ISSUE NO 5, 1 FEB 2021

ISSUE NO 5 1 FEBRUARY 2021

STARTUP POLICIES

Union Budget 2021: The 9 Major Takeaways Key Takeaways From Union Budget 2021-22 For For Startups From The First Digital Budget Indian Startups Speech The primary focus areas of the budget were Source: Inc42 healthcare and generating jobs by increasing the government’s expenditure across sectors ’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on even as the country struggles to bounce back Monday (February 1) presented the Union Budg- from a pandemic-induced recession. et 2021 — with a sharp focus on digital transfor- mation and the next phase of economic recovery Tax Holidays For Startups; Exemptions For In- after the Covid-induced market recession. She vestors also ditched the bahi khata that had become a Besides the new definition for small businesses, major talking point during the longest budget Sitharaman also proposed an extension of the speech ever last year and went with a ‘Made in tax holiday to startups by another year to March India’ tablet. Besides this, the focus was also 31, 2022 during her Union Budget 2021 address. around key sectors in the digital economy with Moreover, she also announced that in order to increased spending for healthcare, education incentivise investment in startups, the govern- and employment generation in manufacturing ment is proposing extending the eligibility period and infrastructure. of claiming capital gains exemption for invest- Delivering her budget address, the ment made in the startups by one more year to FM projected a fiscal deficit of 6.8% of gross do- March 31, 2022. mestic product for 2021-22. The current year In the Union Budget of 2017, the then finance was expected to end with a deficit of 9.5%, she minister, the late Arun Jaitley had announced said, a sharp rise from the 7% expected earlier. that startups that were incorporated after March Despite this, the FM was bullish about recovery 31, 2016 could avail a tax holiday for three out of of the Indian economy. seven years, from the date of incorporation. Earlier, the Economic Survey had projected a Startups can avail this exemption provided that GDP growth rate of 11% for the fiscal year 2021- annual turnover does not exceed INR 25 Cr in 22. Whether the government’s spending boost any financial year. gives the thrust to key sectors to achieve this benchmark remains to be seen. In the mean- Insurtech Gets FDI Booster Shot while, here are the key highlights from the Union Among the key decisions from the Budget was Budget 2021-21 for startups. the proposal to amend the Insurance Act, 1938 HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA , SINGAPORE 1 STARTUPS WATCH to increase permissible foreign direct invest- ISSUE NO 5, 1 FEB 2021 ment limit (FDI) from 49% to 74% in insurance increasing their threshold for capitalisation companies at the Union Budget 2021. from not exceeding INR 50 Lakh to not exceed- This would allow foreign ownership and control ing INR 2 Cr and turnover from not exceeding of insurance companies in the country with cer- INR 2 Cr to not exceeding INR 20 Cr. tain safeguards. However, the majority of di- “This will help more than 200K companies in rectors on the boards of such companies and easing their compliance requirements,” said key management persons will have to be resi- Sitharaman. dent Indians, with 50% directors being inde- By the new definition of small companies under pendent directors and a specified percentage the Companies Act, a large number of startups of profits being retained as general income. will be recognised as small companies. Small With apt support and investment by the private companies enjoy certain benefits over other sector these measures will have a multiplier ef- companies in terms of compliance require- fect and take insurance to a large section of In- ments. For instance, a small company needs to dian population, the FM said. hold only two board meetings in a year, unlike Foreign direct investments in insurance compa- other companies which are required to hold nies are currently permitted under automatic four such meetings in the same period. route up to 49% with a rider that insurance In a separate announcement, which is also ex- companies should be Indian owned and con- pected to ease the compliance burden on trolled, i.e. more than 50% shall be beneficially startups, Sitharaman proposed to use data ana- owned by resident Indian citizens and control of lytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning to the insurance company shall be in the hands of make regulatory filings more frictionless for resident Indian citizens. businesses and startups in a revamp of the min- istry of corporate affairs (MCA) portal. The gov- Fintech In Focus ernment had said that the ministry would look to The Indian government proposed allocating INR introduce AI-based features in MCA-21 when 1,500 Cr to boost the penetration of digital pay- version 3.0 of the portal is rolled out. ments as well as other measures to boost finan- The MCA-21 3.0 is expected to have features cial inclusion. such as single source of truth, ease of doing Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while business, e-adjudication, online compliance presenting the Union Budget for 2021-22, has monitoring, among others. All this is aimed at proposed to set up a “world-class” fintech hub making the authenticity and comprehensive- near Gujarat capital Gandhinagar at GIFT City ness of corporate even better. (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City). For the startup ecosystem, this is crucial as Besides this, the government will also introduce MCA-21 shares crucial information to various a bill to set up development financial institu- stakeholders such as the regulators, investors tions (DFI) with an outlay of INR 20,000 Cr to and companies. All filings under the various boost credit access for small businesses, laws for companies and businesses in India are MSMEs as well as those working in areas of fo- submitted through this portal. cus such as manufacturing and infrastructure. To further facilitate credit flow under the Focus On Healthtech; National Health Portal scheme of Stand Up India for scheduled castes To bridge the urban-rural healthcare divide, and tribes, as well as women entrepreneurs, Sitharaman announced a total allocation of INR the government has proposed to reduce the 2.23 Lakh Cr for healthcare and wellness initia- margin money requirement from 25% to 15%, tives in the country during the Union Budget and to also include loans for activities allied to 2021-22. The plan includes a pan-India agriculture. healthcare portal for digital health manage- ment, as well as a Mission Poshan 2.0 for nutri- Lowering Compliance Burden On Startups tion and diet programmes in rural districts. The FM also proposed to revise definition under The budget allocation increased by 137% over Companies Act, 2013 for small companies by the previous year. The FM also announced Aat-

HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA , SINGAPORE 2 STARTUPS WATCH ISSUE NO 5, 1 FEB 2021 manirbhar Health Yojana with an outlay of INR Budget 2021 address. The government has an- 64,180 Cr over 6 years. She announced opera- nounced an outlay of INR 18,000 Cr for the tionalisation of health units at 32 airports, 11 same for the 2020-21 period. seaports and 7 land crossings. Stressing on the need for greater commerciali- The budget also allocated INR 35,000 Cr for sation, the FM allocated INR 1,70,000 Cr as Covid-19 vaccination. Talking about India’s budgetary allocation for the transport sector fight against Covid-19, Sitharaman said the for 2020-21. She added that the National High- country has two vaccines available, adding that ways Authority of India (NHAI) will be encour- two more vaccines are expected soon. aged to pursue “greater commercialisation of “Expansion of the integrated health information highways to raise finance”. portal to all states and union territories to con- Besides proposing highway works in several nect all public health labs,” said Sitharaman. states such as Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Assam, all incidentally poll-bound states, Rapid Digitalisation Underway In Agriculture the Minister also talked about bringing in me- Sitharaman revealed that around 1.68 Cr farm- trolite and metroneo technologies, which are ers have registered on government’s e- rail-guided urban transport systems with rub- agriculture marketplace — eNAM, recording a ber-tyred electric coaches powered by an over- transaction worth INR 1.14 Lakh Cr. head traction system running on elevated or at- Further, she stated that the eNAM platform cur- grade sections, in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. rently has more than 1000 mandis. “With all To boost adoption of EVs and modern low- this, the agricultural infrastructure fund would emission vehicles, the government also an- be made available to AMPCs or Mandis, aug- nounced a voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to menting their infrastructure facilities,” she add- phase out old and unfit vehicles. “This will help ed. in encouraging fuel efficient, environment Founded in April 2016, eNAM is an e-trading friendly vehicles, thereby reducing vehicu- portal that connects with physical wholesale lar pollution and oil import bill,” Sitharaman markets through a virtual platform, creating a said. unified national market for agricultural pro- Vehicles would undergo fitness tests in auto- duce, where farmers can sell their produce at a mated fitness centres after 20 years in case of transparent and competitive price, online. personal vehicles, and after 15 years in case of With the government being at the receiving end commercial vehicles. of farmers’ ire for the three controversial agri- culture reform laws that many believe will hurt Expansion Roadmap or National Education Poli- minimum support prices (MSPs) in the long run, cy the finance minister announced measures to Taking forward the National Education Policy allay concerns. (NEP) announced in 2020, Finance Minister Sitharaman said the MSP regime has under- Nirmala Sitharaman said during the Union gone a “sea change” to assure price at least 1.5 Budget 2021 address that the government will times of production cost with sharp increase in extend this programme through specific procurement of foodgrains and payment to schools for regional implementation of the poli- farmers. In her budget speech for the next fis- cy. The FM also announced measures to en- cal, she said the procurement of crops like pad- hance skill development initiatives across the dy, wheat, pulses and cotton has jumped mani- country. folds in the last six years. More than 15,000 schools will be qualitatively strengthened to include all components of NEP. Boost For Electric Mobility; Railways They will hand hold and mentor other schools in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pro- their region. She announced that 100 new Sain- posed 100% electrification of railways by 2030 ik Schools will be set up in partnership with along with plans to boost the share of public NGOs, private schools and states. transport in urban areas during the Union

