A micro VC fund with a purpose
Founded in July 2020 by Yash Jain, Sparrow Capital aims to partner with entrepreneurs at the ideation stage and help them grow by infusing capital and knowledge.
According to a survey, micro VC firms in India invested $341 million in 566 startups across 730 deals between 2018 and 2020. With the number of micro VC funds almost tripling between 2014 and 2020, their importance can't be stated enough.
One such micro VC fund is Bengaluru-based Sparrow Capital.
Founded in July 2020 by Yash Jain, Sparrow Capital aims to partner with entrepreneurs at the ideation stage and help them grow by infusing capital and knowledge. The firm invests up to $100,000 per company and has made nine investments so far, including GoKwik, Bimaplan, Qoohoo, and Mailmodo.
The VC fund focuses on segments like SaaS, fintech, and B2B. It typically invests in Pre-Seed to Pre-Series A stage with participation in deals sizes that range from $300,000 to $2 million.
"We may not write the largest cheques, but we will work very closely with you and also give you impactful advice," says Yash.
The Interview
Raghu Ravinutala, Co-founder and CEO of Yellow Messenger, has worked with leading technology companies. He noticed that social media has become an intangible part of our lives, with many of the interactions happening between consumers and businesses. In 2015, he started Yellow Messenger to provide the toolset to enterprises to engage and drive market performance.
Editor’s Pick: Techie Tuesday
Rama NS became one of the first women in Karnataka to graduate from an engineering college. For over 50 years, she has worked with corporates like ITI and Infosys, and most recently, was an adviser to the Electronics City Industrial Township Area (ELCITA), a first-of-its-kind self-governed municipality in India. In a conversation with YourStory, Rama traces the different aspects of her career — her engineering college experiences, her path-breaking work with NEC and Infosys, and her initiatives against sexual harassment — not with pride, but with a lot of empathy and understanding of the times she lived in, and how they are changing. Read more.
Startup Spotlight
Reducing logistics costs through data-driven supply chain platform
Amid increased digitisation and the ongoing pandemic, the stability of the supply chain has become even more important. Alok Sharma and Novita Sharma launched supply chain platform, NebulARC, to provide customers with data-driven predictive decision-making, automation via AI, and personalised experiences, while taking control of their assets. Read more.
News & Updates
- The Indian government has decided to allow vaccination against COVID-19 for all those who are 18 years and above from May 1 to expand its drive to fight the pandemic. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by PM Narendra Modi on Monday.
- Paytm said it has expanded its ESOPs pool to $604 million from around $33.4 million last year as it added more equity options to the existing pool. It added 242,904 stock options to its existing pool, bringing the tally to around 2.4 million equity options.
- FPIs have pulled out a net Rs 4,615 crore from Indian markets in April so far amid sharp escalation in COVID-19 cases and the consequent restrictions imposed by various states, unnerving overseas investors.
- NBFCs have requested the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to extend the one-time restructuring scheme of MSME advances till March 31, 2022, as these players are unable to revive their businesses. The time limit for implementation of the scheme was till December 31, 2020.
- Union Minister Nitin Gadkari expressed confidence that lithium-ion batteries would be manufactured fully in the country in the next six months, and India will become number one EV-maker in the world in due course of time.
Before you go, stay inspired with…
“Entrepreneurs respect those who have insights and it is our constant fight to prove that we can add value.”
— Yash Jain, Founder, Sparrow Capital
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