The Desi VC with Akash Bhat

Upasana Taku is the Co-founder, COO and Chairperson of MobiKwik, a financial services company that provides a fintech platform designed for online payments (incl. BNPL), life insurance, and loans. The company has raised $178M from marquee investors such as Sequoia, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Blacksoil, AmEx Ventures, Orios Venture Partners, Cisco Investments among many others. Upasana built the company from scratch and now has 32 million users and 100,000 merchants, doing close to 500,000-1,000,000 transactions every day.

Episode Notes:

1. What inspired Upasana to found Mobikwik (4:23)

2. How does one validate an idea or a business in its early stages? (10:30)

3. The evolution of the CEO's role (23:08)

4. The vision for MobiKwik (30:53)

5. Thoughts on monetizing UPI (41:55)

6. Differentiating consumer and fintech products, companies, and offerings (45:50)

7. What advice would Upasana give herself if she had to start over? (51:10)

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Social Links:

MobiKwik on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MobiKwik

Upasana Taku on Twitter: https://twitter.com/UpasanaTaku

Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedesi_vc

Akash Bhat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhatvakash

Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedesivc

Akash Bhat on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash

Bipin Shah is the Partner at Titan Capital, an early-stage sector agnostic micro VC fund based in India. The fund has an incredible portfolio of over 250 startups in India and the US across consumer internet, D2C, SaaS, AI, Web3, and other sectors, including investments in Ola, UrbanCompany, Mamaearth, Oziva, Dealshare, Razorpay, Ofbusiness, Yellow Messenger, Beardo, and Giva, among many others.

He was a founding team member of Lead Angels Network, a seed-stage investment platform, before joining Titan Capital in 2015. He graduated from IIT Bombay in 2013, where he was a member of the E-Cell team for five years and led it in his final year.

Episode Notes:

1. Bipin spoke about his "gardening approach" and how it is helping entrepreneurs

2. Bipin discussed Titan's investment growth and reaching unicorn status

3. How Titan's 40% of portfolios raised Series A in less than two years of investment

4. How did Bipin begin his Titan journey with Kunal and Rohit?

5. Titan Capital Fundamentals: 3 Key Ingredients for Investments

6. Early investment experience and developing the investment philosophy for Titan

7. Short stories on investments in companies such as Beardo, Fynd, Superdaily, Mamaearth, Credgenics & others

8. Bipin's Titan journey learnings and methods for assisting founders in improving their unit economics

9. The most important piece of advice from Bipin on investing in startups

10. Insights into other sectors in which Titan invests

Social Links:

Titan Capital on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TitanCapitalVC

Bipin Shah on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bipin_28

Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedesi_vc

Akash Bhat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhatvakash

Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedesivc

Akash Bhat on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash

Yash Jain is the Founder and General Partner at Sparrow Capital, an early-stage micro VC fund that invests upto $500K in SaaS, B2B, Fintech, and Consumer Internet sectors in India with investments in companies such as Mailmodo, Qoohoo, Bimaplan, GoKwik, Superfone among others. Prior to Sparrow, Yash had two stints with large VC funds in India – Kalaari Capital and Arkam Ventures, and also worked at Flipkart as an analyst.

Episode notes:

1. Why venture as a career path? (2:20)

2. The difficulties of launching a new fund as a millennial (10:48)

3. Nuances and learnings from investing in India (16:07)

4. What founders in India can do better (36:00)

5. What can Indian VC improve on doing better (44:45)

6. Lessons learned from Yash's time in the US and the future plan for Sparrow (54:32)

7. Advice for young fund managers (1:02:46)

. . .

Social Links:

Sparrow Capital on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sparrowcapvc

Yash Jain on Twitter: https://twitter.com/yash_sparrow

Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedesi_vc

Akash Bhat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhatvakash

Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedesivc

Akash Bhat on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash

Milap Jadeja is the Managing Partner of Openbook VC. He is a senior management and strategy professional with over 20 years of experience in building multiple businesses in sectors such as Pharmaceuticals, Agriculture and Non-ferrous castings. Milap brings with him a proven track record in investment leadership being An established angel investor with over 50+ angel investments in startups including unicorns and soonicorns. He has also led multiple fundraising efforts for startups as a syndicate head. A seasoned investor, he is an LP at multiple funds such as Better Capital, Cloud Capital and Prophetic Ventures.

