Good Morning,
US-headquartered venture capitalist firm Bessemer Venture Partners has announced its first India-dedicated fund of $220 million, which will be deployed to back early-stage companies from the India fund, investing in seed and Series A rounds. The fund is being deployed from its $2.5 billion global fund.
In a conversation with YS, Anant Vidur Puri, Partner at Bessemer, talks about how the VC firm will deploy its India-focused fund, what Bessemer’s philosophy of investing in startups is, and how it deals with competition.
“We spend a lot of time meeting all companies in a sector, sub-sector, talking to experts, talking to industry leaders, and then decide this is a space that we believe is ripe for disruption and value can be created,” he says.
An IIT Delhi and Harvard Business School graduate, Anant Vidur Puri has been a Partner with Bessemer for the last three years. He sits on the boards of TravelTriangle, Cashify, and Remedinet, apart from being involved with Urban Company, Swiggy, and StayGlad.
Bessemer Venture Partners has been investing in India for the last 15 years, backing 60 ventures with $700-800 million. Some of the companies in its portfolio include sector leaders such as PharmEasy, BigBasket, Livspace, and the Good Glamm Group.
The Interview
How are organisations catching up with the changing dynamics of Customer Experience? Listen to technology leaders from Google Cloud, Cult.Fit, PhonePe, CarDekho, and CleverTap discuss the future of seamless customer experience. Watch this CTO Roundtable hosted in association with Google Cloud India.
Editor’s Pick: 100x Entrepreneur
This year, India has seen the emergence of 41 unicorns, with the latest entrant being fintech startup Slice.
In a conversation with Siddhartha Ahluwalia, Founder and Host of 100X Entrepreneur, Anjali Bansal, Founder of Avaana Capital, talks about why the Indian startup ecosystem is seeing a unicorn rush, and how investors can stay ahead of the game. Read more.
Startup Spotlight
Taking the guesswork out of yoga
Bhopal-based Zyoga was conceived during the pandemic when people had to rely on online tutorials to complete their exercise regimen. Launched in February 2021, the app leverages technology to help users perfect their yoga poses. With close to 5,000 users, it is looking to onboard other fitness programmes onto its platform. Now, no more guessing if you’ve got the asanas right. Read more.
Credit: YS Design
News & Updates
- Girish Mathrubootham, Freshworks CEO, said the introduction of auto-debit guidelines for recurring payments by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was ‘not helping’ Indian Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) businesses.
- CRED is acquiring business expense management startup Happay in a cash and stock deal that would potentially value the fintech startup at $180 million, as part of its foray into the enterprise expends space.
Before you go, stay inspired with…
Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham
“Do not throw money at the problem and hire from another company. Having a long-term mindset is important and we need to invest in talent.”
— Girish Mathrubootham, Founder and CEO, Freshworks
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