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Taking forward the plans to set up a Higher Ed- From this year the government has decided to ucation Commission announced in last year’s form an 'International Launching Pad' for budget, Sitharaman announced that a legisla- startups," he added. tion for the same will be implemented in 2021. It Elaborating on various schemes and events of will be an umbrella body for standard setting, KSUM, Vijayan said women entrepreneurs accreditation, regulation and funding. would get up to Rs 15 lakh as loan. Startups led by women have been given a mora- State VC fund for startups on anvil, to open torium of two years for the aid from KSUM. up govt market: Kerala CM For facilitating investment of NRIs in startups, there are programmes like annual Seeding Ker- source:conomictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/state-vc-fund-for- startups-on-anvil-to-open-up-govt-market-kerala-cm ala event and monthly Investor Cafe. The Chief Minister said startups have already The Kerala chief minister said startups have al- been given complete exemption in their rent for ready been given complete exemption in their four months and there will be a partial exemp- rent for four months and there will be a partial tion in the rent amount for the next three exemption in the rent amount for the next three months. months. "Under KSUM's Fund of Fund scheme, 11 Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tues- startups have been given aid through Kerala day said his government was looking into the Specific Angel Fund, which is the first-of-its- possibility of setting up a dedicated Venture kind in the country," he added. Capital (VC) fund for startups, besides opening According to startup circles, the move would up the government market for startup consorti- enable more startups to participate in big gov- ums and hiking the special fund for startup de- ernment tenders. velopment. This is a novel model to bring business to A proposal to set up the VC fund with the back- startups through the government. ing of public sector Kerala Bank and Kerala The budget also has proposed to bring in State Industrial Development Corporation startup innovation zones in government depart- (KSIDC) is under active consideration, he said ments, which will help evolve problem-solving during an interaction with startups founders, innovations for the benefit of the public. organised by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) Around 100 startup founders, 70 of them online, here last evening. made suggestions and demands for further Noting that these initiatives would further strengthening the startup ecosystem in the strengthen the robust government-startup rela- southern state. tionship, the CM said the proposals for startups KSUM is the nodal agency for entrepreneurship announced in the state budget for 2021-22 development and incubation activities in the would be implemented at the earliest. state. "It is the policy of the government to offer nec- essary financial aid to startups to blossom. The 28 non-official members nominated to government will consider increasing the special National Startup Advisory Council fund for the devel ..development of startups. Besides, the state will take further measures to Date: Jan 19, 2021, enable entrepreneurs to improve their skills," source:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/28-non- Vijayan said. official-members-nominated-to-national-startup-advisory-council/ The government would think about earmarking Byju's founder and chief executive Byju more funds to strengthen the marketing side of Raveendran and Kris Gopalakrishnan from Ax- startups. ilor Ventures are among the non-official mem- "They can create a strong impression in the na- bers nominated to the council tional and international level through expos and industrial cooperation. The government on Tuesday nominated 28 non- official members including Byju's founder and

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CEO Byju Raveendran and Kris Gopalakrishnan ones that make work or business continuity from Axilor Ventures on the National Startup from home more productive and safe, like cloud Advisory Council. -based SaaS software companies, says Venkat RThe council was set up last year to advise the Vallabhaneni, managing partner, Inflexor Ven- government on measures needed to build a tures, an early-stage, sector agnostic tech VC strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and fund. “SaaS companies have an edge as they startups in the country. are asset light with quick and easy DIY type “The Central Government has now decided to adoption, have recurring revenue models and nominate the non-official members on the Na- also lend themselves well to WFH,” he tells tional Startup Advisory Council representing Sudhir Chowdhary in a recent interview. various stakeholders,” the Department for Pro- motion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Why are you focusing on deep tech and SaaS at said in a statement. Inflexor? Is the SaaS space in India yet to It said these include founders of successful achieve its full glory? startups, veterans who have grown and scaled companies in India, persons capable of repre- Jatin Desai (managing partner) and I both come senting the interest of investors into startups, with a strong technology background—having persons capable of representing interests of set up and led technology divisions for global incubators and accelerators, representatives of banks, and also having scaled our own tech fo- associations of stakeholders of startups and cused ventures in the past. Deep tech/SaaS are representatives of industry associations. an obvious choice for our investment thesis/ The term of the non-official members will be for ethos. Also, SaaS companies have an edge as a period of two years. they are asset light, offer quick and easy adop- The council, which aims to foster a culture of tion, offer non-linear growth and have recurring innovation amongst citizens and students, pro- revenue models. mote innovation, and promote creation, protec- We are a sector-agnostic fund, looking for prod- tion and commercialization of intellectual prop- ucts leveraging strong technology/IP/innovation erty rights, is chaired by the commerce and in- to differentiate and create a mark for them- dustry minister. selves in domestic and international markets. The members include CII President Uday Kotak, B2B, enterprise software platforms are where Kunal Bahl (), Bhavish Aggarwal (Ola), our sweet spot lies. Having said that, we are Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Info Edge), Abhiraj comfortable investing in selective B2C consum- Singh (Urban Company), among others. er tech and products with differentiated busi- ness model and technology IP. STARTUP STORIES Indian SaaS industry has 1,000-plus companies, generating revenues of $3.5 billion in FY20. SaaS startups are already walking the re- Around 150 companies out of these generated vival road an ARR of more than $1 million. Around seven of them are unicorns with the likes of Zoho, Source:https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/sme/saas- startups-are-already-walking-the-revival-road-venkat-vallabhaneni- Freshworks, Druva, Postman, etc. And 75% of managing-partner-inflexor-ventures the demand for Indian SaaS products comes from overseas. If this is any indication, we have SaaS was a fairly new term/ concept back in great things to be witnessed from this space in 2015, with slow adoption on both B2B and B2C the future. fronts. While it is clear that the Covid-19 pandemic and Do you see any challenges in SaaS startups related lockdown/social distancing has impact- post Covid? ed almost all businesses globally, there are some sectors particularly within technology While the pandemic and related lockdown has that are experiencing tailwinds. Especially the impacted almost all businesses globally, there

HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA , SINGAPORE 5 STARTUPS WATCH ISSUE NO 5, 1 FEB 2021 are some sectors particularly within technolo- demonstrate the faith they have in their growth. gy, like cloud-based SaaS software companies, India has the geographical advantage to price that are experiencing tailwinds. Especially the its SaaS products substantially lower compared ones that make work or business continuity to its global peers, to attract customers. from home more productive and safe, or OTT Also, India’s young demographic (forming a sig- platforms with their endless choice of content nificant portion of India’s huge user base) with to keep people entertained. its massive consumption of easily accessible Another SaaS based industry which has seen internet content becomes a magnet for compa- substantial uptick in Covid-19 times is edutech nies to setup as well as invest in India. with significant interest from K-12 kids as well as millennials looking to upskill themselves Amazon partners with Startup India to from the comfort of their homes. Our Fund–I launch accelerator programme Propel portfolio companies offering SaaS solutions in EduTech, cybersecurity, automation are seeing Jan 19, 2021, some significant tailwinds with actual sales or source:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ in-bound leads up by 3X to 4X compared to pre- startups/amazon-partners-with-startup-india-to-launch- Covid-19 times. accelerator-programme-propel/ SaaS was a fairly new term/ concept back in 2015, with slow adoption on both B2B and B2C The top three startups in the programme will fronts. But with increased awareness of its ben- also have a chance to win a $50,000 equity-free efits, it has become a preferred business mod- grant from the e-commerce giant. el. Covid-19 has given it the necessary push for US online retail giant Amazon said it has part- rapid digitalisation and acceleration in digital nered with Startup India to launch an accelera- adoption by users. tor programme - Propel - for early-stage Indian consumer brands focused on selling their prod- Which are the sectors that you focus on? ucts to customers in global markets.

Propel, which is part of Amazon’s Global Selling Few of the sectors that we are focusing more programme, will look to identify 10 early-stage from our Fund–II are fintech, healthtech, consumer product startups in India, mentor edutech, consumer tech and also opportunistic them and help them build successful export sectors such as space tech. From a SaaS per- businesses with insights and learnings from spective, the maximum emergence we are ob- other brands that sell on Amazon. serving is from healthtech with several startups offering EMR maintenance, efficient last mile Amazon has also partnered with Sequoia Capi- distribution of medicines, B2B platforms assist- tal India and Fireside Ventures to aid the ing with scans for quick diagnosis of Covid-19 startups in potentially raising capital from the and other ailments, etc. VCs, while the top three startups in the pro- Another space would be enterprise tech offer- gramme will also have a chance to win a ing B2B solutions to not only improve their in- $50,000 equity free grant from the e-commerce ternal processes but also increase their reach giant. and revenues. “Amazon Global Selling, our flagship program to grow exports from India is witnessing tre- What is the opportunity available for SaaS in mendous momentum with increasing interest India and globally? from exporters across India. With Amazon Glob- al Selling we will continue to make exports sim- SaaS companies (from the mid players to the ple and accessible to businesses of all sizes world giants) has been receiving immense trac- and fulfil our commitment of enabling $10 billion tion, especially in the last few months and is ex- in e-commerce exports from India by 2025,” pected to continue so. VCs investing $32 billion said Amit Agarwal, Country Head at Amazon globally in 2019 in SaaS companies clearly India.

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The accelerator programme will have a six- Urban Ladder,” the company said in a state- week mentorship event for startups, during ment. which they will also receive aid from Amazon to Sharma has invested in more than 50 tech launch their products on its global selling pro- startups in multiple geographies. He previously gramme, giving them access to the US firm’s worked with NEA and was a founding team prin- fifteen other marketplaces, including the US, cipal at Lightbox Ventures in India. Germany, and Japan. “While opportunities in India are boundless, a Amazon says it has seen a significant surge in few key gaps persist especially at the seed and interest from Indian MSMEs to export products pre-seed stage: a truly global partner that can due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The company bring institutional resources and significant fol- claims it has over 70,000 sellers that now ex- low-on commitment even at the idea stage,” port from India, with several of them seizing the said Sharma. “This is exactly why Antler can fill global selling opportunity as sales in the domes- the gaps and have a transformative impact.” tic market have stuttered. Sharma-founded FirstPrinciples VC Is a thesis- driven syndicate and portfolio of more than 35 Toys, home and furnishing products, personal startups, including Fynd (acquired by Reliance), care products, natural healthcare products, OnJuno, Niki, Kutumb, SharesPost (acquired by and arts and crafts are among the best selling Forge) and XOKind. Its portfolio startups will categories from Indian sellers on Amazon’s now have access to Antler’s vast global net- overseas marketplaces, the company says. work, capital and resources, according to the In July last year, Amazon said that it had statement. crossed $2 billion in cumulative exports from India since it started its Global Selling pro- “Nitin’s hands-on approach and international gramme in 2015. When Jeff Bezos, founder and experience is immediately recognised by nu- CEO of Amazon, visited the country last year, merous founders in the market, and with our he announced a $1 billion investment in digitis- combination of an ex-founder and an investor ing MSMEs and growing exports from India to working in tandem,.we will help founders in In- $10 billion by 2025.RAL ULTRA-HIGH NET dia with a very rich set of perspectives,” said WORTH INDIVIDUALS D INSTITUTIONAL I Srivatsa, co-lead, Antler India. An MBA from The Wharton School, Sharma Antler ropes in Nitin Sharma as Partner and serves on the India Advisory Boards of Angel- co-lead for India market/ List, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and 20 January 2021 TheBetterIndia, and has advised the govern- source:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/antler- ment policy think tank (Niti Aayog) on frontier ropes-in-nitin-sharma-as-partner-and-co-lead-for-india-market/ tech policy making.

