1947 Tech 🇮🇳: 131

Once a week newsletter: Insights on Tech, markets, startups, venture capital, and foreign investments in India

1. What a time to be in India either to build and or to fund builders

Executive-level employees of these companies will leave to either start a startup or fund the next generation of founders.

Founders and early employees will get wealthy and will start funding colleagues and other founders.

The quality of ideas and the team executing those ideas would be much superior to what we have seen up till now.

India would be one of the most competitive venture capital markets globally in the upcoming years

2. Facebook-backed Meesho is the latest to roll out an ESOP buyback plan worth $5 million

• 2010–2015: Found the product-market fit 

• 2015–2020: Indian companies can scale 

• 2020 onwards: Indian companies can scale globally and become profitable

 In order to scale globally and become profitable, you have to retain your most valuable asset, which is your best employees. 

Companies in India have been recently buying back ESPOS to retain their best employees.

Facebook-backed Meesho is the latest to roll out an ESOP buyback plan worth $5 million

Meesho has rolled out an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback plan worth $5

3. WhatsApp rolls out payments in India

WhatsApp, which began testing its payments service in India with 1 million users in early 2018, has finally started to expand the feature to more users in the world’s second-largest internet market.

Related: Google and Walmart face growth hurdles as India caps payments transactions

WhatsApp rolls out payments in India

Worth your attention:

1. Rs 40 lakh ($58k) a share! Unicorn stocks get supernatural valuations in unlisted market Link

2. Swiggy undertakes Esop liquidity worth about $7–9 million Link

3. Among Us, an online multiplayer game, is driving Indians crazy Link

4. PUBG Mobile plots return to India with Microsoft deal Link

5. Netflix India’s operating revenue leaps 2X to Rs 924 Cr in FY20 Link

6. Omnivore to pump Rs 140 crore into agri-tech startups Link

Funding:

1. Indian logistics startup Xpressbees raises $110 million Link

2. Fidelity, D1 Capital likely to invest $100 million in Zomato Link

3. Ather Energy raises $35 million in Series D funding Link

4. Tatas in talks to pick up majority stake in e-pharmacy firm 1mg Link

5. Ambani’s Reliance Retail raises $1.3 billion from PIF Link

Thank you for reading. Please share any feedback, questions or comments with me on Twitter :)