drop of 72%. Only 2 unicorns added to the list <keyword id="1579449" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Perfios" source="Orion">Perfios</keyword>, Zepto, Ola Electric, Ather Energy, and Zyber 365 raised over $100 million each. Of these, Zepto and Zyber 365 turned unicorns. They are also the only two unicorns added in the quarter. Perfios, which provides data analysis tools, raised $229 million in a Series D round. There were 33 acquisitions during the quarter – which was a 13% decrease from Q3 2022. Some of the notable acquisitions included Route Mobile's acquisition by Proximus Group for $718 million and Marico’s acquisition of Plix for $45.1 million. Drone Destination, Aha Solar, IdeaForge, and Veefin went public during the quarter, showcasing the growing maturity of the Indian tech ecosystem, says Tracxn. “India ranks as the fifth highest funded country in Q3 2023 and maintains its fourth-place position in terms of total funding for the year to date (YTD). It underscores the resilience of India's tech startups and their ability to adapt to changing market conditions,” said Neha Singh, co-founder, Tracxn. Accel, Blume, and Peak XV Partners were the top investors of the quarter. IPV, 100X.VC and Titan Capital led the seed investments, while Elevation, Tiger Global Management, and Accel were prominent in early-stage investments. Glade Brook Capital took the lead in the late-stage category.

Startup funding hits a 5-year low in July-September quarter

<ul><li>Only 4 companies entered the billion dollar unicorn club in the April-June quarter of 2022.</li><li>There were 13 companies that turned unicorns in the January to March quarter of 2022.</li><li>The slowdown in the unicorn creation is directly proportional to the slowdown in funding activities.</li></ul>The ongoing funding winter has already caused a slowdown in the unicorn creation trend of India. Only four companies entered the billion dollar unicorn club in the April-June quarter of 2022, compared to 13 in the preceding January-March quarter. India had added 12 unicorns in the comparable quarter last year. A unicorn is a startup valued at over a billion dollars. About 44 startups achieved this milestone in 2021 and that number was expected to be bigger this year thanks to the optimism in the market. However, contrary to expectations, the April-June quarter saw the least number of unicorns being created since September 2020. According to business intelligence firm Tracxn, the slowdown in the creation of unicorns is directly proportional to the slowdown in funding activities in the Indian startup ecosystem. The investors have limited capital to invest in startups, which makes them even more cautious about investing in bigger rounds or cash-burning businesses. Neobanking firm Open Financial, software-as-a-service (SaaS) company LeadSquare, Nykaa competitor <keyword id="1830414" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="purplle" source="Orion">Purplle</keyword> and edtech company <keyword id="14134943" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="physicswallah" source="Orion">PhysicsWallah</keyword> were the four companies that turned unicorns in the April-June quarter of 2022. Neha Singh, co-founder of Tracxn, emphasised that the entire slowdown in funding and unicorn creation has been impacted by the dip in later-stage funding rounds. The trend of low unicorn creation and late-stage funding is likely to continue throughout this calendar year, through to the March quarter of next year if the Russia-Ukraine war didn’t cool down, Neha added. OneCard was the only unicorn of July 2022, hinting at the continued slowdown for this quarter as well. <div type="image" title="In the funding winter, only four companies turn unicorns in the June quarter" msid="93271361" hostid="261" sizebytes="127869"></div> VerSe Innovation — the parent company of Dailyhunt and Josh — raised the biggest funding round last month when it secured $805 million at a<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/josh-dailyhunt-parent-company-verse-raises-805-million-takes-valuation-to-5-billion/articleshow/90675633.cms"> valuation of $5 billion</a>. It was followed by Delhivery at $304 million, Udaan at $275 million, ShareChat at $255 million and upGrad at $225 million. The slowdown in unicorn creation is not just limited to India, it coincides with a global downturn in funding. About 85 unicorns were added globally in the April to June quarter of 2022, compared to 129 in the same quarter last year. The number stood at 110 unicorns in the January to March quarter. Meanwhile, the global startup funding in April-June quarter of 2022 dropped by 23% on a year-on-year basis to $108.5 billion. Gaurav VK Singhvi, co-founder of investment firm We Founder Circle, explained that several startups had ignored their bottomline for a long time and the investors were now putting pressure on these companies to focus on their finances and numbers. “Revenue is all good but now they are looking at profitability and long term sustenance,” he added. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/gautam-singhania-md-of-the-raymond-group-people-are-ready-to-get-dressed-go/articleshow/93269593.cms">Lockdown effect: People are ready to get dressed &amp; go says Gautam Singhania of Raymond</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/freebies-home-visits-campaigns-and-free-jabs-for-covid-booster-dose-from-many-states/articleshow/93269529.cms">Freebies, home visits, campaigns and free jabs — this is how states are encouraging people to get their booster dose</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/twitter-delete-millions-of-spam-accounts-a-day-to-control-trolls/articleshow/93203353.cms">We delete millions of spam accounts a day to control trolls, says Twitter</a>