Episode notes:

1. Comparisons of two art forms: photography and investing (3:42)

2. A look back at investments and founders (22:50)

3. What has Milap learned about investing and specifically that in India? (30:16)

4. Takeaways from working with founders (45:10)

5. How has Milap evolved as a person? (58:25)

. . .

Social Links:

Openbook VC on Twitter: https://twitter.com/OpenbookVC

Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedesi_vc

Akash Bhat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhatvakash

Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedesivc

Akash Bhat on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash

Shalini Chhabra is the Managing Partner at 3i (Impact India Investments) Partners, a Silicon Valley-based Impact Fund with the objective of supporting enterprises looking to solve some of the most pressing challenges faced by India's lower-income millions.

She is a seasoned Banker with over two decades of experience in Credit Risk Management. She has managed diverse portfolios including Large Corporate, Inter-bank, SME, Financial Institutions including Mutual Funds and Insurance, Government / PSUs, and Structured Finance including Supply Chain Financing, Factoring, Securitisation, Inter-bank Participation etc. She has also managed Risk Policy and processes, Basel Implementation and Development of Risk models for PD estimation for HDFC Bank.

She is huge proponent of gender equality, and currently mentors young students with AFH (“Aspire for Her”), hoping to bring about the change in perspective and reduce, if not eliminate the various self-limiting reasons for success by Women.

Prior to becoming a VC, Shalini was also an experienced angel in the impact space, primarily looking at livelihoods creation at the Bottom of the Pyramid.

Episode notes:

1. Career in banking (3:34)

2. Learning from the banking sector that Shalini has carried over to VC (6:25)

3. Framework for risk appetite (18:05)

4. What has Shalini learned about herself as a result of her work in banking and venture capital? (28:42)

5. Shalini discusses what it takes to be a fund manager and success frameworks for operators (44:50)

6. Shalini's professional career (58:50)

7. Shalini's views on investing in personas (1:05:24)

. . .

Social Links:

3i Partners on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/3i-partners-india/

Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedesi_vc

Akash Bhat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhatvakash

Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedesivc

Akash Bhat on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash

Mohit Gulati is the Managing Partner & CIO at The Investment Trust of India (ITI) Growth Opportunities Fund, one of the largest financial services conglomerate offering a range of products and services from Lending, Equities and Derivatives trading, Equity Research, Commodities Trading, Portfolio Management Services, Distribution of Mutual Funds, IPO & Insurance products and Investment Banking Services.

Mohit bring over 10 years of experience in the Investment & Fund Management space, and led first round deals across ECOM Express, Grab.in, LocalBanya, TarusaWorld, WigzoTech, HumourMe and over a dozen early-stage startups. 

Prior to ITI, he founded Altius Ventures, which invested in sectors like ecommerce, fintech, enterprise software (SaaS), and internet of things (IoT).

Episode notes:

1. Mohit’s career in a nutshell (4:26)

2. Life in Indian venture (26:04)

3. Thesis on investing and philosophy for investments (46:35)

4. What does Mohit love about venture and his job today? (53:40)

5. Advice to younger self (1:05:50)

. . .

Social Links:

ITI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ITIFund

Mohit Gulati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mohitmgulati

Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedesi_vc

Akash Bhat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhatvakash

Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedesivc

Akash Bhat on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash

Bipin Shah is a Partner at Titan Capital, an early-stage fund based out of Bangalore with a portfolio comprising of startups such as Ola, Razorpay, Mamaearth, OfBusiness, Khatabook, Urban Company among many others.

Before joining Titan Capital in 2015, he was founding team member of Lead Angels Network, a seed stage investment platform. He graduated from IIT Bombay in 2013 where he was part of E-Cell team for 5 years. In his spare time, he enjoys gardening, loves exploring a new places, swimming and scuba diving.

Episode notes:

1. Getting started in venture (3:30)

2. How Bipin's upbringing shaped him as a person and an investor (23:24)

3. Titan Capital: Origin story, its thesis, and its one-of-a-kind proposition (37:02)

4. Origins of Titan Capital and Bipin’s encounter with Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal (40:25)

5. Overview of seed stage investing in India (48:08)

6. Lessons learned from investing in India (51:15)

7. How and what will Titan be remembered for? (1:11:52)

. . .

Social Links:

Titan Capital on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TitanCapitalVC

Bipin Shah on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bipin_28

Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedesi_vc

Akash Bhat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhatvakash

Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedesivc

Akash Bhat on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash

Abhishek Nag is a Partner at Lightspeed India where he primarily focuses on investing in consumer internet companies, media & entertainment, the creator economy, and gaming. He brings extensive experience driving strategic partnerships, business development, and corporate development for internet companies in the domains of growth, content and payments, among other areas. Previously he held operator roles at hyper-growth companies including Meta (Facebook), Hike, Uber, and most recently, Netflix.

