How Nikesh’s exit might impact India’s startup ecosystem

Photo credit: Eirik Solheim.

It’s rare for CEOs of India’s unicorn startups to issue a statement on the departure of an executive at one of their investment firms. But Nikesh Arora was not an ordinary name.

Nikesh, whom I met twice in his Google days, always came across as a sharp sales guy and a people’s person who knew how to move things around. As the president of Softbank he was more relaxed and entrepreneur-like, free from the shackles of what can be said publicly and what can’t.

Clearly, some at Google and in the Indian investor ecosystem did not like him. But with Masayoshi Son behind him, he had the power and muscle to invest Softbank’s billions in India and change the face of its startup boom.

If you’ve ever used an Ola, bought anything from Snapdeal, stayed in an Oyo, bought vegetables from Grofers, or looked around those big banner billboards from Housing in the past two years, that’s Softbank’s money at play.

In the last two years, the Japanese telco’s investment firm has been able to create over 100,000 jobs with US$2 billion worth of investments. The firm has committed to invest US$10 billion in India in 10 years.

Here is what Indian startup CEOs had to say

Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola:

“Nikesh is such a great friend, guide and mentor to me personally. I am sure he will continue to be a source of support and inspiration to the Indian startup ecosystem. I look forward to engaging with him in his role as an advisor to SoftBank in the time ahead. SoftBank as an investor, has played a key role in Ola’s growth story and we will continue to leverage the vast network and expertise that they bring to us as partners, in our mission of building mobility for a billion Indians.”

Kunal Bahl, co-founder and CEO of Snapdeal:

“Nikesh has been a great supporter and mentor to our business and we look forward to the same continuing going forward as well. SoftBank will continue to provide financial and strategic support to our company and the transition at SoftBank will have no impact on our business,” he said to Huffington Post here.

(Second from left in specs) Kunal Bahl, cofounder and CEO of Snapdeal, with cofounder Rohit Bansal (third from left) and Softbank founder Masayoshi Son (extreme right).

Timeline of Softbank’s investments in India

July 2014: SoftBank Corp announces that Nikesh Arora would be joining the company in October 2014 as Vice Chairman.

October 2014: Softbank invests US$627 million in Snapdeal, US$210 million in Olacabs as Nikesh joins Softbank.

Will it impact Indian startups?