Latest news with #GauravJain
Business Insider
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Gaurav Jain wrote the playbook for pre-seed investing. A decade later, he's running one of the industry's most prolific early-stage funds.
For Gaurav Jain, there's no such thing as "too early" when it comes to making a VC investment. During the last decade, he's built a reputation as one of the most influential early-stage investors in venture capital: first at Founder Collective, and, since 2016, at Afore Capital, the fund he cofounded to make pre-seed investments at a time where rounds of at that size and dollar amount had a negative connotation in the industry. Since then, Afore has grown into one of the most active early-stage funds and has backed companies such as Modern Health, Neo, and Hightouch. Jain said he's always been obsessed with finding the right founders who had great ideas but weren't far enough along to raise a seed round. That thesis eventually became Afore Capital, he said. Jain ranked No. 2 on Business Insider's Seed 100 list for 2025, which was compiled using data from Termina. "A lot of founders were telling us that we were too early, but you need money to get traction, and you need traction to get money," Jain told Business Insider. "That became the genesis for us to start Afore Capital." A career at the early stage Jain, who was born in India, started his career at Google in 2009. He was one of the earliest product managers at the company's Android division when the mobile platform had fewer than 1 million users. While he was there, he led the Android Nexus product line, a range of phones and tablets that later became Google Pixel. Jain left Google in 2011 to attend Harvard Business School, with the goal of moving into the world of venture capital. He started working with Founder Collective, a seed-stage fund based in Boston, and joined the firm as principal when he graduated with his MBA in 2013. While at Founder Collective, Jain was directly involved in the firm's investments in Cruise, Socure, Firebase, Airtable, and Smyte. At the same time, Jain said he was meeting with plenty of founders who seemed like they'd be great bets but weren't yet at the size or scale to raise a seed funding round. At the time, pre-seed rounds weren't as common, and they sometimes carried a negative perception with investors because they were so risky. Jain, however, saw an opportunity in the market. "There was this gap in the market, where all of these first-time founders had no celebrity and no meaningful traction," he said. "I saw the problem firsthand, which is how we decided to create a fund dedicated to fixing it." Creating a market for pre-seed investing In 2016, Jain teamed up with Anamitra Banerji, a partner at Foundation Capital who'd been Twitter's 25th employee and the company's first product manager. The two cofounded Afore Capital, a fund specifically dedicated to investing in pre-seed startups. Afore currently has around $500 million in assets under management, and it closed its most recent fund, a $185 million Fund IV, in February. The firm writes checks of up to $2 million. Afore's portfolio includes Modern Health, a mental health benefits platform for employers that raised a $74 million Series D in 2021 and achieved unicorn status with a $1.17 billion valuation; the Canadian fintech Neo, which raised a 259 million in Canadian dollars Series D at the end of 2024; and the AI marketing platform Hightouch, which in Februrary raised $80 million at a $1.2 billion valuation. The firm's recent exits include Highlight, a web-monitoring app for developers that was acquired by the software development platform LaunchDarkly in April, and the AI supply-chain startup Factor, which was acquired by the supply-chain logistics platform Cofactr in March. While Afore is technically a generalist firm — when it comes to backing pre-seed startups, Jain said it doesn't have the luxury of building out an evolved thesis on a specific market or sector — it tends to gravitate toward software investments, which, today, means making a lot of AI bets. Jain added that it's much more important to identify strong founders, whose ideas might change five times before achieving product-market fit. "At the stage where we invest in, which is pre-traction and pre-revenue, what we are really investing in is the people," Jain said, adding that he looks for founders with a strong growth mindset who can iterate new ideas quickly and take setbacks in stride. To that end, Afore has a program to support "pre-idea" founders while they search for the right spark to build a startup. If the idea hits, the firm will eventually invest at minimum $100,00 or lead its pre-seed funding round. There's also a college version of the program, in which students can iterate on a startup idea with Afore support instead of completing a traditional summer internship. "At the pre-seed stage, it's crucial to give founders a safe space if things aren't working," Jain said. "We're backing you, not one rigid idea. We invest the time it takes to get to product-market fit, and our commitment is that we'll be the most active, hands-on investors you'll ever have."
