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India's Ad Boom and a VC Eyeing an IPO

Welcome to Unbox 2.0 - a weekly series giving you an exclusive peek into what's shaping conversations at the Lightbox office.

By Team Lightbox

5th March 2025

The money moves shaping business this week

Geniemode, the B2B apparel and textiles sourcing platform, just bagged $50M (Series C), led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management, with support from Fundamentum, Paramark Ventures, and Info Edge Ventures.

Bridgetown Research, an AI startup, secured $19M (Series A) from Lightspeed Ventures, Accel India, and a top research university. The plan? Expanding its AI agents' capabilities to tackle even more complex analyses.

MOC Cancer Care, which runs a network of community cancer daycare centers, raised $18M from Elevation Capital to further its mission.

Vidyut, an EV ecosystem startup, locked in $2.5M from Flourish Ventures to scale up.

The ePlane Co, an electric air taxi startup, is on the hunt for another $30-50M to build three prototypes by 2026—setting the stage for its big takeoff.

Source: Venture Intelligence


 

General Catalyst weighs an IPO amidst expansion

General Catalyst is in the early stages of considering an IPO, which would make it the first U.S. venture capital firm to go public—a milestone similar to Blackstone’s move for private equity nearly two decades ago.

Here's what we know so far

  • While no bankers, timeline, or formal plans are in place yet, the firm is actively expanding beyond venture capital.
  • To attract Wall Street interest, GC is diversifying its business, acquiring a hospital, launching wealth management, expanding into fund-of-funds, and raising $8B in new VC funds.
  • This shift mirrors Blackstone and Apollo’s evolution into broader investment firms, signaling how VC firms may reshape their role in public markets.

Source: Axios


 

India's Digital Ad Spends Boom

India is leading the charge in APAC’s digital ad boom, with a projected 20.2% growth in 2025, according to Dentsu’s latest report. 

As global ad spend is set to hit $772.4 billion in 2024, the region is seeing a surge driven by AI-powered discovery, social commerce, and brand-specific algorithms. By 2027, 79% of ad spend will be algorithm-driven, reshaping how brands approach search and visibility.

Meanwhile, paid social is evolving into a powerful shopping and entertainment ecosystem, fueling a 9.9% growth in APAC social ad spend. 

As brands refine their strategies with custom-built algorithms that integrate platform data and CRM insights, the future of advertising looks more automated and data-driven than ever.


 

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