India today is home to some of the most innovative and valuable startups in the world. With a thriving startup ecosystem that is seeing more and more foreign capital injection and innovation across the board from tech to business models, Indian startups are well positioned to take on the global startup ecosystem. Although the domestic market is already huge enough, more Indian SaaS startups are venturing out and expanding across borders. 

In today’s episode, we invite Sanjay Nath, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Blume Ventures, one of India’s leading early-stage venture funds. Sanjay also reprerepresents Blume on the boards of Arka Venture Labs and the Draper Venture Network. Blume focuses on Seed to Pre-Series A stages of funding and has made over 100 investments across its 10-year history across multiple funds. Sanjay has invested in and advises a wide portfolio of startups including GreyOrange Robotics, Dataweave, Locus, Tricog, LBB, Lulu, Lambdatest, TapChief (acquired by Unacademy), Nektar.ai, and Obviously.ai amongst others. 

What is the trajectory for Indian startups expanding abroad? How do they start in India and move to US and SEA? How can startups build and sell remotely and operate in a virtual world? What are the repercussions of localization when internationalization? Sanjay, as an active investor in the space, brings his experience in answering all these questions and more!

Show Notes

01:35 Introduction to Sanjay Nath

02:20 Sanjay’s transition from consulting to VC

07:06 The trend of Indian startups expanding overseas

10:54 Overcoming the barriers of  cross-border expansion

16:03 How Blume VC supports startups with their expertise and best practices

23:35 Localisation vs Internationalisation from Day 1

27:47 Popular revenue models among Indian startups

30:29 The second-order effect of Covid19 on cross-border expansion

37:47 Opportunities for Indian SaaS companies in China

40:30 Leveraging diaspora and ecosystems to expand to the US and Europe

44:42 Sanjay’s final thoughts 

Many thanks to our guests  Sanjay Nath; host Oscar Ramos; producers Eva Shi and  Sagar Chaudhary; editor David; organizer Chinaccelerator; and sponsor People Squared. Be sure to check out our website www.chinaccelerator.com

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