Indian Angel Network bullish on investments

Hello,

Looks like the mayhem in the jobs market is set to continue.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc may be looking at another round of layoffs as it has delayed setting the budgets of multiple teams. The tech giant had cut more than 11,000 jobs—or 13% of its workforce—in November.

Back home, GoDaddy has announced slashing 8% of its existing workforce, with the drive expected to impact more than 500 employees. As per the latest data from layoffs.fyi, 332 tech companies have laid off 1,00,746 employees in 2023 alone.

Meanwhile, the earthquake that hit Türkiye and Syria last week has turned out to be one of the worst natural disasters of this century, with the death toll now near 28,000.

But not just the international community, our best friends are also not leaving any stone unturned to find survivors. Julie, Romio, Honey and Rambo are members of a dog squad from India engaged in rescue operations. Julie also identified live victims and saved precious lives! 

In today’s newsletter, we talk about 

• Indian Angel Network remains bullish
• One-stop shop for developers
• Cracking the code of startup success

Here’s your trivia for today: To whom did the AI-powered IBM Debator lose during a debate competition in 2019?

Investor

Indian Angel Network remains bullish

Indian Angel Network remains defiant in the face of macroeconomic headwinds and plans to invest in around 100 startups through a Rs 1,000-crore fund. IAN expects to make the first close of the Alpha Fund at around Rs 350 crore by the end of March.

Early-stage investing:

• IAN is looking to sign larger cheques in the range of $1 million to $5 million through the Alpha Fund.
• The majority of the investments will be made through its angel network comprising domain experts, CXOs, and entrepreneurs.
• While a third of the fund is reserved for follow-on investments, IAN will also co-invest outside its portfolio with its angel network as well as external investors.

Startup

One-stop shop for developers

Vishal Virani and Rahul Singhala started DhiWise as a community-based platform to convert designs into code for mobile and web applications. Last year, the firm raised $7 million in a Series A round led by Together Fund, Accel, and India Quotient.

For and by developers:

• DhiWise is open for use on Discord and has set up servers for different purposes, including sharing curated content.
• While about 60% of its users are from India and the United States, it also counts users from Europe.
• DhiWise currently has about 2,000 members, and is looking to add another 200,000 users on its platform, with 20%-25% of them expected to be active members.

Entrepreneurship

Cracking the code of startup success

Amit Somani and Sanjay Swamy, Managing Partners at Bengaluru-based early-stage venture fund Prime Venture Partners, talk about building company culture, instilling financial discipline, finding product-market fit, and seeking investment as a pre-revenue startup.

Investor gyan:

• Pre-revenue startups seeking investments should focus on the following five parameters: team, total addressable market, timing, product, and differentiation.
• Founders must look beyond a candidate’s skills and experience, and evaluate whether they’ll be a good culture fit for an organisation.
• A way to find whether a startup has achieved PMF is to check whether customers are willing to pay for the product even after raising the price.

News & updates

• Tech to the rescue: Israeli volunteers engaged in relief efforts after the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria are harnessing Carbyne startup’s cloud-based tech to connect with medical experts and other professional teams in Israel.
• Launch record: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket hauled 55 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit, breaking a record for the shortest time between missions—five days—from the same SpaceX launch pad. SpaceX currently has nearly 3,500 functioning Starlink satellites in space.
• Sharing isn't caring: Netflix has started a global crackdown against sharing passwords. Netflix users in Canada have now been asked to set their primary location when signed into Netflix from a TV connected to their home Wi-Fi network. People travelling away from their primary location will have to shell nearly $8 per month.

To whom did the AI-powered IBM Debator lose during a debate competition in 2019?

Answer: Harish Natarajan, the grand finalist at the 2016 World Debating Championships.

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