VC funding in Q1 2024 declines; The Odisha sarpanch who walks the talk

Hello,

Goldman Sachs takes a deep dive into Reliance Industries. 

According to the investment bank, the oil-to-telecom conglomerate invested over $125 billion in the last ten years as it undertook massive expansion in hydrocarbon and telecom businesses. 

Moreover, it estimates the conglomerate's investments in the next three years would be in relatively less capex-heavy retail and upstream new energy. “Reliance is coming out of a series of long and intensive capex cycles (hydrocarbons and telecom),” it said.

Speaking of Reliance, the valuation of the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate jumped Rs 45,262.59 crore to reach Rs 20,14,010.63 crore, emerging as the biggest gainer in the market in a holiday-shortened last week. 

In other news, Jayanti Buruda, a tribal woman and journalist from Malkangiri district in Odisha, has made it to the 2024 Forbes India W-Power list, which features 23 self-made women from across India. 

ICYMI: Google is shutting down its Podcasts app in the US.

Lastly, why do we get pranked on April Fools’ Day? 

Be on your guard today! 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• VC funding in Q1 2024 declines by 22%
• The Odisha sarpanch who walks the talk

Here’s your trivia for today: Which Michael Jackson album broke all records in 1982?

Funding

VC funding in Q1 2024 declines by 22%

Venture capital (VC) funding into Indian startups for the first quarter (Q1) of the 2024 calendar year dropped by 22% compared to the same period last year, as the ecosystem continues to see a slow inflow of capital.

Indian startups raised a total of $2.5 billion in VC funding in the first quarter of 2024, i.e., in January, February and March. In Q1 2023, they raised $3.2 billion, according to YourStory Research.

Key takeaways:

• The first quarter of 2024 saw 310 deals, fractionally higher than the 305 deals recorded in the same period last year.
• In terms of the sectors, fintech saw the largest capital inflow in the first quarter, followed by Software-as-a-Saas (SaaS) and Direct-to-Consumer (D2C).
• In terms of cities, Bengaluru led with $1 billion, followed by Delhi-NCR ($681 million) and Mumbai ($419 million). Hyderabad, Chennai, and Pune were the other metro cities, which raised in the $100 million range.

Inspiration

The Odisha sarpanch who walks the talk

Saroj Devi Agrawal, the sarpanch of Bhaleshwar gram panchayat in Nuapada district in Odisha, has introduced a slew of initiatives, including disbursing pension and medicines via drones, a bartan bank, and taking governance to the doorstep. 

“My door is always open for people to approach me for help. I am on my feet all day as there is so much to do,” she says.

Timely help:

• After multiple tenures as deputy sarpanch and councillor, Agrawal was elected as sarpanch of Bhaleshwar gram panchayat in 2022.
• After taking charge, Agrawal came to know that senior citizens and disabled people in Bhuktapada, a tribal village, were not receiving their pension on time. Agrawal and other members disbursed disability pensions and distributed medicines in Bhutkapada village via a drone. 
• Other areas of intervention include regular health and medical camps and nutritional support for pregnant women and young children. Agrawal also presides over the monthly meetings with anganwadi staff to ensure timely support to women and children. 

News & updates

• Value: Fidelity’s Blue Chip Growth Fund cut the value of its position in X by 5.7% in February, implying a 73% decline in the former Twitter Inc. since Elon Musk bought the social media company. Fidelity gained a stake in X by helping Musk complete his $44 billion purchase in October 2022.
• AI FOMO: Tech giants are spending unprecedented sums of money to invest in AI startups to avoid falling behind in the Gen AI boom. Amazon’s $2.75 billion investment in AI startup Anthropic this week is its largest venture deal on record.
• Leak: Telecom company AT&T said it is investigating a data set released on the "dark web" about two weeks ago, and its preliminary analysis shows it has impacted about 7.6 million current account holders and 65.4 million former account holders. The company said the data set appears to be from 2019 or earlier.

What you should watch out for

• RBI MPC Meeting: The RBI’s rate-setting monetary policy panel will begin deliberations for the first policy verdict of the new FY24-25 this week. The MPC will meet for three days, from April 3-5, and announce the decision on April 5 at 10 am.
• Q4 earnings: Investors will analyse corporate earning estimates/updates announced by several companies in the coming week as the first batch of Q4FY24 results is set to be released from April 11, 2024, onwards starting with tech majors. 
• US Fed: Globally, market participants will focus on the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech scheduled on April 3. 

Which Michael Jackson album broke all records in 1982?

Answer: Thriller.

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