The VCpreneur: Startups | Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Fundraising Digjay Patel

In this episode, Arpit Maheshwari, Principal @Stellaris Venture Partners, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background and path leading up to Stellaris, the investment philosophy at Stellaris and the journey from Fund I to Fund II, stand-out attributes of select founders from Stellaris’ portfolio, scaling up as an investor and balancing mindshare between different sectors, managing relationships/conversations with startups that are unable to achieve venture scale and value add from investors.

Stellaris is an early-stage sector-agnostic investment firm, currently investing from its second fund of $225mm. Since its inception in 2017, the firm has invested in 30+ startups across sectors like SaaS, financial services, B2B commerce, consumer brands, social commerce, education, electric vehicles, healthcare, and more. Some of its marquee portfolio startups include the likes of Whatfix, MamaEarth, Turno, Slintel, Limechat and Signzy among others. 

Prior to Stellaris, Arpit ran Corporate Innovation for Arvind Limited, managed product and strategy for Cardekho.com’s used-cars business, and headed product management at iProf – an edtech start-up. An IIT-Delhi/IIM-Ahmedabad alum, Arpit started his career with a 3-year stint at BCG.

You can connect with Arpit here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –


(01:45) Arpit’s path leading up to Stellaris Venture Partners


(05:06) Stellaris - the investment philosophy and journey of the firm from Fund I to Fund II


(14:06) Stand out attributes of select founders from Stellaris’ portfolio


(21:27) Scaling up as an investor and balancing mindshare between different sectors  


(30:04) Managing relationships/conversations with  startups that are unable to achieve venture scale


(34:05) How has being an investor influenced Arpit over the years?


(35:35) Rapid fire and closing remarks



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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like⁠ Spotify⁠ & ⁠Apple iTunes⁠). We would appreciate it if you could leave us a review on ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠Apple iTunes⁠. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit⁠ thevcpreneur.com⁠ and follow us on Twitter⁠ @thevcpreneur⁠_ & Instagram⁠ @thevcpreneur⁠ for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on ⁠Linkedin⁠ & ⁠Twitter

In this episode, Vishesh Khurana, Co-Founder @Shiprocket, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background and path leading up to Shiprocket, macro tailwinds that shaped Shiprocket’s evolution and its current product stack, challenges faced when scaling up Shiprocket, empowering leaders and people management, Shiprocket’s inorganic growth playbook, fundraising journey and value add from investors.

Shiprocket is a logistics enablement platform that offers SaaS solutions to online sellers and D2C brands for aggregating and choosing the best logistics partner to ship their e-commerce orders. Shiprocket is backed by some marquee investors like Lightrock, Temasek, Zomato, Bertelsmann, Moore Strategic Ventures, March Venture Capital, and Paypal among others. Till date, Shiprocket has made five acquisitions, including cargo shipping business Rocketbox, supply chain management solution Glaucus, marketing automation platform Wigzo, logistics aggregator Pickrr and Arvin Internet’s retail enablement business, Omuni. 

You can connect with Vishesh here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –


(01:31) Vishesh’s path leading up to Shiprocket


(02:59) Genesis of Shiprocket


(06:23) Macro tailwinds that shaped Shiprocket’s evolution and its current product stack


(13:06) Importance of building an alternate demand ecosystem to scale up an e-commerce business


(14:57) Challenges faced when scaling up Shiprocket; Approach to partnerships and competition  


(21:31) Empowering leaders and people management 


(23:17) Shiprocket’s inorganic growth playbook


(28:56) Fundraising journey and value add from investors


(36:56) Shiprocket's expansion plans


(38:28) How has being a founder influenced Vishesh over the years?


