In the dynamic world of startups, ideas often emerge from unexpected connections. The story of SamVed is no different – a tale of seasoned investors, marketplace veterans, and tech geeks coming together to create something truly unique. We call our creation SamVed.
At the heart of our fund lies the Sanskrit meaning of our name. "Sam" means "together" or "united," reflecting our collaborative approach to venture capital. "Ved" is derived from "Veda," meaning "knowledge" or "wisdom."
Together, SamVed embodies our philosophy of harnessing collective wisdom to guide our investments and support the growth of India's most innovative startups.
It all began with Vivek and Amit, two active syndicate leads on LetsVenture. As they invested together, they discovered a shared talent – an uncanny ability to identify promising founders and connect them with emerging opportunities in the Indian market. This realization sparked the idea of creating a fund.
Vivek, a marketplace veteran with invaluable experience from the core teams of Naukri and Jeevan Sathi, played a pivotal role. More than just a professional connection, Vivek has been a close friend, advisor, and mentor to me and LetsVenture. It was Vivek who connected the dots and brought the founding team together.
As any good idea, the concept of SamVed didn'tmaterialize overnight. It simmered for six months, sometimes surfacing in casual chats, other times emerging during investment conversations. As I've always believed, ideas are like rivers – allow them to flow freely, and they will find their way to the ocean. You can either get lost in the vastness of that ocean or become as expansive as it is.
June 5th 2024: A few months ago, we decided to meet and explore this idea further when Amit was in India. The chemistry was instant and undeniable. We spent an entire day together, and it just felt right. That day, the abstract concept of SamVed began to take solid shape. Gagan Saksena and Sudhi Herle were part of our investing circle and this partnership was a natural extension.
As a team background - Amit Srivastava is the quant investor – an IIT Kanpur and Wharton alum, he is a Bridgewater veteran with extensive investing experience in public and private markets. Expert in building systematic investment ecosystems that integrate top-down macro and bottom-up micro investment approaches. He has a deep understanding of macroeconomic linkages, global capital flows, and global equity markets. The number cruncher and the data led thinker of SamVed.
Vivek Khare is the investor with the Midas touch in our team. He has 2 multi baggers and startps that have IPO’d – Zomato and Policy Bazar. It clearly followed the Power law distribution on venture investing. Vivek was the core team of Naukri and Jeevan Saathi, where he built marketplaces, but more importantly built a keen eye for understanding the complexities of scaling India businesses. Vivek is almost like our EIR at SamVed. As a team we were clear from Day 1 that we would build our team around the value we will create beyond capital for our founders. Vivek will work with our invested forunders as the sounding board as they continue to scale the business.
As a tech focussed fund, Gagan and Sudhi are our fund CTO's. They bring a cutting-edge tech perspective to all our evaluations, adding a crucial dimension to our
investment approach.
Gagan Saksena is the techie, Big data and AI expert, Patent holder and the designer on our team, he is surely a rare combination for a IIT Kanpur, Wharton grad! As part of Mandala Ventures, Gagan has been working on AI way before the revolution we are seeing today.
Sudhi Herle is our second technologist at SamVed. (yes - we are a portfolio focused fund and we are tech heavy!). Sudhi has seen the exit cycle of the US, having filed close to 40 patents. As part of Herle ventures, he has been actively investiing and working with early stage founders.
Gagan and Sudhi will be the technologist team so many early stage founders look for, when they startup. Together they will work closely with our portfolio founders, providing very valuable insights into tech scalability. They will also ensure SamVed's technology bets are curated.
As for me, I have been building the Indian ecosystem for the last decade as Founder and CEO of LetsVenture (this is my second venture after a tech startup I founded and exit in early 2000). I love working with founders, and my conversations with investors. At SamVed, between Vivek and me, we would be the sourcing team as we work torwards identifying the best businesses being built for India.
At SamVed, we've united a team with diverse strengths of deep tech expertise, market understanding and data led approach to investing. This unique combination allows us to not just identify promising startups, but to truly understand their potential and provide the support they need to thrive in India's rapidly evolving tech landscape.As we embark on this journey, we're excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. SamVed isn't just another VC fund –it's a culmination of years of experience, a shared vision for India's tech future, and a commitment to nurturing the next generation of groundbreaking startups.
We look forward to being part of India's defining decade of entrepreneurship.
Gagan Saksena is a technologist with over 25 years of experience in AI and bbe ig data, having held key roles at Netscape, Google, and Yahoo/Verizon Media.
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