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Revised FDI policy likely reopen Chinese funding for Indian startups

EntrackrEntrackr · 7d ago
Revised FDI policy likely reopen Chinese funding for Indian startups
Medial

Revised FDI policy likely reopen Chinese funding for Indian startups The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved amendments to India’s FDI policy for investments from land-bordering countries, including China, to ease funding flows for startups and deep-tech firms. The decision, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, revises provisions introduced under Press Note 3 (2020), which had mandated government approval for investments from entities based in land-bordering countries or where the beneficial owner was located in such jurisdictions. Under the revised framework, investments with up to a 10% non-controlling stake from a beneficial owner in a land-bordering country will be allowed through the automatic route, subject to sectoral caps and disclosures to DPIIT. The move is expected to unlock capital from global venture capital and private equity funds primarily from China. Startups had previously faced a blanket ban and delays in raising capital due to the approval requirement under the policy, particularly when investments involved neighbouring countries such as China. The government has also set a 60-day timeline to approve investments from these countries in select manufacturing sectors, including capital goods, electronic components, polysilicon, and ingot-wafer manufacturing. The sector list may be revised by the Committee of Secretaries. However, majority shareholding and control of the investee entity must remain with resident Indian citizens or entities owned and controlled by them, according to the release. The restrictions under Press Note 3 (2020) were introduced in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent opportunistic takeovers of Indian companies. The policy gained further significance after relations between India and China deteriorated following the 2020 Galwan Valley clash. The latest changes aim to balance national security concerns while improving ease of doing business and attracting more foreign investment into India’s startup and technology ecosystem. The move is likely to revive interest from Chinese investors and conglomerates, which had largely faded after India imposed restrictions on Chinese tech companies and investments. While funding norms have now been eased, it remains unclear whether Chinese tech companies such as TikTok will be allowed to operate in India again.

MapMyIndia posts Rs 140 Cr revenue in Q4 FY25, profit grows 29%

EntrackrEntrackr · 10m ago
MapMyIndia posts Rs 140 Cr revenue in Q4 FY25, profit grows 29%
Medial

MapMyIndia posts Rs 140 Cr revenue in Q4 FY25, profit grows 29% CE Info Systems, the parent company of MapMyIndia, has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of FY25. The company reported a year-on-year revenue growth of over 34% compared to Q4 FY24. MapMyIndia’s revenue from operations increased to Rs 143 crore in Q4 FY25 from Rs 107 crore in Q4 FY24. Meanwhile, for the full fiscal year, revenue increased by 22% to Rs 463 crore in FY25 from Rs 379 crore in FY24, according to its consolidated quarterly report. Income from digital map data, GPS navigation, location-based services, and IoT was the primary source of revenue for MapMyIndia, accounting for 88% of the total collection. This revenue source increased by 51% to Rs 127 crore in Q4 FY25. However, income from the sale of its devices generated Rs 16.5 crore in revenue. The cost of IoT devices, employee benefits, and outsourced technical services were the major cost elements, pushing the total cost of the firm to Rs 90 crore in Q4 FY25, up from Rs 72 crore in Q4 FY24. On a fiscal basis, the total cost increased to Rs 306 crore in FY25. With the increase in scale, MapMyIndia recorded a 29% increase in its profit to Rs 49 crore during Q4 FY25, compared to Rs 38 crore in the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, annual profit increased by 10% to Rs 148 crore in FY25, up from Rs 134 crore in FY24. At the end of the day on 9th May 2025, MapMyIndia closed at Rs 1,845 per share, with a market capitalization of Rs 10,040 crore ($1.17 billion).

How profitable InCred stands out among bleeding fintech lenders: Interview with Bhupinder Singh

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
How profitable InCred stands out among bleeding fintech lenders: Interview with Bhupinder Singh
Medial

