Stage Financial News

Volt VC, a micro venture capital (VC) firm, announced the launch of its inaugural fund on Wednesday. The Volt VC Fund-1 aims to raise a corpus of Rs 45 crore to invest in around 20-25 consumer-centric startups at the pre-seed stage across various sectors, with a particular focus on direct-to-consumer (D2C), business-to-consumer (B2C), and business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) models. “In India, lately we have seen a good number of pre-seed and seed funds coming in, but several of them have ticket sizes of between Rs 4 crore and Rs 10 crore. However, many of these startups don’t have the appetite to take in that much money. So, there was a need for someone to enter with a smaller ticket for a smaller stake,” Param Patel, the general partner of the fund told ET.

NARCL, which acquired EPC company Simplex Infrastructures' ₹9.600-crore debt from lenders led by Punjab National Bank (PNB), is exploring a restructuring plan to split the exposure into sustainable and unsustainable portions, potentially writing off the latter, sources told ET. The plan, which envisages gains for the company's stock on its approval, is in the early stages of discussions. NARCL had acquired the loan in cash and security receipts (SRs) for ₹640 crore earlier this year. The state-backed bad bank had bought the debt from lenders at a 93% discount. The banks involved include PNB, State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Union Bank of India, RBL, IDBI Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.

Taylor Swift is reigning the world with her songs that resonate with the masses. For someone worshipped like a goddess, particularly among the young, things not going according to the plan might sound rare. But even for Taylor Swift, there are days when plans don't work out. Apparently, the pop sensation, 34, experienced a small mishap during her most recent performance in London. The All Too Well singer usually plays flawlessly with her piano during her concerts. But at this recent concert, there was a problem with the piano, so Taylor's performance met with a little hindrance. As she attempted to examine the piano's internal components to determine why it wasn't working, the Grammy-winning star asked herself how she got in there. Also Read: Grave of the Fireflies: Studio Ghibli’s film release date, where to watch, regional availability and plot

Experts meet in Bangkok this week to advance what would be the first international treaty to tackle the surging problem of plastic pollution

Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Poland on August 21, the first visit by an Indian premier in 45 years, some focus will be on a forgotten slice of history during the turbulent Second World War in which two Indian rulers gave shelter and protection to thousands of Polish children and refugees caught in the crossfires of the biggest-ever conflict on earth. The PM is likely to pay a visit to the 'Good Maharaja Square' in Warsaw, which has been built to pay homage to the erstwhile ruler of Nawanagar, Maharaja Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji, who provided shelter to a group of Polish children who had been left homeless after Poland was ravished by the war. The Nawanagar ruler, along with Shrimant Rajarshi Chhatrapati Sahu Maharaj of Kolhapur provided housing and hospitality to an estimated 5,000 Polish citizens from 1942 to 1946 as the war raged in Europe.

Raygun, also known as Rachael Gunn, was under heavy criticism recently following her Olympic performances in Paris. Australian university lecturer, 36, participated in the breaking (breakdancing) competition, but her outrageous performance choices and manner drew a lot of criticism. Her routines, which included moves like the sprinkler and kangaroo-inspired hops, were heavily criticized online. This reaction had significant effects on the small but passionate hip-hop community in Australia, as per the reports of Yahoo sports. Within the Australian breaking scene, the backlash against Raygun caused a stir. Many thought her performance fell short of the high expectations they have for someone performing on such a big stage. Australian hip-hop pioneer Spice said that the unfavorable press appeared to be pushing their local scene back and questioned the expectations for Olympic representation. In spite of the criticism, several in the community stood up for Raygun, saying that any objective assessment of her work was eclipsed by the harsh criticism coming from all around the world.

Chicago Monday evening — a warmer Tuesday afternoon across India that seems to be always ahead of America — an elderly gentleman, confident on the stage, came across a veritable hero before his rousing, cheering audience. In theory, he was the same person who, in late June at the first presidential debate with Donald Trump, looked confused, lost and old. In practice, though, Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention, almost two months older now, was a changed man as he took the adulation from the very same lot who had — for legitimate reasons — given him the shove from a re-election bid.

ICC) announced on Tuesday that the Women's T20 World Cup will be moved to the United Arab Emirates due to the ongoing unrest in Bangladesh following the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The event, originally scheduled from October 3 to 20, will now be held in Dubai and Sharjah. ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice expressed his disappointment over the news, stating that Bangladesh Cricket Board would have made the event memorable.

Axiscades on Tuesday said its subsidiary Epcogen has bagged an energy storage project from UK-based Highview Power. The project is expected to generate 50 MW of power for 6 hours, aggregating to 300 MW, according to a company statement. «Subsidiary Epcogen has been awarded a long-term contract by Highview Power, a British energy storage technology producer. This project will feature the world's largest liquid air energy storage (LAES) facility, supporting a 50 MW, 300 MWh (six-hour) long-duration energy storage capacity to provide power to over 1 million homes in the UK,» the company said. The project will be set up on an engineering, construction and procurement (EPC) basis at Carrington in Manchester over a period of 20 months, the company said, adding that the commercial operation at the site is planned to begin in 2026.

iPhone 16 launch date revealed via new leaked poster. Expected date, time and all we know so farAccording to a report by Bloomberg, Apple's key partner Foxconn has started training thousands of its workers at a factory in Tamil Nadu to produce iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max variants.

