Key Investments: OfBusiness, Five Star, Razorpay, Dailyhunt
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Investment Strategy: Vaidyanathan has spent over a decade at early-stage investment firm Matrix Partners India. Over the last two years, his early investments have paid off, with portfolio firms OfBusiness, Razorpay and Dailyhunt entering India’s coveted unicorn club. These firms have topped valuations of over $5 billion.
Investor Name: Mohit Bhatnagar Role: Managing Director
Investment Strategy: For almost 17 years, Bhatnagar has been at the forefront of building Sequoia Capital in India. Last year, two of his bets, Zomato and Freshworks, went public. His other major exits include a partial secondary sale of Sequoia’s stake in hospitality unicorn Oyo, Citrus Pay’s $130 million cash acquisition by PayU, and Ujjivan’s public listing.
Investment Strategy: Kirani is among the earliest backers of India’s SaaS story, when not too many investors were bullish on it. In 2011, he invested $1 million in the now Nasdaq-listed Freshworks, which made a big-bang debut on the public markets at a valuation of almost $13 billion, a fourfold rise over its last private valuation.
Investor Name: Suvir Sujan Role: Managing Director
Investment Strategy: Sujan cofounded Nexus Venture Partners in 2006 after selling online marketplace Baazee.com to eBay. The experienced investor has made a strong comeback in his portfolio, recording mega exits through Pubmatic and Delhivery, which went public. Nexus’ $36 million investment in Delhivery has a value of $500 million, post IPO.
Investment Strategy: Tanna, a TPG veteran, has made the PE major one of the strongest backers of the Indian unicorn story with investments in Lenskart, FirstCry, Dream11 and Livspace. Tanna had a big win when Nykaa, in which TPG had invested $28 million in 2019, listed in November 2021 with a $13 billion valuation.
ET Startup Awards 2022: Runway cleared for more unicorns to take flight
