Layoffs, slower growth rounds, and more

After reports of layoffs at Lido and Trell, investors caution startup founders to reserve cash for at least 12 months as fund raising in 2022 would not be as simple as 2021. Instead, dive deeper into existing projects instead of starting cash burning gambits.

Friday March 18, 2022 , 3 min Read

Good Morning,

The year 2022 has seen Indian startups collectively raise more than $6 billion on a year-to-date basis. However, despite the frenzied funding activity, investors are tightening their purse strings to see how their earlier bets play out in growth-stage startups.

This wait-and-watch approach doesn’t augur well for startups looking to raise Series C, D, or subsequent funding – capital that is essential to keep their engines running.

“Startups depend on subsequent rounds of funding to keep the operations alive as they don't have positive cashflow or profitability for many years. Normally, next round fundraising should start when there is 6- to 12 months worth of cash left to burn,” Growth Story’s K Ganesh, a serial entrepreneur and promoter of Bigbasket (now acquired by Tata Digital) tells YourStory.

Two promising startups, edtech platform Lido Learning and influencer-led commerce firm Trell, which closed their last funding rounds in July and September 2021 respectively, have had to trim their workforce as they found it difficult to raise subsequent funds. Is this a blip or does it point to more bad news? Read more.

The Interview

Khushaal Pawaar is an actor who turned to content creation during the lockdown to hone his acting skills.

In this episode of #InfluencersInc, Khushaal talks about his journey and discusses the way forward.

Editor’s Pick: The Salt Revolution

Financial planning and investment app Salt has been on a mission to get women to reclaim what they’ve always had – an inherent acumen for money. More women making more financial decisions – it’s as simple as that, but how does one get there?

In a candid chat, Shinjini Kumar, Chaitra Chidanand, and Aditi Sholapurkar, Co-founders of Salt, join YourStory’s Shradha Sharma to unpack financial planning for women. Read more.

Shinjini Kumar, Chaitra Chidanand, and Aditi Sholapurkar, Co-founders of women-focused financial planning and investment app Salt

Startup Spotlight

Building scalable agri business

Many big corporates have tried to build a scalable business but the task gets complicated since fruits and vegetables are perishable commodities.

Founded in 2015, Kisanserv is solving this problem by refining the inward supply chain with the help of technology-enabled collection centres. Read more.

News & Updates

In a conversation with YourStory, Sanjay Gupta, Acting CEO of Karnataka Digital Economy Mission(KDEM), said that India needs to focus on Tier-II+ areas to realise its $5 trillion digital economy, adding that Karnataka has a very important role to play in achieving this goal.

Lead Angels Network, which operates an eponymous angel investment platform, has announced the launch of Lead Angels Fund. The Rs 300 crore fund marked its first close in January 2022, raising Rs 5 crore from nearly 20 early-stage investors.

Research firm Macquarie slashed Paytm's stock target price by 36 percent to Rs 450 following the Reserve Bank of India's ban on Paytm Payments Bank from onboarding any new customers, due to alleged data leaks to Chinese firms.