Investors exercise caution in VC funding; Indian spice for global palates

Hello,

It is a big day for Ather Energy as the electric two-wheeler maker rings the bell on Dalal Street. 

Ather’s IPO was off to a slow start last week and saw only 16% subscriptions on day one and 28% on day two of its bidding, with the portion reserved for qualified institutional buyers seeing no subscriptions. On the third day, however, QIBs rushed in to bid on the company’s IPO. The company’s offering was subscribed 1.43X on April 30th—its third and final day of bidding. 

Meanwhile, New Delhi-based Evera Cabs said that it has initiated the repossession of 500 electric cabs from ride-hailing company BluSmart following the suspension of its services in key metro cities.

The news comes as a shot in the arm for troubled BluSmart, which was in conversation with its US-based rival Uber to onboard its vehicles. However, a Mint report said that Uber has walked away from the deal, citing high valuations for the cars and not taking into account the depreciation these EVs had gone through.

ICYMI: Gensol’s downfall, a timeline. 

Lastly, scientists have found that gold was likely forged by a particularly violent dead star 13 billion years ago.

For all we know, we are carrying the remains of a mega star!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Investors exercise caution in VC funding
• Indian spice for global palates
• Wayfair’s growth mantra for India GCCs

Here’s your trivia for today: Which US state boasts the world's largest flat-top mountain?

Funding

Investors exercise caution in VC funding

The Indian startup ecosystem continues to attract a slow inflow of venture capital (VC) funding, as was reflected in the total amount raised in April, which was much below the $1 billion level. 

This slower inflow of VC money is primarily due to the external macroeconomic environment, triggered primarily by the tariff war unleashed by US President Donald Trump. It has led to a situation of uncertainty and volatility, which has in turn made the investors cautious.

Funding slowdown:

• Indian startups raised a total of $716 million in April, a 16% year-on-year drop when compared to April 2024, when the amount was $849 million, according to YourStory Research. The decline was much more severe at 37% compared to March 2025, when the total amount raised was $1,145 million.
• For April, early-stage funding continues to be the top segment in terms of raising the largest quantum of funding, followed by late-stage and then the growth segment. Surprisingly, startups secured only $23 million in venture debt.
• Fintech continues to maintain its dominance for sector preferences, followed by direct-to-consumer and software-as-a-service. Investors seem to have a stronger preference for the fintech segment in terms of making their startup bets, a trend which has been very noticeable for several months now.

Funding Alert

Startup: Volt14

Amount: $1.87M

Round: Pre-Series A

Startup: Store My Goods

Amount: Rs 4 Cr

Round: Growth funding

Startup: Lifechart

Amount: $360,000

Round: Seed

Startup

Indian spice for global palates

India is the world’s largest producer of chillies, and its chilli sauce exports have surged ninefold, making us the second-largest exporter by shipment. But when it comes to global branding, India remains in the background. 

Mumbai-based Kaatil, founded by Sagar Merchant and Arjun Panwar in 2022, aims to take India’s chilli flavours to the global condiment industry, filling the gap left by Western-style hot sauces made from imported jalapeños or artificial extracts. 

Flavour first:

• Kaatil uses around five chilli varieties—Jwala, Sankeshwari, Lavangi, and Bhut Jolokia. Its concept is centered around heat levels, ranked from 1 to 9, to simplify the customer experience. For example, Number 4 is medium heat, Number 7 is medium-high, and Number 9 is super-hot.
• Since inception, the bootstrapped startup, which was started with an initial investment of Rs 50 lakh, has sold over 100,000 units. It claims to have served nearly 50,000 customers, and generated Rs 1.5 crore revenue in FY24, with a 30% monthly channel growth. 
• Kaatil’s growth strategy leverages its own direct-to-consumer website, ecommerce platforms like Bigbasket and Nature’s Basket, quick commerce services such as Blinkit, and expansion into international markets, with products already available in the US via Amazon and upcoming plans to enter Dubai.

GCC

Wayfair’s growth mantra for India GCCs

Global capability centres have become the strategic hubs for technology companies looking to drive product development and research, in step with talent development, in India. However, GCCs are not quick fixes. It takes time for a company to achieve maturity that can drive genuine innovation.

However, US-headquartered Wayfair took only two years to turn its India GCC in Bengaluru into an important contributor to their operations. The India GCC was instrumental in building its supply chain platform. Similarly, communications and cataloguing functions are also being driven from India.

Operations microcosm:

• According to Rohit Kaila, head of technology and site leader, Wayfair India TDC, the India GCC employee strength constitutes more than a fourth of the organisation’s headcount and is engaged in all functions, be it product development and management, user experience, design, data science, and engineering.
• In India, Wayfair wanted to tap into the talent pool in the software domain, boasting a combination of engineering expertise as well as domain knowledge. Its entry was buoyed by other global retail companies like Walmart, Target, Lowe’s, and Amazon that had already established their GCCs in India.
• As part of its future plans, Wayfair’s idea of growth does not necessarily focus on increasing the headcount but on improving developer productivity and increasing efficiency.

News & updates

• Movie biz: US President Donald Trump on Sunday announced a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the country, saying the American movie industry was dying a "very fast death" due to the incentives that other countries were offering to lure filmmakers.
• Cyber hack: A hacker has exploited a vulnerability in TeleMessage, which provides modded versions of encrypted messaging apps such as Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp, to extract archived messages and other data relating to US government officials and companies who used the tool, 404 Media reported.
• Going private: Footwear company Skechers is fleeing the public market and hunkering down by going private during the middle of a trade war. The company announced Monday that investment firm 3G Capital will buy Skechers for $9.4 billion. 3G will pay $63 a share for the brand, a 30% premium of the company’s stock.

Which US state boasts the world's largest flat-top mountain?

Answer: Colorado

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