Indian VCs stack up dry powder; The story of Bengaluru’s Empire restaurant
Indian venture capital firms have revamped an age-old strategy—follow-on investments. Recent trends suggest that more funds are accommodating growth investments within new funds. Empire Restaurant has carved out a place for itself in the hearts of Bangaloreans.
Hello,
A good day for India’s startup ecosystem.
In what appears to be one of the strongest debuts by an Indian consumer startup in recent months, Urban Company’s initial public offering drew heavy investor demand on the second day of bidding, with overall subscriptions reaching 9X the shares on offer.
Elsewhere, Oracle is tantalisingly close to becoming a trillion-dollar company.
The enterprise software maker’s shares retreated on Thursday after a record AI-driven surge in the previous session pushed the company to new heights and helped Co-founder Larry Ellison briefly become the world’s richest person.
Looks like Oracle’s dream run is just a part of a bigger story. Unicorns, once a rarity, will be replaced by centi-unicorns and megacorns, with some firms tipped to reach multiple trillion-dollar valuations in this new AI world, according to Indian-American billionaire businessman and venture capitalist, Vinod Khosla.
Speaking of unicorns, Sachin Bansal’s Navi Technologies has entered India’s unicorn ranks at a $1.7 billion valuation, leading a fintech-heavy cohort in the ASK Private Wealth–Hurun India Unicorn & Future Unicorn Report 2025.
Other fintech newcomers on the list include Moneyview, Vivriti Capital, JusPay, and Veritas Finance, underscoring resilience in consumer credit and infrastructure rails.
It is a Brave New World!
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- Indian VCs stack up growth capital
- The story of Bengaluru’s Empire restaurant
- Eco-friendly cleaning solutions
Here’s your trivia for today: Brian Johnson is the lead singer of which rock band?
Insight
Indian VCs stack up growth capital
Indian venture capital firms have revamped an age-old strategy—follow-on investments. Recent trends suggest that more funds are accommodating growth investments within new funds.
This trend is well-timed as foreign investors take a step back from making bold bets, starving the Indian startup ecosystem of growth-stage capital.
Capital inflow:
- Deeptech-focused venture capital firm Speciale Invest, in August, closed its third fund with a target corpus of Rs 600 crore. According to its managing partner, Vishesh Rajaram, this allows its portfolio companies to access capital over subsequent rounds.
- However, much of this capital still remains dry powder, as late-stage and growth-stage funding has been in the slow lane this year. Year-to-date, only 162 companies have managed to raise growth capital.
- SoftBank has taken a more cautious stance when it comes to its Indian investments. Meanwhile, Tiger Global has stepped up exits and divestments in Indian companies.
Funding Alert
Startup: TERN Group
Amount: $24M
Round: Series A
Startup: Klaar
Amount: $5M
Round: Series A
Startup: Ember
Amount: $3.2M
Round: Seed
SMB
The story of Bengaluru’s Empire restaurant
Empire Restaurant has carved out a place for itself in the hearts of Bangaloreans—in some as a habit, others as a memory, and for many, a saviour meal at odd hours.
“Empire has always been a brand where you don’t plan (and go), you end up in Empire. It has been a go-to saviour for a lot of customers,” Shakir Haq, third-generation entrepreneur and present CEO of NKP Empire, tells SMB Story.
Old is gold:
- Over the last five-plus decades, the Bengaluru-based F&B company has built a Rs 560 crore (as of FY25) food empire, offering comfort food through its various brands—Empire Restaurant, EasyBites, Empire Juice, Karama, and Vegetarea.
- The turning point for NKP Empire came in 2003 when it opened the second outlet, its flagship store, on Bengaluru’s popular neighbourhood, Church Street. "We were one of the few restaurants that were open late, post the clubbing and partying time,” Shakir shares.
- About 80% of the company’s revenue comes from its flagship brand, Empire. Of the total revenue, 60% comes from offline orders, with the rest coming from online channels such as Swiggy, Zomato, ONDC, and its in-house home-delivery service.
Startup
Eco-friendly cleaning solutions
Home hygiene care brand Cleevo is built on the belief that “home cleaning needs a complete reset, not just a small change.”
Cleevo, short for ‘Cleaning Evolution’, is reimagining household cleaners with compact, non-toxic concentrates that are easier to store, cheaper to transport, and far gentler on the planet. Its range covers kitchens, floors, dishes, glass, and all-purpose cleaning, all designed for reusable, refillable containers. The floor cleaner has emerged as its bestseller on ecommerce platforms.
News & updates
- Uncertainty: India’s massive IT sector faces a lengthy period of uncertainty with customers delaying or re-negotiating contracts while the US debates a proposed 25% tax on American firms using foreign outsourcing services, analysts and lawyers said.
- Cloud deal: OpenAI signed a contract with Oracle to purchase $300 billion in computing power over roughly five years, people familiar with the matter said, a massive commitment that far outstrips the startup’s current revenue.
- Companion bots: The California State Assembly took a big step toward regulating AI on Wednesday night, passing SB 243—a bill that regulates AI companion chatbots in order to protect minors and vulnerable users.
Brian Johnson is the lead singer of which rock band?
Answer: AC/DC
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