<keyword id="224987" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Avnish-Bajaj">Avnish Bajaj</keyword> is a hard man to catch; he’s always on the go and has a packed schedule that is filled with meeting the who’s who and maybes of the start-up ecosystem. Bajaj sat down to talk to Business Insider to discuss why he left the dream job at <keyword id="6361649" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Goldman-Sachs">Goldman Sachs</keyword> in the US in 1999 and came back to India, which wasn’t the great land of opportunities back then.<br /><br /> “I wanted to get rich, quick,’’ he states simply, “I was carried away by the dot-com craze and I always wanted to be an entrepreneur,” says Bajaj who started his own venture back in 2000 with Baazee.com, which was the first e-commerce site that focused on bidding for used products.<br />

    

    

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 <strong>Richie Rich goes vintage <br /></strong><br /> “The best way to get rich and control your own destiny is entrepreneurship and I kept working to achieve that,” Avnish worked multiple technical roles after graduating from IIT Kanpur before realizing that he wanted to be on the managerial side. He attended <keyword id="70846" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Harvard-Business-School">Harvard Business School</keyword> and kept preparing for the right time to spread his wings which happened back home, in the millennial New Year.<br /><br /> When Bajaj, came back to India, he realized that his passion did not lie in outsourcing, which was the trend, but instead, in consumer brands. “In the US, things move really fast. Whenever we thought of a business idea, someone would start it in the states within 50 days,” Bajaj realized that in India, the only untapped market was the used-goods market and he decided to jump on the internet bandwagon to kick-start the e-commerce revolution.

    

    

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 <strong><keyword id="6357395" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="eBay">eBay</keyword> or the highway<br /></strong><br /> The company ran successfully for four years before it was acquired by eBay for $50 million. Bajaj was made the Country Manager for <keyword id="161767" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="eBay-India">eBay India</keyword> and he spearheaded the entity till 2007 till he realized that he can do much more as an investor for the consumer-tech industry than as an entrepreneur. He co-founded <keyword id="366603" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Matrix-Partners-India">Matrix Partners India</keyword> and hasn’t looked back ever since. <div type="embedgroup"> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="59181977" title="Exclusive: Rajesh Sawhney banks on the people who make up companies with the right product market fit" rank="1.0" kind="RELATED" publishDate="Jun 16, 2017, 8:56 PM" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div></div>






<br /> “Immediately after Baazee, I started angel investing and my portfolio grew to 18 companies before I thought I could take it seriously. I believe in the concept of three circles intersecting namely passion, skill set and opportunity to succeed. My passion for investing came from the increased intellectual stimulation that I would get out of different start-ups and varied individuals,” says Bajaj who believes that investing is entrepreneurship on steroids across sectors that creates multiple impact while making a lot more money, if you play your cards right.<br />

Exclusive: Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India thinks that investing is entrepreneurship on steroids

<keyword id="224987" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Avnish-Bajaj">Avnish Bajaj</keyword> is an entrepreneur turned investor who has always been driven by the pursuit of success in entrepreneurship but from wanting to be rich to now making other people rich, he has come a long way.<br /><br /> “It has always been about achievement. That being said, money is a scorecard for achievement. Numbers are very important for investors but it is not the end of the game, it is the bridge between needs and means and for me once my needs were met, I just wanted to learn and help,” Bajaj told Business Insider, who thinks that we’re seeing the best entrepreneurs in the history of the Indian consumer tech sector.<br /><br /> In terms of investing, Bajaj thinks that all elements of the venture funding are in place and for the first time, the question of exits is being answered, “As the market starts deepening, the exits will start happening. The next decade or so are going to be very exciting for the investors,”Avnish says that the Indian founders are as competent as their American or Chinese counterparts and have great potential. <br /><br /> <keyword id="136057" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Matrix-Partners">Matrix Partners</keyword> has many popular companies on its portfolio namely Ola, Practo, Dailyhunt, Quikr, Housejoy, LimeRoad, Mswipe and Cloudnine. <div type="embedgroup"> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="59181595" title="Exclusive: Global Superangel Forum’s (GSF) founder Rajesh Sawhney is an Innerchef at heart" rank="1.0" kind="RELATED" publishDate="Jun 16, 2017, 8:17 PM" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div></div>




























<br /> <b>Downturn for the win</b><br /><br /> Bajaj thinks this ‘downturn’ that the Indian start-up ecosystem is seeing is necessary, “All elements of this industry are amplified and disruptive; the entrepreneurs, the investors and even the media get carried away in the possibilities. It’s all part and parcel of being an entrepreneur; if things were so easy, everyone would be starting their own business.”<br /><br /> Avnish says that recession is a good sign as companies like Facebook and Google were started during downturns and now, the entrepreneurs will be starting for the right reasons.

