Japan's BeyondNext plans $50 million India fund to back deeptech, AI, semiconductor startups
The firm's rationale is threefold: investing in companies with a strong go-to-market focus, investing in Indians across the world, and bringing these businesses to Japan, where larger conglomerates can act as distribution partners.
'We think of India as a place where there are enormous tailwinds and tonnes of young entrepreneurs," Jay Krishnan, head of India investments at BeyondNext Ventures, told Mint in an interview. 'We want to enable those tailwinds, both from a policy and risk conversion side, and bring them to Japan."
BeyondNext entered India in 2019, when it backed 14 startups using capital from its $100 million second fund.
'Back then, the idea was to get a taste, get some exposure. Now, we've decided to go full hog in India," Krishnan said.
Also Read | How AI is transforming the role of venture capital for startups
Japanese VCs are looking more closely at the Indian startup ecosystem. Clean energy startup Aerem raised about $12 million from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation earlier this year. In November last year, Sumitomo's Asia fund was part of a $35 million funding round in mortgage-tech startup Easy.
In July last year, mobility manufacturer Suzuki launched its first India-focused ₹340 crore fund to tap startups working in agriculture, financial inclusion, supply chain and mobility.
BeyondNext is fundraising at the moment and will set aside 50% of the fund for 20 to 25 investments in the first five years of the 10-year fund. In the next five years, it will deploy the remaining capital for winners from the India portfolio, reserving $1 million for a pre-Series A cheque and another $1 million for follow-on investments.
Bullish on semiconductors
The firm will enter companies at the pre-seed stage and is offering cheques that start at $250,000 and go up to $2 million.
'We don't want to do Series A for these startups – we'd rather make them discoverable and visible to investors who come in at that stage," said Krishnan.
Also Read | India's venture capital firms are finding that leaner might be better
For the India-focused fund, BeyondNext said it is very bullish on the semiconductor industry, specifically startups that are able to disrupt the value chain in the sector. Additionally, the firm is evaluating startups in biotech, space and artificial intelligence.
'We're also eager about anything that has a local/contextualised play where the market is big enough that once they crack India, they can go anywhere," Krishnan said.
The firm plans to bring its Japanese deeptech playbook to India. BeyondNext runs an incubation programme called BRAVE, where it matches scientists and researchers with ideas that could become startups with business-facing talent. The programme has yielded 52 ventures, according to BeyondNext's website.
Also Read | End of FOMO: Venture capital firms turn cautious over AI startup hype; demand models with clear returns and impact
'We prefer two or three founders where the shortcomings of one are mitigated by someone else," said Krishnan.
Some of BeyondNext's previous investments in India include GigIndia, which was acquired by PhonePe in 2022, medical crowdfunding platform ImpactGuru, daycare surgery aggregator Medfin, and low-code digital therapeutics SaaS platform Wellthy Therapeutics.
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Time of India
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- Time of India
Déjà vu in Delhi! India knows the sting of tariffs
US President Donald Trump's decision to impose punishing tariffs on India might seem unprecedented — until you flip the calendar back 36 years. In 1989, Washington tried to pry open the Indian economy by threatening tariffs, leading to a 12-month bitter stand-off between the two nations. Eventually the US backed down, but the conflict left a scar on the bilateral relationship. A look back at the Super 301 episode can help us better understand the dynamics at play today. In the late 1980s, the US was engaged in an intense trade war with Japan, its primary economic rival at the time. Washington developed an arsenal of diplomatic and economic weapons for its war including Super 301, a legal mechanism upgraded in 1988. It authorised the US President to identify countries with 'unfair' trade practices and punish them with retaliatory tariffs. Once the statute came into force, President George HW Bush did not limit its use to Japan. His administration sought to address America's rising trade deficit by using the threat of Super 301 to strong-arm several countries, including American allies like Europe, South Korea and Taiwan. Parallels with the current administration are evident. In his first term, Trump used tariffs to battle China; now he uses them on friends and foes alike. Once Washington develops a policy tool to coerce one country, it becomes all too tempting to use that tool indiscriminately and sometimes unthinkingly. It is an important facet of US hegemony, regardless of who occupies the White House. Many countries tried to avoid Super 301 by hastily cutting deals with Washington to open their markets or voluntarily restricting their exports. In June 1989, the Bush administration declared that it would target three countries — Japan, Brazil and India. New Delhi was taken by complete surprise. Its relations with Washington had been improving in the previous few years. Its trade surplus with the US was relatively paltry. Washington's two central demands, that India allow American investments and foreign insurance companies, seemed arbitrary. Unlike Japan and Brazil, India refused to even enter into negotiations with the US. Then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi said he wouldn't let the US dictate how to run the country. American heavy-handedness sparked intense outrage in the Parliament, further tying the govt's hands politically. At the same time, the American threat of tariffs posed serious risks for the Indian economy. US share in India's exports at the time was about one-fifth, the same as it is today. India was much less dependent on foreign trade in 1989 than it is today, but it was also a much smaller and more vulnerable economy. India failed to enlist world opinion to its side. Western countries, including even Japan, agreed with Washington that India was too restrictive of foreign investments. 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It declared that while India was an 'unfair trader', it was not in American interest to take retaliatory actions. The Super 301 process against India was discontinued. The Bush administration backed down without much loss of face because Washington's trade campaign was global and India was only a small piece of it. Same remains true today. Although the tariffs are a major issue for New Delhi, they are just one battle among dozens that Trump is fighting on multiple fronts. The Indo-US relationship quickly bounced back, buoyed by alignment of certain economic and geopolitical interests. However, the Super 301 episode left a bad taste in the Indian mouth. It was yet another reminder that American power can unexpectedly become capricious and overbearing. In the last few years, many commentators have expressed befuddlement at why New Delhi resists moving closer to Washington despite its persistent conflict with Beijing. Its reticence partly stems from its fear that greater dependence on the US will leave it more vulnerable to Washington's volatile high-handedness that manifests from time to time. Trump's tariff assault has again affirmed the wisdom behind India's caution. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Indian Express
a few seconds ago
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India.com
a few seconds ago
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Reliance Industries Gross Debt Rises 7 pc At Rs 3.47 Lakh Crore In FY25, Net Debt Hits Rs 1.17 Lakh Crore
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