In the funding winter, only four companies turn unicorns in the June quarter

The villagers of Hirpodi in Velhe taluka of Pune district are making steady progress in turning a barren hill into a forest with the help of contour trenches and drought-tolerant trees. Janabai Laxman Kuditkar (70) points to the hill behind her newly-built pucca house while explaining how barren it was when they started off. "There were only a few scattered trees on the top. Until about 10 years ago, we were cultivating ragi and sesame. But long summers and water scarcity made everything difficult," she says. Consequently, she sold that piece of land to an NRI couple. The hill covering about five acres along the slope now belongs to Ravindra and Sadhana Swar, who approached <keyword id="339271" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="forrest" source="Orion">FORREST</keyword> (Forest Regeneration and Environment Sustainability Trust) - an <keyword id="6366591" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="ngo" source="Orion">NGO</keyword> dealing in biodiversity - to restore it in a way that would benefit the village that sits along its lower reaches. Responding to 101Reporters by email, the Swars said that they bought the land, sight unseen, to help the owner who was deep in debt. "The original purpose was to build an old age home. But when we finally visited the site ourselves, we found there was no proper access road or any facilities nearby. It was just a barren hill." And Sadhana Swar, having something of a green finger herself, decided to spend some money to develop this into a green zone, even a sanctuary for birds. "This land is located half a kilometre from the village, at an elevation of 760m from the mean sea level. Except for some non-native Eucalyptus trees planted near the peak by the forest department, the slopes were denuded of any vegetation. There was just some seasonal grass and a few shrubs," says Neha Singh, the founder and director of FORREST. Located 60 km from Pune, Hirpodi is home to about 900 people. Singh and her team decided to work on two fronts - water and forestry. "We planned to dig contour trenches and plant drought-tolerant native species on their bunds. The first step of marking trenches all over the hill began in July 2019," she tells 101Reporters. Trenching is one of the major environmental engineering measures for conserving water and controlling soil erosion in non-arable lands. Areas with steep slopes are more prone to soil erosion, particularly if they lack vegetative cover. "Velha gets good rainfall, but the water drains out very quickly due to the slope. Almost no water percolates in the soil. Contour trenching solves this problem," explains Singh. "We found a part on the slope where soil erosion was much more pronounced. Hillsides are more prone to gullying (the process by which deep channels or gullies are created by flowing water) when they are cleared of vegetation through deforestation, overgrazing or forest fires. To arrest soil erosion, we covered a small patch with dense plantations." The restoration plans began when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak. Holding meetings with villagers was not even a possibility then. So, her team tried different methods to increase local participation. "We decided to involve villagers by appointing a local project coordinator for the work, and <keyword id="14981722" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vitthal-rajiwade" source="Orion">Vitthal Rajiwade</keyword> was keen on helping us when he realised how much the village will benefit," says Prachi Pawar, assistant director, FORREST. Anything related to water usually piques the interest of people here. The promise of improvement in groundwater levels, prevention of flooding during monsoons, and the prospect of income from minor non-timber forest produce was enough to convince them to join hands. "The NGO provided us with trenching tools and we got the bamboo supplied from the village," adds Reshma <keyword id="213779" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sonawane" source="Orion">Sonawane</keyword>, <keyword id="14981721" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="rajiwade" source="Orion">Rajiwade</keyword>'s neighbour. The locals were paid in cash for all the materials and the strenuous work of walking uphill with tools, plants, compost, soil nutrients and bamboo. "We had to make several trips along with the NGO volunteers, and they offered us money that helped us get through those pandemic-weary days," Sonawane gratefully remembers. The joint team of volunteers and villagers built around 250 contour trenches and planted 530 trees over their bunds. "We felt that native forest trees are stronger and they adapt easily to adverse climatic conditions. Most of them have medicinal properties and are fruit-bearing, like say Reetha (soapnut), Baheda (Terminalia bellerica) and Harad (Termialia chebula)," informs Pawar. The trees coming under the ficus genus were chosen to enhance the green cover, as their fruits cater to both birds and mammals even during drought. "About 200 ficus trees have been planted to this end," Pawar says. Once the trenching and planting were done, 40 villagers collected thorny bushes from nearby hills and carried them to the site to build a fence that would protect the plants from free-grazing cattle. Only 300 of the total 530 trees remain, with the rest lost in forest fires. Rajiwade, a wrestler and rice cultivator, understands the importance of maintaining sources of irrigation. "When we started planting trees, I did not realise how important it was. But now, we have pits filled with enough water for our crops," he beams. The Rajiwades have assumed the role of overseeing the maintenance of the young trees, which includes watering them at least four times a month during non-monsoon months with the help of the community. "The trees are still small and need at least three years to grow. Once they grow tall, I hope there will be even more rainfall in the area," Rajiwade says. He and his family - comprising his wife and three college-going children - had motivated many to join the project in its early days. Sonawane, on her part, exhorted women to lend a helping hand. Singh believes that her NGO is no longer needed here. "The point of conservation is that it should be self-sustaining. Even in the absence of any monetary benefit, the community should take care of their environment. And I think this has already happened here," she concludes. 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Maharashtra's Hirpodi village turns a barren hill into a forest with the help of contour trenches and drought-tolerant trees

