Durba Ghosh · · 2 min readWhat you need to know about Naspers’ new venture capital arm in India
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Naspers, South Africa’s Internet and media conglomerate, and one of the leading global investors in technology space, has set up a venture capital arm in India. The company, which already backs some well-known Indian companies like MakeMyTrip and OLX, is expected to further step up its investments in the country.
Naspers has roped in Ashutosh Sharma to spearhead its India investments, the company said. Before joining Naspers at its Bangalore office, Ashutosh was the India vice president for the Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Norwest Venture Partners.
The company said it plans to back local entrepreneurs and startups in India through the venture capital arm. Naspers has until now stuck to investing in mid-to-large stage companies, and has run incubations through companies where it owns over 90 to 95 percent in stakes.
According to the company, Naspers will invest in technology-focused startups in sectors like healthcare, education and logistics, besides consumer internet and online retail plays. The firm has started scouting for potential investment-worthy startups in India and may go for early stage investments. The deal size could wary between US$10 million to US$50 million for a minority stake.
Naspers plans to back local entrepreneurs and startups in India.
To date, Naspers has invested about US$1.5 billion in total in Indian companies. Naspers increased focus in India in September, when it led one of the largest M&As in Indian fintech history. The Nasper-owned online payments firm PayU acquired the India-based Citrus Pay for nearly US$130 million, making it one of the largest deals in the Indian internet world.
Subsequently in October, it merged travel firm Ibibo with MakeMyTrip in a stock deal valued at US$1.8 billion. Naspers will become the largest shareholder in the combined entity after the merger is completed in December. It also has a 15 percent stake in India’s unicorn startup, online retailer Flipkart.
Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Kylee McIntyre
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