Space-Tech

spacetech

After the successful touchdown of ’s lander in the south of the Moon, all eyes are on India’s space program. Already, ISRO and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launch LUPEX, a successor to Chandrayaan-3, in 2026. Chandrayaan-3 have decided to jointly In the limelight is also startup ecosystem, which has secured its position as a formidable contender on the global stage. According to recent insights by on August 11, 2023, India ranks seventh in terms of funding within the international SpaceTech landscape for the year. India’s SpaceTech Tracxn The Indian SpaceTech sector’s journey has been one of transformation, driven by the sector’s privatization in 2020. Previously dominated by governmental players, the sector has witnessed a significant surge in private sector participation post-privatization. Private entities are now actively involved in crucial aspects of research, manufacturing, and fabrication of rockets and satellites, fostering a vibrant ecosystem of innovation. The funding trajectory of the Indian SpaceTech ecosystem tells a compelling story of growth and resilience. From a modest $35 million in funds raised between 2010 and 2019, the sector experienced a meteoric rise in 2020, securing a remarkable $28 million in funding. This trend continued with exponential growth, reaching $96 million in 2021 and an impressive $112 million in 2022, marking a 17% increase from the previous year. This steady expansion in funding sets the Indian SpaceTech sector apart from other industries affected by funding challenges and macroeconomic fluctuations. Building on its upward trajectory, the Indian SpaceTech sector has already attracted $62 million in funding for the year 2023, reflecting a substantial 60% increase compared to the same period last year. This exceptional growth trend is expected to continue in the upcoming months. India’s emergence as a potent player in SpaceTech is further highlighted by its impressive satellite deployment. With 381 satellites placed in low orbit, India has positioned itself as a key player in this arena. Notably, the successful launch of 36 satellites into orbit by ISRO for UK-based OneWeb illustrates India’s contribution to global satellite ownership. The funding trajectory of the Indian SpaceTech ecosystem tells a compelling story of growth and resilience The Indian private sector has taken the lead in for practical applications, including satellite-based communication services like phone signals, broadband, OTT, and 5G. The government’s Budget 2023 initiatives further support the private enterprises’ role in this sector, from launching satellites and rockets to operating Earth stations with a 0% GST regime. Plans for a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for satellite manufacturing are also in the pipeline. launching satellites India’s space agency, ISRO, boasts a series of remarkable milestones, including the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon’s south pole, paving the way for groundbreaking studies in the region. Also, India achieved a major achievement by becoming the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole. Additionally, ISRO’s feat of deploying a record-breaking 104 satellites in sun-synchronous orbits during a single mission in 2017 stands as a testament to India’s prowess. Among the thriving business models within the Indian SpaceTech sector, Small Payload-based Launch Vehicles have garnered significant attention, securing $75.6 million in funding over the last two years. Key players such as Skyroot, AgniKul, and Pixxel are spearheading innovative endeavors that promise to reshape the industry landscape. Skyroot, for instance, has launched India’s first privately built rocket, Vikram-S, into space, with plans to revolutionize satellite launches. Satellite-based Imaging Solutions have also witnessed substantial support, with $84.2 million in funding secured over the past two years. Companies like Pixxel have introduced pioneering technologies for earth observation, while Dhruva Space and Bellatrix Aerospace are contributing to the sector through their unique offerings. The global space industry is undergoing a phase of rapid innovation, spanning 3D-printed rocket components, commercial space tourism, reusable launch vehicles, asteroid mining, and novel propulsion technologies. In this ever-evolving landscape, India stands poised to capitalize on emerging opportunities, underlined by its proven capabilities in manufacturing and satellite/launch vehicle development. The accomplishments of the Indian Space industry, bolstered by government support, are expected to fuel entrepreneurship and investments, ushering in a new era of innovation and growth in the years ahead. This article was originally published by on Navanwita Bora Sachdev The Tech Panda.

India's SpaceTech Startup Ecosystem Spotlighted After Chandrayaan-3 Triumph

চন্দ্রযান-৩ জয়ের পর ভারতের স্পেসটেক স্টার্টআপ ইকোসিস্টেম স্পটলাইট হয়েছে

Indiens SpaceTech-Startup-Ökosystem rückt nach Chandrayaan-3-Triumph ins Rampenlicht

El ecosistema de startups de SpaceTech de la India se destaca después del triunfo de Chandrayaan-3

L'écosystème indien des startups SpaceTech mis en lumière après le triomphe de Chandrayaan-3

चंद्रयान-3 की जीत के बाद भारत का स्पेसटेक स्टार्टअप इकोसिस्टम सुर्खियों में आया

チャンドラヤーン3号の成功を受けて注目されるインドの宇宙技術スタートアップエコシステム

찬드라얀 3호 성공 이후 인도의 SpaceTech 스타트업 생태계가 주목받다

Ecossistema de startups SpaceTech da Índia destacado após o triunfo do Chandrayaan-3

Индийская экосистема стартапов SpaceTech оказалась в центре внимания после триумфа Chandrayaan-3

Hindistan'ın SpaceTech Startup Ekosistemi Chandrayaan-3 Zaferinden Sonra Dikkate Alındı

Hệ sinh thái khởi nghiệp công nghệ vũ trụ của Ấn Độ nổi bật sau chiến thắng Chandrayaan-3

