🏏 The art of decoding sports data

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11 March 2025 View in Browser

Hello,   Has India's EV dream hit a roadblock?   Electric vehicle sales fell 1.9% year-on-year and 18% month-on-month in February, according to data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association. When it comes to EV two-wheelers, the category shrunk more than 8% YoY.   In fact, some EV makers are in a hot soup.    Transport authorities across states have conducted raids and shut some showrooms of Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric for alleged violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, according to Bloomberg. It alleged that over 95% of its showrooms lacked the necessary trade certificates to sell, display, or offer test rides of unregistered two-wheelers.   Ola Electric's shares dropped nearly 5% following the report of raids.   Beyond two-wheeler EVs, the time is now for passenger vehicles to shine.   EV passenger sales increased nearly by a fifth in February YoY, with Hyundai Motors scoring a 4X growth, which can be attributed to the recent launch of Creta Electric. Tata Motors is also positioning itself to maintain leadership with the imminent launch of the Harrier EV.   The buzz is high and governments know it. The Maharashtra government, in Budget 2025-26, has levied a 6% tax on EV prices above Rs 30 lakh, aiming to generate Rs 150 crore in revenue.   Well, there is no such thing as a good tax.   In today's newsletter, we will talk about  How to decode the art of the game Making medical expense management simpler Inside Byg Ventures' big dreams   Here's your trivia for today: In what country did the Caesar salad originate?

Startup How to decode the art of the game In the fast-paced world of competitive sports, data is a gold mine, and proper use of it can open a window of opportunity for sportspersons, training academies, and sports leagues to up their game.   Recognising the need for an efficient solution, twin brothers Shyam and Shankar Sivaramakrishnan decided to launch software products—under their company BanyanBoard—offering high-quality sports analytics and real-time graphics in an accessible and affordable manner.   Game plan: The company's flagship product, SPAN (SPorts Analysis), is a cloud-based software platform designed to streamline sports analysis with features including 'video tagging' to mark and analyse key moments in sports footage, as well as AI-driven insights The startup's other product, the EvoFX graphics platform, allows graphics and real-time data to be merged and used as livestream graphics. The data can come from scoring applications, Google Sheets, sports data APIs, or can be manually typed in by operators. BanyanBoard's clients include Khelo India, FC Madras, Squash Rackets Federation of India, Yuva Kabaddi Series, and India TV's IPL show on YouTube. The startup also works with national and international level athletes. Read More

Funding Alert 1) FemiSafe: Rs 3 Cr | Seed 2) Make in Box:  $260,000 | Pre-seed

Startup Making medical expense management simplerAccording to the Acko India Health Insurance Index 2024, healthcare costs in India are rising at an annual rate of 14%, with 62% of hospital expenses paid out of pocket and 23% covered through borrowings.    Recognising this challenge, Chris George and Gagan Kapur launched QubeHealth in 2019 to ensure employees have immediate access to medical funds by integrating UPI-based payments, no-cost financing, and embedded insurance into employee benefits.   Seamless payments: QubeHealth covers expenses often excluded from traditional insurance, including eye, dental, skincare, and pet care. The platform integrates with its client's corporate HR and payroll systems, where employees can get pre-approved medical credit without lengthy verification. Since its launch, QubeHealth has rapidly expanded its footprint from 60 corporate clients initially to now over 300 companies, covering about 1.5 lakh employees and their families. Some of its notable clients include Ninjacart, Airmeet, Colossal, Licious, and Popeyes, among others. According to George, the company is looking to raise about $9 million in a Series A funding round at a valuation of Rs 270 crore. Moving forward, the startup aims to expand beyond corporate partnerships by collaborating with insurance providers, fintech companies, and healthcare institutions. Read More

Wine and Food Inside Byg Ventures' big dreamsAttracting close to 35,000 patrons every month, with the average ticket size per table being Rs 3,800 (for a table of four), Bob's Bar has firmly cemented itself as Bengaluru's favourite neighbourhood pub. The brand has achieved this feat by word of mouth, sans any billboards or social media marketing campaigns.    However, its parent company Byg Ventures—founded by Ajay Gowda, Rolf Marren, Premkumar Sundaramurthy and Praveen Bodduluri—is on a mission to not just woo Indiranagar's crowd but also win over pub-goers across Bengaluru and beyond.   Ambitious plans: The group, which also owns Byg Brewski Brewing Company and Jollygunj, opened the first Bob's Bar in 2018 in Indiranagar. Soon, it became the second-highest performing outlet within the portfolio, later expanding to four more locations—Koramangala, JP Nagar, Kalyan Nagar, and recently, Ashok Nagar. Byg Ventures is currently focused on expanding its portfolio while strengthening its presence in the sector. Gowda reveals that while Bob's Bar represents a typical  Bangalore cantonment bar, the company now plans to launch a 'Bengaluru' themed bar.  Byg Ventures is also in talks to get into the experiential liquor retail space and launch its in-house liquor products. The company achieved an annual recurring revenue of Rs 200 crore in FY25, and according to Gowda, it is currently profitable.  Read More

From the CapTable Mind the gap: India's startup ecosystem adapts as time from Seed to Series A widensIn 2021, raising capital was all about potential and vision. A year later, investors grew more selective, seeking businesses with clear revenue models and strong unit economics. Startups that had scaled aggressively based on investor optimism found themselves unable to secure follow-on rounds, forcing many to pivot, downsize, or shut down.   For instance, the number of seed-funded companies that managed to secure Series A funding dropped to 135 and 143 in 2023 and 2024, respectively, from 216 in 2021 and 226 in 2022, according to data from startup intelligence platform Tracxn. Further, the number of Series A-funded companies that were able to raise a Series B round dropped to 52 in 2023 from 114 in 2022 and 109 in 2021. In 2024, while this number improved marginally to 64, it was still substantially lower than the pandemic years and even lower than the pre-pandemic years of 2016-2019.   Meanwhile, VCs, who had once rushed to deploy capital, have become more conservative, waiting longer to make investment decisions. Naturally, the time between raising Seed and Series A, as well as Series A and Series B, has also significantly increased over the past eight years. By 2024, the average gap had stretched to 27 and 30 months, respectively—considerably longer than the 23 months and 21 months seen as far back as 2017. This prolonged timeline has made it even more critical for startups to demonstrate financial sustainability before securing their next round of funding.   Key takeaways: India's funding landscape has become more challenging, with longer gaps between Seed, Series A, and Series B rounds, forcing startups to prove revenue potential early Investors are now favouring capital-efficient businesses over heavily-funded ventures, leading to a decline in valuations and more scrutiny on unit economics Exits have become harder due to delayed funding cycles, pushing VCs toward secondary sales and alternative strategies to return capital to their LPs This has seen secondary-focused funds gain prominence, with the Indian government also reportedly considering launching its own. Continue Reading

News & Updates

Shore up: Ford will inject up to 4.4 billion euros ($4.8 billion) into its struggling German operations under its Ford-Werke German arm as it tries to revive its European business, the US carmaker said on Monday. Growth fears: Anxiety that tariffs and government firings will torpedo growth in the world's largest economy sent US stocks towards their worst slide in 2025 as Wall Street tempered bullish views, while demand for recession havens boosted sovereign bonds in the US and Europe. Deal talks: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that his administration was in touch with four different groups about the sale of Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok, and that all options were good.

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Did you know?

In what country did the Caesar salad originate? Answer: Mexico. It was created in the 1920s by Italian immigrant Caesar Cardini, who owned a restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico.

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