AS BATCHMATES at The Wharton School, where they did MBA in 2012, Rohit Bhat and Suraj Subramaniam shared a belief that domestic internet companies will open colossal opportunities. Back in India, Rohit, an electrical engineer from IIT-Madras, joined Sequoia Capital. “I did tech investing for four years. I worked on investments in Practo, Ola Cabs and realised my heart was more in public than private market,” he says. Suraj was working with Temasek Holdings in India.
The four-year stint in India from 2012 convinced them an opportunity was waiting to be tapped. Both set up Airavat Capital, an investment management firm focused on listed internet and technology-enabled businesses in consumer, financial service, technology and pharmaceutical sectors. One of the key initiatives in last one year is launch of Airavat Global Technology Fund R in June last year. “AUM is $100 million,” says Rohit. The firm runs two strategies, India and global technology, with two funds in each. India strategy focuses on technology businesses. “Major investments include KPIT Technologies, E2E Networks, Ujjivan Financial Services and PB Fintech,” says Bhat. Global strategy includes two funds. The portfolio is tilted towards software as a service (60%), fintech/payments (20%) and e-commerce (15%). “Major investments include Adyen, Block and Crowdstrike,”
he says. — Ashutosh Kumar