EP#39 Manish Singhal – Evaluating & backing disruptive ideas, challenges of raising a VC fund and the bull case for deeptech in India

In this episode, Manish Singhal (Founding Partner @Pi Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path to venture capital, thesis for Pi Ventures & key portfolio startups, framework for evaluating disruptive ideas, fund allocation strategy as an early stage VC, learnings from his failed attempts to raise a venture fund, role of LPs in differentiating yourself as a VC fund & the bull case for deeptech in India.

Pi Ventures is an early-stage VC fund focused on investing in disruptive ideas leveraging machine learning, AI, and IoT. So far the fund has backed 13 startups from its 1st fund, which include marquee names like Locus, Agnikul, SigTuple, Pyxis & Wysa. Before founding Pi Ventures, Manish co-founded Lets Venture, a leading angel investment platform in India and worked for over 2 decades in R&D, product & leadership roles in companies like Motorola & Sling Media. An Alumnus of IIT Kanpur, Manish has also contributed to the standardisation of MPEG-4 standard and holds a couple of video technology patents to his name. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:45) Manish’s path to starting Pi Ventures; What inspired him to become a VC?
2. (08:11) Evolution of the fund’s thesis; Key portfolio startups
3. (12:04) Evaluating framework for disruptive ideas - Demand & Supply Resonance map
4. (17:12) Founders’ approach to bridge the gap between a standalone technology/project & a commercial product
5. (19:19) Fund allocation strategy as a VC; Key metrics that influence the follow-on funding decision
6. (23:28) Challenges of raising a VC fund; Learnings from failed attempts to raise money prior to starting Pi
7. (29:06) Role of LPs to differentiate yourself as a VC fund & supporting portfolio startups
8. (31:45) The Bull case for deeptech innovation in India
9. (33:59) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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