Japanese VCS are betting big on Indian startups; Sequoia has a new co-working space

Daily Capsule | 7th Decemeber Hello There's a first time for everything and lately, technology has been proving this right - every day. For the first time ever in the world, a doctor in Gujarat achieved something that would have been unthinkable, even a year ago. In Ahmedabad, cardiac surgeon Dr Tejas Patel conducted a robotic heart surgery on a patient. But here's the catch - the patient was 32 km away, in Gandhinagar! Yep, the world's first telerobotic surgery was performed by an Indian cardiologist. This opens up a whole new way of expanding and improving healthcare initiatives in rural areas, where there is a strong lack of specialists. We cannot wait for technology to take bigger strides and help more and more people. Cheers, Team YourStory --------------------------------------------------------------- Stories you shouldn't miss Jaspreet Bindra, [former Regional Director of Microsoft and senior digital advisor to ThoughtWorks and Mahindra Group, is one of the many people]( who has strongly expressed their faith in blockchain. In fact, he quit his corporate job to pursue two things: create a digital transformation advisory firm and help build the future of workspace using blockchain. Eight app plans to expand India footprint. Sansan Inc., the parent company of [Eight app, the largest business card organiser and professional social networking platform of Japan, has raised $26.43 million]( in its Series E round. It was launched in India in November last year. The app claims to have a good number of downloads in India and is slowly expanding its on-ground presence in major cities, starting from Mumbai. The Nokia 7.1 goes on sale today. Should you buy it? Nokia’s latest addition to its ever-growing mid-range line up, [the Nokia 7.1, is all set to go on sale on December 7](. You can also pre-order it on Nokia’s official site. The question is, should you? India’s first privately-built satellite hitches ride to space aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Elon Musk-led SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket finally took off to space on Tuesday from the Vandenberg air force base in California, US. And [aboard it was the first private Indian satellite, Exseed Sat-1 – a mini communication satellite]( built by the Mumbai-based startup, Exseed Space. Could this mark the end of the solo-reign of ISRO? Only time will tell. Bootstrapped [Raasta Studios is the way, founding trio Sai Kumar, Prem Kumar Vislawath and Naren Raparthi are living their filmmaking dream.]( For a corporate film, they charge anywhere between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 20 lakh whereas, for a commercial film, the price ranges between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 30 lakh. “Three years ago, we were a 12-member team; we have now grown to 70 with more than 100 freelancers. We will soon have a very strong studio base in Hyderabad,” quips Sai. Japanese VCs are betting big on Indian startups but they prefer to stay out of the spotlight! Although Japan has a history of investing in infrastructure and manufacturing in India, of late[, Japanese investors have started shifting the focus to the Indian startup ecosystem](. SoftBank, Japan’s telecom and technology conglomerate, is leading the pack and is one of the biggest investors. In addition, Japanese investors have shown wide-ranging interest while putting in their money into Indian startups across e-commerce, hyperlocal, SaaS, automotive, transport, among others. Sequoia India opens up about Greenhouse, its free, co-working space. With the idea of supporting the tech startup community, Sequoia India recently set up Greenhouse, its short-term, co-working space, on its Bengaluru premises. And already, three startups in stealth mode and early stages are working from the space. Explaining the reason behind this initiative, however, [Shailesh Lakhani, Managing Director of Sequoia Capital India Advisors explains that “everyone in the tech ecosystem benefits]( when entrepreneurs take time, take risks and try to build something that is not easy.” --------------------------------------------------------------- Work with internal business units at Viacom18 to understand their key problem statements and focus areas to develop solutions and jointly deliver PoCs across business units and functions. At VSTeP 2.0, you get to implement your solutions in tandem with the teams on ground, get real time feedback and guidance, thereby develop your innovative solutions into a sustainable and mature offering for Viacom18 and the media & entertainment industry at large. [Apply for VSTeP 2.0 today.]( The Indian-UK FutureTech Festival will have 100 tech companies from both countries showcasing pioneering works, interesting discussions by academicians, policymakers and entrepreneurs, and the launch of startup funds. There’s also a live speed hacking contest for Fintech startups. [Register for the event and the hackathon, being held in New Delhi on December 11 and 12, today.]( Online travel has been one of the first sectors to witness the first mass consumer shift from offline modes to online. While starting up, Gobibo focused on leveraging technology to create a transformational impact by ensuring a faster, transparent and reliable experience from search to booking. In the past few years, they have made a huge transition in the travel sector with their innovations. [Read how Gobibo is investing in AI to solve multiple customer interactions and product problems today.]( -- [Click Here]( to unsubscribe from this newsletter.