<ul><li><keyword id="2779670" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tracxn">Tracxn</keyword> is looking to sell 38.67 million shares in its IPO.</li><li>The issue will purely consist of an offer for sale to provide exits to existing investors.</li><li>It now tracks over 1.4 million private companies and works with 855 subscribers.</li></ul>Bengaluru-based private market intelligence platform Tracxn has filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) to sell 38.67 million shares in its initial public offering (IPO). The eight-year-old company has not disclosed the amount it plans to raise with this public issue. The IPO would only consist of secondary share sale to provide exits to existing shareholders and promoters. Investors such as Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, Elevation Capital, Accel India and Sequoia Capital India would be selling their shareholdings. IIFL Securities has been appointed as the book running lead manager to the issue. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"><colgroup></colgroup><col /><col /><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Shareholders </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Offer for Sale (OFS) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Tracxn’s founders Neha Singh and Abhishek Goyal </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">7.66 million shares </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Flipkart’s Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1.26 million </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Elevation Capital </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10.98 million shares </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Accel India IV Mauritius </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4.02 million </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Sequoia Capital </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2.18 million shares </td></tr></tbody></table> Elevation Capital has 21.89% stake in Tracxn, whereas Sachin and Binny Bansal hold 1.26% stake each. Founders Goyal and Singh hold 25.46% stake in the company. Tracxn was founded in 2013 and launched in 2015. The firm offers private company data for deal sourcing, identifying mergers and acquisition (M&amp;A) targets, deal diligence, analysis and tracking emerging themes across industries and markets. It claims to track over 1.4 million private companies and works with 855 subscription customers across 50 countries. Its customer base would include venture capital (VC) firms, private equity funds and large corporates. Tracxn reported a revenue of ₹55.7 crore in the financial year that ended March 2021. The company claims that 70% of its revenue comes from outside India, primarily Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and North American markets. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/india-now-has-four-edtech-unicorns-byju-unacademy-eruditis-upgrad/articleshow/85300757.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" style="">From Byju’s to Eruditus — India now has four edtech unicorns, thanks to a $4 billion funds flowing in since 2020</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/travel-app-ixigo-files-for-a-1600-crore-ipo/articleshow/85292327.cms">Travel app ixigo files for a ₹1,600 crore IPO</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/swiggy-reports-nearly-three-fold-increase-in-annual-revenue-in-neck-and-neck-race-with-zomato/articleshow/85233393.cms">Swiggy reports nearly three-fold increase in annual revenue, in neck and neck race with Zomato</a>

