VenturEast plans dedicated venture fund for high-end defence

Hyderabad: VenturEast, a venture capital funding company, investing since 1997 and managing close to over $400 million, has a diverse portfolio of over 100 investments in technology, healthcare, clean environment, and other sectors. The company, which is one of the very few Indian fund managers to have dedicated funds and teams for each sector- life […]

Hyderabad: VenturEast, a venture capital funding company, investing since 1997 and managing close to over $400 million, has a diverse portfolio of over 100 investments in technology, healthcare, clean environment, and other sectors. The company, which is one of the very few Indian fund managers to have dedicated funds and teams for each sector- life sciences & healthcare, and separately for technology-driven businesses, is looking to create a dedicated defence sector fund. Dr Srikanth Sundararajan, general partner, VenturEast shares with Telangana Today, the company’s plans and outlook.

Dedicated funds

We are thinking of creating a high-end defence-centric fund to help companies in the sector, the way we saw success in life sciences funds. Defence is a hot segment in India with ‘Make in India’ sentiment picking up, and we are exploring an India-only fund in the next 12-18 months. We are also planning to come out with an incubator and accelerator with some corporate partners soon.

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Funding scenario

VenturEast in 2020 funded 3-4 companies with about $10 million investment. In 2021, we have so far invested in two startups and two more startup investments are lined up in the later part of the year. We have also brought together synergies among our portfolio companies. Our funding has remained pragmatic keeping in mind the market scenario. We have seen several of our portfolio companies surviving the downturn caused due to Covid-induced challenges, barring companies that dealt with aspirational product offerings, which faced lower demand.

Sector patterns

Manufacturing, edutech and healthtech companies have attracted attention in the last 18 months, which have brought unique solutions using data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Startups using emerging technologies continue to do well. Once 5G is available, more technology-driven startups will come out with deeptech solutions for healthcare or manufacturing. Robotics is also getting specialised. Space and drone technologies are becoming mainstream with industry-friendly regulations. The Electric Vehicle segment is also showing promise. India as a market is maturing where technology is being leveraged.

Healthcare centricity

Several of the healthcare companies have seen significant momentum after the pandemic struck. The industry has seen rejuvenation. Pharmacy, health insurance and diagnostic sectors have seen robust demand. They have become one of the top sectors for investments from a venture capital point of view.

Engagement with incubators

VenturEast has been working with incubators such as T-Hub, NetApp Accelerator, CIE of IIIT Hyderabad, incubators of IIT-Bombay and IIT-Madras, and others pan-India. The company has also worked with specialty accelerators in the areas of life sciences and agriculture over the last two decades.

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