“月船 3 号”胜利后，印度航天科技初创企业生态系统成为众人瞩目的焦点

India’s Space Tech sector is set for remarkable growth, owing to significant government investment. The recent Union Budget has allocated INR 1000 crore to support space technology startups, aimed at boosting the sector’s development and attracting further investment. This initiative, along with the establishment of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) in 2022, is expected to drive substantial innovation and growth. As per Tracxn’s Space Tech Geo Report 2024 India’s space tech sector witnessed a record-breaking funding of $126 million in the year 2023, a 7% increase from the $118 million raised in 2022 and a 235% increase from $37.6 million in 2021. In 2024, the year-to-date funding stands at $10.8 million. Despite a global slowdown in funding, the Indian space tech sector has been experiencing an upward trend, driven by substantial government support and significant innovations. India has emerged as a formidable player in the global space technology arena, with more than 100 space tech startups, the majority of which were founded in the past five years. Government support has been a critical accelerant for this growth. The Union Budget’s funding of 1000 Crore is expected to boost the industry significantly, attracting more entrepreneurship and investment in the coming months. Currently, India boasts 55 active space assets, including communication, meteorological, and earth observation satellites. The Indian Space Tech sector’s funding landscape is predominantly driven by early-stage investments. In 2023, early-stage rounds attracted $120 million of the total $126 million raised, reflecting a notable growth from $114 million in 2022, which represents a 5% increase. In 2024, early-stage funding has reached $8.5 million to date. Seed-stage funding has also seen a significant rise, growing from $4.3 million in 2022 to $5.3 million in 2023, marking a 24% increase. However, despite this growth in early-stage and seed-stage funding, the nascent ecosystem for private sector participation in Indian Space Tech startups has not yet experienced any late-stage funding. Skyroot Aerospace leads as the highest-funded active space tech startup in India, with an overall funding of $99.8 million, followed by Pixxel at $71.7 million and Agnikul at $61.5 million. No other startup in this segment has raised funds above $50 million. The top-funded business models in this space include Small Satellite Launch Vehicles, Satellite Imaging Services, and Satellite Communication Services. Notably, the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle segment has attracted $168 million to date, with Skyroot raising the highest funding in this category. Despite the vibrant funding landscape, no acquisitions have been observed in 2024 YTD. The only acquisition to date is the 2022 purchase of Prakshep, a satellite imagery provider for the agricultural industry, by Arya. Additionally, the sector has yet to witness the emergence of unicorns. MTAR and Ananth Technologies are the only public companies in this space. We expect the sector to attract even more investment, sparking more innovation. The combination of solid early-stage funding and supportive government policies will be key to driving this growth and establishing India as a leading center for space exploration and technology
Neha Singh, Co-Founder of Tracxn Neha Singh, Co-Founder of Tracxn, saidg, “India’s Space Tech sector is growing rapidly, thanks to strong government support and a dynamic startup scene. The significant funding and strategic investments we’re seeing now are setting the stage for India to become a major player in the global space industry. Looking ahead, we expect the sector to attract even more investment, sparking more innovation. The combination of solid early-stage funding and supportive government policies will be key to driving this growth and establishing India as a leading center for space exploration and technology.” The privatization of the space sector has catalyzed a multifold increase in activity. The International Astronautical Federation awarded India the prestigious World Space Award for its successful launch of Chandrayaan 3, which made history in 2023 as the first mission to achieve a soft landing on the moon’s south pole. This landmark achievement has set a global standard for India’s potential and cost-effective engineering in the space tech industry. Bangalore leads the list of top-funded cities in India’s space tech sector, followed by Hyderabad and Chennai. Startups based in Bangalore have contributed to more than 55% of the total funding in this space, and it is also the city with the highest number of space tech startups. Among the top investors in the sector are Speciale Invest, Anicut Capital, and GrowX Ventures. Anicut Capital, LetsVenture, and Rosmerta Technologies have been the leading seed-stage investors over the last two years, while Ban Labs, Anicut Capital, and Artha Venture Fund have emerged as the top early-stage investors during the same period. The evolution of the space industry highlights a global shift from government control to private-sector collaboration. The United States, a pioneer in privatizing its space industry with the 1984 Commercial Space Launch Act, has significantly benefited from private company contributions through NASA’s Artemis program. Federal funding for NASA has consistently increased, with $24.8 billion allocated in the 2024 budget. In terms of geographic funding, the US remains a leader in space tech startup funding, although it has seen a decline from $5.5 billion in 2021 to $660 million in 2024. Europe, on the other hand, has seen increased funding in its space tech sector, with $407 million raised in 2024 to date, following a record $512 million in 2023. The UK, while experiencing fluctuations in funding, shows signs of recovery with $135 million raised in 2024 to date. Similarly, the UK has invested €50 million in its Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) sector since 2017, employing a hybrid model that leverages private technologies for space missions. In recent years, the European Space Agency (ESA) has shifted to a competition-based model, inviting more private players to develop and launch space missions. This strategic shift, driven by a series of delays and failures in rocket launches, aims to attract private investment and boost entrepreneurship in the region. Despite the existence of the ESA, countries like Germany, Italy, and France maintain their space research agencies, working in collaboration with the ESA. The ESA’s budget for 2024 is $8.3 billion, a 10% increase from the previous year, with significant contributions from Germany, France, and Italy. A major portion of this budget is allocated to Earth Observation operations (30%), followed by space transportation and navigation. India’s Space Tech sector is also growing rapidly, fueled by government support and a dynamic startup ecosystem. Significant funding and strategic investments are positioning India to become a major player in the global space industry, with expectations of attracting more investment and sparking further innovation. Navanwita Bora Sachdev, Editor, The Tech Panda India’s Space Tech sector is set for remarkable growth, owing to significant government investment. Space Tech The recent Union Budget has allocated INR 1000 crore to support space technology startups, aimed at boosting the sector’s development and attracting further investment. This initiative, along with the establishment of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre ( IN-SPACe ) in 2022, is expected to drive substantial innovation and growth. allocated IN-SPACe As per Tracxn’s Space Tech Geo Report 2024 India’s space tech sector witnessed a record-breaking funding of $126 million in the year 2023, a 7% increase from the $118 million raised in 2022 and a 235% increase from $37.6 million in 2021. In 2024, the year-to-date funding stands at $10.8 million. Despite a global slowdown in funding, the Indian space tech sector has been experiencing an upward trend, driven by substantial government support and significant innovations. Tracxn’s Space Tech Geo Report 2024 India has emerged as a formidable player in the global space technology arena, with more than 100 space tech startups, the majority of which were founded in the past five years. Government support has been a critical accelerant for this growth. The Union Budget’s funding of 1000 Crore is expected to boost the industry significantly, attracting more entrepreneurship and investment in the coming months. Currently, India boasts 55 active space assets, including communication, meteorological, and earth observation satellites. The Indian Space Tech sector’s funding landscape is predominantly driven by early-stage investments. In 2023, early-stage rounds attracted $120 million of the total $126 million raised, reflecting a notable growth from $114 million in 2022, which represents a 5% increase. In 2024, early-stage funding has reached $8.5 million to date. Seed-stage funding has also seen a significant rise, growing from $4.3 million in 2022 to $5.3 million in 2023, marking a 24% increase. However, despite this growth in early-stage and seed-stage funding, the nascent ecosystem for private sector participation in Indian Space Tech startups has not yet experienced any late-stage funding. Skyroot Aerospace leads as the highest-funded active space tech startup in India, with an overall funding of $99.8 million, followed by Pixxel at $71.7 million and Agnikul at $61.5 million. No other startup in this segment has raised funds above $50 million. The top-funded business models in this space include Small Satellite Launch Vehicles, Satellite Imaging Services, and Satellite Communication Services. Notably, the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle segment has attracted $168 million to date, with Skyroot raising the highest funding in this category. Despite the vibrant funding landscape, no acquisitions have been observed in 2024 YTD. The only acquisition to date is the 2022 purchase of Prakshep, a satellite imagery provider for the agricultural industry, by Arya. Additionally, the sector has yet to witness the emergence of unicorns. MTAR and Ananth Technologies are the only public companies in this space. We expect the sector to attract even more investment, sparking more innovation. The combination of solid early-stage funding and supportive government policies will be key to driving this growth and establishing India as a leading center for space exploration and technology Neha Singh, Co-Founder of Tracxn We expect the sector to attract even more investment, sparking more innovation. The combination of solid early-stage funding and supportive government policies will be key to driving this growth and establishing India as a leading center for space exploration and technology We expect the sector to attract even more investment, sparking more innovation. The combination of solid early-stage funding and supportive government policies will be key to driving this growth and establishing India as a leading center for space exploration and technology We expect the sector to attract even more investment, sparking more innovation. The combination of solid early-stage funding and supportive government policies will be key to driving this growth and establishing India as a leading center for space exploration and technology We expect the sector to attract even more investment, sparking more innovation. The combination of solid early-stage funding and supportive government policies will be key to driving this growth and establishing India as a leading center for space exploration and technology Neha Singh, Co-Founder of Tracxn Neha Singh, Co-Founder of Tracxn, saidg, “India’s Space Tech sector is growing rapidly, thanks to strong government support and a dynamic startup scene. The significant funding and strategic investments we’re seeing now are setting the stage for India to become a major player in the global space industry. Looking ahead, we expect the sector to attract even more investment, sparking more innovation. The combination of solid early-stage funding and supportive government policies will be key to driving this growth and establishing India as a leading center for space exploration and technology.” The privatization of the space sector has catalyzed a multifold increase in activity. The International Astronautical Federation awarded India the prestigious World Space Award for its successful launch of Chandrayaan 3 , which made history in 2023 as the first mission to achieve a soft landing on the moon’s south pole. This landmark achievement has set a global standard for India’s potential and cost-effective engineering in the space tech industry. awarded Chandrayaan 3 Bangalore leads the list of top-funded cities in India’s space tech sector, followed by Hyderabad and Chennai. Startups based in Bangalore have contributed to more than 55% of the total funding in this space, and it is also the city with the highest number of space tech startups. Among the top investors in the sector are Speciale Invest, Anicut Capital, and GrowX Ventures. Anicut Capital, LetsVenture, and Rosmerta Technologies have been the leading seed-stage investors over the last two years, while Ban Labs, Anicut Capital, and Artha Venture Fund have emerged as the top early-stage investors during the same period. The evolution of the space industry highlights a global shift from government control to private-sector collaboration. The United States, a pioneer in privatizing its space industry with the 1984 Commercial Space Launch Act , has significantly benefited from private company contributions through NASA’s Artemis program . Federal funding for NASA has consistently increased , with $24.8 billion allocated in the 2024 budget. In terms of geographic funding, the US remains a leader in space tech startup funding, although it has seen a decline from $5.5 billion in 2021 to $660 million in 2024. 1984 Commercial Space Launch Act NASA’s Artemis program consistently increased Europe, on the other hand, has seen increased funding in its space tech sector, with $407 million raised in 2024 to date, following a record $512 million in 2023. The UK, while experiencing fluctuations in funding, shows signs of recovery with $135 million raised in 2024 to date. Similarly, the UK has invested €50 million in its Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) sector since 2017, employing a hybrid model that leverages private technologies for space missions. invested In recent years, the European Space Agency (ESA) has shifted to a competition-based model, inviting more private players to develop and launch space missions. This strategic shift, driven by a series of delays and failures in rocket launches, aims to attract private investment and boost entrepreneurship in the region. Despite the existence of the ESA, countries like Germany, Italy, and France maintain their space research agencies, working in collaboration with the ESA. The ESA’s budget for 2024 is $8.3 billion, a 10% increase from the previous year, with significant contributions from Germany, France, and Italy. A major portion of this budget is allocated to Earth Observation operations (30%), followed by space transportation and navigation. shifted with significant contributions India’s Space Tech sector is also growing rapidly, fueled by government support and a dynamic startup ecosystem. Significant funding and strategic investments are positioning India to become a major player in the global space industry, with expectations of attracting more investment and sparking further innovation. Navanwita Bora Sachdev, Editor, The Tech Panda Navanwita Bora Sachdev, Editor, The Tech Panda Navanwita Bora Sachdev , Editor, The Tech Panda Navanwita Bora Sachdev

