The CapTable Wrap: Rush of rupee capital, Pine Labs’s fintech journey, the making of India’s Alibaba, & more

A defining factor of the funding boom this year is domestic family offices and individual investors pouring money into venture funds, finally finding an opportunity to be a part of India’s new economy boom. But these local capital pools are not as deep as those of China or the US, and fundraising in India remains expensive.

The CapTable also unveiled its second Organization Chart, this one on Pine Labs, India’s largest deployer of card payment terminals that’s looking to transform into a fintech company under a new management team and board. 

Read on for a complete roundup of The CapTable articles from last week.

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Rupee capital sees an opportunity, rushes in to back tech funds

Local family offices and wealthy individuals looking to grab a piece of India’s fast-growing new economy companies are ploughing in record amounts of capital into early- and late-stage funds backing technology startups. Much of the dealmaking now is happening over video calls, and is surprisingly faster and more productive.

Building India’s Alibaba & Foxconn: A new crop of startups simplifying exports

A new crop of startups is looking to facilitate trade between unorganized manufacturers in India and South Asia to developed markets. They have the attention of investors but a lot more needs to be solved for, including in terms of quality checks, turnaround times, logistics, and payments.

Pine Labs, Amrish Rau, Sequoia Capital, and a fintech journey

A more than two-decade-old company that’s built its business the traditional way, with feet and ears to the ground, is undertaking its most ambitious transformation yet. Pine Labs, known for its card-reading terminals at retail stores, is morphing into a fintech company spanning digital payments, consumer credit and business loans.

Org Charts

The new top deck at Pine Labs

Leading the transformation at Pine Labs is Amrish Rau, who was named CEO in March last year. The payments industry veteran has brought multiple fresh faces to the management ranks at Pine Labs to oversee key segments such as lending, analytics and technology, as he targets a global IPO within 18 months.

The Crux 

[Crisp and incisive analysis on the developments that matter]

Takeaways from PlaySimple's exit amid funding boom

The $360-million buyout of the casual gaming startup made for one of the largest cashouts for tech startup founders in recent years. Proof that entrepreneurs running profitable businesses have multiple alternatives for an endgame.

Can Zerodha be India’s Robinhood?

Robinhood’s IPO plans have brought the focus on Indian broking startups. But there exist several stark differences between the US and Indian stock markets, and even between Robinhood and Zerodha, India’s largest broking startup that is changing the way Indians trade in the stock market.