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
For Reliance Retail, shoring up margins an open-and-shut case
Mumbai: As part of its rationalisation, Reliance Retail closed 2,155 stores in FY25, more than double the number compared to a year ago. That's about six stores shut every day or closing more outlets than the total existing store networks of Trent, Shoppers Stop and Dmart put together. The country's biggest retailer said the store rationalisation process helped margin expansion and it has opened more stores than it shut. "Some stores maybe have shifted because of maybe the trade areas or the consumer preferences moving, some stores not performing well because maybe the mall itself is not performing up to the mark," Gaurav Jain , head of strategy and business development at Reliance Retail, told analysts, adding that it has also replaced those stores with new outlets, reflecting in the net addition of about 500 stores. The retailer opened 2,659 stores in the last fiscal taking the total count to 19,340 stores across formats. In FY24, it had closed 1,044 stores but opened 1,840 new outlets. For Reliance Industries , the retail segment now accounts for 15% of its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) compared to 10% four years ago. The company said its Ebitda margin from operations continues to expand and was up 20 basis points in FY25 at 9%. "We are also pretty much done with the streamlining that we had started during the year. All our operating metrics, whether it is number of transactions, registered customers, everything continues to grow in double digits," Dinesh Taluja, chief financial officer at Reliance Retail, said during a post-earnings call. "On the store side, we continue to add new stores while we weeded out all the stores which did not make sense. Business-to-business also, we have kind of weaned down some of the low margin categories which were not making sense. So, that transition has also been completed and is already reflecting in the numbers." Reliance Retail on Friday said pockets of urban and rural demand have yet to fully recover, after reporting 16% sales growth and 30% net profit increase in the fourth quarter of 2024-25. The firm had 77.4 million sq ft of retail space as of March-end, and recorded an 8% increase in net revenues to Rs 2,90,979 crore in FY25 with net profit of Rs 12,392, a 12% increase. "In FY25, the business focused on a strategic recalibration of our store network, aimed at improving operational efficiencies and long-term sustainability," Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said in a statement. India's retail market saw a sharp decline in new store openings in calendar year 2024 as tepid demand across discretionary categories forced top retailers to cut costs and go slow on expansions. An ET analysis of a dozen top listed quick-service restaurant (QSR) chains, apparel and grocery retailers showed collective additions of an average of just three new stores per day last calendar year, compared to about ten outlets in 2023. Retailers including Reliance Retail, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, D'Mart, Tata's Trent, Titan Company and McDonald's together grew their store count by 3% to 34,839 outlets last calendar year, according to data sourced from their latest investor presentations. The figure stood at 33,670 in 2023, a 12% increase from a year ago.
