India has long harbored a strong entrepreneurial spirit, and it’s not uncommon to see people leaving jobs to set up their own businesses. A hallmark of that spirit is quite visible these days in the country’s flourishing startup ecosystem, which has expanded rapidly in the past few years, to say the least.
However, the global slowdown has impacted startups’ growth in the country, just like everywhere else in the world. After a blockbuster year for venture capital funding in 2021, the flow of capital to Indian startups seemed like it would buck global trends in early 2022, but dried up in the second half of 2022.
Nevertheless, investors are optimistic about their prospects in the country and feel that the global slowdown is helping founders focus more on building and strengthening their core business.
“While this is a tough environment for companies, we see it as an opportunity to pause, take stock and consolidate,” said GV Ravishankar, managing director of Sequoia India.
“Founders are becoming a lot more focused on building and strengthening their core business and are getting sharper about capital allocation and driving improvements in the economic shape of their businesses,” he said.
“Working with uncertainty is very much the nature of the beast.” Roopan Aulakh, managing director, Pi Ventures
All the investors we spoke to agreed that in order to make the best of the situation, startups should conserve runway and prioritize growth if they can afford to do so.
For Ashutosh Sharma, head of India investments at Prosus Ventures, it is paramount for startups to ensure their existence at this time. “This allows startups to take a step back and focus on internal processes, business model evolution and organizational issues [ … ] These factors, once fixed, will lead to more organic product-market fit, which will lead to growth alongside economics.”
India’s startup landscape has changed immensely over the past couple of years, so to better understand how Indian investors are approaching investments, the regulations they are looking out for, which sectors currently have their attention and how they prefer to be approached, we spoke with a few active investors:
GV Ravishankar, managing director, Sequoia India
After a year of hot investments, India saw a significant drop in VC funding in 2022, and this year is likely to be similar. How has your investment strategy changed?
After more than a 12-year bull run for tech in the global markets supported by low interest rates, since the beginning of 2022, we have witnessed a significant slowdown in capital flows. This has resulted in a difficult environment from a capital availability perspective in India and other emerging markets.
While this is a tough environment for companies, we see it as an opportunity to pause, take stock and consolidate. Founders are becoming a lot more focused on building and strengthening their core business and are getting sharper about capital allocation and driving improvements in the economic shape of their businesses.
So it is actually a healthy period and it will result in high-quality businesses coming out of this market in the next couple of years.
What advice would you give your portfolio startups to continue growing at this time?
Focus on growth with good economics and don’t “buy” growth, as that will come with poor economics and hence is not sustainable. Focus on the core business and deprioritize experimental investments.
Double down on the core product if capital is available, as there is a chance to pull ahead from competitors in a market like this through the right investments. The current environment can also provide good opportunities to acquire capabilities through M&A at attractive prices if capital is available.
Compared to 2019, what were the most notable investment trends in India in 2022? Do you expect these trends to continue into 2023? Which sectors do you think will emerge as the next big thing by 2025?
There has been continuous innovation over the last several years thanks to more digital adoption and lower data pricing. After COVID, we saw significant uptick in e-commerce, edtech and technology-enabled service delivery across sectors. We also saw fintech pick up as a big theme and supply chains got digitized, including in manufacturing and agriculture.
Our core sectors are software, consumer, consumer internet, fintech and financial services. These remain continued areas of focus for us and constitute 80% of our efforts. Other upcoming sectors are EVs, climate tech, space tech and opportunities from supply chain shifts to India. Today, these are small and emerging sectors, but tomorrow, they could be massive opportunities.
So we are meeting early-stage founders who are building in this space and partnering with startups that are trying to create innovative solutions for some of the challenges faced in these industries.
The 20% of what we do keeps changing every few years because of market trends and tech innovations, but, by and large, the 80% has remained the same for nearly 17 years. Fundamentally, we are looking to partner with founders who are going after large problems in large markets to make a dent in the world. That will always remain the same.
What sets the sectors you are currently investing in apart from others? How do you evaluate the potential of a startup in these sectors before making an investment?
We evaluate a startup by the market they are going after (whether it is large, growing and has profit pools), the team (founder-market fit; why this team) and business model/moats (do they have a better mouse trap and why will they sustain their advantage?).
What qualities do you find most important in a founder when evaluating their potential for success? Conversely, what is a major red flag that would cause you to back off?
One of the most important qualities we look for in founders is their perseverance and grit to go after the problems they’ve set out to solve. From a founder-market fit perspective, we also ask what makes a founder or a founding team best positioned to win in the market, and what are their unique insights into the problem they are solving.
Red flags are linked to failed background checks or if the business metrics represented don’t check out in diligence.
Ashutosh Sharma, head of India investments, Prosus Ventures
After a year of hot investments, India saw a significant drop in VC funding in 2022, and this year is likely to be similar. How has your investment strategy changed?