Lending has turned out to be the most obvious money making channel for fintech startups in India. Right from large to small fintech companies are resorting to distributing loans through own and third party lenders such as banks and NBFCs. Most growth stage fintech startups have been lending aggressively, but they still bear huge losses on a consolidated basis. However, the eight-year-old InCred is an exception as the firm’s operating revenue spiked 48% to Rs 1,267 crore in FY24. At the same time, its profit grew 160% to Rs 316 crore in FY24. InCred claims to have offered credit to 3,50,000 borrowers since its inception in 2016. InCred group operates three companies – InCred Finance, InCred Capital, and InCred Money. To understand InCred’s growth across segments, startup investments including Oyo and collection (recovery) among others, Entrackr spoke to the company’s founder and chief executive Bhupinder Singh. Here are the edited excerpts. How has the size of asset under management (AUM) across personal, education and business loans grown? Our asset under management or AUM grew 49% in FY24 and we closed FY24 with over Rs 9,000 crore in AUM, spread across personal loans which accounts for 44% of our AUM while micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) contributed 35% of the total disbursal. Educational loans formed 21% of the entire loan book including third-parties capital. Can you talk about growth numbers across three segments: personal, business and educational in the last fiscal year? We have had strong growth across all three segments in FY24: Personal loans grew at 57% whereas educational loans spiked at 86%. Business (MSMEs) borrowing increased 32% during the last fiscal. Which factors led to the upsurge in educational loans? Strong preference to study abroad for superior exposure and growth prospects, along with growing awareness in terms of universities and courses through social media and internet are some of the key driving factors, which have accentuated further over the last few years. InCred has started equity investment across startups. Why has it entered into what’s widely dubbed as risky equity investment? We invest in startups through InCred Capital where we focus on identifying attractive investment opportunities in private companies. However, we only put money in startups which are available at reasonable valuations and have long-term structural growth potential. Besides InCred Capital, we also have a private equity fund providing growth capital to startups and other businesses. You said that InCred Capital looks for reasonable valuation while investing into startups. InCred capital recently invested in Oyo at a $2.38 Bn valuation. Do you think this is the right valuation of Oyo? Any investment opportunity we identify for our clients is based on our fundamental thesis of providing an attractive risk-return profile for our wealth clients. We believe that Oyo falls in that category and provides an opportunity for long term value creation. Collection is the hardest part of any form of lending be it traditional or digital. How did InCred solve this and what’s the size of NPA? Agreed. I think it starts right from our strong, proactive focus on risk and analytics, and then collections, which is more reactive. We have over 150 pan-India collections teams across products that track repayments and employ multiple modes, depending upon the product-specific requirement and level of customer delinquency. For early defaulters, we use techniques like tele-calling to educate them about default implications such as credit score deterioration. For late-stage defaulters, focus is more on limiting losses through field visits, vendor engagement among others. We also use mechanisms like setting up escrow accounts for superior collections. InCred efficiency has been consistently tracking at 98%. Our March 2024 NNPA stood at 0.8% and was among the best in the industry. InCred merged with KKR Financial services in 2022. How has the merger panned out in terms of business? Let me start by giving you some context. While technically it was a reverse merger of InCred with KKR India’s credit arm, substance over form, InCred acquired KKR’s corporate loan book. It was a win-win for both InCred and KKR. What KKR got was a profitable exit from its corporate book, which they were looking for, and the opportunity to be part of a successful and long-term lending growth story with InCred in the driver’s seat. For InCred, the deal was purely an equity raising exercise with KKR joining our cap table and our net worth swelling 3X to over Rs 3,200 crore as of December 2023. At the same time, we were able to quickly wind down the corporate loan book and focus on building a granular retail franchise, which is our broad vision for InCred Finance.

Ola Electric’s CBO Ankush Aggarwal joins Ola Financial Services as CEO

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Ola Electric’s CBO Ankush Aggarwal joins Ola Financial Services as CEO
Medial

ANI Technologies, the parent company of ride hailing company Ola, has appointed Ankush Aggarwal as the chief executive officer of Ola Financial Services. His appointment comes on the backdrop of resignation of Hemant Bakshi as CEO of the ride hailing business. Bakshi was leading the mobility business along with a focus on key businesses such as financial services, logistics, and e-commerce. As per an ET report, Ankush Aggarwal will be a part of the senior leadership of Ola Cabs. In March 2022, Ankush Aggarwal (brother of Ola’s founder Bhavish Aggarwal) sold his startup Avail Finance to ANI Technologies for about $50 million in a share swap deal. After the deal, he joined Ola Electric, a separate company founded by Bhavish Aggawral, as the chief business officer (CBO). While Ola is yet to name the new chief executive of the ride hailing business, Bhavish Aggarwal will look after the day-to-day operations of the company. Entrackr has reached out to Ola for comment. Earlier this year, Ola announced that it had turned EBITDA profitable in FY23. During the period, its revenue jumped 42% to Rs 2,799 crore as compared to Rs 1,970 crore in FY22. The firm managed to cut down its losses by nearly 50% to Rs 772 crore during FY23 against Rs 1,522 crore in the previous year. Also Read: Startups rope in new CEOs amid cash crunch, layoffs, profitability and IPO plans Ola Money, which is operated by Ola Financial Services, recorded Rs 85.5 crore revenue with a loss of Rs 54.6 crore while the cab leasing firm Ola Fleet Technologies’ revenue stood at Rs 189.9 crore with Rs 387.6 crore loss in FY23. Last month, Ola announced that it is rolling back its services from international markets such as the UK, Australia and New Zealand. ​​The move is likely due to its shift in attention towards launching an initial public offering. As per media reports, Ola is gearing up for the IPO and has finanlised book running lead managers for going public.

