In financial lore, IPOs are supposed to be a risk-free investment, especially in India. Strong stock-market momentum after the Covid-induced collapse of early 2020 attracted fresh institutional interest. Many of India’s startup jewels are replicas, up to a point, of successful tech companies elsewhere. The Indian heritage of using frugality to overcome
Category: Venture Development
AgTech Is Covid-Era Winner. Prospects Are Robust.
Before the pandemic, venture capitalists largely ignored trends in farm technology. A common view was that the sector did not lend itself to the sort of monetization framework seen in ride-hailing or e-commerce businesses, among other ideas. That convention may finally be a Silicon Valley relic.
Read More “AgTech Is Covid-Era Winner. Prospects Are Robust.”
NASA Fuels Startup Ecosystem
Trends in space commerce may favor down-to-earth opportunities. Each year NASA heralds the potential for licensing its myriad technologies in its Spinoff publication. The 2022 edition was just released, offering venture insight for entrepreneurs and investors.
Hedge-Fund Managers Swim Upstream
It is a tough time to be in the alternatives business. According to BarclayHedge, the hedge-fund industry saw widespread redemptions in March, totaling some $86 billion. The number is more than ten times the figure for February, which registered about $8 billion, representing more normal ebb-and-flow in the industry.
Walmart Transformed by Jet.com
When Bentonville-based Walmart acquired Hoboken-based Jet.com in 2016, the buzz was about Walmart diversifying its revenue streams by reaching toward the upscale, urban consumer. The notion that Jet.com would remain a stand-alone business, however, was always fantastical. For Walmart, the only point of the $3.3 billion
Houston Mega-Project Spotlights Local Incubator
Rice University affirmed plans for its Midtown Houston property last month. The parcel—historically leased to a Sears store—will be converted into a so-called “innovation hub,” anchoring a technology district. While the future is bright for regional entrepreneurs, the masterplan for this corner of the city now looks more like
Let’s Do Crypto. Or Blockchain. Or Both.
Kodak declared this week that it was getting into the cryptocurrency and blockchain business. The announcement was thin on details and big on splash, suggesting that the investor relations staff was far ahead of the corporate strategy team. The move is a daring one for the Rochester, New York-based company. Its total miss