 Morning Dispatch |
Inside Furlenco’s IPO; Moneyview investors make bank
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Happy Tuesday! Furlenco is heading to Dalal Street for a potential Rs 1,200 crore IPO. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Also in the letter:
■ Microsoft’s new India hub
■ Ashwini Vaishnaw on AI safety
■ Indian diaspora founders catch unicorns
Ajith Mohan Karimpana, founder, Furlenco
Subscription-based furniture company Furlenco, backed by the makers of Kurlon and Sleepwell mattresses, is planning a potential Rs 1,000-1,200 crore initial public offering (IPO), sources said.
IPO details:
Rohit Bansal (left) and Kunal Bahl, cofounders of Snapdeal and Unicommerce parent AceVector Group
Snapdeal and Unicommerce parent AceVector has slashed its IPO size, according to its red herring prospectus filed on Monday.
Details:
Sanjay Aggarwal and Puneet Agarwal, cofounders, Moneyview
Digital lending platform Moneyview is seeking a valuation of Rs 5,985 crore ($600 million) at the upper end of the price band for its IPO (initial public offering), which is about 20% lower than the roughly Rs 7,500-crore valuation at which it last raised primary capital in December 2022.
IPO details: The company has set a price band of Rs 32-34 per share for the IPO, which will open for subscription on September 24 and close on September 28.
The deal: Existing shareholders, including Accel, Tiger Global, and Ribbit Capital, along with promoters Puneet Agarwal and Sanjay Aggarwal, are selling shares in the OFS component of the IPO.
Investor gains: Venture capital firms Accel, Ribbit Capital, and Tiger Global are sitting on multi-fold returns on their investments in digital lender Moneyview at the upper end of its IPO price band, despite the public issue valuation being below its last primary funding round.
Puneet Chandok, President, Microsoft India and South Asia
Microsoft is continuously scouting for new data centre regions in India and other markets as demand for cloud and AI infrastructure grows, said Puneet Chandok, the company’s president for India and South Asia.
Verbatim: “We’re always looking at it because, as you can imagine, these regions take a lot of time to build,” Chandok told us. “The reason we’re first out of the gates, the reason we’re not in an intent cycle but in an action cycle, unlike the industry today where people are announcing everything, is we started a long time ago,” he said.
New launch: On Monday, Microsoft announced its fourth cloud region in Hyderabad, positioned as a strategic hub for Asia and the Global South. Its other Indian cloud regions are in Pune, Chennai and Mumbai.
Chandok said India currently has about 2 GW of data centre capacity but will need 10-14 GW in the coming years. Globally, Microsoft is expanding from around 12 GW today to more than 38 GW by 2032, with India expected to remain a “meaningful part” of that growth, he said.
On AI safety: On AI safety, Chandok reiterated Microsoft’s stance that “AI has to be built in the service of humanity” and that AI systems and agents must remain under human control.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union minister for IT
Ashwini Vaishnaw on AI safety: Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that regulating AI will take both law and technical safeguards, and that companies building the technology must take the lead on safety.
Indian diaspora founders’ unicorn value: Founders who grew up in India have built or cofounded 205 current and former unicorns overseas, with about $560 billion of the companies’ value attributed to them, according to a report by Prosus and Dealroom.
■ It’s Donald Trump versus MAGA on data centers (Wired)
■ Lex in depth: Anthropic at $2 trillion isn’t far-fetched (FT)
■ Nvidia’s free AI model could push the UAE closer to the US (Rest of World)
Also in the letter:
■ Microsoft’s new India hub
■ Ashwini Vaishnaw on AI safety
■ Indian diaspora founders catch unicorns
Furniture rental company Furlenco gears up for Rs 1,200-crore IPO
Subscription-based furniture company Furlenco, backed by the makers of Kurlon and Sleepwell mattresses, is planning a potential Rs 1,000-1,200 crore initial public offering (IPO), sources said.
IPO details:
- Furlenco is seeking a valuation of around Rs 7,000 crore, sources cited above said. The final valuation will be decided closer to the IPO depending on market conditions and the response during investor roadshows, they added.
- The IPO is expected to be launched in the next fiscal year.
- The Bengaluru-based company is expected to soon finalise ICICI Securities as an advisor.
Snapdeal parent AceVector files red herring prospectus; cuts IPO size
Snapdeal and Unicommerce parent AceVector has slashed its IPO size, according to its red herring prospectus filed on Monday.
Details:
- The size of its offer-for-sale component is also being reduced by 35%.
- Investors including SoftBank, Nexus Venture Partners, Foxconn and others will trim their stake.
- Founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, who together hold around a 34% stake directly and through other related entities, are not selling any stake.
- AceVector now plans to raise Rs 287 crore in fresh capital against Rs 300 crore earlier.
- The price band is expected to be announced on September 22.
Moneyview eyes $600 million IPO valuation, 20% below its last private market peg
Digital lending platform Moneyview is seeking a valuation of Rs 5,985 crore ($600 million) at the upper end of the price band for its IPO (initial public offering), which is about 20% lower than the roughly Rs 7,500-crore valuation at which it last raised primary capital in December 2022.
IPO details: The company has set a price band of Rs 32-34 per share for the IPO, which will open for subscription on September 24 and close on September 28.
The deal: Existing shareholders, including Accel, Tiger Global, and Ribbit Capital, along with promoters Puneet Agarwal and Sanjay Aggarwal, are selling shares in the OFS component of the IPO.
Investor gains: Venture capital firms Accel, Ribbit Capital, and Tiger Global are sitting on multi-fold returns on their investments in digital lender Moneyview at the upper end of its IPO price band, despite the public issue valuation being below its last primary funding round.
Microsoft in ‘action cycle’ on data centres, says India president Puneet Chandok
Microsoft is continuously scouting for new data centre regions in India and other markets as demand for cloud and AI infrastructure grows, said Puneet Chandok, the company’s president for India and South Asia.
Verbatim: “We’re always looking at it because, as you can imagine, these regions take a lot of time to build,” Chandok told us. “The reason we’re first out of the gates, the reason we’re not in an intent cycle but in an action cycle, unlike the industry today where people are announcing everything, is we started a long time ago,” he said.
New launch: On Monday, Microsoft announced its fourth cloud region in Hyderabad, positioned as a strategic hub for Asia and the Global South. Its other Indian cloud regions are in Pune, Chennai and Mumbai.
Chandok said India currently has about 2 GW of data centre capacity but will need 10-14 GW in the coming years. Globally, Microsoft is expanding from around 12 GW today to more than 38 GW by 2032, with India expected to remain a “meaningful part” of that growth, he said.
On AI safety: On AI safety, Chandok reiterated Microsoft’s stance that “AI has to be built in the service of humanity” and that AI systems and agents must remain under human control.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Ashwini Vaishnaw on AI safety: Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that regulating AI will take both law and technical safeguards, and that companies building the technology must take the lead on safety.
Indian diaspora founders’ unicorn value: Founders who grew up in India have built or cofounded 205 current and former unicorns overseas, with about $560 billion of the companies’ value attributed to them, according to a report by Prosus and Dealroom.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ It’s Donald Trump versus MAGA on data centers (Wired)
■ Lex in depth: Anthropic at $2 trillion isn’t far-fetched (FT)
■ Nvidia’s free AI model could push the UAE closer to the US (Rest of World)
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