Sequoia MD is positive on the outlook for Indian startups.

Anandan was speaking at a session of the Global Fintech Fest organized by the NPCI, Payments Council of India and Fintech Convergence Council. The Sequoia India Managing Director said that there was no scarcity of global capital for Indian companies notwithstanding the coronavirus epidemic and its bruising economic impact. (The Telegraph)

Trillions available in negative interest rate economies

Anandan left Google India after an eight-year stint to join Sequoia India in April last year. He said a cash trove of an estimated $20 trillion was available for deployment in global economies suffering from negative interest rates.

“The world is awash with capital,” Anandan said. “It is just looking for interesting places to invest.”

Indian startups improving their businesses

In an interesting statistic, Anandan revealed that only 10% of India’s 40,000 startups had raised venture capital. But most of them were still unprofitable after funding. Further, only 40% of unfunded startups were profitable.

However, in an encouraging trend, he noted that during the last four months, Indian startups had “materially improved their underlying business,” after restructuring costs.

Anandan went on to say that the Indian startup ecosystem will be on a sound footing by the end of 2021.

“As a result, Indian startups will generally require less capital. But whatever capital they may need, they will be able to get.”

Sequoia India announces new India and SEA funds

Earlier this month, Sequoia India announced it had received commitments from LPs for $1.35 billion in two new Sequoia India venture and growth funds.

The new funds – a $525 million worth venture fund and an $825 million growth fund – will focus on investing in India and SEA region.

“The markets in India and SEA are deepening, our founders are world-class, our tech talent is formidable – but we need to hold ourselves to a higher bar,” said Shailendra J Singh, managing director at Sequoia Capital in a LinkedIn post.

“The region’s ecosystem is at a fork in the road – and we believe there is an opportunity to choose a different path.”

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