Pranav Balakrishnan

This year marks 20 years since VCs first set up shop in India: Sequoia, Nexus and Helion. It's a good time to step back and ask, how has the ecosystem really done? Who should we compare India's ecosystem to? I use the lens of history and capitalism in this @thecaptableco column

🚨🚨 Big: Peak XV Partners further loses 3 senior partners who will start their new fund. Peak XV is also raising a new fund currently and although it had a great year 2025 in terms of returns, it has also seen a lot of churn.

SCOOP: The sale of Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals has narrowed to a small group of bidders. @stateofplayclub has learnt: - Adar Poonawalla is backed by TPG - Temasek is exploring a partnership w/ Ranjan Pai - Times of India Group is evaluating both teams (1/n)

🚨PhonePe got Sebi's approval Tue and moved a step closer to what will be the most keenly watched IPO of 2026 and the second largest Fintech listing in India Now, as all eyes will be on PhonePe's updated DRHP, here's everything you need to know about India's largest Fintech

Have you ever wondered how your delivery partner can earn as little as Rs 14 per order? Ever wondered why strikes keep happening even as your groceries still arrive on time? @thecaptableco the-captable.com/2026/01/the-st…

🚨Did the strikes on the NYE and Christmas eve by delivery partners fail? Did they succeed? Were these strikes similar to traditional strikes that we have witnessed for ages? A 🧵

Kozhikode wowed Portuguese traders in 1498. Lucknow dazzled travellers in the 1800s. Yet today, most traditionally prosperous cities lag behind newer cities in online shopping

My fascination with reusability began in May this year, when I ran into an investor at an incubator event in Chennai. He told me about Ethereal Exploration Guild and how close they have come to building a reusable rocket, probably more advanced than a Falcon 9

For the past few months, @patwardhannn @prnvbal and I were roaming around the alleys of Mumbai, offices of lawyers, perfume stores and lobbies of hotels. We sniffed perfumes, spoke to multiple people and read through laws and acts

🚨Scoop: Deeptech manufacturing startup Ethereal Machines is in discussions with Avataar Ventures, others, for a $30 million fundraise at $150 million valuation. Should the funding go through, it will be among India's bigger deeptech funding rounds. @YourStoryCo

Longtime readers of @YourStoryCo would have noticed that we are doing far more insights recently. And there's a good reason for this. In a world drowning in press releases and funding announcements, we realised our readers needed something more. They needed stories that help them make sense of what's actually happening in the startup ecosystem, beyond the noise and the hype. So we've doubled down on data-driven insights that tell you what really matters. Like how startups file patents to impress investors and then quietly let them die. Or how nearly 6,400 DPIIT-recognised startups have shut shop. These aren't just stories. They're the patterns hiding in plain sight, the context that turns information into understanding. A huge shoutout to Nikhil @patwardhannn for anchoring this effort and bringing these insights to life every single day. Here are some recent pieces that are worth your time: yourstory.com/2025/12/startu… yourstory.com/2025/12/startu… yourstory.com/2025/12/nearly… yourstory.com/2025/12/mahara… yourstory.com/2025/12/wakefi… yourstory.com/2025/12/a-busy…

🚨JUST IN: Electric tractor maker Moonrider has raised $6 million in a Series A funding round led by pi Ventures. The company is looking to begin deliveries of its tractors in February next year. Read more at: yourstory.com/2025/12/6m-ser…

🚨New: At first glance, Prosus’ recent India bets look scattered: Rapido, Ixigo, Urban Company… even a small cheque into edtech startup Arivihan. But look a little closer, and a clear pattern starts to emerge. 🧵👇

🚨 [EXCLUSIVE] IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants are in advanced talks with a UK-based investor group for a $200 million minority investment that values the team at about $1.3 billion.

🚨🚨Workiversary post! Yesterday, I completed a year with @thecaptableco (Time flies! For sure) What started as a cold message to the editor on LinkedIn landed me one of the most fulfilling journalism stints in my almost 10-year-long career @jarshadnk @SharmaShradha

The story involved speaking to multiple company insiders across these platforms. The reporting shows that, in many cases, these programs aren’t really about loyalty. the-captable.com/2025/11/loyalt…

Wrote about the death of loyalty (and its re-invention) in online shopping for @thecaptableco last week. Lenskart Gold, Zepto Daily, Swiggy One, Zomato Gold are being sold at throwaway prices. Across Indian ecommerce, loyalty programs are multiplying while their value collapses👇

No less than a miracle - today, I finally got my Mac back! I genuinely consider myself extremely lucky. A long thread. 🧵

What happens when every competitor in a space has dirt cheap loyalty programmes? The concept of “loyalty” is out the window. They become a value destroying trap that help with customer acquisition, but rarely with retention.

A story I enjoyed working on the most with @prnvbal. Zepto was running into issues with many brands that it had onboarded, so we picked that. Eventually, Zepto initiated conversations with brands to resolve issues. the-captable.com/2025/06/zeptos…