India's Space Tech Sector Soars with Unprecedented Funding

Greetings, humans. I remote chat this afternoon with Rohit Jha , the CEO & Co-Founder of Transcelestial Technologies, a startup building light speed communications infrastructure for the next 100 years. Prior to founding Transcelestial Technologies, Rohit has worked on cutting-edge projects in autonomous vehicles, hardware and software engineering projects - including working on secure, low-latency, communication and distributed software systems in financial institutions where he received multiple accolades, one as the youngest Associate in The Royal Bank of Scotland’s Asia Pacific team. Hello Rohit! How are you coping with our (Singapore’s) partial lockdown situation so far? Nothing new. Basically ‘University Life’ all over again, except for the serious number of hours spent working on 😃 . Difference is, that was self-isolation and this one is by the government. Although, I’m very saddened by the situation of our friends from India, Bangladesh and other places are in, in the worker dormitories. Hope they are being taken good care of. Transcelestial Yes, our community cases has really lowered in the past weeks, but the transmission numbers remain high on the foreign workers’ side. It is more like there were so many attack vectors for Covid-19 and so many possible variations of spreading, edge cases were bound to creep in. It is the same story you see repeating over and over in other countries. When I was studying in Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, they were renovating big chunks of our halls so my friends and I have had the chance to go and visit some of these dormitories back then - social isolation is just impossible there. Given that most countries will start re-opening next month, what is one thing everyone can do to solve this societal issue? There is no other solution than a medical one. We must work collectively to fund and fast track vaccine trials. If you look at pandemic propagation and re-attack scenarios, both from historical occurrences and computer models, there are predicted to be waves of highs and lows of outbreak. Social distancing and mask-wearing is like going to the gym before summer break. You do it occasionally, to conform to trend, but if exercise is not part of a daily routine for a longer period of time, one will fall out of habit. Only a joint funding initiative, injected by the government and executed through industrial-academic partnerships, will help resolve this situation fast and cheaply. I’ll hope to see our societies jointly working towards this solution, then. I wanted to know more about the stage of development that Transcelestial is in this year. The last we met in late 2018, your product, CENTAURI, was emerging from prototype, into on-ground application? A lot has happened in a year! Seriously - the last year feels like 2 years! Yeah, so to put in context what we are trying to solve - what we are building is aimed at solving the Global Distribution Challenge in Internet Connectivity. The Internet is delivered to your handphone or computer, or VR glasses through 3 main steps: 1. - Data hosted in other countries or continents is channeled through massive fiber pipes sitting at the bottom of the ocean. They carry almost 95% of the world’s data. Undersea Cables 2. - Once these undersea cables come up on a continent, telecoms and governments build 100s of kilometres-long fiber cables to carry this data to large cities and towns. Inter-city fiber 3. - ISPs, telecoms, and other companies then take this data and using a mix of fiber and wireless technologies (4G for instance), plug this to cell towers, homes, offices, hospitals, schools, and so on. Last Mile Connectivity All 3 parts of this chain have severe costs and physical bottlenecks which has resulted in more than 50% of the world still unconnected or connected with very poor Internet speeds. So our wireless laser communication technology is being developed to address all 3 of these distribution challenges for at least the next 50 years of human expansion. CENTAURI is our initial attempt to attack the easiest of the 3 steps - Last Mile Connectivity. When we last met each other back in late 2018, we had just tested our R&D product with SK Telecom in South Korea, and demonstrated remarkable potential for commercial and technological success. In the last year (2019), we spent time on: Redesigning the entire product for commercial manufacturing Reduced dimensions and costs by almost 60% by fully vertical integrating the various subsystems. Starting a production line with one of the world’s top contract manufacturer We launched two models of the product: CENTAURI 1Gbps (for the 4G world & enterprises) and CENTAURI 10Gbps (for the 5G world). We have also expanded to 5 countries in total where we have deployed and tested our technology with leading telecommunications and other partners. It sounds like a massive undertaking for sure. Were there any fundamental design changes; in using wireless lasers to speed up communication? It was mostly massive engineering design decisions. For instance, the previous R&D device was a pretty much a ‘giant, heavy Vader helmet’. But as we were productizing it, Step 1 was to make the external aesthetics to be the smallest, lightest design ever made for such a technology, including a design which would instantly invoke a sense of space-age futurism. This, I think, was probably the coolest part of the external changes. Internally, there were some hardcore improvements in our state-of-the-art laser pointing and tracking system which is a combination of self-learning and heuristics-based methods. Also, major advances in our precision optics, optoelectronics and opto-mechanical sub systems. Because our team is mainly comprised of ex-space folks - we brought in many techniques used in cutting edge space tech, military tech and academic learnings into in-house calibration and production workflow. Like, how to align optical axis with micrometer precision, so that even when being transported across rough seas and sitting out in typhoons and scorching heat, these systems perform to a micron level of accuracy for many years. Your team from Entrepreneur First’s (They were in the inaugural cohort, in Singapore) has had the largest seed funding round in Southeast Asia when you started? At that time - yes. Suspect it probably was the largest seed round for startup in Southeast Asia, but since then, many have gone on to raise bigger seed rounds. I feel extremely invigorated by this. Deep tech has previously taken a back seat to E-commerce in this region, but seeing such massively renewed interest in deep tech companies with large seed rounds  (Kind of a necessity for deep tech companies) is quite commonplace now. I even joined in the round for one of them! any Yes I agree, when we worked together back in end 2018 where I worked with niche or deep tech companies exclusively, there wasn’t much public interest in such applications. Even today, smaller consumer applications seem to get so much more hype than the people building really visionary communications technology. I think it really boils down to who the investors are, what promises of return they have raised their funds on, what is the risk appetite of their LPs, etc. Take this Covid-19 situation for example. Traditional retail and B2B businesses are taking massive sales hits. Companies who were confident before about raising $5 - 10 million are now looking for C-notes to keep things going, because there are stories of investors backing out even after term sheets and investment agreements were concluded. In this period of time, deep tech - and specifically early stage deep tech, it makes total sense to invest in these areas. 1.Most of the money will go into R&D and core tech development. 2. The founders can make better use of that money to get in better talent at cheaper compensation - liquidity of talent is higher too. 3. No real urgency to go out and search for clients for that nasty MRR metric. 4. Price per share is probably going to be lower as founders have lesser expectations of valuation - hence investors can end up getting more bang for buck. And then there are specific industries which will continue to matter 10 years later even if the world changes dramatically - telecommunications, food, medicine, education, tighter social networks, games, content, energy and transportation. And if you are really really scared that this is the end of the world, then there is an even more perfect industry to invest in - space tech. Because then if things do get to that point, leaving is the only option! Space is the final frontier after all. All valid points -  I know you will announce your Series A round later this month; was the process largely the same with raising the seed round? Well, it’s definitely way shorter! Our seed round took 9 months end to end! If it wasn’t for some amazing angels wiring cash upfront, it would have been tough to continue. Fundraising rounds are like different levels in a game. To defeat every ‘level’ and ’level’s boss’, you often need a completely new strategy. Largely for deep tech, seed rounds are all about trying to convince everyone on 3 things: 1. Can you technically build it? 2. Can you hire the right people to help you build it? 3. Is the final potential market large enough, for instance, at least worth a few billions, if not more. At Series A, you already have great answers for those. So for a deep tech company the questions are now: 1. Is it really for commercial application yet? If so, what attempts were made for product market fit? 2. Do you have some kind of excel model which explains how you can get to Series B without running out of cash and hopefully by then, demonstrating to your early market that this product is good? 3. How defensible is it? And of course, there were many learnings from our seed round fundraise that we employed this time. The one which helped save the most time was starting casual conversations with folks you want to raise from, months before you actually want to. In fact, the first term sheet we got was from a fund who decided to not join in the seed round but we had kept talking to them every few months since then! This is often not understood - or overlooked, by new founders. 👏 That’s really interesting. Oh one more thing - during the whole time fundraising, I was almost external to the company with Danesh (our co-founder) even taking over most of CEO duties, like sales and other projects. We would have weekly catchups on company progress so i didn’t totally lose touch. I think in the end after the first 1-2 months, because of just the phase we were in, I still had to plug back in almost 30% of my time. But if you can stay disciplined in total, and have an unrelenting focus on fundraising, you can run a tight, quick round. Yes, I understood from so many CEO founders that running the business and a venture funding round concurrently was simply not effective. I mean you hear people saying that fundraising is a full time job, but in reality as founder or CEO, it’s impossible to detach from those duties. So the usual split ends up being 60% fundraising & 40% sales and other stuff. Which just means putting your leg in just another boat. It’s very, very difficult to fully detach and focus. But this is 100% needed. And for that you need a great co-founder, sales team, engineering team and operations team who understands why. You’re a young founder yourself and this is your first venture. How did you know how to make such a mindset and process change in the first place? As they say in the novel Anna Karenina, - the same Internet that we are helping build out also is the largest storage of our collective experiences, wishes, dreams and ambitions. “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” If you are not good at something or its your first time, usually it is a good practice to read relevant experiences and talk to the right people to understand what it takes to do something efficiently. Obviously, our seed round investors (Entrepreneur First, Wavemaker, 500Startups, airtree, Michael Seibel from YC, our angels) were a tremendous help in terms of explaining the mindset and preparation needed to undertake a new fundraising round. But also like almost everything, if you think from basic principles, it naturally comes to you. I also collectively spent more than 100 hours reading general feedback and advice coming out of blogs, interviews, articles, news content of B2B hardware or software founders who have walked the path before me. A good example which I recommend to a lot of founders is Front CEO’s Mathilde’s retrospectives on her fundraising rounds which has consistently been very tightly run. Eventually it boils down to having 1-1s with Danesh (our co-founder) on the upcoming course of action, and us both discussing on the best way to do it, the Vulcan way. 🖖 Live Long And Prosper. Which one in your team is the Spock of Transcelestial? Haha, I don’t know. Maybe ? (An Engineer in the team.) Spock has been so many things over time that its difficult to pin down his personality. In the Star Trek original, he was very much Spock the science officer - calm, composed, wise, emotionless mostly, but empathetic. In , he is much more passionate and risk taking and adventurous, A-type personality. In the new discovery series he is the lone genius type with hero complex. Max Star Trek Kelvin Timeline So it seems that your journey as a lonely, fundraiser person is coming to an end, synchronizing with the re-opening of offices, from our earlier partial lockdown status due to the pandemic. What is one of the first things you plan to do when the lockdown ends? Eating dumplings from the Michelin-reviewed Smith Street Food Court dumpling and noodle shop! From Transcelestial’s perspective, we actually had anticipated a lockdown like this. So 2 weeks before the start of the original period, we had started discussing how the hardware engineers could continue working from home and stay productive. What the team has been preparing for mainly is to kickstart mass production of our current CENTAURI models. Good old ‘economies of scale’ is the best way to bring the prices down for a new technology. So next week onwards, we start setting up our major production line for our first mass-produced CENTAURI devices. Also, we have tons of projects overseas which have been on halt due to various travel bans. So we have some extremely busy deployment schedules coming up this month and the next 2-3 months with our regional telecom partners. Finally, we are working on hiring, and an office move. We are ramping up our business teams to scale the product market fit. So if you know about some great offices with discounted pricing, let me know! We’re going for the industrial high ceiling, trendy lair vibe! Chinese dumplings with noodles are always delicious. Sure, I would love to help to grow Transcelestial again. I’ll catch you later in the month then! As long as we wear masks and maintain social distancing! Singapore, July 3 2020 : Transcelestial Technologies, a Singapore-based startup building the future of Internet Distribution, today announced that it has closed USD 9.6M in Series A funding, co-led by EDBI, a Singapore Government investment arm, and Wavemaker Partners. Disclosure : I am consulting for Transcelestial Technologies currently.

