Latest news with #startup
Entrepreneur
an hour ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
From Fashion to Fintech: Top Startup Fundings This Week (May 24–30)
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. India's startup ecosystem witnessed a flurry of activity this week with significant investments pouring into diverse sectors ranging from retail fashion and fintech to logistics, agri-finance, and hyperlocal services. The startups featured this week not only captured investor interest but also reflect the country's evolving digital and consumer landscapes. Here's a roundup of the most notable funding deals from May 24 to May 30. Citykart Founded in December 2015 by Sudhanshu Agarwal, Citykart is based out of Gurugram. The startup focuses on serving the fashion needs of tier-II and tier-III cities by offering affordable and trend-forward clothing for men, women, and children. Apart from apparel, they also provide footwear, accessories, home furnishings, and general merchandise. Citykart has carved a niche for itself in the value retail fashion space by delivering an inspirational shopping experience at accessible price points. Funding Amount: USD 63 Million Investors: TPG NewQuest, A91 Partners Saarathi Finance Saarathi Finance, headquartered in Mumbai, was founded in 2024 by Vivek Bansal and Sunil Daga. The startup provides secured and unsecured business loans tailored for micro and nano businesses, particularly in semi-urban and rural areas. With operations spanning across Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, Saarathi uses flexible income assessments and quick turnaround times to bridge credit gaps in underserved markets. Funding Amount: USD 57 Million Investors: TVS Capital Funds, Lok Capital, Evolvence Equity Partners, Paragon Partners, and prominent angel investors Snabbit Founded in 2024 by Aayush Agarwal, Snabbit is a Mumbai-based quick-service home assistance app. It provides on-demand services such as dishwashing, cleaning, laundry, and kitchen prep. Users can book trained professionals who arrive within 10–15 minutes. The app aims to redefine convenience in urban households by delivering skilled, hourly services with high responsiveness. Funding Amount: USD 19 Million Investors: Lightspeed, Elevation Capital, Nexus Venture Partners Fleetx Fleetx, a Gurugram-based logistics tech platform, was established in 2017 by Vineet Sharma, Abhay Jeet Gupta, Udbhav Rai, Parveen Kataria, and Vishal Misra. It uses AI to optimise fleet and logistics operations. The platform offers a suite of solutions including fleet management, fuel analytics, video telematics, and transportation management systems, enabling logistics companies to enhance efficiency and reduce operational costs. Funding Amount: USD 13.2 Million Investors: IndiaMART Intermesh, BEENEXT's Accelerate Fund Samunnati Founded in 2014 by Anil Kumar SG, Samunnati is headquartered in Chennai. It offers customised financial and market linkage solutions to stakeholders in the agricultural value chain. From farmer producer organisations to agri-SMEs, the company bridges critical gaps in rural credit access and farm productivity. Samunnati's offerings include agri-loans, advisory support, and market connectivity, empowering India's agri ecosystem. Funding Amount: USD 5 Million Investors: Agri-Biz Capital Delaware LLC EUME EUME, established in 2018 by Naina Parekh and Pranay Parekh, operates out of Mumbai. Specialising in stylish and functional travel gear, EUME offers a wide product line including backpacks, luggage, and vegan handbags. The brand has gained popularity for its modern designs and sustainability focus, catering to a growing demand for travel-friendly, eco-conscious accessories. Funding Amount: USD 3 Million Investors: Ashish Kacholia, Pradeep Rathod of Cello Group, Prithviraj Kothari of Arvog Financial This week's funding spree underscores investor confidence in startups solving real-world problems with scalable models across India's vast consumer, business, and rural landscapes.