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

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 <b>The "dis-ease" of doing business</b><br /><br /> “In India, it’s never been easy to do business but things are improving overall. What the start-ups need is protection against the negative elements even if there is no positive reinforcement,” says Bajaj regarding the role of the state in the success of new businesses.<br /><br /> Bajaj has seen hardships as an entrepreneur in 2004, as he was arrested by the Delhi police over a complaint that an obscene video had been uploaded for auction on Baazee.com. Bajaj was acquitted but then he was against let down recently with arrest of his portfolio company, <keyword id="1112419" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Stayzilla">Stayzilla</keyword>’s founder happening on shaky grounds,”Startups are soft targets for most authorities because they don’t have the kind of influence compared to big corporate companies. We just want the government to stop harassment at all agency level. Let's extend Swacch Bharat to get India rid of corruption and harassment before we aim for loft goals like <keyword id="1929810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digital-India">Digital India</keyword> and Start up India." says Bajaj who agrees that the government has the intent to support start-ups but it hasn’t reflected yet.<br />

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

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 <b>E-commerce or re-commerce?</b><br /><br /> Bajaj who is known for his e-commerce investments has agreed that the sector has lost its sheen but says that at the end of the day, the team matters above everything, “Fin-tech, Health-tech, and SAAS are the most exciting sectors right now,” Bajaj who had been pessimistic about the growth of start-ups in the past has started to get excited for the India growth story and so have we.<br /><br />

Exclusive: Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India says that for him, only entrepreneurs matter in a start-up

<br /><br />Mumbai, AI cloud and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) startup <keyword id="21250719" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Neysa" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Neysa" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Neysa">Neysa</keyword> on Wednesday said it has raised $20 million (nearly Rs 166 crore) led by <keyword id="19944480" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Matrix-Partners-India" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Matrix Partners India" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Matrix Partners India">Matrix Partners India</keyword>, <keyword id="20320585" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nexus-Venture-Partners" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Nexus Venture Partners" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Nexus Venture Partners">Nexus Venture Partners</keyword> and <keyword id="21255398" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NTTVC-investment-firms" source="keywords">NTTVC investment firms</keyword>.<br /><br />The <keyword id="19913964" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="funding" source="keywords">funding</keyword> will help drive the Generative AI cloud platform as a service and observability for companies in India and global markets, said the startup, co-founded by Sharad Sanghi (CEO) and Anindya Das (CTO).<br /><br />"Our goal is to leverage this funding to push the limits of innovation, assisting our clients with the power of our end-to-end Generative AI PaaS ecosystem and our AI-engineered Observability Platform", said Sanghi.<br /><br />Neysa is planning to release its services in the third quarter (Q3) this year.<br /><br />"This funding boosts our mission to democratise AI, empowering companies of all sizes to ignite innovation and drive growth," said Das.<br /><br />Neysa said it will help enterprises keep control of their data and intellectual property.<br /><br />"Enterprises globally, and even more so in India, are eager for expertise in helping them transition to AI native cloud computing and there is no better and more experienced team in India for them to partner with," said Avnish Bajaj, MD, Matrix Partners India.<br />

AI startup Neysa raises $20 mn from Matrix Partners, Nexus Venture Partners & more