The Space Tech Startup Making Our Internet A Better Place With Lasers🖖 

It’s late on Tuesday night, and Austin is shifting around me. Over the past 5 days, I had grown accustomed to a particular style of person. Startup hustlers, skinny suits, hoodies, and a wardrobe of SWAG T-shirts. SXSW is an event of multiple streams, beginning with ‘interactive,’ which overlaps with film and then merges into music. 12 years ago I was a professional musician, and the shifting crowd around me is distantly familiar from those days. Scrappy jeans, black T-Shirts, the odd fancy suit or dress, and people grappling with hard cases everywhere. Almost in an afternoon, the interactive stream of SXSW packed up and the musicians and their fans moved in. I find it hard to define themes from anything but the most specific conferences, and SXSW has so many talks, booths, people, parties, and events, it’s impossible to attend more than a slither of what’s happening. In my first two days, I made the rookie mistake of plugging myself into too many sources of information and listening to the opinions of too many people. Simmering under the surface of SXSW is a definite fear-of-missing-out, as attendees scour social media and blogs in an attempt to find ‘the best party/talk/celebrity appearance/giveaway/experience.’ I realized this is a fool’s errand, and ‘best’ is subjective. It’s better to pick themes, events or people important to you and be happy with those. My coverage includes ethics in tech, the blockchain, and seeking out innovative startups, which are all subjects interesting to me right now. I have so much to say about SXSW; this first part covers Blockchain and SpaceTech. The next part, ethics in tech, good design, and other miscellaneous ideas. Grab yourself a Cryptotaco and a cold beer from the fridge and let’s all try and make some sense out of the madness. Blockchain all the Things There wasn’t a blockchain track at SXSW, but lots of events dotted around the program and side events covering aspects from ICOs, to the government, to rights management, and much more. per se Bringing Creative Industries to the Blockchain The highlight for me was an interview I conducted with Zach LeBeau of SingularDTV. Their idea for a blockchain-powered media creation, distribution, and monetization platform is not new, but its comprehensiveness and level of integration is impressive. To me, the rights management and monetization of digital works is a perfect use of blockchain, and as an ex-musician who was a professional during the times of Napster, it feels like an ideal solution to potentially solve a lot of issues with media distribution. If you’re interested in hearing more about SingularDTV, I interviewed Zach LeBeau, and you can hear it below. Government on the Blockchain Another highlight was a short presentation at the Blockhouse side event by of the . Justin made a handful of valuable points on the role of government in technology, but specifically on Blockchain. Justin mentioned that the Government’s role isn’t just to regulate, but also research and recommend best practices to other departments and businesses. His department focuses not on adding new technology to broken processes, but figuring out how people can use it to improve practices. Justin Herman U.S. Emerging Citizen Technology Office (ECTO) A panel at the partially covered the use of AI and chatbots in Diplomacy and government to communicate with actual people and citizens better. The panel discussed that we often tend to focus too much on the negative aspects of technology, and not enough of the positive. Yes, governments and other agencies are using technology to miss-inform and manipulate foreign peoples, but governments should also be using them to counter this better, creating bots that keep populations informed on the actual ‘facts.’ Alternatively, use the tools to convene the populace better, so they can inform each other of the information and ‘truth’ as they see them. Some members of the panel voiced an idea around using bots to help with frequent and tedious interactions people have with governments, such as bills and visa applications. I wonder if too many of these processes still rely on a human to give the final say for this to be a viable option. There is complexity in apps for governments, what if a 3rd party creates a visa app for the US, but one of their VCs is a Chinese company? Does that constitute a security or conflict of interest issue? EU house Hacking the Blockchain Towards the end of my time at SXSW, I attended the official Hackathon and met a lot of teams working on Blockchain-based projects, mainly voting platforms, another ideal use case for the technology. Hopefully, the times of ICO scams and ridiculous overvaluations are nearing an end, and we can focus on innovative technological use cases again. The New Space Race Among the people promoting dumb apps we don’t need, carbon copies of 100s of other existing services and bizarre ideas was also a growing amount of people and companies working with space technology. When I hear discussions on (relatively) affordable space travel and Mars exploration it sends a shiver down my spine that no “Tinder for Dog Walkers” can manage. The highlight of the SXSW program was that I didn’t even attempt to get into, but there was also a spattering of other talks in the program covering everything from futurism to living on Mars. an interview with Elon Musk There’s Plenty of Space Down Under The highlight for me was from Australia House (I am half Australian). Australia has seen a rise in space-related startups to 85, with the country announcing . The country is ideally placed geographically, financially and skill-wise and I hope to see more success in the, err, space. their first space agency in September 2017 And There’s More… OK, folks, that’s the first half of my coverage from SXSW, more to follow later. Originally published at dzone.com .

