The Desi VC with Akash Bhat

Kiran is the Principal at UTEC (Japan), a $550M deep-tech VC firm affiliated with The University of Tokyo. Since joining UTEC in 2018, Kiran has led investments of close to $25M in frontier science & deep-tech companies incl. Tricog, OPALai (SG/FinTech AI), Bugworks Research, and Agara.


Before joining UTEC, Kiran was the head of India/SEA Operations at Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support (DTVS) Japan. He has supported over 50 deep-tech Asian startups by connecting them with Japanese corporations and also worked closely with METI Japan, to lead a project called CEATEC IoT Acceleration for Asian startups. Prior to that, he co-founded a student-led social enterprise named 'Kriya'.

In 2020, Kiran was featured in the prestigious FORBES Asia 30 Under 30 list in the Finance & Venture Capital category.

In this episode we will cover:

1. Kiran’s thoughts on the VC landscape: Second half of 2020 vs Q1 2021

2. Why he chose venture capital as a career path?

3. What is deep-tech?

4. Misconceptions about deep-tech investing

5. What do you look for in a deep-tech founding team?

6. When does a deep-tech startup achieve PMF?

7. Learnings from his own investments and portfolio 

8. The role of the Govt. in growing deep-tech sciences 

9. Mental Models for evaluating and building startups

10. Exits in deep-tech

Empathy is going to become a key undertone of investing. Investors who have run companies and raised capital bring empathy that an investor coming from a consulting background just can’t. Founders are becoming smarter about who they raise capital from. On this panel, Siya Raj Purohit (General Partner, Pathway Ventures), Revant Bhate (CEO, Mosaic Wellness) and Utsav Somani (Partner, AngelList India & iSeed) discuss why some of the best investors in the future are going to be investor-operators.

The startup ecosystem in India remains robust and is rapidly growing. The Indian government introduced several regulatory programs to boost the Indian startup ecosystem. Flagship programs such as StartupIndia, Digital India and the Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee continue to improve the economic landscape for startups and investors. However, despite all this, India continues to remain in the shadows of Silicon Valley. On this panel, we discuss what it would take for India to break away from the shadows of the west and evolve into a mature VC ecosystem in the coming years.

Vinod Shankar is the Co-Founder and Partner at Java Capital, an investment syndicate investing in sectors such as healthtech, consumer internet, deep tech, SaaS and EdTech. Prior to founding Java Capital, Vinod was the Associate Vice President at Kalaari Capital and before that was the Head of Sales & Marketing at Just Books Inc.

In this episode we cover:

Why launch an investment fund in the middle of the pandemic? (1:57)

Challenges of raising a fund during the pandemic? (5:29)

Vinod’s journey into VC (11:23)

How do you do cold outreach to VCs (19:10)

Chief Hustle Officer –– what do you mean by that? (29:30)

Sourcing startups – Cold vs Direct (35:43)

Experience at Kalaari (39:09)

Experience which had the most impact on Vinod’s life (45:41)

Responsibilities that VCs bear on nurturing the ecosystem (54:30)

How do you encourage sustainable businesses within VC? (1:01:14)

Rapid fire (1:09:35)

Pratik Poddar is the Principal at Nexus Venture Partners.

As an entrepreneur turned VC, Pratik is excited about working alongside technology entrepreneurs to create an impact on the lives of millions of people in India. He is most passionate about consumer, community/content, education, e-commerce, financial services, and healthcare startups.

Prior to joining Nexus, Pratik spent three years working on his startups in social e-commerce and content marketing spaces where he experienced firsthand the challenges of building a company. Earlier, he worked as a quant analyst and algorithmic trader at Morgan Stanley, and private equity analyst at Blackstone. Pratik has a B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.

