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Tencent Looks At Investing In India To The Tune Of $ 5 Million!

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Tencent Looks At Investing In India,Startup Stories,2018 Latest Business News,Tencent Business News,Startup News India,Startup Funding News,Startup Landscape in India,Chief Executive of Naspers,Tencent Funds Invest In India,Tencent Invest in India Of $5 Million

Tencent, Chinese conglomerate known for its We Chat messaging platform is now eyeing the booming early stage startup landscape in India. The company is looking to invest $ 5 million to $ 15 million in startups such as ShareChat and Kissht.

Post its foray into the Indian ecosystem in 2015, Tencent has majorly invested hefty sums in late-stage startups only. Its early bets include Practo, Hike, Flipkart, and Ola. “Tencent could invest between $5 Mn and $15 Mn across segments including, gaming, content, social media and consumer lending,” one of the people cited above said on condition of anonymity,” said sources close to the development.

In the year 2017, out of the 70 disclosed investments of Tencent, about 36% were directed toward early stage investments, 23% was targeted towards late stage investments while the remaining 3% was targeted towards seed funding. Tencent’s new focus on relatively young venture firms marks a diversification of the company’s funding strategies.

The reports also suggest that Tencent might make its early stage startups bet in India in association with Naspers. Most recently, Naspers has announced it will use the $ 10 billion it raked in as part of its Tencent share sale, through which there will have a major focus on the Indian market.

As Bob Van Dijk, Chief Executive of Naspers, indicated in an earlier interaction with ET, “We (Naspers and Tencent) have done several co-investments — MakeMyTrip and OLX India, where they are a minority investor. They also now co-invest with us in Flipkart… Both Tencent and Naspers are huge believers of the Indian market, and we have the intention to do a lot more together going forward.”

According to further industry reports, Tencent is likely to invest anywhere between $ 5 million to 15 million across fields like gaming, content, social media and consumer lending. Tencent, its Chinese rival Alibaba Group, and Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp have become increasingly aggressive in India the past 12 months, picking up stakes in some of the country’s most richly valued companies and driving up valuations to stratospheric levels in the process.

 

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Tim Cook: Apple Posts Record India Growth in iPhone, Mac & Services

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Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple closed the June quarter with record revenue in over two dozen markets, driven by double-digit growth in India across iPhone, Mac and Services. During April–June, iPhone sales in India jumped 13.4% year-on-year, Mac revenue rose 15%, and Services revenue climbed 13%, each marking an all-time quarterly high. Cook emphasized that “we saw iPhone growth in every geographic segment and double-digit growth in emerging markets including India, the Middle East, South Asia, and Brazil.”

India’s strategic importance extends beyond sales into Apple’s supply chain: 71% of iPhones sold in the U.S. now carry “Country of Origin: India,” up from 31% a year ago. This shift underscores Apple’s diversification strategy and its deepening manufacturing partnerships with Foxconn, Pegatron, and Tata Electronics. Cook noted that India has become a “major manufacturing base” for iPhones destined for global markets, reducing reliance on a single region and enhancing supply stability.

Looking forward, Apple plans to open new retail stores in India later this year, bolstering its direct-to-consumer presence and capitalizing on the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market. Despite incurring approximately $800 million in tariff costs during the quarter, Cook affirmed that India’s market potential and manufacturing advantages remain “key pillars of our global strategy” as Apple accelerates its expansion across the subcontinent.

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Microsoft Hits $4 Trillion Milestone Driven by AI and Cloud Growth

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Microsoft vaulted past the $4 trillion market-capitalization milestone on July 31, becoming only the second U.S. company after Nvidia to reach this valuation as AI enthusiasm swept through equity markets. Shares jumped 5.3% on the back of stronger-than-expected fiscal Q4 results, with revenue climbing 18% year-over-year to $76.44 billion and net income rising 24% to $27.23 billion, while earnings per share of $3.65 beat analysts’ $3.37 consensus. 

The company’s Intelligent Cloud segment, led by Azure, delivered 39% revenue growth, pushing full-year Azure sales past $75 billion—a 34% increase—and underscoring cloud and AI as core growth drivers. CEO Satya Nadella emphasized that “Cloud and AI is the driving force of business transformation across every industry and sector,” reflecting momentum from strategic AI investments, including the partnership with OpenAI and proprietary model development. 

Microsoft’s share gains helped propel the Nasdaq Composite up 1.3% to 21,396 and the S&P 500 higher by 0.8%, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.3%. Looking ahead, record capital expenditures of $30 billion slated for AI infrastructure and data-center expansion, combined with deep integration of generative AI across Microsoft 365 via Copilot, position the company to sustain market-cap expansion as enterprises accelerate digital transformation.

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Yali Capital Makes History with ₹893 Crore Deeptech Fund to Power Indian Innovation

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Yali Capital

Bangalore’s Yali Capital has closed its first deeptech-focused fund, raising a substantial ₹893 crore (about $104 million) and surpassing its initial ₹500 crore target. This major fundraising milestone highlights the growing appeal and investor confidence in India’s deeptech landscape, fueling innovation in pivotal sectors like semiconductors, artificial intelligence, robotics, aerospace, genomics, and smart manufacturing. The fund cements Yali Capital’s position as a key player driving progress in India’s burgeoning tech ecosystem.

Strategically, Yali Capital’s fund targets both early-stage (Seed, Series A) and later-stage (Series D and beyond) startups. Its diverse roster of Limited Partners (LPs) includes prominent corporations such as Infosys, Qualcomm Ventures, and Tata AIG, alongside government-backed organizations like the DPIIT Fund of Funds for Startups and the Self-Reliant India Fund. With heavyweight backers like Kris Gopalakrishnan (Infosys co-founder), Gopal Srinivasan (TVS Capital), and Utpal Sheth (RARE Enterprises), Yali Capital ensures robust strategic support. The firm’s dual structure—a SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) and a GIFT City-based feeder vehicle—enables global investor participation, guided by tech luminary Lip-Bu Tan and managing partner Ganapathy Subramaniam.

Already, Yali Capital has invested in five breakthrough startups, including C2I Semiconductor, 4baseCare, and Perceptyne, focusing on chip design and AI. By devoting two-thirds of its fund to early-stage companies, Yali Capital underscores its commitment to nurturing next-generation Indian deeptech founders. This fundraising success aligns with a nationwide trend of surging investments in advanced technology and positions Yali Capital at the forefront of India’s drive toward self-reliance and global tech leadership.

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