SXSW Part 1: Blockchain and SpaceTech

Startups of The Year: Meet the Emerging Tech Industry

Beginners van die jaar: Ontmoet die opkomende tegnologie-industrie

የዓመቱ ጅምር፡ ከታዳጊው የቴክኖሎጂ ኢንዱስትሪ ጋር ይገናኙ

Стартапы года: знаёмцеся з новай індустрыяй тэхналогій

Startups del año: conozca la industria tecnológica emergente

Urteko startup-ak: ezagutu emergentzia teknologiaren industria

Vuoden startupit: Tapaa kehittyvä teknologia-ala

Startups pou Ane a: Rankontre Endistri teknoloji Emerging yo

Startup Tahun Ini: Temui Industri Teknologi yang Berkembang

今年のスタートアップ: 新興テクノロジー業界を知る

Gada jaunizveidotie uzņēmumi: iepazīstieties ar jauno tehnoloģiju nozari

Startups van het jaar: maak kennis met de opkomende tech-industrie

Стартапи године: Упознајте технолошку индустрију у настајању

GMX v2 and Its Competitors: The New Wave In the Decentralized Derivatives Market And Its Impact

2023 might have been India’s lowest-funded year in last 5 years as the funding winter continues, but the decade shows good progress. A tech-savvy young population, Internet penetration, and an expanding middle class have led to an explosion of startups in India in the past decade On National Startup Day, that India witnessed an unprecedented surge in the creation and funding of startups in the last ten years. The country has solidified its position as a major global center for innovation and entrepreneurship with a rise in the number of tech companies in India to 122k to date, with a peak in 2020, witnessing more than 16K new additions. The funding landscape has also experienced a monumental shift, with 2020 and 2021 being the highest investment years over the past decade. Tracxn reported Despite the challenges faced in the funding landscape in 2023, investors, including venture capitalists, angel investors, and private equity firms, have shown remarkable confidence in Indian startups. The funding scenario, both from Indian and global investors, has been encouraging, with a total funding of $8.4 billion in India in 2023, demonstrating resilience amid market uncertainties. The startup ecosystem is ready to lead in bringing more innovation, creating jobs, and boosting economic prosperity. We are on the verge of a new era of success, supported by technology, business-friendly regulations, and the strong dedication of our entrepreneurs Neha Singh, co-founder of Tracxn Neha Singh, co-founder of Tracxn, said, “Over the past ten years, India’s startup sector has grown a lot, becoming a global hub for new ideas and economic growth. Entrepreneurs have shown great determination and creativity, contributing significantly to the country’s economic development. Looking ahead, we are optimistic about the future. The startup ecosystem is ready to lead in bringing more innovation, creating jobs, and boosting economic prosperity. We are on the verge of a new era of success, supported by technology, business-friendly regulations, and the strong dedication of our entrepreneurs.” Key Factors to Growth The upsurge in the number of startups in the country can be attributed to several key factors. These include a tech-savvy young population resulting from widespread mobile internet access, the expansion of the middle class, and a favorable regulatory landscape. These elements collectively have fostered a conducive environment for entrepreneurial growth and innovation in the startup ecosystem. Top Performing Sectors Top-funded sectors from 2014 to 2023 include retail, enterprise applications, FinTech, transportation & logistics tech, food and agriculture tech, auto tech, travel & hospitality tech, and EdTech. Factors like increased internet penetration, digitization, and government initiatives have fueled the growth of these sectors. Startups have played a pivotal role in driving Research and Development (R&D), especially in knowledge-intensive sectors. India’s investment in Deep Tech (R&D oriented) has been increasing steadily over the years with total funding of US$6.73B, and in a decade, it received US$6.23 billion, reflecting the country’s steady growth and commitment to science and technology, particularly in Deep Tech, funding has witnessed a substantial increase, reaching $753.7 million in 2023. This trend emphasizes the importance of technology-driven innovation in shaping India’s future. India’s online commerce has grown tremendously, with sectors like Retail Tech receiving substantial funding. The funding trends in retail tech showcase the sector’s resilience, with US$2.3 billion invested in 2023, indicating sustained growth. New Emerging Sectors The addition of new sectors such as DeepTech, SpaceTech, AI, and EVs has broadened the startup landscape. Noteworthy sectors like DeepTech have seen a rise in funding, reaching $2.1 billion in 2022, underlining the market’s confidence in innovative technologies. The EV industry, which attracted investor interest and is one of the booming sectors, has seen $4.8 billion in funding in the past ten years. Even Space Tech has been in demand after its transformation which is credited to privatisation. India ranks seventh in terms of funding within the International SpaceTech landscape to date. The funding reached $114.9 million in 2022 and $122.2 million in 2023 and will continue to grow. Job Creation One of the most significant achievements of the Indian startup ecosystem has been job creation, with approximately 10 lakh jobs generated by startups till 2023, as per Economic Survey 2023. Furthermore, startups focusing on continued learning and professional upskilling have attracted significant investments, reflecting the industry’s commitment to employee empowerment. Top Favorable Cities for Startups City-wise, Bengaluru remains the startup hub, with a total funding of $70.4 billion in a decade, followed by Delhi-NCR and Mumbai. The government’s focus on promoting entrepreneurship is evident, with increased funding across metros and non-metros alike. Several successful startups have emerged in non-metropolitan areas, driving innovation and transforming their regions, such as Jaipur, which has notably secured its position among the top cities in FinTech funding, garnering an impressive $214 million in 2023. Unicorns, Soonicorns, & Minicorns In a significant achievement for the Indian startup ecosystem, it marked a major milestone by welcoming the 100th Indian startup into the unicorn club in 2022. As of now, a total of 111 unicorns have been created in India, with 355 promising ones poised to join the ranks soon. Similarly, the rise of Soonicorns began in 2019, and the year 2022 witnessed an unprecedented surge with the creation of 96 Soonicorns. Additionally, the Minicorn trend, which also boomed in 2019, experienced substantial growth, reaching its pinnacle in 2022 with the emergence of 264 Minicorns. This showcases the dynamic and flourishing nature of the Indian startup ecosystem, with both Soonicorns and Minicorns contributing to the nation’s entrepreneurial landscape. Women-Led Startups Over the past decade, entrepreneurial advancements have transformed India significantly, with women playing a significant role in driving this progress. The addition of women-led startups has also witnessed growth, with total funding reaching $1.1 billion in 2023 from $0.456B in 2014. This trend is exemplified by the fact that twenty out of the total unicorns created to date are women-led startups, highlighting women’s impactful and growing role in shaping the nation’s startup ecosystem. Future Outlook India’s economic growth is intricately tied to the success of its startup ecosystem. India’s economic outlook remains optimistic, with a projected annual growth rate of 6.3% (as per IMF) in 2023–24. The government’s ongoing support, as seen in the 2023 budget with initiatives like tax concessions and the Drone Shakti Program, reinforces the commitment to nurturing the tech ecosystem. Investor confidence in the Indian startup ecosystem has seen a substantial increase over the last decade. Despite the recent funding winter, the number of investors has increased from 2.45k in 2014 to 16.3k in 2021.  The long-term prospects remain favorable, with India poised to become the third-largest economy in the world by 2027, according to the IMF. As the global situation stabilizes, a revival of investment activity is expected in the coming years, reaffirming India’s position as a top destination for investors. This article was originally published by on Navanwita Bora Sachdev The Tech Panda.

