Explore India’s Venture Ecosystem
Join us for an in-person event to explore emerging trends, the rapid growth of the tech sector, and unique early-stage investment opportunities in the world’s fastest-growing economy.
Why India?
India’s economy is at an inflection point, with projected GDP growth of 6-7% annually over the next decade. Here is why early-stage tech in India offers a compelling opportunity:
Thriving startup ecosystem: India is now the 3rd largest startup hub globally, boasting over 100 unicorns.
Global SaaS hub: Companies like Freshworks and Zoho are replicating the success of IT giants (Infosys, TCS), building scalable, high-margin products with recurring revenue models.
Massive digital adoption: With 1.2 billion internet users, India is the largest open internet market in the world, supported by 700M+ smartphone users.
Rising middle class and consumer base: By 2030, 500M+ middle-class consumers will drive demand for tech-enabled services in fintech, edtech, healthtech, and e-commerce.
Why Early-Stage VC in India?
Exceptional returns: Top-tier India-focused early-stage VC funds consistently outperform listed equities, with IRRs often exceeding 20-25%.
Shift from services to software: Indian software companies are poised to achieve in the next decade what IT services accomplished over the past 30 years.
Global first mindset: The best Indian SaaS companies adopt a hybrid structure:
CEOs and sales teams based in the US for proximity to customers and enterprise buyers.
Engineering and product teams in India, leveraging deep technical talent at a fraction of Silicon Valley’s cost.
Program
16:00-16:10: Introduction
Why Play Capital is backing India-focused emerging fund managers.16:10-17:00: The Current State of India’s Venture Ecosystem
Insights into the Indian tech sector and Neon Fund’s journey from 2018 to today.
How the “US sales + India tech” model is unlocking massive cost and scaling advantages.
How Indian startups are uniquely poised to win the application layer in the AI world.
17:00-17:30: Q&A
Risks and opportunities in investing in India’s early-stage tech ecosystem.
Speakers
Siddhartha Ahluwalia
Founding partner of Neon Fund, a leading early-stage investor in Indian B2B SaaS startups. Neon Fund has backed numerous top software companies, including Spotdraft, Plum, InFeedo, Airmeet, and CloudSEK. Siddhartha previously worked at Amazon Web Services and has founded and exited two startups.
Rony Solaiman
Founding partner of Play Capital, a global technology investment firm based in Oslo. In addition to incubating and investing in technology companies, Play Capital manages a portfolio of early-stage technology funds in India.