Startup Investment Opportunities

If you’re a woman who wants to start a business today... with no funding, no network, no fancy background — here’s something I want you to know: You don’t need everything figured out. You just need a good product, a solid starting point, and the courage to begin small. The biggest opportunity I see right now especially for women entrepreneurs is... Quick Commerce. In the last couple of years, India’s consumption behavior has changed rapidly. People are buying local brands. They’re discovering new products every day. And platforms like Zepto, Blinkit, and Swiggy Instamart are making this easier than ever. They’ve become the new-age distribution channels. Ones that don’t require you to own a store, spend lakhs on setup, or build a massive team. All you need is a good product that solves a real need. You start small. You test it. If people love it... you scale. A great example? There are brands selling homemade snacks, pickles, candles, coffees, body care products... all built from home kitchens or small garages - that are now clocking lakhs in monthly revenue, just by leveraging quick commerce. No big ads. No investor money. Just a sharp product and consistent execution. And that’s what I love about the landscape right now. You don’t need to be “connected.” You need to be consistent. So if you're a woman reading this, wondering where to begin: • Identify a niche problem •Build a product people genuinely want •Prototype it, test in your local circle •List on a Q-commerce platform •Let the market guide your next step If the product is good, customers will come back. And once you have traction, you also have leverage... for funding, for partnerships, for scale. You don’t need permission to start. You just need a starting line. To other founders: What’s one category or space you think more women should explore right now? Let’s get this conversation going.

India doesn’t just need more startups. It needs more founders who create jobs, solve real problems, and build with heart. That future isn’t possible without women entrepreneurs, and the momentum is already here. Across the country, women launch food ventures from home kitchens, run retail outlets in small towns, manage wellness brands, build tech-enabled solutions, and transform their communities. But one roadblock keeps surfacing again and again: access. Access to funding. Access to mentorship. Access to the right infrastructure. The good news is that several government-backed initiatives are already in place to bridge this gap, designed specifically for women who want to start or grow their business. ✅ Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) An initiative by NITI Aayog, WEP provides a single platform for mentorship, funding, resources, and collaboration opportunities for women across different stages of entrepreneurship. 🔗 wep.gov.in ✅Stand-Up India Scheme Provides loans between ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore to women and SC/ST entrepreneurs starting greenfield ventures. Includes handholding support and a loan tracking portal. 🔗 standupmitra.in ✅Mudra Loans (PMMY) Offers collateral-free loans in three categories—Shishu, Kishor, and Tarun—for small businesses like food stalls, beauty parlours, tailoring units, and local retail shops. 🔗 mudra.org.in ✅TREAD Scheme Aims to support women in rural and semi-urban areas by offering a 30% grant for project costs (through NGOs), along with training and credit assistance via MSMES. ✅Mahila Coir Yojana Promotes rural self-employment by providing a 75% subsidy on motorised coir machinery to trained women entrepreneurs. ✅Mahila Samriddhi Yojana Provides easy micro-loans via NGOs and MFIs with simplified procedures. Focuses on small-scale and home-based businesses, along with basic financial literacy support. ✅Annapurna Scheme Designed for food entrepreneurs, it offers up to ₹50,000 in loans to set up kitchen infrastructure, purchase utensils, or operate food trucks. Comes with a flexible 36-month repayment option. These schemes are not just financial tools, they are catalysts for economic empowerment. They are helping women step into entrepreneurship with more confidence and better support. If shared widely, this information can help women take the first step toward building something of their own, with fewer roadblocks and more resources. #womenentrepreneurs #businesswomen #womenempowerment

Healthtech investors are rejecting women - less than 2% of funding worldwide goes to women’s health. Here’s the harsh reality I’ve noticed after working in this space: - Issues like endometriosis, PCOS, and menopause have been left out of the healthcare conversation for too long. - Men are still leading many of the Femtech startups like Flo, Elvie, etc. The “fem” in Femtech is often missing from the conversation and the innovation. - Despite women spending billions on their health and wellness, investors still hesitate, seeing Femtech as a “niche” or “unprofitable” market. But I believe Femtech is a space awaiting innovation, and a HUGE opportunity in 2025-30. If you’re interested, here are the niches with untapped potential: 1. Fertility and Reproductive Health: The fertility services market is growing at 7.5% annually, yet access to affordable solutions is limited. Innovations in ovulation tracking and egg freezing are in high demand. 2. Menopause Management: Over 1 billion women will be in menopause by 2030, but only 25% get adequate care. Startups offering symptom tracking and hormone therapies can lead this space. 3. Chronic Conditions Unique to Women: Women are 3x more likely to develop autoimmune diseases, but solutions are lacking. Targeted treatments for conditions like lupus are a huge opportunity. 4. Mental Health and Emotional Well-being: 1 in 5 women faces mental health issues, yet tailored solutions are rare. Apps for therapy, meditation, and support can transform care. 5. Personalised Health Data and AI: 71% of women feel healthcare doesn’t meet their needs. AI-based tools for early diagnosis and preventive care can fill this gap. Femtech is no longer a niche. With the market projected to reach $103 billion by 2030, it’s a space waiting for disruption. Startups and investors have the chance to redefine women’s healthcare like never before. Where do you see the biggest opportunity in Femtech in 2025? I’m bullish on Femtech and want to be a part of this change. My goal is to help 5 Femtech startups raise $1-3 million each in the next 30 days. If you’re a Femtech startup in pre-seed or seed, I’m willing to help. DM me FEMTECH. #investment #femtech #innovation

