Bengaluru, July 5 (IANS) India’s fintech ecosystem achieved a significant milestone in the first half of this year by ranking among the top three funded globally, alongside the US and the UK, a report showed on Friday.

The domestic fintech sector received funding of $795 million in the first half (H1) of 2024, a decline of 11 per cent from H2 2023, according to the report by Tracxn, a leading market intelligence platform.

Perfios was the only unicorn created in 2024, while the fintech sector saw six acquisitions and five IPOs in the January-June period.

Bengaluru emerged as the leader in total fintech funding raised in 2024, followed by Mumbai and Pune, further solidifying the emergence of multiple fintech hubs across the country’s diverse startup ecosystem.

“Despite the global funding slowdown, India’s FinTech ecosystem shows agility and adaptability, supported by robust economic fundamentals,” said Neha Singh, Co-Founder at Tracxn.

The fintech sector remains dynamic, and “we are optimistic that a supportive policy environment and technological advancements will create new opportunities for growth and innovation in the near future,” she added.

Late-stage funding in H1 2024 stood at $551 million, a 26 per cent increase from $436 million in H2 2023.

Seed-stage funding amounted to $65 million, a 7.4 per cent rise from $60.5 million in H2 2023, said the report.

Peak XV Partners, Y Combinator, and LetsVenture emerged as the leading investors in the sector.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) The Indian fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector has gained momentum as in the first six months of this year, the Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the sector reached $938 million in terms of value.

According to data from Venture Intelligence, this is the highest figure in the domestic FMCG sector in the last four years.

In January this year, Tata Consumer Products announced to acquire up to 100 per cent stake in Organic India, a Fabindia-owned business that sells tea, infusions, herbal supplements and packaged foods, for Rs 1,900 crore in an all-cash deal.

The announcement came shortly after the company also announced to buy 100 per cent stake in Capital Foods, which markets its products under Ching’s Secret and Smith & Jones brands, for Rs 5,100 crore in an all-cash deal.

The private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) deals in the fast-growing FMCG sector touched $593 million in the first half of the year.

According to another report this week, the FMCG sector in India is projected to see revenue grow 7-9 per cent this fiscal (FY25), riding on higher volume growth, revival in rural demand and steady urban growth.

The growth in FY25 follows an estimated 5-7 per cent growth in fiscal 2024, according to a CRISIL Ratings study of 77 FMCG companies, which accounted for about a third of the estimated Rs 5.6 lakh crore sector revenue last fiscal.

Higher government spending on rural infrastructure, primarily through Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Grameen (PMAY-G) for affordable houses, will aid in higher savings in rural India, supporting their ability to spend more.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) India has set the global discourse by emphasising the intent of the government to democratise artificial intelligence (AI) and make it accessible to all.

At the just-concluded ‘Global IndiaAI Mission’ summit in the national capital, the Global South countries acknowledged and appreciated the role of India to give voice to them at the global AI forum and bridge the gap with Global North.

More than 2,000 global AI experts, policy-makers, artificial intelligence (AI) practitioners, industry/startups and academia join the summit, with over 10,000 AI enthusiasts joining the sessions virtually.

“Sessions on the key pillars of IndiaAI Mission demonstrated India’s planned action and commitment to build an inclusive and robust AI ecosystem in the country and lead the global AI innovation,” said the IT Ministry.

The convening of Collaborative AI on Global Partnership (CAIGP) brought together GPAI members, AI experts and industry representatives to identify mechanisms to overcome the global AI divide.

The members came to a consensus about the future vision of Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI).

“Overall, the summit led to in-depth deliberations and resulted in deep insights on several implementation aspects of IndiaAI Mission,” said the ministry.

The IndiaAI Mission has been approved with an outlay of Rs 10,372 crore and out of this, Rs 2,000 crore would be utilised towards supporting the Indian startup ecosystem to develop indigenous AI based solutions.

The support would also include resolution of issues such as compute, dataset and skills and access to GPU Infrastructure would be made available at subsidised rate.

Insights revealed that India has a competitive advantage in AI owing to skills, market and demand.

“For entrepreneurs, the value creation and return on investment over and above cost will be the key catalyst. IndiaAI Mission can lower the cost of innovation and indigenous development,” the ministry noted.

–IANS

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Seoul, July 5 (IANS) The regulator said on Friday it will ask major e-commerce platforms operating in South Korea, including China’s AliExpress and Temu, to submit data on their businesses for market analysis.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it launched in-depth research on the online retail market following a monthslong preliminary study and will ask 40 major platforms to submit data on their business structure, logistics system and profit models, among other things, reports Yonhap news agency.

The list of companies include Coupang, Naver, Kakao, CJ Olive Young, AliExpress and Temu, the FTC said, adding that they have either more than 1 million active monthly uses, a net monthly payment amount of over 100 billion won ($72.49 million) or more than 1 million number of payments per month.

“The study aims to better respond to competition, innovation and other issues in the fast-growing sector under the fast-changing business circumstances. Data from the companies will be used only for research purposes,” an FTC official said.

The regulator will draw up and make public a policy report by the end of this year.

–IANS

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Aizawl, July 4 (IANS) The National Institute of Technology (NIT), Mizoram, has achieved an impressive placement record for the 2023-2024 academic session, with an 86.7 per cent overall placement percentage among the registered candidates, sources said.

NIT Mizoram sources said that the highest salary package received this year is Rs 14.5 lakh per annum, and the average salary package is more than Rs 7 lakh per annum.

In the last academic session, over 75 companies conducted a recruitment drive at the institute.

An official statement said that companies such as Adobe, Deloitte, Vedanta, L&T, Ashok Leyland, Lumiq.AI, Bajaj Capital, Shadowfax, Scaledge Technology, Mahindra & Mahindra, KEC International, Alstom, and many more recruited the students of NIT Mizoram in 2023-2024 academic session for their analytical and innovative capabilities.

These top-tier recruiters, among others, showcased their trust in NIT Mizoram’s academic rigour and the industry readiness of its students, resulting in a successful and dynamic placement season.

Shristi Sharma, one of the students placed at Deloitte, thanked the institute, saying she is extremely grateful to the training and placement team for their exceptional efforts, especially during this challenging era.

“Their hard work and dedication have paid off immensely, and I am thrilled to share that I have been placed at Deloitte,” she said.

Recent ECE graduating student, Nishant Nitin Mishra, who secured a total of four job offers in Scaledge Technology, Eldaas Technology, SemiFront, and Vicharak, said: “Thanks to the excellent support provided by the Training and Placement office of NIT Mizoram to develop my analytical, technical, leadership and management skills, I received multiple offers and accepted a position at Scaledge Technology. Thank you for the institute’s dedication to achieving an 86 per cent placement rate. Proud to be an NIT Mizoram alumnus.”

Following last year’s successful placement record, more than 90 per cent of students of NIT Mizoram for the 2024-2025 academic session have already joined different reputed companies to undergo summer or industrial internship programmes.

The statement said that around 30 students of NIT Mizoram are also undergoing research internships at various IITs, including IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IIT Patna, IIT Bhilai, IIT BHU, IIT Roorkee, IIT Indore, IIT Hyderabad. Ten students joined IIT Madras for summer internships, out of which seven were under the Direct PhD exchange program under MoU with the institute.

A total of 9 students joined the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) through an MoU.

Recently, NIT Mizoram signed a MoU with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to boost the training and placement activities, the statement added.

–IANS

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