Given the environment of rate hikes and geopolitical uncertainty, last year, we adopted a more conservative approach, setting the bar much higher for investments. Following that, we shifted our investment focus to smaller ticket sizes, earlier stages and toward companies in the SaaS and B2B domains.
The founder of Britain’s first transgender-led investment firm has said the finance industry remains dominated by “old white men” and is an intimidating environment for trans women.
She said: “Trans people continue to face barriers. If you look at the financial world, it is still predominantly white male, and full of older white males.”
Ms Tomlinson, who is trans, said she has personally experienced transphobia in the financial industry.
“For trans women coming up, it’s scary and a lot of people think it is out of reach… I think minorities, women and trans people certainly have challenges within the finance world because they are generally not well represented at the top.
“We don’t see a lot of trans women in business yet because for younger people growing up who are trans, it wasn’t seen as a safe place to go into.”
The comments come as Ms Tomlinson plans to launch Saône in the UK, marking what is believed to be Britain’s first trans-led investment company.
Ms Tomlinson’s suggestions that the industry is dominated by “old white men” plays on the popular perception that the industry is “pale, male and stale”.
Banking and finance companies have come under regulatory pressure to do more to encourage gender diversity
Companies have been coming under increasing regulatory pressure to do more to encourage gender diversity and several leading banks are now led by women, including NatWest.
However, large financial institutions have employed few trans people in senior roles. Pips Bunce, an executive at Credit Suisse who identifies as gender fluid and has been named as an inspirational leader in the British LGBT Awards, is one of the few non-binary people to hold a senior position in the City of London.
Other financial companies have brought in policies in a bid to appear more inclusive.
Several high street banks, including NatWest, have trialled uniforms that include optional pronouns printed on badges.
The policies have provoked a backlash in some quarters. Halifax told customers last year “if you disagree with our values, you’re welcome to close your account” after some people took offence to the listing of favoured pronouns on staff badges.
In another instance of support for the trans community, PayPal froze the account of the Free Speech Union, an organisation that defends gender-critical academics and people who have lost work for expressing opinions.
However, the payments company later reversed the decision after being accused of a “orchestrated, politically motivated” ban.
Ms Tomlinson said that before she transitioned, she thought coming out as trans would end her career.
She said: “The idea of coming out of trans was terrifying, I thought it would be career suicide. I assumed it would blow up my career.
“But once I started leaning into my truth, I realised I had no other option. It was terrifying to do it first but it was also terrifying in many small ways, like going to my first big meeting or walking into a room for the first time and going through a client’s office. It was all just new and scary.”
The traditionally male-dominated finance industry has seen companies roll out policies to encourage diversity
Credit: Philippe Hays/Alamy
Before setting up Saône, Ms Tomlinson, 37, founded several businesses including boutique advisory firm RWT Growth.
While she does not consider herself an “advocate” for trans people, she said she hopes her profile will encourage more trans people into the finance industry.
Ms Tomlinson said: “One of the things I really started to do was to embrace giving people the realisation that they can achieve it too, whether that’s being trans or whatever they have going on, they can be truthful to who they are.
“For me, there weren’t very many people that I saw in the community that I could look up to as role models. I want to provide some level of motivation and inspiration to people.”
Ms Tomlinson said Saône will not be marketed as a trans-led fund, adding: “I don’t like when you hear people talking about female founded funds or in my situation a trans female fund.
“I’m not interested in that because our performance should be our number one priority. It shouldn’t be about who I am.
“If we can use it to our benefit then it will maybe help normalise being trans in finance. But our number one goal is about making an impact and it’s not about me being a trans female founder.”
Reece Tomlinson’s fund manages $13m (£10.5m) at present, but is aiming to have $1bn under management by 2027
Credit: Saône Capital
However, she argued that her being trans could still be a competitive advantage.
“Some founders are coming to us and saying ‘you get what we need, we can talk to you’. They understand that we realise what they’re going through, versus older white male-led businesses that can’t necessarily relate. It’s given us a competitive advantage in some ways.”
Saône invests in companies and provides advice. It specialises in funding and advising “ethical” companies and those with founders from minority backgrounds.
Ms Tomlinson currently splits her time between London and Canada, where she grew up and Saône has its main base.
The company, founded in 2022, already operates in the US and Canada. Its new London office will be used as its base to expand into Europe.
The fund manages $13m (£10.5m) at present, but is aiming to have $1bn under management by 2027.
Ms Tomlinson said: “Our goal is to help companies that are positively impacting the planet and those that are coming from underrepresented founders.”
Saône provides money to companies in several different industries, including renewable energy, battery storage, and clean water. Current investments include an e-scooter charging company and a marketplace for second hand clothing.
Ms Tomlinson said: “During my career, I had my own things to deal with obviously being trans. And as I stepped into my truth it dawned on me that I wanted to do something that was positive, rather than just making founder and leadership teams more money.
“We’re looking to back businesses that can make an impact while also making a lot of money and I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive.”
The company’s investments so far have ranged between $250,000 and $5m.
Making sure that members of the Canadian Coast Guard have the equipment they need to keep Canada’s waterways navigable and safe is a key priority for the Government of Canada. That includes the Canadian Coast Guard’s small vessels, which play a critical role in our fleet, especially in shallow coastal waters and inland lakes and rivers where larger ships cannot operate.
Today, the Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard announced a major investment to fund the completion of the renewal of the Canadian Coast Guard’s small vessels fleet.
The Honourable Helena Jaczek, Minister of Public Services and Procurement also took part in the announcement from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, along with Joanne Thompson, Member of Parliament for St. John’s East and Churence Rogers, Member of Parliament for Bonavista—Burin—Trinity. The investment, valued at $2.5 billion, provides for up to 61 small vessels and the ongoing replacement of small craft, barges and work boats with new modern equipment.
This investment will help modernize the Canadian Coast Guard’s small vessel fleet, so that they can keep Canadian waterways and Canadians safe, while creating good-paying jobs across Canada.
This investment will complete the renewal of the Canadian Coast Guard’s small vessels fleet and enable the Canadian Coast Guard to acquire up to:
Six Mid-shore Multi-Mission Vessels;
One Near-Shore Fishery Research Vessel;
16 Specialty Vessels comprised of:
Two Special NavAids Vessels;
Four Special Shallow Draft Buoy Tenders
Four Inshore Science Vessels
Four Special Enforcement Vessels
Two Lake Class Vessels;
Four Air Cushion Vehicles; and
34 Cape Class Search and Rescue Lifeboats.
The procurement of these small vessels will provide opportunities for smaller shipyards and suppliers across Canada, supporting good-paying jobs in our marine industry.
The National Shipbuilding Strategy is creating jobs in Canada’s shipbuilding industry and marine sector, and providing Canadian Coast Guard members with the equipment they need to continue their important work. Under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, 16 small vessels including 14 Search and Rescue lifeboats and two Channel Survey and Sounding Vessels have been delivered to the Canadian Coast Guard.
Contracts under the National Shipbuilding Strategy are estimated to have contributed approximately $21.26 billion ($1.93 billion annually) to Canada’s gross domestic product, and created or maintained over 18,000 jobs annually between 2012 and 2022.
“This is a critical investment that will help modernize the Canadian Coast Guard’s small vessel fleet. We are making sure the Canadian Coast Guard has the equipment it needs to keep Canadians and Canada’s waterways safe, while also creating good-paying jobs across the country.”
Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
“Through the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the government is providing the members of the Canadian Coast Guard with the ships they need to carry out their important work for Canadians. This significant investment also will create more jobs, generate significant economic benefits and help grow the marine industry throughout Canada.”
Helena Jaczek, Minister of Public Services and Procurement
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, May 29, 2023–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Saskatchewan’s Global Agri-Food Advancement Partnership (GAAP) recently led and closed an investment round into BioScout Australia along with sector leading investor Artesian (Alternative Investments), and other existing BioScout investors.
BioScout’s technology can alert farmers that a disease is about to strike their crop. (Photo: Business Wire)
This investment will not only support the ongoing growth of BioScout within Australia, as well as facilitate their international growth — starting with their expansion into North America with offices in Saskatoon.
This investment followed BioScout’s participation in GAAP’s Navigate program in 2022, where CEO & Founder Lewis Collins and Head of Science Michelle Demers were able to spend an extended period within Canada, benefitting from GAAP’s customized programming and one-on-one concierge services. Their exploratory trip to Canada was an unbelievable success: while here they met with investors, farmers and other industry experts.
BioScout’s product can find the “unseeable” and react to disease presence weeks before it could impact the yield of your crop. Seeing real-time and pre-symptomatic disease data allows the end-user to save yield and minimize fungicide resistance. With the airborne disease tracking platform, farmers are alerted when disease is going to strike and learn what they can do about it. BioScout catches and analyzes air particles to let farmers know what is happening in their field.
“We are very excited to expand BioScout into Canada and deliver our world-first disease detection and management technologies to Canadian growers. Canada’s dynamic agricultural sector is a perfect fit for BioScout sharing our values, culture and aspirations for profitable and sustainable farming. Partnering with GAAP(Navigate) has given BioScout the opportunity to accelerate our expansion into Canada and base ourselves within the Saskatchewan community. BioScout is now working with local growers and scientists to enable our technology to best serve Canadian farmers.” Lewis Collins, CEO, BioScout.
The team at GAAP is very excited to work with BioScout and their new innovative product. GAAP sees BioScout as a huge new player in the area of disease detection and sustainable practices. By detecting diseases weeks before they start to affect your crop and yields, BioScout can help farmers across Canada and North America to reduce the use of sprays. BioScout has applications in many crops including broad acre crop production, vineyards and fruit and vegetable production.