In this episode, we will cover:

1. Look back at 2020 (2:15)

2. Will VCs look at portfolio constructions differently post the pandemic? (4:50)

3. What signals is Pratik looking for from an investment deal? (6:12)

4. How should VCs protect themselves so as to not fall prey to bad deals? (9:01)

5. What does a Principal at a VC firm do? (11:47)

6. How does Pratik add value to startups (14:50)

7. Opportunities and challenges of bottoms-up investing (18:55)

8. How does operating experience help investors in VC? (23:05)

9. Products vs Platforms: How can founders of today think about converting products into platforms? (30:27)

10. What don’t founders realize about building for India? (39:49)

11. What don’t VCs understand about middle India? (46:05)

12. How does Nexus look at new sectors and what is their approach to investing? (51:16)

13. Rapid fire (55:25)

Adith Podhar is the Managing Partner at Gemba Capital, a fund which invests in angel rounds of tech firms focused on India consumption and cross-border SaaS.

Prior to Gemba, Adith has worked at Motilal Oswal PE fund in Mumbai, and spent time at ICICI as a Product Manager.

Follow Adith (@adithpodhar), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

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In this episode we will cover:

1. Covid impact on investing (1:47)

2. How does Adith look back on 2020? (6:43)

3. What might the next 24 months look like? (11:47) 

4. Sectors within India that Adith is bullish on (14:26)

5. Adith’s background and journey into VC (18:00)

6. Learnings as a founder and how it’s helpful in VC today (21:11)

7. How have different investing experiences influenced Adith’s investor persona? (30:11)

8. How did Adith write his first check and what was the process behind it ?(34:18)

9. Gemba’s current investment thesis (38:29)

10. Raising money from domestic LPs (43:01)

11. Challenges of raising money from within India (45:41)

12. How does Gemba add value to startups? (48:37)

13. Portfolio support & time allocation (53:15) 

14. What does it take to be a good investor? (55:56)

15. How does Adith evaluate companies and founders of similar profiles (58:24)

16. Time spent on due diligence (1:00:13)

17.  Rapid fire (1:02:55)

Munish Randev is the Founder & CEO at Cervin Family Office. He brings in over 25 years of experience in investment management and family offices. He has advised over 80 families with over $3.2B in financial assets and has worked with many business families in structuring their family governance platforms. Well known in the Indian investment industry for his unique expertise and ethical standards he has been part of many family investment committees and family office boards.

Follow Munish (@MunishRandev), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

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In this episode, we will cover:

1. Munish’s insights from the year that was 2020 (1:57)

2. Munish’s background and the key milestones that led to the founding of Cervin Family Office (6:17)

3. How have Family Offices evolved over the years in India (12:22)

4. Why are Family Offices attracted to investing in tech startups? (20:29)

5. Who is developing the thesis within Family Offices? (27:29)

6. What kind of returns do Family Offices expect from a) directly investing into startups and b) investing into VC funds as an LP (35:01)

7. Subtle nuances of managing a Family Offices and what must an external fund manager be aware of? (41:00)

8. Things LPs look out for when investing into a new fund manager? (51:34)

9. The average timelines and cycles that Family Offices undertake while reviewing fund managers (56:55)

10. Differences in approach between Cervin and other Family Offices (59:10)

11. Rapid fire (1:03:15)

Kris Gopalakrishnan is the co-founder and former CEO of Infosys, and currently serves as the chairman of Axilor Ventures, an early-stage seed fund based out of Bangalore. He is recognized as a global business and technology thought leader and was voted the top CEO (IT Services category) in Institutional Investor’s inaugural ranking of Asia’s Top Executives and selected as one of the winners of the second Asian Corporate Director Recognition Awards by Corporate Governance Asia in 2011. He also was selected to Thinkers 50, an elite list of global business thinkers, in 2009. He was elected President of India’s apex industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2013-14, and served as one of the co-chairs of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2014.

In January 2011, the Government of India awarded Kris Gopalakrishnan the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third-highest civilian honor.

Follow Kris Gopalakrishnan (@kris_sg), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

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The Desi Startups of the Week:

1. PLUC: India’s first mobile storytelling platform for meaningful stories by unfound mobile creators.

2. Pathway Ventures: A new VC fund focused on the human side of the future of work. They’re investing in companies that drive economic mobility through innovative models of earning, learning, and community building.

