Securing the single-largest investment cheque in India’s
digital landscape — for $1.4 billion — called for a celebration. It may have
been too early yet for Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma to say how he would
put the money to use but he was certain about whom he would raise a toast with.
“I will celebrate with Ravi,” a jetlagged Sharma said two
weeks before announcing the funding from Japan’s SoftBank in May. The
investment made Paytm second-most valued digital company in India with an
estimated worth of about $7 billion and Sharma the country’s wealthiest
internet entrepreneur.
That’s Ravi Adusumalli—India’s most-successful tech
investor.
As managing partner at SAIF Partners, the reticent
Adusumalli has often struck gold. The venture capital firm’s total $70 million
investment in Paytm is now estimated to be worth about $1.5 billion. SAIF also
earned more than $300 million selling a part of its stake in Paytm to SoftBank.
Another big payout for Adusumalli came from India’s largest
online travel agency Makemytrip, in which SAIF had invested about $25 million.
The firm sold its entire investment in the Deep Kalra-promoted company this
year, earning nearly $400 million.
The stake sales in Makemytrip and Paytm make for the largest
cash exits in the relatively short history of India’s venture capital industry.
SAIF currently manages two India dedicated funds, with total capital invested
in the country pegged at about $1 billion.
“If there is somebody who has made money in India (from
startups) it is Ravi,” said Parag Dhol, director at venture capital firm
Inventus Capital. “He has shown good timing in backing companies at a very
early stage.”
Those who know Adusumalli, who is in his early forties,
describe him as a no-nonsense straightshooter who inspires both respect and
fear from peers as well as entrepreneurs.
Adusumalli graduated from Cornell University in 1998 with a
degree in economics. Following that, he worked at Wasatch Funds and Credit
Suisse First Boston and was then associate partner with Mobius Venture Capital,
a $1.25-billion early-stage venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. He joined
SAIF Partners in 2002.
Among his early successes was an investment in brokerage
IL&FS Investsmart, which HSBC acquired in 2008. That earned Adusumalli a
spot in the Forbes Midas list of top investors in 2008. The previous year, he
led SAIF’s investment in the National Stock Exchange and has been pushing the
bourse’s management towards an initial public offering of its shares.
Adusumalli has also led investments in local classifieds
firm Just Dial, realty website Proptiger and online baby products retailer
Firstcry. To be sure, not all his investment decisions have been successful,
such as in apparel brand Zovi, television shopping firm Homeshop18 and online
video aggregator iStream.
Since the turn of this decade, Adusumalli has focused on
consumer internet companies, leveraging the experience of SAIF Partners’
affiliate in China.
What has allowed Adusumalli to keep a low profile is that he
lives near Salt Lake City in Utah, United States, where he went to high school,
away from the Indian startup ecosystem’s glare on Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and
Silicon Valley. He travels to India every 4-6 weeks, typically to attend board
meetings and meet new startups.
Those who know Adusumalli believe he has only gained from
staying away from the hubs of startup activity. “He understands the difference
between noise and signal,” one of them said. According to two entrepreneurs ET
spoke with, Adusumalli’s advice to startup founders mostly has to do with
strategy, top-level hiring and controlling cash burn rates. He does not delve
on operational nittygritties, an area where he doesn’t have much experience. “His
advice to founders typically revolves around high-level strategy and he doesn’t
interfere in the day-to-day operations,” said one of these entrepreneurs, who
has worked with Adusumalli.
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