Since graduating with a degree in economics from the University of Birmingham in 2018, Joel has worked as a financial market/cryptocurrency analyst. He firmly believes that emerging crypto technology...

Sebi has proposed to replace the term 'consent letter' with 'debenture trustee agreement'. The change will streamline the process for appointing debenture trustees in the issuance of securities, ensure transparency in the appointment of debenture trustees, and play a crucial role in the securities market. In a consultation paper floated on Saturday, the markets watchdog proposed replacing the term «consent letter» with «debenture trustee agreement» in Sebi's (Issue and Listing of Non-Convertible Securities) rules or NCS regulations.

Danielle Fishel has revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The 43-year-old «Boy Meets World» actress has disclosed the details during the podcast «Pod Meets World». Fishel said she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). DCIS is a form of breast cancer. The actress said it was stage zero. She claimed that she would undergo surgery. It will be followed by necessary treatment. Fishel is married to Jensen Karp. They have two sons — five-year-old Adler and three-year-old Keaton.

Read this | Green revolution 2.0: Why India needs an integrated energy policy Meanwhile, India holds its position as the world’s fourth-largest renewable power capacity, trailing only China and Brazil among emerging economies, excluding hydropower plants. Also read: The rooftop eclipse on India’s solar ambitions India also aims to power half of its energy capacity with renewables by 2030, a goal supported by encouraging progress.

Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah said that the decision on pacer Mohammed Shami's participation in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy away from home later this year will be taken after the report from National Cricket Academy (NCA). India fast bowler Mohammed Shami is making significant strides in his recovery from an ankle injury that has kept him out of cricket since the ODI World Cup last November. The expectation is that he will be ready to participate in India's home season, starting with a Test series against Bangladesh in September. Shami is currently in the final stages of his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. He resumed bowling last month for the first time since his surgery and has been gradually increasing his bowling workload, reporting no pain.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday urged various banks to write off the loans availed by landslide victims and survivors in Kerala's Wayanad. He said waiving loans would not impose any unbearable burden upon the banks and so it should be written off completely. While addressing a meeting of the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) here, the CM said relaxation in interest amounts or extension of time for remitting monthly installments would not at all be a solution in the landslide-hit regions. Many of those who had availed the loans are dead, and their land became unusable after the disaster, he pointed out. «The only thing we can do is write off the entire loans taken by people in these affected areas,» Vijayan said.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren may quit the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party and join another front, JMM leader Manoj Pandey warned that such a move would be self-sabotage for Soren. Speaking to on Sunday, Pandey said, «Champai Soren is a cautious leader and remains a member of the party. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment on any of his remarks. However, if he does make such remarks and leaves the party for another, such as the BJP, it would be self-sabotage for him.» Pandey added that he «can't believe that a mature politician like Soren would make such a decision to join the BJP, which is already a sinking ship.»

Democratic National Convention (DNC) will kick off Monday in Chicago, one month after Republicans held their convention in Milwaukee. U.S. President Joe Biden will speak on day one of the convention during prime time, as he passes the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris. Nearly 50,000 visitors are expected to attend the convention, including approximately 4,000 delegates. The theme of the convention is «For the People, For Our Future.» While the official schedule has not yet been released, Democratic National Convention officials have confirmed that President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will speak on Monday. The theme for Monday will be «For the People,» with speakers expected to pay tribute to Biden, according to DNC officials. Former U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak on Tuesday, which will focus on the theme «A Bold Vision for the Future.»

Mint earlier reported about Macquarie Group, JSW Neo Energy, and Actis Llp signing NDAs to buy O2 Power. Barclays is running the sale process for the deal having an equity and enterprise value of around $1 billion and $2.3 billion respectively. The next stage involves shortlisting the NBOs to give selected bidders full data room access, after which the binding bids will be submitted.

Aviral Bhatnagar, who earlier led enterprise software and artificial intelligence investments for Venture Highway (now merged with US-based General Catalyst), has launched a Rs 100 crore fund to back early-stage Indian startups. The fund, launched by the new venture capital (VC) firm AJVC, will focus purely on pre-seed stage investments while being sector agnostic, he told ET. The development comes at a time when several new domestic funds and micro venture capital (VC) firms have come up in India. These investors back startups at a very early stage and write smaller cheques than established VC firms. The emergence of the micro VC funds, which are usually smaller and are single partner focused, have added to the diversity of risk capital investing in Indian startups. Other established micro VC firms include Vaibhav Domkundwar's Better Capital, deeptech-focused firm Java Capital, Delhi-based Sauce VC, which makes consumer sector investments, and $25 million enterprise software-focused Neon Fund.