The Arc

🚨BIG🚨Three MDs quit venture fund PeakXV Ashish Agarwal, Ishaan Mittal and Tejeshwi Sharma have exited Peak XV Partners, signalling the biggest leadership change at the firm since its Sequoia separation. “After thoughtful consideration and discussions, it became clear that parting ways was in the best interests of our limited partners and the long-term interests of the firm. Peak XV acknowledges their contributions and wishes them success in their future endeavors,” the firm said in a statement. This will be another investment firm spinning out of Peak XV/Sequoia India, following WestBridge Capital and A91 Partners. https://lnkd.in/gX2cK63f

🚨 Policybazaar-owner PB Fintech plans to raise fresh capital through a QIP for overseas acquisitions in markets like Europe. “It’s time for India to have its own MNCs,” says co-founder and group CEO Yashish Dahiya on its earnings call. PB Fintech already has close to Rs 5,000 crore in cash. The company plans to raise more money through a QIP to build a larger war chest. So why is PB Fintech looking to expand globally? - Policybazaar already has a 93% market share in insurance distribution in India, according to Dahiya. - He believes global markets are profit-rich but lack innovation, and that Policybazaar can take its India playbook to international markets. - Geographic diversification is also a key strategic objective for the business. The criteria will be a large market and a stable player, where PB Fintech can improve operations. He said he is also looking at high familiarity with the market - Dahiya indicated that he will prefer the UK over Indonesia in terms of understanding how the market works. The company has called for a board meeting on February 5 to seek approval.

🚨 Nykaa Fashion to run Nike’s D2C operations in India 👟 1️⃣ Beauty and fashion platform Nykaa has entered into a partnership with US sportswear brand Nike to build and manage its India direct-to-consumer (D2C) operations. 2️⃣ The deal, which takes effect from February 2026, will see Nike pay Nykaa Fashion to manage the India operations, a source familiar with the matter told The Arc. 3️⃣ This will include running Nike’s digital presence, merchandising, order fulfilment, and customer experience, the source added. Article link in comments 👇

🚨 💰 Peak XV Partners has led an $8 mn seed funding round in AI semiconductor startup Agrani Labs. Agrani was started by senior executives at companies like Intel and AMD. It also counts Vinod Dham, known as the father of Intel's pentium processor, as an advisor.

🚨 Consumer brand Marico has acquired over 93% stake in snacking brand 4700BC for Rs 227 crore. The shares in the company have been purchased from PVR Inox, which first backed 4700BC back in 2015. Marico plans to acquire the remaining 7% stake held by the founder "after completion of 3 years from execution date at a consideration to be determined at such time, subject to achievement of certain milestones, requisite approvals and terms and conditions under the definitive agreements." 4700BC had revenues of over Rs 100 crore in FY25, growing at 35% as compared to the previous year. In the October-December quarter, the company hit an annual revenue run rate of Rs 140 crore.

🚨 Payments platform Juspay has raised $50 mn from WestBridge Capital at $1.2 bn valuation. The round includes a secondary sale for ESOP liquidity at the 14-year-old company. Co says it has reached $1 trillion in annualised total payment volumes (TPV).

🚨 🚚 Logistics platform Shadowfax's IPO has been subscribed over 2.7 times at 4:36 pm on the final day 💰 Qualified institutional buyers - 3.81x Non-institutional investors (NIIs) - 0.83x Retail - 2.28x Shadowfax is raising Rs 1,907 crore from the IPO at a close to Rs 7,200 crore valuation.

🚨 💰 PhonePe has filed its updated DRHP for the upcoming IPO, which was approved earlier this week. Offer for sale (OFS) only IPO with 50.6 million shares by parent co Walmart, besides investors Tiger Global and Microsoft. Reports say PhonePe is targeting a $15 billion valuation for the IPO and looking to raise $1.3 billion.

🚨 🚖 Ride-hailing major Uber is doubling down on its premium business in India. The US-based company has invested $7 million in Carrum, a fleet management startup, to scale up vehicle supply. Carrum reported Rs 61 crore in revenue and Rs 2.5 crore in net profit in FY25, according to Tracxn. This marks Uber’s second such investment, after backing Everest Fleet in 2024.