Manu Rekhi, a principal at Inventus Capital Partners, cited in a report that there is a shift in Indian companies and venture class returns in the country. As an example, his venture capital firm's investments in redBus gave double-digit returns in four years. With the company's purchase of MIH/Naspers Group and with less than USD 10 million in financing, revenue still rose 15 times in that period. And later, when Inventus Capital exited, Rekhi wrote that there was still USD 7 million remaining on its balance sheet.
As another example, he also cited SAIF's high returns in its IPO of JustDial. Also, another success story is that of the backing that Inventus Capital gave to Power2SME, a firm that aggregates the USD 100 billion market in steel and cement purchases. It only took one year after Inventus Capital's investment for revenues to burst 45 times.
These, he said, "are sure signs the venture ecosystem is finding its grip, with many more opportunities to come." The raw ingredients are already in place in the country for startups to thrive, Rekhi said. What is lacking is a purposeful government policy to fuel the growth.
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