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In this episode, we will cover:

1. What is Kris hoping accomplish as the first chairperson of the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH)? (3:55)

2. What can founders today learn from the Infosys story? (7:50)

3. Building long-lasting, sustainable businesses in today’s world (14:09)

4. Guarding your investments as a VC (17:48)

5. How has the pandemic impacted Axilor Ventures (20:30)

6. When and why did Kris decide to start a fund? (25:03)

7. What has surprised Kris the most about the venture ecosystem (28:13)

8. How much pressure was on the Axilor team to deliver exceptional results given their stellar reputation (31:25)

9. How much has Kris’ risk appetite changed from his days as operator to now as a vc 32:34)

10. What risk is Kris willing to take? What is he not? (35:26)

11. Insights from Axilor’s portfolio construction (38:43)

12. What are the core economics of venture capital that all entrepreneurs need to understand? (44:00)

13. How do you build a ‘successful’ business without venture funding (47:14)

14. What can India’s policy makers do to support and grow the momentum within the startup ecosystem (50:35)

15. Are SPACs one way of retaining businesses in India? (56:24)

16. Rapid fire (59:00)

Rahul Chandra is the Co-founder and Managing Partner at Arkam Ventures, an early-stage fund partnering aimed at Middle India –– the 400 million people just below the top of the pyramid. He was one of the earliest tech VCs in India, starting in 1998 as part of the team at Walden International's India-focused fund. He later moved to Palo Alto to invest in Silicon Valley start-ups. In 2005, he co-founded Helion Ventures and relocated to India. At Helion, he invested more than $100M in 15 companies, a list that includes Equitas (IPO), Spandana (IPO), Shubham Housing, UnitedLex, Toppr, Railyatri, MoEngage and Seclore.

He is also the author of "The Moonshot Game - Adventures of an Indian VC", a book that captures his experience of investing in India from 2006 to 2016.

Follow Rahul Chandra (@rahulchandra77), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

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The Desi Startups of the Week:

1. Qshala: Qshala is a curiosity platform consisting of live online courses designed to foster life-skills & curiosity in children. The Quriosity curriculum helps your child develop critical thinking, improve communication skills, and enhance their ability to learnIt’s a one-stop-shop for all the skills you wish you were taught at school.

2. Clergo: Clergo makes it effortless to start a discussion around a topic, eliminating the need for ad-hoc and unplanned meetings to discuss something specific.

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In this episode we will cover:

1. How COVID has impacted Rahul and Arkam Ventures (3:51)

2. What’s changed in the diligence process (6:57)

3. Has covid impacted deal flow and investments? (10:13)

4. LP Concerns: Institutional LPs vs new-age entrepreneur LPs (14:53)

5. Rahul’s motivation to be a VC and starting a second fund (17:13)

6. LP mentality in 2005 vs LP mentality in 2020 (25:00)

7. Why Rahul believes India is promising market for LPs (32:51)

8. Is Middle India today the India of 2005/06 that Helion first began investing into (34:40)

9. Biggest misconception of middle India from an LPs and founder perspective (43:57)

10. How does the macro-economic trends affect the middle India opportunity? (49:06)

11. Rahul’s thoughts on the movement to bridge the gender gap within middle India (54:35)

12. How can manufacturing sector amplify middle India’s potential at scale like China? (59:51)

13. How much of a say does the VC community have in policy ma

Venk Krishnan is the founder of NuWare and NuVentures. NuVentures is an early stage venture fund based out of Bangalore which has backed companies such as MuSigma, BigBasket, Acko, Pocket Aces, Thrillophilia among others.

Follow Venk Krishnan (@krishnanVenk), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and the podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

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The Desi Startups of the Week:

1. BurnCal: India's First AI based home fitness trainer that can see and guide user to provide real time feedback on their pose and reps.

2. Q-Blocks: A distributed computing company building affordable supercomputers for high performance computing applications like ML model training, Running simulations, big data analytics or creating the next deep fake.

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In this episode we will cover:

1. Covid related (0:47)

2. Operator VC (6:35)

3. How does being a VC help being an entrepreneur?(12:39)

4. Road to Venture Capital (17:50)

5. The MuSigma deal (26:12)

6. How did Venk get clarity on setting up a fund (30:20)

7. Thesis at NuVentures (34:30)

8. Diverse portfolio development from an LP perspective (39:25)

9. Angel investing vs syndicate/VC investing (47:40)

10. Rapid fire (56: 25)