The VCpreneur: Startups | Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Fundraising

In this episode, Rajan Bajaj (Founder & CEO, Slice), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship, the problem statement & need for a product like Slice today, pivots made since founding the company in 2016, how Slice differentiates itself - both on the product & distribution front, the fundraising challenges faced during early days of Slice and what according to him is the biggest value add from investors.  Slice is a leading fintech startup that aims to build a smart, simple, and transparent financial platform to redesign the financial experience for millennials. Founded in 2016 by a then 22 year old Rajan, Slice went through multiple pivots before launching the physical cards business in 2019. The startup became the latest Indian unicorn after its recent $220mm fundraise led by Tiger Global & Insight Partners. Other existing investors in the startup include marquee VCs like Blume Ventures, Better Capital as well as angels like Kunal Shah, Sachin Bansal among others. An IIT Kharagpur alum, Rajan was part of the product team at Flipkart before founding Slice. You can connect with him here on Twitter or Linkedin.  ----  Show notes –  (01:41) Rajan’s background & path leading up to entrepreneurship  (03:10) Problem statement & need for a product like Slice today  (06:02) Pivots made over the past 5 years - From Buy Now Pay Later to a virtual credit card to a physical credit card  (10:13) How Slice differentiates itself on the product & distribution front?  (17:52) Thoughts on competition & growth potential of the market itself; Go-forward vision for Slice  (22:42) What should founders optimize for when fundraising for their startup?  (26:00) Challenges faced by Slice in it’s fundraising journey; Biggest value add from investors  (32:53) Rapid fire and closing remarks  ----  If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Ritu Verma (Co-founder & Managing Partner, Ankur Capital), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to venture capital, thesis & vision at Ankur Capital, learnings from past investments in Agritech & Healthtech, common blind spots faced by founders in the 0-1 phase, Learnings from Fund I, challenges faced as a GP, collaborating with fellow VCs & more. Ankur Capital is an early stage VC fund that invests in startups with transformative technologies building for the next billion Indians. The fund has invested in some marquee startups like Wasabi, Rupifi, Cropin & Niramai among others. Prior to starting Ankur Capital, Ritu worked on bringing innovation from the lab to the market for companies like Unilever and Philips. An ex-physicist, Ritu also has experience of investing in IP led renewable technologies. She has a PhD in physics from University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from INSEAD. You can connect with her here on Linkedin/Twitter. ---- Show notes – (01:37) Ritu’s background & path leading up to venture capital - physicist to VC (04:58) Thesis & vision at Ankur Capital (10:27) Learnings from investing in Agritech & Healthtech (13:14) Adding value to portfolio startups (16:50) Common blind spots faced by founders in the 0-1 phase (18:48) Learnings from Ankur Capital’s Fund I; Adapting to changing market dynamics (24:08) Collaborating with fellow VCs (26:04) Challenges faced as a General Partner (30:39) Addressing the diversity challenge in VC (34:05) How has being a VC influenced Ritu’s personality over the years (34:39) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Arjun Vaidya (Venture Lead India, Verlinvest; Ex-CEO, Dr. Vaidya’s), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship & venture capital, his inspiration behind starting an Ayurveda brand, initial challenges, pivots & overcoming self-doubt as a founder, brand positioning & differentiation, learnings from the fundraising process & how should founders think through an exit transaction. Dr. Vaidya’s is India’s largest D2C Ayurveda brand that offers ayurvedic products to treat illnesses and maintain wellness. Arjun & his co-founder Trisha, successfully exited the business to RPSG in 2021. Post the exit Arjun has now joined Verlinvest as their Venture Lead for India. Verlinvest is a leading family owned evergreen investment group with over €1bn in AUM & investments in companies like BYJU’S, Epigamia and Wakefit among others. Prior to starting Dr. Vaidya’s, Arjun worked at a PE firm called L-Capital. A Brown university alum, Arjun is also an active angel investor (25+ investments) & a mentor to many young DTC founders in the ecosystem. You can connect with him here on Linkedin. ---- Show notes – (01:41) Arjun’s background & path leading up to entrepreneurship & venture capital (02:53) Genesis & inspiration behind starting an Ayurveda brand (09:29) Brand differentiation & identifying what your brand stands for (12:47) Initial challenges, pivoting the business & overcoming self-doubt as a founder (20:11) Fundraising & scaling up - When to raise funding & whom to raise from? (26:18) How to think through an exit decision? (33:01) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Ashish Dave (CEO @Mirae Asset Venture Investments, India), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to venture capital, setting up Mirae’s India Venture arm, due diligence missteps by VCs when optimizing for speed, sharing cross-learnings from other geographies with portfolio companies, evaluating seed & growth stage startups, the constant upskilling & unlearning required in venture capital & more. Mirae Asset Group, a leading financial services company headquartered in South Korea which manages ~$1.5bn across multiple funds. Mirae’s India portfolio includes marquee startups like Ola, BigBasket, Shadowfax, Unacademy, Jupiter among others. Prior to Mirae, Ashish was at Kalaari Capital, a well known early stage VC firm in India & prior to that at Mumbai Angels, one of the prominent angel networks in India where he was actively involved in sourcing new opportunities and helping existing portfolio companies. Ashish is an alum of IE Business School. