IVCA forms new VC Council, Sequoia India MD Rajan Anandan named chairman

The council was formed to strengthen governance practices for VCs and start-ups and continue working with govt and its agencies to improve the environment for venture capital in India

Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA), the apex industry body for alternative assets, has formed a new VC Council for 2022 to 2024. It will be chaired by Rajan Anandan, Managing Director of Sequoia India and Southeast Asia and Surge, and co-chaired by Rahul Khanna, co-founder and Managing Partner of Trifecta Capital.

The council was formed by the IVCA to strengthen governance practices for VCs and start-ups and continue working with the government and its various agencies to improve the environment for venture capital in India, the Association said in a statement.

The council functions as a permanent sub-committee under the aegis of IVCA Executive Committee. The new VC Council aims to continue driving government engagement by advocating for policies that encourage innovations that contribute to capital creation, nation building and knowledge dissemination, the statement said.

“The start-up ecosystem and the venture capital industry in India are entering a new phase. India is already the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world and has become a preferred destination for investors from around the world. Our mandate as the VC council is to ensure that we continue to build on these strong foundations while addressing a range of areas such as attracting more domestic capital, improving governance, and encouraging new funds in emerging sectors”, said the new chairman, Ranjan Anandan

“As we do this, we look forward to collaborating with all venture capital firms in the industry and our progressive policy makers in the government to take our ecosystem to new heights,” he added.

The new VC Council in the present term is committed to help organize platforms for engagement for VCs with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce & Industries, DPIIT and other policy leads on issues that boost more capital induction into start-ups and VC funds as well as fast track exits by enabling ease of doing business for the VC industry, the statement added.

The eight members constituting the new VC council also include Manish Khetarpal (WaterBridge Ventures), Priyanka Chopra (Bharat Innovation Fund), Ruchi Khajanchi (A91 Partners), Sehraj Singh (Prosus Ventures), Anil Joshi (Unicorn India Ventures) and Sameer Brij Verma (Nexus Venture Partners).

The council envisages to engage more than 120 VC Member Funds of IVCA and engage with other domestic and global funds at large to work on important industry initiatives and issues.