Private market intelligence firm Tracxn files for an IPO

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b15a19e1ae6621b008b504c-1304/neha singh - headshot.jpg" border="0" alt="Neha Singh" data-mce-source="Neha Singh" />Neha Singh</div></div></div><ul><li>Obsess is an online virtual shopping platform that lets users shop in a discovery-oriented context.</li><li>Its founder, ex-Googler Neha Singh, hopes to create the e-commerce platform of the future, where users will some day shop as online avatars in lush, 3D environments.</li></ul><hr />"You can't sell fashion and art the same way you sell toothpaste," says Neha Singh. "But on the internet, that's exactly what we do: Toothpaste is sold the same way as beautiful clothes."Singh is the founder of <a href="http://www.obsessar.com/about/">Obsess</a>, a new online shopping platform that seeks to reinvigorate what she describes as the "boring and tedious" business of online shopping. Singh hopes to usher in a new era of online <keyword id="6354851" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="retail">retail</keyword>, where currently, items are almost always presented as two-dimensional thumbnails on a uniform scroll-through grid."In real life, shopping is a form of entertainment," says Singh. "It's driven by discovery and inspiration and fun. That's not happening online."Singh, a self-described fashion fanatic with experience working at both Google and Vogue, has developed an online platform that presents items in "virtual stores" where users can browse retail goods in discovery-oriented environments that mimics real life. When you take your first virtual step inside <a href="http://virtualstore.carmensol.com/main">Obsess's online outpost of Carmon Sol</a>, an Italian luxury retailer, you're greeted with an eye-popping display of handbags inside a sun-drenched, airy shop. Peppy, Spanish music plays in the background. Inside the virtual space, you can "walk" around to get a closer look at the shoe-filled shelves in the back. If an item interests you, you can "pick it up" by clicking over it, which brings you to more details on the item and an online shopping cart. A poster on the wall of a bikini-clad model reveals that the items she's wearing are available for purchase as well. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b168d3e1ae6624d008b470b-2400/7 carmen sol - base image.jpg" border="0" alt="Carmen Sol Obsess" data-mce-source="Obsess" />ObsessObsess's virtual store for Carmon Sol.</div></div></div>While Carmen Sol's online store is animated, other Obsess offerings draw from 3D imaging of real spaces. For instance, Obsess's virtual store for <a href="http://virtualstore.farfetchvr.com/">boutique fashion retailer Farfetch </a>brings you to the company's Brown East, London shop. Upon entry, you can browse items during a virtual walkthrough. Singh says Obsess lets online shoppers browse products they might not otherwise have discovered, which gives an opportunity for companies to steep their customers in a unique and personalized branding experience. The store presentations are only the beginning, says Singh. With a computer-generated store, the possibilities of Obsess's online platforms are limitless, she says. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b16915b1ae6621f008b5125-1435/3 farfetch - screenshot - london.png" border="0" alt="Farfetch Obsess" data-mce-source="Obsess" />ObsessObsess's virtual store for Farfetch.</div></div></div>In the future, Singh hopes to create virtual in-store shopping assistants, avatars that are true to a customer's size and shape who can virtually try on clothing, and a myriad of different shopping contexts: Anything from beachside resorts to rock concerts. "Our goal is to recreate the ecommerce interface for categories that aren't search-based," says Singh. "The whole point is to increase engagement in order to increase customer conversion."As more retailers move to ecommerce, Singh hopes to provide a platform where they can fully express their brand identity. Obsess, which recently graduated from New York's incubator program Techstars, is currently raising funds to build what Singh describes as the e-commerce platform of the future."For us, the market potential is huge," says Singh. "Home and retail fashion alone is a $2.4 trillion industry, and more and more sales are moving online every day. We want to capture those online sales. We want to be the next e-commerce category for the huge companies moving into this space." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-chg90-ultra-wide-gaming-monitor-perfect-gaming-2018-5">We tried gaming on the Samsung CHG90 ultrawide gaming monitor</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/bax9AeEn-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