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/Twitter. ---- Show notes – (01:49) Ashish’s background & path leading up to venture capital - Mumbai Angels, Kalaari & Mirae VC (04:12) Setting up an India dedicated fund at Mirae (07:32) Adapting to the fast & competitive deal making environment in the Indian startup ecosystem (10:49) Potential due diligence missteps by VCs when optimizing for speed (15:12) How can VCs add value to founders? (19:40) Sharing learnings from other geographies with portfolio startups in India (22:17) Evaluating startups at seed vs growth stage (25:56) The constant upskilling & unlearning required in venture capital; importance of getting on ground, gauging customer feedback/behaviour to aid your decision making as an investor (29:39) Advice & suggestions for emerging VCs (35:23) How has being a VC influenced his personality over the years? (37:19) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Aprameya Radhakrishna (Co-founder @Koo, Vokal & TaxiForSure), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship, founding TFS & exiting to Ola, founding Vokal & Koo to build the vernacular ecosystem for India, identifying people that can act as a sounding board, retaining talent, fundraising lessons & more. Koo is a regional language microblogging and social networking platform with >$10mm users, while Vokal is India’s largest vernacular Q&A platform. Prior to Vokal & Koo, Aprameya founded TaxiForSure, a cab hailing platform which was later acquired by Ola for $200mm in 2015. An IIM-Ahmedabad alum, Aprameya is also an active angel investor in the ecosystem & has invested in startups like Pocket Aces, Unacademy, TapChief & Daily Ninja among others. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/Twitter. ---- Show notes: (01:30) Aprameya’s background & path leading up to entrepreneurship - founding Taxi For Sure (TFS) (04:53) Inspiration to start Vokal after the TFS exit (07:40) Key challenges faced when building the vernacular ecosystem for Bharat (13:42) Learnings as a 2nd time entrepreneur (15:45) Decentralizing your organization as you scale; Building a sounding board that can provide you unbiased feedback (20:02) Retaining & building a talent pipeline (23:10) Lessons on fundraising; Onboarding investors that align with your vision and have the patience & appetite to back you in the long run (29:28) Value add from growth stage investors (32:15) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Anurag Ramdasan (Partner@ 3one4 Capital), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to 3one4 capital, overcoming the venture capital learning curve & key skill sets required to break into VC, the decision making process at 3one4, learnings from anti-portfolio startups, supporting startups in their follow-on fundraise, establishing a strong VC brand & more. 3one4 Capital is one of the top performing early-stage VC firms in India with a portfolio of 50+ active startups including startups like Koo, Licious, Open, Darwinbox, Betterplace. Anurag leads investments at 3one4 Capital and has been with the fund since its inception in 2016. Anurag spends a lot of his time working with portfolio companies and their founding teams across tech, product, business strategy and fundraising. Previously he led tech & was the first employee at the bay area-based edtech startup, Edcast. Anurag is also the founding member of Code For India, a not-for-profit organisation, centered on getting engineers to work with & develop technology solutions for other NGOs. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/Twitter. ---- Show notes: (01:27) Anurag’s background & path leading up to venture capital (04:42) Overcoming the venture capital learning curve; What skillsets are required to break into VC? (13:51) Decision making process at 3one4 Capital (16:27) Learnings from Anti-portfolio startups (21:14) Supporting startups in their follow-on fundraise; What do the best founders focus on most when raising a follow-on round? (26:07) Establishing a strong VC brand (29:27) How has being a VC influenced Anurag’s personality over the years? (32:17) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Shruti Gandhi (Founder & Managing Partner @Array Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to venture capital, the evolution of Array’s enterprise tech thesis, how engaging with potential customers can help early stage startups to validate their product & help VCs to support their investment decision, what founders should focus on before thinking about going global, differentiating oneself as an emerging VC, staying ahead of the curve in enterprise tech & more. Array Ventures is an early stage VC fund that invests in enterprise tech startups solving problems using big data, AI & ML for large industries. Shruti has a strong mix of operating and investing experience. Prior to founding Array, Shruti was a tech investor at True Ventures, Samsung Electronics, Lightbank, HighBAR Partners, and the i2A Fund. Shruti started her career with IBM as a software engineer & later founded her own BigData company Penseev in 2010. She also has an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth Business School and completed her engineering in CS from Columbia University. You can connect with her here on Linkedin/Twitter ---- Show notes: (01:44) Shruti’s background & path leading up to Array Ventures (02:56) About