I’m an early-stage VC investing in AI startups. AMA!

NOTE: This AMA is postponed.

Hello TIA Community!

I am Manish Singhal, Founding Partner at Pi Ventures, an early-stage VC fund focused on seed and pre-series A investments in AI, IoT, and blockchain startups. We invest in IP-led businesses that use AI in a meaningful way.

I started Pi Ventures in 2016 as India’s first AI-focused fund. Our thesis is that data is an integral part of any business, and only companies that use this data intelligently will be able to survive. AI today provides the best way to derive intelligence from data across a range of sectors. We now have six companies in our portfolio: three in healthcare and three in the enterprise sector.

In my previous avatar, I was an angel investor with investments in companies like Locus, DropKaffe, Witworks, AdSparx, and ApartmentADDA. I also co-founded LetsVenture.com and led it to become the leading marketplace for startups and early-stage investors in India.

You can ask me anything, including:

• What criteria do you use to evaluate startups?
• How is VC investment different from angel investment?
• What does raising a first-time VC fund entail?
• How do you build an AI startup?
• What are the key criteria to evaluate an AI startup?

Note from Putra, TIA’s head of community content: The host may choose at his preference to not answer particular questions. The AMA is moderated by the community managers, so let’s keep the questions friendly. 🙂