India’s investment landscape was transformed for good when the SEBI (Foreign Venture Capital Investor) Regulations 2000 opened the floodgates for global VC giants. The optimism was palpable from Day I, and a host of US-based funds, such as Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, IDG Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners, made forays. They empowered India’s burgeoning startup ecosystem and catalysed innovation and growth across sectors.
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The fintech sector in India has been facing a decline in funding since last year, majorly owing to tighter regulations by the government. Scaling up is now coming at a cost for many firms in this segment. However, industry leaders and experts believe that it’s important for the regulator to do its job and the tightening of regulations is for the greater good. These regulations should be looked at as an enabling tool over obstacles.
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Proactive Venture Capital Strategies – Nao Murakami- Incubate Fund Asia
In this episode of India Game Changer, Nao Murakami, Founder and General Partner at Incubate Fund Asia, shared valuable insights into the world of early-stage venture capital investing.
Some of the topics that Murakami-san covered in detail:
Read the best-effort transcript below (This technology is still not as good as they say it is…):
Gurugram-based online kidswear startup Includ has raised $1.5 Mn (around INR 12.5 Cr) as a part of its seed funding round led by Incubate Fund Asia.
The round also saw participation from Escape Velocity, Abhishek Goyal (cofounder, Tracxn) and IIM Indore Alumni Angel Fund.
Includ will use the fresh funds to improve its supply chain, build in-house technology and create brand awareness. Besides, the proceeds will also be deployed for marketing and brand strategies.
Founded in 2023 by Ashwin Rastogi, Includ is a kidswear brand for children aged 0 to 14 years old which claims to offer comfortable and stylish clothing options.
The startup plans to double down its bet on technology to vertically integrate with its suppliers, build a robust and efficient supply chain and focus on developing its front-end platform and mobile application.
Online seafood firm Captain Fresh has acquired CenSea Inc, a US-based frozen fish and seafood importer and distributor, the former’s founder and chief executive Utham Gowda told ET.
Gowda did not disclose the deal value, but said that his firm was fully acquiring CenSea in a cash-and-stock deal, with 90% of the consideration paid in cash. CenSea, which has a pan-US presence, will become the “mainstay” of Captain Fresh’s US business, he added.
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Yulu, the leading micro-mobility service provider, has successfully raised $19 million in a funding round led by automotive giants Magna and Bajaj Auto. This substantial investment marks a significant milestone in Yulu’s journey, enabling the company to accelerate its ambitious expansion plans and introduce a new range of innovative products. With a strong focus on sustainability and efficiency, Yulu aims to enhance urban mobility by providing eco-friendly and affordable transportation solutions.
Online seafood firm Captain Fresh has raised $25 million in a funding round led by UK government-backed British International Investment (BII) and Andhra Pradesh-based Nekkanti Seafoods Group.
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BuyEazzy, an e-commerce platform for beauty products focusing Bharat, has raised $4.25 million in Series A funding round led by Info Edge Ventures with participation from existing investors Incubate Fund Asia and M Venture Partners, the company told ETRetail.
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Hope you have enjoyed a great holiday season with your loved ones. Thank you very much for everyone supported us and journeyed together with us in 2023.
Like many other people in the startup ecosystem, 2023 was a year of “re” for Incubate Fund Asia and its portfolio startups. We rebranded ourselves from Incubate Fund India to Incubate Fund Asia and recruited new members. We have restarted organising some offline events. Many of our portfolio startups recovered from the pandemic loss, restarted its strong top-line growth, and reached EBITDA profitability. Some regulation changes, such as in fin-tech space, impacted our portfolio startups but they recognised those changes as opportunities and regained market shares. We have realised some good returns to our LPs as well.
Incubate Fund Asia, a sector-agnostic and Japan-origin venture capital firm, on Wednesday announced the first close of its third fund, which has a target corpus of $50 million (Rs 416 crore).
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