Start up’s and their growth stories can be a great source of inspiration for us to start thinking about new ventures etc. Well if you are not the risk taking types of don’t have any solid plan as of now to start on your own – these stories can also mean lots of upcoming job opportunities for you.
With good money coming their way through VC funding and through angels these start-ups and some established ventures would already be looking out for talent to fuel their expansion plans. Some of these are already well established with thousands on their head count (flipkart.com), others may be looking at getting talent to fuel their expansion plans.
Have a look at some recent funding stories handpicked for you to start planning your next move. Keep a watch on upcoming and emerging career opportunities in these companies.
Some recent funding stories:
Flipkart.com
Flipkart has raised $150mn at a valuation of $850mn from existing investors, i.e. Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management. ( Source: www.Livemint.com). The company has emerged as one of the leading e-commerce companies in India, which started selling books and has in the last one year ventured into multiple product categories in online retail. Before this, the company raised $31 mn in three rounds of funding.
Freecharge.in
Freecharge.in, an 18-month-old recharge portal, has raised Rs 20 crore ($3.9 million) from Sequoia Capital in its series A round of funding. Freecharge is run by Mumbai-based Accelyst Solutions Pvt Ltd
Freecharge had also received an undisclosed seed funding from Sequoia Capital last year. Launched in 2010, the portal offers recharge coupons for mobile phones, DTH TV and Internet data cards. The freecharge.in model is more of a couponing model rather than a mobile recharge model. The company ties up with various brands to offer discount coupons to its recharge customers for an amount equivalent to the recharge amount.
Bluestone.com / Online Jewellery Store
Bluestone.com, an online jewellery store run by Bangalore-based Jewels Online Distribution India Pvt Ltd has received an investment of up to have invested up to $5 million by Accel Partners & K Ganesh. Accel Partners, the venture capital firm has previously backed Facebook and Groupon, Silicon Valley Bank (the subsidiary and commercial banking operation of SVB Financial Group). K Ganesh is the founder of TutorVista Global (now under the UK-based Pearson Group).
Bluestone.com was founded by Vidya Nataraj and Gaurav Singh Kushwaha in mid-2011. Before co-founding the e-commerce initiative, Nataraj was a senior strategy consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in India.
Handspick.com
Seedfund, an early-stage venture capital fund with operations in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi, has invested an undisclosed sum to acquire a significant minority stake in HandsPick.com, a fashion apparel and accessories e-commerce brand owned by Delhi-based start-up Intuitent Online Venture Pvt Ltd.
Seeders Venture Capital Pvt Ltd, an early-stage investment firm which backs technology start-ups, has been quietly but quickly ramping up its portfolio. In the past 18 months, it has invested in six start-ups – Shopo.in, Azoi, Plivo.org, CarSingh.com, Cropextechnology.com and Eduora.com, putting anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000 in each of the companies, a sign that high-risk, early-stage investment space is brimming with activity.
Bright Lifecare Pvt Ltd. / Healthkart.com
Ten-month-old Gurgaon-based start-up Bright Lifecare Pvt Ltd, which runs the online health store Healthkart.com, has raised Rs 27 crore in second round of funding from existing investor Sequoia Capital and another new investor Omidyar. The fund raised is expected to be used for expansion of its product portfolio and developing an online magazine.
Source: www.Pluggd.in / www.vccircle.com / www.livemint.com