<ul><li><keyword id="270604" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sequoia">Sequoia</keyword> India, <keyword id="65520" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="matrix">Matrix</keyword> Partners, <keyword id="161314" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SAIF-Partners">SAIF Partners</keyword>, Lightspeed Ventures, Kalaari Capital, <keyword id="733500" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Accel">Accel</keyword>, Chiratae Ventures, Omidyar Network and Nexus Partners along with several startup founders launched a ₹100 crore grant.</li><li>The grant is purely charitable with no financial interest from investors.</li><li>Founders like Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm, Ritesh Agarwal of OYO, Abhiraj Bahl of Urban Company, Deep Kalra from MakeMyTrip, have contributed to the fund.</li></ul>On Tuesday evening (March 31), India’s top VCs published an extensive note for startup founders to follow during the Covid-19 crisis. But like Mohit Bhatnagar, Managing Director, Sequoia India said during a conference call with reporters, “In terms like these, words are cheap and action is right.” Investors swiftly sprung to action. <br /><br />They have now launched  Action COVID -19 Team (ACT).<br /><br />Sequoia India, Matrix Partners, SAIF Partners, Lightspeed Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Accel, Chiratae Ventures, Omidyar Network and Nexus Partners along with several startup founders, launched a ₹100 crore grant to fund ideas that will lead the fight against the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> pandemic. <br /><br />The grant is purely charitable with no financial interest from investors. It is also subject to tax exemptions of upto 50% under section 80G. <br /><br />Ideas in the following areas will be eligible for the grant<br />● Prevention of Covid-19 spread<br />● Scaling Testing <br />● Disease management at home <br />● Enhanced support for healthcare workers &amp; hospitals <br />● Management of critically-ill patients <br />● Support for mental health <br /><br />The initial grants will be for ₹10 lakh but once the startup can prove a product-market fit, the investors will double down on the grant which can go up to ₹10 crore per idea. The grant already received over 40 proposals. So far, the VCs committed ₹2.5 crore to startups like IVR project, MyLab and Ventilator Splitter. <br /><br />Founders like Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm, Ritesh Agarwal of OYO, Abhiraj Bahl of Urban Company, Deep Kalra from MakeMyTrip, have contributed to the fund.<br /><br />The first ₹100 crore will be deployed over the next two months, the team which will be evaluating these grants will also include healthcare experts. <br /><br />The eligibility of the grant is not limited to startups but any organization which can be a force multiplier in the fight against coronavirus – even a volunteer group that has an idea. <br /><br />“Strong execution teams, which have the DNA for technology and ideas that are capital efficient and force multipliers, that can leverage the existing startup ecosystem,” said Prashant Prakash, partner at Accel during the call. <br /><br />They also collaborated with the Bengaluru-based chapter of ‘United Way’, a global non-profit organization, to help coordinate the project and grant activities. It is an ISO-certified, FCRA and 80-G compliant organization. <br /><br />“Every crisis in the past has redefined the world, so the hope is that we come out stronger,” said Avnish Bajaj of Matrix Partners. <br /><br />See Also:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/indias-top-vcs-publish-best-practices-for-startups-to-ride-the-covid-19-crisis/articleshow/74924050.cms">India's top VCs publish ‘best practices’ for startups to tide over the Covid-19 crisis</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/startup-funding-could-halt-valuations-to-take-a-hit-and-business-models-have-to-be-pivoted-say-investors/articleshow/74910779.cms">Startup funding could halt, valuations to take a hit and business models have to be pivoted say investors</a><br />

India’s top VCs set-up ₹100 crore grant to fund ideas to fight Covid-19

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/46674729.cms" /> If you are a <keyword id="2778524" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup-founder">startup founder</keyword> looking for a secret recipe to maximize your <keyword id="2778525" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="business-valuation">business valuation</keyword>, here is one trick: dilute your stakes to a minority. As per an ET report, a number of founders who diluted their stakes to a minority as a tradeoff for boosting valuations are now worth millions of dollars.<br />
<br /> The ET report cited examples of the famous <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> duo, <keyword id="225032" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sachin-Bansal">Sachin Bansal</keyword> and Binny Bansal who hold a 7.5% stake in Flipkart, but have their individual holdings pegged at more than $800 million (nearly Rs 5,000 crore) based on the $11-billion valuation for India's largest electronic marketplace.<br />
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Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola cabs also have 12% stake in the country's largest taxi booking company, valued at $1.4 billion. The company is worth $168 million.<br />
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These two companies clearly testify that it is not the percentage ownership but absolute value of founder stake that matters. "Beyond a point, the best founders are missionaries focused on creating large lasting businesses in addition to just wealth creation," Avnish Bajaj, managing director at Matrix Partners India, an investor in Ola and online classifieds Quikr told ET.<br />
<br /> Mukul Singhal, who leads early-stage <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> for <keyword id="161314" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SAIF-Partners">SAIF Partners</keyword>, also agrees with Avnish. He told ET, “"In a high-growth environment where growth cycles have compressed, companies end up burning more capital and have to raise more capital. That implies more dilution."<br />
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Globally, it is not unusual for founders to own minority stakes in their startups. Travis Kalanick, founder of San Francisco-based Uber, owns an 8-10% stake in the cab aggregator valued at $40 billion.<br />
<br /> Alibaba founder <keyword id="424838" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jack-Ma">Jack Ma</keyword>'s 7.4% stake in the Chinese ecommerce marketplace was valued at around $13 billion at the time of its public market debut in the United States. Some investors fear that Indian founders may be diluting their stakes at a faster rate than their global peers.<br />



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Exclusive: Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India thinks that investing is entrepreneurship on steroids

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