SEAnews 2016-06-06 ArtNo.45775

　T V Mohandas Pai, who was CFO, HR head and board member at Infosys BSE 0.53 %, is today one of India's most prominent angel investors.
　Q: Compared to last year, funding has fallen drastically. How do you see this?
　A: Last year was the year of exuberance. We were only looking at the big deals that went to B2C ( business to consumer). Everyone was trying to buy capacity to become the leader. And all the B2C companies started discounting heavily to show GMVs. No one was interested in profit. Now, people have become discerning. VCs are saying, stretch your money, don't expect the next round till you show us value. So the ventures are all looking at breaking even, reducing cash burn and becoming efficient. In the last five years, you have created a generation of people who only shop for price. But will they come back next time when the price is not discounted? No. So you become a commodity. There's no brand.　
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　Q: We see a lot of old money, from people in traditional businesses, coming into the tech startup sector, including into your own funds...
　A: Yes, they see the space growing fast. And because they don't understand the sector, they work with people like us. They are rent seekers and feel happy about the 14-15% return they get. They don't want to take much risk. We go to them only after we have put our own money. Even banks are now giving money . We want to promote Indian capital. In China , 60% capital is local money , while in India it is 5%. In ten years, I expect India will have 1 lakh startups with $500 billion of value created and employing at least 70 lakh people. When we create $500 billion, don't you want Indians to own most of it? I don't want India to become a digital colony. India is the last great digital frontier.
○Chinese investors betting big on India's Web & mobile. Is that a good news for start-ups?

【New Delhi】The past one year has been a watershed moment for the start-up ecosystem in India. The country's online tech space, which has so far been restricted to seeing capital flooding in primarily from the West, is witnessing some aggressive and widespread investments from Chinese companies.
　The year 2016 began with China's online travel company Ctrip buying a stake in homegrown travel portal MakeMyTrip for $180 million. Baidu, China's largest search engine, also unveiled discussions with Indian e-commerce start-ups, including Zomato, BookMyShow and BigBasket, for investments.
　This comes in the backdrop of Jack Ma-led Alibaba reportedly acquiring a 20% stake in One97 Communications, the parent company of Indian e-tailer Paytm, and announcing heavy funding in India's leading online marketplace Snapdeal in 2015.
　Another Chinese Internet giant, Tencent Holdings, led a $90-million funding round for Bengaluru-based healthcare information provider Practo in August last year.
　India's largest cab-hailing service Ola, too, reportedly raised about $500 million in a fresh round of funding led by China's largest taxi-hailing service company, Didi Kuaidi, in September last year.
【News source】

I do not want India to become a digital colony, it's the last frontier: Mohandas Pai

Chinese investors betting big on India ‘s Web & mobile. Is that a good news for start-ups?

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