India’s Decade of Tech Startup Growth

If you're building or considering founding a company in the industries demanding intricate technologies – think Deep Tech, Space Tech, Bio Tech, or groundbreaking hardware – the involvement of scientists is non-negotiable. It's ideal to onboard such experts within your in-house team. However, even if circumstances don't allow for this, you'll still need to engage, consult, and collaborate with external top-tier specialists. This necessitates establishing a shared understanding with the research and development team, so-called R&D. In this relationship, there's a common problem: development and business have completely different mindsets and patterns of thought. R&D frequently involves the embrace of more contemplative processes, resulting in the pursuit of scientific discoveries and the fulfillment of scientific curiosity. In contrast, behind every business in such fields, there lies the idea of bringing value to humanity through the creation of great products as soon as possible, which, if executed correctly, will consequently lead to an increase in the company's revenue and capitalization. As a founder of a Deep Tech startup with an in-house team of 30+ researchers and developers, I will share my advice for the founders to simplify yet preserve the quality of connection between these different parts of a company. Create a Mutually Beneficial Partnership From the Outset According to , lack of communication is among the ten main reasons why startups fail. In complex environments where development is involved, this pitfall may be even more dangerous. CB Insights Imagine this situation: product managers desiring to expedite the development of the final product present unrealistic requirements to the R&D, which might border on the unattainable. Worse yet, instances arise where business executives seek solutions that are ultimately unfeasible within the laws of physics. All of this may ultimately lead to a situation where, even if these demands are achievable, the development team might be hesitant due to personal preferences or a perception of incongruity. To effectively navigate these complexities, the key is to establish a partnership that is not only perceived by leaders but is experienced by every team member. This partnership should be founded on principles of equality, mutual respect, and a deep recognition that the responsibilities of your colleagues in research, as well as those engaged in business-related tasks, are equally significant to the overall mission. the uncomplicated method to realize this vision is by offering an even-handed share of ownership to each stakeholder, both from the business and science side. In our case, the shares of the co-founders responsible for both sides are completely equal. In the case of the company’s leadership, , it is the task of founders to address both short-term and long-term motivations to prove that reaching the collective goal will be more beneficial for them than individual justifications. It's essential to sustain their confidence in your product and vision, which can be only achieved with regular meetings and open communication. In the case of each other representative of the team The role of the founder is to continuously prove to employees that what you're doing is not just “cool” but also meaningful, something that truly matters to people. In other words, follow the Y Combinator's famous mantra and show how you "Make something people want." For long-term motivation, the company should offer an honest and transparent system of options. While this may primarily come into play during a company sale or IPO, each employee, starting from junior positions to the C-levels, should know that they're not just contributing to something great for the sake of history. In contrast, the whole team will directly benefit from it if they succeed in creating something extraordinary. This combination of short-term enthusiasm and long-term rewards is the formula that will keep our team engaged, driven, and inspired. Articulate a Clear Product Vision for the Future Another significant danger when working with scientists lies when they operate solely within their academic framework. This can potentially lead to stagnation characterized by the constant pursuit of numerous research topics but the lack of progress toward creating a specific product. To address this, the business team needs to create a solid step-by-step plan for reaching the final product and decomposing each step. To make it possible, a systematic approach is essential: . Ask yourself clear questions to catalog all creative fantasies of what your product is like: Generate and refine the idea of the final product How is the future altered with your product in existence? How does it make people’s lives easier? What are its use cases, functions, and features? How is it operated? The best approach to do it is when ideas organically emerge from specific demands and challenges, and the inspiration can be found in a variety of sources, starting from research papers and all the way through the Netflix series. The next essential step of decomposing the product is filtering your ideas through the lens of market analysis together, you will experience product managers and future target audiences. They should help you ascertain whether your bright ideas are in demand and assess their potential market volume. Moreover, it’s vital to determine whether your innovation aims for near-term realism or envisions a role in a global future landscape. Align your ideas to market needs. . At this point, the development team should state which of the functions needed for the product are the most realistic in terms of development. Implement timelines and priority of the development together with the R&D team Of course, some startups explicitly state their aspiration to change the world in the far future, but if you want to build a product from a closer perspective, you should rank each idea in terms of being possible at this point of technical development. This may even lead to your dream product being divided into several intermediate products that are all potentially sellable and reachable in the near future. This systematic progression culminates in segmented into numerous short time intervals, each culminating in a predicted outcome. It should encompass key milestones, enabling you to evaluate each result within a decent amount of time, suitable both for the speed of your R&D process and your business needs. This approach was formulated by American Investor Ray Dalio in his book “Principles’. His methodology encapsulates five essential steps: a thoroughly structured product roadmap Defining clear goals Confronting and addressing problems Uncovering root causes Crafting detailed plans Executing these plans diligently for effective decision-making and goal achievement. This process, performed at least monthly, combined with regular assessment and updating your goals on a basic level, ensures that innovation remains an ongoing endeavor. Empower Your Team Once your strategic objectives and pathways are clear, the most prudent approach is to facilitate individual team members' dedicated focus. The founder plays a pivotal role as an executive leader, wielding both the force of determination and the authority needed to guide the team toward necessary actions. However, it's vital to avoid excessive pressure or becoming overly persistent. A poignant lesson arises from Steve Jobs' interactions with Steve Wozniak, who was too suppressive towards the great engineer, which led to the latter leaving the company. To not let anything like this happen to you: , and their valuable expertise is supported by time, authority, and respect. To start, it's essential to create an optimal working environment, such as having an office located conveniently for the scientists, a well-equipped laboratory, and a higher salary. Create an atmosphere where the brilliance of each R&D team member is acknowledged In our case, our office is literally a minute away from the university with which we collaborate, which provides easy access to the necessary resources and materials. Moreover, it's equally important to ensure that R&D representatives receive genuine recognition and rewards for their hard work. Founders of Deep Techs should actively celebrate and support brilliant ideas and achievements. This means facilitating patent applications where all the participants are mentioned fairly and providing opportunities for scientists to showcase their ideas at prestigious conferences and events. It's all about fostering an environment where innovation and dedication are not only acknowledged but also encouraged. . The groundbreaking development process can be easily stifled by someone else’s obsession with efficiency, accountability, and immediate returns. So, to provide a nurturing environment for the breakthrough, you should make sure that they don’t have to bother about anything but their research. This includes operational, legal, and business matters, as well as pressure from the outside world, such as the market, your own investors, your business team, and sometimes even yourself. Safeguard the R&D team from all external disruptions . Founders should make persistent daily efforts to bridge the gap between the worlds of business and science by regularly and equally highlighting the accomplishments of all teams. One effective way to achieve this is by organizing a monthly one-hour meeting, so-called “Townhalls.” Help business team members to gain respect in the eyes of the researchers During these gatherings, representatives from both the R&D and business teams can share their achievements from the past month. This approach not only emphasizes the progress made by each team but also illustrates how their collective efforts drive the company toward its ultimate goal. Overall, it’s ideal to reach a consensus that all team members are professionals whose responsibilities impact the company’s success as significantly as research and development. By embracing these principles, you will cultivate a harmonious atmosphere for advancing the product that will become a scientific milestone.

