Ideaspring’s pragmatic bets

Hello Reader,

The highest-grossing movie of all time is all set to hit the theatres once again. 

Fans of Avatar (2009) can now brush up on all the Pandora lore before its much-awaited sequel Avatar: The Way of Water this December, with the original being rereleased in the theatres for two weeks starting September 23. 

The title has been removed from Disney’s streaming service—at least for the time being—possibly to boost ticket sales. A rewatch in all its 4K glory wouldn’t be a bad idea given that watching a sequel to a 13-year-old movie could be quite the memory game, especially because the Avatar universe is quite complicated.

It also doesn’t hurt that this rerelease could help Avatar break its own box office record and make history by crossing the $3 billion mark (it is currently at $2.98 billion).

But did you know that the world record for the longest gap between sequels is actually 64 years? The movies in question are Bambi (1942) and Bambi II (2006). 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Deep dive into Ideaspring’s pragmatic bets 
• Winning India with Vietnamese coffee
• Servify raises funds; aims for profitability 

Here’s your trivia for today: Which is the largest moon in the Solar System?

Investor

Deep dive into Ideaspring’s pragmatic bets 

When it comes to investing, Ideaspring Capital doesn't believe in doing back-of-the-envelope calculations. Its strategy is clear: help startups earn $10 million in revenue, and give them a path for exit or IPO.

To achieve that, the VC firm goes beyond financial backing and helps them with onboarding customers, messaging, future roadmap, and more.

“I strongly believe that mentoring without capital is useless as much as capital without mentoring,” remarks Naganand Doraswamy, Founder of Ideaspring Capital.

Investment thesis:

• The investment firm remains focused on backing B2B companies, given the founder's expertise and past experience in founding B2B startups.
• Started with Rs 118 crore, Ideaspring is now closing its second fund, which will be in the range of $250-300 million.
• Its average ticket size will go up from  Rs 8-9 crore to Rs 15-18 crore.

Startup

Winning India with Vietnamese coffee

In Vietnam, coffee was considered the drink of kings. Inspired by the coffee-drinking culture of that country, Abhishek Khurana started Kings Coffee. 

The Delhi-based startup offers a range of ready-to-drink coffee and pour-over coffee. Its bottled coffee comes in a range of flavours, while coffee aficionados can enjoy medium and dark-roasted pour-over coffee brew packs.

Making the right brew:

• King Coffee products are made from Robusta beans directly sourced from Vietnam.
• They are distributed by 70 distributors to over 15,000 shops across India, including at airports, cinemas, and QSR restaurants.
• To date, the company says it has sold over 15 lakh bottles, 11 lakh cans, and 1.5 lakh pour-over packs.

Funding

Servify raises funds; aims for profitability 

On the verge of turning profitable, Mumbai-based product lifecycle management startup Servify announced raising $65 million as part of its Series D round.

The round was led by Singularity Growth Opportunity Fund, with participation from existing investors including Iron Pillar, BEENEXT, Blume Ventures, and DMI Sparkle Fund, as well as AmTrust and the family office of Pidilite.

What’s on offer:

• Servify integrates multiple OEM (original equipment manufacturer) brands, and their sales and service ecosystems.
• The company extended its platform to enable affordable product purchases (such as no-cost EMI, instant discounts, etc).
• It has partnered with over 75 brands and claims to have a distribution presence in more than 50,000 outlets.

Which is the largest moon in the Solar System?

Answer: Ganymede, a satellite of Jupiter, which is even larger than Mercury. 

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