Payal Ganguly

Hyderabad

Journalist @YourStory, tweets are not endorsements.Write on startups, tech and policy.Bylines at TechCircle,The Ken,The Economic Times,The New Indian Express

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Articles

Marico Innovation Foundation’s Scale-Up accelerator on track to produce six soonicorns by next year

Feb 13, 2025 | yourstory.com | Payal Ganguly

Marico Innovation Foundation—the CSR-arm of consumer goods company Marico—plans to accelerate six startups from its mentorship programme and help them achieve the soonicorn tag by 2026. The foundation’s Scale-Up acceleration programme, which offers bespoke mentorship to startups, has identified key areas of innovation across clean technology, plastic waste management, and agritech, in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
MMT’s bet on new initiatives helped its turnaround: Group CEO Rajesh Magow

Jan 27, 2025 | yourstory.com | Payal Ganguly

MakeMyTrip' s focus on corporate travel and new business lines has helped make up for the growth opportunity lost to the pandemic, according to top leadership. The Gurugram-headquartered online travel platform will now look at destination-specific activities and experiences in addition to strengthening its new business verticals. “All international segments are under-penetrated and we will focus on that as well,” Co-founder and Group CEO Rajesh Magow told YourStory.
Investors expect tax relief, parity, and clarity on regulations from Budget 2025

Jan 22, 2025 | yourstory.com | Payal Ganguly

With the funding winter on its last leg, the Indian investor community is betting big on clarity in regulations to start deploying the dry powder they have amassed over the last year. The discussions around the introduction of the Income Tax bill during the Budget session is expected to address the list of demands presented by the Indian venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) ecosystem.
Capria Ventures to raise $100 million for India Fund III

Dec 10, 2024 | yourstory.com | Payal Ganguly

Global South specialist venture capital firm Capria Ventures has launched its $100-million (Rs 830 crore approximately) Capria India Fund III, said a top executive. The fund, structured as a master-feeder investment, will see participation from both Indian and global investors. It has also accounted for a greenshoe option of up to $125 million. The fund will invest in 25-30 startups across seed and pre-Series A rounds, with the average cheque size ranging from $500,000 to $2 million.
Ritesh Agarwal to increase shareholding in OYO with fresh infusion

Nov 18, 2024 | yourstory.com | Payal Ganguly

Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO of hospitality management platform OYO is set to invest an additional Rs 550 crore ($65.1 million approximately) into the company to increase his shareholding in the entity to 32%, from 30% held previously. The details were mentioned in a company notice for an extraordinary general meeting to shareholders and confirmed by a source for YourStory.
FirstCry parent Brainbees trims losses by 47% for Q2

Nov 14, 2024 | yourstory.com | Payal Ganguly

Pune-headquartered Brainbees Solutions, the parent company of FirstCry, pared its losses by nearly 47% in Q2 of FY25 at Rs 62.9 crore over the corresponding quarter in the previous year. On a consolidated basis, Brainbees, which owns and operates kids and mother care brands FirstCry and BabyHug, as well as the house of brands GlobalBees, reported nearly Rs 1,905 crore in revenue from operations for the quarter, a 26.4% increase from Q2 FY24.
BlueGreen Ventures launches $75M maiden fund

Nov 12, 2024 | yourstory.com | Payal Ganguly

Seasoned investors Anup Jain and Rajeev Suri, former Managing Partners at Orios Venture Partners, launched a new fund BlueGreen Ventures on Wednesday. The early-stage fund is targeting a total corpus of $75 million with a green-shoe option. It expects to achieve the first close by February 2025, with the final close by the end of 2025. The fund will deploy a part of the capital in early-stage startups across climate and sustainability, fintech, and business-to-consumer (B2C) sectors.
Prabhuji snack maker Haldiram Bhujiawala raises Rs 235 Cr

Nov 8, 2024 | yourstory.com | Payal Ganguly

Kolkata-based packaged snack company Haldiram Bhujiawala has raised Rs 235 crore through a private placement from Pantomath’s Bharat Value Fund (BVF) for a minority stake. The snacks maker, which retails under the ‘Prabhuji’ brand, registered a revenue of Rs 473 crore for FY23 while profits declined to Rs 1.7 crore for the year, according to data sourced from research platform Tracxn.
Sanjeev Bikhchandani on why academia may be better geared to cater to the AI revolution and more

Nov 4, 2024 | yourstory.com | Payal Ganguly

Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder and Executive Chairman of Info Edge (India), the parent company of Naukri.com, 99acres.com, JeevanSathi.comand other businesses, is no stranger to building a technology-first business ground-up. He has played a key role in identifying successful consumer businesses in India as an early-stage investor in companies like Zomato and PolicyBazaar.
Finova Capital raises $135M in Series E round

Oct 29, 2024 | yourstory.com | Payal Ganguly

Jaipur-based MSME-focused NBFC Finova Capital raised $135 million in a Series E funding round. The round saw participation from new investors Avataar Venture Partners., Sofina, Madison India Capital, and returning investor, Norwest Venture Partners. The company, in a statement, said the round offered exits to early investors. Finova Capital’s investors include Peak XV Partners, Faering Capital, and Maj Invest. It had last raised $65 million in a round led by Norwest in 2022.