Launched in early 2016, Ideaspring Capital is one of the earliest venture capital firms, and took a bold leap into investing in enterprise technology which was a fairly unexplored domain for startups. Founded by Naganand Doraiswamy, Prashant Deshpande, Arihant and Amit Patni, Ideaspring Capital also has IT veterans Infosys’ Mohandas Pai and SASKEN’s Rajiv Mody as General Partners, with investments in companies like Mihup, Worxogo, Lavelle Networks and Whodat. In addition, its Startup Assist program helps startups in product management, customer & investor connects.

Cut Through The AI/ ML Hype; Focus On Tangible Use Case

When we started out, there was a wave of AI/ML startups around. As an investor, it important to cut through the hype and avoid startups that are all chasing the same problem. A real use case brings real value, and this is something investors like us like to sink our teeth into. We seek startups that push boundaries. Of course, mega trends matter but the challenge for us to see how entrepreneurs are solving specific challenges within broad domains. This is the value creation an investor wants.

Setbacks Are Good For Perspective

Having been in the market for a while now, a fair share of investors frequently avail of our expertise and value. It’s been a huge learning curve for us as peers and investors, seeing as to how the landscape has grown especially in the last two years. COVID19 was a shape-shifter for us – some investments have accelerated beyond expectations while others de-grew. What we’ve seen is that entrepreneurs who have faced particular hardships do know how to cope, change product market fit based on changing demand and pivot their business model. Setbacks always give perspective to entrepreneurs to do better, and become stronger.

Going Wide and Deep

Deeptech entrepreneurs today are willing to take risks, in anticipation of the benefits they could reap. This risk appetite is something investors too have come to appreciate and support, else you’re not making a sizeable dent in the ecosystem. It is always important to keep questioning the startup – what problem are you trying to solve? How big is the delta of your use case? Are you a me-too startup, mirroring trends to be safe? These questions help investors not develop a haze and keep pushing the boundaries for not just themselves, but others too. 

Big Trends

We’re bullish on voice tech, and believe it will be a game changer in areas like connected vehicles. One example would be Mihup, a conversational AI platform we invested in along with Accel Partners earlier this month. Another area we anticipate a lot of activity in is EV; our investment in Numocity is testament to our interest in this space. They offer end to end middleware solutions with a range of use cases.

Advice to Startups

Before you go deep into the product and commercialization aspects, talk to atleast 10-15 customers to see if they are interested in signing a cheque for you. Their trust in your solution is paramount. Another bit of advice to entrepreneurs is to keep a 24-month runway, instead of the expected 12-18 month runway. The buffer of 6 months can help raise extra money should there be unforeseen circumstances.