Dexter Rewind - June 2023
A blink of an eye and we reached mid-way-through-2023 just like that. Well, not just like that, there have definitely been some key developments last month. So here’s looking back at all that caught our attention in May.
Amidst the perception of improving funding developments, early May caused a mayhem at Meesho as it fired nearly 15% of its employees. The company announced that the decision was in line with Meesho’s effort to achieve profitability. Similar developments were witnessed at Edtech startup Teachmint that laid 70 employees which was its second lay-off phase after its December 2022 5% workforce reduction. Yet another EdTech startup CueMath followed the lead as it laid off 100 employees. Then there was expense management and Cred owned Happay fire over 30% of its employees as part of its restructuring exercise.
The saving grace for May definitely was National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) that reported a profit of Rs. 773 crore in FY22.
Some serious drama also erupted by mid-May in the Grover-BharatPe fiasco. The Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) (finally) registered a First Information report (FIR) by BharatPay against Ashneer Grover and his family members.
We also heard Invesco slash valuation of Swiggy from its earlier $10.7 billion to $5.5 billion.
Then there was gaming and esports content platform Rooter that raised $16 million in a growth round led by Lightbox. Additionally, the bus tracking and ticket service provider Chalo raised $45 million in a Series D round led by Avataar Ventures.
Lastly, there was relief for bike-hailing platforms like Rapido and Ola as Delhi High Court has allowed them to continue functioning in the city. The platforms had been banned by the Delhi Transport Department on the basis of lack of policy for two-wheeler, three-wheeler and four-wheeler aggregators which the authority had planned to roll out soon.
Portfolio Update
Tagz was at the TiE Mumbai event this week, bringing in some of their delicious offerings! Did you spot them? Our Portfolio company Rashki was featured in the Entrackr Tell-A-Tale section giving an insight on building a sustainable women-focused brand. Meanwhile, Pilgrim founder, Anurag Kedia spilled some beans on how to build a D2C brand that competes with the giants in the industry on The Indian Dream Podcast with Sid Betala. You can watch the entire episode by here!
Rezo.ai’s CEO and Chief Growth Officer, Rashi Gupta featured in WomenEntrepreneurIndia magazine last month.
May was about quite a few collaborations as well. Starting out with Refrens to bring best & better features for the freelancing community and hence *drum rolls*, they have partnered with Heyo - the smart business number provider! The partnership will support agency and freelancers’ growth via smart business communication. We also had the popular D2C brand Beyond Snacks get on board with our portfolio SellerGeni which will help them expand their brand! SellerGenie’s customisable e-commerce capabilities are truly a game-changer for growing one’s startup!
May was also about celebrating the antique and impressive - Jaipur Watch Company (JWC). JWC bagged the “Best D2C Luxury Brand for 2023”. The founder, Gaurav was also honoured by the Pearl Academy for his innovation in luxury timepieces. And then there was HealthySure with an immensely successful 4th edition of their Bombay Mixer at Soho House, Mumbai! Fostering an environment of innovation and community collaboration, HealthySure’s initiative is commendable and definitely worth attending. Stay on the lookout for the next one in the city soon!
What’s brewing at Dexter
May witnessed our Partner, Tushar talk about his journey that led him to starting Dexter Angels! He spoke to Vijetha about his early days, experience as at IIM Indore and so much more in our Dexter Diaries series. Catch the entire episode here!
We also headed to the city of Nawabs (and also Kebabs ofcourse!) for our #LunchPeCharcha discussing the latest opportunities in the emerging asset class for startups. Tushar was also invited for the TiE Lucknow event on the topic “How to find the right co-founder”. May truly turned out to be a month of many @Dexter.
Deep Dive
Generative AI: Past glory, recent developments and a promising future
Last month saw an accelerated increase in the shares of the California based chip making company Nvidia.
On May 24 2023, the company reported its financials for their first quarter fiscal 2024 as $7.19 billion. While that was enough to get investors excited, they also projected the second quarter fiscal 2024 revenue outlook of $11 billion. Those are some great numbers to say the least!
The increase was high enough to make the company the first trillion dollar chip making company. But what is the reason behind this sudden surge of a chip making company that perhaps not many were eyeing on until very recently? The growing demand (or should we say obsession) to invest in Artificial Intelligence.
“A trillion dollars of installed global data center infrastructure will transition from general purpose to accelerated computing as companies race to apply generative AI into every product, service and business process…”
Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA
What does NVIDIA do?
The company develops graphic processing units (GPUs) which are powerful chips used to process data as well as run generative AI programmes.
NVIDIA found its early fame in the computer gaming industry. However while the gaming industry was going through its own drastic evolution that shifted the PC gamers on their chairs to the Play Stations on their couches, this chip maker’s future was just getting started.
So when OpenAI created artificial intelligence - the most trending topic on this planet right now - it was obvious that a share of its success would trickle down to their friends at NVIDIA. Soon as companies started jumping on the AI bandwagon, the demand for GPUs started growing leading to a rampant rise to power for the company.
What would an AI dominated world look like for global economics?
More trillion dollar chip making companies? More ChatBots turning into unicorns? The past twelve months surge give substantial evidence to prove the potential of this enhanced technology.
As more companies integrate AI systems, we expect emergence of both smaller and bigger companies providing AI-based solutions.
With an enhanced system in place, we can expect a plethora of solutions being developed and worked on across industries. From retail, e-commerce to media & entertainment, AI is building tools that helps us bring some far-fetched dreams a little closer to reality.
And the most exciting part is the speed of its development. Generative AI is expected to drive almost $7 trillion increase in global GDP and lift productivity by 1.5 percentage over the next 10 years.
The beauty of AI lies in its unfathomable possibilities. Just like the initial startup revolution was based on the idea of “novelty” and “innovation”; AI in some ways has brought back those core principles with a refined touch.
To add to it are surprises like NVIDIA every once in a while. NVIDIA’s success story as a hardware company has definitely drawn investors to think across sectors and industries with the hope to identify the next big bet in this new world of generative AI!
Deal Makers
Last month saw the retail tech startup Ace Turtle raise $34 million in its Series B funding round.
We also had the podcast platform PocketFM receive its 2023 maiden funding as it raised $16 million in a debt round from the Silicon Valley Bank. It had last raised funds in a Series C round in March 2022.
Then there was Pando, the logistics management software startup that raised $30 million in Series B round led by Iron Pillar. Interestingly, Pando is a San Jose product with a development team that works from Chennai.
Then there was EV making news as BluSmart, the EV based ride-hailing platform that raised $42 million in a Series A2 round. The latest round includes an equity round of $37 million and venture debt of $5 million. Existing investors along with BluSmart founders and leadership team also joined the round.
Ripplr, a tech distribution and logistics platform, that raised $40 million in a Series B round led by Fireside Ventures and with participation from new investors Bikaji and Neo Foods.
PhonePay raised additional $100 million funding from General Atlanti.
Kids’ fashion brand Hopscotch has raised $20 million in a funding round led by Amazon.
Consumer appliances brand Atomberg has raised $86 million in its Series C funding round led by Temasek and Steadview Capital with participation from Trifecta Capital and existing investors Jungle Ventures and Inflexor Ventures via a mix of primary and secondary transactions.
We also witnessed Aurum PropTech (formerly Majesco Ltd) acquire the Tiger Global-backed home rental startup NestAway Technologies for $11 million.
And thats all from us from the month of May! We will be back soon with yet another edition next month. If you liked the newsletter, have any ideas or wish to get in touch with us, you can connect with us at hello@dexterangels.com.
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