💸 Seafund’s deeptech bets grow bigger; The trouble brewing at Third Wave Coffee

The most interesting news selected specially for you! 23 June 2024 [View in Browser]( POWERED BY Hello, Now, startups and enterprises can enhance their brand engagement by partnering with YourStory and advertising on our YS Buzz and Weekly Wrap newsletters. [Click here]( to know more. In today's newsletter, we will talk about: - Seafund’s deeptech bets grow bigger - The trouble brewing at Third Wave Coffee - India’s CTO Excellence Awards winners - Financial literacy for rural women - Mira Kapoor on launching Akind Here’s your trivia for today: In August of 1997, Microsoft bailed what technology company out of bankruptcy? --------------------------------------------------------------- Venture capital Seafund’s deeptech bets grow bigger early-stage venture capital (VC) firm Seafund Venture Capital is now cutting larger cheques for startups that have technology depth. Founded in 2015 by Manoj Kumar Agarwal and Mayuresh Raut, Seafund came out with its first fund of Rs 25 crore around 2018, and is now looking to close its second fund of Rs 250 crore by the end of this year. The playbook: - The VC firm’s Rs 250 crore (around $30 million) Fund II is a split between Rs 200 crore primary money and another Rs 50 crore greenshoe option. - While it used to invest around $100,000 as initial capital in startups, and then with follow-on rounds in the first fund, it now plans to invest around $500,000 in the first round of funding and follow it up with more than $1 million in subsequent rounds in the second fund. - One of Seafund’s first investments was in Wigzo, a tech startup that focused on customer engagement and retention. Seafund exited this startup after it was acquired by Shiprocket in 2022. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- From the CapTable A storm in a coffee cup at Third Wave Coffee On the evening of December 12, 2023, employees at Bengaluru-based specialty coffee chain Third Wave Coffee Roasters panicked when the company announced internally that it was eliminating several positions. The news was a bolt from the blue since the company had raised $35 million in funding just three months prior and was rapidly expanding. While employees across departments such as tech, branding, and marketing were surprised by the layoffs, those in finance were not. Nearly 70% of the company’s stores were losing money every day and there was a push towards turning them profitable, a former employee working in the finance department told The CapTable. Another indication of Third Wave’s struggles was the departure of Shrikant Sharma, the company’s director of finance, who stepped down just two months after the $35 million fundraise. According to an investor closely associated with Third Wave, Sharma was asked to step down due to differences with the company’s founders. “There’s chaos within the firm. The founders have very little say in operations, and it is Sujeet Kumar (co-founder of Udaan and an angel investor) calling all the shots, along with WestBridge Capital. The company has less than a year’s runway left and Sujeet and the management will have to do something major to script a turnaround,” the investor said. Key Takeaways: - Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar, with the support of WestBridge Capital, has been calling the shots at coffee retail chain Third Wave Coffee. Other investors have little say in the company’s operations. - Kumar first invested a small cheque in Third Wave in 2018. He is now the largest individual shareholder after the three founders, holding a 6% stake. - Third Wave had three months of runway left last year when it raised funds in a Creagis-led round. Today, it has less than a year’s runway left thanks to its rapid expansion. - Around 70% of the chain’s outlets are losing money and it must re-strategise to script a turnaround. [Continue Reading]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Events India’s CTO Excellence Awards winners YourStory, in collaboration with Longhouse Consulting, recognised some of the architects of the country’s technological advances with India’s CTO Excellence Awards 2024. Celebrating 22 tech leaders excelling in their fields, the awards highlighted tech leaders based on a comprehensive set of criteria, including but not limited to the number of years in a CTO role, impact on business growth, innovation, intellectual property contributions, leadership, mentorship, functional responsibilities, and more. Tech leaders: - With over two decades of experience across Yahoo, Amazon and Myntra, Flipkart CTPO Jeyandran Venugopal’s visionary leadership continues to shape the future of ecommerce in India. - Ajit Narayanan has been pivotal in building and scaling digital products across ecommerce, healthcare, mobile and AI domains. At Licious, he is leading the transformation of the brand and its consumer experience through technology-driven innovations. - Rahul Chari, Founder and CTO, PhonePe has been instrumental in shaping the landscape of digital payments in India. Before co-founding PhonePe, he played a pivotal role at Flipkart, building the entire tech stack for eKart. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Inspiration Financial empowerment for rural women in 2012 by Uthara Narayanan and Dave Jongeneelen, with the help of Suresh Krishna, Buzz Women is a mobile academy providing doorstep training in finance, climate change, entrepreneurship, and leadership to rural women from low-income households. The organisation has so far helped around six lakh women to become self-sufficient. Onward: - The organisation follows a 5C model: managing family income or running a business (cash), understanding and addressing climate change (climate), focusing on mental health and hygiene (care), building a strong sisterhood to solve peer problems (community), and building trust in one’s skills and qualities (confidence). - Through the Buzz Green programme, the organisation spreads awareness about climate change, sustainability, management of natural resources, climate-smart technology, agricultural sustainability, and food security. - The programme helped Kantalakshmi—who hails from a small village in Karnataka—learn desi poultry and organic farming. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Interview Mira Kapoor on launching Akind a world obsessed with elaborate 10-step skincare routines, celebrity influencer and public figure Mira Rajput Kapoor swears by her mantra of “less is more”. Her skincare line Akind, launched in partnership with Reliance Retail’s beauty platform Tira, is the latest addition to the mid-market skincare segment targeted at India’s growing D2C customer base. Following a regime: - Akind, which has launched nine products, including serums, moisturisers, toners, and sunscreen, is Tira’s first skincare label. - Earlier this year, the omnichannel beauty retailer launched its nail care brand, Nails Our Way, apart from its private label for beauty accessories under the label Tira tools. - With its mid-market pricing, Akind aims to be one of the first brands to launch products which consumers can experience at the beginning of their journey into self-care and beauty. The price point also lends itself to forming a routine and staying consistent, said Kapoor. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- News & Updates - [Mo' money:]( According to data from the latest report by Henley & Partners, 6,700 millionaires are projected to move to the UAE this year. That's nearly double the inflow to the US, which had the second-highest expected migration of millionaires, at 3,800. A record-breaking 128,000 millionaires are expected to move countries this year. - [Sustainability:]( Amazon announced on its news blog that it has reduced the use of plastic air pillows by 95% and switched to crumbled paper fillers instead. Amazon also says it plans to use paper filler for “nearly all” of its customer deliveries on Prime Day. - [Capital inflow:]( Foreign investors have bought more than $10 billion of Indian government bonds that will be included in a widely-followed JPMorgan debt index on June 28, taking their ownership of such papers to a record high. In the nine months since JPMorgan said India's sovereign debt will be included in its emerging market debt index, foreign investors have bought $10.08 billion of eligible bonds on a net basis. Did you know? In August of 1997, Microsoft bailed what technology company out of bankruptcy? Answer: Apple. It purchased $150 million of non-voting Apple stock. We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail nslfeedback@yourstory.com. If you don’t already get this newsletter in your inbox, [sign up here](. For past editions of the YourStory Buzz, you can check our [Daily Capsule page here](. [Feedback]( [Unsubscribe]( [Newsletters](