Bloomberg
10 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Andreessen Horowitz in Deal Talks Valuing Abridge AI at $5.3 Billion
Abridge AI Inc., a startup that uses artificial intelligence to transcribe medical conversations, is raising $300 million in a new funding round led by Andresseen Horowitz, according to people familiar with the matter. The round values the Pittsburgh-based company at $5.3 billion, including the investment, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Fast Company
12 hours ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Stop flying blind: Build a data-driven revenue model with bottom-up forecasting
One of the biggest challenges early-stage startup founders face is predicting and managing revenue growth. In most organizations, this looks like top-down forecasting and starts with determining the target revenue goal for that period. This goal is often based on ambition, investor expectations, or competitive pressure. But this method is flawed; you can't set revenue goals based on a finger held to the wind. What should be an exercise rooted in science lacks real-world input, and thus prevents leaders from obtaining the performance-based insights necessary to make data-driven decisions. The solution? A reality-based assumption model, known as a 'bottom-up' go-to-market (GTM) forecast. Here's what to know: WHAT IS A BOTTOM-UP FORECAST? In short, it's a more reliable way to determine how various functions and tactics are expected to contribute to revenue. This methodology allows businesses to draw a straight line to their revenue goals based on assumptions or known variables. This is very similar to a 'revenue bridge,' a tool designed to outline how portfolio companies intend to achieve their ultimate revenue goals. HOW A BOTTOM-UP REVENUE MODEL WORKS This approach to forecasting first involves segmenting the business by its core functions, which include sales, marketing, and customer success. Then, each business unit should outline the activities it performs that contribute to revenue acquisition or expansion. This data can be pulled from historical campaigns and updated for current market conditions. However, if this historical data isn't available, a little creativity is necessary. There are a plethora of benchmark data sources available (full disclosure: We provide custom benchmarks based on industry verticals and business models to our portfolio companies). Ultimately, with a bit of legwork, organizations can develop a set of assumptions to manage, with the goal of getting more and more confident over time. Of course, budget is a major factor in this exercise, which is a common constraint. However, there is no more effective way to justify budgets than with supporting bottom-up assumptions. This differs greatly from the top-down approach, which works backward from a target and effectively tells everyone to 'run' at it. That's flying blind. WHY IS BOTTOM-UP FORECASTING IMPORTANT? Top-down revenue models tend to be more pie-in-the-sky than rooted in reality. When a company forecasts this way, it's more likely to overestimate its growth and underestimate the costs and challenges of scaling. It can also miss critical allowances for changes in the process. Markets and audiences don't remain static, organizations need to account for change that comes with penetration, competition, and market headwinds or tailwinds. On the flip side, bottom-up forces business leaders to take a good, hard look at their teams' actual performance or assumptions of performance. Even if the topline isn't sexy initially, leaders will know where they're heading if their employees continue to perform at past levels. This can potentially define what the chasm of 'go-get' revenue looks like versus the expectation. Optimistic but grounded in data is far better than optimistic and hopeful. Additionally, a bottom-up approach is not only a financial plan—it's also an operational plan. This method covers the goals, costs, and resources needed to achieve the company plan. As a result, this framework becomes a living, breathing tool to be updated and discussed on a regular basis. THE MAP TO PERFORMANCE-BASED BUDGETING A bottom-up pro forma isn't just essential for forecasting; it's also the foundation for budgeting decisions. Before you know what funds you have to allocate, you need to know where growth is expected and how each department and resource contributes to it. For example, how many sales reps do you need to hire to meet your revenue targets? If you don't have an understanding of what those resources should yield in terms of performance, your budget—and their compensation—will be a total shot in the dark. But once you have a pro forma, you can use it to inform budgets and have confidence in your decision-making as results begin to filter in. Based on the early-stage companies we evaluate and invest in, underperforming sales reps stay in a role three to six months longer on average than they should. Human nature wants to see our investments produce, but consider the opportunity cost of making key decisions too late. Time is the one variable that remains constant. ADJUSTING YOUR MODEL AFTER A FUNDING ROUND After a funding round, the pressure to scale quickly is intense. Without a reliable GTM model, businesses risk over-promising, burning out, and missing key opportunities. That's why it's critical to revisit and update your bottom-up pro forma based on current realities. Ask yourself: How many hires do we need, and how fast? Does our 'quota-in-field' align with our revenue goals? Which marketing channels are most effective, and how will increased spend impact leads? What revenue can we expect from existing customers versus new sales? This discipline helps to build internal clarity and inspire confidence with investors. KPIS AND BENCHMARKS KPIs and benchmarks are foundational to a bottom-up pro forma. While they vary by company, industry, and goals, key benchmarks include sales rep efficiency, customer acquisition cost (CAC), and revenue per employee. By consistently tracking these metrics, you can fine-tune your go-to-market model and drive better performance. Just as important are cultural KPIs. These metrics define how your team thinks and operates. The best CEOs use a select few KPIs as both their north star and operational compass, aligning strategy and execution across the business. What numbers should become the shared language of your company? THE BOTTOM LINE IN BOTTOM-UP Early-stage startups looking to scale should build reliable revenue acquisition through both top-down and bottom-up forecasting. This will help create a science of growth for your organization. By understanding your growth levers and required resources, you can avoid the trap of overpromising and underdelivering. The goal of a well-constructed forecast model isn't perfect accuracy, but to build confidence in a framework that evolves with real results. That framework becomes more accurate and predictive over time. Before you know it, you have that coveted map, and while others are flying into mountains, you're cruising safely toward performance.
Bloomberg
12 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Builder.ai Faked Business With Indian Firm VerSe to Inflate Sales, Sources Say
the artificial intelligence startup that recently announced plans to declare bankruptcy, faked business with the Indian social-media startup VerSe Innovation for years to falsely inflate its sales, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg and people with direct knowledge of the practice. The two companies routinely billed one another for roughly the same amounts between 2021 and 2024, documents reviewed by Bloomberg show, as part of an alleged practice known as "round-tripping" that the people said used to inflate revenue figures it presented to investors. In many cases, products and services weren't actually provided to either company for these payments, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. Umang Bedi, a VerSe co-founder, said it was 'absolutely baseless and false' that his company would have recorded expenses or billed services that it didn't receive or provide. 'We're not the kind of company that is in the business of inflating revenues,' he said in an interview.