The industry with 6x the TSR vs. the average 2–3× is… insurance. Insurers that lead with AI aren’t just keeping pace, they’re creating 6× the shareholder returns of laggards. The reason? Making bold choices about where to build, buy, or partner ... and rewiring the business, not just dabbling in pilots. Often cast as risk-averse, insurance shows the opposite here: when insurers center strategy with AI, the rewards are exponential. Leaders have created six times the shareholder returns of laggards over the past five years. My colleague Tanguy Catlin has spent years guiding insurance and financial-services clients through transformation. He and our insurance colleagues highlight that, to win, insurers can double down on four of the six rewired components: (1) Business-led roadmap: tie AI directly to value creation, not tech curiosity. (2) Operating model at scale: embed AI into how the business runs, not just in pilots. (3) Flexible AI stack: technology designed for speed, modularity, and distributed innovation. (4) Adoption & change management: because even the best AI fails without human adoption. Here’s what outcomes look like for insurers who get serious: domain-level transformation has already yielded a 10-20% lift in new agent success and sales conversion, 10-15% growth in premiums, 20-40% lower cost to onboard customers, and 3-5% improvement in claims accuracy. These aren’t incremental tweaks, they move core levers that impact the top and bottom line. Full article linked below and authored by Nick Milinkovich, Sid Kamath, Tanguy Catlin, and Violet Chung, with Pranav Jain and Ramzi Elias. https://lnkd.in/df2GXpuq

💡 For impact startups, it's important that the investors you bring onboard not only bring capital, but are also reflective of the community you are trying to serve. These investors are more likely to share your values, buy into the mission, and wants societal impact that compounds beyond financial returns. At Voda: The LGBTQIA+ Mental Wellness App, we're grateful to have raised from a diverse investor community that spans gender, sexuality, and ethnicity - much like the 17,000 users our app currently serves. 🏳️⚧️ 🏳️🌈 In my latest piece for Pioneers Post, I write about we went about building our roster of intersectional investors for our £275k pre-seed round. My top 5 tips for impact founders starting out on their fundraising journey: 1️⃣ Get immersed and involved in different networks  ↳ Start by immersing yourself in diverse founder communities; for me it was Series Q, Proud Ventures, and Colorintech. ↳ These communities helped build organic connections with like-minded investors (and founders who can make fab introductions). 2️⃣ Approach the right VCs ↳ Align with the right investors. Investors like Lightbulb Trust, Gaingels and ULTRA.VC, who focus on diversity and impact, have been instrumental for us. 3️⃣ Angels & SPVs ↳ Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) democratised our investing process by pooling smaller cheques from diverse angel investors. Using Odin helped us manage this. 4️⃣ Build in public ↳ We embraced a build-in-public approach. I shared our journey and learnings across digital (LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram) but also via speaking on live panels! ↳It helps when you've been introduced that the investor has chanced upon your work elsewhere! 5️⃣ Lead with values ↳ We lead with our values of community, intersectionality and impact. This resonated with the right investors (who are often part of the LGBTQIA+ community themselves). 👉 You can read the full article here: (https://lnkd.in/e4jVS3fu) #ImpactInvesting #LGBTQIA+ #Startup #MentalHealth #BuildInPublic #SPVs #VC #QueerTech

What if I told you there is a $32 TRILLION opportunity to boost female #entrepreneurship? A new survey highlights that companies in health care, financial services, and consumer products are consistently failing to meet the needs of women. The study, by global consulting group Boston Consulting Group (BCG) shows that women currently manage $32 trillion in global spending, are set to control 75% of discretionary spending within the next five years, and influence purchasing decisions across almost every category. Yet their needs and preferences remain under-represented in product and service design by large businesses. Even top-performing sectors, like grocery and personal care/beauty, drew only a 66% and 64% favorable rating among women in meeting their needs. The study also showed that women in the USA would be willing to spend an average of 15% more on higher-quality clothing and accessories which is an additional $228 per person annually. Similarly, they would pay 15% more for safer sports and fitness products, equating to an extra $123 each year. Given this, there is certainly an opportunity for female-led #startups to take the lead in addressing this untapped market as it will not only unlock a vast economic opportunity but will also secure a competitive edge for those new businesses by building stronger loyalty among female consumers. It may also finally persuade venture capitalists and other funding bodies to start to close the funding gap that female-led entrepreneurial firms have had to endure for far too long. https://lnkd.in/eRtZdzDC