(40:29) Rapid fire and closing remarks



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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like⁠ Spotify⁠ & ⁠Apple iTunes⁠). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠Apple iTunes⁠. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit⁠ thevcpreneur.com⁠ and follow us on Twitter⁠ @thevcpreneur⁠_ & Instagram⁠ @thevcpreneur⁠ for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on ⁠Linkedin⁠ & ⁠Twitter

In this episode, Anjali Bansal, Founding Partner @Avaana Capital, joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Avaana Capital, investing in process & product innovation, key headwinds & tailwinds in the current climate tech cycle, innovative sustainability startups from Avaana’s portfolio, the role of the board at early stages of a startup, importance of having a diverse board, how can founders draw maximum value from their board, and what to overindex on to build longevity in one’s career.

Avaana is an early/growth stage fund that invests in technology and innovation-led start-ups catalysing climate solutions and sustainability. Some of its marquee portfolio startups include the likes of Terra.do, Farmart, Eeki Foods, Animall and Praman among others.

Anjali has also invested in and mentored various successful start-ups including Delhivery, UrbanClap, Nykaa and Lenskart. Previously, Anjali has been the Non-Executive Chairperson of Dena Bank, appointed by the Govt. of India to steer the resolution of the stressed bank. Prior to that, Anjali was a Global Partner and Managing Director with TPG Growth PE.

She also serves as an independent director on several leading boards including Tata Power, Bata, Kotak AMC, and Piramal Enterprises. Anjali is also a member of the Advisory Council for the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and serves on the CII National Committee on Corporate Governance. You can connect with her here on Linkedin

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Show notes –


(02:17) Anjali’s background & path leading up to Avaana Capital
(06:37) Identifying the scale-up potential of startups
(10:28) Investing in process & product innovation
(14:30) Climate tech – Key headwinds & tailwinds in the current climate tech cycle
(18:43) Cutting through the noise and staying focused when investing in a hot market/theme
(21:37) Full-stack support that Avaana brings to startups
(23:40) Innovative climate tech startups that are part of Avaana’s portfolio
(26:02) Role of the board at early stages of a startup and how does that evolve as the startup matures in it’s lifecycle
(30:08) Importance of having a diverse board and how to draw maximum value from your board
(33:35) Reflecting on a multi-decadal career - What to overindex on to build longevity in one’s career?
(35:25) Advice for first time GPs
(38:04) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Vishesh Rajaram, Founder & Managing Partner @Speciale Invest, joins our host Digjay, to talk about Speciale Invest’s journey with fund I, added advantages of a larger fund II, whether climate tech is at its inflection point today, challenges faced by founders building in this space, Vishesh’s approach to building a thesis in frontier-tech, his portfolio construction strategy at Speciale Invest, overcoming valleys of death as a deep tech startup, and the promise of the Indian frontier-tech story.

Speciale Invest is an early-stage investment firm that invests in deeptech startups - both hardware & software - across domains like Space tech, Robotics, micro-mobility, and clean energy transportation. The firm which recently launched a larger Fund II, has invested in ~25 startups so far. Some of its marquee portfolio startups include the likes of Agnikul, Utlraviolett, Cynlr, Rocketlane, Uravu Labs, Eka Care and Bluecopa among others.

Vishesh started his venture capital journey with Venture East back in 2007. After spending almost a decade at Venture East, Vishesh founded Speciale Invest in 2016. Vishesh is a Chartered Accountant and an alum of the Indian School of Business. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –


(02:06) Reflecting on Speciale Invest’s journey so far; The added advantages of a larger fund II
(08:17) Is climate tech finally at its inflection point?
(11:49) Areas within climate tech that Speciale Invest is keen to invest in
(16:03) The challenge of building partnerships and securing access to material-intensive supply chains
(20:07) What should founders over-index on, to solve these challenges?
(22:33) Vishesh’s approach to building a thesis in frontier-tech; Importance of the outbound approach to finding stellar startups
(27:49) Portfolio construction strategy; Investing along the S-curve
(33:14) Overcoming valleys of death as a deep tech startup
(37:44) The promise of the Indian frontier-tech story
(40:01) How has being an investor influenced Vishesh over the years?

