Three waves, 43 million cases and 1.83 billion vaccine doses later, India seems to be on the road to recovering from the pandemic. From a high of 414K to approximately 2.5K daily cases, the country has undergone massive changes, and so has our beloved startup ecosystem. As we return to normalcy, we thought it would be a good idea to take a stroll down memory lane, and see the challenges we faced and milestones we crossed.

We had the chance to sit down with Deepak Bhuvneshwari Uniyal, Co-Founder and CEO of our portfolio company, Insurance Samadhan and take a peek behind the curtain.

With higher inflation being the consensus scenario, we prefer to focus on cash flows both at our portfolio companies as well as at the fund level. Technology adoption and disruption caused by it are two sticky phenomena that spur the overall technology investment space. The road ahead is paved with technology and we, at Equanimity, are at the forefront of this ongoing change.

A cryptocurrency, crypto for short, is a digital token designed to work as a medium of exchange through a network of computers that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it.

We had the chance to sit down with Ashutosh Valani, Co-Founder and CEO of our portfolio company, Renée Cosmetics and take a peek behind the curtain.

The global economy has been recovering rapidly from its COVID-induced lows. We must keep building towards pre-pandemic levels sustainably from current levels. The latest COVID version, Omicron, has spread more rapidly than earlier versions and is causing its own lockdowns and supply chain issues.

A whole new world has opened up with blockchain as the fulcrum and has given rise to the emergence of Web3, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, DeFi, DAO, and the likes. Other newer technologies like AR/VR and AI have spawned a new Metaverse and we have to fathom and exist in these alternative digital universes.

I sat beside a stream of water in complete tranquility wondering about life, its purpose, “who am I?” and such esoteric thoughts. Abruptly, my left brain kicked in and started wondering about well, more left-brain things, like how water finds its own level and how it flows along the path of least resistance.

 Two factors determine the ‘good’ days. I have found that building out my team and helping brands scale-up bring me sheer joy and satisfaction. The days I hire a new team member or sign a Letter of Intent (LOI) to partner/acquire a seller brings true joy. 

Markets and asset prices continue to be persistent at current elevated levels despite a plethora of risks on the horizon. We can think of two critical factors supporting prices

We understand our target audience really well, and in this domain, one size does not fit all. This understanding has given us the ability to personalise our offering to each student’s needs and even mentor them and help them land jobs.

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.

Being an entrepreneur, you start loving your job. We call it our baby and look forward to seeing our baby grow each and every moment. Days when we are starting some new development, product or initiative are the best days. During this journey, we go through highs and lows. Some of the bad days are when we want to do a lot of things but have to work within the constraints of available capital.

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.

The average Indian consumer has grown beyond the ‘roti, kapda, makaan’ paradigm to become more demanding and discerning about consumption. Inarguably, Indian consumers drive a hard bargain and are highly cost conscious.

We are heading into a critical zone as far as world markets are concerned with mega events about to unfold: (i) The US presidential elections and its aftermath, (ii) unabated Chinese muscle flexing and the subsequent US, neighbouring countries and World response, (iii)continuing global spread of COVID-19 and its economic and social impact.

The most important lesson we learned during COVID was to be self-reliant and manufacture everything in-house to ensure smooth operations. During Lockdown, when resources were scarce—we leveraged our expertise and managed to identify our spare capabilities which made our company self-reliant. Moreover, with self deep analysis of all our business verticals, we were able to optimise our processes with a lean yet efficient team, thereby enabling us to create a positive impact on the bottom line. This not only improved our cost metrics but also made us self-reliant thereby ensuring smooth operations.

In early 2004, the then UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan laid the foundation of ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) Principles. He approached over 50 CEOs of major financial institutions to collectively deliberate the cause of sustainable businesses. The objective of this joint initiative was to find ways to integrate ESG into mainstream capital markets.

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 highlighted above, we find our portfolio in a good position for now and we continue to monitor it and work closely with our companies.