Antler has offices in London, Berlin, Bengaluru, Sharma has invested in more than 50 tech Stockholm, New York, Singapore and Sydney. startups in multiple geographies. He previously Founded in Singapore in 2017, Antler has in- worked with NEA and was a founding team prin- vested in over 250 companies so far. cipal at Lightbox Ventures in India. “India is a priority market in Antler’s objective

to create a world--changing impact. India is a Early-stage venture capital platform Antler has hotbed of innovation and we are thrilled to dou- appointed FirstPrinciples VC founder Nitin ble-down on the market with this leadership Sharma as Partner and co-lead for the Indian team,” said Magnus Grimeland, founder and market. CEO, Antler. “Antler aims to invest over $100M in India across funds in the next four years. These funds will support founders from the idea stage, all the way to Series A and B. Nitin will co-lead the India efforts with Rajiv Srivatsa, co-founder of

HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA , SINGAPORE 7 STARTUPS WATCH ISSUE NO 5, 1 FEB 2021 STARTUP FEATURE ocean research organisations, shipping, oil and gas, infrastructure, and construction. These 5 startups are building innovative Founded in 2016 by Johns T Mathai and Kan- tech solutions to support India’s defence nappa Palaniappan P, EyeROV is developing sector India’s first commercial underwater drone for

Date:26 January,2021 remote inspection of offshore assets. “With human divers, there are either inspection Source: https://yourstory.com/2021/01/republic-day-2021- startups-building-innovative-tech-supporting-defence delays or lack of expertise. They are able to di- ve only up to 30-40 metres, whereas an ROV India houses around 194 defence tech startups drone can go up to 100 or 200 metres below sea that are building innovative tech solutions to level,” Johns explained. The startup’s first in- empower and support the country’s defence dustrial-grade underwater drone EyeROV Tuna efforts. This Republic Day, YourStory brings was commercially launched in 2018. It claims you a list of some of these companies. the 50cm X 50cm X 50 cm cube-shaped ROV In India, aerospace and defence is one of the has completed more than 1,000 hours of under- most important sectors of the country, which water inspection of dams, bridges, ports, ship accounts for almost 1.6 percent of the national hulls, oil and gas assets, and other critical un- GDP. According to a recent report by consul- derwater structures across 25 projects in five tancy firm Maier+Vidorno, the aerospace and states. EyeROV, which won the iDEX Defense defence industry in India is estimated to reach India Startup Challenge in 2019, onboarded De- around $70 billion by 2030. The report stated fence Research and Development Organisation that a huge portion of the Indian defence needs (DRDO) as its first customer. Backed by Maker is, however, fulfilled via imports. As the country Village Kochi, Kerala Startup Mission, and strives to become aatmanirbhar or self-reliant, GAIL, the startup has completed over 15 pilot the government has been pushing innovators to projects for Adani Power, Coastal Police, BSF, come up with cutting-edge Made in India tech- Kerala Fire and Rescue, Kerala Police, and As- nology to empower the defence sector. Last Au- sam Fire and Rescue. EyeROV was also a part gust, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed up of YourStory’s Tech30 list in 2020 for building the need for local defence manufacturing. And innovative ROV drone solutions for data-led re- playing a major role to fulfil this mission is the porting in marine operations. Indian startup ecosystem. In 2018, the Ministry of Defence earmarked Rs 500 crore to encour- Optimized Electrotech -based Opti- age MSMEs and startups through its Innova- mized Electrotech, which was also one of the tions for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative. winners of the iDEX Defence India Startup Chal- Then, in 2019, the government announced its lenge in 2019, is solving surveillance-related plans to fund at least 250 defence startups over challenges with its long-distance imaging sys- the next five years. Several startups have been tems. Founded in 2017 by Sandeep Shah along developing technologies to help the armed forc- with Anil Yekkala, Dharin Shah, Kuldeep es, Defence Public Sector Undertakings Saxena, and Purvi Shah, Optimized Electrotech (DPSUs), and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). is an electro-optics surveillance startup which According to government data, India has aims to work with the defence, paramilitary around 194 startups in the defence tech space. forces, aerospace, airports, critical assets, On India’s 72nd Republic Day, YourStory brings among other industries. In an earlier interaction you a list of tech startups working to support with YourStory, Sandeep had explained that the and empower India’s defence efforts. electro-optics system captures information by converting data from photons into images that EyeROV Kochi-based EyeROV is working to- can be automatically interpreted and coupled wards enabling efficient underwater inspection with other sensors for a better understanding. with its marine robotic solutions and solve prob- Different ranges of the electromagnetic spec- lems for several industries, such as defence, trum can provide different insights into the im-

HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA , SINGAPORE 8 STARTUPS WATCH ISSUE NO 5, 1 FEB 2021 ages captured. The startup works with 400 nm manned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). According to the to 12μ range, the visible light spectrum, in order company, Switch UAV is an indigenous system to provide image analysis for several applica- developed to cater to the most demanding sur- tions such as border security, machine vision, veillance operations of the Indian Armed Forc- etc. “Electro-optics has various applications, es. The Fixed-Wing VTOL (Vertical Take-off and including surveillance for smart cities, satellite- Landing) UAV has been designed to be de- based imaging, border surveillance, medical ployed at high altitude and harsh environments imaging, access control, machine vision, auto- for day and night for intelligence, surveillance, motive (advanced driver-assistance systems, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. Apart from i.e. ADAS), and consumer electronics. Howev- helping the armed forces for defence, the er, the idea of being able to serve our country startup has also been trying to fight the current led us to focus on enhancing homeland security COVID-19 situation. In April, it joined hands with and defence capabilities,” he added. The police forces in Sangli (Maharashtra) and Gu- startup’s first line of product, deployed for bor- wahati (Assam) to deploy its drones for surveil- der surveillance, the InfiVision series has been lance and monitoring COVID-19 social distanc- designed to detect a tank in more than 30km ing norms during lockdown. range. Its MistVision series provides a long- range electro-optics system for fog penetration Vinveli Iowa and -based Vinveli is build- while its ClearVision series helps in high spec- ing indigenous UAVs or drones for Special tral-range surveillance in all weather condi- Forces under the Ministry of Home Affairs, such tions. The NoctVision series is designed to per- as the National Security Guard and the Central form surveillance at night. “We work with Reserve Police Force, and the Ministry of De- Homeland Security (MHA) and Defence (MOD). fence. The startup was founded in 2014 by Our products are useful for CISF to guard stra- Gokul Anandayuvaraj, an aerospace engineer tegic assets; for BSF, ITBP, AR, and Coast from the University of Texas along with his col- lege friends Yuan Qu and Eshan Halekote. The Guard to keep a watchful eye on trespassing at Iowa Startup Accelerator-backed startup has borders; for CRPF and all Central and State Po- been manufacturing and supplying drones to lice forces for better law implementation within India’s Special Forces since 2016. Its clientele cities, and finally Army, IAF and Navy for ISR also includes the National Security Guard, Cen- (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnais- tral Reserve Police Force, and the Ministry of sance),” Sandeep said. Defence. In an earlier interaction with YourSto-

ry, Gokul had explained that the startup builds ideaForge -based ideaForge is not a the drones upon receiving orders from the cli- new name in the defence and surveillance sec- ents. The startup works with them to thoroughly tor. The drone startup, which claims to have understand the requirements from the UAV and over 90 percent of market share in the security builds them accordingly. “Our drones have and surveillance segment, was founded in 2007 helped save lives in the battlefield as the ma- by IIT Mumbai alumni Ankit Mehta, Rahul Singh, chine is placed in front of the commando, taking Vipul Joshi, and Ashish Bhat. The company is the first git while eliminating the enemy of the involved in manufacturing drones for defence, commando,” Gokul said. Vinveli also has two homeland security, and industrial applications. Indian patents. According to the startup, its The drones built by ideaForge have been de- launcher and firing systems are completely in- ployed by the Indian Armed Forces, central digenously designed and manufactured and the armed police forces, and state police forces. It raw materials are also procured locally also has industrial customers in geospatial sur- veying, oil and gas, mining sectors. Earlier this Nyokas Technologies Kochi-based Nyokas month, the startup bagged a $20 million con- Technologies, which was also one of the win- tract from the Indian Army for the delivery of its ners of iDEX 2019, is an ultra-smart clothing high-altitude variant product – Switch Un- startup. It is involved in building individual pro-

HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA , SINGAPORE 9 STARTUPS WATCH ISSUE NO 5, 1 FEB 2021 tection systems or body armour through an “demographic characteristics of businesses”. amalgamation of nano-materials, textiles, elec- “The biggest USP of the startup world is its dis- tronics, and software. Founded in 2017 by Ajay ruption and diversification capacity,” Modi said. Sangwan, Vivek Jose, Rohit T, and Teny Thom- Through the GeM portal, local startups have as, the startup has developed a wearable moni- been given the opportunity to participate in gov- toring T-shirt with built-in sensors to track vitals ernment tenders at par with big companies. of the wearer. It has also developed a wearable Modi said about 8,000 startups have registered jacket Zeal to empower civilians to protect on the portal so far and done business of nearly themselves from assault or life-threatening situ- Rs 2,300 crore. He lauded the startups for com- ations. In case of a situation where the user ing up with innovative solutions during the pan- gets grabbed and attacked by someone, the demic and supporting the government’s efforts pressure-activated sensors will understand the to normalise economic activity. More than 10 danger and immediately alert the nearby au- startups across sectors ranging from beauty to thorities about the attack through the official payments turned unicorn in 2020 against nine in app. According to the startup, it is aimed at de- 2019. veloping an ecosystem for high-tech clothes in The two-day Prarambh Startup India Interna- India through nano-science and fashion tech- tional Summit marks the fifth anniversary of the nology. Startup India initiative launched by the Prime Minister on January 16, 2016. STARTUP FUNDING Healthtech startup MFine raises $16M led by Heritas Capital PM Modi announces Rs 1,000-crore seed fund for startups 18th Jan 2021

source https://yourstory.com/2021/01/funding-healthcare-startup- Date: January 17, 2021 mfine-heritas-capital

Source:https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/sme/ pm-modi-announces-rs-1000-crore-seed-fund-for-startups Healthtech startup MFine plans to use this fund-

