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Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
American venture capital is flowing into India like never before. Here's why
A thousand unicorns. That's how many billion-dollar startups India could produce over the next two decades — and it's why investors are betting on it to power the world's next great tech surge. One of those investors is Aditya Mishra, a Columbia and GW Business School grad and former exec at Yahoo (APO) and Accenture (ACN), who now leads BAT VC, a $100 million early-stage venture fund focused on AI-first startups in India and the U.S. But the potential is not the result of a sudden shift. As Mishra sees it, this moment has been decades in the making. 'India has all the ingredients to be at par with China and the U.S.,' he told Quartz, backing it up with numbers: 800 million people under 35, a vast, extraordinarily tech-savvy educated class, and Indian capital itself stepping up to the plate. A decade ago, 75% of Indian IPO funding came from abroad, Mishra points out. Now, domestic investors account for up to 80%. Brokerage accounts have jumped from 36 million in 2020 to 160 million in 2024, which makes for an increasingly liquid financial ecosystem, helping further de-risk the environment for foreign investors. Global tech companies opening Indian operations have created similar dynamics to Silicon Valley as ex-Google (GOOGL), Meta (META), and OpenAI engineers and executives strike out on their own, founding startups that aim at both domestic and global growth, with innovation concentrated in AI, ML, robotics, deeptech, logistics, and fintech. Its AI sector alone is seeing 32% annual growth. That momentum is beginning to show up in public markets, too: India led the world with 338 IPOs in 2024, a 44% increase from the previous year, raising nearly $21 billion. As these homegrown companies come up within the complex linguistic, economic and social environment of modern India, they run up against and solve the exact sort of complicated problems that allow them to grow into global entities. Think cross-border payments and sophisticated supply chains. So it's no wonder India has emerged as the world's third-largest startup ecosystem. While the country's economic liberalization began in the 1990s, a more recent wave of 'China-plus-one' strategies — accelerated by trade tensions, supply chain recalibration, and geopolitical reshuffling — is bringing fresh foreign interest. 'You're seeing a shift toward bilateral trade agreements,' Mishra said, arguing that venture capital should reflect that realignment. BAT VC's thesis is built around dual-market value creation: backing U.S. startups expanding into India and Indian startups with global ambitions. Mishra estimates the bidirectional model can generate 1.5 to 2 times the return of regionally siloed investments. It's an arbitrage opportunity most VCs are still missing, Mishra said. Of course, structural challenges remain, from uneven regulatory enforcement to governance issues. But for investors willing to take the long view, Mishra sees an inflection point. The key to understanding the opportunity is recognizing that 'India has many Indias in it.' It's a country where world-class innovation exists alongside massive inequality, and where seemingly contradictory trends reflect a bigger picture. 'Everything can be true at once,' he said. When you build in India, you're building for scale, for fragmentation, for some regulatory ambiguity, as well as for different languages, payments, and regions, Mishra explained. That's precisely what prepares Indian tech companies to go global. For U.S. investors, he believes the message is simple: The next twenty years of tech growth won't look like the last twenty. Everyday investors may get exposure to India's tech scene through ETFs, but there's a case for the more direct VC play, too. Venture in India (and elsewhere) represents the business of tomorrow, Mishra argued. 'Everything else is the business of today.' Analysts beyond BAT are seeing the same signal. In a 2023 report, Goldman Sachs (GS) projected India could overtake the U.S. by 2075 to become the second-largest economy in the world. While the timeline may vary depending on who're you're speaking to, the underlying logic remains consistent: India's young population, rapidly growing tech sector, and expanding capital markets create a compelling story, playing out in real time. Assuming a baseline valuation of $1 billion apiece, that would mean $1 trillion in startup value alone. But the math gets even wilder fast. If India's unicorns follow the path of U.S. giants such as Stripe, SpaceX, or OpenAI — or even local standouts like Flipkart (WMT) and BYJU'S — average valuations could land much higher. Run the numbers and you're looking at anywhere from $2 to $5 trillion in private or potentially public market value over the next few decades. That's an industrial shift to echo Silicon Valley itself or the Chinese tech boom. India may still be building its tech future, but if the unicorn count is even half right, the scale of what's coming is hard to ignore. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Entrepreneur