3 Key Rules for Building Deep Tech

গভীর প্রযুক্তি নির্মাণের জন্য 3 মূল নিয়ম

3 Schlüsselregeln für den Aufbau von Deep Tech

Tres reglas clave para desarrollar tecnología profunda

3 règles clés pour créer une technologie profonde

डीप टेक के निर्माण के लिए 3 प्रमुख नियम

ディープテックを構築するための 3 つの重要なルール

딥 테크 구축을 위한 3가지 핵심 규칙

3 regras principais para construir tecnologia profunda

3 ключевых правила создания глубоких технологий

Deep Tech Geliştirmenin 3 Temel Kuralı

3 quy tắc chính để xây dựng công nghệ sâu

构建深度技术的 3 个关键规则

Hey Hackers, Revenue.AI has been nominated in HackerNoon's annual Startup of the Year awards in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Europe. Please vote for us -→ HERE Read more about us below to understand why we deserve your vote! Are you also participating in SOTY 2023? If so, click here to fill out this interview. Meet Revenue.AI Our startup is called Revenue.AI, and we are revolutionizing the way businesses drive revenue growth through the power of artificial intelligence. With our innovative AI-driven platform, we enable organizations to make smarter, data-backed decisions and unlock hidden opportunities for increased profitability. Our elevator pitch is simple: we empower businesses to harness the full potential of AI, turning complex data into actionable insights. Our platform acts as a trusted copilot, guiding companies through the vast landscape of data, automating processes, and providing intelligent recommendations. With Revenue.AI, businesses gain a competitive edge by making informed decisions, optimizing pricing strategies, identifying growth opportunities, and driving revenue growth. My Role I am Istvan Czilik, the CEO of Revenue.AI. As a business entrepreneur and executive data & analytics leader, I have spent 15 years leading analytics disruption across various industries. My expertise lies in enabling digital, data, and AI transformation in sectors such as CPG, retail, distribution, commodity trading, life sciences, and more. I am passionate about leveraging data and analytics since university. My focus is on building disruptive and innovative ideas that empower businesses to transform and gain a competitive edge in the market. With me at the helm, Revenue.AI is committed to staying at the forefront of analytics disruption. How We're Disrupting/Improving the AI/ML Industry At Revenue.AI, our primary focus is on generating actionable insights. We have recognized that the most effective way to achieve this is through the integration of an insight platform and chatbot. Our cutting-edge solution, Copilot, combines internal insights and data-driven facts to offer a comprehensive overview of any given topic. By simply asking a question to your Copilot, you not only receive textual responses but also insightful charts and visualizations. Additionally, Copilot goes beyond passive information delivery by running simulations and taking proactive actions. This proactive approach ensures that insights are delivered in real-time, accompanied by instant alerts and concise business summaries highlighting critical events identified by our AI platform. With Revenue.AI and Copilot as your trusted partners, you can stay ahead of the competition and make data-driven decisions with confidence. With our platform, generating comprehensive dashboards and charts for various business topics becomes effortless. Users can seamlessly navigate through different areas of their business while receiving intelligent recommendations tailored to their specific needs. Our proactive approach ensures that insights are delivered in real-time, providing instant alerts and concise business summaries on critical events identified by our AI platform. Standing Out from The Crowd Our revolutionary Copilot sets us apart from other startups in the AI space. It combines the best of ChatGPT-like capabilities, predictive recommendations, and an array of essential features to deliver unparalleled value to our clients. With Copilot, you get more than just AI capabilities – you get a trusted companion that empowers you with actionable insights and practical guidance. Another factor that distinguishes us is our strong emphasis on delivering immediate value and actionable outcomes to our clients. We have developed an advanced recommendation engine that operates in real-time and proactively provides valuable insights and recommendations. We recognize that businesses require more than just AI capabilities; they need practical insights that can drive tangible results. At Revenue.AI, we design our solutions with this in mind, enabling businesses to harness the full potential of their data and make informed decisions that foster growth and success. In essence, we aim to provide businesses with a trusted and dependable Copilot/Assistant that guides them through any business situation with precision and effectiveness. Our Predictions/Thoughts on the AI Industry in 2023 What major events do you think have shaped or will shape the industry in 2023 and 2024? The emergence of Generative AI engines has been a major event, along with the real-time utilization of sensory and textual datasets. These advancements are driving the growth and impact of AI engines in our economy. Additionally, support from companies like NVIDIA, with their cutting-edge computing power technology, is crucial for developing better and faster AI models. How has ChatGPT affected the industry? ChatGPT has played a pivotal role in garnering serious attention for the industry. While image recognition was previously the dominant topic in public discussions, the introduction of Generative tools like ChatGPT has provided everyday users with a better understanding of the power of AI. What jobs will AI take first in the next 5 years? Shared service roles and job areas that rely on extensive learning are facing imminent disruption and transformation. In the next five years, we anticipate the disappearance of call center operators, along with various roles associated with data curation and operations. Additionally, professions dependent on smart search, passive knowledge sharing, and utilization, such as legal clerks and travel agents, are also poised for significant changes. The evolving landscape of AI and automation is reshaping traditional job roles and demanding adaptability and upskilling from professionals in these fields. Embracing this technological shift and seeking opportunities for growth and specialization will be crucial for navigating the changing job market. What industry can AI help/improve the most right now? Green tech and space tech are two industries that stand to gain tremendous benefits from AI. These sectors are characterized by their openness to adopting new technologies, making them ideal for leveraging AI advancements. Additionally, the integration of AI and robotics holds great potential for optimizing processes in industries involving heavy machinery and hazardous tasks, such as manufacturing, agriculture, and healthcare. These sectors will greatly benefit from the increased efficiency, precision, and safety that AI-driven solutions can provide. Moreover, the field of data, which has long grappled with the challenge of accurately interpreting vast amounts of data, is on the brink of a significant transformation. In the next 5-10 years, we can expect to witness the emergence of AI-based curation technologies that will revolutionize how businesses and organizations harness the power of data. How reliant is AI development on training data in 2023? AI development in 2023 remains highly dependent on training data. The quality and curation of data play a crucial role in determining the effectiveness of AI systems. Similar to raising our own children, we bear the responsibility of feeding AI with well-curated and responsibly sourced data to ensure positive outcomes. What should people in the AI industry be most worried about in 2023 and beyond? As AI technology becomes more accessible and widely adopted, professionals should be cautious of the proliferation of companies that claim to provide AI solutions without truly adding value. It is important to discern between genuine AI advancements and those that are merely exploiting the AI buzzword without substantial contributions. What word defines the state of AI in 2023? TRANSFORMATION. The state of AI in 2023 can be defined by the transformative impact it is having across industries. Innovation and rapid advancement are driving the AI landscape, with a focus on expanding into new industries where AI was previously absent. We are witnessing the emergence of novel sectors that can leverage AI-generated insights, often in conjunction with robotics. Simultaneously, we are observing the widespread adoption and continued growth of AI in industries that have already embraced its potential. The AI revolution is unfolding, bringing transformative possibilities to diverse sectors of the economy. Why we decided to participate in HackerNoon's Startup of the Year awards We decided to participate in HackerNoon's Startup of the Year awards because we believe it is a fantastic opportunity to showcase our innovative solutions and gain recognition in the startup community. This platform allows us to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts, opening doors to potential collaborations and partnerships. Being part of this competition not only boosts our visibility but also provides valuable feedback and validation. Final Thoughts We are thrilled to be part of HackerNoon's Startup of the Year awards! We encourage everyone to support us by voting for our startup and helping us make a significant impact in the industry. Revenue.AI is nominated as Startup of the Year in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Vote for us today!

The Power of Actionable Insights - Interview with Startups of the Year Nominee, Revenue.AI 

El poder de la información procesable: entrevista con el nominado a Startups del año, Revenue.AI

La puissance des informations exploitables - Entretien avec le nominé des startups de l'année, Revenue.AI

कार्रवाई योग्य अंतर्दृष्टि की शक्ति - वर्ष के नामांकित व्यक्ति, राजस्व.एआई के स्टार्टअप के साथ साक्षात्कार

実用的な洞察の力 - スタートアップ オブ ザ イヤーにノミネートされた Revenue.AI へのインタビュー

O poder dos insights acionáveis - Entrevista com o candidato a startups do ano, Revenue.AI

Sức mạnh của thông tin chi tiết có thể hành động - Phỏng vấn Ứng cử viên khởi nghiệp của năm, Revenue.AI