Through the GeM portal, local startups have ing to reinforce its position in delivering an AI- been given the opportunity to participate in gov- driven, on-demand healthcare service across ernment tenders at par with big companies. India. Prime Minister on Saturday announced a Start- Healthtech startup MFine has raised $16 million up India seed fund worth Rs 1,000 crore to ena- in funding led by Heritas Capital. The round also ble startups to raise initial funding. “This will saw participation from Singapore-based family help to start and grow new start-ups,” Modi said office Y'S Investment Pte Ltd. Existing investors at the Prarambh Start-up India International SBI Investment, SBI Ven Capital, BEENEXT, and summit. Going ahead, the government will also Alteria Capital have also followed-on in the help startups to raise debt capital by providing round. A statement shared by Prime Venture guarantees, Modi said, adding, “India is trying Partners, an investor in MFine, state that the to create a startup ecosystem which will be oversubscribed round wraps up a strong year based on the key principle of the youth, by the for MFine with the company achieving 10X youth and for the youth.” growth amidst exponential adoption of telemed- Modi said India today has the world’s third- icine and digital health in India in 2020. largest startup ecosystem. The country has The statement added MFine will deploy the more than 41,000 startups of which more than funds towards tripling its investments in AI, mo- 5,700 startups are in the IT sector. As many as bile engineering, and device integration; ex- 3,600 startups operate in the health sector, panding its hospital network across the coun- while nearly 1,700 startups are present in the try; scaling the recently launched services agriculture sector, the PM said, emphasising which include delivering medicines, preventive that these startups are changing the health screenings, and diagnostic tests. The

HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA , SINGAPORE 10 STARTUPS ISSUE NO 5, 1 FEB 2021 company will also initiate Series C fund raising funding round from private equity fund Zephyr in the coming months. With this fund raise Peacock India Growth Fund and Chand family MFine plans to reinforce its position in deliver- office, Yukti. Existing investor 3one4 Capital al- ing an AI-driven, on-demand healthcare service so participated in this round. across India, and aims to be one of the largest Ripplr was founded in June 2019 by Abhishek virtual hospitals in the world with services Nehru and Santosh D. It offers an AI/ML-based across primary care, secondary care, and distribution platform that bridges the gap be- chronic care management in collaboration with tween brands and unorganised retail, solving its trusted partners. for both distribution and information asymmetry at both sides. It further helps its customers opti- HRtech Startup Darwinbox Raises $15 Mn mise operations across the value chain. From Salesforce Ventures To Expand Glob- The company deploys predictive analytics to ally manage demand and inventory for both brands and retailers, providing real-time information on Date:19 Jan'21 Source;https://inc42.com/buzz/hrtech-startup- sales orders, inventory and delivery status darwinbox-funding-salesforce-ventures through customised dashboards. The brand us-

HRtech startup Darwinbox has raised $15 Mn es these analytics with suggestive planning al- funding led by Salesforce Ventures, the invest- gorithms to reduce wastage and loss of sale at ment arm of global SaaS giant Salesforce, to retail endpoints. expand its global footprint and accelerate entry into Southeast Asia and the Middle East, the STARTUP ACQUISITION company announced on its website. With the capital raised, - Edtech unicorn BYJU’s acquires Black- headquartered Darwinbox would be hiring for stone Group-backed Aakash Educational several leadership positions in India and global- Services for $1B ly and onboard partners to reach and serve 12th Jan 2021 more enterprise customers. Darwinbox said it source:https://yourstory.com/2021/01/edtech-unicorn-byjus- acquires-aakash-blackstone-group would be hiring 200 people across geogra- phies, and utilising the funds for AI and ML de- Edtech unicorn BYJU’S is making the news velopment and data analytics for enterprises. again, this time for a billion-dollar acquisition. Darwinbox was founded in 2015 by Jayant Pal- According to reports, BYJU’S has acquired eti, Rohit Chennamaneni, and Chaitanya Peddi. brick and mortar education player Aakash Edu- It raised $4 Mn in Series A round in 2017, which cational Services (AES) for $1 billion. Although was led by Lightspeed India Partners. Other in- BYJU’S and Aakash are yet to confirm the deal, vestors participating in the round included this would be a significant move in the online Endiya Partners, Mohandas Pai’s 3one4 Capital learning and test prep space. Aakash Educa- and Startupxseed Ventures. In September tional Services is present in around 200 loca- 2019, Sequoia Capital India led a $15 Mn Series tions, with media reports saying that AES has B round in the company, along with Lightspeed, half-a-million paying students enrolled in its Endiya and 3one4. The latest investment brings programmes. BYJU’S has close to five million the total funding for the company to $35 Mn paying students out of around 80 million users. When combined, this would be a significant Ripplr Raises $3 Mn In Series A From Zeph- deal as it would focus on the ‘phygital’ ap- yr Peacock proach to teaching students in secondary edu- Date:19 Jan'21 cation, and preparing them for entrance ex- source:https://inc42.com/buzz/ripplr-raises-3-mn-in-series-a-from- ams. BYJU’S is valued at $12 billion and is zephyr-peacock backed by Facebook Founder Mark Zucker- berg’s Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Tiger Global Bengaluru-based logistics and distribution Management, and Bond Capital. Blackstone startup Ripplr has raised $3 Mn in Series A Group, the PE fund, has backed Aakash Educa- HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA , SINGAPORE 11 STARTUPS ISSUE NO 5, 1 FEB 2021 tional Services and it would, if the deal is inked, ates Pantaloons and is the owner of office-wear own less than 5 percent of BYJU’S. According brands such as Allen Solly and Peter England. to reports, the Aakash family may get a cash ABFRL, which has a network of 3,004 stores, payout of $300 million. plans to use the funds to strengthen its balance BYJU’S CEO Byju Raveendran, in an earlier sheet, scale up existing businesses and in- conversation with YourStory, pointed out that crease its presence in emerging high..-growth the recent acquisitions of WhiteHat Jr and Os- categories such as innerwear, athleisure, casu- mo were two significant deals undertaken by al and ethnic wear. the edtech giant as part of its growth and ex- “Through this transaction with ABFRL, we will pansion plans. Osmo, a US-based startup that work towards making available a wide range of was acquired by BYJU’S for $120 million last products for fashion-conscious consumers year, develops apps for children by using offline across different retail formats across the coun- inputs. Byju Raveendran revealed that as a try,” Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy company, he found Osmo's acquisition as an had said while announcing the deal. opportunity to add a hands-on online experi- Flipkart’s move to acquire stakes in offline fash- ence for their students. ion retailers is part of its broader strategy of Similarly, WhiteHat Jr, which predominantly fo- expanding operations and leveraging strategic cuses on coding for kids, was acquired by partnerships to keep cost structures lean in an BYJU’S in August 2020 for $300 million to focus increasingly competitive environment. In July as an add-on to what BYJU’S already offers. last year, Flipkart Group acquired a significant The acquisition was one of the biggest deals in minority stake in Arvind Fashions’ subsidiary the edtech space. Byju also highlighted that he Arvind Youth Brands for Rs 260 crore. is confident about the quality of content his company brings to the table. He said: “I am very Zomato Acquires Sports Discovery Startup bullish about what technology can do for the Fitso For Over 80 Cr edtech sector. Active learners are key. It’s awareness that we are trying to create and are 22 Jan'21 truly convinced about.” Source:inc42.com/buzz/zomato-acquires-sports-discovery-startup- fitso-for-over-80-cr