15-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
New York's BAT VC Taps into India's 'Golden Era' of AI with USD 100 Mn Investment Plan
The fund will focus on sectors like fintech and B2B SaaS, aiming to back early-stage companies with global potential. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. BAT VC, a New York-based early-stage venture capital firm, has announced plans to invest up to USD 100 million in Indian AI and deeptech startups through its second fund. The fund will focus on sectors like fintech and B2B SaaS, aiming to back early-stage companies with global potential. The India initiative will be led by three general partners—Manish Maheshwari, former India head of Twitter, along with Aditya Mishra and Ravi Metta. Maheshwari has relocated to Bengaluru to anchor the effort. "My move to Bengaluru underscores our conviction in India's potential to lead the next wave of AI-driven global growth," he said. BAT VC believes India's AI sector is entering a "golden era," with the industry growing at 32% annually and expected to reach USD 23 billion by 2027. The enterprise SaaS market is also booming, currently valued at USD 8.7 billion and growing at 35% CAGR—twice the global average. The firm highlighted the sharp rise in US-India cross-border AI investments, which surged 180% to USD 4.7 billion in 2023. BAT VC attributes this to the growing availability of talent, capital, and market access across both countries. "We aim to back Indian founders building globally relevant AI products, supported by capital and perspective from both the US and India," said Aditya Mishra, Managing Director and General Partner at BAT VC. BAT VC's portfolio includes companies like Wand AI, StockGro, Nickelytics, Accern, and Uptiq AI. The firm stated that it has received strong interest from institutional investors and family offices in both regions. "Our technical depth enables us to identify high-impact AI startups early and guide them through global scale-up," added Ravi Metta, General Partner at BAT VC.
Business Standard
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
New York-based BAT VC Announces India Entry with $100 Million AI-focused Fund II
VMPL New York [US], May 14: BAT VC, a prominent New York-based venture capital firm, announced its entry into India, unveiling plans to invest up to $100 million through its second fund targeting India-linked startups specializing in AI and DeepTech disruptions in FinTech and B2B SaaS. Fund II builds on BAT VC's successful track record of identifying high-potential startups early, demonstrated through investments in Wand AI, StockGro, Nickelytics (acquired), Accern (acquired) and Uptiq AI from its previous fund. India's AI sector is entering a golden era, growing at 32% annually and projected to reach $23 billion by 2027. The country now boasts a pool of 450,000+ AI/ML professionals and an ecosystem ripe for global scale. In parallel, India's enterprise SaaS market surged to $8.7 billion, growing at a 35% CAGR--twice the global average. U.S.-India cross-border AI investments grew 180% to $4.7 billion in 2023, and the convergence of talent, capital, and market access has created a uniquely compelling investment landscape. The new India-focused initiative will be spearheaded by BAT VC's three General Partners: Manish Maheshwari, ex-Twitter India head, Mason Fellow at Harvard University and former Flipkart executive, whose AI venture, was recently acquired. Aditya Mishra, who achieved a successful entrepreneurial exit with FaceLogique and has held executive roles at Yahoo!, G/O Media, Accenture, and EY. Ravi Metta, former CTO at Finastra and product engineering leader at Intuit, brings deep technical expertise and a proven track record of driving innovation. "My move to Bengaluru underscores our conviction in India's potential to lead the next wave of AI-driven global growth," said Manish Maheshwari, General Partner and India Head at BAT VC. "We aim to back Indian founders building globally relevant AI products, supported by capital and perspective from both the US and India," said Aditya Mishra, Managing Director and General Partner. "Our technical depth enables us to identify high-impact AI startups early and guide them through global scale-up," said Ravi Metta, General Partner. India's startup ecosystem has grown significantly, with funding doubling to $27 billion, a 3x increase in scaled startups (>$10M revenue), and over $36 billion in public tech exits over the past five years--driven by momentum in fintech, SaaS, and digital innovation. Yet, India remains under-allocated: it receives just 5% of global VC capital despite representing nearly 20% of the world's population. This gap represents an arbitrage opportunity. The firm has garnered substantial interest from institutional investors and family offices in both the US and India, reflecting growing global confidence in India's potential. These stakeholders increasingly recognize India as the next big venture capital opportunity, especially as China-related risks grow and capital looks for alternative high-growth markets. Fund II reflects BAT VC's belief that India is no longer a frontier, but a core allocation for forward-looking global LPs. For more information, visit
