Audio
-
Deep Tech India: Jogin Desai on the challenges of productising the science in biotech
As India readies its own deep tech startup policy, this is episode three in a short series of conversations with some entrepreneurs and VC investors building this ecosystem. Today, Jogin Desai, founder and CEO of EyeStem Research, updates us on his company's effort to commercialise new therapeutics to combat degenerative eye diseases. Desai co-founded EyeStem in 2015, and the venture has raised about $10 million in funding so far. He also discusses some of the challenges of building a biotech venture in India
-
The 'Thalaivar' juggernaut rolls on with Rajinikanth's Jailer
Mix an everyman with a superman's ability to see good triumph over evil, and you get a superstar whose persona transcends language and borders. Forbes India's Divya Shekhar, who grew up on Rajinikanth movies, and photojournalist Madhu Kapparath, who lived in Tamil Nadu for some years, join us today on ToThePoint to talk about what makes Rajinikanth a mega star, after Jailer, Rajinikanth's latest release yesterday. Rajini's connect with his fans both onscreen and in real life, that makes him unique, Divya reckons
-
China slips into deflation: Why you should care
Jack Ma suddenly vanished. Real estate was cracked down on. Population declined. China has slipped into deflation for a range of factors, including the growing mistrust of the country in the foreign arena, and to some extent, as our guest today says, an indication of what happens when a government's strategy involves over-management and micro management. What does this mean for India, which is amping up plans to become a manufacturing hub? Amit Bhandari, Senior Fellow for Investment, Energy, and Connectivity at think tank Gateway House, gives us incisive insights on today's episode
-
.jpg?impolicy=website&width=360&height=270 "Deep Tech India: Vishesh Rajaram on why more investors believe the sector can grow in this country")
Deep Tech India: Vishesh Rajaram on why more investors believe the sector can grow in this country
As India readies its deep tech startup policy, this is episode two in a short series of conversations with some entrepreneurs and VC investors building this ecosystem. Today, Vishesh Rajaram, founding managing partner at Speciale Invest, discusses why more investors have figured out that deep science and tech-based ventures can be built in India. While the sector is in its infancy, Vishesh points to examples, including from his portfolio, of such startups that have made significant strides towards commercialisation
-
If Softbank's getting its mojo back, what does that mean for India's startups?
Two months ago, Softbank Group's chairman Masayoshi Son said it was time to play offence again. Two days ago, the company posted a small profit at its venture capital funds, even though the group's consolidated net loss for the June quarter surprised analysts. Sanjay Anandaram, co-founder of JumpStartUp one of the earliest US-India cross border VC funds, unpacks what it could mean for startups when one of the world's largest tech investors says it's back — especially if entrepreneurs and VC investors alike haven't learnt from past mistakes
-
Zomato, Meesho profits: Are they sustainable?
Earlier this week, Zomato reported that for the first time in its 15-year history, its consolidated business is EBITDA and PAT positive—in other words, profitable. A few days later, social commerce platform Meesho said that it had been profitable across divisions and categories at a profit after tax level too, in July. What do these seemingly small news items indicate? We asked Ninad Karpe, founder and partner at 100x.VC, and Abhishek Goyal, co-founder at Tracxn, to paint for us the big picture
-
Deep Tech India: Satya Chakravarthy on the product versus commercialisation funding conundrum
As India readies its own deep tech startups policy, we bring you a short series of conversations with some of the entrepreneurs and VC investors who are building this ecosystem in the country. Today, Satya Chakravarthy, head of the national centre for combustion research and development at IIT Madras and co-founder of The ePlane Company, talks about some of the recent milestones at his venture. Chakravarthy also offers some advice on navigating the challenges of building a deep tech company and bursts a couple of myths involved
-
Your UPI experience is about to change...
A new innovation called the UPI Plugin will allow you to make payments from within a merchant app itself, which means that when you make a transaction for Swiggy or Amazon, for instance, you won't have to leave the apps at all. Where does this leave players like PhonePe and Google Pay? The payment giants have expressed concerns with this new model, and we unpack how it will play out on this episode. Joining us today is Anuj Kacker, co-founder of Neobank Freo, and a fintech expert. He also talks about how credit coming to UPI will be the next big thing
-
India to restrict laptop imports — will Apple move to make them locally?
India, last week, announced restrictions on the import of laptops and tablets, initially with immediate effect, but later added a three-month grace period. Forbes India's Rajiv Singh joins us on ToThePoint today to talk about whether this move will help incrementally boost the development of India's electronics ecosystem. And we speculate a bit about whether Apple, whose Q3 laptop and iPad sales were down from a year earlier, will expand its India manufacturing operations to go beyond iPhones and include Macbooks and iPads as well
-
Inside India's new draft policy for deep tech startups
Industry stakeholders have welcomed the need for a policy for deep tech startups, a draft for which was released by a consortium on July 31, open for public feedback until September. The policy hopes to encourage and support research, development and innovation in the deep tech domain through grants and incentives. However, the industry also says that a lot will depend on how the policy is implemented. Helping us unpack what this means is Satya Chakravarthy, head of the national centre for combustion research and development at IIT-Madras
-
Saurabh Chandra and Naveen Arulselvan on plans after a $10.85 mln Series A at Ati Motors
In this episode, Saurabh Chandra, CEO and Naveen Arulselvan, CTO at Ati Motors in Bengaluru, a company building autonomous mobile robots for industrial applications, discuss two new products they recently launched. Ati's flagship, the Sherpa, is running around in factories of marquee customers such as TVS Motors, Bosch, Hyundai and Ceat. With $10.85 million in a new round of funding led by True Ventures and with participation from existing investors, Chandra and Arulselvan plan on expanding further into markets, including the US and Japan