MapMyIndia posts Rs 122 Cr revenue in Q1 FY26, profit grows 28%

EntrackrEntrackr · 7m ago
MapMyIndia posts Rs 122 Cr revenue in Q1 FY26, profit grows 28%
Medial

CE Info Systems, the parent company of MapMyIndia, has announced its financial results for the first quarter of FY26. The company reported a year-on-year revenue growth of over 21% compared to Q1 FY25. MapMyIndia’s revenue from operations increased to Rs 122 crore in Q1 FY26 from Rs 101 crore in Q1 FY25, according to its consolidated quarterly report sourced from the National Stock Exchange (NSE). On a quarter-on-quarter basis, MapMyIndia’s operating revenue fell 15% to Rs 122 crore in Q1 FY26 from Rs 144 crore in Q4 FY25. Income from digital map data, GPS navigation, location-based services, and IoT was the primary source of revenue for MapMyIndia, accounting for 93% of the total collection. This revenue source increased by 23% to Rs 114 crore in Q1 FY26. However, income from the sale of its devices generated Rs 8 crore in the quarter ending June 2025. The cost of IoT devices, employee benefits, and outsourced technical services were the major cost elements, pushing the total cost of the firm to Rs 73 crore in Q1 FY26, up from Rs 64 crore in Q1 FY25. With the increase in scale, MapMyIndia recorded a 28% increase in its profit to Rs 46 crore during Q1 FY26, compared to Rs 36 crore in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year. The company’s EBITDA stood at Rs 68 crore for the quarter. In Q1 FY26, MapMyIndia invested Rs 25 Cr to raise its stake in IoT subsidiary Gtropy Systems from 75.98% to 96%, reinforcing its focus on fleet tech and telematics. It also invested Rs 25 Cr in Zepto, acquiring a 0.049% stake to strengthen its presence in the fast-growing quick commerce space. At the end of the day on 7th Aug 2025, MapMyIndia closed at Rs 1,759.9 per share, with a market capitalization of Rs 10,040 crore ($1.09 billion).

No hurry to sell, indefinite horizon on Zomato holding: Sanjeev Bikhchandani

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
No hurry to sell, indefinite horizon on Zomato holding: Sanjeev Bikhchandani
Medial

