Understanding Exits and Investing in High Growth Startups with Dhruv Kapoor, Sistema Asia Capital

The Neon Show

Dhruv worked with ABN AMRO and McKinsey & Company in Investment Management & Strategy roles in the early days of his career. He stepped into the VC ecosystem in India by eventually joining Helion Ventures in 2008.At Helion Ventures he was part of investing in companies like Ezetap, Azure Power, and MoEngage among others.Later when in 2015, Sistema (Russian conglomerate) decided to set up a Venture Fund in India, Dhruv joined Sistema Asia Capital in order to bring the best practices and 8 years of experience on board with him.Some of Sistema Asia Capital’s current Portfolio includes - Licious, Lendingkart, Netmeds & Faasos among others.In this podcast, Dhruv shares his experience of investing in mid-stage growth startups across various sectors in India’s Startup Ecosystem. Notes - 00:57 - His Journey from working at ABN & McKinsey to joining Venture Capital04:30 - Experience of working with Helion Ventures07:56 - Joining Sistema Asia Capital - Building the foundations of a VC firm10:15 - Sistema’s background & establishment in India14:34 - Executing Exit from Qwikcilver (Acquired by Pine Labs)19:44 - Investing in Faasos - reaching $1 billion valuation25:30 - Impact on fintech portfolio companies during Covid-19 lockdown - Lendingkart & Kissht31:26 - HealthifyMe’s transition from human-centric model to AI-based model33:30 - Netmeds offering a full-stack model & growing scalable margins37:04 - Sectors at which Sistema is bullish in 2020-21 - Edtech, Healthcare, & Agritech

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