He’s been an active angel investor since 2016, investing in over 45 startups with several first round investments turned unicorns.

When he’s not busy working with startups, Abhishek publishes a newsletter in which he writes about building, scaling, and investing in technology businesses in India.

Episode notes: 

1. State of Indian venture capital in the context of today’s macroeconomic climate (3:52)

2. Fundings, valuations and funding winter: When will the market correct itself? (13:50)

3. What can Indian investors learn from the past and how can we become better investors in the future? (20:40)

4. What made Abhishek switch to VC? (25:55)

5. What has Abhishek learned from his angel investing experience that he now applies as a VC? (34:11)

6. Advice for angel investors (39:05)

7. A playbook for determining GTM and new market expansion (43:03)

8. Advantages of having feet on street (52:26)

9. Building products for different markets (56:15)

. . .

Social Links:

Lightspeed on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lightspeedvp

Abhishek Nag on Twitter: https://twitter.com/abhisheknag

Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedesi_vc

Akash Bhat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhatvakash

Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedesivc

Akash Bhat on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash

Rahul Chowdhri is the Managing Partner at Stellaris Venture Partners, an early-stage tech-focused venture capital firm based in Bangalore with investments in companies such as Mamaearth, MFine, Whatfix, Vogo, among many others. 

Rahul is an industry veteran, having been in Indian venture for over 15 years. He started his investing career at Helion where he was a Partner and led investments in companies such as BigBasket, Simplilearn and Livspace. At Stellaris, he focuses on B2B & B2C Commerce, Consumer Brands, Content/Social, Agri-Tech, Recruitment and Gaming.

Prior to getting into venture, Rahul had stints in product management and consulting roles at Microsoft, MarketRx, i2 Technologies, and BCG. He holds a B. Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur and an MBA from IIM Calcutta.

Episode notes:

1. Current market sentiment and the state of the industry (3:03)

2. What have Stellaris' top-performing companies and founders done really well in the last few years? (7:25)

3. How does Rahul view investments, both cash-efficient and capital-intensive? (13:45)

4. The evolution of Indian investors' risk appetite (18:30)

5. What attracts investors to founders in both bear and bull markets, and what characteristics do they share? 23:26)

6. How does Stellaris view market corrections in today's context? (28:26)

7. What do the best operators do to take their businesses to the next level? (32:45)

8. How far into the future do funds look when developing their investment thesis? (37:15)

9. Fund culture, metrics, and metrics (41:07)

10. What has Rahul learned about himself as a fund manager over the course of his investing career? (45:48)

11. What is Rahul's decision-making framework? (50:10)

. . .

Social Links:

Stellaris VP on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stellaris_VP

Rahul Chowdhari on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rchowdhri

Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedesi_vc

Akash Bhat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhatvakash

Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedesivc

Akash Bhat on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash

Chirag Gupta is the Managing Partner at 8X Ventures, a deeptech fund investing in India. Prior to 8X, he has held leadership positions at 500 Global, Careem (MENA's first unicorn acquired by Uber at $3.1bn), McKinsey, PwC/Strategy& and Korn Ferry. During these experiences, he helped 10+ corporations build their unique startup “explore” strategy, helped multiple startups grow to unicorn status, and partnered with governments of 8+ countries to grow their startup ecosystem. 

Chirag holds an MBA from University of Chicago: Booth and Nanyang Business School, and completed his Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University.

Episode notes:

1. How does Chirag define deep tech (3:50)

2. Market being ready vs market being big (17:46)

3. Competitive nature of the deeptech landscape in India (26:44)

4. Why are Indian deep tech startups valued lower than their European and US counterparts? (33:22)

5. Is revenue still the most effective metric for evaluating deeptech startups? (37:50)

6. Will foreign investors price Indian investors out of the early and growth stages of deep technology, as has happened in other sectors? (42:25)

7. The benefits of down-rounds (46:00)

8. Deeptech sectors Chirag is bullish on (51:38)

9. Advice to deeptech founders in India (57:51)

. . .

Social links:

8X Ventures on Twitter: https://twitter.com/8xVentures

Chirag Gupta on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CommittedChirag

Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedesi_vc

Akash Bhat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhatvakash

Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedesivc

Akash Bhat on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash