Titan Capital, a seed-stage fund home based in 2011, has invested in over 280 firms. The corporate solely deploys its founders’ capital. Notable investments embody Mamaearth, Ola, Razorpay, City Firm, Shadowfax, OfBusiness, Giva and Credgenics. The co-founders, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, say they differentiate themselves within the enterprise capital panorama by figuring out and investing in start-ups with a small market presence and a potential to generate robust unit economics. Edited excerpts from an interview:
What’s your funding thesis?
Bahl: Titan Capital isn’t sector-specific. It focuses on technology-enabled companies, usually in one among 5 areas: B2B (business-to-business) or B2C (business-to-consumer) marketplaces, fintech, SaaS (software-as-a-service), shopper manufacturers, and logistics. Our expertise in constructing companies inside these sectors allows us establish potential blind spots.
What do you search for in an organization earlier than investing?
Bansal: Titan Capital seems to be for founders with robust management qualities and a observe file of excellence, which is essential as a result of entrepreneurship is difficult and calls for resilience and depth to succeed. We search for firms that provide market alternatives with attention-grabbing entry factors, together with robust unit economics. This implies the enterprise ought to have well-defined gross margins and a transparent profit-and-loss construction that offers us confidence in its capability to attain profitability on the unit degree. Moreover, we assess whether or not the corporate can turn into an ‘indicorn’ — producing ₹100 crore annual income — inside 3-5 years.
What number of funding proposals do you get in a yr?
Bahl: Titan Capital receives round 5,000 proposals from founders annually. We spend money on 10-15 firms yearly.
What’s your exit technique?
Bansal: Our strategy to exits is kind of differentiated. Since we make investments our personal capital, we take a really long-term view; therefore there isn’t a fastened exit horizon, as we give attention to firm constructing, very similar to the founders themselves. Whereas exit alternatives naturally come up, we’re comfy holding on for even longer, if wanted. Our purpose is to construct a thriving enterprise slightly than chase a fast exit.
What’s your strategy to governance necessities within the startup ecosystem?
Bansal: The agency locations a powerful emphasis on governance from the start. Many individuals consider governance is related just for massive firms, nevertheless it’s important even within the early levels as a result of it fosters belief with stakeholders — whether or not they’re staff, companions, shareholders, or traders. The purpose is to instil a tradition of governance in monetary administration, operations, hiring, and auditing from the outset, making certain that, as the corporate scales, it has strong foundations in place.
