Equanimity has been following India’s innovation story for quite some time now and we would like to share that the Global Innovation Policy Center recently came out with the 2020 edition of their International IP Index.

At first glance, the drop in India’s position from 36 to 40 (out of 53 countries) may be disheartening but on peeling the onion, we found that India’s score increased from 36.04% (16.22 out of 45) to 38.46% (19.23 out of 50), resulting in a 2.42% jump on an absolute basis and 6.71% on a relative basis.

The webinar focused on the founders’ experiences in dealing with this unprecedented situation and navigating the challenges with undeterred optimism, strategic pivots and relentless execution. A common aspect displayed by all founders has been equanimity. All three have managed drastic pivots in their business models, deftly and with poise, ranging from a change in sales mix (FreshVnF), having to choose between growth or adding value to the brand (BabyChakra) and moving from a marketplace to an inventory led model (Peel-Works).

For most of us, work was a place we went to and fulfilled our duties and responsibilities alongside building professional and social connections with co-workers and other stakeholders we interacted with. Home, on the other hand, was always a place we went to after work was done and dealt with. There is a whole section of books on how we should keep our personal and professional lives separate. Well, you know what, that bit just got a whole lot more challenging as we work from home and so did the work-life balance equation.

These are unprecedented times where literally 'no man has gone before'. The world is more connected than ever and the virus has taken advantage of this fact and spread itself far and wide. We have to be candid and admit that it is difficult to assess the impact COVID-19 will have on our lives and on the overall business landscape, including startups.

As investors, it is vital for us to be cognizant of the competitive landscape before gaining exposure to a particular sector or company. We adopt a slightly differentiated approach and step into the shoes of various stakeholders of the business – customers, shareholders, management, employees etc. We look to analyze and see the competitive positioning of the company’s business model vis a vis their competition.

India fared well in the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rankings coming in at 63 among 190 countries. However, it slipped 10 places to rank 68 on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index ahead of all its neighbors, except China (28th rank). In what was shocking, India fared poorly in the Global Hunger Report published jointly by Concern Worldwide, an Irish agency and Welt Hunger Hilfe, a German organisation.

We take pride in being an agile setup and every time we break an audacious benchmark is the best day. We recently launched our services in a new geography to accommodate a customer’s desperate need overnight, and got it right first time. This has become an internal template to venture into a new geography. The worst day is the one where we have failed to delight our customers

As we scout around for investable businesses that leverage technology to deliver capital efficient, sustainable and scalable business models, we are overwhelmed with all the innovative, passionate, dedicated and well-meaning entrepreneurs who are out to make a difference.

Six months after bidding adieu to a blockbuster 2018, a year that saw eleven Indian startups hit the coveted ‘Unicorn’ status (startups valued at US$1 billion or more), we seem to be on track to beat that record this year. The first half of 2019 saw seven1 startups across sectors reach unicorn status

Last month, we completed our first full year of investing and have constructed a portfolio of seven attractive startups gearing up to disrupt their respective industries. Allow us to introduce you to the companies Equanimity has had the pleasure of backing over the last 12 months: 

The overriding approach to any forecasting is to minimise the number of variables estimated. In our experience, the lower the number of assumptions the lower the probability of the estimate being far away from the eventual actual number. We tend to prefer this approach in the TAM estimation exercise when we evaluate and analyse companies. It has always stood us in good stead. 

The first order that the company fulfilled for a customer in East Delhi. Taikee offered customers a choice that he had never experienced in the past.  A choice which offered buying on a guaranteed availability basis. No questions asked cancellation. Cash on delivery. All of this at prices lower than the store otherwise had access to. We look back at fulfilling that order with a sense of pride. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our world in such a way that going back to things as they were, seems to be a losing strategy. Organisations and individuals have to re-invent themselves to make the most of this new world. Digital adoption has accelerated pace like no one ever thought it could. This throws open opportunities for smaller, agile, digital and technology-first players to lead and create newer markets, businesses and operational models. We are well-poised at the cusp of this change and are focused on finding entrepreneurs and business models that can truly lead the way.

Equanimity crossed a major threshold with its assets under management crossing the INR100 crore mark. Given the plethora of opportunities that we see in the ecosystem, we have decided to bring in another INR100 crore of assets by exercising our greenshoe option.

At Equanimity, when we evaluate founders and their teams, we seek to understand a host of things. We do not have a standard recipe for you as we believe there is none. Whether entrepreneurs are born or made is another debate that we do not claim to have resolved. What we want to share are some learnings from our experience. Here we list a few, not necessarily in any order of importance.

With countless testimonials and reviews that moms share with us daily, the ones that give us the real happiness are the ones which talk about how BabyChakra has changed their behaviors and has become the decision maker for most part of the their life. Sonam Patel, one of our moms who shared a post saying BabyChakra has made her an expert in parenting : not just for her own journey, but for her peers too.

At Equanimity, we continue to build a world class portfolio from the multitude of opportunities that we uncover. We work closely with our portfolio companies to ensure they are on the right track and are positioning themselves to be the leaders in their respective segments in years to come. The future indeed looks promising.

Equanimity conducted its first close at a little over US$10 million and we are now deploying this capital in some handpicked early stage firms. We have put together a rock solid team of 7 full time professionals, and designed our own proprietary platform which is a collaborative tool that does a wonderful job of providing real time updates on the deal evaluation process.

We have been involved with startups since 2006 and have had the good fortune of enjoying a ring side view of the ups and downs, trials and tribulations, sweat and glory of the early stage ecosystem. That said, the ecosystem is still nascent and has a long way to go before it matures. The multitude of opportunities that the early stage digital ecosystem throws up are the stuff of dreams. Any asset allocation deserves to have a sliver, if not a whole lot, of exposure to startups.

What do we look for in an early stage business? We think about this deeply. What is it that inclines us to support an entrepreneur on his journey of a lifetime? We confess there is no simple answer to this question. We continue our quest of fine-tuning our answers and the background process by which we want to arrive at these answers. This is our attempt to share with you our thinking about these problems and their answers.