Array Ventures; Evolution of Array’s enterprise tech thesis (06:04) How engaging with potential customers can help a) early stage startups to validate their product & b) VCs to support their investment decision (09:40) Building a global enterprise - What should founders focus on before thinking about going global? (14:34) How can emerging VC funds differentiate themselves & build a strong brand? (16:44) Staying relevant & ahead of the curve as an enterprise tech VC (20:15) How has being a VC influenced Shruti’s personality over the years ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Anubhav Jain (Co-founder & CEO@ Rupifi), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to founding Rupifi, the recent positives & challenges faced by the SMEs, what is embedded finance & it's use cases, Rupifi’s embedded cash-flow based lending model, importance of speed at early stage startups, what founders should optimize for - between Seed & Series A rounds, role of early stage investors in raising subsequent funding rounds & more. Rupifi is a fintech startup that helps MSMEs find suitable financing on different digital B2B platforms and marketplaces using an embedded cash-flow based lending model. Prior to founding Rupifi, Anubhav was the Co-Founder & Head of Risk at Qbera, a personal loan marketplace startup that was later acquired by InCred. Anubhav is a 3-time founder with a strong background in credit risk management & has worked at companies like American Express & Razorpay. An IIM Indore alum, Anubhav is also an occasional angel investor. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/Twitter. ---- Show notes – (01:22) Anubhav’s background & path leading up to Rupifi (05:12) Recent positives & challenges in the Indian MSME sector (12:24) How Rupifi’s cash-flow based embedded lending model solves some of these challenges? (17:10) Embedded finance & its use cases (24:12) Rupifi’s approach towards building an MVP & achieving PMF; Why speed matters at early stage startups? (30:49) Fundraising experience at Rupifi; What should founders optimize for in between Seed & Series A rounds? (38:43) Role of early stage investors in helping startups raise subsequent funding rounds (43:18) How has being a 3-time founder influenced Anubhav’s personality over the years? (45:08) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Sushma Kaushik (Partner @ Aavishkaar Capital), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path to VC, the genesis of Aavishkaar Capital & it’s key portfolio startups, the evolution of the fund’s thesis across 4 funds, unlocking of the massive Bharat opportunity, the DNA of impact entrepreneurs, the evolving exit landscape for impact funds & key learnings from Sushma’s decadal experience as a VC. Aavishkaar Capital is an early-stage VC firm & the equity arm of The Aavishkaar Group which is focused on developing the impact ecosystem in Asia and Africa. Aavishkaar Capital has ~$500mm in AUM & has invested in notable companies like Chqbook, Agrostar, Soulfull, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank among others. Sushma has ~18 years of diverse experience in the field of early stage investing, small business incubation and consulting across sectors. An ISB Hyderabad alum, Sushma has also been recognized as “40 under 40 Alternative Investment Professionals in India” in 2017 and one of the “Top 100 women in finance in the leading category”. You can connect with her here on Linkedin/Twitter. ---- Show notes – (01:50) Sushma’s background & path to VC (05:50) Aavishkaar Capital - Genesis, key portfolio companies & evolution of thesis across 4 different funds (11:05) How India’s digitization push has unlocked the massive Bharat opportunity? (18:25) Evaluation framework for impact creating startups; The DNA of impact entrepreneurs (27:40) Evolving exit landscape for impact funds; Importance of making timely exits for LPs (32:55) Key learnings from her decadal experience as a VC (37:05) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Pankaj Mitra (Director & India Head @Cisco Investments), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path to corporate VC, Cisco’s mandate in India, the symbiotic relationship with its portfolio companies, learnings from other enterprise tech ecosystems like US & Israel, difference between Corporate & traditional VC and how Cisco collaborates with & invests in other VC funds. Cisco has a portfolio of ~10 start-ups including - Whatfix, Videonetics, Mobikwik, Mobstac and CloudCherry - that it has already invested in directly or through investment partnerships with VC funds. Cisco is also an LP in VC funds like Aavishkaar, Stellaris Venture Partners & Chiratae Ventures. Prior to joining Cisco Investments in 2018, Pankaj was formerly at Infosys Corporate Development, where he helped enable early stage investments for Infosys’ $500M innovation fund. A UC Berkeley and IIT Kharagpur alum, Pankaj started his career with Delsoft (acq. by Mentor Graphics) & later worked at companies like VMware & Deloitte. You can connect with him here on Linkedin ---- Show notes – (01:46) Pankaj’s background & path leading up to Cisco India (04:07) Cisco’s mandate & sector focus in India; Key portfolio companies (06:47) The symbiotic relationship between Cisco & its portfolio startups (11:33) Learnings from other enterprise tech ecosystems like US & Israel (15:49) How Cisco differentiates itself from other corporate VCs; Cisco’s Launchpad program for early stage startups (18:58) Difference between a Corporate VC & traditional VC (22:08) How Cisco collaborates with & invests (as a LP) in other VC funds (29:29) Learnings from working closely with startups & VCs over the past decade (33:20) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter