Investing in emerging technologies

Good morning!

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in some major changes in how we live, work, and play. Most importantly, it caused a large-scale shift in the way workplaces function with technology becoming key to business continuity.

As technology became an enabler of businesses like never before, investors too turned to companies in this sector. Meet India-based seed venture capital (VC) fund Speciale Invest, which is powering this trend with a focus on investing in enterprise software, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and frontier technology startups.

The firm has invested in 14 startups including The ePlane Company, Agnikul, CynLr, Astrogate Labs, Kawa Space, Wingman,TrueLark , and more.

Speciale Invest is also backing startups working on frontier technology, which has a large potential but not much commercial success yet. Read more.

The Interview

According to Subramanian Ananthapadmanabhan of SAPIndian Subcontinent, companies are only now realising the value of the cloud. As 80 percent of SAP's clients are MSMEs, the software solutions provider wants them to be globally competitive, and for that, the vehicle should be the cloud. However, Subramanian adds that the major challenge lies in convincing MSMEs that cloud is not a difficult investment and it's the need of the hour.

Editor’s Pick: 100x Entrepreneur Podcast

What is the biggest challenge founders face while starting a venture? According to Bhaskar Majumdar, Founder and Managing Partner of Unicorn India Ventures, finding a co-founder is one of the most important first steps, as the co-founder has to complement the vision of the founder. He also believes that launching a fund is exactly the same as launching a startup venture. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

Udaipur-based apparel startup BeYoung is making people feel young again

Entrepreneur Shivam Soni had always dreamed of starting his own business to generate employment. In 2018, he teamed up with Shivani Soni, Sakshi Soni, and Shankar Mali to start Beyoung, a Udaipur-based startup involved in the manufacturing and sales of apparel and accessories. It targets people aged between 16 and 45 years, and focuses on plus-sized clothing and makes customised products. Read more.

News & Updates

• Talking to Telangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he was hoping for a global regulation on the safety and privacy of data that would make sure that tech products and services are safe to use.

• Bharti Airtel marked its entry into the advertising business with the launch of 'Airtel Ads', which uses the company's data science capabilities to enable brands to create high-impact campaigns. Airtel asserted that its customers would receive only the most-relevant brand offerings.

• The Union Cabinet has approved the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for information technology (IT) hardware products, with incentives worth Rs 7,350 crore. The government said the scheme is aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and attracting large investments in the IT hardware value chain.

• Flipkartwill deploy more than 25,000 electric vehicles (EV) by 2030. It has already started deploying two-wheeler and three-wheeler EVs in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Guwahati, and Pune.

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said that India's central bank is concerned about the impact cryptocurrencies may have on the financial stability of the economy.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“I think collaboration, learning, and well-being are fundamentally the things that [will] transform how we think about work.”

— Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft

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