Info Edge, India’s largest and most storied recruitment portal, has had a stellar run in the last three years with its portfolio company Zomato’s market cap surging almost 2.3X since its stock exchange debut. The firm’s bet on fintech unicorn Policybazaar is also paying off well. The company has made it clear it is in no hurry to book profits on these investments, even as it continues to nurse its own brands beyond Naukri to profitability. The firm, one of the few to survive the dotcom boom and bust cycle of 2000, has been led by founder and chairman Sanjeev Bikhchandani for a large part of this journey. And today, Bikhchandani has earned the right to be looked up to as the statesman for the sector. Entrackr caught up with Bikhchandani in his Gurugram office and he spoke on a range of topics including Naukri, Info Edge’s investments, serial entrepreneurs and corporate governance. Here are the edited excerpts. As a listed firm that carries a heavy overhang from its investment portfolio, does it worry you that it might impact the valuation of the core Naukri business? Not really. Institutional investors are smart. We give them adequate data so that they analyze Naukri thoroughly before making a conclusion about valuation. We don’t run Naukri for valuation every day or month or quarter. We look at how we create value for our shareholders in the long run. And that’s how we run our businesses. So, this hypothesis about our core or even group business doesn’t stand. Info Edge has been an investor in Zomato for over 14 years and despite the latter’s share price rising nearly 14o% from its listing price, Info Edge didn’t sell its shares. What level of return are you anticipating from Zomato? Actually, we don’t calculate Investment Return Rate (IRR). Info Edge invested in Zomato because of our conviction that it could become a great company. And if you are convinced about your conviction then it will happen. So, IRR is the happy incidental outcome of investing early behind companies that you want to help. That’s my belief. We are not in any hurry to sell and have an indefinite horizon. Every VC firm has a fund cycle and pressure to return capital to their limited partners but that’s not the case with Info Edge as you are investing from your own balance sheet. Could you elaborate on this? That pressure does not make this choice. We have a long term horizon and we call it patient capital. To be a successful early stage investor in India, you have to be quite patient because companies take anywhere between 10-15 years to go to IPO from seed stage. So if you have funds for only 6-10 years, you will not realize the full fruits of your investment. If you have a 20 year fund, you tend to perform better. However, such a horizon could be possible only when you’re investing from your own whole balance sheet. Do you believe that Blinkit could become bigger than Zomato? I think both are large but Blinkit is going to be fairly large. If we look at Zomato’s quarter-on-quarter numbers, online food ordering appears to have stagnated in top 10-15 cities. What’s your take on this? Obviously, there is the base effect. But, we don’t see stagnation. Also, you need to compare year-on-year, not quarter-on-quarter. When YoY numbers are compared, there is growth. I think full fiscal year performance is more important than quarter. We used to commonly hear about Naukri’s recruitment business that it was not the online presence, but your sales force or feet on the street that made the difference. Does that still hold true? Online sales have never been a big part of our strategy. When you want to sell more expensive products, you need face-to-face contact. At Naukri, we have clients whom we bill several crore rupees for annual subscription and such accounts need heavy offline touch. While the product will be consumed online, the stuff around it very often will be offline. Over the years, several players have tried to crack the recruitment business in the blue collar segment but most of them died. What are the challenges in the segment? Blue collar segment has broadly three challenges. First, it’s hyperlocal. The job seekers in this segment don’t move to different cities as they look for opportunities in and around their locality. Second, very often there isn’t a detailed text CV which makes the process slow and inefficient. Third, potential workforce in the segment do not search for jobs on the laptop and use vernacular languages. They are mostly on mobile. So you’ve got to adapt to all these things and still somehow get revenue and profit. We have been trying to get inroads in the blue collar segment for over two years now but we have just started monetizing it. Our future position in the segment depends on monetization. Some of the celebrated entrepreneurs are launching a second or third company without their first startup churning profit. How do you see this trend? I think this isn’t a progressive trend. As an entrepreneur, you need to focus on one thing and do really well. Once you’ve cracked that you can add on a second thing in the same company. Over the past couple of years, we have witnessed corporate governance issues with some startups. Even Info Edge saw serious lapses at 4B Networks. What’s your opinion about this? By and large, my belief is that 95-98% of Indian founders are genuine but there will be a few bad examples. Investors make sure that when something wrong happens in their portfolio, it is highlighted and actions are taken to ensure that such incidents do not repeat. Any governance issue isn’t good for anyone including limited partners, investors, founders and the startup ecosystem. What factors contributed to the lack of success with Info Edge’s e-commerce investments 99labels, MyDala, and Happily Unmarried? Limitation of raising foreign direct investment (FDI) and heavy investment into competition were two major reasons for failure of 99labels while MyDala had a product market fit (PMF) issue. Happily Unmarried is now a part of VLCC and we are still a shareholder there.

Tencent halves stake in PB Fintech via Rs 695 Cr block deal

EntrackrEntrackr · 13d ago
Tencent halves stake in PB Fintech via Rs 695 Cr block deal
Medial

Tencent Cloud Europe BV, an affiliate of Chinese internet giant Tencent, offloaded a portion of its stake in PB Fintech, the parent company of Policybazaar and Paisabazaar, through a block deal on Friday. According to bulk deal data on the stock exchange, Tencent Cloud Europe BV sold 48,40,439 shares of PB Fintech at Rs 1,435.10 per share, taking the total transaction value to around Rs 694.65 crore. Prior to the transaction, Tencent Cloud Europe held 97,48,750 shares, representing 2.12% stake in PB Fintech. Following the block deal, its holding reduced to 49,08,311 shares, or 1.06% in the company. Several institutional investors participated in the block deal. DSP Mutual Fund acquired 3,25,643 shares worth Rs 46.73 crore, while Mirae Asset Mutual Fund purchased 9,00,000 shares valued at Rs 129.15 crore. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs entities were among the largest buyers in the transaction. Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE bought 7,01,249 shares worth Rs 100.63 crore, while Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE – ODI picked up 5,64,508 shares amounting to Rs 81 crore. Other buyers included Schroder Asian Alpha Plus Fund, which purchased 3,46,958 shares worth Rs 49.8 crore, and Schroder AsiaPacific Fund PLC, which bought 2,57,081 shares valued at Rs 36.9 crore. Société Générale (ODI) and Tata Mutual Fund acquired 7,00,000 shares (Rs 100.45 crore) and 3,45,000 shares (Rs 49.5 crore), respectively. Viridian Asia Opportunities Master Fund also bought 7,00,000 shares for Rs 100.45 crore. This move comes after PolicyBazaar’s quarterly result announcement, in which its revenue increased 32.5% to Rs 1,711 crore in Q3 FY26, while its net profits surged 2.6X to Rs 189 crore in the same period. At the end of the day, PolicyBazaar traded at Rs 1,433.5 with a total market capitalization of Rs 66,327 crore (approximately $7.2 billion).

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