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Aditya Kulkarni (Co-founder & CEO, Stoa), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his past experience as an edtech entrepreneur, meeting his co-founder Raj and stumbling upon the idea of building Stoa, the value proposition of Stoa’s alternative MBA program, building community as a moat, fundraising philosophy at Stoa, leveraging investors in the 0 to 1 phase, the importance of aligning incentives of internal teams with the broader vision of the company as you scale the business, and more.

Stoa School is building India’s alternative to a traditional MBA. The program helps students pick up skills in domains like Product, Marketing, Leadership, Finance, General Management and subsequently helps them find job opportunities within India’s growing startup ecosystem. Since inception, the startup has enrolled 700+ students across several cohorts and has become a sought after program for early-stage professionals looking to level up their career trajectory. Stoa is backed by marquee operators and investors like Udemy and Maven co-founder Gagan Biyani, Better Capital founder Vaibhav Domkundwar, Teachable co-founder Ankur Nagpal, NotBoring Media founder Packy McCormick, Dunce Capital investor John Danner and Zivame co-founder Richa Kar.

An IIM-B and BITS Pilani alum, Aditya is a decadal edtech entrepreneur who has built and sold two startups (Learning Outcomes - acquired by Liga EduTech and BabyOnBoard - acquired by RoundGlass) in the past. You can connect with Aditya here on Linkedin / Twitter.

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Show notes –


(01:59) Aditya’s background & past experience as an ed-tech founder
(09:05) Meeting his co-founder Raj and stumbling upon the idea of building Stoa
(16:38) The value proposition of the Stoa program
(21:58) Building community as a moat
(27:54) Fundraising philosophy at Stoa
(33:34) Leveraging investors in the 0 to 1 phase
(37:09) Setting up the ‘students-educators-jobs’ flywheel in action
(41:14) Scaling up - Importance of aligning incentives of internal teams with the broader vision of the company
(46:29) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Somesh Dash (General Partner, IVP), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to IVP, IVP’s stellar track record of 130+ IPOs and how has the firm managed to win the trust of marquee founders, the importance of mentorship in building a legacy venture firm, learnings from founders of Snapchat, Discord and Lyra Health, some of IVP’s anti-portfolio companies, the potential of the Indian startup ecosystem, the value of independent board members, learnings from fellow investors and more.

IVP is a venture capital firm that invests in companies on the path to rapid growth. Since its inception in 1980, the firm has invested in 400+ companies with a stellar track record of 130+ IPOs and 25+ exits of >$1 billion. The firm has $8.7bn in total committed capital and has invested in marquee companies like Twitter, Coinbase, Brex, Slack, Discord, UiPath, Lyra Health, FTX, Harness among others.

Somesh joined IVP in 2005 and focuses on growth investments in Enterprise Software, Consumer Internet, and Digital Health companies. He was recognized by The New York Times and CB Insights in 2019 as one of the top 100 venture capitalists. A Stanford and UC Berkeley alum, Somesh is also a board member of the US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Advisory Council at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and the Tech Interactive. You can connect with Somesh here on Linkedin / Twitter.

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Show notes –


(01:50) Somesh’s background & path leading up to IVP
(10:19) IVP’s thesis and past investments
(14:33) The firm’s stellar track record of 130+ IPOs and how it has managed to win the trust of marquee founders
(20:03) Importance of apprentice & mentorship in building a legacy venture firm
(22:02) Learnings from founders of Snapchat, Discord and Lyra; Common thread that cuts across these outlier founders
(30:00) Anti-portfolio at IVP and reflecting on missed opportunities
(36:37) The promise & potential of the Indian startup ecosystem
(42:31) The value add by independent board members, particularly those that have experienced difficult times in their own career
(43:25) Learnings from fellow investors that are on boards of IVP’s portfolio startups
(48:05) Importance of coaching and mental wellbeing
(52:05) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter