Business Standard<\/em>.<\/p>\n“(This is) primarily because the early-stage space in India, in the last three-four years, has completely changed.<\/p>\n
“There has been a huge influx of capital in the last two years. It has become a very crowded space for early-stage investment,” he said.<\/p>\n
Padaki, who has been with Infosys for over 30 years, was appointed Catamaran’s president in 2022.<\/p>\n
The Bengaluru-based firm has a team size of 15.<\/p>\n
“We are targeting all the asset classes, be it private or public markets.<\/p>\n
“The focus right now in the private sector is to identify opportunities in the manufacturing realm,” he added.<\/p>\n
Amid an ongoing government push for manufacturing and increased investor interest for deeptech, the investment firm is betting big on these sectors to achieve its growth targets.<\/p>\n
“Traditionally, manufacturing is not a sector that has seen much VC (venture capital) interest due to the long-gestation periods,” said Padaki.<\/p>\n
He added, “We must build the manufacturing ecosystem. Like IT services was one big wave in the past, the next big wave in India should come from manufacturing.<\/p>\n
“An investment firm like us can better support that vision.”<\/p>\n
Within the manufacturing space, the firm will focus on sub-sectors such as electronic manufacturing supply chain, electric vehicle (EV) component supply chain and renewables.<\/p>\n
“The manufacturing of tomorrow is a little different.<\/p>\n
“There is a lot of technology usage and automation now, where we think we can leverage our technology ecosystem,” he added.<\/p>\n
Catamaran’s deeptech bets will primarily focus on emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI).<\/p>\n
Padaki said, “AI has become a great leveller. The opportunity in AI and deeptech is huge because everybody is starting afresh.<\/p>\n
“This has levelled the playing field for everyone. We will see a lot of good ideas emerging from this space.”<\/p>\n
These investments would be in series B and beyond rounds, where investments would be co-led alongside other backers.<\/p>\n
Padaki said that each of Catamaran’s bets will vary, depending on the opportunities presented.<\/p>\n
“We do not compartmentalise our investments. We may invest anywhere from Rs 20-25 crore, all the way to Rs 400 crore, depending on the opportunity,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Unlike a traditional VC fund, there is no hard allocation.<\/p>\n
“This gives us more flexibility to meet our objectives based on the actual opportunities.”<\/p>\n
The Bengaluru-based firm, which began its operations in 2009, previously entered into a joint venture with e-commerce major Amazon to run Prione Business Services.<\/p>\n
Its wholly-owned subsidiary Cloudtail India was one of Amazon’s largest sellers in the country.<\/p>\n
The e-commerce major later bought out Catamaran’s stake in the company in 2021.<\/p>\n
Catamaran has backed promising start-ups across sectors like B2B platform Udaan, beverage brand Paper Boat, online learning marketplace Udemy, and video-sharing platforms Dailyhunt and Josh.<\/p>\n
It has also taken bets in the likes of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the National Stock Exchange (NSE).<\/p>\n
“Our focus on evaluating exit options has increased – whether in funds or companies. Also, we look for correct assessment of TAM (total addressable market) and differentiators in the offerings, avoiding a ‘me-too’ offering,” said Padaki.<\/p>\n
Family offices have increased their investments in the Indian start-up ecosystem over the past few years.<\/p>\n
According to an empaxis report, India has close to 300 family offices, with an average AUM of $100 million.<\/p>\n
Corporate governance, among its portfolio companies, has also been a priority for the Murthy-led firm.<\/p>\n
While cases like BharatPe, GoMechanic, Trell, Zilingo, and most recently, Byju’s, have led investors to start hedging their bets, conversations around proper governance among start-ups have been on the rise.<\/p>\n
“It (corporate governance) has been at the forefront for us since the beginning.<\/p>\n
“One of the things about family offices, in particular, is reputation protection.<\/p>\n
“There is a strong focus on basic principles,” said Padaki.<\/p>\n
Whether it’s a public or private company investment, Padaki added that Catamaran has a long check-list.<\/p>\n
It includes related-party transactions, who the auditor is, who is on the board, and what is the risk governance, among other parameters.<\/p>\n
“We have a wealth of experience within the team on operating in large companies, especially in later stages,” he added.<\/p>\n
Padaki’s overall outlook towards the Indian start-up ecosystem remains positive.<\/p>\n
“The momentum among early-stage start-ups is still high but things have changed.<\/p>\n
“Entrepreneurs we are meeting nowadays are very different and many are first-time entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
“Many of the ideas we are seeing now are innovative and IP-based, unlike the previous traditional, business model-oriented ideas,” he said.<\/p>\n
He added, “These are across emerging sectors like biotech, AI and even manufacturing.<\/p>\n
“How founders will be able to make these models profitable remains to be seen.”<\/p>\n
In the later stages, however, Padaki believes that there will be a shake up by the end of this year.<\/p>\n
“Valuations of many late-stage companies have still not been fully corrected.<\/p>\n
“Many companies raised a lot of money last year, but their success will depend on how wisely they use the money this year.<\/p>\n
“If they consciously take a look at their cost structures, achieve profitability and product fit, they will survive,” he added.<\/p>\n
Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Catamaran, the family office of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, is targeting 15 per cent returns on its portfolio investments per annum as it shifts focus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":133762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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