When ‘Aligned Money’ Beats ‘Smart Money’: Rethinking Founder-Investor Fit Over the years, as a founder and investor, I’ve noticed startups often chase “smart money,” or capital from high-profile investors, as the ultimate goal. But consider this: “Aligned money” should be just as important, if not more so, when navigating the funding and entrepreneurship journey. While “smart money” brings insights, networks, and experience, alignment doesn’t automatically come with that check. An investor who truly believes in your mission and understands the journey can be transformative. The opposite can pose risks. They’re not just funding your startup. They’re joining your journey. I’ve seen founders secure big name investors only to clash over the company’s direction and leadership decision-making. When founders and investors are aligned, share a vision, and have mutual trust, they overcome hurdles together. I’m not suggesting you need to choose between smart and aligned money. They aren’t mutually exclusive. And smart money is, well, smart. You just want to make sure that specific partner and fund is aligned with you and your specific vision, style, and values. You wouldn’t compromise on hiring team members without a strong culture fit, yet this is often overlooked when bringing investors on board. So, when fundraising, remember it’s a two-way street. Even if you feel you don’t have the luxury to be selective, try to interview investors when you can. Explore their values, style, experience, and understanding of your space. Learn how they work with founders. Get a sense if they’re committed to your vision, understand your plan for the company, and can help you get there. From my experience, strong alignment leads to trust, honest and open communication, and effective collaboration, which significantly increases the chance of long-term success. So, even under fundraising pressures, consider prioritizing alignment alongside capital. Finding that synergy can make all the difference. #FounderTips, #Entrepreneurship, #StartupFunding, #VentureCapital

⭐ FT Partners is pleased to announce the publication of our Q1 2025 InsurTech Insights report, providing the most comprehensive review of global #InsurTech deal activity with analysis across private company financings, IPOs, and M&A transactions.    📊 Read or download the full report below or here: https://lnkd.in/exT_YyTV 💰 Q1 2025 InsurTech transaction activity highlights: • InsurTech funding volume rebounded in Q1 2025, with private companies raising nearly $1.2 billion in total – a 66% year-over-year increase from $717 million in Q1 2024. • The top three largest capital raises, all over $100 million, were claims management solutions provider Alacrity Solutions' $175 million growth round, decision intelligence platform Quantexa's $175 million Series F led by Teachers' Venture Growth, and home insurance provider Openly's $123 million late-stage venture round led by Eden Global Partners. • AI continues to be a key area of focus in the insurance industry for startups, established / traditional players and investors alike. While many companies are incorporating AI into their solutions and internally in new ways, 39% of capital raises in Q1 2025 were specifically raised by AI-first or AI-native companies, which have been prominently using the technology since launch. (Nirvana Insurance, CompScience, Comulate, COVU to name a few). • Similar to the broader FinTech sector, InsurTech M&A activity picked up in Q1 2025 with a total of 45 deals, the highest amount since Q1 2022. When annualizing M&A deal count, 2025 is tracking to reach a new record level of activity. • With two $1 billion+ deals in the quarter, announced M&A volume of $3.6 billion has almost surpassed full-year 2024's level of $4 billion. The largest deal in the quarter, Munich Re's $2.6 billion acquisition of Next Insurance, a digital insurer for SMBs in the US, is also one of the largest strategic M&A deals ever in the InsurTech space. #FinTech #Insurance #AI

This Summer was big for Insurtech across American and the momentum is shifting towards strong fundamentals 🚀 💼 Ethos Technologies filed for IPO (LIFE) after posting 55% YoY revenue growth and solid profitability, proving digital life insurance can scale. 🏠 Slide is targeting a $2B+ valuation through its IPO, with underwriting profits up nearly 70% YoY, showing that even in challenging P&C markets, disciplined tech-driven models win. 🤖 AI is leading funding trends: Insurtechs raised $1.3B in Q1 2025, with over 60% flowing into AI-first underwriting, claims, and risk analytics solutions. 🌪️ Emerging players like Sola (parametric climate insurance), ZestyAI (property risk data), and Upstage (LLM-powered document intelligence) show where innovation is heading to like smarter risk, faster operations, and embedded intelligence. Investors are rewarding and pumping money in to platforms that blend innovation with solid underwriting and operational discipline. #Insurtech #InsuranceInnovation #AI #Underwriting #propertyandcasualty #Startups #Funding #Insurance #oliverjames

I've seen a pattern emerge after years in venture capital that's worth sharing. The wrong investment partnership can cost you everything. Here's what I've observed: -Founders accepting funding from misaligned investors -Vision conflicts creating unnecessary friction -Company culture suffering from partnership mismatches -Teams losing focus due to investor disagreements At R136, we believe in a fundamental truth: Alignment > Valuation The right investor should be: -A true partner in your journey -Aligned with your core values -Supportive of your long-term vision -More than just a source of capital Hard truth: The wrong money can cost you more than a bad hire ever will. I've seen companies lose: -Strategic focus -Company culture -Operational control -Market opportunities Choose investors who will: -Challenge your thinking -Support your vision -Share your long-term goals -Add value beyond capital Remember: This decision shapes your entire company trajectory.