This ex-Googler has big plans to kill the 'Amazon experience' of online shopping

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/55559153.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /> 
 
 BBC's 100 <keyword id="624" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Women">Women</keyword> unveiled its chosen list of inspirational women for 2016 today. From amongst 100 globally chosen women, the list also includes five Indians- <keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword> actress <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Meet-Sunny-Leone-the-smart-businesswoman/articleshow/53193428.cms">Sunny Leone</a>, Mallika Srinivasan, Neha Singh, Saalumarada Thimmakka and Gouri Chindarkar. 
 
 Some of this year’s high profile women include singer-songwriter Alicia Keys; US gold medal winning gymnast <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=simone+biles&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Simone Biles</a>; French politician Rachida Dati and Chairman of Santander UK Dame Shriti Vadera. 
 
The women chosen this year are a mixture of female trailblazers – high-profile and influential women from all corners of the world, with more entrepreneurs, engineers, sportswomen, business women, fashion icons and artists than ever before. A third of nominees are aged 30 and below, while several of the inspiring women are over the age of 80, many of whom campaign for their causes whilst striving for a better world for themselves and their families. 
 
Needless to say, it's a proud moment for the country and also time to acquaint ourselves better with these Indian women doing extraordinary work. 
 
Here are the five Indians who made it to BBC's 100 Influential Woman 2016.