Flipkart-Aditya Birla Fashion deal gets ap- Indian foodtech unicorn Zomato has acquired proval from CCI full-stack sports facilities provider and discov- ery startup Fitso in a deal reportedly worth INR Jan 20, 2021, 80 Cr-INR 100 Cr. SOURCE:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com//tech/startups/ The deal was first speculated in September last flipkart-aditya-birla-fashion-deal-gets-approval-from-cci/articleshow/ year and more details have emerged now, though an official confirmation is yet to come. Bengaluru: The Competition Commission of In- This is Zomato’s first big acquisition after dia (CCI) has approved the Rs 1,500-crore Flip- UberEats’ India business, which it bought for kart-Aditya Birla Fashion deal, giving a leg-up to $350 Mn (INR 2554 Cr) in January 2020. It also the online fashion retail business of the Walmart hints at the company’s strategy of diversifying Inc.-owned company. its revenue streams beyond the core food deliv- "Commission approves acquisition of a 7.8% ery business and into sports and nutrition, minority stake in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail which is Fitso’s forte. Ltd by Flipkart-Aditya Birla Fashion deal gets “The deal has been internally announced by approval from CCI. Zomato. Fitso’s team along with its cofounders The Flipkart-ABFRL deal, announced in October will join Zomato,” a source told Entrackr, which 2020, will give much-needed capital to Aditya first reported the development. Birla Fashion Retail Ltd., at a time when the pandemic kept its stores closed and offices shut for most of last year. The company oper-

HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA , SINGAPORE 12 STARTUPS ISSUE NO 5, 1 FEB 2021 STARTUP EVENTS >> UPCOMING

The Makers Summit 12-14 March 2021 , India

The Makers Summit 2021 by Inc42 Plus is India’s largest product conference which will bring to- gether 10,000+ product founders, leaders and makers working at the intersection of product, marketing, and design – inspiring you to build better products, towards a better India. The agen- da for TMS will be shared in due course.

STARTUP EVENTS >> PAST

Enterprise Singapore participates in the ‘Prarambh: Startup India International Summit’

Mr Edwin Chow, Assistant CEO, Enterprise Singapore spoke at the recently held Startup India International Summit 2021. He shared how local startups and the global innovation ecosystem can create solutions to solve problems beyond their borders.

HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA , SINGAPORE 13 STARTUPS ISSUE NO 5, 1 FEB 2021 STARTUP FAQs

1. What documents would qualify as a supporting document to the application to register as a “Startup”?

 The application shall be accompanied by

 a copy of Certificate of Incorporation or Registration, as the case may be, anda write-up about the nature of business highlighting how it is working towards innova- tion, development or improvement of products or processes or services, or its scalability in terms of employment generation or wealth creation.

2. Do I need to print an application form and submit the physical copy of the same to com- plete the process of Startup registration?

No. The application has to be submitted online only. source:https://vikaspedia.in/social-welfare/entrepreneurship/startup-india-1/frequently-asked-questions

HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA , SINGAPORE 14 STARTUPS