Start-up Street: Will ‘down rounds’ be the next phase in Indian start-ups?

There is increasing concern over the business models of such companies, from unit economics to customer acquisition costs to sustainable and profitable scalability, and an ability to generate operational cash flows.

A few days ago, BlackRock cut the valuation of Byju’s ($22 billion) by nearly half to $11.5 billion. In November 2022, Prosus valued its 9.76 per cent Byju’s stake at $578 million, which further lowered the valuation of India’s most valuable start-up at a much lower $6 billion. On All Fools Day, April 1, it was reported that US-based Invesco pruned 25 per cent from the valuation of Swiggy which valued the food tech major at $8 billion from...

Start-up Street: Will ‘down rounds’ be the next phase in Indian start-ups?

The end of a frothy cycle has meant a return to rationality. High flying global start-ups have seen valuations pulled down for subsequent funding rounds

There is increasing concern over the business models of such companies, from unit economics to customer acquisition costs to sustainable and profitable scalability, and an ability to generate operational cash flows.