Gurugram-based Inflection Point Ventures, which has backed the likes of BharatPe and Milkbasket, is planning to double its investments by September-end or the start of October 2022.
In 2021, the firm invested across 50-55 deals and said it would keep its numbers constant in 2022–expecting startup investments in India to cool down.
“There could be funding lulls, but startup formations are not based on that. Companies will still be forming, and with good founders. This is the time to invest and scoop out good deals at fair valuations,” Vinay Bansal, Founder and CEO, Inflection Point Venture told YourStory.
The former senior adviser at TPG Global said the firm wants to wait a couple of more months before starting investments as it expects the markets to undergo further corrections.
“One is to be cautious and always be in the investment range and margin of safety. We will be looking into things but there is still a bit more bottom, which could go down. As that moderates, the euphoric element, that is, should moderate a bit more (sic),” he added.
When the pandemic hit India in March 2020, the equity markets tanked and so did the investments in startups. Investors were saving cash for their existing portfolio of companies as the future was extremely uncertain. But after a few months, early-stage startups started receiving consistent funding. The successful listing of Zomato and Nykaa pushed the boat even further as investors wanted to enter firms early, lower investments, and hopefully get an exit with multifold returns when their portfolio companies get listed.
Raising funds, which usually takes place within months, got converted into days due to people switching to working from home, unicorns being produced almost every week and the fear of missing out on a potential billion-dollar startup.
But the funding taps have slowed down in the last few months due to rising inflation, increasing oil prices, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, among other factors. While many investors are warning their portfolio companies to brace for colder months by conserving cash, many unicorns, including edtech platforms Unacademy and Vedantu, gaming firm Mobile Premier League (MPL), and Meesho have already laid off hundreds of employees.
Inflection Point Ventures was started in 2018 by Vinay along with Physis Capital founders Ankur Mittal and Mitesh Shah, and Vinod Bansal. The firm runs Inflection Point Network, an investment platform that connects people wanting to enter the startup investment ecosystem with startups looking for funds. Through this platform, angel investors pool their funds and invest in startups while also advising, sourcing more startups and advising IPV’s team on due diligence.
In 2021, IPV had an active base of 3,840 active investors on their platform–up from 2,290 in 2020, and 365 in 2019.
