Entrepreneurs will learn that uncertainty is here to stay in a market where domestic VCs will gain in prominence as foreign funds continue to view India with scepticism.
Peak XV Partners’s Shailendra Singh best epitomizes the Indian startup landscape in 2023 for me. Not his fund’s investment thesis but the duality of his talking big performance despite everything that has actually happened in the fund’s portfolio of investments.
Last week, at an event, Singh compared Indian unicorns—companies that are privately valued at $1 billion or more—to adolescents, saying they are yet to grow muscles. To quote him: “Many unicorns are yet to discover free cash flow (FCF), plenty of them have to realize that there is no endless stream of capital raising. Many unicorns also have to discover …
Ashish is the editor-in-chief of The Morning Context. One of the best-known business feature writers in India, he was selected for Germany’s Robert Bosch Stiftung Fellowship in 2012 and received the Mumbai Press Club RedInk certificate of recognition in 2015 for his story “Inside the Network 18 takeover”. Before joining The Morning Context, Ashish co-founded The Ken, where he was managing editor. His previous writing stints include Mint, Forbes India and The Economic Times.
Editor-in-chief
ashish@mailtmc.com
London