可行见解的力量 - 采访年度初创公司提名者，Revenue.AI

They say, once you come to Georgia, you find yourself reluctant to leave. This stunning country – particularly attractive with sunny weather, scenic mountains, and of course, exceptional wine – has not only incredible nature and rich culture, but also all chances to become another cradle of fintech and blockchain. In 2020, Georgia 7 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business, which made over 50,000 tech specialists relocate here during the last couple of years. What’s far more exciting is that the Georgian government has a good attitude toward cryptocurrencies, and is already hard at work on a legal framework to support mass adoption. was ranked Today, thousands of crypto freelancers are working internationally from Georgia, and it’s therefore not surprising that Tbilisi finally became one more meeting point for investors, C-level executives, developers, and creators involved in Web3. They all flocked to , the first-ever international Web3 conference in the Caucasian region, on October 22-23. Presented to the wide audience as a combination of GameFi and DeFi, the event boasted a total of 8-panel discussions on its business agenda, over 70 speakers and industry experts as well as 50+ sponsors and exhibitors showcasing their innovative products. DeGameFi In this article, I’ll provide a deep look into what happened throughout these two days at the Sheraton Grand Metechi Palace hotel and highlight the most insightful events. Let’s buckle up! Overview of DeGameFi DeGameFi is the first Georgian community-based company with a goal of bridging the worlds of Web2 and Web3. DeGameFi’s team started with a monthly series of gatherings, such as meet-ups, hackathons, and workshops, aimed at popularizing blockchain technologies and helping traditional businesses transit to the new era of finance. And now, thanks to the growing interest in cryptocurrencies among Georgian companies and institutions, DeGameFi has grown to a large-scale conference attended by over 1,000 Web3 enthusiasts from different regions. Source: Twitter Combining the most engaging formats and activities for networking and knowledge sharing, the event offered to visit 6 main sections so that each participant could fully immerse into the Web3 environment: Conference hall; Exhibition floor for business; Tech room; NFT gallery; Start-up competition; VIP area. Apart from that, there were various gatherings, workshops, contests, and tech talks available during the conference. No matter whether you are a VC, entrepreneur, developer or artist, here you would find many promising opportunities and projects for mutual cooperation. Fun fact: DeGameFi even invited community members to join the conference online at the Decentraland. At DeGameFi, I caught up with a few fellows who I asked to share their impressions of the event. Among them were Konstantin Gorin, Head of Support at and , Elena Shiltseva, CPO at , as well as Mike Ermolaev and Gennadii Bazhukov from . They all agreed that the conference was organized at a very good level and laid the groundwork for a brand-new way of interaction between crypto supporters in Georgia and the CIS. Cryptopay NearPay Roketo Business Kikimora Labs “The Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing international upheavals made us almost forget this wonderful atmosphere of face-to-face meetings where the most innovative ideas are born. DeGameFi reminded us how vital the offline events are in the crypto industry and the scale of the conference ideally suited to the establishment of fruitful connections,” notes Konstantin Gorin. Source: Twitter “It was really great to meet so many local guys at DeGameFi. Even the Bank of Georgia got on board and showcased its Web3 projects, which demonstrates that the technology is here to stay and regulators are keeping their hands on the pulse. The Georgian crypto community is developing at a rapid pace, and the conference has proven it true,” adds Elena Shiltseva. Gennadii, in charge of Business Development of Kikimora Labs, was struck with the geography of participating companies and individuals: “We ran into attendees not only from Georgia, but also from the USA, Great Britain, South Korea, and China. I’d like to separately note that the venue was selected perfectly, which contributed significantly to effective networking. I, personally, partnered with a few investors and found some interesting projects that are worth attention.” Mike, who is Head of PR & Content at Kikimora Labs, was impressed by the various interactives related to GameFi. “The NFT gallery was a wrap! An amazing place for artists to catch some inspiration, and I think that even those who still feel skeptical about NFTs couldn’t remain indifferent. Besides, the presence of brands promoting gamification was huge. The participants were welcomed to try various activities like playing blockchain-based games with underlying NFT economics to assess the potential themselves,” he shares. Source: Twitter But what really wowed everyone is the high quality of expert content delivered on the main stage and a stir around panel discussions devoted to trending topics in Web3. So let’s get to it. Speaker Lineup And Panels The two-day agenda was tailored to ingesting insights from multiple directions of the DeFi development: from crypto payments and decentralized marketplaces to metaverses, Web3 investment strategies and marketing specifics. Source: DeGameFi.io DeGameFi brought on stage the best and the brightest minds from both Georgia and global markets, including: Mikheil Didebulidze, partner at VNTR Capital, founder of DeGameFi; Tone Vays, analyst, derivatives trader, influencer and event producer; Levan Kobakhidze, CDO at Bank of Georgia; Max Krupyshev, CEO CoinsPaid & ; Cryptoprocessing.com Iouri Galitchenko, strategic partnership Binance Pay&Card; Colin Donohue, director of Startup Connect & Startup Grind; Eralp Hatipoglu, co-founder & CEO at CityPay, and more. “The quality of dialogue between the keynote experts and attendees was excellent. I was pleasantly surprised by a high level of speakers who shared their comprehensive views on the current Web3 trends and challenges. This once again demonstrated that Georgia as a crypto hub is full of forward-thinking individuals and entities,” says Gennadii Bazhukov. A peculiar feature of DeGameFi was a number of panel discussions featuring the most pressing issues that the DeFi and Web3 industry is facing today. I’d like to point out those panels that, from my point of view, were the hottest and the most buzzing. Web 3.0 payments from past to present: how are traditional banks keeping up? - Panel : George Gvazava (CryptX), Levan Kobakhidze (Bank of Georgia), Iouri Galitchenko (Binance Pay & Card), Eralp Hatipoglu (CityPay), Max Krupyshev (CoinsPaid) : Max Novak from MyNearWallet : The impact of regulations on the DeFi ecosystem; the prospects of CBDCs and stablecoins; the latest efforts to bridge banks and crypto made by payment giants like Mastercard; tokenization and interoperability; obstacles to mainstream adoption of DeFi; Web3 for businesses; metaverses and what banks can offer in this visual world. Panel: Web 3.0 payments from past to present: how are traditional banks keeping up? Experts Moderator Topics : David Chikhladze (OWNIC), Zeshan Ahmad (P360), Michael Holden (Maxihaxi) : Konstantin Gorin from NearPay and Cryptopay Panel: Sports 3.0 - new era for sports entities Experts Moderator : The driving force behind Web3 initiatives in sport; crowd communication models; integrating blockchain and web3 technologies to sports – collaboration or rivalry; engaging huge fan bases and adoption issues. Topics Sports 3.0 - new era for sports entities - Panel : Manuel Rensink (Fathom Protocol), Ioseb Bolqvadze ( , & OneSoft), Lasha Antadze (Rarify) : Maria Reshetnik from : Current and potential barriers to DeFi prosperity; emerging trends; risks posed by tightening regulations; the convergence between DeFi and TradFi; the most pressing real-life use cases that DeFi can bring. Panel: The evolution and the future of DeFi Experts Cryptal.com Cryptomat.com Moderator FutureComes Topics : Amirsan Roberto (Sinofy Group), Kirill Mishanin (Infodriver Capital), Vojta Rocek (Presto Ventures), Sergi Gvarjaladze (Kettari Foundation), Gvantsa Baidoshvili (Revenue Capital) : Maria Reshetnik from FutureComes : Investment trends and strategies in the crypto/blockchain segment; red flags during the investment process; investing in DAOs – pros and cons. Panel: A VC's guide: institutional decentralization and investments Experts Moderator Topics : Mikheil Didebulidze (VNTR Capital), Eralp Hatipoglu (CityPay), Colin Donohue (Startup Connect & Startup Grind), Levan Khomeriki (Two Point Zero) : Mike Ermolaev from Kikimora Labs : The reasons for decline of Web3 startup funding; the most popular areas of investment; the pitfalls of investing in the play-to-earn projects and metaverses; leading countries in Web3; investment DAOs; the role of crypto marketing in 2022-2023; the legitimacy of Web3. Panel: Web3 start-up ecosystem: current state Experts Moderator Topics Mike Ermolaev and Colin Donohue “The DeGameFi panels were always full houses. I moderated the discussion that was devoted to the Web3 start-up ecosystem and it definitely collected more than a hundred of viewers. The hall was packed; every seat was occupied and people had to stand behind. Unbelievable!” comments Mike Ermolaev. Tech Room, Afterparty And Side Events The agenda of the tech room, also positioned as an additional educational space, was focused more on technology-oriented speeches and presentations of infrastructure solutions. Elena Shiltseva who commanded the scene there shares her feedback on the host experience: “Except for participating at DeGameFi as a speaker of the main stage where I talked about the role of a CFO in the process of transiting from Web2 to Web3, I had a great pleasure to host the tech room section. The key benefit of this role was greeting many talented people in the blockchain industry on stage and gaining maximum knowledge about innovations that are emerging in this field. I’m still thrilled by the atmosphere, and of course, I’d like to say massive thanks to the organizers who made my job of hosting super easy!” Elena Shiltseva hosting the tech room section Elena also shared with me her own shortlist of the top 4 speakers who rocked the tech room with their valuable and fundamental reports. First, she mentioned Max Sultakov, CEO of Mover, who talked about technical and economic aspects of going cross-chain on high-performance L1s. Then Elena proceeded to Vladimir Prosvirkin, founder of Aspis, who explained why DAOs will replace legal entities and how to create a successful decentralized autonomous organization. Her other favorite was Avtandil Kutchava with a practical report on crypto regulations in Europe and Georgia. And finally, she got inspired by the speech of charismatic Alexander Wendt from Trend Vision who showed with real examples, why high-quality PR efforts are essential for start-ups and how not to fail when putting them into practice. “These were amazing applied reports, the perfect examples of how tech-related speeches should be prepared and presented,” Elena concludes. Today’s events cannot do without entertainment, thus maintaining the perfect balance between work and pleasure. DeGameFi partnered with the world’s biggest Web3 conference WOW Summit to give 100+ VIP ticket holders unforgettable emotions and exclusive networking opportunities at the end of the event. The afterparty took place at Axis Tower's Sky Bar where representatives of the international and local funds, CEOs of the most promising projects, and local state institutions enjoyed music, fine drinks, snacks, and enchanting panoramic views over the night Tbilisi. DeGameFi x WOW Summit Afterparty The list of side events also included VIP dinner and investor’s breakfast, sponsored by Kikimora Labs. The latter gathered together a few dozen people who are involved in the most promising niches, such as SpaceTech, or look for tech innovations to co-invest in, particularly on the Georgian market. “We connected with the global Web3 community, made a lot of networking pics and really had fun attending both the investor’s breakfast and the afterparty. The beauty of these events lies in their exclusive status that ensures the presence of your target audience, reliable partnerships and fantastic experience sharing. And let’s face it, talking business is much more enjoyable when getting together either over coffee or drinks,” says Mike Ermolaev laughing. Final Thoughts Driven by the mission to support the growth of the crypto community in Georgia, DeGameFi took the first step towards bridging traditional business and Web 3 in a solid and transparent way. Given that the country is currently in the process of making itself a fintech and crypto hub, the events under the DeGameFi brand will most likely become annual and will honor the progress achieved with attempts to foster blockchain adoption en masse.

DeGameFi Conference in Tbilisi: Introducing a New Crypto Hub to the Web3 Community

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