Vishesh Rajaram

Vishesh Rajaram, and his fellow partner Arjun Rao started their VC firm in 2017 to back entrepreneurs attempting to solve difficult technological problems in multiple areas—from computer vision aided guidance for industrial robotic arms to electric planes and 3D printed rockets to put small satellites in space. They have invested in 18 startups and are now ready for their second fund to invest in deep tech. Rajaram talks about why this is important and what motivates him and Rao

In this episode, Vishesh Rajaram, Founder & Managing Partner @Speciale Invest, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his learnings as a venture capitalist (VC) – at Venture East earlier and now at Speciale Invest, backing early-stage startups in disruptive technology domains like Space-tech, micro-mobility, clean energy & robotics, how deep-tech startups can reduce risk and gain trust of investors and iterating investment strategies as a VC. Vishesh who has about 13 years of experience across enterprise technologies and consumer services. Vishesh started his venture capital journey with Venture East in 2007, one of India’s oldest VC firms. After spending almost a decade at Venture East, Vishesh founded Speciale Invest in 2016. Speciale Invest is an early-stage investment firm that focuses on B2B deeptech startups across both hardware & software and has been an early pioneer of domains like Space tech, Robotics, Deep tech software, micro-mobility, and clean energy transportation. So far, it has invested in about a dozen startups, including the likes of Agnikul, Utlraviolet, Truelark and Wingman, among others. Vishesh is a Chartered Accountant and an alum of the Indian School of Business. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter ---- Show notes – 1. (01:59) Vishesh’s path leading up to venture capital 2. (06:02) Learnings from a decadal experience of being a VC 3. (08:40) Founder-insight fit; Backing startups that are building technologies of the future 4. (14:46) Key headwinds for Deep tech / IP driven startups to thrive in India; How founders gain trust of and reduce risk for investors? 5. (20:22) What does Speciale Invest particularly look for in founders that are pursuing hardware/deep tech opportunities? 6. (21:57) Adding value to startups beyond just the capital 7. (23:55) Evolving VC landscape; Overcoming long feedback cycles and iterating investment strategies as a VC 8. (28:13) Key principles to build a strong institutional VC brand 9. (30:25) Rapid fire and closing remarks

Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest, discusses his fund’s investment thesis.

From working at PwC, while pursuing his CA to starting a Venture Fund which invests in Early-stage disruptive Tech startups, Vishesh has experienced it all.He started his investing career at VenturEast in 2007. This was where he understood the Ins & Outs of Venture investing. From its Fund-I, Speciale Invest has invested in a total of 10 portfolio companies, some of which are Scapic, Agnikul, and Kawa Space among others.In this podcast, Vishesh shares his experience of investing in seed-stage Hardware & SaaS startups.Notes - 01:10 - His journey from a CA to becoming an Early-Stage Investor07:41 - Starting Speciale Invest aiming to invest in disruptive tech startups09:30 - Developer Tools companies in his portfolio - Scapic, Kawa Space, TotalCloud, and iauro10:44 - Conversation AI startups in his portfolio - True Lark & Wingman 12:35 - Investing in Cynlr with a vision to evolve Visual AI and Industrial Robotic Arms14:47 - Investing in Agnikul - India’s version of SpaceX16:27 - His experience Investing & Exit from Vogo19:48 - Is the Indian startup ecosystem mature enough for early-Exits within 5-6 years of investment?24:31 - What are some of the recent tailwinds for Hardware & SaaS startups in India?28:19 - How are B2B founders different from B2C founders in terms of Go-to-market strategy, customer acquisition, and other parameters?31:18 - His learnings from being a VC-cum-Fund Manager and managing LPsAlso, try out a 30-day free trial of Zoho Payroll, and simplify your Payroll journey as an entrepreneur! https://zoho.to/zoho-payroll