Entrepreneur
13 hours ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Why Building a High-Performing Team Beats Individual Brilliance
Founders who try to do everything end up doing nothing well. Long-term growth doesn't come from heroics — it comes from teams, systems and the discipline to let go. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. In the early days of starting a business, the "do-it-yourself" mindset is a survival skill. You write the code, pitch the client, manage the books and clean the office. There's pride in wearing every hat, and sometimes, no other option. But eventually, if you're still doing everything yourself, you're the bottleneck, not the solution. One of the hardest transitions a founder has to make is letting go of being the hero. I've been there. I bootstrapped 46 Labs from day one. There were no investors, no parachute, no backup plan. For the first few years, I didn't take a salary. I handled the technical architecture and the business strategy while working alongside a handful of teammates who also had skin in the game. But here's what I learned: scaling a company doesn't happen when the founder works harder — it happens when the founder learns to trust and build around others. The hero-CEO model doesn't scale. It burns out. And often, it takes the company down with it. Related: 7 Steps to Building a Smart, High-Performing Team Why the hero mentality fails Being the hero can feel good, especially early on. You close the deal, solve the client issue, squash the bug and feel indispensable. But that "indispensable" feeling is dangerous. Because if you're the only one who can solve a problem, you've just created a fragile system. I've watched brilliant founders build businesses that revolved entirely around their abilities. They made every decision. They approved every hire. They were on every sales call. Eventually, the business outgrew its ability to control it. And instead of delegating, they worked longer hours. They held on tighter. That works — until it doesn't. When something breaks, the team doesn't know how to respond. When you step away, progress stalls. That's not leadership. That's dependency. In aviation (which I've done for years), no pilot flies alone for long. You rely on checklists, instruments, copilots and systems. Not because you can't fly the plane solo, but because flying safely requires redundancy, collaboration and awareness of your own limitations. Business is the same. You don't scale by controlling everything — you scale by building systems that work without you. Related: 5 Long-Term Strategies to Build and Sustain High-Performing Teams Hiring people you'll actually trust One of the best things I ever did as a founder was throw out the traditional hiring playbook. I don't look at resumes. I don't care where you went to school. I want to know how you think, how you solve problems and how you communicate under pressure. We've hired people from outside the telecom industry, from outside the U.S., from industries like fashion or finance. They've become some of the best team members I've worked with. Not because they knew telecom, but because they knew how to think critically, challenge assumptions and own their outcomes. If you want to stop being the hero, you have to hire people you'll trust with the keys. That means focusing on mindset and fit, not just experience. It also means giving people the freedom to operate. A strong team isn't just made of smart people — it's made of empowered people. Replace yourself (over and over again) A lot of founders talk about "working on the business, not in the business." But few follow through. Why? Because stepping out of a function you once owned feels like giving up control. But in reality, it's the most strategic move you can make. I've made it a habit to regularly ask myself: "What am I doing today that someone else should own within the next six months?" If I can't find anything, I either haven't built the right team—or I haven't learned to let go. Replacing yourself isn't about disappearing. It's about creating clarity. When everyone knows what they're responsible for, decisions get made faster. Mistakes become learning moments instead of bottlenecks. And progress scales with or without your direct involvement. When I handed off key engineering decisions to people I trusted, our product got better. When I stepped back from day-to-day project management, execution improved. When I stopped being the one reviewing every deal, we closed more of them. Your job isn't to hold everything together. It's to build something that holds together without you. Related: 7 Ways to Build a High-Performing Team Focus on systems, not heroics One of the best lessons from flying is that systems outperform instinct. In a crisis, you don't rely on your gut—you follow the checklist. You troubleshoot systematically. You communicate with the team. You execute the procedure you practiced 100 times before. Businesses should work the same way. If a deal goes south, a product fails or a system breaks, your company shouldn't rely on you to dive in and save it every time. That's not sustainable—and it's not scalable. Instead, build systems that catch problems early. Build dashboards that show you where things are headed. Build processes your team can run without hand-holding. The less your company relies on heroics, the more it can rely on consistency. Lead from the front, not the center There's a difference between leading and doing. I still jump in when needed. But I don't try to be the center of everything. That's not leadership — that's inertia. Leading from the front means setting direction, making the hard calls and clearing obstacles so your team can execute. It means showing up with clarity, not with your hands on every project. When your business is small, you have to do a little of everything. But as it grows, your job is to make sure everyone else can do their jobs better. That starts with letting go of the need to be the hero. Final thought If your company falls apart when you take a week off, it's not a business — it's a solo act with support staff. The founders who scale well are the ones who replace themselves again and again, who build teams that make good decisions without them and who see their job as building the system, not being the system. You don't need to be the smartest person in the room. You need to build a room full of smart people — and trust them to fly the plane.