Sunny Leone and four Indians make it to BBC's 100 most Influential Women List

<ul><li>Established <keyword id="982553" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-startups">Indian startups</keyword> are looking at ways to expand their boundaries and are thus encroaching each other’s territories. </li><li>Investors too have been backing up these expansion plans. </li><li>So, it brings up the near possibility of a consolidated market in India.</li></ul>India has grown to be the world’s third largest startup ecosystem, with over 20 unicorns some of which have already established a global foothold. But as India’s number of startups keeps growing, there’s also another unique problem that exists - established startups are looking at ways to expand their boundaries and are thus encroaching each other’s territories. Most recently, <keyword id="6358977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy">Swiggy</keyword> made news for venturing into grocery delivery, a segment that has been dominated by startups like BigBasket and Grofers or even the delivery services startup Dunzo. Oyo is reportedly looking at entering the foodtech sector by acquisition of Freshmenu to offer more services to its customers. Paytm which has managed to stay in the news throughout last year for good and bad news, has already been experimenting by venturing into several different verticals like e-commerce (Paytm Mall), ticketing (giving competition to the likes of BookMyShow and MakeMyTrip), and of course, how can one ignore its big entry into the world of banks with the payments bank. So what’s making these startups force an entry into another’s territory? Vivek Durai, founder of paper.vc, a data platform for business intelligence and innovation, told Business Insider that one of the reasons could be simply laziness. “It means they did not have a well-thought out plan to achieve brand and product superiority in their growth vertical. It means that their financing rounds have involved significant amounts of introspection about their ability to sustain in a lead purely on the basis of their existing value proposition,” said Durai. But there’s a silver lining. Investors too have been backing up these expansion plans of startups, proving that these startups are showing space for growth beyond their current segment. And Durai says this is the other reason - an organic one. “The territories they enter are 'features' in a product roadmap and are logical next steps to deliver better value to customers which signals alignment,” he said. While startups might not be consciously encroaching into each other’s segments for growth, what it essentially boils down to is how they are planning their growth. Neha Singh, co-founder and CEO of data analytics platform Tracxn believes that it’s a product-oriented approach – whether these companies are focusing on a single offering or multiple. “In the US, companies are typically focussed on one particular product while Chinese companies have a different approach where they diversify much earlier. Which one is a better strategy is still an open debate especially when India has seen both sides of the coin,” said Singh. The choice between single strategy or multi-strategy approach has been seen in various Indian companies. “When you initially start with one product and then diversify, companies realise it’s difficult to handle and obviously, their burn increases. So while companies can meet with success on the multi-strategy approach, they might sometimes go through a heartbreak too,” said Singh. For example, a BookMyShow has essentially stuck to its basic offering of booking tickets, while a Paytm has diversified into multiple different segments. And there’s one lesson to learn – Paytm has the backing to burn cash. It remains to be seen what works out in the Indian market but with acquisitions and mergers heating up the Indian startup space, there strikes the pertinent question – is the Indian startup world headed towards consolidation? “Eventually, yes. But given that the market itself is evolving, growing slowly – the middle class is still too small compared to China. The need of the hour is to kickstart a production-based economy where Indians are able to spend more money simply because the Indian economy is benefiting from export income,” said Durai. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/paytm-takes-on-airbnb-makemytrip-oyorooms-and-trivago-with-its-latest-offer-hotel-bookings/articleshow/67755276.cms">Paytm is competing with almost everyone in Indian e-commerce</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-rooms-eyeing-acquisition-of-freshmenu/articleshow/68112104.cms">Oyo wants a bite of foodtech, may acquire Freshmenu: Report</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/swiggy-and-bigbasket-will-battle-softbank-and-mukesh-ambani-in-online-grocery/articleshow/68204293.cms">Online grocers are back in business in India with billions more to burn – and that may be good for consumers</a>

Do Swiggy, OYO, and Paytm lack Silicon Valley’s planning and conviction?

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/50465543.cms" /> <keyword id="6360722" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="ratan-tata">Ratan Tata</keyword>, Chairman Emeritus of <keyword id="46894" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tata-Sons">Tata Sons</keyword>, has recently invested an undisclosed amount in <keyword id="2779670" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tracxn">Tracxn</keyword>, the Bengaluru-based startup intelligence platform. 
 
With this development,Tracxn has joined the list of almost two dozen startups and tech companies that Tata has backed in the past two years, including Snapdeal, Ola Cabs, Paytm, Urbanladder, Xiaomi, UrbanClap and DogSpot. 
 
He is also involved with venture capital firms like Kalaari Capital, IDG Ventures India and Jungle Ventures in the capacity of an advisor. 
Talking of Tracxn, it has raised angel funding from Flipkart's co-founders Sachin and Binny Bansal, Delhivery's CEO Sahil Barua and $3.5 million in series-A funding from SAIF Partners. 
 
The company was founded in 2013 by former venture capital investors Neha Singh (ex-Sequoia Capital) and Abhishek Goyal (ex-Accel Partners), and tracks over 100 sectors including enterprise infrastructure, enterprise applications, technology, consumer, mobile, digital marketing, health, education. 
 <keyword id="2928014" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tracxn-Labs">Tracxn Labs</keyword>, an angel invest fund, and <keyword id="3401467" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tracxn-Syndicate">Tracxn Syndicate</keyword>, an angel investment group are also run by Tracxn, putting it in competition with Let's Venture, which is another fundraising platform that has been backed by Tata. 
 
In its clientele, Tracxn boasts of venture capital funds, private equity firms and corporate development teams who use the services provided by the company it to spot investment, merger and strategic partnership opportunities in different sectors. Some of these names include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, SoftBank, Google Capital, VMWare, GE and LG. 
 