Time of India
28-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
For Reliance Retail, shoring up margins an open-and-shut case
Mumbai: As part of its rationalisation, Reliance Retail closed 2,155 stores in FY25, more than double the number compared to a year ago. That's about six stores shut every day or closing more outlets than the total existing store networks of Trent, Shoppers Stop and Dmart put together. #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack India stares at a 'water bomb' threat as it freezes Indus Treaty India readies short, mid & long-term Indus River plans Shehbaz Sharif calls India's stand "worn-out narrative" The country's biggest retailer said the store rationalisation process helped margin expansion and it has opened more stores than it shut. "Some stores maybe have shifted because of maybe the trade areas or the consumer preferences moving, some stores not performing well because maybe the mall itself is not performing up to the mark," Gaurav Jain , head of strategy and business development at Reliance Retail, told analysts, adding that it has also replaced those stores with new outlets, reflecting in the net addition of about 500 stores. Play Video Play Skip Backward Skip Forward Mute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Naulakha: Unsold Fridges Are Being Sold For Almost Nothing! Unsold Fridges | Search Ads Undo The retailer opened 2,659 stores in the last fiscal taking the total count to 19,340 stores across formats. In FY24, it had closed 1,044 stores but opened 1,840 new outlets. Live Events For Reliance Industries , the retail segment now accounts for 15% of its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) compared to 10% four years ago. The company said its Ebitda margin from operations continues to expand and was up 20 basis points in FY25 at 9%. Also Read: Reliance Retail plans to set up dark stores as part of aggressive quick-commerce expansion "We are also pretty much done with the streamlining that we had started during the year. All our operating metrics, whether it is number of transactions, registered customers, everything continues to grow in double digits," Dinesh Taluja, chief financial officer at Reliance Retail, said during a post-earnings call. "On the store side, we continue to add new stores while we weeded out all the stores which did not make sense. Business-to-business also, we have kind of weaned down some of the low margin categories which were not making sense. So, that transition has also been completed and is already reflecting in the numbers." Reliance Retail on Friday said pockets of urban and rural demand have yet to fully recover, after reporting 16% sales growth and 30% net profit increase in the fourth quarter of 2024-25. The firm had 77.4 million sq ft of retail space as of March-end, and recorded an 8% increase in net revenues to '2,90,979 crore in FY25 with net profit of '12,392, a 12% increase. Also Read: Reliance Retail's consumer business revenue hits Rs 11,500 cr in FY25 "In FY25, the business focused on a strategic recalibration of our store network, aimed at improving operational efficiencies and long-term sustainability," Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said in a statement. India's retail market saw a sharp decline in new store openings in calendar year 2024 as tepid demand across discretionary categories forced top retailers to cut costs and go slow on expansions. An ET analysis of a dozen top listed quick-service restaurant (QSR) chains, apparel and grocery retailers showed collective additions of an average of just three new stores per day last calendar year, compared to about ten outlets in 2023. Retailers including Reliance Retail, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, D'Mart, Tata's Trent, Titan Company and McDonald's together grew their store count by 3% to 34,839 outlets last calendar year, according to data sourced from their latest investor presentations. The figure stood at 33,670 in 2023, a 12% increase from a year ago.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Philip Morris' shares rise on optimistic 2025 outlook
(Reuters) -Cigarette giant Philip Morris International on Thursday forecast better-than-expected profit growth for 2025, with estimations for its fast-growing nicotine pouch brand ZYN also ahead of forecasts, sending its shares up nearly 10%. The company's smoking alternatives, such as ZYN, have enjoyed strong demand in recent years, in part because smokers have looked for alternative ways to get a nicotine buzz amid concerns about the health consequences of tobacco. In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave PMI a formal license to market ZYN in the country, saying it poses a lower risk of serious health conditions due to substantially lower amounts of harmful constituents. Chief Financial Officer Emmanuel Babeau said ZYN, PMI's flagship heated tobacco device IQOS, and its traditional cigarette business would deliver again in 2025. "We expect another year of strong growth from all categories," he told investors, adding this would support both PMI's top and bottom line. The company, which sells Marlboro cigarettes around the world, forecast adjusted annual earnings per share in the range of $7.04 to $7.17, above analysts estimate of $7.03. ZYN shipments to the U.S., by far its largest market, would rise by between 34% and 41% in 2025, it predicted, while IQOS shipments would also see between 10% and 12% growth. Gaurav Jain, analyst at Barclays, said PMI's forecasts for group profit, volumes and revenues and ZYN growth were all ahead of expectations, building investors' hopes given PMI has previously under-promised at the beginning of the year. "Investors are thinking: 'they are conservative, will they beat and raise throughout the year?' That's why the stock is up," he said. Philip Morris reported adjusted earnings of $1.55 per share in its fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, topping analysts' expectations of $1.50 per share, as per data compiled by LSEG. For the fourth quarter, its net sales rose 7.3% to $9.71 billion, compared with estimates of $9.44 billion, thanks to strong growth from ZYN and IQOS. Connectez-vous pour accéder à votre portefeuille
