Rise Capital begin operations in India; appoints Anuj Mehta has India head

Rise Capital has already invested in two Indian startups, TradeX and SaveIn, both in the fintech space.

San Francisco-based Rise Capital on Monday has announced its entry into the Indian startup ecosystem, with the appointment of Anuj Mehta as its India investment head to increase its activity gradually as it starts deploying capital.

Rise Capital, which is known for investing in emerging economies such as Latin America, Mediterranean and Northern Africa, South East Asia, and Africa, will be investing in India through its global fund III. The company has already invested in two Indian startups, TradeX and SaveIn, both in the fintech space.

“We are quite bullish on the Indian venture space and remain committed as we are a long term player. Our ability to spot high potential startups as demonstrated in other emerging regions gives us the confidence to deploy a significant part of our global fund in India," said Nazar Yasin, Managing Partner, Rise Capital.

Even though India has already become the third largest startup ecosystem globally, Rise Capital in a statement believes that India's growth story is still in its early innings and has the potential to experience significant further growth in the coming years. The VC fund said that tech startups in India will create well over $1 trillion in market capitalisation by 2030.

"We will continue to focus on a digital disruption thesis, which we believe is still quite early across most sectors in India," Yasin added.

As Rise Capital continues to build its operations in India, it will be looking to invest in early stage startups and will back the potential winners in the follow on rounds, the company said.

“We bring unique value to our portfolio companies because all of our partners are former operators who have helped build $1 billion+ tech companies across emerging economies," he added, saying the fund is confident of replicating its success from other emerging markets in India as well.