In the past one year, Tracxn has increased its number of analysts assigned to exclusively tracking startups from 25 to 125. The client base has also seen a 400% increase to over 300 customers across 20 countries in the past 12 months. 
 
"Ratan Tata is a trusted household name &amp; his way of building things has played a critical role in how our thoughts shaped up in early days of our lives," Goyal told ET. "As we rapidly expand across geographies, his unconventional ways of building large companies with high diversity will be very useful," he continued. 
 
<a href="http://www.in.techradar.com/photo/47922351.cms">Image source</a>

Ratan Tata just invested in this startup intelligence platform!

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48189538.cms" /> 
 
They might be boasting of a trend they have rightly caught up with. But they aren’t really ready to set the equilibrium. The start up culture in India has given India an entrepreneurial identity in the global map, yet none of the companies has a single woman employee in its executive leadership. 
 
India's biggest, most funded and perhaps the fastest growing startup, Flipkart, is beginning to reflect the problem haunting the country's much bigger technology industry that of gender diversity at the top, informs a news report by The Economic Times. 
 
Not only Flipkart, Myntra Ola, Quikr, Freshdesk and several others have long ignored the need to achieve gender diversity at the top. The ET report believes, perhaps the founders have been too busy building their startups. 
 
But building an equitable culture and at least trying to put together a diverse leadership team is a responsibility they cannot shy away from, especially if more than third (and in some cases nearly half) of their employees are women. 
During Women’s day and other ‘seasonal’ events, these companies bring out a hyped gender diversity debates. But this issue is far too important to be raised only during the season, and secondly, March is too far, far away to wait, states the news report by the financial daily. 
 
The ET lists out some dynamic founders of startups such as MapMyGenome (Anu Acharya), Limeroad (Suchi Mukherjee), Tracxn (Neha Singh), Mad StreDen's Ashwini Asokan and Trucksfirst (Gazal Kalra). But other than this it's really difficult to spot women entrepreneurs and top startup executives. Some of them may lack experience in managing large, complex organisations. But that's an area of improvement for many, many professionals of the opposite gender. 
 
The ET asks the right question- if founders and startups can spend so much of time debating, arguing, calling each other names, about issues of hiring, evil investors, intellectually challenged boards - why not set some time aside on solving the global tech's oldest problem? 
 
Perhaps somebody in India could put together "a list of boss ladies" the way Silicon Valley veteran Sukhinder Singh Cassidy did with this Boardlist. 
 
For its part, Flipkart seems to have realised that it needs to do better in terms of gender diversity. Couple of weeks ago, it announced an attractive maternity package to retain its women staff across the company. 
 
But a detailed questionnaire sent on last Friday to Flipkart, Zomato, and several others remained unanswered. In fact, Paytm was the only company to have responded. 
 
Some would argue (and perhaps rightfully so) that with the rise of new breed women founders at startups such as Trucksfirst, MapMyGenome and several others, things are much better off and there is no need to demand gender diversity at companies such as Flipkart. 
 
But the real issue is not just about having a good number of women founders in the ecosystem. It's more about ensuring diversity at startups such as Flipkart that are no more small; employ thousands of staff, and are seen as role models for the entire ecosystem. They need to urgently address the aspirations of their (potential) women leaders and set an example, suggested the news report.

You Searched For "neha singh" and got 12 results

India's startup economy stares at deepening funding winter in 2023

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India’s fintech funding shrinks over 60% to $2 billion

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In the funding winter, only four companies turn unicorns in the June quarter

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Maharashtra's Hirpodi village turns a barren hill into a forest with the help of contour trenches and drought-tolerant trees

IANS

Private market intelligence firm Tracxn files for an IPO

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This ex-Googler has big plans to kill the 'Amazon experience' of online shopping

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Sunny Leone and four Indians make it to BBC's 100 most Influential Women List

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Do Swiggy, OYO, and Paytm lack Silicon Valley’s planning and conviction?

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Ratan Tata just invested in this startup intelligence platform!

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Startups in India: No place for women?

BI India Bureau